Savage Worlds: Rippers vs. Accursed

[mrm1138]

I've been looking to try Savage Worlds, and of the settings available, two have caught my eye, Rippers and Accursed. They both seem somewhat similar with players taking on the roles of monster hunters who have something monstrous about themselves. One difference I do see, however, is that Accursed requires the Horror Companion on top of the SW core book and the Accursed setting book, whereas Rippers only requires the core book aside from the campaign book.I was curious if anyone who has experience with both settings could please go into detail about what makes them unique from each other.

 

[innerdude]

Of course you would ask this question a day too late. The Rippers Resurrected Kickstarter just ended.

Nonetheless.......

The main difference is that Accursed is a "dark" fantasy setting---more traditional magic, medieval-ish, etc. Rippers is steampunk/semi-modern Victorian era. Think, "Robert Downey Jr.'s interpretation of Sherlock Holmes + wraiths, ghouls, and Frankenstein."

 

[Matchstick]

Hmmm.

Accursed you actually play a monster: ghost, construct, were, etc. As part of a campaign in Accursed you also choose whether to embrace your monsterness, or move toward becoming human. You're mostly fighting other monsters.

In Rippers you play a human, who chooses whether to remain human, or slowly move toward being a monster (or at least having some of their powers). You're mostly fighting monsters.

I've got both and I never really thought of them being similar until your question.

 

[the_dunner]

I've run Rippers and I publish Accursed. So, my perspective is a bit biased, but I'm definitely familiar with both. As innerdude noted, the background setting is very different. Rippers' Victorian age setting is very different from Accursed's world of Morden.
Technology is generally at least a little bit lower in Accursed (and often much lower).

• Accursed's game world has a bit more magic, in the form of Witchcraft and Alchemy than Rippers. However, Rippers' magic is more diverse.
• In Accursed, the characters start off as Monsters, and must decide if they want the power that comes from being horrific or if they want to redeem themselves.
• In Rippers, the characters start off as human, and must decide if they want the power that comes from being monstrous.
• Rippers characters are generally presumed to be European, often British. Accursed characters have a broader range of fictional ethnic backgrounds.
• Both settings include a plot point campaign in the main book. Rippers also includes some other adventures.
• Character creation for Accursed is a little bit deeper, because of the monster selection options.

Beyond that, though, now's kind of a good time to get both. For $20 if you hit the current Bundle of Holding, you get PDFs of Savage Worlds, the Horror Companion, Rippers, the Rippers Companion, and Accursed.

If you have specific questions on either, I'm happy to answer them.