Hell on Earth Reloaded requires the Savage Worlds core rulebook to play. This is a hardcover printed book. Full-sized book (8.5'x11' interior pages). Savage Worlds Adventure Edition Core Book PDF (now 208 pages!). (Deadlands: Hell on Earth) Savage Worlds Map Pack (PDF) --Flash Gordon(TM): Coralia. It also has special end papers inserted where Shane Lacy Hensley, creator of Savage Worlds, Jodi Black, COO of PEG, and Clint Black, Savage Worlds Core Rules Brand Manager, will sign.
I mean the first question should be whether you want to run the Classic or Reloaded systems. Group consensus seems to be that Classic has more flavor but is far more cumbersome, reloaded being far easier to run. Personally I am one of those purists that personally prefers classic but it is your choice. Next is the exact setting, Classic has The Weird West, Hell on Earth, and Lost Colony while as of writing reloaded has Deadlands Reloaded, Hell on Earth Reloaded, and Deadlands Noir. For classic you need at least that the Player's and marshal's guides (The combined is from the non revised classic system) if you are planning to play the weird west, Hexarcana and Book O' the Dead being the only other 'essential' ones in my opinion unless you plan to use a specific Arcane Background or region. HoE requires at least the corebook and ideally the world book, while lost colony has only three books needed HoE corebook, Lost Colony core book, and the worldbook.
If you are doing any of the reloaded settings you need the Savage worlds core book and the setting books to set you up (this part I can't be authoritative about so if any reloaded users disagree with me please correct me). Either system you will need a few decks of cards, Poker Chips (referred to fate chips in classic and Bennies in Reloaded) and sets of dice, with a 'wild die' special d6 if you are playing reloaded. Either system and whatever setting, happy trails pard and I hope that helped. I dropped my phone when I was making the original comment. I thought it had deleted the comment and that I would try again later, but it looks like it posted the incomplete one. Anyway, as far as choosing the system, I prefer Reloaded personally.
It does lose flavor, but it is much easier to run and play, it fixes a lot of balance issues from classic, and the books are dirt cheap to buy. That being said, the Classic system is much more flavorful and deep mechanically and it was what got me so interested in Deadlands in the first place. For what you need, you will need dice (d4-d20, at least one set, but having more is useful if you're running or if you're playing Classic), a deck of cards (plus another for each huckster at the table), and poker chips (Red, White, Blue, and ideally a few of another color). For Classic, you'll need the Player's Guide and the Marshal's handbook (they just released a new edition that includes both).
Other books aren't necessary. There are setting books will help flesh out certain locations. There are also books that talk about different 'classes', but I think Ghost Dancers is the most useful since it also talks in depth about Native American characters. Lastly, the Marshal's book should contain a starting adventure, but you may consider another pre-written mission or two if it's your first time. For Reloaded, you'll need the Savage Worlds core rulebook, plus the Players handbook and Marshals guide. You can run with just that, but I recommend you pick up one of the Plot Point campaign books. They talk in depth about a fairly large region of the west, provide a slew of new character options, and provide a fully-fleshed out campaign with a bunch of side missions as well.
The Flood is the first one and canonically occurs earliest, so that'd be a good place to start. Edit: if you aren't interested in a plot point book, Coffin Rock is a good mini-campaign for beginners.
Pretty much what everyone else said, decide on Classic or Reloaded. If you do go Classic, feel free to DM me to talk about what else you need, though for a basic game the answer is 'not much'. There are a lot of cool books with a lot of cool stuff, but it can easily get overwhelming and may be easier to just come up with your own stuff rather than picking and choosing the setting from all the many options. There's a lot of adventure to be had going through the nameless towns of the Weird West. The nice thing is, compared to some other RPGs (like D&D), you only need 1 book, that being the core rules.
At least, it's that way in Deadlands Classic, and you had a limited number of bad guy stats premade for you. I'm not familiar with Deadlands, Reloaded, which (I think) kind of loses some of the tone and joy of the original game, and you also need to buy the Savage World rulebook.
So you have to not only learn SW, you have to figure out how much of it to ignore/replace with Deadlands: Reloaded rules.
Deadlands: Hell on Earth Reloaded ‘There Came a Reckoning’ The year is 2097, but the future is not our own. Some great words from the intro to Deadlands: Hell on Earth reloaded 2012 from Pinnacle Entertainment Group.
This is the Savage Worlds, a mechanic that I love more than perhaps anything save AD&D 1E and that is a tough call, and this alternate reality setting is about as much fun as you can have. Combining the Wild West with a hell-born apocalypse that begins almost a hundred years in the future, it is a supreme mash up of all types of cool storylines. Still, I’m here to speak a bit about the art, as I always do, but remember this is a stunningly good game so I strongly suggest you take a look if you ever have the opportunity. With a dramatic digital cover by artist Carmen Cianelli, the game starts off with a sexy bang and doesn’t look back.
Cianelli is a sublime talent, and there are shockwaves of Todd Lockwood in her digital brush. Although her work doesn’t appear on the interior, her contribution helps make the book, and I wish I could see more of her in the genre.
Inside, more than two dozen other artists bring Hell on Earth alive with all kinds of digital post-apocalyptic goodness in full color glossy pages. Each chapter has a full page splash painting, some reminding me of Baxa during his Dark Sun height and others standalone new talents pieces that create brilliance all their own. For me, the book is a streamlined half-comic homage, and I enjoyed the choices involved as they complement each other very well. Sure, it might not be my style, as I’m far too old school and basically irrelevant in today’s market, but that doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate talent. This book has that in spades. Artistic Rating: 3.5 Out of 5 Written by Scott Taylor — April 07, 2014.