Has anyone ever tried "Savage Worlds?"

[Lancer]

After realizing that there are very, very few options for a PA game that is similar to "Fallout," I am starting to lean more and more towards just making my own post-apocalyptic game. I have heard good things about a cinematic universal roleplaying system called "Savage Worlds." I am considering using these rules (if not, then FUZION or FUDGE) though I haven't purchased it yet.

 

Has anyone ever tried making their own setting with SW? How is it? Do you think it would work for a post-apocalytic game similar to Fallout or do you think others (like FUDGE or FUZION) would be better?

 

Let me add that I like quick, efficient combat and not very keen on excessive realism (GURPS) and prefer spending most of my time on fleshing out the setting.

[Loof]

I have never played a Savage Worlds game but from a few articles I read about it, it sounded like it was a very streamlined fast and simple system. The one big complaint I heard about it was that it couldnt handle tough characters as the system seemed to have a rather small radom range in its dice rolls and pretty sall values for normal human atributes.

So creatures with high toughness either take no damage from being hit at all or you score a crittical and all of a sudden you killed it. But as critticals from what I gathered where only based on pure dice luck after a sertain toughness level your characters fighting power no longer matters and it becomes a pure dicerolling game.

 

But aside from this combat system problem it sounded like a pretty nifty system. If you try it or someone else has actualy tried it I too would love to hear your thoughts on it.

[Lancer]

I have never played a Savage Worlds game but from a few articles I read about it, it sounded like it was a very streamlined fast and simple system. The one big complaint I heard about it was that it couldnt handle tough characters as the system seemed to have a rather small radom range in its dice rolls and pretty sall values for normal human atributes.

So creatures with high toughness either take no damage from being hit at all or you score a crittical and all of a sudden you killed it. But as critticals from what I gathered where only based on pure dice luck after a sertain toughness level your characters fighting power no longer matters and it becomes a pure dicerolling game.

 

But aside from this combat system problem it sounded like a pretty nifty system. If you try it or someone else has actualy tried it I too would love to hear your thoughts on it.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Yeah, that sounds familiar. Just a few hours ago I read a review discussing what you say here regarding creatures with high toughness values...I must I have read the same review you did.

 

RPGnet review: Savage Worlds

 

His was the only lukewarm review of the game, however, (though he admits he had problems with SW more due to personal preferences than because of faulty mechanics) as the rest of the reviewers gave it mostly 4/5 and and 4/4.

 

Right now I am debating whether to use FUZION or Savage Worlds for my P-A game(though I am certainly open to other recommendations). And I would love to let you know how it goes when I finally get the time to work on this!

[EnderAndrew]

There was a SPECIAL based rules set some fans made specifically for Fallout.

[Lancer]

Does anyone know where you can get the fan-made SPECIAL system for Fallout PnP?

[EnderAndrew]

I thought Duck and Cover used to have a copy.

[Lancer]

I thought Duck and Cover used to have a copy.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Yep..yep.yep.. I had just found a copy of Jason N. Mical's game this morning (though through another site not Duck and Cover). And it uses SPECIAL!!! Time to check it out.

[Loof]

Hmm why does everyone seem to like SPECIAL so much?

Sure it was pretty good if you take into acount it was from a computer game (crpg rules are generaly pretty boring in my opinion). But if you dont take that into acount whats so wonderfull about it?

 

It's level based (negative in and of itself in my opinion)

 

It uses precentage based skills, which I think makes agdjusting difficultys bothersome..

 

It's a hitpoints/level system, and although it still manages to be somewhat leathal due to the critical hit rules, said crit rules are based on lookup tables that are far to complicated (I'm guessing a bit here) to be easily used in PnP.

 

(Oh and just for teh record I didnt even think SPECIAL was that great in a crpg, I love fallout for the setting and the plot and not for its rules)

[Loof]

I have never played a Savage Worlds game but from a few articles I read about it, it sounded like it was a very streamlined fast and simple system. The one big complaint I heard about it was that it couldnt handle tough characters as the system seemed to have a rather small radom range in its dice rolls and pretty sall values for normal human atributes.

So creatures with high toughness either take no damage from being hit at all or you score a crittical and all of a sudden you killed it. But as critticals from what I gathered where only based on pure dice luck after a sertain toughness level your characters fighting power no longer matters and it becomes a pure dicerolling game.

 

But aside from this combat system problem it sounded like a pretty nifty system. If you try it or someone else has actualy tried it I too would love to hear your thoughts on it.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Yeah, that sounds familiar. Just a few hours ago I read a review discussing what you say here regarding creatures with high toughness values...I must I have read the same review you did.

 

RPGnet review: Savage Worlds

 

His was the only lukewarm review of the game, however, (though he admits he had problems with SW more due to personal preferences than because of faulty mechanics) as the rest of the reviewers gave it mostly 4/5 and and 4/4.

 

Right now I am debating whether to use FUZION or Savage Worlds for my P-A game(though I am certainly open to other recommendations). And I would love to let you know how it goes when I finally get the time to work on this!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Yeah I know there where alot more positive reviews then negative ones, but in my experience a negative review often tells you alot more about something then a positive one. A review that says everything is wonderfull doesnt realy tell you anything about the thing being reviewed just what the person that wrote the review liked whatever it was, whereas a negative one "usualy" tells you why he didn't like said product. Which gives you the ability to estimate if said feature would irritate you to...

[Lancer]

Yeah I know there where alot more positive reviews then negative ones, but in my experience a negative review often tells you alot more about something then a positive one. A review that says everything is wonderfull doesnt realy tell you anything about the thing being reviewed just what the person that wrote the review liked whatever it was, whereas a negative one "usualy" tells you why he didn't like said product.  Which gives you the ability to estimate if said feature would irritate you to...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

True. Although what irritated the writer of the one negative review aside from personal preferences was basically that very tough monsters were too hard to kill. That the only way to hit them was by maxing out the die. This didn't sound like this would be a show-stopper for me, though. On the contrary, I think that very tough monsters such as dragons should rightfully be hard as nails to kill.

[Loof]

What you say is all true, but what I reacted to in the review was that it sounded like the level at which some tests became so hard that your own level of skill became meaningsless and it was all about pure dicerolls was way to low.

In my opinion a good rulesystem should neve even reach that level of difficulty... skill levels and abilitys should always matter even if it does take an exceptional success to fully succeed. But it probably boils down to us valuing different things in a rulesystem.

Also the issue would probably be pretty simple to "fix", sounds like all that would realy be needed is an increase of the atribute range and possibly a corresponding increase in random range. The problem with those two changes is that while they are pretty simple changes to the rulesystem they have very far reaching effects in the amount of work one has to do to modify any creatures/characters that oneself hasnt writen...