Wrath of Zombies is a recent Blogger. You can follow his RPG antics over at his blog.
Wow. I feel all sorts of special getting to fill in for Chatty today! Honestly, for a new blogger like me, these are big shoes to fill but I’ll try not to disappoint!
I, ironically at the same time as a few other fellow bloggers, Greywulf’s Lair and The Bone Scroll, discovered the wondrous joys of Savage Worlds.
Since I’ve started putzing around on RPG Bloggers, I had heard people mention Savage Worlds and how great a system it is. I’m one of those people who, once my curiosity is piqued, have to know everything I can about that particular thing. I’m also not one to judge a system without having read and played it. So, needless to say my curiosity was piqued for Savage Worlds.
Why do I find Savage Worlds so great?
One of the first things that blew me away about Savage Worlds wasn’t even in the book, it was the community built around the game itself! There are many great people out there who are willing to listen to your questions, ideas, and thoughts about Savage Worlds and give you constructive feedback.
I have, as of yet (knocks on wood), to receive the kind of harsh criticism from the Savage Worlds community as I’ve received about my ideas about certain DnD rules, house rules, or questions from diehard fans of the DnD community. I’m not saying that they aren’t out there, because they are. They, to me, seem to be in the minority though.
Speaking of the community, there are some GREAT fan resources about converting your favorite RPG to the Savage Worlds system. Savage Heroes has conversion rules and also some other nifty things for all your SW needs. The community also really shines on the Pinnacle Forum (Publisher of the game). You will find TONS of fan made worlds, adventures, ideas, and advice. The official SW moderators and staff are also always willing to answer questions and give helpful ideas for your blossoming or veteran SW campaign!
There are also great toolkits on Studio 2’s webpage that help craft your ideas and make the GM’s life easier! I can’t even begin to tell you just how much I LOVE the Combat Survival Guide! I have very casual players. They love to play, but the rules aren’t something that they memorize and know by heart. They get familiar with them, but I usually have to remind them of certain intricacies. This guide is AWESOME! Even my girlfriend was really thrilled about this.
Thus, every single one of my players now has this guide attached to their character sheet as a reference guide that will push their combat creativity to flow, gush, and spring forth.
Oh man I got to go to the bathroom now… I’ll be back.
So much more than a Great Community!
The other thing that really impressed me about Savage Worlds is how easily you can convert your most beloved game to fit the “Fast, Furious, and Fun!” tagline of SW. As I was reading the core rule book (which is only 160 pages- so it chews that fat, throws out the fluff, and gets right to the meat of the game) I was already thinking of ways to convert Vampire the Masquerade, Shadowrun, Dungeons and Dragons, or All Flesh Must be Eaten to it.
I also started realizing how EASY it is to homebrew a campaign where virtually no mechanics exist. I am currently working on a Steampunk campaign setting. Now while there are different resources that I plan to be using to make my game richer and more detailed, everything exists in the core rule book for you to make up your own items, contraptions, etc. This also goes for whatever world or system that you wish to create or use!
In SW, doing a pick up game is easy, a lot easier than many of the d20 games for instance. SW does away with the level of micromanagement that many other games have.
You want more? All right!!!
One of the things that will make or break a system for me is combat. On that account, SW delivers. I dare say, it might become my favorite combat system, knocking d20 out of the top spot. I’m not quite sure yet, still too early to tell, but from the few combat sessions I’ve played, I am really digging it.
Combat is fast, dangerous, and makes players really have to plan, but while they strategize, it honestly doesn’t take that long! That is one of the shining beacons for me! Combat flows smoothly, brutally, and is tons of fun!
In Closing
I honestly recommend people try SW. The core rule book (Savage Worlds: Explorer Edition) is only $9.99 and it has all you need to do a campaign. You never need to purchase another book! You can totally make up everything all on your own and it is easy!
There are also a ton of setting books out there that sound amazing! From what I can tell, the most popular seems to be Deadlands: Reloaded. And from what I’ve seen, I’m definitely going to pick this product up soon!
