Savage Worlds

[Tommy Brownell]

3) Most of the complaints I've heard are that SW doesn't do Supers well, though I have also heard of ongoing Necessary Evil campaigns.

I have GMed a Necessary Evil game for a few months now, and the characters who have been around since the beginning are JUST on the cusp of Veteran right now.

The biggest issue we've hit is that, compared to past supers games, the powers just aren't as flexible (on the fly stunts, etc)...the game itself has been TREMENDOUS, however, with much enjoyment by all...but I don't see it being quite good enough of a fit to become our new default supers game...in fact, I'm thinking about pulling a big switcheroo at the end of the Plot Point campaign and converting it to Marvel SAGA (our favorite supers system) since I kinda want to play SAGA again, just divorced from the Marvel setting.

 

[baulderstone]

I'll just build on what others have said.

1) The Explorer's Edition doesn't have the fantasy races, but those are now covered in the new Fantasy Companion.

You can also get the fantasy races in the free pdf, Wizards & Warriors, along with related Edges.

 

[TheNovaLord]

daring Tales of Adventure does pulp very welll......its adds a few things to the SW rule sets to make the PC more potent and fit in with the 1930 pulp feel.

such as everyone gtes an extra benny for each combat, some wounds heal automatically after combat, PC capture/surrender is a good option (and nice plot device), poeple have external contacts they can call on (think Mummy where O connor always find a pilot he needs)

works very well

 

[Qualidar]

3) Most of the complaints I've heard are that SW doesn't do Supers well, though I have also heard of ongoing Necessary Evil campaigns.

My criticism that it doesn't do supers well comes from me playing in a great Necessary Evil game! It's honestly not that it's particularly bad at it, it's just that compared to M&M it's not nearly as good. This hasn't stopped our Necessary Evil game from being one of the best I've played, though. It's a LOT of fun.

I think it's just a matter of expectation (forgive me if I typed this earlier): "Super-Villain" conjures up a certain level of power, and in reality you start out more like the power of a henchmen. If that were clear up front it would have been better. And though it's perhaps not the best supers game, it's still a great game, so please don't read too much into my criticism.

 

[Stalker0]

I've played in Savage World games a few times here and there. Generally it does what it advertises, its fast and furious. I also consider it a pretty gritty system, its easy to get messed up very quickly once you run out of bennies.

Things it does well:

1) Quick character creation
2) Quick combat running
3) Very smooth power progression
4) Handles improvising decently well.
5) Bennies are fun!

Things I'm okay with.
1) Removing your attributes from your actual abilities. For the most part, in SW your abilities don't do much, they just determine the cost of skills and the like. I used to absolutely hate that, but I am warming up to it bit by bit.

Things I don't like.
1) The over reliance of bennies. I don't feel that bennies are a small power supplement to a fight, I feel they are one of the critical factors. A player with a few bennies will do far better than a player who doesn't have any.
2) Creatures seem too tough. I often feel if I'm not doing a stunt or a called shot I can't hurt a lot of what I have fought in the past. That said, called shots seem too good in many cases.

 

[Kunimatyu]

The highest praise I can give SW is this:

A short while ago, I was due to run a game in an hour and I needed to stat up a diverse set of enemies (humanoids, giant crustaceans, alien monsters, dinosaurs) so I gritted my teeth and hoped I'd finish most of them in time...

...and then fifteen minutes later, I was done. Blew my mind.

 

[Particle_Man]

Things I'm okay with.
1) Removing your attributes from your actual abilities. For the most part, in SW your abilities don't do much, they just determine the cost of skills and the like. I used to absolutely hate that, but I am warming up to it bit by bit.

Well Spirit is needed to recover from being shaken, and Vigor is needed to make wound checks. So those are pretty important.

 

[Kunimatyu]

Your abilities do quite a lot in SW, particularly in combat.

Strength - Melee weapon damage, and determines what kinds of ranged weapons you can use

Vigor - Roll Vigor when soaking wounds. (a big deal)

Spirit - Roll Spirit to recover from being Shaken (also a big deal)

Smarts - Smarts Tricks, which can give an enemy -2 defense or Shake them

Agility - Agility Tricks, which work the same way

It may seem like Smarts/Agility don't come up that much unless you're using Tricks, but remember that Tricks are opposed by the opponent's Agility or Smarts, so a low Smarts/Agility leaves you vulnerable to a canny foe.

One of the "frustrating" things about Savage Worlds character generation is how darn important ALL of the stats are - a player that stacks most of their points in one or two stats will have a fairly hard go of it. Helps keep the munchkins in check a little

 

[Thanee]

Abilities definitely do something, but I also feel they are not doing enough when it comes to skills (only determining the cost of the skills to some degree).

We use a house rule, that you do not get a d6, but your corresponding ability die as a wild die when making any skill roll. Despite initial worries, that it might be a bit much, it works very well and definitely underlines the value of all the abilities.

We also use a house rule for initiative, that you make an agility or smarts roll (your choice) at the start of a round to determine how many cards you can draw (one plus one extra for a success and every raise on that roll); you can keep one and give back the others.

I like both, since they make ability scores more "present", and also initiative is a little less completely random.

Of course, YMMV, as usual.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Qualidar]

We use a house rule, that you do not get a d6, but your corresponding ability die as a wild die when making any skill roll. Despite initial worries, that it might be a bit much, it works very well and definitely underlines the value of all the abilities.

You're sort of screwing yourself out of the exploding die that way, aren't you?