A Beginner's Guide to Savage Worlds (Chapter 1: Dice Mechanics)

I've heard there was a bit of a kerfuffle regarding Dungeons & Dragons earlier this year. Yes, I have been living in a cave. No, there isn't "room for one more". I actually migrated from Dungeons & Dragons to the Savage Worlds system over ten years ago, so I'd only been following the stories out of curiosity and the hopes of attracting new players. And the memes. I can't forget the memes.

Anyway, Savage Worlds is one of my favourite RPG systems. I love the flexibility it offers, and how I can easily apply it to a variety of genres and settings. With this in mind, I've decided to do a series of blog posts intended to help introduce new players to the system (especially those familiar with Dungeons & Dragons).

To begin with, I'll look at the basic dice mechanics.

Traits

All characters have abilities known as Traits, which have a die type that can range from a d4 to a d12. The die type represents your level of proficiency in that particular Trait, with a d6 being average. You make a Trait roll any time you want to perform a task that has a risk of failure. The GM assigns an appropriate Trait, along with any modifiers from circumstances relating to the task (both positive and negative). You roll the die type you have listed for that Trait, and then add or subtract the modifiers. If you're called to roll a Trait you don't have, you make an unskilled roll, which means you roll a d4 with a -2 penalty. 

The aim of the roll is to equal or exceed a Target Number, which is usually 4. This means if your total is 4 or more, you perform a task successfully. You’re probably wondering “How can you get a 4 when you only have a d4 and subtract 2 from the total?”

Here's how: If you roll the maximum value on a die (a 4 on a d4, 6 on a d6, and so on), you roll that die again and add the new roll to the previous one. And yes, this can happen repeatedly, and it is cumulative (I once rolled an 18 on a d4 because of it). This is referred to in-game as Acing.

If the final total meets or beats the Target Number, the task was successful. Additionally, you score a raise for every four points the total exceeds the Target Number, which represents a greater magnitude of success. A raise often grants an additional benefit, but whether or not multiple raises have additional effects is dependent on the task.

Unlike D&D, in which different tasks have a variable Difficulty Class, the Target Number in Savage Worlds is almost always 4 (with a few exceptions). The more complicated a task, the more penalties it incurs. 

Anyway, let's illustrate things with an example: 

Pulp adventurer Virginia Stone is trying to bypass a locked door by picking the lock with a hairpin. The GM determines that this is a Thievery roll. Thievery is not one of Virginia's Traits, so she makes an unskilled roll. Furthermore the GM imposes an additional -2 penalty for lacking suitable equipment (a hairpin rather than a dedicated lockpick). This brings the total penalty to -4.

While that sounds difficult, it's not impossible thanks to Acing. But that’s not the only thing that improves her chances...

Wild Die

All characters in Savage Worlds fall into two categories; Wild Cards and Extras. Wild Cards represent the most important characters in a story. This includes the player characters, major non-player characters (friends and enemies), and notable monsters. All other characters and creatures are Extras. 

Example: In a Star Wars game, Han Solo, Darth Vader, and the Rancor would all be Wild Cards. Generic Rebels and Stormtroopers would be Extras.

All Wild Cards have what's known as a Wild Die. This is a d6 which you roll with every Trait roll. But you don’t add it to the Trait die. Instead, you treat the Wild Die as a separate roll that's subject to the same modifiers as the Trait die and can still Ace. You use whichever total is higher. 

Think of it like this: The Trait die represents succeeding at a task because you're good at it, whereas the Wild Die represents succeeding at a task because you're the hero of the story. I always recommend that all players set aside one particularly distinct d6 to serve as their Wild Die.

Of course, there's a downside: Any time you roll a natural 1 on both your Trait die and the Wild Die, you get a Critical Failure, which introduces an additional complication.

Let's go back to the earlier example. Virginia is a Wild Card, so she rolls a d4 (her Trait die) and a d6 (her Wild Die):

• The Target Number is 4, which she must equal or exceed on at least one of her dice
• She has a -4 penalty on both rolls (-2 for making an unskilled roll, and -2 for using improvised equipment).
• Her Trait Die rolls a 2, and the penalties bring the total down to -2.
• Her Wild Die rolls a 6, which means it's Aced. Rolling it again, she gets a 3 and adds that to the 6 for a total of 9. The penalties then reduce the total to 5.
• Since the total on the Wild Die was greater than the total on the Trait die, she uses the Wild Die, thus giving her a final total of 5. 

