If you have been curious to explore Savage Worlds games here on SPG but are daunted by character creation, allow me to walk you through step-by-step! It’s easy and fun!
CONCEPT
All Player-Characters are referred to as Wild Cards. Most important characters, both player and NPC, are Wild Cards. Wild Cards have that extra spark, that panache, that je ne sais quoi that makes them special.
It’s crucial when you begin to create a character that you remember that! Not only because it’s mechanically significant, but it helps you craft a hero! Set a goal of who you want your character to be now. It makes the next few decisions much easier.
No matter what, you can always adjust as you go! Savage Worlds characters rarely follow one path!
ANCESTRY
Savage Worlds games use a Setting - it could be the Weird West (Deadlands), Mythos-fueled Legionnaires (Weird Wars: Rome), Supervillains (Necessary Evil), or any number of other combinations. Ask your gamemaster what the setting limitations are before you go randomly building characters!
Each ancestry gives you certain innate abilities that have been gleaned from millenia of evolution. Feel free to work with your GM to adjust some of these idiosyncrasies to better suit your concept.
Especially with Savage Worlds where even an untrained wizard could score a lucky hit with their staff on the red dragon and bring it down, your ability to minimize weaknesses to maximize your strengths is less important overall.
HINDRANCES
Here’s where the character really starts to take shape. Hindrances are a mechanic which gives your character certain personality quirks, disabilities, or other drawbacks a character may exhibit. In return you get points to spend on boosting Attributes, adding Skills or taking Edges.
You can look at Hindrances in two ways - mechanical and superficial. Some have crossover between the two, but in general there are Hindrances that have an in-game mechanical effect (usually to your detriment), and there are others that strictly affect how you role-play your character.
It is always beneficial to play up your Hindrances. Playing a Hindrance, even one without a mechanical effect, can net you a Bennie. Bennies are powerful tokens with multiple uses in-game!
Another benefit from choosing Hindrances is earning Hindrance points. You’ll notice that some Hindrances have a Major or Minor designation. A Major Hindrance is worth two points, while a Minor is worth one. You can get up to four points from Hindrances, but only at creation! This doesn’t mean you can’t choose more Hindrances, but the max is four points. Also taking a Hindrance down the line does not give you more points.
- For two Hindrance points you can raise an Attribute one die type - or - you can choose an Edge.
- For one point you can gain another Skill point - or - get some extra starting cash to buy gear.
You can do any combo of these up to the four points you have to spend. So, for example, you could get four Skill points, or two Edges, or two Attribute die raises, or one Attribute and two Skills, etc.
ATTRIBUTES
Traits comprise the bulk of your character and include Attributes and Skills. Attributes and Skills are built on die types rather than scores. So d4, d6, all the way up to d12. When you use these Traits you’ll roll that die type along with a Wild Die (a simple d6) and take the highest (do not add the two dice together!).
So, let’s take a look at Attributes. We have Agility, Smarts, Spirit, Strength, and Vigor. Skills and passive effects are dictated by their connected Attribute. All characters begin with a d4 in each attribute, since all characters are basically capable of doing a bit of everything! And for a little perspective, a d6 is considered average for an adult human.
During character creation, you receive five character points to increase your attributes. These are separate from the four points you get for choosing Hindrances and can only be used to raise your Attributes. It helps to go back to your character concept and compare the Skills that will make up that concept, and boost the Attributes linked to those skills.
SKILLS
All characters begin with a d4 in Athletics, Stealth, Common Knowledge, Notice, and Persuasion. Because we’ve all experienced these core skills before. We may not be perfect, not even average, but we know the basics!
You can try anything untrained—within reason and the GM’s approval, of course—by rolling a d4 -2. Untrained skills can still get lucky rolls, so don’t worry about missing out. Put points in skills that seem necessary, but put most of them in what speaks to your character concept.
