Tell me about Savage Worlds

Alright, for quite a while I've been hearing a lot of people talk about how great Savage Worlds is. I'm curious about it because I'm tired of 4E. Everything takes too long. Combat, turns, everything.

So I'm asking for some info on Savage Worlds. Just how Fast and Furious is it? Could it be used for a lunchtime campaign? How many encounters could I fit in in an hour?

What are the strong points and weak points of the system?
Thanks in advance.
Josh

Savage Worlds is a strange beast. It shouldn't work but its just fun. I wouldn't say its particularly fast but it is as fast or faster than D&D at most things. It is however furious fun. It really does a great job for action hero games. Step outside that circle and it starts falling apart but if you want Conan, Indiana Jones, Cronicles of Riddick, etc it will fit the bill.

Savage Worlds is great fun. Most of their settings include a plot point campaign which makes it easy. We're currently playing Realms of Cthulhu, and I have run Tour of Darkness and Necropolis. As a DM, it reduced my prep time about 90% as compared to d20. So, yes, I'd say you could definitely run it at lunchtime. I would aim for 1 encounter for the hour and just have fun with it.

Here is a free test drive:

http://www.peginc.com/Downloads/SWEX/TD06.pdf

jcayer said:

Alright, for quite a while I've been hearing a lot of people talk about how great Savage Worlds is. I'm curious about it because I'm tired of 4E. Everything takes too long. Combat, turns, everything.

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Then Savage Worlds will probably help. It's a pretty slick-playing system, where resolving anything involving a dice roll doesn't usually take more than a few seconds (roll, possibly reroll, add as needed).

In an hour, you can run one, maybe two, combats with a bit of RP between. In my experience, role-playing and player dithering (whether they chase red herrings, chat out-of-game, or just can't decide what to do) sucks up about 30-70% of any given game session, preventing plot advancement.
That wide variance is due to specific individuals, specific combinations, and overall group focus. Average has been about 45%.

Strengths:

• Fast resolution system. Almost everything has a TN of 4; roll the di(c)e, apply modifiers, compare to TN, done.
• Heroically capable characters are versatile, and capable, even at low levels of skill.
• Heroes are way cooler than Extras.
• It's always dangerous when the other guy gets to attack back.
• Unpredictable initiative. Even the Quickest villain can pull a lot of low cards, and the slowest hero can go first.
• GM control of the action dial. If you throw bennies around like candy on Halloween then your games will be Wahoo!; if you are stingy like Scrooge then your games will be very gritty.
• Highly adaptable powers system. Add trappings, maybe tweak mechanics, and you've got whole new spells and traditions that all resolve basically the same way.
• At least as fast-playing as 3.X D&D, usually a good bit faster and a lot less complex without being boring.
• Built-in Mass Combat rules that are interesting, representative, fast-playing, and don't suck.

Weaknesses:

• Starting characters are starting characters, with just enough training to do their job, not enough to be awesome. They rely on their heroic spark (a.k.a. Wild Die) to see them through.
• Heroically capable characters are versatile, and capable, even at low levels of skill.
• It's always dangerous when the other guy gets to attack back.
• Unpredictable initiative. Even the Quickest villain can pull a lot of low cards, and the slowest hero can go first.
• Bland powers list. Because you have to add your own flavor text, there's little there to inspire people. Some folks love the blank canvas, others only see wasted potential for someone else's work.
• Doesn't extent past human-level very well. It does Low to Mid fantasy, and even Wushu, but stops short of really handling high power (super heroes, high-level D&D style fantasy, etc.) genres. Even Cybernetics can be tough to do well.
• All-but demands minis and a battle map (though you don't need grid/hex, you can just use a tape measure). You can do it in a more narrative style, but it doesn't come easily.

Good luck.

jcayer said:

So I'm asking for some info on Savage Worlds. Just how Fast and Furious is it? Could it be used for a lunchtime campaign? How many encounters could I fit in in an hour?

