Sell me on Savage Worlds

[Retreater]

Actually, we hardly ever use vehicles in Savage Worlds because, as one of my players put it, vehicle rules in that game are stupid. Vehicles often have stupid high Toughness scores and correspondingly stupid high armor. A Abrams tank has a 57 Toughness with 37 of that being armor. And a TOW missile has an armor piercing value of 34. With vehicles, it does get ridiculous calculating armor piercing.

Imagine GMing a massive combat in Savage Rifts with various vehicles, power armor, mechs, psychic powers, weapons of all kinds imaginable, etc, and you'll see the source of my frustrations.

 

[MGibster]

Imagine GMing a massive combat in Savage Rifts with various vehicles, power armor, mechs, psychic powers, weapons of all kinds imaginable, etc, and you'll see the source of my frustrations.

Imagine it? I lived it!

 

[aramis erak]

I know it's very popular and I'm considering the plunge with the new Savage Pathfinder Kickstarter.

So, tell me about Savage Worlds!

I've sat in on a few sessions; the swinginess was very evident.
The "fast" part was utterly absent from the group I was sitting in on... But they were having fun.

The big slowdown was the damage mechanics and the massive whif-factor.

One of these days, I'm going to actually run it.

IMO, the setting books are generally much more setting than rules, save for the genre books.

 

[MGibster]

I've sat in on a few sessions; the swinginess was very evident.
The "fast" part was utterly absent from the group I was sitting in on... But they were having fun.

Oh, yeah, it's swingy as all get out. I still remember a game of Deadlands where the PCs encountered a few alligators in what I thought would be an easy fight for them. It almost ended with a total party kill because my rolls were phenomenal with multiple raises to hit them and acing when rolling for damage. And in my sword & sandals campaign my big bad of the campaign was downed with one lucky shot to the face when the PC rolled 30+ damage on 2d6.

 

[Retreater]

Oh, yeah, it's swingy as all get out. I still remember a game of Deadlands where the PCs encountered a few alligators in what I thought would be an easy fight for them. It almost ended with a total party kill because my rolls were phenomenal with multiple raises to hit them and acing when rolling for damage. And in my sword & sandals campaign my big bad of the campaign was downed with one lucky shot to the face when the PC rolled 30+ damage on 2d6.

Egg-actly. It seems to work fine for gritty fantasy one shots. I think the odds of a character surviving more than one adventure in a Paizo style AP are basically nil unless there's a massive overhaul to SWADE.
That said, I'm still following the project and will likely back it once I see the Monster math.

 

[MGibster]

Egg-actly. It seems to work fine for gritty fantasy one shots. I think the odds of a character surviving more than one adventure in a Paizo style AP are basically nil unless there's a massive overhaul to SWADE.
That said, I'm still following the project and will likely back it once I see the Monster math.

At the start of every session for my Deadlands campaign, I played a little Power Point I created to mimic the opening credits to a 1960s western with Go, Go Cactus Man playing. I used quite a diverse array of photos to represent the PCs including the Iron Warrior (pro wrestler), Jackie Chan, and Dr. Steel. At the conclusion of the campaign, I set up an end credit sequence focusing on all the characters who had died set to Drop Kick me Jesus. Good times.

 

[Flamestrike]

Egg-actly. It seems to work fine for gritty fantasy one shots. I think the odds of a character surviving more than one adventure in a Paizo style AP are basically nil unless there's a massive overhaul to SWADE.

I've found that barring a TPK, as long as a party has access to the Healing power they're usually OK after most battles.

It's actually pretty hard to die in SWADE.

 

[innerdude]

My experience will definitely be colored by the fact that we've played Savage Worlds in the fantasy genre 95% of the time. To say nothing of the fact that whatever psychological makeup derives enjoyment from "gear porn", I'm on the far, far opposite end of spectrum.

To the point that I actually get annoyed when players start asking for "lewt upgrades."

Player: "Hey innerdude, can I upgrade my armor? Can't I go to the blacksmith and get some lighter / stronger armor? Can't I go to the magic shop and get some special Arrows of Whizbangyness?"

Me: ** rolls eyes ** "Whatever."

 

[Flamestrike]

My experience will definitely be colored by the fact that we've played Savage Worlds in the fantasy genre 95% of the time. To say nothing of the fact that whatever psychological makeup derives enjoyment from "gear porn", I'm on the far, far opposite end of spectrum.

Which is probably why SW's abstract base rules appealed to you.

Its in the equipment and gear section where the game radically shifts to simlationist mathy crunch.

 

[Thomas Shey]

I personally have to agree that, while you can make an argument that the overall options can be large in SW, in practice, most people aren't going to use a wide enough variety of them for keeping track to be much of an issue. I'm not qualified to judge what's "fast" to other people, but SW is probably the fastest game on a round-to-round basis I've played in decades. I also concur that the degree the gear distinctions are actually likely to be bothersome to someone largely turns on what kind of campaign it is.

On the other hand, if you're bothered by swinginess, I also absolutely concur its going to probably bother you; open ended die systems where comparison to a target number has strong effects (which is absolutely what SW is in combat) are intrinsically swingy.