Tell me about Savage Worlds

[scourger]

I love Savage Worlds. It ruined me for other games or vice versa. My prep time went down about 90 percent when i started running it. Without repeating much of what is here, here are a couple if things I really like.

Bennies. We use poker chips that harken to our Deadlands days. I like being able to affect the narrative with chips. I really like rolling unused bennies at the end of a session for xp. It is an old rule from Savage Worlds Revised but we kept it. Each Benny gets a d6 roll. Each 5 or 6 is 1 xp. It is significant because a session usually gets 1-3 xp. It's never kept me from using bennies to soak damage or ace a skill roll but I like the option.

Card based initiative. I even use it for other games. It feels more dynamic. It gives a visual that I don't have to track. And it works well with cards for the foes - that way it is all on the table for easy reading and reference in play.

We have played multiple genres and it works well throughout. I think Santiago would be a good plot point book, which is the publishing model that appeals to me.

 

[amerigoV]

As far as being worried about initiative, DON'T BE. Savage World's initiative system is one of the ABSOLUTE best parts of the system. The tension in battle of wondering if you or your foe is going to get the next swing in is fantastic. Once you try it, D&D's boring old "roll a d20 and add your initiative bonus" just flat out sucks. If your players are worried about it, have them investigate the initiative-based edges. Oh, and one more thing---I've discovered that I like Savage Worlds better with THREE jokers in the deck, rather than the standard TWO. Players get more excited for it, and it adds value to the edges that activate when a player receives a joker.

Keep in mind as to why this works -- the cards are an immediate visual to initiative vs. everyone rolling a d20 and rattling off their result. Its fast and people just put their cards up so you can see them. Nothing to write down, no initiative tracker, just deal the cards. And as [MENTION=85870]innerdude[/MENTION] says, you can make it dramatic by pausing before flipping the cards for the BBEG.

 

[scourger]

I've discovered that I like Savage Worlds better with THREE jokers in the deck, rather than the standard TWO. Players get more excited for it, and it adds value to the edges that activate when a player receives a joker.

Good idea. I had a player get both jokers in 1 draw due to edges that allow more than 1 card. He was pumped when I changed my answer to "Yes, of course you get +4 to all rolls this round." He didn't get more actions, but he got more action.

(Come to think of it that may have been in a d20 game with a high dex or improved initiative giving him more than 1 card to choose from.)

 

[Sword of Spirit]

Hehe...yeah the G/N/S styles get tricky. It's worth noting that I wrote those definitions on the fly, and I'm not too attached to them.

From what I can tell, I'd say Savage Worlds rates low on gamism. From the demo rules and the discussions here, I'm not sure where I'd put it with regards to simulationism and narrativism. Again, another reason I need to buy a real copy.

Probably the best way to classify it between those styles when it gets tricky is to just go with what it "feels like".

In my own analysis I actually use a more complex scale where I rate a game on each style and their interactions, but I'd like a single categorization for the list if possible. If I find too many games that just isn't possible with, I may have to increase the complexity of the list.

 

[Morrus]

So folks keep using the term "plot point", but I don't know what that term means. Is it SW's terminology for an adventure path, or is it something different?

 

[FickleGM]

In a nutshell, yes, it's analogous to an adventure path.

 

[dd.stevenson]

So folks keep using the term "plot point", but I don't know what that term means. Is it SW's terminology for an adventure path, or is it something different?

A plot point is more like an adventure outline, with key events mapped out in detail and the remainder left to the random encounter chart or the DM's own subplots. So maybe like an AP-lite.

 

[Morrus]

A plot point is more like an adventure outline, with key events mapped out in detail and the remainder left to the random encounter chart or the DM's own subplots. So maybe like an AP-lite.

Hmm. So full-fledged 12-part APs like the stuff we produce probably isn't a good fit? Or do those exist also?

 

[Henry]

For "plot points", think of an adventure path if they only gave you just enough meat to string together a series of coherent adventures, and it's up to you to fill out the "in-between" adventures, like the difference in a season of an American TV show between the "key plot episodes" and the filler episodes.

Oh, by the way, very important lesson: Next time you ever find yourself in the same room as [MENTION=99]Rel[/MENTION], hang on to him like a rabid wombat until he agrees to run a Savage Worlds one shot for you.

 

[innerdude]

Hmm. So full-fledged 12-part APs like the stuff we produce probably isn't a good fit? Or do those exist also?

I think they might work very well, with a little tweaking. One of the strengths of Savage Worlds is that it's so easy to let players "go off the rails," because you can almost always build an encounter on the fly that matches what they're trying to do. I think a 12-part adventure path would be a great idea, with the caveat that it would probably be a good idea to build in a few "workarounds" for different sections.

For example, characters might start at Part I, move to Part V, come back to Parts II and III, then skip ahead to sections VII and VIII while never seeing part VI, etc. There would need to be a few more "easements" to fluidly move or skip between sections without losing the continuity of the plot.

Here's the thing, though --- there's almost NOTHING in terms of adventures / settings that's wasted with Savage Worlds, even if it was written for another system, because it's so easy to convert enemies on the fly.

One other thing I thought of --- one of the strengths of Savage Worlds is that it brings EQUIPMENT back to the forefront, and not in a "Christmas Tree" way. A fighter using a particular weapon and "style" is going to play very differently in combat than another character with a different weapon, even if their overall "builds" are largely the same. Choosing equipment and weapons is more than simply picking the best bonuses, it's very much a tactical choice that has real consequences on how your character plays.

Oh, and another cool thing I just rhought of --- you know how throwing daggers / darts / throwing axes in D&D are an utter waste of time? Heh --- just watch someone with a D12 throwing skill, and the Aim and Two-fisted edges start making called head shots with throwing daggers in Savage Worlds.