Tell Me About Savage Worlds (please)...

[jcayer]

My group has tried it a couple times and enjoyed it. But you can't play it like D&D. You don't grind out combat.

I can't believe that no one has mentioned War of the Dead. One of the best 3rd party supplements I have ever read.
War of the Dead (Chapter One Subscription) - Daring Entertainment | RPGNow.com
We haven't played this yet, but we've sped up our epic 4e campaign to get here sooner.


I had missed the deluxe edition announcement. Gonna have to look for that.

 

[beldar1215]

edit: heh... there's no Savage Worlds (or Other RPG/Misc) prefix... there should be.

I second or third this!! We need a prefix!!

Beldar

 

[scourger]

Have you checked out the Savage Worlds edition of Darwin's World?

No, we'll enjoy Gamma World for what it is. We're enjoying it, and I really like the "fire & forget" set up with the lighter rules, maps & counters all included. I'm about to start the first expansion. If the second is good then I'll run it, too.

If I want to do more post-apoc I'll probably go back to Omega World d20. That was a brilliant little game. And, I really want to use a bunch of my D&D and Star Wars minis for it.

I had the d20 version of Darwin's World. It just didn't do it for me. And, I don't recall the Savage version having a plot point campaign, which is one of my favorite parts of any given Savage Worlds product. I did liek the concept of ammo being more expensive than guns once the supplies ran short.

 

[Octarinewolf]

Our only real problem with the game is that it's easy to start with a d12 in something, and then have a character whose top skill, what makes him awesome, never improves over play.

Err. Professional edges and the Professional/Expert/Master Legendary Edge. Or for combat skills things like Signature weapon and Marksman.

A d12 in a skill is all well and good but D12+2 to d12+4 is better. Not counting the way edges tend to be where being better at combat is.

 

[Bedrockgames]

Err. Professional edges and the Professional/Expert/Master Legendary Edge. Or for combat skills things like Signature weapon and Marksman.

A d12 in a skill is all well and good but D12+2 to d12+4 is better. Not counting the way edges tend to be where being better at combat is.

Also I think Savage wasn't shooting for the power scale you see in D&D. It is much more about making a character that is pretty cool to boot. There is certainly room for growth, but you don't have the 1st level v. 20th level discrepancy (something I love about savage). In a way I think the power levels in Savage are much more naturalistic in that respect.

 

[Stormonu]

Also, if I'm remembering correctly, with such high skills you start getting into doing multiple actions much more easily.

And as others have stated, you can continue to advance d12 to d12+1, d12+2, etc.

 

[amerigoV]

I'll put it this way - there is $1000 of lovin' in a $10 package.

Beyond what others have said, here is what I love

• First off, read the development document. It is what convinced me to give SW a serious look: http://www.peginc.com/Downloads/SWEX/MakingofSW.pdf
  
• The core book is $10, AND there is a free Test Drive document. Now, I am not cheap when it comes to the gaming habit. But its nice to say "hey, give this a try, at most your out $10." And the $10 is a complete toolkit. Everything else is just extra spend because you like to spend money on gaming.
  
• The system plays in a tighter power range. Some will hate this, but for many people the old "Level 3 to Level 10" game is what they played in D&D anyway. This allows the system to play well across genres.
  
• If someone has range weapon, get your butt to Cover! This game grew out of a western setting. So you are not just going to stroll across an open field, shrugging off piddly 1d6 damage arrows.
  
• The combo of Bennies (used to roll or soak damage) and Hindrances are fantastic. Roleplaying your hindrances can get you more Bennies. I love telling a player who is low on Bennies "you better start roleplaying better!"
  
• Although I love combat, you do not have to be a combat monster to be useful in combat. Tricks and Test of Wills are build into the game. You can play an old, forgetful scientist or a plucky young kid and not feel useless when a fight breaks out
  
• Its opened up new genres to me. I am a system mastery guy. In reality, that held me back from running/playing in other genres. Yes, d20 claimed to be able to do it, but each required heavy rewrite to make it work. Players can switched between genres with little learning curve in SW.
  
• Magic rocks. Trappings makes your spellcasters unique, and good players will extend them to skills and attributes. For example, my psionist does not just Notice (Perception) what is going on, he senses it through picking up on surface emotions and thoughts.
  
• Prep time is nothing. Once you are comfortable, you can almost convert on the fly. So adventures from other systems are still useful to you.
  
