In my quest to read and master every Tabletop system ever written, I have read Savage Worlds (The latest edition however its called).

I came away pretty impressed. Its rules-light, but rules breadth. Simple looking, without necessarily feeling too-light.
I was thinking about using it to run a Exalted/Godbound/Spelljammer inspired campaign, and I was curious whats its pros/cons are and what side materials I should get.

I wouldn't recommend it for Godbound. You will need the Superpowers Companion, which works fine but it's a fairly different game and I would really wait for the SWADE update.

Now Spelljammer could be fine (not too familiar with Spelljammer). You might want the Sci-fi Companion (which works fine with the current edition). It depends on how much future tech you want. Savage Rifts is updated to the current edition and blends tech and magic in a high powered fashion.

Savage Worlds (SWADE) shines best at the action hero power level. Better than mere mortals but below demi-gods. That's a lot of wiggle room in there, but I recommend running just the core book for at least some one shots to get a feel for the system. A campaign would be good, but is not a needed step (the core book alone covers a lot of concepts). Veteran Savage Worlds groups will splice another book or two per campaign to change things up (which gives the system a longer lifespan for crush hungry groups that need to be excited about characters options).

Although the game is traditional it runs differently than D&D or OSR. For example, there is no "burn downs" for bosses. A big bad in an empty room is a frustrating encounter. You need think of what would look cool in a movie and that will be more fun to play. This will take time to get used too.

I wouldn't recommend it for Godbound. You will need the Superpowers Companion, which works fine but it's a fairly different game and I would really wait for the SWADE update.

Now Spelljammer could be fine (not too familiar with Spelljammer). You might want the Sci-fi Companion (which works fine with the current edition). It depends on how much future tech you want. Savage Rifts is updated to the current edition and blends tech and magic in a high powered fashion.

Savage Worlds (SWADE) shines best at the action hero power level. Better than mere mortals but below demi-gods. That's a lot of wiggle room in there, but I recommend running just the core book for at least some one shots to get a feel for the system. A campaign would be good, but is not a needed step (the core book alone covers a lot of concepts). Veteran Savage Worlds groups will splice another book or two per campaign to change things up (which gives the system a longer lifespan for crunch hungry groups that need to be excited about characters options).

Although the game is traditional it runs differently than D&D or OSR. For example, there is no "burn downs" for bosses. A big bad in an empty room is a frustrating encounter. You need think of what would look cool in a movie and that will be more fun to play. This will take time to get used too.

Quote from: Rhedyn;1115863Although the game is traditional it runs differently than D&D or OSR. For example, there is no "burn downs" for bosses. A big bad in an empty room is a frustrating encounter. You need think of what would look cool in a movie and that will be more fun to play. This will take time to get used too.

Not sure what "Burn down for boss" means.

Pros: It's based on a miniatures game so that it'll run smoothly and fast.

Cons: It's based on such a miniatures game that it'll frustrate your players when they'll either do nothing to tough enemies, or blast them to bits with exploding dice.

Quote from: Moracai;1115866Cons: It's based on such a miniatures game that it'll frustrate your players when they'll either do nothing to tough enemies, or blast them to bits with exploding dice.

Yeah, the exploding dice concerned me.

Is there anything like Savage Worlds that works of a beautiful bell curve?

Quote from: Shrieking Banshee;1115865Not sure what "Burn down for boss" means.

Burn downs are where everyone does damage the same way round to round until the boss is dead and hope for decent odds. Players are use to playing this way and GMs learn to run monsters this way from other systems. This isn't how Savage Worlds is supposed to run. Your environment should be more interesting.

You have to set up big hits in creative ways for bosses (or set them on fire).

Savage Worlds sort'of has been curves since you take the best of two die rolls, but no if you love beautiful math or d20 distribution then the arcane statistics behind Savage Worlds math will not be fun. You have to do series math to estimate damage because of exploding damage die.

