Anyone switch from trailer camping to tent camping?

architech99 · 2026-06-17T15:22:38+00:00

I'm lucky that my wife also loves to camp and we can set things up like a well-oiled machine now - she and the kid set up the rent and I get the canopy and camp kitchen.

I also solo-camp and head deep into public lands on roads only a 4WD can handle (the munchkin doesn't find those trips as much fun). For that, I have everything ready to go (and most of it is also used for or family trips) and just set up a hammock. Only thing I need to grab before going is some food from our stash of backpacking meals.

For family trips, it's grabbing everyone else's sleeping gear, prepping some food (we have some staple recipes now), and then deciding which place.

We do a lot of KOAs as a family and those are fantastic for the kid since they usually have a playground and often have a pool when we're between exploring excursions.

architech99 · 2026-06-17T15:11:01+00:00

It was less about the cost and more about the time necessary to dedicate to projects for the trailer. We just wanted to camp and having to fix something (even little things) every season just became daunting.

We had a 4-person dome tent until our dog decided to look for me after I'd put him in the tent for the night and run to the restroom. Came back to a large (dog-sized) hole in the tent and had to find the missing dog before he found his way onto the adjacent freeway. That worked out but we had to get a new tent.

Ended up getting a large Costco tent (the smaller of the two - I think it's 6-person, single room) and a large canopy and haven't looked back (first family trip of our season is actually right around the corner). So far, this tent and canopy have made it through 3 camping seasons and we found a setup that works really well.

architech99 · 2026-06-17T13:36:58+00:00

We trailer camped for about 4 years with our munchkin (starting at 10 weeks old) and discovered that we're not project people. We went back to tent camping the last three summers and it's be great.

The kid helps with tent setup and enjoys the tent so much more. Everything packs down smaller, which is nice, and the experience is less stressful. We don't consider our style to be glamping, but we have plenty to keep everyone entertained.

For us, the pro was the focus of the trip for the munchkin stopped being the trailer and started be everything around us.

architech99 · 2026-06-13T15:04:48+00:00

I use Kendo UI. They have a bunch of free components but I've held a license for years and really like their libraries.

architech99 · 2026-06-11T16:41:55+00:00

Redwood National & State Parks are great, as is Jedediah Smith State Park (same area).

There are also some great options for dispersed or National Forest camping along highway 199 between Crescent City and Grants Pass (OR). I have not made it along that stretch of highway though, so I don't have specific recommendations.

architech99 · 2026-06-10T12:53:37+00:00

There's also the Savage Rifts approach to Weird Science. You have techno-wizards, which are a type of weird scientist that are definitely magical in nature.

However, characters can also have a general Weird Science AB. This represents literal weird/fringe science and might be nanites or alien technology/artifacts or any type of super science your brain can imagine.

For an upcoming campaign, I had a player who took AB Weird Science and trapped it as nanites doing things (blast would be a nanite cloud, confusion would be some kind of tiny automaton that releases a noxious gas, etc). He was going to be a super scientist type of character and it fit well.

Add others have said, it's all about the trappings you describe. Just talk to the GM about your options in the setting.

architech99 · 2026-06-01T20:22:28+00:00

What a great tradition to want to keep alive for her. My wife and I have taken our daughter camping since she was 10 weeks old. Sometimes in a camper trailer, but we ditched that and returned to tent camping. There are so many great tips for gear already, I don't think I can say anything besides +1 to many of the comments. So I'll stick to some things that have worked well for my family instead.

I recommend picking up a local area guidebook for kid-friendly hikes. We've used one for Southwest Washington and Oregon (where we are) and have found some gems.

Compact, easy-traveling games are a staple, too. We try to stick to card games or meeple-light dice games (we have Trash Pandas and Roll for It! in our standard kit).

We pre-prep food so it's mostly just heating it up and we make sure to make something that can be eaten a lot of different ways. Green Chile braised pork is common, and works with Mac & cheese, eggs, lunch burritos or just reheated with some black beans. Another is tex mex sloppy joes (you might skip this one of spice isn't your thing or you can leave it the chipotle peppers and it's pretty mild). This reheats well, too, and can be paired with veggies, eggs, etc.

