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Post by suboptimal on Nov 13, 2013 14:59:47 GMT -8
Greetings! I might be GMing my first (ever) SW game this weekend. A friend is coming over & i would like to run a game for him & my significant other. I created two characters: a cleric/fighter type & a wizard/thief type. I tweaked them a bit, since there'll only be two characters. They got 20 ability points, 15 power points & 3 powers each. The characters belong to an organization/church which hunts the evil & the occult. I imagine the world in a kind of Ravenloft style. Regarding the plot i thought about: - a village that lives in fear of it's baron/duke - the night the characters arrive, the baron/duke tries to summon a demonic being Now, i would like to know what kind of encounters (aka fights) & how many encounters i should prepare? What should i look out for?
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Post by rickno7 on Nov 13, 2013 20:19:22 GMT -8
I have ran 2 multi-session dungeon crawls in Savage Worlds, and one of them with only 2 characters playing. The main thing I tell people in any Savage World game is to have a list of combat options on something to put in the player's hands so that they remember always. Savage World's combat enjoyment, IMO, rests in the hands of players that know their options. Taunts, Tricks, Intimidates, all can be the difference between a struggle and a walk in the park. The problem with having just 2 players is that it is harder to devote player actions to doing those "setup" combat options.
I also learned that making an enemy a Wild Card, just to up the difficulty, is not always going to accomplish what you want. You can easily make a normal minion scary and deadly by giving them a high toughness and a powerful weapon. Save the Wild Cards for situations you want deadly enough to wipe a party.
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Post by suboptimal on Nov 14, 2013 1:18:49 GMT -8
Ok, i only gonna make the big bad at the end a wildcard. All the other encounters will be minions (no, not the cool yellow ones, sorry) like i.E.: hellhounds, flesh golems, zombies ect. Thanks rickno7. I plan on telling the players that they should allways look out for cover, that they should never get surrounded, that they should use bennies as hit-points, all that i heard on the hjrpg podcast and still remember. Still, both characters got the healing spell, but i could give them consumable magical healing stuff. Should i & if so, how many?
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Post by jazzisblues on Nov 14, 2013 7:55:22 GMT -8
1) Have this handy www.peginc.com/freebies/SWcore/Combat%20Survival%20Guide.pdf2) Remember JiB's rule for Savage Worlds #1 USE ALL THE RULES don't cherry pick them. 3) Have a progression to the situations you set up and know why they are happening. Ok, so the baron summoned a demonic being so we know where this should end up. What other monsters/servants does the baron have and where would they be? Most important of all, why would the player characters want to get involved in this? 4) [emphasis totally intended] BENNIES ARE NOT HIT POINTS Bennies work best when they are flying and are being used. One of the ways I judge the success of a savage worlds game is how many bennies are in the bennie cup at the end of the game. Bennies should be used for all manner of reasons and not just to soak damage. 5) Do not treat a Savage Worlds game as a D&D game with different dice rolls, the nature of the game is different. Just my 2 krupplenicks on the subject, your mileage may of course vary. JiB
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Post by rickno7 on Nov 14, 2013 8:35:51 GMT -8
4) [emphasis totally intended] BENNIES ARE NOT HIT POINTS Bennies work best when they are flying and are being used. One of the ways I judge the success of a savage worlds game is how many bennies are in the bennie cup at the end of the game. Bennies should be used for all manner of reasons and not just to soak damage. While much of the podcast suggests using Bennies as hitpoints, I fall in the camp with JiB on this matter. I tell my players that I want crazy and exciting shit happening, not hit point manipulation. I want people RUNNING up the back of trolls and doing flips while shooting an arrow in its eye. I want people jumping from a ledge, jabbing their daggers into the wall for hand holds, and beating the enemy to the treasure. Leave hitpoint manipulation to other games that do it better and where it matters more. I want bennies USED and not hoarded. Leaving them "just in case I get hit" means that no skill checks are going to get bennie use, which means pretty much nothing outside of combat is going to be exciting and over the top. If your players just can not get out of the habit of hoarding bennies, then I would suggest going the route of different types of bennies. I have red, white and blue poker chips that I use. While I have never had to do this with my players, I have a contingency plan of having Anything Bennies, Combat Bennies, and Action Bennies.
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Post by suboptimal on Nov 14, 2013 10:48:16 GMT -8
@jib: 1) THX for the link. 2) I will GM as best i can 3) Depending on what happens when the characters face the baron he either summons a demonic being, or becomes it himself. I also checked the fantasy supplement for enemies & wrote down the following: - Demonic Soldiers (little creepy mix between gremlins & goblins), melee combat - Flesh Golem(s), melee combat - Hellhounds (well kind of, maybe more like possesed wolfs with some light acid blood), melee combat - Zombies, melee & range combat - Townsfolk, melee & range combat As for the story, here´s what i got so far: Both characters work for "the church" & hunt down "evil". They´re on their way to meet their new team members when, during a terrible (unnatural) storm, their wagon gets hit by a tree. The driver dies, as well as one of the two horses. They get to this remote village to seek help, only to find out that most of the villagers are part of this demonic cult (= team A). The others (= team B) got captured & locked away, so that the demon, once it is summond, can use them to create more evil spawn. Team A will at first try to get the characters to move on, but once that fails they´ll try to capture them as well. Once team A is defeated & team B is rescued (hopefully team B was able to help defeat team A), the characters & team B can attack the mansion to try to stop the ritual. I picture the last part like this: the characters lead the attack on the mansion with the last good townsfolk (team B). The mansion will be protected by zombies, hellhounds & maybe some last evil townsfolk. There´ll be a big battle in the courtyard & at some point the characters will leave the last enemies to their "army", so that they can get inside the mansion & stop the baron. Inside they´ll face some demonic soldiers & a flesh golem (and a trap?) before they can confront the baron. rickno7 & JiB: I hope the players will use the bennies in every way possible, it´s the first Savage Worlds game for all of us. The whole "bennies = HP/soak"-thing came up on the podcast so often, it just stuck.
