Pinnacle's Savage Worlds

[Particle_Man]

Well I am intrigued! I will get the main book this halloween. What setting books are out so far? I think there is a dark fantasy/horror one and an pirates/undersea one. And I could bet there is a Deadlands-type one. Any others?

 

[mistergone]

A lot has been announced. They only have like 2 or 3 guys writing everything though, it seems. Check out www.savageheroes.com for a ton of fan made cool stuff. Also on the site is a Deadlands conversion that would hold just about anyone over until the official SW Dealands is released, plus there's a D20-to-SW conversion document.

 

[paulewaug]

So far there is Evernight, more of a campaign book/adventure than anything.
And 50 Fathoms.
50 Fathoms is not out yet but should be Very soon apparently.
I guess it is in Printer Hell?

To tell much about Evernight is to do some spoliage so

Spoiler

Evernight is a preplanned adventure set in what appears at first to be a more or less standard fantasy world. Although you may note there is gun powder technology so it's not exactly "medieval" You should be able to drop any and all refereance to that kind of tech and not even know it was there.
The way things "diverge" is the scripted adventure. The world is invaded, part of the invasion plan is to blacken out the sky, thus the "Evernight" aspect. So the characters are caught up in fighting off the invaders, discovering who they are and all that fun stuff. Now the invaders are not exactly "space men", they are actually inspired by some old events in the writers D&D campaign so they have some similarity to a certain existing D&D monster.

50 Fathoms has some good info here: http://www.peginc.com/OurGames/SW50Fathoms.htm
and especially here: http://www.peginc.com/Articles/50FStory--Thwaack.htm

Just released is a product by "12 to midnight" called "Last Rites" a modernesque horror investigation. Check here:http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=2137&PHPSESSID=506f6d5f14e1a550f6d1d88d84820665
also notice it was written for d20 as well. Not "dual stat" so much as pick the system you want it for and get that version.

One of the strengths of the system is that it is easier for the GM to get ready and run an adventure.
I also think that Reapers Warlord line is totally suited to this system.
IMO the style of the Warlord sculpts fits the feel of the system as fantasy particularly well.
Another nice thing is that the system never changes regardless of what genre you play.
If it is darkages just use the mediaval gear only, fantasy-allow the players to make pcs that can use magic, 18th century-no problem, pulp era-good to go, contemporary modern, strap on a Kevlar vest and grab aDesert Eagle.
Future- mmm can we use the Power Armor this time? It goes well with my Molecular sword and my Laser Pistol!

So it's all right there and no differance in how you actually play.
Unlike the D20 system where the rules themselves change.
I don't mean this as a diss on the d20 systems out there, I just am noting I have seen a few comments on how d20 modern is slightly different than D&D.
Granted it is and for a reason, but people have noted that they felt there are differances in rules that they felt did not need to work differently.

Well anyhow I hope his is useful info.
Maybe some day Sw will have as big a following as D&D and we can have a "Savage EnWorld!" hehe

 

[Mythtify]

Shane's philosophy is that you shouldn't need more than 2 books to play: Core Rules & Setting book; and that's if you're using a published setting. No splatbooks, no supplements.

This must be a new philosophy, seeing as I have over 50 Deadlands books......

 

[Wraith Form]

But was it furious?

Yeah, really.

If it ain't furious, I ain't buyin' it.

That said, I've read a number of "pulp" descriptors given to these rules. Would this game be good to run Call of Cthulhu? Or (heh heh heh, my secret weapon) Delta Green?

 

[paulewaug]

Well Wraith Form, it does have rules for Fear
so that is a good start
Characters Can (by the rules) eventually become Jaded but for CoC you could drop that option since the COC things are So freaking scarry and Mind Bending.
The effects of the Fright Table are:
Heart Attack, Phobia, Panicked, Shaken, Panicked (again, yes it appears twice as a result on the chart), The Mark of Fear (suffers a cosmetic alteration -such as white hair, eye twitch,...etc), and Adrenaline Surge ("fight response" takes over.)

I would say a good way to stay true to (my impression) of the CoC rules is to have the more truly Cthulhu-esque monsters cause a penaly to the Fright Reslut, or maybe better, "roll twice and take the worst result."

The characters in SW are basically "heroic types" rather than straight up "mundain." So they will genereally be at least a little more inclined to try to fight a big nasty, but as the Gm you can fix that by making the big nasty, Really Big and Really Nasty! The players get "bennies" but so do really nasty special crtitters. There is also a small chapter on tips to running various campaign types, including Horror.
Also I guess that the Weird Wars stuff is a bit more creepy and one they are working on called "The Nam" has been said to have some Chtulhu type stuff.

If you want to do creepy horror type stuff the adventure from 12 to Midnight called "Last Rites" referenced above may be a good place to start?

Oh and!!!!
Actually without having to buy anything you can test drive Sw for a creepy horror adventure by going to the "downloads" section http://www.peginc.com/Downloads/index.htm
and downloading:the Test Drive rules; and maybe pick up the Ranged Weapons pages with notes.

Then scroll down a bit to 'Adventures" and get:
The Eye of Kilquato (pulp era, July 1939, jungle adventure. It's it bit like a Doc Savage kind of thing- more adventure than horror, but a great demo adventure, and one I find can be used for Any setting rahter than just limited to the default pulp setting it is writen for. My players want to do it as an 18th Century setting.)
and
Shades of Terror ("This story takes place in 1920's Massachusetts" and refered to by them as "a Dungeon-crawl a la Lovecraft" it takes place in a asylum closed in 1911.)

 

[Theron]

Well I am intrigued! I will get the main book this halloween. What setting books are out so far? I think there is a dark fantasy/horror one and an pirates/undersea one. And I could bet there is a Deadlands-type one. Any others?

Actually, there's a full Deadlands conversion, authored by Shane, and available for free here.

 

[Wraith Form]

Err...

Umm...

BUMP.

 

[WSmith]

I would say the main rule book is deceptively dull. The rules hang together remarkably well, but it really takes some playing to see it. Individually, there are things that make the experienced player go "huh?", but in play it works beautifully.

Yeah, I said I would never post here again, but, I had too with SW being my 2nd favorite game, and all.

I have to agree. The book reads kind of wonky. You actually have to play this gem twice or three times for it to blossom. In all actuality, I don't even need to crack open the rulebook anymore. Once you know the rules, you know them, you don't need to keep looking up bonuses or skill or spell descriptions. I have found it to do every genre very well, except for classic fantasy (which I still use Classic D&D for. ) Overall, If I had to pick one RPG that was produced today to be last last RPG I played, this would be the one, (that might change once C&C comes out. )

 

[paulewaug]

Hey "W"....what's "C&C"?