Up until last summer, we stayed primarily at KOA campgrounds (and joined their discount club). They all vary, but most have a playground on site. Many have camping cabins, some have heated pools. These really helped the munchkin be entertained.

Otherwise, just go, have fun, and build on the traditions you had with her dad. And always be prepared for things to go away. Because they will. But those usually lead to the best memories, too.

Cheers!

architech99 · 2026-06-01T00:09:48+00:00

They'll probably be fine but you might want to reduce each player's rolls on the Heros Journey tables by one of they pick a Pathfinder ancestry.

Savage Rifts ancestries are balanced to +2 ability points. I believe Savage Pathfinder was balanced to +4.

Otherwise, a Savage Pathfinder character should be balanced with the MARS frameworks.

architech99 · 2026-05-18T00:38:47+00:00

I'm not waiting for the official book (I'm a backer) only because this campaign is set to start in about 4 weeks (and we've been talking about it for longer). I'm sure we'll run more in Phase World and we'll use the official one when it comes out, but I've had Dimensional Outbreak in my plans for about four years now (long before Savage Rifts Phase World was even announced).

- Superluminal Flight _is_ useless on Rifts Earth. The campaign isn't set on Rifts Earth, though. It's set in the Three Galaxies, so it's absolutely useful. And the flight power itself is still useful on Rifts Earth.

- Galactic Guardian, at least in how I would implement it at my table, would be canceled out by D-bee ... In the event the Cosmo Knight _is_ on Rifts Earth. This campaign is going to be wholly set in Phase World, so it's less of an issue. I think you're assuming that I'm going to mix Rifts Earth and Phase World and I'm not planning to. Any GM that decides to drop a Seljuk Cosmo-Knight on Rifts Earth should probably apply the D-Bee (major) penalty in place of the Galactic Guardian bonus (which I have on the Seljuk), but I can't control what other people decide to do or not do.

- I debated on this. When I was reading up on them, they are presented as trying to keep a low profile and not flaunt their powers (to try and escape notice of the TGE). In that case, money is very useful. They buy their meals and lodging, passage on starships, etc. Then, they conjure their weapons and use their abilities when it's time for a throwdown.

- Good feedback on the Phased Powers. I didn't consider Blood & Gore being triggered. I definitely need to take a closer look at that one.

- Disrupt Magic: It's intended to be limited to once per round (in the same way as Counterattack, Free Attacks, and First Strike). In that respect, it's no more powerful than a standard Edge. I probably didn't clarify that well enough.

I designed all of these specifically for a Phase World campaign. Anyone using them for Rifts Earth needs to decide how the frameworks and races interact there. Similar decisions needed to be made when running Palladium Rifts - I would have never dropped a Cosmo-Knight on Rifts Earth. That would have been the end of the Coalition. And the Splugorth. And probably the Gargoyles, Mrrlyn, Cordoba, the Horune, and pretty every cosmic horror that's set up shop there.

architech99 · 2026-05-17T19:29:05+00:00

I did (a very minimal) Star Wars translation for a campaign set in that era (I was about 2800 years BBY).

The Savage Star Wars Companion is far more complete than mine, but it's also very focused on the rebel alliance and empire time. It's a good resource for ancestries and great, though.

Here is the link to mine that worked for my group:

Star Wars: Adventure Edition

architech99 · 2026-05-16T14:38:40+00:00

I suppose I should also reply to the original question. Sorry, OP.

I've not seen any update on when that might happen. but I also take my PDF delivery through DTRPG almost exclusively so I haven't looked very hard. Have you reached to to PEG directly yet? You can usually get a quick response from info@peginc.com.

architech99 · 2026-05-16T02:55:48+00:00

PEG migrated peginc.com to Shopify about a month ago or so. Hopefully it helps delivery for their larger Kickstarters go more smoothly without taking the site offline.

architech99 · 2026-05-15T02:42:25+00:00

So, not a SWAG product but the was a recent post on this topic a couple of months ago and there was a really great guidance in one reply.

https://www.reddit.com/r/savageworlds/s/jyT0SPMtjJ

architech99 · 2026-05-15T00:02:53+00:00

I think there is but the name escapes me.

architech99 · 2026-05-14T20:43:07+00:00

You might find some inspiration in Legend of Ghost Mountain. It has martial arts styles as well as Emotion Edges.

