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Several years ago, I picked up the Necessary Evil (NE) Player's Guide PDF for a superhero campaign that never materialized. At the time, I wasn't taken with the way super powers had been adapted to the Savage Worlds system. It was certainly a step up from what is presented in the core rulebook, which was designed to handle single-power pulp action heroes rather than 4-color comic superheros with their vast array of different powers.
Since that time, the Savage Worlds Explorer’s Edition (SWEE) was published. There is even an Explorer's Edition of NE, which I don't own. Now, the new Super Powers Companion (SPC) takes the rules from NE and applies them to a generic superhero format rather than the supervillain-focused plot-point campaign setting of NE. Since I already had the NE rules, I wasn't chomping at the bit to get the SPC. I picked it up primarily to be a completeist. I’m sure I’ll get the Sci-Fi, Horror, or whatever other Companion they come out with next.
The 142-page book is the same 6.5”x9” size as the SWEE and Fantasy Companion. The art consists entirely of character portraits from Storn Cook and others. The 4-page index is quite good. If you like the size and format of the SWEE, you will be happy with this latest supplement.
The SPC includes some genre-based rules and options that a GM can implement, such as adjusting the power level for Street- or Cosmic-level heroes and dealing with Knockback (or not). In place of the Heroic Hindrance (which all good heroes should have anyway), Heroic Bennies are given for heroes being heroic; these can be used for re-rolls or adding +1d6 to Trait or damage rolls.
Advice for the GM about how to run a supers-focused campaign, adventure seeds, etc. is missing. Savage Worlds can be a tricky system to run and more guidelines would have been appreciated. You won't find a “Rule of X” or other power-level guidelines that other systems have. It is very easy to create an unbalanced character and I would not be surprised if a game turned deadly for the heroes. This isn't a problem in a villain-based game like NE, but a GM may struggle fitting the system into a more four-color tone. To rectify this, there is an optional rule to translate “dead” into “incapacitated for 1d6 days,” which is still fairly harsh.
Forget what you may know about how super powers work in the SWEE. The way it works here is that the Arcane Background (Super Powers) Edge gives you 10 Power Points (PP) with which to purchase powers. The Power Points Edge, which you can add once per rank (per normal rules), adds 5 PP.
Most powers have a set cost, usually between 1 and 5 PP, but the cost can go much higher. Flight costs between 2 and 15 PP, depending on how fast you want to go, for example. Some powers are bought in levels. For instance, the Melee Attack power (listed as “Attack, Melee”) costs 2 PP per level; Each level adds +1d6 to melee damage (maximum +6d6). You can also use PP to buy up Attributes and Skills and acquire additional Edges.
You can increase the cost by adding modifiers. Giving your Ranged Attack power an area effect increases the cost by 2 or 4 PP, to cover a Medium or Large Burst Template, for example. There are also negative cost modifiers for such things as “Requires Activation.” Powered devices get a cost break of -1 PP per 5 PP in the power; thus, a device with 6 PP worth of powers only costs 4 PP. Creating a “Switchable” power (like a Multipower or Power Array from other systems) costs 1 PP per 3 PP in the base power and then you get an alternative power built on the same number of PP as the base power. Super Sorcery, at 3PP/Level allows you to mimic any other power(s) up to a PP cost of your level in Sorcery (a 3-to-1 cost conversion).
The SPC does not provide the depth or breadth of options you get from a system like Hero or Mutants and Masterminds. As such, it feels incomplete (for lack of a better word) and constrained to me. Flight and Speed both cap out at Mach 1 unless it is a Cosmic-level campaign. Area effects max out at the Large Burst Template, which is only an 18-foot radius. There is no “Blindness” power; the best you can do apply the Stun power which leaves the victim Shaken. The Blind Hindrance applies a “-6 penalty to all physical tasks that require vision” and there is no way to impose that penalty on someone.
Some of the powers are dependent upon Attributes in ways that make sense, but limit your options in building characters. Mind Reading uses an opposed Smarts roll; Negation is an opposed Spirit roll. The Storm power requires a Spirit roll to work; Regeneration is based on a Vigor roll.
Anyone who looked at the list of Powers in the SWEE and thought, “That's it?” will probably have the same thought about the power list here. You can do a lot with trappings and there is a nice bit about how to add “Elemental Tricks” to powers (such as using a fire-based Damage Field to catch things on fire). But unless you are someone who likes to make up powers within the SW structure, you may find yourself struggling against the system.
In addition to the Powers, the SPC also adds more Hindrances (many of which are villain-centric), a few Edges, and Gear. There are no detailed invention or device-building rules; you either spend PP for cash to buy Gear or you create a power with the device modifier. Gear includes some stock vehicles, weapons, armor, and common gear (the list includes Nightvision Goggles, Combat Drugs, and Shovel). The SPC dedicates a chapter to a point-build system for Headquarters, which are bought with PP, perhaps pooled from multiple PCs.
The best part of the SPC is a rogues gallery of over a hundred NPCs. Nearly half the book is filled with villains (plus some murderous vigilantes and a couple true heroes) ranging from Novice to Legendary ranks. They are organized by rank; this can make finding a specific villain tricky, but the Index helps if you know the name. Though the book says they were created using the standard character creation method (rather than the eyeball method used to create monsters and NPCs in the SWEE), there are obvious discrepancies, most notably in the number of PP the character spent being out of line with the number of PP Edges taken. In some cases, the villain has an extra Edge or Ability die that seems unaccounted for. This may be because the character has an extra advance or two beyond the standard Rank, but this isn't spelled out.
Each villain includes a paragraph or two on origin and motivation. Some of these are quite clever while other are near groan-inducing. I particularly like those whose modus operandi and favored targets match their origin story. Only about a quarter have portraits. Some of the villains are linked, such as the Nazi-themed villains Reichfuhrer, Stuka, Panzer, and Uberfrau, the steroid-powered Soviet siblings Hammer and Sickle, and the Graveyard Shift supervillain team. The list of enemies is rounded out with thugs, henchmen, and criminal masterminds of a non-super nature, the obligatory Enormous Monster, and a modest list of dinosaurs.
Overall, the SPC left me uninspired. I never had that “Eureka!” moment when I realized that I absolutely had to run a superhero campaign using Savage Worlds. In contrast, mid-way through reading the SWEE, I absolutely had to run a traditional fantasy game with it. For those who already own NE (either edition), it is hard to justify another $20 for rules you mostly already have, but the rogues gallery may be worth it.
SW and the SPC doesn't give you the full range of options that Hero or M&M does; nor does it give you a loose framework to hang your own powers the way Truth & Justice or ICONS does. I doubt I would use Savage Worlds and the SPC for a straight-up superhero campaign. There are other games that work well for that. I can see using the SPC to run something along the lines of Godlike, Wild Cards, or Necessary Evil. The powers of the SPC could also be adapted to a setting like Gamma World or even a high fantasy setting which are too gonzo for the standard SWEE powers.
Style: 4 for clean layout, attractive art, and good index.
Substance: 2 for a lack of GM tools and a too short powers list. But a bonus point for an excellent rogues gallery.
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