[Savage Worlds] Can Savage Worlds handle a full-length campaign?

Flynn · Nov 10, 2007

Good Morning, All:

I have been considering the Savage Worlds rules system for my next fantasy campaign, but I won't make a final decision in those regards until I playtest it later this week. However, in discussing my thoughts with a friend who has played the system before, he expressed some concerns about the system's ability to handle a full-length campaign. So now, I turn to those on this board for your thoughts on this particular issue, as I trust the feedback I get from the people here at ENWorld.

I suppose that I have three questions, and I would like to hear your answers to them, if you have any actual Savage Worlds experience (as either a player or GM).

1. What is the average length of a Savage Worlds campaign, in your personal experience?

2. What is the longest Savage Worlds campaign you've been a part of?

3. What is your opinion about Savage Worlds' ability to handle a full-length campaign, based on your gaming experience with the system?

If you have not played Savage Worlds, I would ask that you refrain from answering these three questions, simply because I want to hear from the voice of experience. If you really want to answer the questions anyway, then please let me know that you have not played Savage Worlds, so that I can tell where you're coming from.

Thanks In Advance,
Flynn

zac · Nov 10, 2007

hey flinn,

i have been running savage worlds as my system of choice for about 2 or 3 years now. i have found that it is perfectly capable of handling any length campaign. i have a savage star wars campaign that we play on and off that started at novice and now has 2 characters who are legendary, and there is still plenty for the pc's to do (and fear). i am also running a fantasy campaign that is just getting to seasoned.

zac

Henrix · Nov 10, 2007

(I have not played SW, though I own it.)

But why on earth would it not be able to support a long campaign? I have run campaigns in dozens of different RPGs, and played in more, and I cannot see what the problem would be!
I can see the trouble with a long-running Toon campaign, but not Savage Worlds. It is a good, solid system.

So, to reiterate, what in Savage Worlds would make it unsuited to long term campaigns?

Flynn · Nov 10, 2007

Henrix said:
So, to reiterate, what in Savage Worlds would make it unsuited to long term campaigns?

I don't know. It was my friend's opinion, and while I couldn't see it from my perusal of the rules, perhaps he saw something I couldn't. That's why I'm posting here. If someone has run a Savage Worlds campaign that's lasted more than a year, then chances are the problem really is that HE couldn't make such a rules light system work for a long-term campaign. Also, looking for success stories doesn't hurt, just to show it can be done.

With Regards,
Flynn

pogre · Nov 10, 2007

I've played the game a number of times, but never for a long term campaign. However, I know of three guys who are running long term (year+) SW campaigns. I don't see why it would be a problem to do so either.

Inferno! · Nov 10, 2007

Hi Flynn,

Like Henrix said, I can't see why it wouldn't be able to support a long campaign.

As for my experience, I've played several times at GenCon, but not run a game myself. I do however, own the game and probably 90% of the settings and toolkits. I've been trying to get a campaign going for quite some time, but but have several problems.
1. Lack of local/available players (we're all married with kids, jobs, etc.)
2. I can't resist the urge to tinker with ant set of rules
3. It is so easily customizable, I have trouble narrowing the options and focus of my game

The biggest problem for me its the generic nature of magic/psionics. It is very customizable, but if you don't want to use the generic powers as is, its going to take some work. And that's where my inability to narrow my focus becomes a problem.

Having said that, I've followed what you've done with your Fantasy Concepts project and this probably wouldn't be a the hurdle for you that it is for me.

shouit · Nov 10, 2007

Played but a little bit, aka one offs.

I am working on a fantasy game for SW for a bit now, utilizing the Shaintar setting.

http://talisman-studios.com/index.php?blog=11

my idea is for a long term game for my wife and friends. I think it would be a great system for long term, cause even if you don't have a large amount of time to setup, you still can run it.

scourger · Nov 11, 2007

I ran one Savage Worlds campaign after trying the test drive free adventure. It was Tour of Darkness. It lasted for 26 sessions over the course of about a year, which is just about the limit for my attention to any one game at a time. It was darn near perfect for me. I planned a beginning and an end, and it lasted just about the right length of time. The heroes figured out much of what was happening to & around them but some things remained a mystery. I think we only had 2 replacement characters, although one guy lost use of an arm and many extras fell. Most importantly, it was about 90% less work for me to run as compared to d20. I was able to focus my time much more on the story.

The only thing I saw was that the players were only really scared of RPGs toward the end. They loved it though. Apparently being able to tear through dozens of mooks is part of the fun of being legendary rank (epic level). If you want to slow down advancement, then take away the bennies for XP conversion rule (which is out of the Explorer's Edition, I think). That keeps the heroes from becoming too powerful too fast, but players love the little increases that come faster than leveling-up in d20.

I think Savage Worlds is perfectly capable for a long-term campaign. I'm running a bonus session of Necropolis next week that I hope will turn into another campaign. I'll probably keep the bennies-to-XP rule and add the new melee damage rules from Deadlands Reloaded that are in Explorer's Edition.

Baumi · Nov 11, 2007

I GM a 50 Fathoms Campaign which run already for two years and will take another half to finish and it works wonderfully. One Character is Legendary and another one will be soon, but while Legendary is the highest Rank, the Charakters are still playable/killable.

There are also some Characters with only half that XP and they can still fight belongside the high Powered ones and have their own important skills/powers to be not overshadowed by the Legendaries, so the powercurve is not too steep.

Turanil · Nov 11, 2007

Most importantly, it was about 90% less work for me to run as compared to d20. I was able to focus my time much more on the story.

There are also some Characters with only half that XP and they can still fight belongside the high Powered ones and have their own important skills/powers to be not overshadowed by the Legendaries, so the powercurve is not too steep.

Great selling points!

That said, what's the main difference between SW Revised edition and SW Explorer's Edition? (is it worth buying it if I already own the Revised Edition?)