Savage Worlds General /svg/

Sonar was the only real way to detect each other.

It gave you a 360 degrees (plus up and down) view based on a standard Notice roll, but with a -2 when sensing directly behind you, because of interference from your own body structure. The Alertness edge worked with Sonar.

The Orcas had a much higher Notice than the Basils since the Basil skull doesn't have the bulge that indicates an advanced Sonar capacity.

I hand-waved the question of ranges by saying it depended on sea conditions and interference.

Active Sonar (actively 'pinging') let everyone know you were in the area. Passive Sonar (just listening) was less effective (a blanket -4 to all Notice rolls), but didn't give away your location. Players sometimes "active pinged" just to let other players know where they were.

A lot of 'terrain' imposed minuses -- the Basil's eventually figured out that if they hid within the complex external structure of a habitat, the Orca had a more difficult time finding them.

Ship noise from small and merchant craft would also be a problem.

The PCs flipped when a temperature differential between two layers of water screwed up their sonar.

The Coast Guard eventually came through for the PCs by providing a drone that active-sonared all the time and confused the hell out of the Basil's.

There was probably more, but it was a while back and that's all I can remember right now.

>>So the PC's were Wild Card Orcas, or did they have Extra Orcas under their command?

The PCs were wildcards. I completely blew the opportunity to have the PCs interact with NPC Orca. I've regretted that one ever since.

You could always run it again! Or type up an adventure path and share it!

>That sounds like fun, are you using the point system from the race creation rules too?
Yes. They'll gain points over time, probably as an advancement option (1 per advance). They can only add 1 positive augment (racial ability) per session/advance (not sure which yet) but can take any number of negative ones to bring them back to 0. They won't be able to hoard points, partly for obvious balance reasons and partly for the "we don't actually know what we're doing" mad science feel

...and I just found this online. Weirdly enough, it's from an anti-evolution site. The sizes seem roughly right, but I imagine my Basils as being maybe a quarter bigger. Note the bulge on the Orca's head. That's due its bio-sonar apparatus.

That sounds like a lot of fun. Have you taken a look at the Sci-fi companion? It has rules for dealing with augmentations and the stresses they can have on the body.

My GM uses it -- and it always screws me up because I just move as if I had a full 6" of extra move. Danged if I know why, but I always forget to roll my run dice.

That's bad on your GM for not enforcing it.

The modern scifi companion didn't exist back when I ran this. I'd like to try it again some time.

Oh, he catches me all the time and makes me roll.

I'm actually using the sci-fi companion's race creation tables, since it adds fun shit like wall walking. Hadn't really looked at the augmentation rules since I was handling it in a totally different way

Also, I'm going to add a few augments of my own. Possibly including 's sonar.

I was going to run a future-Gotham City game using the power armor rules from the Sci-Fi companion, but I'm still thinking that one over.

I'd like to see your version of Sonar once you get it written up.

This is the Orca guy -- and I'm about to leave to go ref a Savage Rifts game. However, just let me get this out of the way: SAVAGE WORLDS IS THE SUXXOR BECAUSE SHOTGUNS!!!

Alright. I'm already putting together a PDF for my setting that I'll post when it's done. But it has to be written up and playtested first.

That sounds really fucking cool, user. Keep us updated if you end up making it
Has anyone made alternate shotgun rules that aren't fucking broken?

Have fun!

bump

I've only played like, 2 games of Savage Worlds, neither of which were modern.

Why are shotguns broken? And are the broken as in overpowered or worthless?

+2 to hit and high damage make it easy for d4 shooting mooks to wreck low rank PCs.

I use them. I like rolling dice. Plus you can always do something else on the same turn you've run, so if you don't run your max you still have a chance to do something.

People get really angry at me for saying this, but my group just uses the power creation rules to for different ranged weapons. For us buckshot is a cone that can be blocked by physical objects, The further away you are, the less damage you take. Different types of ammo or shotguns would have wider or narrower spreads, longer or shorter range, more or less damage, and so on. And rather than using PP you use Ammo.

The other way, too: if your GM relies too much on throwing monsters right in your face, shotguns make good fuck off tools.

A simple houserule that makes shotguns more realistic is to remove the +2 shooting bonus, but also the range penalties to shooting. You still have to aim it, it's just easier at longer ranges.

The issue with that, is buckshot's effectiveness should dramatically degrade over distance. I'd say apply a damage penalty that depends on how far away the target is.

It really doesn't. That's a thing of video games and hollywood.

>brassfetcher.com/Shotguns/Maximum Effective Range/Buckshot.html

It already has that. By long range it does crap damage, unless you're fighting balloon people.

Like says, shotguns remain fairly effective for quite some distance. It doesn't spread THAT much.

>remain fairly effective for quite some distance
You don't even realize how wrong you are.

Next time you go shooting, try and hit a dummy at 100 yards with buckshot and measure how deep your pellets penetrate.

100 yards is 50" in SW terms. Which is longer than any shotgun can reach.

Next time you roll some dice, look at the actual numbers on the pages.