As the Target Number was 4 and Virginia’s total was 5, her roll was successful. The GM decides that she picks the lock in 2d6 minutes. If her total was 8 or more, she would have scored a raise. The GM decides that a raise would halve the time determined by the roll. Of course, she could still try for a raise...

Bennies

A major feature of Savage Worlds is Bennies. Short for "benefits", Bennies are tokens which represent luck or fortune, and can be spent in a variety of ways. 

All players start each session with three Bennies, and can earn more through good roleplaying or cool actions. Additionally, the GM has a Benny for each player at the session, and can spend these on anybody under their control (whether they’re a Wild Card or not). Furthermore, all Wild Card NPCs have two Bennies of their own. Bennies are reset to these values at the beginning of each session (they're not carried over unless midway through an encounter, and reset after that encounter).

For in-person games, I use paperclips to represent Bennies. It means I can make separate chains to distinguish Wild Card Bennies from GM Bennies. For my Roll20 games, the character sheet has a Benny counter, but I have a "card" for player and GM Bennies which are spent by dragging onto the table.

One of the main uses for Bennies is to reroll a Trait roll and keep the best result. I'll talk about other uses in future posts. 

Going back to the earlier example, Virginia spends a Benny to reroll her Thievery check, hoping for a raise. She rerolls both her Trait die and her Wild Die:

• The Target Number is still 4, and there's still a -4 penalty on the roll
• Her Trait die rolls a 4, which Aces. She rolls a 3 for a total of 7, but the penalties reduce it to 3.
• On the Wild Die, she rolls a 5, which is reduced to a 1.
• She uses the total on the Trait Die, but that would be a failure since it's below the Target Number
• Since her initial roll yielded a total of 5, she can either keep that 5 or spend another Benny to reroll. 

You can keep spending Bennies to reroll until you’re happy with the result or you run out of Bennies, and you always keep the highest roll. However, a Critical Failure can't be rerolled and must be accepted if it's the result of a reroll.

Unsatisfied, Virginia spends another Benny to try again, but rolls a Critical Failure. Her previous total of 5 is now invalidated, and she can't spend any more Bennies on that roll. Furthermore, her hairpin breaks in the lock, preventing anybody from opening the door without breaking it down. But a guard's footsteps are approaching...

Opposed Rolls

Sometimes a Trait roll is an opposed roll. This means an aggressor rolls against the standard Target Number of 4, but then the defender makes a roll in which the aggressor's total serves as the Target Number for them. Whoever rolls higher is the winner, and compares their total to their opponent's for the purpose of raises (the defender wins on a tie). You can still spend Bennies on opposed rolls, but if you're the aggressor, you must do so before the defender makes their roll.

As Virginia hears someone approaching, she ducks into an opposite room. The GM determines that this a Stealth roll. A guard is walking down the hallway on a routine patrol. Virginia's Stealth is a d6, and she still gets a Wild Die on the roll.

• As the guard is inattentive, the Target Number is 4
• Her Trait die rolls a 2, and her Wild Die rolls a 3
• Since the Target Number was 4, this would be a failure

Virginia ducks into the opposite room, but the guard notices the door close and decides to investigate further. Virginia must now make another Stealth roll, but this time it's an opposed roll.

• The Target Number is still 4, but she's spotted immediately if she fails
• She rolls a 5 on her Trait Die and a 4 on her Wild Die
  

Since the Target Number for Virginia is still 4, that means she finds a hiding place in the other room. However, the guard comes in to investigate, and makes a Notice roll. His Notice is a d6, but he's an Extra, so he doesn't get a Wild Die (however, if several Extras are acting as a group, they can roll a group die with their Trait die, which acts like a Wild Die).

• The Target Number for the guard is 5 (the total on Virginia's Stealth roll)
• The guard rolls a 6, which Aces. He then rolls a 1, which gives him a total of 7.

Since the Target Number was 5, this is a success. He spots Virginia. She lunges at him, and a scuffle ensues...

I'll wrap things up here, but I'll be making regular posts over the next couple of weeks. Please join me again next week, where I'll be providing a walkthrough of basic character creation.

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