Chandler, AZ September 22, 2020 – Pinnacle Entertainment Group, creators of Savage Worlds™ and Deadlands™ tabletop roleplaying games, announced plans to develop Appalachian Horror RPG Holler with Odd Bard Games and author Tim Earley.
Holler is a dark fantasy/folk horror version of Appalachia.
It’s a land of ghostly, shrouded mountains sealed off from the rest of the world, dominated by the schemes of madcap industrialists and their strange inventions, threatened by ecological collapse in the form of a toxic fog known as the Blight, and beset by a harrowing array of demons, cryptids, haints, and roguish fey.
Author Tim Earley pulls inspiration from Appalachia’s history of labor conflicts—the Battle of Blair Mountain, Bloody Harlan, the textile strikes of the 1930s—and fuses those complex, real world struggles with the folklore, legends, murder ballads and ghost stories that characterize the region’s abiding cultural richness.
Heroes are everyday folks in Holler: miners, moonshiners, granny women, holy rollers, bluegrass pickers, and roustabouts. Outmanned and outgunned by robber baron industrialists, Holler’s heroes must rely on their wits, ingenuity, kinship bonds, and hardscrabble toughness to win the day.
“I first saw Holler when we were putting together the Jump Starts for the Savage Worlds Adventure Edition,” said Pinnacle President Shane Hensley.
“The evocative cover and a quick skim through the contents instantly jumped out at me as something new and different. I was raised in Appalachia and identify greatly with the material. What I love about Tim’s take is it highlights the beauty and community of the region, doesn’t shy away from the negatives, and uses magic and folklore to transform it into something exciting and illuminating people all over the world can identify with.
“After running the game on the Rocky Mountain Savage Cruise at the beginning of 2020, I knew I wanted it to be an official Pinnacle setting for Savage Worlds, just as we did with 12 to Midnight’s East Texas University. These worlds not only show off the diversity of what our game system can do, but also offer our fans something incredibly cool and new they haven’t seen before.
Tim Earley of Odd Bard Games states, “Shane’s mentorship has been invaluable in shaping the world of Holler and bringing it to life. Savage Worlds, with its penchant for fast-paced action, energetic storytelling, and dramatic twists of fate, is the perfect system for this setting. I’m incredibly excited about sharing the world of Holler with the imaginations of players and Game Masters everywhere.”
Pinnacle Entertainment Group kicks off interest in the Holler setting with a free online-only game convention, “Hollerween,” for Savage Worlds games October 29th-November 1st. Special livestream games, panels, and more are anticipated. Game Masters and Players can grab your badges now (use discount code “free”) to submit games and get notices when event registration goes live at: https://tabletop.events/conventions/savage-worlds-official-event-hollerween.
To stay up to date on Holler’s developments, sign up for the Pinnacle weekly newsletter at http://eepurl.com/bkGol9.
The award-winning Deadlands™ and Savage Worlds™ tabletop RPGs were created by Shane Lacy Hensley, owner of Pinnacle Entertainment Group. For more information, visit www.peginc.com
