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Message: <blockquote data-quote="amerigoV" data-source="post: 6018398">First off, welcome to Savage Worlds! Normal Savage Worlds: The Bennies help regulate the swing of the system. As an example, we are currently running a D&D -esque game (Ptolus) using the normal mechanics. We started at 0Xp and are now early Legendary (85xp). We have had close calls, but no PC has died or been permanently crippled. So while you can get one-shotted, it tends to be more close calls.Realms of Cthulu: You have the second pool of mental wounds. Even playing on Pulp/Normal mode for both pools will be more challenging than a regular Savage Worlds game. Players still get 3 Bennies, but now you can get knocked out of the game with either physical wounds or eventually going insane. The Death Spiral (tm) is steeper since "wounds" in both categories are cumulative. Example: -2 from physical wounds and -2 from mental wounds = -4 to all rolls and pace. Given we are talking "normal people investigators" and not "D&D superheros", things can get ugly quick.You can ramp it up by picking Gritty for either or both pools. You do not get to Soak any damage on the pool you designate Gritty. That hurts. Think D&D without ever letting HPs increase (you can think of Bennies as the "heroic luck" that is built into the HP of D&D - the difference is you have the choice of spending that luck on rerolls or absorbing damage - D&D just puts it all to absorbing damage). Also, you have to make an immediate check once you take a "wound" to see if you have an "injury" (quotes meaning a physical type or mental type, depending on which is gritty). So even if you only have a -1 from a physical wound, it might result in an injury that lowers an attribute a die.Doing normal on physical but Gritty on Mental translates into a game where the PCs will mow down the Cultist but might go Insane at the end when the Horror shows up.Gritty Physical / Normal Mental means even a simple gunfight is really going to hurt.  People will be running to a Doctor after a fight due to a build up of wounds. When the Horror shows up at the end, they have a decent shot of not going Insane.Gritty/Gritty - Great for one-shots and very short campaigns. Investigators are very fragile. IIRC, that is the setting to replicate the traditional CoC game. Players should be very cautious. D&D style play (Violence and kicking in the door) will get the PCs killed/insane very quickly. Also, the Bennie Economy can help set the mood as well. You can get a grittier game using the normal rules by not passing out as many Bennies during the session.Hope that helps. Be sure to drop by PEG's boards or Reality Blur's boards. Very helpful folks. On RB's boards, the guy that wrote the RoC setting is very accessible.</blockquote>

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