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That's a pretty vague question. How long is your lunch? :30? :45? 1:30?
Are you talking strictly a combat encounter, or is the RPing involved? How much?
How many players are we talking?
How familiar are they with SW?

If it helps, I've routinely run combat encounters with 9+ players against twice or sometimes three times as many opponents and they usually play out in a little over an hour. And these are kids with various levels of familiarity with SW and gaming and general. Some still have to be told which dice to roll.

What are the strong points and weak points of the system?

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Strong points:
Easy system to master.
Very little book keeping.
Easy to upgrade/downgrade encounter power to match the group's capabilities.
The GAME is FUN! That is the game itself, not the campaign. Exploding dice, Jokers, Bennies, it all adds up to a fun experience.
The core book is $10 and can handle all but a few genres.
Great creative community.
Broad support from Pinnacle and third-party publishers.

Weak Points:
Game has an established flavor. If you don't like it, there's not much you can do to change it.
Doesn't support broad character concepts, especially if started at Novice.
Shaken/Wound system can take some getting used too.
High Toughness critters can be really annoying.

I definitely suggest you give it a whirl. Resist the urge to house rule anything until you've played a few sessions. You may find what appear to be problems at first (card based initiative, no hit points, etc) turn out to be features in play.

Tom

Sorry, I should have given some more info.
Lunch is 30-60 minutes. We're all salary, so that helps with some flexibility.
To my knowledge, no one has played Savage Worlds. I have no idea how many people would be interested, but I would probably keep it to 5 max players. I'm hoping someone else would DM, but I would if it came down to that.

I have a couple guys I know would join. One from my current 4e campaign who grew up on AD&D and 2nd edition. Another who plays a 3.5 campaign. I suspect I would have little trouble recruiting a few others(software development company).

I think to start, it would probably end up being combat heavy as we learn the system, see if it is viable as a lunchtime activity, etc.

Hmmm...30 to 60 minutes? I might go with something even lighter like perhaps Barbarians of Lemuria or even Risus if I was looking at that sort of timeframe. You can certainly do it with SW, however. My guess is that if you are pushing the "hot new game", you are the one who will end up running it, but I could be wrong.

Since all of your potential players are old hats at DnD, I might recommend starting with something else. The Eye of Kilquato is a fantastic starting adventure for SW. It's 1930's pulp and covers all the basics: big slugfests, fire fights, and chases. Plus you've got nazis and weird forgotten tribes. How can you go wrong.

You might also do well to try out the Rippers game setting. The adventure generator included could keep you busy for years, plus you have a ready made campaign all ready to go. It isn't fantasy, but Victorian-era monster hunting with sorcery and weird science doesn't range too far out of that comfort zone.

Tom

BluSponge said:

The Eye of Kilquato is a fantastic starting adventure for SW. It's 1930's pulp and covers all the basics: big slugfests, fire fights, and chases. Plus you've got nazis and weird forgotten tribes. How can you go wrong.

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I've run 2 sessions of EOK when we're in between campaigns (usually when one person finishes, and the next guy hasn't quite got his stuff ready). It's very easy to pick up and run with minimal prep, and everyone enjoyed the game.

Savage Worlds kinda sucks honestly. I probably one of the worst systems Ive ever played.
With that being said I think if you are a good enough DM you can make it work.
The game can work if you are allowing non-setting specific edges to be used.
Im playing in a deadlands campaign right now thats been going on for nearly three years off and on. And the game simply doesnt work. Unless you are a character that uses shooting.
Ive found that the biggest weakness of the game is that it is focused on ONE type of character. Especially if you are only allowing a very limited set of books.
I actually find combat takes longer than d20. Yesterdays game for instance took over two hours. Ive never had a combat take longer than 45 minutes in any system.
In my honest opinion it seems to be at its core a light game, thats not good at lasting longer than a few hours tops, and is made for those new to Role playing games. Its really not for advanced players, who will get frustrated at the lack of depth and customization.

I almost started a thread just like this today lol.