Savage Worlds generic role-playing system provides a means for creating characters faster than many generic systems I have seen. Of course, having rules which allow for easier creation, and less specifics, means you are dealing with a number of areas in a general manner. If you like solid guides, and specific application of skills, etc. in your gaming system, you will probably find Savage Worlds too generic. On the other-hand, if you are looking for a system with a lot of leeway to how it is played, this is a system you will want to check out more thoroughly. It is this second aspect of gaming they were going after, and they did it well.

Skill checks are based on the attributes, as expected, and I like the system they use. Instead of providing a conversion system or charts to get attributes into the same system of making checks, like in a d20 system, the attributes are based on the dice, and a roll of four or better means success. Major characters, heroes and villains, are considered wild cards, which get an additional advantage when making attribute checks, including skill checks since they are based off the character’s attributes.

Along with the attribute die wild card characters receive a wild card die (d6). Both dice are rolled and the better result can be used. There is a risk attached to this—which the authors point out are the fates playing with the characters. Any time both dice roll ones, a critical failure takes place. The specifics of the failure are determined by the GM. There are also some other dice rules that apply to every character.

A die roll of the maximum number is an ace (i.e., 4 on a d4, 8 on a d8). On an ace the die is rolled again, adding the results of the additional roll(s). You can keep acing on a die, which means you keep adding an additional die. With a success being a 4 or greater, it seemed a little odd to me at first that you would need a system of increasing the numbers, however, there are several solid reason within the system for it.

A score of 4 higher than the needed result to succeed is a rise. With some checks a rise indicates additional benefits to the use of the skill. Some skills provide a specified result for success, another benefit for having a rise, and something else for a second rise. These can be accomplished with a single die roll or with the multiple rolls from achieving an ace.

Some checks are challenges between characters. The use of aces allow for a weaker character (weaker in any trait) to have a chance of doing something better than a character of greater ability. It also allows for a way of comparing how the competing characters perform. This is a good way of handling those situations where you want to add in more of the storytelling aspects of role-playing like when a characters performs a feat with extraordinary success.

Combat has a different means of calculating what is needed for a success. Instead of a 4 being a success, defenses are included to determine a target number. The target number then becomes the number needed for a success. At times a successful roll may only be reached by the player acing their die roll.

Since combat initiative was covered in the print article, let’s jump into some of the other aspects of how characters fight and survive. The basic system of fighting uses the same check of rolling your skill die and, if appropriate, your wild die. Weapon damage for hand-held weapons uses the characters strength die as the base and are listed as STR+3 for example. This provides the ability to handle damage without having to work through any conversions before playing or during combat.

To maintain the quick pace of the game, which Great White Games is striving for, character damage is a limited range. Characters can become shaken, physically and mentally. This is the first state. When damaged while shaken your character can become injured. Many times the injuries are being bumped and bruised. I like to think about this along the lines of the Indiana Jones affect (this came to mind from the reading with their example scenario running through the book). You can suffer 3 injuries and still stay in the combat. If you inflict a wound that would cause you to go beyond the third injury, you check against a chart to see what happens. This can range from more bumps and bruises to bleeding out and death within a certain number of rounds. This injury system has a couple of aspects that could be considered advantages or disadvantages depending on how you like to play your game.

You can continue fighting while on the verge of death. Of course, with three damage points, you are always close enough that a serious wound can immediately take you out of play, but you can also take a lot more when you are into brawling instead of guns. If you are not always relying on the big weapons, or big magic, you could continue fighting for some time (think of the brawls with Indiana Jones). Within this type of system I have seen players become more creative in how they handle the fights they get into.

There are also rules for handling large scale combat. Savage Worlds provides for playing scenarios where you would be a part of a larger group, like in major war campaigns. The rules are modified for doing these battles with miniatures and allows the players, as a group or individuals, to control their supporting cast. Large scale combats can be taking place while the individual lead characters (the wild cards) are duking it out. The rules read well, but I will admit I have not played out a larger scale scenario (yet). So, if you have, please let us know what you think.

After reading through the main book I was pleased with the concepts and felt comfortable in being able to explain and play the system. I then came across another nice addition. Not everyone needs the full book, and they don’t have to have it. There is the Explorer’s Handbook. This softcover book covers the information needed, focusing on the areas needed by a player running a character. It makes for an easy book to have at the table, or a supplement that can be passed around the table for multiple player use.

My gaming group decided to give Savage Worlds a try. Instead of playing in a standard scenario that we have been using other systems for we decided to try something new.

We decided to build characters in one session and we had them ready for play in about a half an hour. This was impressive since it was a new system for everyone else, based on my explanation from reading the rules. They were able to grasp the concepts with only a little explanation and then worked on building their characters on their own. The game setting we are working with is allowing players to not have to worry about equipment and supplies, which of course makes a difference in the amount of time needed.