Quote from: Rhedyn;1115883love beautiful math or d20 distribution

Ha! What d20 distribution?

Quote from: Shrieking Banshee;1115858curious whats its pros/cons are and what side materials I should get.

The GM needs to know you're not actually intended to run it just by throwing the core book on the table and telling your players to make characters for a certain campaign.  You're intended to take inappropriate Edges out, come up with custom Professional Edges, consider some of the optional rules as dials to get the feel you want, and come up with a setting document if you want it to feel like what you're trying to run.  I once saw a new GM fail at running a steampunk campaign using Savage Worlds, when SW is a prime option for a steampunk game, because all he had was core rules and nothing custom.

The players need to know off the bat that the combat engine rewards swashbuckling and non-attack options at certain points.  Players coming in from D&D especially are used to making an attack every round, but in SW you're often mechanically better off insulting your opponent or swinging off a chandelier and landing behind him than swinging your sword every round.  This is especially true against tough opponents when a fellow party member is acting after you but before the opponent.  If you do end up swinging your sword every round you're going to be ineffective and feel frustrated (and possibly end up posting about it online when it's more a case of user error than system flaw).  There's a combat survival guide floating around somewhere; find it and print copies for all your players, but tell them the above verbally as well.

Related to that, although the system gives you just enough points to make a novice character with a d12 in Fighting or Casting, you really, really shouldn't.  Players get the only tool a hammer problem and keep trying to use their d12 instead of changing things up.  I like starting with off skills at d4, main skills at d6, and not always a d8 in what I want to be good at in the long run unless I need it for an Edge or just have the points left.  Consider a one-shot with pre-gens, or at least helping your players make characters the first time.

One drawback to SW is that scaling everything to fit on a tabletop grid means they left out a lot of options other games have for out-of-combat powers.  Give some thought to whether and how you might break range or duration limits on things like Teleport when casting a ritual out of combat for instance.

Exploding dice are less of a problem than you might think just from a read-through.  Remember the GM gets bennies too, so if a major villain gets one-shotted during his monologue you've got options.  Though knowing when and how often to use them as GM is a learned skill, you shouldn't necessarily spend every GM benny you have in combat.

I'm not actually up on all their recent releases so I can't help you too much on what other materials to get.  I suggest any single campaign setting for it to get an idea of what kind of changes to make for a setting document.  It doesn't matter too much which, but SW Rifts is certainly as good as any.

Just to provide an example to what others have said in regards to combat in Savage Worlds I played a child noble in a Savage Mars game who had an emphasis on social skills. When it came time to combat often the best option for me was to taunt an opponent or use some kind of feint to set up a bonus for the more combat oriented characters to wail on the opposition. I'm not sure I ever shot a radium gin or stabbed at anyone more than a couple of times throughout the 20 sessions or so the campaign lasted before it petered out.

Quote from: Dave R;1115886The GM needs to know you're not actually intended to run it just by throwing the core book on the table and telling your players to make characters for a certain campaign.  You're intended to take inappropriate Edges out, come up with custom Professional Edges, consider some of the optional rules as dials to get the feel you want, and come up with a setting document if you want it to feel like what you're trying to run.  I once saw a new GM fail at running a steampunk campaign using Savage Worlds, when SW is a prime option for a steampunk game, because all he had was core rules and nothing custom.

I own a copy of GURPS, I get the gist.

Il also keep in mind the "Break the grid" principles.

Quote from: Rhedyn;1115883Burn downs are where everyone does damage the same way round to round until the boss is dead and hope for decent odds. Players are use to playing this way and GMs learn to run monsters this way from other systems. This isn't how Savage Worlds is supposed to run. Your environment should be more interesting.

Sounds fantastic.

Pros: it exists and some people derive enjoyment from it.

Cons: It sucks and I hate it! Yuck!

I'll get my coat.

Quote from: Antiquation!;1115915Pros: it exists and some people derive enjoyment from it.

