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OVERVIEW
Savage Worlds is the result of a massive effort by a think tank consisting of gamers and game designers at Pinnacle Entertainment Group to devise a flawless role-playing system. While such a thing seems as plausible as finding the Holy Grail in a bus stop in Topeka, Kansas, the result is impressive. There are many various RPG systems out there; d20, GURPS, FUDGE, Call of Cthulhu, and others who have found their niche groups.
Shane Lacey Hensley, creator of Deadlands, patterned Savage Worlds after his miniature game The Great Rail Wars. While the prospect of playing an RPG after a miniatures game seems daunting at first, Savage Worlds is not so much a conversion but a system designed from the bottom up to by as friendly to both players and GMs. Besides, these rules also can be used for miniatures, too.
It's interesting to note during Savage World's design phase, Hensley presented a list of goals he wanted from a new RPG system such as: "I want a game that it's easy to make up monsters, NPCs, magic items, weapons, etc. on the fly. If I have to look up lots of charts and tables, add up points and so on, it's too complicated," "I want a game a non-gamer friend can look at and understand at a glance," "I want a game that has a 'spine' capable of gaming any genre but allows me to insert special rules to tailor specific genres," "I want a game that handles large battles fast," "I want a game that provides real depth for characters. I want to see my character grow, gain new special abilities and skills and attributes."
You get the idea. A game system that works faster, is more effective and efficient to run and play and could be flexible for accommodating fantasy, science fiction, pulp, modern horror or any kind of genre.
Savage Worlds' tagline is "Fast! Furious! Fun!" It promises much, but can gamers, a skeptical bunch to begin with, get anything from it? One problem players have is they're afraid to try new systems. Savage World will cure them of this phobia and keep them coming back to the gaming table.
THE BOOK
The Savage Worlds rulebook is hardcover, 144 pages long, illustrated throughout and retails for $29.95. Its art reminds you of pulp serials with a mix of medieval fantasy and science fiction. The title is aptly, "Shane Lacy Hensley's Savage Worlds." The first chapter is the "Test Drive" rules, a bare-bones version offered many months before by Pinnacle from the website and from a pamphlet handed out at trade shows and game magazines and shops. These rules are included as a fast way to jump right in and just play.
Throughout the book, sidebars featuring a skeletal jester named Smilin' Jack, the game's mascot, offer tips on game play and interesting pointers. Here you learn the basics and game terminology like aces, opposed rolls, raises, wild cards and bennies. I won't detail every little rule here - buy the book and read it if you want to learn the game. I found these definitions at the beginning in a no-nonsense, plain fashion useful and easy to comprehend rather than wading through an entire book for a specific rule.
The next section is the Savage Worlds Core Rules. Here's where the game system is more fleshed-out. You get a very easy character creation section that allows gamers to develop characters for any genre. A description of races including humans, elves, dwarves, half-elves, mantids, saurians and Atlanteans are among those listed, as well as the ever-popular human. Then it's a list of skills, hindrances and edges that round out the character.
The next chapter focuses on gear. Listed in the tables and charts are a diverse assortment of weapons any violence junky from any genre would salivate over: medieval armaments, futuristic laser guns, modern firearms, weapons for vehicles from every era and a chart of mundane items. You can't adventure anywhere without rope and torches, after all. The next part of the chapter is about vehicles; the cars, horses and spaceships for all eras including a description of aircraft from World War II. Watercraft including galleys, galleons and hydrofoils are also included.
After the character creation chapter are the game rules. The area where Savage Worlds differs from Deadlands (both systems are similar) is with combat. Combat takes place in rounds with a deck of 54 playing cards with the Jokers left in. Players are dealt one card each. This represents their "turn" during combat. The GM counts down each suit from Ace. Players with that particular card may act. Limiting combat actions to one card each saves a lot of time and keeps everything moving. Those who get a Joker may use these wild cards to go whenever they want to, even interrupting other players. Plus, those with Jokers get bonuses to attack and for damage. The use of bennies - little tokens that can be spent for re-rolling traits, the Savage Worlds equivalent to fate chips in Deadlands. One major difference between the two games - bennies must be used that particular gaming session. You either use them or lose them, a remedy for notorious "chip hoarders" in Deadlands.
Chapter Four lists the Arcane Backgrounds and Powers you'll need for playing wizards, mad scientists, super heroes and the like. The five types of powers are magic, miracles, psionics, super powers and weird science. The list of powers isn't that long, only about 7 pages, but they include powers that can be customized to fit your game. Savage Worlds believes less is more and you don't need 30 pages of spells to make magic or super human powers work.
Chapter Five includes situational rules such as mounted combat, using allies like soldiers and the result fear has on your characters and your game. For GMs of the sadistic bent, you get rules on hunger, fire damage, falling, disease and radiation. The vehicle rules are strictly for tabletop miniatures and offer a nice balance for GMs who want to play out chases on the ground, sea and air. The chapter on dogfights will be used by those taking to the skies in World War II or outer space. The chapter ends with quick rules for mass battles.
Chapter Six is the GM section. Rules aside, here's where you get good advice on running your game, from the subtle art of developing a game world, picking a genre, writing adventures and finding players. I thought this was an interesting section because you're getting good advice from a person who knows role-playing games and who has developed adventures. The book ends with a bestiary of creatures to torment your players with. Important charts and tables are reprinted for quick reference in the back pages.
AFTERTHOUGHT
Savage Worlds will appeal to those tired of sitting through combat sessions longer than a public reading of War and Peace. The system was designed to have fast combat and allow characters to develop and grow with their skills and attributes, which it does. It doesn't have only one game world but it doesn't need to: it's a generic system and the game worlds are limited by the imaginations of the GMs.
Pinnacle is developing game worlds for Savage Worlds, such as Evernight, a dark fantasy; Slipstream, a science fiction scenario and Blood Moon, a Gothic Apocalyptic horror game, plus future installments of Weird Wars. The future looks bright with these deliciously bizarre game settings, but GMs wanting to try out homebrewed adventures and worlds have a perfect vehicle with the Savage Worlds rules.
For those Deadlands players this will be like coming home again, except home is modernized and faster and the furnishings change all for the better.
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