Comments on: To Savage or Not to Savage

By: 8 April 2010: RPG roundup, continued | Gene's Worlds

8 April 2010: RPG roundup, continued | Gene's Worlds — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 19:27:51 +0000

[...] but I've been exploring other systems, such as Savage Worlds, Eclipse Phase, and FATE 3.0. Savage Worlds is a pulp RPG with a lot of support, and Eclipse Phase is a good example of the recent [...]

By: Stargazer

Stargazer — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 11:11:33 +0000

@MJ Harnish: Thanks for the link. I knew that there was an Fallout PnP already (I even created a character sheet back in the day, that's probably still available somewhere on the net), but for my taste the SPECIAL system is a bit too crunchy, especially in combat. But I like the background, so I might use another system to run a Fallout one-shot sometimes.

By: MJ Harnish

MJ Harnish — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 08:21:24 +0000

I recently wrote about my own concern over the explosion in the # of licensed settings, some of which are a very poor fit for SW IMO, lately. I like SW (though I find it too vanilla for regular play) but I'd agree, it's not a good fit for anything out there. Incidentally, there's a PnP game for Fallout already: http://www.nma-fallout.com/forum/dload.php?action... .-= MJ Harnish´s last blog ..Is Savage Worlds the new D20? =-.

By: d7

d7 — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 04:58:21 +0000

I'm currently prepping to run a Forgotten Realms sandbox game using Savage Worlds. I mulled over the problem of the magic system not matching the setting for a while until I struck upon the idea of using the setting itself to explain a drastic change in magic. I'm using 2e Realms materials, so instead of the Time of Troubles converting the magic system from 1e to 2e, I'm rewriting the history to have the Time of Troubles change magic from the AD&D 1e way to the Savage Worlds way. I think to maintain the thrill of discovering a new spell I'm going to make scroll creation really easy, so all those enemy spellbooks are still useful: for creating (fragile, bulky) one-shot spells. .-= d7´s last blog ..Wizards’ Fan Site Kit is not a fan site policy =-.

By: Will

Will — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 19:14:46 +0000

Interesting thoughts. I've recently become a Savage Worlds addict and have been running wild with conversions. I'm currently working on Buffy/Angel and Halo: ODST. Thing is, they work with the system. The magic and combat systems are pretty good fits, though Halo has some nasty stuff to work through (i.e. energy shields). Still, their tone works but I don't think my standard D&D game would. Something to think about, I guess. .-= Will´s last blog ..Imperial Scout Trooper =-.

By: greywulf

greywulf — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 18:26:08 +0000

Agreed 100%.

It's very tempting to treat Savage Worlds (or Mutants & Masterminds, or GURPS, or…….) as a universal panacea role-playing game. But where's the fun in that? Variety is the spice of life, after all
.-= greywulf´s last blog ..Endday, part three =-.

By: Badelaire

Badelaire — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 15:47:26 +0000

I picked up the SW core rulebook last week. I had the Solomon Kane book, and while it was an interesting read, I could never ask a player to fork over $50 for a book of which two-thirds the content was meant to be GM-only. With the core book, and the $10 condensed version, this is a lot more reasonable. I'm liking what I'm reading so far, and would like to put it to good use sometime in the future. .-= Badelaire´s last blog ..Thoughts on Creating Non-Human Characters =-.

By: Stargazer

Stargazer — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 13:11:12 +0000

Yeah, I agree, it's the same with every other game. But since Savage Worlds is very popular right now and since there a dozens of fan conversions in the making (or already done), I used it as an example.

By: Mountzionryan

Mountzionryan — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 13:09:57 +0000

Good post. As a Savage myslef, I think there is some really good advice on Savaging a setting to found in the toolkits and at the Pinnacle boards. Foremost is to convert the setting not the system. Decide what few themes or tropes define the setting and begin by converting those. Also, check Savageheroes.com to see what someone else might have already done on Savaging the setting. many games have been savaged already. .-= Mountzionryan´s last blog ..Dust Devils Revenged; A review =-.

By: bonemaster

bonemaster — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 13:08:43 +0000

I don't think this just a SW issue. This applies to any game out there. Converting a D&D game to say the Hero System would have the same issue. Sometimes it's hard to separate the rules from the setting. I've had this argument about Traveller for a long time. Although I've stated as is Traveller what is is because of it's rules or because of it's setting? The answer I've always come up with is, is a bit of both.