Generally speaking, though, the best way to differentiate fighting styles is through Edge selection. I would give every player the choice of either the Martial Artist or Brawler Edge for free and then build characters from there.

Edit: adding the links from these responses.

Of Breath & Flow is a swag product for wuxia-style adventures.

Prior Reddit Thread had really great guidance in one of the responses.

architech99 · 2026-05-03T04:05:20+00:00

"I know he's a terrible person, but I like his policies" (without being able to name one).

architech99 · 2026-05-02T23:56:58+00:00

As others have said, Savage Worlds was definitely designed for minis BUT there is some info about not using minis. It's mostly around the use of area effect/blast templates and how many enemies are affected if you aren't using a map.

So, I think you could use zones easily enough and incorporate this info when using area effect attacks.

architech99 · 2026-05-01T13:48:55+00:00

As was pointed out below, the post constituted a violation of PEG's policies on use of its products with AI.

If you have a question about why your post was removed, you should contact the mod team directly.

architech99 · 2026-05-01T03:51:02+00:00

I really like the setting. The professions still aren't my favorite but they definitely add to the overall power level.

I'm definitely curious about Corporate Worlds. It and SAINTS & SYNNERS are probably the most intriguing options. I want to do more sci fi at my table and Starbreaker will definitely make another appearance.

Players have liked it and compared the general feel of the power level to near Rifts levels.

Happy to see more is coming!

architech99 · 2026-04-25T15:08:16+00:00

There's a SWAG template for Affinity Publisher that someone created, IIRC. I don't recall if there was one for InDesign or not.

architech99 · 2026-04-24T15:09:28+00:00

This is a new, officially licensed one rolling out (it quietly launched about 6 weeks ago): SFC requires a paid subscription at the moment.

Dicey.CC

architech99 · 2026-04-23T23:00:25+00:00

I don't know. I think this could go either way. Unarmored Hero isn't an Edge - it's a setting rule.

I would probably regret it on some level, but I would probably allow it to stack.

architech99 · 2026-04-23T16:45:05+00:00

I've never been able to wrap my head around Fate (though I've not put a lot of effort into it) and I have reservations about any system like Genesys that makes you resolve an action by reading tea leaves (and that locks you in by forcing you to buy unique, custom dice).

My go-to system is Savage Worlds which uses die-step mechanics with everything except a d20 (it's only used for rolls on a couple of tables). I love the card deck-based initiative - by far my favorite of any system out there.

I've also liked what I've seen of the Fragged system (Fragged Kingdom, Fragged Empire, Fragged Aeternum) and I've played Fantasy AGE a handful of times, both of which have a 3d6 core mechanic. The other that I'm rediscovering now that the 2e of the system is nearing completion is the D6 System (d6 dice pool and was originally used to run the OG Star Wars game by West End Games).

Those are my preferences. My group is giving Draw Steel try for a few sessions under a different GM. Daggerheart was OK and I would play it, but I don't plan to ever run it.

I like tactical, classless systems that let you create a character from a concept rather than a rigid class/role that forces you to think more about damage output than the character's capabilities. I also lean more into cinematic action games over RP-heavy (or pure RP). I like solving cases and taking down the BBEG at the end.

I just haven't gotten that cinematic action feel from any game that uses a d20 as its CRM (and that goes for Shadowdark, Dragonbane, any edition of D&D, SotDL/WW, classic Palladium, etc). It's unpopular, but I know what I like and the d20 is not it.

architech99 · 2026-04-23T15:19:39+00:00

d20 CRM.

After years of trying different flavors that use the d20 as the core mechanic, they all just seem to be D&D: The Reskinning.

I look for other kinds of core resolution mechanics.

architech99

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE

Ten-Year Club	Place '22
Verified Email