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Post by jazzisblues on Nov 14, 2013 12:49:56 GMT -8
suboptimalI wasn't heaping scorn on you, but rather on the practice of thinking of bennies as extra hit points. You may have to remind them that bennies can be used for things other than soaking wounds. JiB
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Post by suboptimal on Nov 14, 2013 15:39:55 GMT -8
suboptimalI wasn't heaping scorn on you, but rather on the practice of thinking of bennies as extra hit points. You may have to remind them that bennies can be used for things other than soaking wounds. JiB I didn't think you did anything like "heaping scorn on me". Don't you worry. And i'll gonna remind them about their bennies, and the mechanics behind them, as often as i remember them myself
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Post by stork on Nov 14, 2013 16:12:25 GMT -8
Print this up, and set it at each players seat Player MatI actually have a bunch of these Ive had laminated and reuse. It is very handy, and reminds the players what to do.
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Post by jazzisblues on Nov 14, 2013 16:24:16 GMT -8
suboptimalI wasn't heaping scorn on you, but rather on the practice of thinking of bennies as extra hit points. You may have to remind them that bennies can be used for things other than soaking wounds. JiB I didn't think you did anything like "heaping scorn on me". Don't you worry. And i'll gonna remind them about their bennies, and the mechanics behind them, as often as i remember them myself Remembering to give out bennies is one of the reasons I hold the bennies in my hand. It's a constant reminder. JiB Also, the mats that stork recommended are tres-handy.
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maxinstuff
Supporter
Posts: 1,939
Preferred Game Systems: DCC RPG, Shadowrun 5e, Savage Worlds, GURPS 4e, HERO 6e, Mongoose Traveller
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Post by maxinstuff on Nov 15, 2013 0:23:44 GMT -8
Seriously, SW is so easy - my biggest tip would be to know who your NPC's are and what motivates them, which will inform your role play.
And that's really it. Get the role play right and the game plays itself.
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Post by Grog on Nov 15, 2013 13:37:54 GMT -8
Here's another vote for "Bennies are more than hit points". You players won't need to soak wounds if they are doing parkour off the walls and stabbing bad guys in the eyes before you can attack(or what have you).
At first, give them bennies for anything. Unless you are trying to make a super gritty game, bennies make things more fun. For a bunch of new players, I would want them to experience it in all its cinematic glory. Bennies make everything amped up! And don't forget your GM bennies. They are your main way to bend the story without "cheating".
Also, I feel like the pulpy nature of Savage Worlds makes it especially friendly toward "yes, anding". Just assign a die mod (-4 is usually considered "that's probably impossible but go for it) and let them roll something for it. If they don't do well that's okay, they can use a bennie.
When they break your story, don't get mad. Give them a bennie instead.
A final note on making monsters: I will go against people and say, instead of raising toughness to make the fight harder(which I've notice makes some players grouchy), I would encourage you to keep toughness low and increase attack skills or damage pools. This makes the fights even faster and tougher, instead of running the risk of them turning into a relative slug fest.
If there is investigation I would only expect two (but plan 3) fights at most. It's pretty hard to speed up talking.
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Post by suboptimal on Nov 15, 2013 14:33:07 GMT -8
Looks like i will have some more time to prep the game, our friend won't be able to make it this weekend @ stork: Thanks for the link. I will create some german cheat sheets based on these player mats, or look some up on the web. @ maxinstuff, Dayson, Grog: Thanks for your input & help. I'm not too worried about the game itself, it's just meant to be a simple "system-testrun". It should work just fine in that regard. I'm just trying to get a feel for the system. I don't want to kill off both characters through too tough encounters, but i also don't want them to simply breeze through the whole thing. Dicerolls are randomizers, so all could go to hell through simple bad luck. But does it so far sound like the characters got a chance, or should i dial it down a bit?
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maxinstuff
Supporter
Posts: 1,939
Preferred Game Systems: DCC RPG, Shadowrun 5e, Savage Worlds, GURPS 4e, HERO 6e, Mongoose Traveller
Favorite Species of Monkey: Proboscis
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Post by maxinstuff on Nov 15, 2013 19:44:05 GMT -8
Looks like i will have some more time to prep the game, our friend won't be able to make it this weekend @ stork: Thanks for the link. I will create some german cheat sheets based on these player mats, or look some up on the web. @ maxinstuff, Dayson, Grog: Thanks for your input & help. I'm not too worried about the game itself, it's just meant to be a simple "system-testrun". It should work just fine in that regard. I'm just trying to get a feel for the system. I don't want to kill off both characters through too tough encounters, but i also don't want them to simply breeze through the whole thing. Dicerolls are randomizers, so all could go to hell through simple bad luck. But does it so far sound like the characters got a chance, or should i dial it down a bit? No. As long as the players know how bennies work it should be fine. Just lookibg at stats the bad guys might look tough, but that is because bennies are an important part of the way the game is balanced.
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Post by Grog on Nov 16, 2013 15:31:47 GMT -8
if you are worried about balance: tne trick I've used is that if the dice fuck your players is to have them narrate the horrible damage that happens to them. then give them a bennie for it so they can soak it. it really gives the players a feeling control.
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