Templeton580
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Savage Worlds Quibbles...am I correct?
- Thread starter Gundark
- Start date
WSmith
First Post
Aaron2 said:
During the original playtests, this was the way the game was designed (to have opposing rolls). The game designers and playtesters decided it was best to go with the static number for defense. It seemed to work better.
If you are interested, be sure to check out PEGs website. It is an excellent game. It needs some minor tweeking for fantasy, but does all other genres amazingly well.
Aaron2
Explorer
If it were a normal die rolling system, I'd easily be able to swap the numbers around. I did this in my Fantasy Hero game years ago and it was a great success. However, I'm not sure about how to calculate the fixed numbers in SW to keep the same probablities. Does anyone know where the 2+half Vigor comes from?WSmith said:
Isn't there a fantasy setting out already? Were there tweeks in that?
Aaron
Bretbo
First Post
Aaron2 said:
Yes...but no. The setting-type books for SW are a little different than what you may be used to from Wizards. Many of the Wizards books go into great detail about a given world, explaining the history and culture of various areas of a campaign world in extreme detail. The SW setting-type books really don't do this.
They are call Plot Point Books. There are, essentially, modules with some setting material. You might think this would'nt qualify as a true setting, but they work quite well. The idea is to give enough info for the GM to run the adventures and leave them free to develop the rest of the world as they see fit.
The two that have been released are:
50 Fathoms: a sea-based world where pirates and other folks while sailing on ships in the real world are brought to this world via, I believe, the Bermuda Triangle. You don't have to play from the "real world", but that is the background of how pirates got there.
Evernight: More classic fantasy, with a much darker edge. This one is more a straight module as opposed to a partial-setting book. Still looks interesting, though.
Well, after the past several years of running d20 nigh exclusively, I've run Savage Worlds (SW) for the past 3 weeks, two of which have been in the Tour of Darkness setting. I really like the game for that Viet Nam War setting, but I am not sure how it would play for a fantasy game. Much of the core material is for for pulp & war-gaming, but the revised book has many interesting options for classic swords & sorcery play. I would probably use it for a low (or rare) magic fnatasy game if I were to try fantasy. Otherwise, I think it would be more fun to bring some SW streamlined mechanics to d20 D&D (card-based initiative is easy, toughness & wounds are more difficult). For SW fantasy, I would either convert the module CN3 Conan Triumphant or pick up the Evernight sourcebook. If it's as good as ToD, then it would be a lot of fun to play.
Back on topic, here are my responses to the original points:
1. SW is complicated enough for my players to feel like they're playing RPG PCs, but simple enough for me to run it like a wargame. As a GM, I don't want to have to stat out all the bad guys or keep track of them individually in combat. But, the players are focused on just 1 character so can really keep tabs on all their gear, abilities, etc. It's streamlined, but there is plenty of detail there to keep it interesting.
2. In addition to the exploding dice, I'll add that a fighting raise lets you add 1d6 to damage rolls. So, a highly skilled fighter may do more damage than a very strong fighter. Also, it's a trait test for melee damage, so you can reroll with a bennie. To me, this is what keeps melee combat interesting versus missile combat.
3. For headshots, the -4 to hit is a big penalty. +4 damage is pretty big, too; but it's a head shot after all. My little min/maxers haven't been taking too many headshots, so it doesn't seem unbalanced.
Bottom line: give SW a try. I find it a very different style of play. I spend only 10%-25% of the time I usually spend preparing for a d20 game. Last time, I rolled the evening's adventure at the table and it was awesome. The game really can be fast, furious & fun.
Back on topic, here are my responses to the original points:
1. SW is complicated enough for my players to feel like they're playing RPG PCs, but simple enough for me to run it like a wargame. As a GM, I don't want to have to stat out all the bad guys or keep track of them individually in combat. But, the players are focused on just 1 character so can really keep tabs on all their gear, abilities, etc. It's streamlined, but there is plenty of detail there to keep it interesting.
2. In addition to the exploding dice, I'll add that a fighting raise lets you add 1d6 to damage rolls. So, a highly skilled fighter may do more damage than a very strong fighter. Also, it's a trait test for melee damage, so you can reroll with a bennie. To me, this is what keeps melee combat interesting versus missile combat.
3. For headshots, the -4 to hit is a big penalty. +4 damage is pretty big, too; but it's a head shot after all. My little min/maxers haven't been taking too many headshots, so it doesn't seem unbalanced.
Bottom line: give SW a try. I find it a very different style of play. I spend only 10%-25% of the time I usually spend preparing for a d20 game. Last time, I rolled the evening's adventure at the table and it was awesome. The game really can be fast, furious & fun.
Gundark said:
What concepts have you tried making in SW that haven't worked? It's not hard to add new things to the game, though in my experience you really don't need to add much.
Ummm...what game did you say you'd been playing for 4 years now? Personally, I haven't seen as much a clamor over what weapon to weild as I have the edges to use with it. The two big swordsmen in my campaign are both loaded down with Florentine, Trademark Weapon, and a couple of other edges that make them VERY nasty in combat. That ogre's toughness won't help him much. Now that's not to say SW doesn't favor well-equipped PCs. But it doesn't appear to be NEARLY to the extent I've seen in DnD games (where PCs are expected to have so many +1 weapons by X level).
You haven't played in many systems with hit locations, have you. That headshot gives you a nice damage bonus, but won't save you against the really nasty things. And remember undead and constructs aren't affected in the least by called shots.
I can certainly understand your concerns -- I had a share of my own when I first began reading SW. Don't let your heart be troubled, though. My guess is by the second or third game session, you'll be having so much fun you won't even realize you aren't concerned anymore.
Tom
Lucias
First Post
Bretbo said:
You're a bit behind on your releases. The other Plot Point books out now are:
Necessary Evil: Aliens have invaded earth and the superheroes rushed to repel the attack. And they died. All that's left to save the planet are supervillains. A good supers campaign and an excellent toolkit for designing stuff in homebrews.
Rippers: Monster hunting in Victorian times. Think Van Helsing but way less lame. You travel the world, fitght monsters, attend social functions, maintain a home base, and you can 'rip' parts of the monsters you're fighting out and graft them onto yourself...for a price. Probably the best plot point book yet. Great campaign.
Tour of Darkness: Weird Wars in Vietnam. I don't own it, not really my thing.
Also, there's 9 or 10 Savage Tales for cheap on RPGnow. A few are traditional fantasy modules. One (HIghwater war) involves leading armies and using the mass battle system. I highly recommend Zombie Run for any fan of Romero.
And now there are the Fantasy Toolkits which cover Gear (item creation, magic item creation, siege weapons, and all manner of mundane goods), Bestiary (monsters and tips on monster creation), and World-Builder (a look under the hood at how Savage Worlds works with solid rundowns of how to create balanced Edges and Arcane Backgrounds in your homebrew.
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