All of us are looking forward to playing the system to see how it works for us.

Savage Worlds products can be found at Pinnacle Entertainment Group’s website (https://www.peginc.com/product-category/savage-worlds/).

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Around 30 years ago the role-playing game (RPG) Champions was introduced. As the name suggests it was a system focused on playing superheroes. Like other RPGs that have been around for such a long time, it has gone through revisions. And, it has developed into the HERO System (currently the rules are in their sixth edition). Although the rules system has developed into is a generic character creation system, allowing for broader play into different genres, it still has maintained its original focus of playing superheroes.

Hero Games was gracious in providing three of their genre books to Utah Geek Magazine and Guild Master Gaming for review. Each is being reviewed separately, to ensure I am dealing with specifics of each one, and not make anyone read a genre they are not interested in. Before writing this first review I will say I enjoyed going through all three books (did a quick pass first looking for similarities) and my gaming group has expressed their desire to play all of them. Here is the first.

Champions Complete

In keeping with its roots, the first book is for the superhero genre. The comic book worlds, galaxies, and the universe are open to you. You can play at any level you desire, from heroes who are average people working to make a difference, to the ultra-powerful superheroes shooting back and forth between time and space saving the day from the galactic supervillains.

This 240 page book provides everything needed (thus Complete) to play the game. Just over half of the book is devoted to building characters—player characters (PCs) and non-player characters (NPCs). The rest covers information needed for running encounters to campaigns.

Character creation in the HERO System is done on a point buy. The heroic standard (elite agents) are on about a 175 point base while standard superheroes (important superheroes) are along the lines of 400 points. In comparison an average skilled to competent individual would be 50–100 points. There is guidance for adjusting these bases to create a feel for the game you and your players want to create. The point buy system also allows each player to make the character they want, from their favorite comic book heroes or their own creations.

This system allows you to customize your character. You are not tied to a specific class, instead, you develop the skills and abilities best suiting your character, your play, your universe. All of your abilities, skills, powers, and possibly equipment are created through the point buy. It does mean there is a little more time investment at the start.

If this is your first time working with the HERO System and the way it allows you to adjust your character, it will take you more time than you are probably used to investing during character creation. But, for most RPG players, the ability to create uniqueness for your character outweighs the time.

One of the main reasons it takes longer to start a new character is that in the HERO System skills, talents, spells, etc. are based on “generic” concepts you adjust to fit to your desire. Instead of having the abilities predefined like a fire jet or a water jet, these would be built in the same manner and the visual affect, or how the damage is dealt, is left up to how the player want to define it. This gives creativity the forefront on the development of the character. For beginners, I suggest building some lower point characters, then some talents, powers, and so forth to get an understanding of how the point system works. There are examples to help in understanding the process and after a few times you will find it easier. These same aspects also apply to character advancement.

Being a point based system means characters are not acquiring new pre-specified attributes as they go up in levels based on a specified class. As your character earns additional points you can develop traits specific to the character and what the character has gone through. Advancement is usually slower (remember though, a 400 point character is already really advanced) than systems where you can race through the lower levels. I have seen that some players used to level systems have a harder time with this advancement because their character don’t “ding.”

Another part about the characters during play are Heroic Action Points. Each game session, each player has a number of Heroic Action Points they can use to influence the story. You get the opportunity of saving the day just in the nick of time.

The next sections of the book deal with game mechanics. These sections deal with equipment, movement, combat, basically the rules governing how your character can interact with the world, non-player characters (NPCs), and other player characters. Some of this information applies to any genre, but here are also specifics for Champions.

There is a section dedicated to information for roleplaying superheroes. This includes subsections like “Living in a Comic Book World.” There is information on what makes the superhero genre a superhero genre and how to apply it to your game. There are also a number of suggestions for different themes, settings, plots, and subplots. This section is open for everyone to read, but for a game master (GM) this is the area to use for defining the game you want to run.

Examples are placed throughout the book to help you. There are examples of champions and villains, and a lot of different types of NPCs you can meet. They also provide examples of building traits, powers, and equipment. You don’t need to create everything on your own though, there is enough base material to get you started. As you play, you can learn and develop your world for the direction you want your game to go.

This is a complete book for playing Champions. Enough to get started and run a full on campaign, you really don’t need to buy another book to play a game. It is also a good starting point for diving into a full-on superhero game you can expand easily with the additional material available.

The Champions Complete is available in soft cover and PDF (suggested retail of $40). It is written by Derek Hiemforth.

There are groups who are experienced in the HERO system. Just check the information at local game stores and on-line. If you are looking for players, please share some information here so gamers can get together and play.

Thanks again to Hero Games for the review copy.

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