Been thinking about my vehicle rules for Savage Worlds, tinkering them in my head in order to put them down into a cohesive document. I'm thinking now about how they relate to characters.
Right now characters can take Arcane Background to utilize Powers. The one that best fits for vehicles is Arcane Background (Weird Science). Perhaps a new Edge that allows the person to apply Weird Science powers to vehicles? That would work in a pulp setting, definitely, where such vehicle tech is the realm of super-science.
In a setting where technology has become more ubiquitous, I don't think it works as well, so perhaps there's a different way to do it. Arcane Background (Vehicles)? I don't like the way that feels, so I've been leaning towards a new skill - Tech. I don't think a Knowledge skill is appropriate in this case, but maybe? Knowledge (Vehicles) would cover it. More thoughts to come.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Savage Worlds FallOut?
What you need mechanics-wise to do Savage FallOut:
· · Radiation effects – treated as Hindrances?
· Mutation rules – Arcane Background (Mutation)? – Charisma drops for each level?
· Scrounging rules – finding random junk
· Building your own equipment – armor, weapons, vehicles WITHOUT an AB, based on Repair?
· Degrading equipment and repairing it once it degrades
· Arcane Background (Weird Science) – additional rules for handling atomic power
· New Edges and Hindrances – look at FallOut 3 Perks
· Science skill – hacking terminals and robots, maybe Tech to keep it in line with vehicles
· Barter skill – negotiating for better prices, maybe just Persuasion?
· Creatures of the Wasteland – irradiated monsters and robots
· Residents of the Wasteland – generic NPCs
· Standard weapons and armor
· Professional Edges – Trader, Mechanic, Child of Atom, Knight of Steel, Slaver, Robot Engineer, Scrounger, Mercenary, Regulator, Raider
· Available races (maybe Background Edges?) – Wastelander, Vault Dweller, Ghoul, Pureblood
· VATS (Vault Assisted Targeting System) - ???
· Weapon, Armor, Vehicle Perks and Hindrances
Savage Worlds Vehicles
Been thinking a lot lately about a new set of vehicle rules for Savage Worlds. The system's lack of a system regarding vehicles is one of the biggest stumbling blocks I have to full incorporation of Savage Worlds into other games. For instance, to effectively do Star*Drive I would need a set of rules that allowed for the characters to upgrade their vehicle in ways that they want. Beyond that having a definite rule set I think would go a long way towards larger adoption of the system in the gaming community at large. I hope.
Towards that end I've been tinkering. The basic idea I started with was that vehicles have attributes just like characters. SW has five basic attributes that define characters and NPCs: Agility, Smarts, Spirit, Strength, and Vigor. Two of these (Agility and Vigor) port over easily. The other ones I had difficulties coming up with comparisons.
Initially then I came up with three new, vehicle specific attributes - Bulk, Power, and Tech. That worked, but there were a lot of good criticisms to that system when I posted the rules skeleton at Pinnacle's forums. Sean Preston also pointed out some things, and made the suggestion that I look at other games to see how they handle it. Not to copy them, but to get an idea of how a vehicle system could be integrated.
In searching through the many games on my shelf, I was surprised at how many of them had proprietary vehicle systems completely separate from characters. This makes sense, and was where I wound up at with my first pass. But what if there was a way? A few games actually had the basic idea of "vehicles=NPCs" that I wanted so I decided to look closer at those. In doing so I came up with the following definitions for vehicle attributes:
Agility: How agile the vehicle is
Smarts: How many automated systems are aboard the vehicle, can be 0
Spirit: How many defense and redundant systems are aboard the vehicle, can be 0
Strength: How powerful the vehicle is, for speed and ramming
Vigor: How resistant to damage and upkeep the vehicle is
This requires another attribute that would equate to the critter score of the same name - Size Modifier. This would allow vehicles and creatures to be rated on the same scale. The SM would help to determine crew requirements and Toughness (just like critters).
Here's the other rub: vehicles can have an Arcane Background. Well, kind of - it would be called something else (like Advanced Systems or something similar) but it would function exactly the same as an AB. You could make some powers permanent by sacrificing Power Points, or require a check.
It is important to note that vehicles do not make rolls on their own (unless there's an onboard intelligence). Instead, the vehicle attributes would replace the Wild Die for character skill rolls. A character driving a vehicle with an Agility d8 for instance would roll d8 for their Wild Die instead of d6. Still working that out for definitions, but that's the basic idea.
Also, all of this I think would require a new character skill which I'm tentatively calling Tech. It is a generic skill for handling the character's use of computers. Maybe a Knoweldge (Tech) skill instead? I don't really like using Knowledge skills for active use but that might be the best solution.
Towards that end I've been tinkering. The basic idea I started with was that vehicles have attributes just like characters. SW has five basic attributes that define characters and NPCs: Agility, Smarts, Spirit, Strength, and Vigor. Two of these (Agility and Vigor) port over easily. The other ones I had difficulties coming up with comparisons.
