42 replies to this topic

[Deguello]

What is someone who is familiar with the rules thoughts on Savage Worlds? Is it a good rule set..
Not really interested in any of thier settings.. please confine yourself to your opinion of the rules in general...

I am familiar with a lot of rules sets so if you want to bash a certain ruleset or praise one I am game with that
at 9.99 its hard to pass up..

[haldir]

I'm interested in SW as well, seems like a good rule set. I know Lanse (Froggy the Great) uses that, so hopefully he'll chime in on this one. There is a free quickstart rules download you can try out.

I'm not gonna replace 3.5 anytime soon, but it's always nice to have other options. I've been looking at True20 as well.

RM

[anvil]

I'm actually considering replacing 3.5 with Savage Worlds or Harp. Savage worlds is insanely fast once you get the hang of it. What would have been a 60 minute chase and combat in 3.5 was done and over with in about 5 minutes. I played in Lanse's game at RCON, and it went very quickly for a bunch of newb players (at least I was a newb).

The speed does come with a lack of detail, so it may not be for every one.

[Froggy the Great]

I've run a lot of Savage Worlds and played a lot too - it's my system of choice. Unfortunately, I'm running late for work at the moment, so I'll have to comment later.

[vejlin]

my experience is that the rules encourage role playing, which IMO is a good thing.

[Dragon Snack]

I like it. I think it ranks up there with D&D 3.x.

It works great for heroic play (players wading through loads of bad guys), but magic is a bit wonky (by design, I believe).

In the 50 Fathoms campaign I played (GMed by Frosch), my Mage basically gave up on casting spells for a while. With a target number of 4, even with a d12 I was still failing 25% of the time. I managed to "inherit" a decent (but not magical) sword and ended up being just as effective with the sword without having to worry about my power points for spells. It wasn't until I reached Legendary status that I was able to pick up Edges to swing the balance back in favor of spellcasting. The caster in my current game is coming to the same conclusion. Now he saves his power points for healing and spends more time in melee combat (it's not a total transformation, but enough to be noticeable). This, of course, isn't necessarily a bad thing if you don't want the casters to overshadow the melee types - but it's a definite consideration when coming from a mindset of auto-casting like D&D.

Making up NPCs on the fly looks extremely easy (I haven't GMed it myself) and it would be a great system to introduce new players to role playing.

[Froggy the Great]

Making NPCs on the fly is incredibly easy, yes. The setting books generally come with a setting, whatever setting rules you need, and then a full very flexible campaign. This makes GMing for me, who hates writing adventures, very easy.

[Ranzadule]

I played a lot of classic Deadlands and also some great Rail wars and I am told that Savage Worlds is a lot like a combo of both, leaning more toward GRW. I like DL a lot.

As for HARP, play Rolemaster. HARP is Rolemaster Light, despite ICE's protestations ot the contrary. The problem with RM is that the first thing a player needs to do is also the most involved and difficult part of the game. Designing a character often overwhelms the player and they decide it's not worth it. My solution to that is for the players to design 3.0 or 3.5 characters and the GM convert them. Once you get past character creation, rolemaster is entirely intuitive and awesome. Combats seem involved, but there are a lot fewer esoteric skills, feats, combos and silliness than found in d20.

[Reaperbryan]

As a player and GM of Savage Worlds myself, I'd like to chime in. I think the rules are great, the system is flexible enough to allow virtually anything.

HERO system was likewise flexible, but so complex that if you weren't familiar with the system, it could take 6-7 hours to make a character. If you were familar with them, it took 4-5. There were just so many options. SW is not as complex.

I'll give you an example. Whats the difference, once you strip away the fluff, from a 1d6 fireball and a 1d6 ice shard? Nothing. So in Savage worlds, you get a 1d6 magical attack, and when that attack is written onto the character sheet, the player decides if it is ice or fire. Or lightning. Or arcane. Or shadow, or Mass Projectile. The spell list is generic, but for those whose brain can wrap around it, that makes it one of the best magic systems out there. This means a player who wants to be an evoker of Shadow Magic can make AT CHARACTER CREATION every spell int heir repertroire shadow themed, without having to take 4 first level spells that aren't, and spend some metamagic feat at higher level to change it to shadow damage. /dig at 3.x

Combat is insanely fast, and there are optional rules to make it "heroic" (ie, not as readily lethal) or gritty (lethal, like really lethal). The first time your group makes characters, expect a few questions, and expect it to take about 2 hours. The first session will have them looking up things a lot, as with any new system. After that though, it really is so simple.

I for one don;t 3.x anymore. I don;t always use SW, but it is my system of choice. I only go with something else if every source book I have is already in that system, because I don;t want to have to convert everything . . .

[Ranzadule]

You guys should team up with Shane for "Savage Adon" or "Savage Dark Heaven" or some such.

[joshuaslater]

I just picked up the 1st edition of Savage Worlds, and it looks like everything being talked up here. I've only perused it, but Savage Adon or Savage Taltos would be a fantastic joint venture!! EVERY DHL, WARLORD, CAV, REICH OF THE DEAD MODEL STATTED OUT FOR ROLEPLAY!! Or easily done so? I would pick up that Savage Setting.

[vejlin]

I'd so get the Savage Taltos setting book in a heartbeat.

[Deguello]

I broke down and bought the pdf for 9.99

I've gotten about 1/3 through the rules... and I am thus far impressed

[Ranzadule]

If it's as much like Great Rail Wars as I think, it is likely to be a lot of pulpy fun and would be great for Warlord as well. It even uses poker cards for iniative! ;)

[vejlin]

yeah you use cards for initiative