DERIVED STATISTICS
Everything you’ve already done trickles down to reveal Pace, Parry and Toughness, so you really don’t have to do anything aside from a little math.
Pace dictates how far your character can move in a normal round. Standard Pace—just walking—is 6. This would mean 6 squares/inches on a battle map. For theater of the mind, each inch is 2 yards or 6 feet, so Standard Pace means a distance of 12 yards or 36 feet—not quite the full length of a semi trailer. There are easy game mechanics for running, but we’re not concerned about that now. For character creation, all we need to know is that Standard Pace is 6, but some Ancestries or Hindrances may affect that (choosing a halfling, for instance).
PARRY
Parry is the number you or a foe will have to match in order to strike the other in melee combat. Ranged combat ignores Parry. It’s calculated as 2 plus half the Fighting Skill die type. If you don’t put anything in Fighting, the character only has a Parry of 2. Even a d4 in Fighting will up your Parry to a 4 - (4/2)+2 = 4! You can raise your Fighting Skill, add armor, or take some Edges to boost this number in the future if you feel vulnerable!
TOUGHNESS
While Parry decides whether or not your character can be hit in melee combat, Toughness dictates the amount of damage you take regardless of the type of hit. Toughness uses a similar calculation to Parry: where Parry is 2 plus half the fighting die, Toughness is 2 plus half the hero’s Vigor, plus any Armor they may wear.
Why the two-staged system for attacks? In short, it more accurately reflects the chaos of combat. The bad guy may take a swing that knocks you back but doesn’t actually hurt you. You could lunge with your sword and it goes through their armor, but it just nicked ‘em! Close but no cigar!
EDGES
Edges are special traits that a character has developed through life experience, or through rigorous training and study.
You may be able to pick an Edge if your Ancestry gives you access to one or more, or if you reserved some Hindrance points to add one. If neither is true, skip to the next section. Don’t worry, there’ll be time for Edges as your character Advances!
Consider your Concept and Hindrances when choosing Edges. This can help your character feel like a fully-formed individual rather than just a collection of random traits, and it can help guide you when it comes time for advancement later on.
Edges are separated into these categories:
- Background - These are Edges that reflect your character’s upbringing, extensive training, or the result of early events that left an impact in their life.
- Combat - These Edges reflect your character’s capability in physical combat.
- Leadership - Edges that allow you to grant your allies bonuses, thanks to your effectiveness as a leader.
- Power - For characters that can use magic, these Edges enable you to build upon your abilities.
- Professional - These are associated with a particular job or activity.
- Social - Social Edges demonstrate how good your character is at dealing with people. Specifically in using their personality and charm to get what they want.
- Weird - Weird Edges are for characters that may have some connection to the supernatural.
Legendary Edges are for Legendary ranked characters. You ain’t there yet, bucko! All Edges have certain requirements that you need to meet before you can take them. Rank is one of them. Think of this like your level in D&D. Novice would just be starting out. As long as you meet or exceed the requirements of the Edge you can take it!
If you want to play a spellcaster of some sort consider taking the Arcane Background Edge at creation. You can tweak what that is later, but you must take this before you can access Powers. Magic in Savage Worlds is really cool, but that’s an article for a different day!
GEAR
Depending on the Setting you’re playing, your character will be given an amount to purchase gear like armor, weapons, tech, and more. Spend it wisely!
And that’s it! Each area flows and illuminates the next section. If you take it all step by step it’s pretty easy! Hope all of your rolls Ace! See ya next time!
Dom Zook is an award-winning filmmaker and TTRPG content pioneer. Since 1986 and a chance connection with the D&D Basic Rules he’s been enthralled with RPGs. He launched Saving Throw Show on YouTube in 2014 and has produced official streaming content for Wizards of the Coast, Paizo, Pinnacle Entertainment, Onyx Path, Hunters Entertainment and more. A Twitch and YouTube Partner channel, Saving Throw continues to produce TTRPG content that breaks barriers and encourages everyone to roll some dice!