Initially then I came up with three new, vehicle specific attributes - Bulk, Power, and Tech. That worked, but there were a lot of good criticisms to that system when I posted the rules skeleton at Pinnacle's forums. Sean Preston also pointed out some things, and made the suggestion that I look at other games to see how they handle it. Not to copy them, but to get an idea of how a vehicle system could be integrated.
In searching through the many games on my shelf, I was surprised at how many of them had proprietary vehicle systems completely separate from characters. This makes sense, and was where I wound up at with my first pass. But what if there was a way? A few games actually had the basic idea of "vehicles=NPCs" that I wanted so I decided to look closer at those. In doing so I came up with the following definitions for vehicle attributes:
Agility: How agile the vehicle is
Smarts: How many automated systems are aboard the vehicle, can be 0
Spirit: How many defense and redundant systems are aboard the vehicle, can be 0
Strength: How powerful the vehicle is, for speed and ramming
Vigor: How resistant to damage and upkeep the vehicle is
This requires another attribute that would equate to the critter score of the same name - Size Modifier. This would allow vehicles and creatures to be rated on the same scale. The SM would help to determine crew requirements and Toughness (just like critters).
Here's the other rub: vehicles can have an Arcane Background. Well, kind of - it would be called something else (like Advanced Systems or something similar) but it would function exactly the same as an AB. You could make some powers permanent by sacrificing Power Points, or require a check.
It is important to note that vehicles do not make rolls on their own (unless there's an onboard intelligence). Instead, the vehicle attributes would replace the Wild Die for character skill rolls. A character driving a vehicle with an Agility d8 for instance would roll d8 for their Wild Die instead of d6. Still working that out for definitions, but that's the basic idea.
Also, all of this I think would require a new character skill which I'm tentatively calling Tech. It is a generic skill for handling the character's use of computers. Maybe a Knoweldge (Tech) skill instead? I don't really like using Knowledge skills for active use but that might be the best solution.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Quarter Campaign: Pirates!
Starting on Sunday, May 10th, I'm going to go ahead with the first Quarter Campaign: Pirates of the Spanish Main! This will be a weekly Sunday game that will wrap up by the end of July, hard and fast rule. There will be supernatural elements, along with swashbuckling and adventures in the Caribbean and environs. It will also be a Savage Worlds game.
Come up with a character that is either a pirate or a non-pirate, and find a reason for that character to be sailing aboard a legitimate British merchant vessel to Port Royal. More details in the next few days.
Come up with a character that is either a pirate or a non-pirate, and find a reason for that character to be sailing aboard a legitimate British merchant vessel to Port Royal. More details in the next few days.
Friday, May 1, 2009
Relics & Rumors #2!!!!
Hoody hoo! Relics & Rumors #2 was just released today, with #3 coming out sometime before the end of the month. R&R#2 was written almost exclusively by me, with only edits and tweaks done to the final product - or at least that I can see/remember. There were some changes, primarily to the titles of the scenarios, and I'd thought I'd call out ...
* Blackbeard's Cutlass - Original scenario was called "Strike of the Black Thrasher," published scenario changed to "Rise of the Black Thrasher." Not too much change, maintains the gist of the original so I'm pretty OK with that.
* Charlemagne's Crown - Original scenario was called "The Tears of the Saint," published scenario changed to "Saint's Tears." I've always been a big fan of the classic scenario naming conventions, but changing it to the possessive version works.
* Chief Crazy Horse's Rife - This one I'm (fake) angry about, 'cause it was one of my favorite titles. The scenario was changed to "Black Hills Tech," which I feel doesn't capture the pulpy-craziness of the situation. No, the original title would have served better - "Robots of the Black Hills." Period.
* Crystal Skull of Doom - New scenario name is "War of Wasps," which I'm really fine with primarily because I struggled with the name previously. I don't think it had a terribly great name to begin with and "War of Wasps" works perfectly.
So, Relics & Rumors #2 is out today, go buy it and support Ravaged Earth and Reality Blurs.
* Blackbeard's Cutlass - Original scenario was called "Strike of the Black Thrasher," published scenario changed to "Rise of the Black Thrasher." Not too much change, maintains the gist of the original so I'm pretty OK with that.
* Charlemagne's Crown - Original scenario was called "The Tears of the Saint," published scenario changed to "Saint's Tears." I've always been a big fan of the classic scenario naming conventions, but changing it to the possessive version works.
* Chief Crazy Horse's Rife - This one I'm (fake) angry about, 'cause it was one of my favorite titles. The scenario was changed to "Black Hills Tech," which I feel doesn't capture the pulpy-craziness of the situation. No, the original title would have served better - "Robots of the Black Hills." Period.
* Crystal Skull of Doom - New scenario name is "War of Wasps," which I'm really fine with primarily because I struggled with the name previously. I don't think it had a terribly great name to begin with and "War of Wasps" works perfectly.
So, Relics & Rumors #2 is out today, go buy it and support Ravaged Earth and Reality Blurs.
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