Gateway to the Savage Frontier (1991)
Gateway to the Savage Frontier is a 1991 role-playing (rpg) video game made by Stormfront Studios and SSI (Strategic Simulations, Inc.).
A guarded caravan reaches the trading town of Yartar, and your company toasts a job well done. The calm does not last. Armies stir across the north, and the black-cloaked Zhentarim move pieces toward a war that will shatter the Savage Frontier's fragile peace. Your party becomes a thorn in their plans, fighting on land and water to hold the region together. This 1991 SSI Gold Box game carries AD&D combat into the wild lands above Waterdeep, with turn-based tactics, hand-mapped towns, and the reliable rhythm of the engine that defined the series.
Quick answers
What is Gateway to the Savage Frontier about?
A guarded caravan reaches the trading town of Yartar, and your company toasts a job well done. The calm does not last. Armies stir across the north, and the black-cloaked Zhentarim move pieces toward a war that will shatter the Savage Frontier's fragile peace. Your party becomes a thorn in their plans, fighting on land and water to hold the region together. This 1991 SSI Gold Box game carries AD&D combat into the wild lands above Waterdeep, with turn-based tactics, hand-mapped towns, and the reliable rhythm of the engine that defined the series.
When was Gateway to the Savage Frontier released?
Gateway to the Savage Frontier was released on 31 December 1991.
Who made Gateway to the Savage Frontier?
Gateway to the Savage Frontier was made by Stormfront Studios and SSI (Strategic Simulations, Inc.).
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Explore Gateway to the Savage Frontier guides
Gateway to the Savage Frontier in our writing
- Companion guide: Dungeons & Dragons on the PC: From the Gold Box to Baldur's Gate 3
A few thoughts on Gateway to the Savage Frontier
Fans of the Forgotten Realms should watch Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, set in this same corner of the map, for a fast tour through Faerun. The Legend of Vox Machina keeps the tactical-party spirit, its heroes clearing threats town by town the way a Gold Box roster works the Frontier.
AD&D tactical combat descended from the Gold Box line
Gateway to the Savage Frontier runs on the same SSI Gold Box engine that carried AD&D combat across the Forgotten Realms for years. Pool of Radiance, Eye of the Beholder II, Baldur's Gate, Icewind Dale, Temple of Elemental Evil and Neverwinter Nights all build tactical, party-based fights from that same ruleset, where turn order and positioning decide who walks away.
Modern D&D and Pathfinder tactics for the same crunch
Gateway to the Savage Frontier hands you turn-based tactics and a fragile peace worth holding together through careful planning. Baldur's Gate III, Solasta: Crown of the Magister, Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous and Pathfinder: Kingmaker carry that same tactical D&D-rules lineage forward, trading the Gold Box grid for modern engines without losing the crunch.
Adventuring parties caught in a rising political storm
Gateway to the Savage Frontier turns a simple caravan escort into a war against the black-cloaked Zhentarim's schemes across the north. The Legend of Vox Machina, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, The Witcher and Blood of Elves all follow companies pulled into conflicts far bigger than the job they signed up for.
Fellowship quests against a rising darkness
Gateway to the Savage Frontier turns your company of adventurers into the only thing standing between a fragile peace and outright war. The Princess Bride, Willow, The Dark Crystal and Stranger Things all follow small bands of unlikely heroes who band together against a darkness bigger than any one of them alone.