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Post by ilina on Jun 6, 2016 19:22:09 GMT -8
it is a thread to list common SW mistakes your GM makes. which isn't very different from a bash your GM thread. especially if your GM makes some drastic mistakes.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Jun 7, 2016 7:16:29 GMT -8
Oh, I thought this was a GM confessional but I finally got around to reading the first post. I didn't realize this was bash your GM thread. As I am a Savage Worlds GM I was mainly speaking of my own failing. I made a henchman that I thought was going to be pretty memorable, a pirate that was smuggling a bioengineered race off of a space station for nefarious purposes, I figured he would bother the players throughout the campaign.....So of course one of my players damn near one shots him by throwing a cryopod at him and having both the hit and damage die blow up like crazy. I spent half my bennies that session just to get him up and limping, just to have another player finish him off two rounds later. I think he had maybe 2 lines of dialogue before he was crippled. Good times.
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Post by ericfromnj on Jun 7, 2016 7:34:01 GMT -8
Lol. Yeah that has happened to me too. I have also seen the players desperately try to save a comrade from a nook who had multiple exploding damage dice.
I have been posting my own failings too. Just commenting on the first post.
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Post by gandalftheplaid on Jun 7, 2016 20:37:50 GMT -8
I've played in several SW games with different GMs. I fail to recall any that tried handling initiative using rules as written. Often how the GM ran it seemed like an attempt to speed things up but felt a bit awkward and limiting. I can't claim to know for sure that RAW would have made things better, but I have to wonder.
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Post by ilina on Jun 7, 2016 20:58:21 GMT -8
SW has unpredictable initiative because it keeps players engaged in the action, because it is unknown when the next rounds turn order will occur, leading to people focusing more on other peoples actions, while making combat more dynamic and dramatic. plus there are many abilities or setting rules that only work on a joker. it might not seem as fast as a static initiative, but when more people are encouraged to pay attention to the dynamic turn order, it encourages more people to pay attention to actions, and less people on facebook asking "is it my turn yet". which leads to people resolving their actions faster due to the simpler skill system, the key is to identify the result you seek with the description, instead of enforcing a tone of rolls. a kick to the nads could be a variety of things, it could be an agility trick to imbalance, it could be an unarmed attack at -6 to fighting to deal +6 damage to an unarmored area on a successful hit. it could even be a push or trip.
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Post by jonas on Jun 8, 2016 0:25:56 GMT -8
SW has unpredictable initiative because it keeps players engaged in the action, because it is unknown when the next rounds turn order will occur, leading to people focusing more on other peoples actions I've never thought of that advantage over static initiative, actually. Savage Worlds still continues to amaze me. :-)
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joegun
Journeyman Douchebag
Posts: 249
Preferred Game Systems: Savage Worlds
Currently Playing: Just GM'ing right now.
Currently Running: Rippers Resurrected, and Savage RIFTS!
Favorite Species of Monkey: Baboon
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Post by joegun on Jun 8, 2016 10:27:45 GMT -8
I think my biggest flaw as a Savage Worlds GM is trying to shoehorn "rounds" as static amounts of time in some of the abstract situation rules (especially chases and dramatic tasks). While they do have "rounds" they aren't necessarily tied to the "combat round" of 6 seconds, and technically due to the abstract nature they don't have to be the same length of time for each specific round.
Chases especially should really use the "rounds" as key points in the chase, not just the next round ect. So each roll and outcome of the card draws should narrate how you got from one point to the other. I think doing this solves a ton of the issues with chases, although whenever I start to run them I always have to remind myself not to step back into the "rounds" rut.
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Post by savagedaddy on Jun 15, 2016 9:28:33 GMT -8
The most common mistake that I see myself and other GM's make is not considering penalties for terrain and lighting conditions. A -2 is a crucial hindrance in a foot chase through a crowded mall, or battlefield. And even a 'dimly lit" room or corridor makes Notice and Shooting rolls more "dramatic".
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Post by jazzisblues on Jun 17, 2016 12:11:22 GMT -8
The most common mistake I see is gm's forgetting to use the same kinds of abilities that the pc's have, and the same combat options the pc's have.They won't learn if you don't show them.
JiB
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Post by jonas on Jun 17, 2016 12:28:43 GMT -8
The most common mistake I see is gm's forgetting to use the same kinds of abilities that the pc's have, and the same combat options the pc's have.They won't learn if you don't show them. JiB This reminded me of something I forget all the time: Actually using the edges I've given to my nps. Many battles have been lost with me afterwards pulling my hair and realizing that the encounter would've got more drama and bravado if I remembered to use Sweep. :-(
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Post by jazzisblues on Jun 17, 2016 14:03:11 GMT -8
The most common mistake I see is gm's forgetting to use the same kinds of abilities that the pc's have, and the same combat options the pc's have.They won't learn if you don't show them. JiB This reminded me of something I forget all the time: Actually using the edges I've given to my nps. Many battles have been lost with me afterwards pulling my hair and realizing that the encounter would've got more drama and bravado if I remembered to use Sweep. :-( I've done the exact same thing. JiB
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Post by jonas on Jun 18, 2016 4:44:00 GMT -8
This reminded me of something I forget all the time: Actually using the edges I've given to my nps. Many battles have been lost with me afterwards pulling my hair and realizing that the encounter would've got more drama and bravado if I remembered to use Sweep. :-( I've done the exact same thing. JiB Maybe the only solution is to give every NPC Sweep, just in case?
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Post by jazzisblues on Jun 18, 2016 9:08:25 GMT -8
I've done the exact same thing. JiB Maybe the only solution is to give every NPC Sweep, just in case? Maybe, but perhaps it would be better to just use the various tactics in the books and to have a lits of what abilities the npc's have. Listen to me and my crazy talk. JiB
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Post by OFTHEHILLPEOPLE on Jun 20, 2016 7:15:23 GMT -8
I have been focusing on using more of the Edges given to Wild Card bosses to give them an edge in my Supers game rather than the powers. I've never seen a more frustrated table than when they found out the Juggernaut style villain had Improved Nerves of Steel and was ignoring the few wounds they'd given him and how it wasn't making his Trick rolls any harder for him to succeed on. Had a player actually implement the Super Powers Trick to try and incapacitate him by doing the Hulk sonic clap as a Stun power, so I guess it was a success to teach the players new mechanics.
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dandersonjr32
Initiate Douchebag
Playing Savage Worlds, DnD 5e and Fantasy AGE in Tampa, Florida.
Posts: 19
Preferred Game Systems: I'll try just about anything but I prefer Savage Worlds.
Currently Playing: DnD 5e
Currently Running: Savage Worlds, Fantasy AGE
Favorite Species of Monkey: Orangutan
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Post by dandersonjr32 on Sept 2, 2016 6:11:33 GMT -8
I think the most common mistake that SW GMs make is that they treat it like Pathfinder / d20. I sat down at a new game a couple months ago that was purported to be a SW game. When the game started I waited for my Benny Chips, one of my favorite parts. None were handed out. The GM then sat and gave a long narrative about the history of the game and the gaming area. This was not Fast, Furious nor Fun.
Then, as the game went on, the GM kept adding modifiers to all of the dice rolls. Not just some of them, but ALL of them, moving the target number from 4 to, sometimes, up to 16.
I kept quiet and found out later that he was a longtime d20 GM. He told me that he was using a modified version of SW to fit his home brew campaign.
I agree with ilina about the three basic mistakes, but I think the biggest mistake that I've seen is GMs treating SW as another gaming system.
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