Savage Worlds - New player, comments and questions

[AwesomeOpossum74]

Hi all! I'm old-new here (been a member for a long time, but only posted a couple of times about unrelated games).

I regularly play Pathfinder with my group for 5 years, as a player, not a DM.

With my kids, I've tried to play Pathfinder, and previously DnD 3.5, that all ended in them being bored and confused by all the rules and book lookups, and I was frustrated as a DM trying to make time for prep. Instead, we've spent our game time playing other board games like Munchkin, Catan and Dungeon that can be fully played in a single game session.

My kids, a little older now, are interested in trying RPGs again, but want a simpler system. I bought Savage Worlds Explorers Edition some time ago, and am just now getting to learn the system. After a couple days of reading and watching tutorials, I think I'm getting a fair handle on the rules. My son and I were able to build his first character in 45 minutes! Then we were able to get a little playtime in before dinner, exploring a hospital his character was admitted to after a job accident, and which now appears to be abandoned by the staff (so far). He's really enjoying it. So far he's pushed an old-timer around on a gurney, armed himself with a computer monitor found the key card to the psych ward from a dead administrator, accidentally released a psych patient, and encountered a Hannibal Lector type npc.

When we got to the first combat, I called end of session for more studying of the combat system, as it's not all clear yet. But we're getting there!

What I'm enjoying so far, and I think this is obvious, is the relative simplicity of the SW game system. It's a lot different in concept from DnD/PF, so there's a learning curve.

I'm already seeing the multiple genre options and how adaptable the system appears to be. My son has always liked zombies and westerns. I like fantasy, and have wanted to get into sci-fi, and it's nice to find a system that easily adapts.

Questions for now:

• when rolling a die and a wild die, if you roll both at max value (e.g. 4 on a d4, and 6 on the wild d6), do you just ignore the d4 and use the d6, or does the d4 play any role at this point?
• I have the Deluxe Explorer edition. Is it worth it to get the Adventurer edition? If I want to buy a companion (sci-fi, horror) book, do I need to be concerned which core edition I'm using?

 

[Zadmar]

when rolling a die and a wild die, if you roll both at max value (e.g. 4 on a d4, and 6 on the wild d6), do you just ignore the d4 and use the d6, or does the d4 play any role at this point?

If both dice ace, you keep rolling both, then use whichever had the highest result. For example the d4 might roll 4+4+3 (11) while the d6 might roll 6+3 (9), so then you'd keep the highest result (11) and ignore the lower result.

I have the Deluxe Explorer edition. Is it worth it to get the Adventurer edition? If I want to buy a companion (sci-fi, horror) book, do I need to be concerned which core edition I'm using?

Deluxe is a perfectly good system, but future publications will be for the Adventurers Edition, so most people are moving to the newer rules. If you're playing with your kids then there's certainly no rush to update, particularly if you're happy with the rules you're using. But if you want to play with other people, or use the latest settings, you're probably better off switching now rather than having to relearn the rules later.

Note that the current companions (and most settings) are for the Deluxe edition, but they're due to be updated in the near future.

 

[AwesomeOpossum74]

@Zadmar
Thank you for clearing that up. The dice rules make a lot more sense now.

 

[innerdude]

I'd say on the whole, Adventure Edition is overall better than prior versions, though I'd say the best parts of Savage Worlds AE (or SWADE as it's often abbreviated) are in the magic rules.

By far the best magic rules of the 3 editions I've played (Explorer's Edition, Deluxe, AE), and it's not even close.

The rest of the system in SWADE is somewhat sixes for me. They improved a few things, made a few changes I was kind of "meh" about, but overall it's still Savage Worlds, which means it's awesome.

 

[Zadmar]

Interestingly, the new magic rules are one of the things I dislike the most about SWADE!

The changes are extensive though, so it's inevitable that most people will find some things they like and some things they dislike.

 

[Aldarc]

For someone with only a loose familiarity with the finer rules of SW, what are the differences in magic rules between editions?

 

[Zadmar]

The main change to the magic system lies in the trappings. In SWEX (which is when I started) trappings were primarily descriptive (e.g., calling your blast power "fireball"), but the Fantasy Companion expanded them with new rules and examples, allowing the mechanics of the powers to be adjusted as well.

Those trapping rules were incorporated into the next edition of the rules (SWD) and fleshed out with even more extensive examples. The book described them as "the heart and soul of the powers system". Newcomers to Savage Worlds would sometimes complain about only having a small list of bland powers, and the standard response was to explain how those powers were just starting templates, that the GM or even players could use them to create almost any spell they wanted. I created a free fan splat here with some examples (each with a design note) if you're interested.

In SWADE, the trappings can no longer change the mechanics, they're just descriptive. I mean sure, they still interact with the target's vulnerabilities (e.g., a creature with resistance to fire will suffer less damage from a fireball), but the mechanics of the power itself no longer change. Instead, there's now a series of generic modifiers that can be applied to any power on the fly.

This obviously makes spellcasters much more versatile (which is something many players like), but it also makes them much more generic -- if two spellcasters have the same power, they will both be able to use it in exactly the same way.

Aside from that, the Arcane Backgrounds have been streamlined and are now almost identical. In SWD, there were distinct mechanical differences between Weird Science, Miracles, Magic, Super Powers, etc. In SWADE, most of the differences have been dropped.

There are other changes as well, many of which have made Arcane Backgrounds even stronger (and they were already a strong choice) -- Backlash is now very rare, durations are longer, Power Points are recovered much faster, you can spend a Benny to instantly recover 5 Power Points, and so on. You can also take multiple Arcane Backgrounds now, which is something explicitly prohibited in the old edition.

Some of the overpowered powers from SWD (like Quickness) have been nerfed, but others are now stronger (particularly now that you can repeat actions, allowing players to cast up to three spells per round).