Savage Worlds - Things for me to Remember

cbwjm said:

I'm going to be running a game of savage worlds set in Star Trek. As much as I like the system, I've never run/played it before (always 5e or other DnD). While I fully expect my group and I to make mistakes, are there any rules you'd recommend keeping in mind.

I have a cheat sheet with a number of rules for the players (and myself to use) for actions in combat but I've also found some rules that were a little hidden like if you hit someone with a raise, you roll an extra d6 for damage. I'm rereading the book but I'm just wondering if there were any other rules like that which I may have missed that people here think might be important.

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• High toughness is not fun to play against.
• Give out Bennies often.
• Don’t use GM Bennie’s to Soak, use them on attack and damage.
• The system is rigged in favor of player success. Don’t fight it.
• +2/-2 or +4/-4 is really the only set of modifiers you need.
• Everyone gets to try and sluff Shaken when their turn starts if they are currently Shaken.
• Fatigue is more dangerous than you think it is.
• Tests in combat can be just as valuable as attacks.
• Skills are used actively. Attributes are used passively for thing like resisting effects.

MatthewJHanson said:

I'll give a quick plug for the Crystal Hearts web comic, which does a great job of introducing the Savage Worlds rules: Crystal Heart Campaign Pitch | Up to Four Players

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thullgrim said:

• High toughness is not fun to play against.
• Give out Bennies often.
• Don’t use GM Bennie’s to Soak, use them on attack and damage.
• The system is rigged in favor of player success. Don’t fight it.
• +2/-2 or +4/-4 is really the only set of modifiers you need.
• Everyone gets to try and sluff Shaken when their turn starts if they are currently Shaken.
• Fatigue is more dangerous than you think it is.
• Tests in combat can be just as valuable as attacks.
• Skills are used actively. Attributes are used passively for thing like resisting effects.

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aramis erak said:

Fatigue is particularly evil as a damage type. It's bad enough when it's a result of long term actions or paranormal.
Any total modifier over +4 is axiomatically going to succeed; it's time to just say "yes," unless the quality of the result is important.

One thing I found real handy to have is a 4 column table for raises. It means not having to calculate them, saves maybe 2-3 seconds. Find the adjusted TN, and each line you're crossing from TN to not exceed the roll, one raise.

4	5	6	7
8	9	10	11
12	13	14	15
16	17	18	19
20	21	22	23
24	25	26	27

I put it next to a skill list with the current setting's skills and core skills on an index card, because I always like having the skill list when GMing.

The initiative system works well... and builds suspense in short combats... you don't know when you'll go until you're drawn. Also, remember that the reshuffle only happens when one or both jokers have been dealt and revealed, or the deck has run out (which indicates both have been dealt in that round) and you need more cards - in which case, after the round, another redeal for the cards. Shuffling every round actually is a slowdown.

Use suitable groups of NPCs sharing a card - it speeds up the initiative process. Not doing so can grind middling sized but even low threat encounters to a crawl.

It's designed for a pulp feel - the protagonists and maybe the bigbad and a couple lieutenants are the only ones who make sound tactical plans. Therefore, don't work on minion tactics - just do what seems the most obvious and resolve it as fast as possible, so the PCs can mow them down in a timely manner.

Once players are used to the initiative, If a player isn't ready promptly on their initiative, ask if you can move on and they can take their turn after another's at any later point. (The hold action rule... applied for play speed.)

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