Cons: It sucks and I hate it! Yuck!

I'll get my coat.

Since we have had similarities before, id like you to fill me in on why you hate it.

Pros - Flexible. The inherent mechanics allows you dial up/down the pace/combat/scale of combat with relative ease. PC growth is not locked into "classes" but into "Tropes" - if it exists in your world, the PC can pursue to learn it and be it GM notwithstanding. Core rules works across genres fairly well with support. Combat is very tactile and encourages more than just "stand-and-bang" (but you can do that too). Combat can be a very creative exercise that in my experience can draw even the most un-creative and mechanical-crunch players into the fun. The tool-kit design of the system is an *extreme* Pro for GM's that are experienced. It can be a little daunting to total beginner GM's if you're using the Core materials alone. But there is a TON of support material I think that covers those GM's. The Plot-Point adventure design is a good method of teaching new GM's to go beyond the linear adventure design (if done well) and a good intro to sandboxing. The system also fully support Theater of the Mind play over battlemat-only* (see Cons).

Cons - The math curve can be a little weird at the high-end of the game. It's a minor thing to me but the whole d8 being statistically *slightly* worse than d6 due to exploding dice (and it's so minuscule it shouldn't matter, yet...)  I think current SWADE's  demphasization on Trappings is a regression when it comes to their Powers (and if you don't know 'Trappings' are the method/school/style in which you exemplify your Power you bought. So let's say you buy Bolt as a spell caster and you want the Fire Trapping i.e. Fire Bolt, and I choose the Ice Trapping i.e. Ice Bolt, in the older editions it matters a bit more in their mechanical differences. I think the downstream effects of this when it comes to Powers (Weird Science/Arcane/Psionics) has lost a little fidelity in mechanical expression. But it's nothing any novice GM can't tweak. The terminology that exists in the game for battle-mat play can be slightly annoying if you don't need them, but it's easily translated once you run it through without a Battlemat. I think the abstraction necessary to make the game "work" mechanically is a slight issue too. Examples being large caliber weapons tend to be "samey" relative to small caliber weapons - but you have play room within the context of "setting controls". Which brings us to the Tool-kit downside. If you're the type of GM that doesn't want to create their own setting and do your own thing, then you should wait for the SWADE setting books to drop. Or buy the older edition and simply play those (the differences are minor but significant in some aspects, but easily translatable.

My general opinion: If you like heroic action, and over-the-top play, Savage Worlds really shines. If you want some gritty ass deadly play - with some in-game controls built into the Settings Options, you can easily pull it off. You can scale the game to Fleet combat, and Supers - but I'm not convinced it handles this level *better* than dedicated supers-systems, but people say otherwise. It's a taste thing.

One thing I have done is I've replaced my decades long D&D campaigns with Savage Worlds... and I've never looked back. Best thing I ever did was simply converting all my 1e/2e hybrid-to-3e/PF hybrid monstrosity and dropped it into Savage Worlds - and it swallowed it without *missing a beat*. Simplified everything in tone and scale and it didn't lose anything except for 4-page character stat-blocs into half-page lean-mean asskicking machines with room for growth. The campaigns I ran up to 20th level in Pathfinder now have a chassis to go even further if I wanted to with far less headache.

And my players, who are notoriously picky about what they play and were die-hard D&D enthusiasts refuse to go back to D&D or d20 writ-large in any form *because* Savage Worlds. I'm largely with them (though I'd like to do my 10-lvl 2e Fantasyheartbreaker d20 system someday). That is probably the best endorsement I can give.

Quote from: tenbones;1116075That is probably the best endorsement I can give.

Savage worlds seem's to have everything I like a whole lot about a whole lot of systems, and Im mainly gathering cons to know what to fix.

Im actually very familiar with "Trappings" from Mutants and Masterminds which had a similar system. That was one of its strongest aspects I found, so I was excited to see it in Savage Worlds.

What exactly did the trappings lose in the transition?