D20 vs Savage Worlds vs. Castle & Crusades

[thestallion]

I'm looking for a ruleset that is easy to use, fun and fast to play, and is compatable with almost all "eras" in role-playing (for instance like modern day RPG like Call Of Cthulhu). Since I am new as heck to Fantasy Grounds I was wondering what you guys thought. Maybe I should just buy both SW and C&C and then see which one fits me best, but I dont want to waist money. Thanks in advance guys!

[Sigurd]

Your instinct is probably fine. Start with SW & C&C. I'd say in that order.


Savage worlds looks like it fits your needs very well. Its not tied to any one time period and its very fast to play. Nobody can tell you before hand that you're going to like it with any certainty but I think its a great game.

Find a running game to join and try it with their ruleset if you you want to save some money. The explorer edition for $10 stands out as a great deal for RPGs. Add the Digital Adventures ruleset for a similar price and you're set to dm! (The ruleset has a lot of gaming background in it too but I don't think I'd want to run with just it and no books, unless you've played before and are comfortable flying by the seat of your pants.

It might not be for you or it might be the best thing since sliced bread. You'll here a fair number of people praise SW. Its eventually going to come down to picking one and seeing for yourself :)

[thestallion]

Your instinct is probably fine. Start with SW & C&C. I'd say in that order.


Savage worlds looks like it fits your needs very well. Its not tied to any one time period and its very fast to play. Nobody can tell you before hand that you're going to like it with any certainty but I think its a great game.

Find a running game to join and try it with their ruleset if you you want
to save some money. The explorer edition for $10 stands out as a great deal for RPGs. Add the Digital Adventures ruleset for a similar price and you're set to dm! (The ruleset has a lot of gaming background in it too but I don't think I'd want to run with just it and no books, unless you've played before and are comfortable flying by the seat of your pants.

It might not be for you or it might be the best thing since sliced bread. You'll here a fair number of people praise SW. Its eventually going to come down to picking one and seeing for yourself :)

Thanks man. Hey I have another question for anyone who may know. If I buy the ruleset as the DM, do my players have to buy the ruleset as well, or do they get the information they need when they join up with me? Like I said I am new to FG and a little lost. The reason I am asking is because when I looked at the SW page to buy, it said it only works for the full licence. Does that mean my players have to have the full licence too?

[Kalan]

Not to sound praisy or anything ;)

But to be honest - Savage Worlds will more than fit what you're looking for as far as a "generic" system is concerned. It handles ALL genres really well, is simple to learn and run. And I would second Sigurd's suggestions. Pick up a copy of the Savage Worlds Explorer's Edition - for $10 you really can't go wrong.

I would also suggest you hook up with a Savage Worlds game session to give it a whirl. There are lots of SW games kicking around :)

[Kalan]

Thanks man. Hey I have another question for anyone who may know. If I buy the ruleset as the DM, do my players have to buy the ruleset as well, or do they get the information they need when they join up with me? Like I said I am new to FG and a little lost. The reason I am asking is because when I looked at the SW page to buy, it said it only works for the full licence. Does that mean my players have to have the full licence too?

Nope - only the GM needs to have it installed to run things. The players receive most everything they require to play when they connect to you.

[NineShadowEyes]

I really want to like Savage Worlds. I just can't get behind the idea of using poker cards. It's just so... jarring. So un-fantasy. So mundane. Couldn't they have made up some fantasy cards? Why poker cards?

The game looks cool, the support seems there. But poker cards? Dunno... Total deal breaker for me.

Respect, though, for those who like it. Go, play, have fun! Don't slice anyone's throat open with a well tossed card, tho... :D.

[Kalan]

The cards are only used to deal in initiative - that's it ;)

Give it a try...you'll get hooked ;)

:bandit:

[Astinus]

In defence of C&C, it is the one size fits all system for fantasy gaming. You can adapt anything from original D&D, AD&D and 3e. In a flash. So you have a tremendous range of resources available to you. It's simple and fast to play. Nothing like the rules bloat of 3e.