My point has always been that the weapons in Savage Worlds are far from accurate to their real life counter parts.

Which is fine, but don't try and argue that shotguns are effective at a reasonable distance either in game or in real life when they're absolutely not.

Just to elaborate, the range at which shotguns stop doing even 2d6 damage and become effectively useless is 24", or 48 yards.

According to that site up there, the maximum effective range of buckshot for "self defense," cough cough, is 52 yards.

In conclusion, go back to /k/.

So we can all agree that shotguns are shit at a distance? Good, glad that's settled.

50 yards is about 45 yards further than any Hollywood shotgun is capable of. Your typical movie/vidya shotgun will gib anything in the same room, and not damage the delicate patina of a raw egg just beyond.

So you, me, and the game rules all seem to have the same idea of what shotguns are capable of, which is a damn sight better than was probably thinking.

Unless that's (you), in which case you really ought to read the rules of the game instead of shitposting at any word that triggers you on the front page.

I think you're making assumptions about what meant. You didn't even offer a chance for him to explain how exactly he would change shotgun damage or range.

And how is discussing game mechanics, comparing them to reality, or expressing dislike of a mechanic shitposting?

Have a goodnight Deadlands bump

Good night user!

That's actually a neat idea. I could get behind a system where all attacks and abilities draw from the same list of options and mechanics. So a melee weapon, and magical touch attack, and lay on hands style healing are all essentially the same thing but with different effects, as are a magic missile and a rifle shot or a grenade and an exploding fireball.

Have a good morning Deadlands bump

>"2nd link in the trove is down"
mega.nz/F!ke4VCCiS!ynQIwFagPCGRXWg68rGbpA!dOZBxCaK
here's a new mirror, pointed to the SW folder. My BbukFA went down...months ago.
Maybe someday I'll update it.

Which power creation rules? The core Powers + a Trapping? Or something that Zadmar has done?

If we're going to keep making these threads, we should expand the OP.

>SW Web Tools
jdgwf.github.io/savage-worlds-web-tools/#/
>Monster Finder
godwars2.org/SavageWorlds/monster.html

Anything else?

Take a look and see if you like what you see here.

godwars2.org/SavageWorlds/

Oh wow. Didn't think to check whether there was more to that site than just the monster finder.

I can't account for all of the tools, as I've only used a few. But they seem like they could be useful to someone.

Gonna be running some Savage Worlds high fantasy adventures in a homebrewed setting, Friday evenings GMT. Not aiming to reinvent the wheel with the setting, I just want some standard high fantasy that's of my own design so the players can have an effect on the world around them rather than being slaves to the metaplot. Should include politics, warfare, dungeon crawling, all sorts of stuff.

Gonna be on Roll20 and Discord for voice. Add Crunch Deadlift#0407 if you're interested.

How are the "_____ Companion" splats? Anything from any of them I should avoid?

They're generally very good, though the fantasy one is lackluster as a majority of the book is premade magic item tables. It and the horror companion are getting updates soon, so hopefully it will be fixed.

I dream of one day actually playing in a Savage Worlds game.

>Updates.
Really?
I asked the guys at Pinnacle when the SciFi and Supers books were released, and they said they didn't have any plans to, but that was years ago.

So, what I take away from this thread is don't play any SW game with guns because everyone will shotgun everyone else.

Eh, shotguns are nice, but in settings where they are a factor, guns tend to be the least of your worries, like in Deadlands.

Basically, unless you are running generic early modern or modern game with no or little magic, supernatural enemies tend just ignore guns, unless it's magic.

If you are super concerned, just halve the ranges for shotguns.

At gencon they had a product poster with new updated core rules as well as those two companions on it. On the bottom. They match up with the supers and sci fi companion look. I think we can assume they are being updated, but no official word yet as far as I know.

Not at all.

Shotguns are only good in CQB situations.

It's just that they're a bit too good in those situations.

>shotguns are only good in CQB situations

+2 to hit in all circumstances
Heavy damage at close range
Standard handgun damage at medium range
1d6 damage at long range but their long-range is so long you're not actually likely to represent it at all if you're using tabletop minis so it doesn't matter

Shotguns OP. Houserule as follows: attack roll bonus isn't present at close range, +1 at medium and +2 only at long-range to account for the pellets actually spreading out further as they fly.

Shotgun range is tiny as fuck.

My group actively engages targets 400-500m out.

Where is your group fighting such targets

But this leaves basically every weapon at long range, doesn't it?

mountain valleys, large fields, urban centers, highways.

you know, not inside or in the woods? Though we've even had firefights at that range in the jungle.

>urban centers
>offering clear LoS for 500 meters

Are fighting in fucking Des Moines?

Science fiction super city, the fight was inside a sprawling mega mall with an obscene amount of open space. Enough room for 10m tall mechs and even helicopters. It was interesting.

>Has anyone made alternate shotgun rules that aren't fucking broken?

Just make them +1 to-hit instead of +2. That honestly fixes it. The +2 is broken and stupid but it far from ruins the game.

