As is my tradition, each time a game ends, I try to learn from it. This will be about my first foray into Pathfinder for Savage Worlds through a lengthy two-part session across a snowed-in Christmas Eve. The module discussed will be the conversion of the PF1 adventure Hollow's Last Hope (which came bundled with the Savage Pathfinder GM screen). Be aware there may be minor spoilers for that adventure.
About the Group and Selection of the Game
The group of players included my wife and my 19-year-old nephew, who has been playing TTRPGs for about 6 months with experience in D&D 5e and Old School Essentials. My wife had a fondness for Pathfinder 2E (her current favorite D&D-like system) as well as Savage Worlds by means of Savage Rifts (for which she enjoys the over-the-top power level). I had backed the huge boxed set and Rise of the Runelords Campaign on Kickstarter, but had barely opened the books in the months since. (Local in-person meta is "D&D 5e or nothing" and most of my online VTT groups have been down on Savage Worlds overall. So there's been little reason to look through it - that is until the weather got bad and I was on vacation.)
I wanted to try the pack-in adventure, because I didn't think it would be a good idea to cram a 6-part Adventure Path into a single Christmas break.
Preparation
Having the big boxed set meant that prep was going to be easy. I had the bennies, action card deck, power cards (though two sets would've been handy because the pre-gens had duplicated spells), pre-gens, and ammo trackers (used for power points). All we had to do was find miniatures, roll out the Chessex, select some dice, and we were on our way. My wife took the rogue and paladin, my nephew took the druid and animal companion, and I took the NPC cleric "healbot." We were on our way.
"Wait - Was That a Fight?" Speed Bump Battles
Once the action got started - and to be fair I glossed over most of the role-playing and exploration to get to the fighting because I know this crowd - the battles tended to go quickly. Most mooks were dispatched in a single turn. So most combats were over in a round or two. The players got the hang of the system quickly. (Afterwards, my nephew ranked the complexity as a step between OSE and 5e.)
In many cases combats would end before all 4 characters got a chance to act. Oh well, it's better than...
"OMG - This Battle Is Actually Impossible"
Tracking down the final McGuffin into the crypt of a challenging final boss, the party was completely overwhelmed. Sure, there were too many mooks (even considering I scaled back the number of opponents detailed in the adventure), but the main boss - I don't think he's able to be beaten. The Toughness was too high for anyone to wound him reliably, I had a stack of Bennies ready to Soak any wounds, and his attacks caused a bleeding effect death spiral that couldn't be stopped. In the end, I had to hand-wave the fight and had the boss parley with the group- because it was Christmas AND I was exhausted from running for close to 8 hours.
It's Like Comparing Oranges and Grapefruit
So would I run Savage Pathfinder again? Well, yeah - if my choices were Pathfinder 1e or Savage Pathfinder. Also if I were going to run a version of Savage, I'd probably choose this over Rifts - which confuses me with all the inflated numbers. Would I run an AP in Savage Pathfinder? Well, no.
Here's the problem with campaign play in a Savage game. It's too swingy. A combat can be a "speed bump" (which honestly, most of them are) OR a TPK. There is little room in between. Especially in a system like Pathfinder 1e where the real point is resource management. This type of play doesn't exist in Savage, where all power points are restored in an hour. That means you have all spells back, all Wounds (provided you can get to them soon enough). So if attrition is not the challenge, the only combat challenge you can find is something that kills characters.
And that's not good for a long-term campaign.
So, Did You Like It?
Savage Pathfinder might be my favorite way to play Savage. I like it as its own fantasy TTRPG, but I don't think it captures the feel of Pathfinder or D&D for me.
About the Group and Selection of the Game
The group of players included my wife and my 19-year-old nephew, who has been playing TTRPGs for about 6 months with experience in D&D 5e and Old School Essentials. My wife had a fondness for Pathfinder 2E (her current favorite D&D-like system) as well as Savage Worlds by means of Savage Rifts (for which she enjoys the over-the-top power level). I had backed the huge boxed set and Rise of the Runelords Campaign on Kickstarter, but had barely opened the books in the months since. (Local in-person meta is "D&D 5e or nothing" and most of my online VTT groups have been down on Savage Worlds overall. So there's been little reason to look through it - that is until the weather got bad and I was on vacation.)
I wanted to try the pack-in adventure, because I didn't think it would be a good idea to cram a 6-part Adventure Path into a single Christmas break.
Preparation
Having the big boxed set meant that prep was going to be easy. I had the bennies, action card deck, power cards (though two sets would've been handy because the pre-gens had duplicated spells), pre-gens, and ammo trackers (used for power points). All we had to do was find miniatures, roll out the Chessex, select some dice, and we were on our way. My wife took the rogue and paladin, my nephew took the druid and animal companion, and I took the NPC cleric "healbot." We were on our way.
"Wait - Was That a Fight?" Speed Bump Battles
Once the action got started - and to be fair I glossed over most of the role-playing and exploration to get to the fighting because I know this crowd - the battles tended to go quickly. Most mooks were dispatched in a single turn. So most combats were over in a round or two. The players got the hang of the system quickly. (Afterwards, my nephew ranked the complexity as a step between OSE and 5e.)
In many cases combats would end before all 4 characters got a chance to act. Oh well, it's better than...
"OMG - This Battle Is Actually Impossible"
Tracking down the final McGuffin into the crypt of a challenging final boss, the party was completely overwhelmed. Sure, there were too many mooks (even considering I scaled back the number of opponents detailed in the adventure), but the main boss - I don't think he's able to be beaten. The Toughness was too high for anyone to wound him reliably, I had a stack of Bennies ready to Soak any wounds, and his attacks caused a bleeding effect death spiral that couldn't be stopped. In the end, I had to hand-wave the fight and had the boss parley with the group- because it was Christmas AND I was exhausted from running for close to 8 hours.
It's Like Comparing Oranges and Grapefruit
So would I run Savage Pathfinder again? Well, yeah - if my choices were Pathfinder 1e or Savage Pathfinder. Also if I were going to run a version of Savage, I'd probably choose this over Rifts - which confuses me with all the inflated numbers. Would I run an AP in Savage Pathfinder? Well, no.
Here's the problem with campaign play in a Savage game. It's too swingy. A combat can be a "speed bump" (which honestly, most of them are) OR a TPK. There is little room in between. Especially in a system like Pathfinder 1e where the real point is resource management. This type of play doesn't exist in Savage, where all power points are restored in an hour. That means you have all spells back, all Wounds (provided you can get to them soon enough). So if attrition is not the challenge, the only combat challenge you can find is something that kills characters.
And that's not good for a long-term campaign.
So, Did You Like It?
Savage Pathfinder might be my favorite way to play Savage. I like it as its own fantasy TTRPG, but I don't think it captures the feel of Pathfinder or D&D for me.