However, I can't see it working for modern settings. So maybe for that reason alone Savage Worlds would be the way to go. I've never played it, but the enthusiasm for it on these boards is slowly convincing me I should try it.

As for who should buy the ruleset, it depends on whether you want your players to have access to the functionality offline. And whether you want them downloading the ruleset every time they connect. If you don't want the above, they all need to have the full license and ruleset.

[Sigurd]

There are a number of games that are worth a shot, both old and new. Savage Worlds is a good first choice because it has a certain momentum and has a very nice ruleset for fantasy grounds.


I'd also try, C&C, Osric, Call of Cthulu (multi edition), Role Master, WHFRP2, Stormbringer, Elricd20, Powers & Perils :) , Runequest (Multi Ed.), Bunnies & Burrows, Dragonquest, AD&D2, Palladium (though not my fave.), Rifts, Harn, Bushido, Heroquest, Tunnels & Trolls, Theives Guild,... and others as well.


(Ok I lied, of that list I've never played C&C - but it looks good)


Sigurd


Lots more in this world besides WOTC

[richvalle]

Hah!

There is a game out there (I'd have to hunt for the name... we had it at our last EN World Gameday in Chicago) that uses Jenga instead of dice!

Lets see... you can try to pull a block out. If you succeed you win the resolution (whatever it was). If you cause the block of towers to fall you fail in such a way that you die.

You can chose not to pull. In that case you fail. Or... you can knock the tower down on purpose. In this case you win but in such a way that you die.


By all accounts it makes for a fantastic game with lots of tension as the game goes deeper into the tower. Everyone holds their breath as someone tries to pull a block out and everyone is standing in fear of bumping the table and knocking the tower over.

Obviously not something you can play via Fantasy Grounds. :)


The poker cards are nice because you don't have to hunt/buy something else for the game. On the off chance you don't have cards around you can pick them up in many places for a few bucks.

I'm sure it would have cost the publishers too much to create (art work), print and cut cards on good card stock for the number of sales they would get and it would increase the price of the game. Right now one of the appeals is that the game book is only $10.

rv

[NineShadowEyes]

Dice or death! :dead:

[Sorontar]

If the look is that important for what is essentially a game mechanism and thus OOC then maybe buy some period cards for the fantasy feel. Personally for me cards are no different to dice they are purely there to serve a purpose but with cards you don't have to write the initiative down.

https://www.spellowhouse.com/gothic_games.php

Maybe those?

If course there are some cards specifically designed for SW which are sturdy oversizaed cards and I was going to buy some BUT the shipping was astronomical :D

Anyway all down to individual tastes.

[Doswelk]

As a recent Savage Worlds convert, I can say the SW system works very well for multiple genres.

So far using FGII and SW we have played:

Darwin's World, D20 Modern adventures, Adventure! and now Necessary Evil (Super Villians vs Aliens).

So far it has coped very well with them all!

I am now just about to start a Savage Worlds Dark Matter Adventure set in the 1930s on Mythweavers...

https://www.myth-weavers.com/games.php?gameid=1294

[romelwell]

I too would say that SW is the way to go if you want a rule set that is generic enough to jump across role-playing genres. However, if you are looking to play a fantasy-based game, then I would recommend C&C.

[Jingo]

Being not familiar with SW, I'd recommend GURPS or True20. Played lots of GURPS several years back in PnP RPGing in both Fantasy, Modern, and Future genres. Very fun to get exactly the type of character you have in mind.

For FG, I prefer True20. This is nice and easy to understand because it's essentially d20 system but it only uses the D20. It has a very lethal kick when it comes to combat (there are no hit points, just wound levels). Combat is very deadly and so it makes you nervous even getting into a fight... Character creation is class-based (like d20) but there are only three classes (Warrior, Adept, and Expert) with lots of customization due to more feats available to all classes, feats every level, and you can pick your skills your good at. It makes for some interesting characters, such a stealth based fighter and so on. It is genre neutral as well. It has some interesting rules (such as Conviction, Minions etc) that make it less of a dice fest and more of a move-the-story-along game. I've enjoyed it greatly.