I had a lot of fun explaining to my players that the running die does NOT explode.

They aren't particularly good except for some edges. Necromancer from the horror companion, in particular, is one of my favorites. I once played "Jeremy the Neckbeard Wizard" as follows:

Jeremy the Neckbeard Wizard
Attributes: Agility d4, Smarts d10, Spirit d8, Strength d6, Vigor d4
Skills: Spellcasting d12, Fighting d4, Shooting d4, Notice d8, Investigation d4, Stealth d4, Taunt d4
Edges: Arcane Background (magic), Necromancer
Hindrances: Obese, Ugly, Vengeful (major)
Pace 5, Parry 4, Toughness 5
Attacks:
Staff (Str + d6)
Powers (power points 10)
Bolt – cost 1-6 – (2d6, range 12/24/48, “magic missile” bolts of white)
Blast – cost 2-6 – (2d10, cone template, acid spray from Mtn Dew bottle)
Zombie – cost 2 – (raises zombie for 1d6 hours, can double cost for 2d6 hours, or 2d6 days on a raise, or permanent with two raises)

>I had a lot of fun explaining to my players that the running die does NOT explode.
Oh fuck my sides.

>shotguns
>bennies
>exploding dice
>initiative with cards
lol

It's pretty great user.

Virt is just doing his part to keep the thread alive, one shitpost at a time.

It's appreciated.

Made a setting. Not at all original but it's the kind of thing I like to run. Based vaguely on apocalypse world. I welcome feedback on the monsters, houserules and everything else.

Yeah I kept looking for where it says that they don't explode but could only find where it says rolling on a table doesn't. Then I told them it's fucking retarded if you can suddenly run infinitely fast and they unironically tried to convince me the average human occasionally gets speed bursts on the level of Usain Bolt. God I get pissed off just thinking about it. They are my best friends though.

Looks good. I like the range of potential enemies, the variety of factions. There's enough in there for a lengthy campaign without it feeling overstuffed. You did a good job keeping it vague and mysterious.
Not a fan of random wealth, but that's me

Where dem firm young squids?

>Has anyone made alternate shotgun rules that aren't fucking broken?

But they're not broken. They're just a bit too good in their standard niche, and they're not even that much better than a rifle within it.

Reduce the bonus to +0 at close range, increase it to +1 at medium, and then +2 at far if it really inflames your fucking autism that much.

God I wish people would stop abusing the word broken. Broken implies it's either non-functional, or outright grinds the game to a halt in some fashion. An optimized full caster in 3.5 is broken, shotguns doing a few more points of damage than a rifle at close range is not.

But but my marksmen + called shot to the head rate of fire 2 double barrel.

Took a shower, thought about it some more, realized I really, really like this. So let me give you some more compliments.

The genre mashup was well chosen. Post-apoc horror isn't exactly new, but the two genres play to each others strengths. You did both sides well and made them work together.
I mentioned the length before, but I have more to say there. Asking players to read anything is always a chore. You should always keep it as short as you can. I was just going to read a little to give you some feedback, but it was over before I realized it.
I like the Fleshcrafters a lot. Like most of the setting it's nothing new but it's done well, which is what really matters. The Reborn feel like something that would really happen in this scenario

On the other hand, you forgot to mark which weapons are SA/3RB/auto. Also, why are there so many automatic shotguns?

You better be playing the Doomguy.

Well for starters I can't actually use that rate of fire with marksman, but hey a single 3d6+4 is pretty good on its own.

I definitely dislike ion pistols being shotguns in Savage Rifts. Mostly because their lack of AP makes them actually weaker than lasers.

Traditionally, ion pistols are supposed to be like Han Solo's blaster. Less accurate, more damaging.

I've had a long day, so I'm going to bed.

I think they were just reaching for a way to give them a niche. Rifts has three classes of weapon that are more or less the same thing and it's hard to give them a niche.

What they should have done is changed it so raises increase damage by a die rather than a d6.

Then make all lasers d8, all ion d6, all particle beams d10.

Why not reduce the classes of weapons, then?

Or do something more exotic, like make a high-damaging weapon with projectiles that are slow enough to be dodged with an agility roll, or can be parried?

bump

How do you guys feel about rolling Attribute and Skill die for everyone and taking the highest?

Wild Cards still get their Wild Die.

1st time DM, planning on doing something for 2 player friends. What are Veeky Forums's thoughts on Weird War 2 setting?

I like it. You should do something in the Pacific!

That would lead to some pretty powerful characters.

If you want to introduce something lethal, have extras around to die horribly to showcase it.

Just don't forget that. by RAW, allied Extra's are usually controlled by the party, not the GM.

I'm hoping that if the players get into it enough I can drive them all over the entire conflict.

Right now the basic idea is to use a sort of Nazi version of the SCP foundation to capture and experiment on paranormal beings, and leave info to the players through research notes and journals.
Though I do think that when it comes to showing off such things in person, there'll be plenty of Extras around to die for it, Raiders of the Lost Ark style.

Sounds like fun.