• Bang for the Buck. When I buy any SW book, I get ideas, and tons of them. I am not buying the latest player options, I am getting Day After Ragnarok, Space 1889, Deadlands, and Weird War II. Even if I got sick of SW and did something else, those books would still have value to me due to the ideas. All my Complete X books from 3rd edition are useless to me (but Eberron and FR still have value).
  
• The system is easy to adjudicate. I still value my 3rd edition GMing experience as that experience combined with SW system makes rulings a breeze.
  
• No tracking HPs! The Wound/Shaken system is very smooth and allows me to spend my time working the table, not being a screen jockey tracking HPs. This is huge, in my opinion. Having more time with your eyes up allows you to read the table, get reactions, and modify your pace as needed.
  
• Acing/Exploding dice are fun. Yes, the game has more "swing" than many are used to, but the Bennies help the players stave off the worst of it most of the time. There is a shared excitement when you see a player continue to roll the dice and know that something really cool is about to happen.
  
• I can tell just about any story with the system. Its sweet spot is Pulp, but settings like Realms of Cthulu show you how with minor adjustments you can change the tone of the game without having a stack of rule changes.
  
• A wide number of playstyles is supported. As an example, I personally like 4e, but it did not fit with a couple of groups I hang with so I do not play it. I have seen players that have been perplexed by 3.x and 4e take to SW very quickly. I have also seen system mastery guys (like me) squeeze a ton out of the game. Roleplayers have both a great hooks (hindrances) and mechanics to support them (Test of Wills, Tricks, plus some additional tools in the new Expanded edition). The occassional dice tosser to the hard core gamer can get a lot out of this system.
  
• Chase scenes and mass combat open all kinds of stories (chase rules work much like skill challenges and can be adapted to cover many of the same types of scenarios).
  
• The Explorer's Edition is a fun read. The writting style is layed back and it made me want to play it. I'm not looking to be mean or bashing anyone, but I got the 4e PHB about the same time as I got SW. One was fun, the other was exciting as sandpaper.
  
• You get to call yourself a Savage. That's worth the $10 right there.

A couple of new ones:

• Easy to learn - Just played with a buddy of mine that has played at most 5 times in the last year (and not for 6 months). He is a long lapsed gamer. With little guidance, he had the mechanics down and could focus on what we wanted his character to do (and roleplay)
• Scalable, both player numbers and combat scale
  • For players - you can run with only one or two players. Just give the players Extras (like minions in 4e). The beauty is that Extras are so easy to manage that the players WANT to run them vs. them being a burden to the group or the DM. Again, my buddy, a n00b to the game, had no problem running his character and 4 extras
  • For combat - you can run from individual PCs, to a squad (PC with a few extras), to decent sized skirmish (where unitsize:fig is still 1:1), to Mass Combat (note that Mass Combat is abstract and NOT a wargame).

 

[Rel]

Drat. I must spread some XP around before I give it to amerigoV again.

 

[amerigoV]

Thanks for the responses, folks.

I'm interested in the mass combat rules (haven't read them, yet). Can anyone give me a quick summary? If they're really good, it might be worth converting our D&D 4e game over to Savage Worlds for the finale, which, as I mentioned earlier, will involve playing out a Communist revolution.

It is very abstract and is based on two commanders doing Knowledge (Battle) rolls. There are modifiers based on army size difference, positioning, and the players can haggle for bonus for their grand scheme. Its pretty quick and brutal.

Where is shines is the PCs can get into the action. They can throw their weight into the battle. Based on their rolls their is a bonus to the Knowledge (Battle) roll. However, PCs take damage as well depending on the roll. If you roll poorly, it can knock you out of the fight.

When I read the rules, I was not all that impressed by them. However, I did run a mass battle (a town besieged by a horde) and I used it as a form of Fantasy Battle Chess. In both cases, I was impressed by the flow and outcome.

Its not designed to be a tabletop wargame. But you can use the Mass Combat rules to define the flow of the battle and then "zoom in" to skirmish scale SW really shines. If you read the pdf I linked in my prior post, the designers give some great examples of how SW is a greate engine to handle large skrimishes in a FFF! manner.

 

[fuzzlewump]

As another mentioned, don't play it just for combat. Our group loves 4e dnd for the tactical balanced combats but thats not savage worlds reason for existing.

I don't like the skill and stat system not being additive like dnd or hollow earth expedition, or what have you. It was lame in my opinion being able to have a d12 willpower but a d4 guts and be scared of anything.

I liked the spell system alot, but my group wasn't imaginative with it at all unfortunately.