Pathfinder for Savage Worlds opinions

[Hex08]

My copy of Pathfinder for Savage Worlds showed up the other day and I have slowly been flipping through it. So far the only bit I feel unsure about is the Conviction mechanic but I haven't read the entire thing yet so I am withholding judgment on the game until I finish reading it. As a fan of both Pathfinder and Savage Worlds I generally like what I am seeing although it took a while for it to sink in that the classes from Pathfinder were actually edges in Savage Worlds. I'm curious what others think about the game.

 

[Retreater]

Honestly, I've had it over a week and haven't broken the shrink wrap yet. I am curious to see what others think of the system, but I'm delaying final judgment until I actually read it beyond skimming the PDFs.
After playing Savage Worlds (although not Savage Pathfinder) at GaryCon a couple months ago, I'm starting to come to the realization that I don't care for the system (even though I've purchased all of Pinnacle's SWADE Kickstarters). It's one of those systems where I have to look to other players and ask "did I hit? how much damage do I do? can you math this out for me?"

 

[MGibster]

After playing Savage Worlds (although not Savage Pathfinder) at GaryCon a couple months ago, I'm starting to come to the realization that I don't care for the system (even though I've purchased all of Pinnacle's SWADE Kickstarters). It's one of those systems where I have to look to other players and ask "did I hit? how much damage do I do? can you math this out for me?"

My group has been using SW off an on for seven years now and a few of my players still ask those basic questions. "Do I roll my Wild Die with that?"

 

[Retreater]

My group has been using SW off an on for seven years now and a few of my players still ask those basic questions. "Do I roll my Wild Die with that?"

Yeah. I don't consider myself a gaming genius, but I do put a fair bit of work in understanding the systems I play (and GM). I'm not a slouch, and I obviously spend a lot of time gaming and thinking about gaming as a hobby (evidenced by being on this site). There's some disconnect between me and Savage Worlds. I've run numerous iterations of the d20 system, old school editions of D&D, percentage based games like Call of Cthulhu, Free League's Year Zero games, PbtA, Warhammer (though that one still sort of trips me up at times), and even GURPS - yet there's something that keeps tripping me up about Savage Worlds. While there's a combination of non-unified mechanics and grafted-on subsystems that befuddle me a bit from a standpoint of modern game design, I think the main thing that gets me is the math. It's not merely adding bonuses - it's rolling multiple dice, adding bonuses, subtracting penalties, dividing by different numbers, comparing and contrasting those based on the size of the enemy or its average ability die, etc. Then you get into the equipment numbers of adjusting your character's Toughness, subtracting the Armor Piercing of the weapons, etc. Then you roll again to dodge, soak the damage, shrug it off with metacurrency, etc. It just feels needlessly complex for a game that touts itself as being fast-paced and fun.
I've yet to have a fast-paced or fun experience with Savage Worlds, and I've been trying it for over a decade.

 

[UnplayedRanger]

I absolutely love it! If Savage Worlds is peanut butter, and Pathfinder is chocolate, then Savage Pathfinder is a really tasty treat. I really like Golarion as a fantasy setting, and Savage Worlds as a rule system so this product was practically made for me specifically.

 

[danir]

I have played with my regular groups and with my kids - and it worked great.
It really gives the feel of D&D tropes but using fast and fun ruleset.

 

[MGibster]

It's not merely adding bonuses - it's rolling multiple dice, adding bonuses, subtracting penalties, dividing by different numbers, comparing and contrasting those based on the size of the enemy or its average ability die, etc.

The most trouble I've with the bonuses in any version of SW was running Rifts. Despite spending plenty on the Rifts kickstarter, I ran one campaign and decided never again. It has many of the same problems Palladium's Rifts does, though I'd drill a hole in my head before using Palladium rules again. It doesn't help that SW is terrible for vehicle combat the distances for weapons and speed just doesn't scale well at all.

 

[Hex08]

While there's a combination of non-unified mechanics and grafted-on subsystems that befuddle me a bit from a standpoint of modern game design, I think the main thing that gets me is the math. It's not merely adding bonuses - it's rolling multiple dice, adding bonuses, subtracting penalties, dividing by different numbers, comparing and contrasting those based on the size of the enemy or its average ability die, etc. Then you get into the equipment numbers of adjusting your character's Toughness, subtracting the Armor Piercing of the weapons, etc. Then you roll again to dodge, soak the damage, shrug it off with metacurrency, etc. It just feels needlessly complex for a game that touts itself as being fast-paced and fun.

I will certainly agree that the subsystems, like the chase system, drive me nuts. As for the rest, I feel like we are playing different versions of the same game, or maybe just using different settings with customized rules because I don't feel like the system is that complex. Some versions of D&D are far worse. Or maybe I am playing it wrong, my 53-year-old brain isn't quite as good as it was in years past

 

[Retreater]

I will certainly agree that the subsystems, like the chase system, drive me nuts. As for the rest, I feel like we are playing different versions of the same game, or maybe just using different settings with customized rules because I don't feel like the system is that complex. Some versions of D&D are far worse. Or maybe I am playing it wrong, my 53-year-old brain isn't quite as good as it was in years past

It could be that my experience with Savage Worlds is mostly Rifts, and it's permanently jumbled my brain into not understanding the system as a whole?
Rifts is the one Savage setting that appeals to me the most. I don't care about cowboys, and the core game is too bland to interest me. I backed Holler since that one is of regional interest to me (living in Kentucky). The Pathfinder setting is interesting just to see if they can apply the system to something that already makes sense to me (the d20 system), and can I extrapolate how this rules system is supposed to function?
But Savage Rifts, yeah, that's mostly unplayable to my mind. I'd say that Savage Rifts is more complex than any edition of D&D I've played.

 

[Hex08]

It could be that my experience with Savage Worlds is mostly Rifts, and it's permanently jumbled my brain into not understanding the system as a whole?
Rifts is the one Savage setting that appeals to me the most. I don't care about cowboys, and the core game is too bland to interest me. I backed Holler since that one is of regional interest to me (living in Kentucky). The Pathfinder setting is interesting just to see if they can apply the system to something that already makes sense to me (the d20 system), and can I extrapolate how this rules system is supposed to function?
But Savage Rifts, yeah, that's mostly unplayable to my mind. I'd say that Savage Rifts is more complex than any edition of D&D I've played.

I've never played any version of Rifts, including the Savage Worlds on so that might be it. I always thought is sounded like a cool setting though.