Savage Worlds really does offer something for everyone. Whether it be a high flying pulp adventure, sci-fi space exploration and alien invasions, playing super heroes and villains, playing a setting of conspiracy and political intrigue, or an apocalyptic western setting, you’ll be able to play it in SW.
Take the chance.. I did.. And look at me!
Yep... Nothing wrong here.
Also some other good links for SW, if you are curious about the system and it’s possibilities :
Savage Worlds eZine
Savage Worlds Wiki
Another great review of the SW, eloquently put by Telas
And finally… I posted my initial impression of SW. I also posted my groups first playtest of the system.
So thanks must go to Chatty for giving me this opportunity to post on his blog! I hope he is enjoying is time out and about!
I concur that SW is a very good system with a very good communitity. I started a new campaign last week and this is the system I wanted to use the most.
The pitch I made to my players was using the D20 Midnight setting with SW. They were up to it and we easily created characters in little time. When came time to find information for the setting, I was able to find a full Midnight conversion to SW easily. I saw plenty more where that came from!
Can’t wait to get it started.
Savage Worlds is truly a great and fun game. And the community, the staff and the licensees have a great respect for the fans. And finally, a shameless plug for my own Savage Worlds rants.
http://www.grogtard.com/?cat=32
I think I’m up to date on all the links on the SW licensee page and there’s a sidebar with links to a flock of various SW bloggers.
@Chuck: I’m all for plugs that bring more goodies to established and would be fans of Savage Worlds. Thanks!
Hey, as long as we’re shamelessly plugging our own Savage Worlds rants, try this: http://webamused.com/bumblers/?tag=savage-worlds
Of particular interest are probably the posts on Speeding up Savage Worlds Combat, What’s Normal in Savage Worlds, and Savage Worlds Three Do’s and Three Don’ts.
.-= Joshua´s last blog ..Handedness Quick Hit =-.
Great guest post!
It’s great to have this avenue to share some of the rich diversity of RPG’s out there with an audience that might not otherwise be exposed to them.
One thing I’d add about Savage Worlds is that the GM prep is really fast. And it manages to be fast while maintaining a decent level of crunch and complexity in the system. For GMs who want a light game in terms of work but don’t want to go as totally simple as something like Risus, Savage Worlds really hits the sweet spot.
I also love how flexible it is. You can use it for practically any genre. It’s probably best at the cinematic level à la John McClain.
I’m going to be playing in a Deadlands: Reloaded game this fall and it’s really cool how they have tweaked the rules slightly to fit the supernatural western setting. I’m very psyched.
@Chuck- I’m poking around on your site and digging reading the summaries of your Savage Worlds game. They sound like a blast and I’m jealous;)
@Joshua- Thank you for the post! I appreciate all the feedback that you have given me about Savage Worlds and etc over on my blog as well!
@walkerp- Thanks for the praise! I’m just blown away by SW and the community.. I really can’t say that enough. I plan on buying Deadlands here really soon! I think it will add great flavor to my upcoming Steampunk SW game.
Would love to hear your take on Deadlands both as a reader and as a player. Just shoot me a comment on my blog!
.-= wrathofzombie´s last blog ..Bragging Rights! =-.
@sicnaxyz- Forgive me, but what is the d20 midnight setting? I’m unfamiliar with that one. Thanks for the comment!
.-= wrathofzombie´s last blog ..Bragging Rights! =-.
This might be a clincher for me. My group has been playing D&D exclusively for years now and we are all still quite happy with it (playing 4e). However, a couple of players have expressed interest in me running a sci-fi/western blend game set in Whedon’s ‘Verse, which I would very much like to do. I’ve d/led the SW test drive and was intrigued. I’ve also considered running an open game using some Fudge style character creation rules and running the game with pretty much just page 42 of the 4e DMG (a game theory I haven’t got to test yet). The more i hear about SW though, the more I lean to going that route. I think I just need to buy it and read it now.
The real deal closer would be if there is already a fan created Firefly setting for SW. Anyone know of one?
