Sell me on Savage Worlds -- for Fantasy

[Ry]

Some people mentioned that my E6 (see the sig) is a lot like savage worlds. Don't know if it might interest you but it could possibly be an easier sell for your players.

 

[BluSponge]

Hmmm... I saw the Savage Worlds Revised PDF at rpgnow.com for $19.95, but nothing for $10. Did I miss something?

It hasn't hit the shelves yet. Word on the street date is August 20.

I am not sure if the change from zillions of spells slinging about to one with 10 powers is an issue, but who knows. I should run it by my players.

Keep in mind, you can do an awful lot with those 10 spells. The Bolt Power alone is something like a dozen DnD spells rolled into one. (Magic Missile, Melf's Acid Arrow, etc.) But its more about quality than quantity.

Tom

 

[Twowolves]

This is all excellent feedback!



Hmmm... I saw the Savage Worlds Revised PDF at rpgnow.com for $19.95, but nothing for $10. Did I miss something?

I am not sure if the change from zillions of spells slinging about to one with 10 powers is an issue, but who knows. I should run it by my players.

The Explorer's edition isn't out yet, it should be out by the end of August.

The spells are effect driven, so instead of Magic Missile, Scorching Ray, Produce Flame, etc etc they have "Bolt", and leave the specifics up to you. Likewise there is an area of effect damaging spell, and the type of damage is not defined as a different spell. There are tons of spells for a fantasy setting, but since most of them produce a limited number of effects, the Savage Worlds rules reduce them to just the effects and let you put on the window dressing. Note also that this is for the basic rules. Each specific campaign setting modifies these basic rules for that specific genre, to make it less generic.

 

[Princesskeyblade]

I am a huge fan of Savage Worlds, especially when you have new players in the group. The rules aren't that hard to teach, target number is always 4 unless in melee combat.

The game also moves faster than anything else I have ever played. My GM changed from D20 to Savage Worlds for all her games (especially fantasy) and I don't think we have played a D20 game since.

I definately suggest that you give it a try ...

 

[catsclaw227]

The Explorer's edition isn't out yet, it should be out by the end of August.

What is the difference between the Explorer's Edition and Savage Worlds Revised (pdf)?

The spells are effect driven, so instead of Magic Missile, Scorching Ray, Produce Flame, etc etc they have "Bolt", and leave the specifics up to you. Likewise there is an area of effect damaging spell, and the type of damage is not defined as a different spell. There are tons of spells for a fantasy setting, but since most of them produce a limited number of effects, the Savage Worlds rules reduce them to just the effects and let you put on the window dressing. Note also that this is for the basic rules. Each specific campaign setting modifies these basic rules for that specific genre, to make it less generic.

This makes more sense. Can the players change the element or the energy of the blast or do they need to learn different element/energy schools?

Would you say that pretty much any d20 spell can be replicated with the Savage Worlds system? And can you give some examples?

Thanks in advance, all! This is very helpful.

 

[BluSponge]

What is the difference between the Explorer's Edition and Savage Worlds Revised (pdf)?

Here's the official list of changes between the printings.

This makes more sense. Can the players change the element or the energy of the blast or do they need to learn different element/energy schools?

That is entirely up to you. By the book, each "power" your character possesses has a set of "trappings", or trade dressing if you will. Say you are playing a necromancer with the Bolt power. Your trappings might be glowing bone darts that fly from your hand, or perhaps darts of negative energy (black bolts), or perhaps you summon vengeful spirits that infect their targets with negative energy (for your Scientology friends). Likewise, an elementalist would have different trappings. Each power is assumed to have one trapping, but many who want a higher fantasy feel let their players modify the trappings at will. And yes, different trappings can have extra effects. A fire bolt might set clothing on fire, and an acid bolt might to residual damage. A lightning bolt might do extra damage to those in metal armor. The game is pretty open to these modifications, and suggests you alter the point cost of the power slightly to reflect the additional benefit.

As to what sort of energy it requires to use a power, that depends entirely on you and your campaign.

In 50 Fathoms, for instance, all mages have an elemental bent to them. The powers available are different for each element, so air mages don't always have access to the same powers as a fire mage. In my Lejendary Earth campaign, I use the eight types of magic common in the world: Geourgy, Necrourgy, Psychogenetics, Sorcery, Shamanism, Thaumaturgy, Theurgy, Witchery. Each has a different spell list. Most fantasy campaigns simply break them down into groups: Arcane and Divine. In this case, Necromancy would simply be an available trapping for Arcane magic (and maybe Divine, if the character played a priest of a death god).

Would you say that pretty much any d20 spell can be replicated with the Savage Worlds system? And can you give some examples?

With what's available in the core book? Maybe, with a bit of creative license and some hand waving. If you are looking to have a large spell catalog, I DEFINITELY recommend the World Builder Toolkit! In the end, the spells I had to create myself mostly involved telepathy, illusion, and summoning.

But that sounds like a good idea for a side project: take the d20 spell list and catgeorize them under appropriate SW powers. Too bad JBLittlefield has retired from gaming for the time being -- he's a champ at this kinda stuff.

