Grade the Savage Worlds System

[Umbran]

There is no middle ground, only edges.

Something like that, yeah. Like a little freakin' nuance is too much to ask.

 

[CleverNickName]

For pulpy action adventure in any genre without a lot of headaches, it can't be beat.

I love Savage Worlds. It’s my system-of-choice personally. At its heart it is a pulp action game, and then you can layer on top different flavours of pulp action

It's a feature for me, too, but it definitely means that this otherwise-generic system is only generic for certain styles of play. That's fine for me because I like pulpy action..

Speaking of nuance, I've noticed the same word keeps coming up in the comments about Savage Worlds: "pulpy."

I'm familiar with pulp paper: an inexpensive and low-quality paper used by some publishing houses to turn out high volumes of inexpensive books at a relatively low cost. And I'm familiar with pulp novels: cheap and often seedy books that were published quickly and sold cheaply, and were so named because they were usually printed on that aforementioned "pulp" paper. And the dictionary defines pulpy as "pertaining to, characteristic of, or resembling magazines or books considered pulp; sensationalistic; trashy."

None of these sound like good things, but the context is always positive. "I love this system, it's so pulpy!" I feel like I'm missing a bit of nuance here, because when I think back to all of the pulp novels I've read, they are usually...bad. Like, really bad. Intentionally bad. But clearly, 'pulpy' is a good thing in this context...

 

[Reynard]

Speaking of nuance, I've noticed the same word keeps coming up in the comments about Savage Worlds: "pulpy."

I'm familiar with pulp paper: an inexpensive and low-quality paper used by some publishing houses to turn out high volumes of inexpensive books at a relatively low cost. And I'm familiar with pulp novels: cheap and often seedy books that were published quickly and sold cheaply, and were so named because they were usually printed on that aforementioned "pulp" paper. And the dictionary defines pulpy as "pertaining to, characteristic of, or resembling magazines or books considered pulp; sensationalistic; trashy."

None of these sound like good things, but the context is always positive. "I love this system, it's so pulpy!" I feel like I'm missing a bit of nuance here, because when I think back to all of the pulp novels I've read, they are usually...bad. Like, really bad. Intentionally bad. But clearly, 'pulpy' is a good thing in this context...

Pulp stories weren't just sensationalistic and trashy. That's a pretty pejorative description. they were high on action and low on nuance. Star Wars is pulpy. Indiana Jones is pulpy.

 

[CleverNickName]

Pulp stories weren't just sensationalistic and trashy. That's a pretty pejorative description. they were high on action and low on nuance. Star Wars is pulpy. Indiana Jones is pulpy.

I don't disagree, but...that definition came directly from the dictionary, which suggests it is most often used in a pejorative manner. I think it's meant to be a pejorative term. Which is why I thought it was a little jarring to see it used in a positive context.

 

[Reynard]

I don't disagree, but...that definition came directly from the dictionary, which suggests it is most often used in a pejorative manner. I think it's meant to be a pejorative term. Which is why I thought it was a little jarring to see it used in a positive context.

The dictionary is almost always wrong about jargon and niche language use.

 

[CleverNickName]

The dictionary is almost always wrong about jargon and niche language use.

I'm really not trying to argue with the dictionary. I'm just wondering if "pulpy" is the right word to use when describing Savage Worlds: it is almost always associated with things that are cheap, poorly-made, or low-quality, especially things that are published, and I find that to be completely opposite of Savage Worlds.

 

[Reynard]

I'm really not trying to argue with the dictionary. I'm just wondering if "pulpy" is the right word to use, when describing Savage Worlds.

I mean, we should all argue with the dictionary. it isn't a law. And since Pinnacle describes their game as pulpy, I don't think we can call them wrong. I'm honestly surprised this is the first time you have ever seen the term used this way.-- especially since the RPG space uses it almost exclusively to mean high action adventure and/or noir (which is why Eberron is also self described as pulpy).

 

[CleverNickName]

I mean, we should all argue with the dictionary. it isn't a law. And since Pinnacle describes their game as pulpy, I don't think we can call them wrong.

Well, let me know when the dictionary changes its mind. I'm trying to move the discussion away from the dictionary and back to Savage Worlds, and how it is described. (Especially since I just learned that Pinnacle describes their own game as 'pulpy,' which seems like an odd choice for a publisher to make about their own products!) What makes it 'pulpy'? When and how is 'pulpy' a good thing?

I'm honestly surprised this is the first time you have ever seen the term used this way.-- especially since the RPG space uses it almost exclusively to mean high action adventure and/or noir (which is why Eberron is also self described as pulpy).

I haven't heard Eberron described as "pulpy" before...I would disagree with that assessment also, because it's high-quality stuff. Could it be that some people are using "pulpy" to describe something that is unsorted and random, or maybe something that is deliberately written to defy genre and categorization? Because in Eberron, I can kind of see it: "No, we're not high fantasy, we also have robots! but we're not sci-fi, we also have magic! but we're not sword-and-sorcery, because we also have vampires! but we're not..." Maybe that's the Savage Worlds angle?

 

[Reynard]

Well, let me know when the dictionary changes its mind. I'm trying to move the discussion away from the dictionary and back to Savage Worlds, and how it is described. (Especially since I just learned that Pinnacle describes their own game as 'pulpy,' which seems like an odd choice for a publisher to make about their own products!) What makes it "pulpy" to you, and how is that considered a "good thing" for you?


I haven't heard Eberron described as "pulpy" before...I would also disagree with that assessment too, because it's high-quality stuff. Could it be that some people are using "pulpy" to describe something that is unsorted and random, or maybe something that is deliberately written to defy genre and categorization? Because in Eberron, I can kind of see it: "No, we're not high fantasy, we also have robots! but we're not sci-fi, we also have magic! but we're not sword-and-sorcery, because we also have vampires! but we're not..." Maybe that's the Savage Worlds angle?

No. I have said it a couple times now. It means high on action and less focused on complexities of plot and character. It is Star Wars and Indiana Jones and The Maltese Falcon and Green Hornet.

 

[CleverNickName]

No. I have said it a couple times now. It means high on action and less focused on complexities of plot and character. It is Star Wars and Indiana Jones and The Maltese Falcon and Green Hornet.

In that case, I'm not sure I would describe Star Wars or Eberron as 'pulp,' they have some fairly complex plots and factions. I can see Green Hornet, though.