@Thasmodious- I shall give you some good news! And it is on this link! Mwa ha ha!
http://www.savageheroes.com/conversions/fireflyRPG.pdf
Honestly.. Try SW.. Even if you don’t love the system, it is only $9.99 and it may give you ideas on how to run something differently.
Also Thas, at the bottom of this post I have a few links to other SW sites with TONS of conversion rules, ideas, etc for exactly what you are looking for!
.-= wrathofzombie´s last blog ..Bragging Rights! =-.
Thanks for the linkage. I bought SW and am going to get started on campaign planning tonight. My chance to do things with (and to) Blue Sun that Joss never got the chance to (those Fox bastards!)
I really think Savage Worlds has been really appealing to folks for a number of reasonsas of late (quick prep, fast action, cheap price), which is why we’re seeing heightened discussion of the system online. I actually have an article going up on this tomorrow as well!
Great guest post! Chatty is to be commended on his selection. 🙂
.-= Zachary´s last blog ..Survey Follow-up =-.
Thasmodius, you may also want to check out Triple Ace Games free Space Pulp rules for SW.
http://www.tripleacegames.com/DaringTalesSpaceLanes.php
Also, a shamless plug for my gaming group. We are a bunch of 30 and 40+ aged gamers who have become total converts to Savage Worlds. It allows us to play any genre and keep our various interests and gamer ADD satisfied.
Check out our site and wiki for what we have been up to over the summer.
Welcome to the Savage Worlds!!
http://bit.ly/oZkGT
Is there an online version of Savage Worlds?
Well that sounds kind of interesting. I grabbed the test drive mentioned in the comments and will check it out soon. Most of the gaming ideas I think up to run with wander around through different genres like a drunkard walking “straight” down a road. At the moment I tend to do my more sketchy ideas using a simple, generalized variant of the Amber diceless rules and more fleshed out concepts in BESM. Both have drawbacks as well as well as advantages so I’ll be quite interested to see if SW can fit into one of these niches for me.
.-= Lanir´s last blog ..CLS: Jigsaw =-.
Er… I just noticed I got a reference to a blog I don’t have at the bottom of my last post. Not sure how that happened… I don’t write any blogs. The closest thing I’ve had to one is a livejournal I haven’t updated in over six years.
Natalie, this very day, Pinnacle just started an online game based in their Rippers setting on Facebook. It isn’t exactly Savage Worlds as far as rules, but it is Savage Worlds in its flavor.
I Think ‘Natalie’ is a spam bot… or at the very least a Spam commenter. I’ve de-linked her comment.
Sorry about that, great discussions!
Spam bot or not, there is still a Rippers Facebook game. 🙂
And that is indeed cool! 🙂
Again, I just wanted to thank everyone for the positive feedback on my post! I hope that you found something useful in it! Thanks for the opportunity, Chatty!
.-= WrathofZombie´s last blog ..Bragging Rights! =-.
@Wrath: I hope this got you hooked on blogging for the coming months! Thanks for the excellent post!
I just wanted to throw another link out there for people who are looking for SW stuff. I found this one today!
http://adamant.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=50458
And this is on there, but it is so great I wanted to highlight it! It is a wheel of raises! Really easy to find how many you have, and really good for those players who are intimidated or not very good with math or numbers!
http://savage.lythia.com/subpages/game_aides/files/WheelOfRaises.pdf
.-= WrathofZombie´s last blog ..I want YOU to Inspire Me =-.
Thanks for the linkage! And for pointing out the great community that’s grown around the system. I shouldn’t take it for granted.
Of course, now I’ve got to live up to my reputation as “eloquent”. Thanks.
.-= Telas´s last blog ..Challenge and Complexity Does Not Equal Drama And Action =-.
No prob Telas! I figured I’d better beef you up since you’ve given me good advice on youmeetinatavern.com and you’ve got some damned good articles.;)
Remember, now that you have been beefed up and people will have high expectations, your failures will be that much more sweet and disappointing;)
.-= wrathofzombie´s last blog ..Thanks for the Gencon Updates! =-.