Savage Worlds

Savage Worlds

Originally created by Shane Lacy Hensley

Savage Worlds is a tabletop roleplaying game of pulp action, fast and furious play, and universal rules. There are a number of settings built specifically for Savage Worlds, including the weird west Deadlands, piratical 50 Fathoms, and action-horror Rippers. But Savage Worlds includes robust support for creating your own setting or converting an existing one as well! The rules are generic and universal, meaning any genre or setting could be adapted to and played in Savage Worlds. The tone of these games will be action-oriented, pulpy, and focus on dynamic heroes who can pull off amazing feats, but beyond that, there's little Savage Worlds can't handle. Adventure fantasy, superheroes, sword-and-sorcery, even multiversal science-fantasy setting Rifts all adapt easily to the Savage Worlds framework. Savage Worlds' rules are quick but comprehensive, covering everything from dramatic action scenes like chases and combat to interpersonal interludes where characters can interact in downtime. The game offers the freedom to the players and game master to create any setting they can imagine, and populate it with characters who, with a little luck, can accomplish the impossible.

Details

3-5 Players
Exploding Dice

Themes

Release Date

2003

Savage Worlds Reviews (7)

See what other Game Masters and players are saying about Savage Worlds

Mike_d20 avatar

Mike_d20

Ran 5 sessions

Genuinely my favorite system. It's easy to learn but has the depth and crunch if you want it. With flexible rules and character creation options you can play a game that's anywhere and be anyone you want to be from a gunslinger in the old west, to a wizard fighting monsters, to an astronaut careening through space. This system can do all that and more.

Sam avatar

Sam

Ran 5 sessions

You want a gonzo, over-the-top adventure where the sky's literally the limit? This is the game for you. I want to focus in on the "exploding dice" rule--if you roll the highest number on a die, it "explodes": you roll it again and add the numbers together for your total result. The same die can explode multiple times. So you get situations where the difficulty number is 5, you're rolling an 8-sided die, and your result is a 27, so you do something magnificent like take down a helicopter with your pocket knife. Great stuff, 10/10, do recommend.

Jay avatar

Jay

Savage Worlds is a grand-daddy of rules lite systems. It has a long history as a system powering all sorts of genres. Like most rules light systems, it doesn't lend itself to long campaign arcs, but it's good for an adventure over a few dozen sessions. Its leveling dice progression mechanic and cards for initiative are pretty unique, though the cards can seem a bit gimmicky at times. It's easy to pick up and quick to run. It's good for a night where not all the players show, or when you want a pallet cleanser from more crunchy systems.

Gary avatar

Gary

This ia a fast, furious system that still has enough crunch to get your teeth into. If you want to play a system that reminds you of a movie or your favorite book this is the system for you. Any system anytime anywhere. This game's only limitation is you and your Gamemaster's imagination. I've run games with pirates and space aliens and played from King Arthur's court to to 18th century fantasy to the old west. I haven't found a game that is this fluid and covers so much ground. While there are expansions for almost any genre you really only need the core book. (I make a copy available to you when you play with me.)

Dreamslayer avatar

Dreamslayer

Really enjoyed the world-building aspect of this game. I wanted to run a steampunk paranormal adventure/investigative game and it had all the tools I needed to build my campaign. Extremely flexible. A little crunchy, but certainly a great system for creative storytellers.

Colby avatar

Colby

Ran 6 sessions

Savage Worlds is my favorite kind of system, one that is meant to be able to do anything! With a slim core rulebook you can play any game from fantasy to sci-fi to superheroes. There's a bit of a learning curve, partially because of its unusual core dice mechanics, and partially because being able to do anything means that it has a lot of moving parts. But once you're used to it, you'll also find that it's one of the most exciting games to play around a table! Take my advice, even if you're playing online, use physical dice!

How to Play Savage Worlds

2000 Tales RolePlaying takes you through the basics of Savage Worlds for beginners. This is the first in a series of videos from this channel on how to play Savage Worlds, so be sure to check out the rest of the series for more details!

The basic mechanic of Savage Worlds is rolling your character's Trait Die, the d4, d6, d8, d10, or d12 associated with the relevant trait to the challenge at hand, and the Wild Die, a bonus die representing the player characters' luck, and taking the higher result. Compare that result to a target number, usually 4. If your result is greater than or equal to the target number, you succeed! If your dice roll their highest result, e.g. 8 on a d8, you can re-roll them and add the results together. This is called an "ace" or explosion, and it can achieve results many times higher than the target number.

To help them along, player characters (called "Wild Cards" in many Savage Worlds games) also have access to "bennies," or benefits, a limited resource they can spend for various bonuses. Bennies might let you re-roll a trait check or damage, soak up wounds, influence the story, among other useful tricks! They might also have edges and powers that allow them special abilities that might otherwise break the rules.

In combat, initiative is determined by dealing playing cards, then going down the ranks from ace down to deuce. Jokers are wild and can go anytime, and come with a bonus to the character using it. Each character can move and take an action, as well as spend bennies or take penalties to push themselves to do more during each round of combat.

How to Create a Character in Savage Worlds Adventure Edition

Learn the basics of creating a character for Savage Worlds in this video, applicable to any setting or genre of the game. Additional videos cover characters with powers or specific to one of Savage Worlds' settings that the basic universal rules don't.

You'll begin with a character concept, the type of person you want your character to be. Next, you'll choose or create your character's race; depending on the game's setting, everyone might be human, or there might be no limit to the fantastical beings you can play as, each of which will give you some advantages and disadvantages. Next you'll choose hindrances, character flaws that grant both penalties to the character and extra points with which to buy advantages later. Then traits, including attributes, where you'll assign points to Agility, Smarts, Spirit, Strength, and Vigor. Each point increases the size of the die associated with the attribute, from a d4, to a d6, d8, d10, and then d12. The bigger the die, the better the attribute. Similarly, players then assign points to skills, which can be increased in die size as well. Once these attributes are settled, derived stats like Pace, Parry, and Toughness are easy to calculate. Next, Edges are where your character becomes unique. Edges are special abilities that allow characters to specialize or gain bonuses in specific situations. Finally, you'll purchase your character some starting gear to help them on their adventures.

The video also explains what it might look like as your character advances!

Frequently asked questions about Savage Worlds

Virtual table tops for Savage Worlds (VTTs)

Merchandise for Savage Worlds

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