Sell me on Savage Worlds

MGibster said:

Do I get a bonus action?"

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Me (as DM, knowing the answer): I don't know; do you?

Use management techniques. Praise them when they get it right, and dont be afraid to punish them slightly when they get it wrong.

I have a Rogue player that constantly asks me how to get sneak attack, and how to use cunning action. I've explained to her a dozen times now. I then got tired of it, and moved to saying nothing, waiting for her to tell me. If she forgets to use either now I don't remind her anymore (other than a raised eyebrow look), or if she does it wrong (applying sneak attack when the target is not eligible for example) I'll give her a sharp 'no' or if she does it twice, have her attack suddenly miss altogether.

Im OK with teaching the game. Im not OK with casual gamers that CBF knowing the basic rules of the game that they're playing, and making me constantly repeat myself.

MGibster said:

I have players ask me if they need to roll a Wild Die when I ask them to make a Vigor check.

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Me (as DM): We've gone through this before, and it's in the rulebook which you need to read, and should have read already. The answer is 'Yes'. Now hand me one of your Bennies for asking a question you already know the answer to.

Blue said:

The chess timer has nothing to do with your earlier point about reactions eliminating that time between actions as a critical metric for keeping players engaged during combat.

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Wasnt me that that said that mate.

Flamestrike said:

Me (as DM, knowing the answer): I don't know; do you?

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Yeah, I'm going to have to have a talk with my players the next time I'm running a game. I don't mind if they have questions from time-to-time but when they don't know the basics of a game we've played for years it's a little disheartening.

Super Late post, but I didn't want to start a new one.

I love the system. I appreciate the quick encounter options. I like the adaptability between genres, and I have never had issues with that. I find the initiative system is fun, and prefer the bennie system greatly. I usually have an easy time converting D&D or other adventures for my table.

Combat is fun, and potential risks no matter what. It isn't easy for the kobold foot soldier to kill the experienced veteran hero, but a lucky arrow is a lucky arrow. It can go both ways. An adventurer's lucky arrow took out a boss in one hit. There are edges and things that can be used to prevent these types of things from happening if it's necessary, but I have found that with the potential of this existing, my gaming group takes combat seriously. They know that there is a real risk, and will investigate other options some of the time.

Hindrances alone generate a lot of great roleplay.

Critical failures are a blast, and also a balance to the use of bennies.

I also use an adventure deck, which has cards that can affect combat or something in the campaign. Great fun and keeps me, the GM, on my toes. Most cards usually have a benefit and a cost. One I remember is that a PC played the love interest card on a pretty minor enemy character that pretended to be an ally in the first adventure of a long campaign. The character ended up becoming a major part of the rest of the campaign until they were finally killed once the criminal organization figured it out. It was hilarious because the NPC only loved one of the party and was still bitter and an enemy to the rest of the party. Fun gaming. I sometimes don't allow certain cards if they would completely ruin the campaign.

My only con is that when moving from one setting to another, some players are company with the hindrances, edges, and skills that they don't branch out for ones that might enhance their enjoyment of a new system. I was wondering if anyone else encountered this or had any suggestions?

Baron Von Mandrick said:

My only con is that when moving from one setting to another, some players are company with the hindrances, edges, and skills that they don't branch out for ones that might enhance their enjoyment of a new system. I was wondering if anyone else encountered this or had any suggestions?

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I try not to worry about this stuff. Players get to decide what they play, and if some prefer a "comfort build" all the time, that is fine by me.

But if you want to encourage them to branch out, tie some edges and hinderances directly to the setting and make them more optimal or at least interesting choices.

Reynard said:

I try not to worry about this stuff. Players get to decide what they play, and if some prefer a "comfort build" all the time, that is fine by me.

But if you want to encourage them to branch out, tie some edges and hinderances directly to the setting and make them more optimal or at least interesting choices.

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I agree. It's not a huge issue at all. I have fun no matter what. The only reason I mention it at all is that I also find new ways of problem-solving and variables exciting. It is literally the only con I find with the game, though the issue doesn't really have to be specific to this system. I just never encountered it in other systems,

Baron Von Mandrick said:

I agree. It's not a huge issue at all. I have fun no matter what. The only reason I mention it at all is that I also find new ways of problem-solving and variables exciting. It is literally the only con I find with the game, though the issue doesn't really have to be specific to this system. I just never encountered it in other systems,

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The easiest way to encourage players to try different solutions is to present them with novel problems. After they are done smashing at the problem with the old tools, they will (usually) try new things.

I resigned from the official licensees program.

Baron Von Mandrick said:

I agree. It's not a huge issue at all. I have fun no matter what. The only reason I mention it at all is that I also find new ways of problem-solving and variables exciting. It is literally the only con I find with the game, though the issue doesn't really have to be specific to this system. I just never encountered it in other systems,

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I kind of think the best cure for this is settings that have very flavourful and genre-specific edges & hinderances.

Beasts & Barbarians, Street Wolves, Wiseguys all have very cool edges & hinderances that can tempt players away from doing the same thing each game

I’m convinced that Sprawlrunners is the best way to play Shadowrun. Interface Zero if you want to go the crunchier implementation route also works quite well.

Savage Pathfinder might be my favorite way to handle heroic fantasy these days (as I run a PF1 game…) but be aware that characters for that game (and Savage Rifts) are more powerful than baseline Savage Worlds characters.

I find the system fast to resolve at the table and intuitive. It’s easy to as lib stats and abilities if you want to but also have a lot of resources available if you want a more traditional prep and play cycle.

Many of setting are quite creative and if there’s something you want you can frequently find it. There’s even a Paranoia hack called Zeta Complex.

It’s generally pretty easy to have SW into whatever source material you are trying to emulate.

It doesn’t do gritty games particularly well. There are some options you can turn on that increase the difficulty and lethality threshold but at heart it’s still a pulpy action game.

My most successful campaign of the last 5 years was a Savage Worlds hack of Nights Black Agents. Players and I had a ton of fun.