Tom

 

[WayneLigon]

I used it very successfully to do a 'Conan-esque' game. Doing NPCs was something I could do in my head at a moment's notice. Play was fast, and easy to teach to people who had very little roleplaying experience. The vast majority of the rules boil down to a single page. Can't beat that.

If I had a complaint, it was that there isn't a great deal of difference in the weapons and armors.

 

[SavageRobby]

Would you say that pretty much any d20 spell can be replicated with the Savage Worlds system? And can you give some examples?

Dunno about doing d20 faithfully, but as an exercise in creating an "old school" flavor SW campaign (even more old school than Dungeons & Savages, which I think is a great document, but didn't go quite as far as I wanted to go) I went through my old 1st edition PHB and C&C PHB and created spell lists based on that for each class using SW Powers (including powers from Shaintar, the Fantasy World Builder Tookit, Deadlands Reloaded and various other sources). Each spell was based off a SW power and either used it exactly as written, or modified the range, area of effect, duration, damage and/or cost.

I'm not as good as JB, Clint and a variety of others at this kind of thing, but I came out to 40 Novice level spells, 36 Seasoned spells, 24 Veteran spells, 12 Heroic spells and 8 Legendary spells for Magic Users (and cut some spells from the lists). For Savage Worlds, that is a HUGE spell list. (I have similar spell lists for Clerics and Monks, although not anywhere near as numerous, plus a Monks "powers" list.) That isn't to say that SW has that many powers - it doesn't - just that where there weren't straight maps (Slumber = Sleep, Wall Walker = Spider Climb) I used the Trappings idea to repurpose powers for different spells. And sometimes I used a straight map at one level (Teleport) and then modified it upwards at a higher level (Greater Teleport).

Bolt is a good example: at Novice it is used for Magic Missile, limited to a single 2d6 bolt, at Seasoned it is used for Melf's Magic Arrows, shooting 1-3 2d6 bolts, and Veteran it is used for Superior Magic Missile, allowing 1-3 3d6 bolts. I do similar things with Burst - Burning Hands limited to 2", Cone of Cold, Lightning Bolt (using a lightning template instead of a cone) and Psychic Blast.

Here is an example of the 1st level Wizards spells. Powers are in parenthesis if there isn't a named correlation, and another column - not shown, by indicated by a * - shows any modifications to the standard power, such as above.

Bigby's Interposing Hand (Barrier)
Blinding Flash
Blur (Deflection)
Burning Hands (Burst*)
Darksight
Detect Good/Evil (Detect Arcana*)
Detect Magic (Detect Arcana*)
Dig (Burrow)
Elemental Manipulation
Farsight
Fascinate (Dazzle)
Feather Fall
Identify
Ignite
Jump (Leaping)
Knock (Open)
Lesser Fog Cloud (Obscure)
Light
Mage Armor (Armor)
Mage Shield (Arcane Shield)
Magic Arrow (Guiding Hand)
Magic Missile (Bolt*)
Magic Weapon (Smite)
Mend (Mend*)
Minor Illusion (Illusion*)
Minor Phantasms (Phantasms*)
Monster Summoning, Lesser (Conjure Animal*)
Mystic Servant (Bodyguard)
Nystul's Magical Aura (Magic Aura)
Ogre's Strength (Raise Trait)
Ray of Enfeeblement (Lower Trait*)
Resist Elements (Environmental Protection)
Scare (Fear)
Sleep (Slumber)
Spider Climb (Wall Walker)
Tenser's Floating Disc (Telekinesis*)
Tongue Tied
Undetectable Aura (Conceal Aura*)
Wizad Lock (Lock)
Wizard Eye (Wandering Senses)

 

[catsclaw227]

I was reading something about Shaintar on the SW forums. Was that going to be the "vanilla" Fantasy setting, or was something else supposed to take that niche?

I think it said that Shaintar has a Player's Guide, but the Campaign guide would now be a wiki or similar Living campaign. Has that progressed at all?

Are there any SW settings that are kinda like your basic Greyhawk setting or has anyone done a SW Greyhawk conversion?

 

[BluSponge]

I was reading something about Shaintar on the SW forums. Was that going to be the "vanilla" Fantasy setting, or was something else supposed to take that niche?

I think it said that Shaintar has a Player's Guide, but the Campaign guide would now be a wiki or similar Living campaign. Has that progressed at all?

Sean Patrick Fannon always had big ideas for Shaintar, so I don't think it was ever intended to be a plain vanilla setting. It's sort of a high fantasy version of Warhammer, and even that is probably a bad analogy.

But Sean got bit by the "living campaign" bug. Now Shaintar, as a campaign setting, is morphing into a sort of next-gen gaming experience, making full use of the potential of the internet. Even so, the PG should be plenty to get you started in any fantasy campaign. I cherry picked a lot of Edges and Hindrances from it when I was working on my Lejendary Earth campaign.

Are there any SW settings that are kinda like your basic Greyhawk setting or has anyone done a SW Greyhawk conversion?

You can practically do Greyhawk with the core book. The toolkits will help, but other than that there isn't much too it. But no, I don't know of anyone who has done a strict conversion of GH.

Currently there are no plain vanilla fantasy settings for SW because Pinnacle is looking to fill a niche that DnD doesn't already fill.

Tom