Great White Games/Pinnacle Entertainment Group

[ProfMarks]

A thought that I wanted to asked the veteran community to consider.

I am going to start a game soon with a handful of players new to Savage Worlds, some new to tabletop all together. I was surprised to find, with all the stuff out there on YouTube, Vimeo and the like, that no one has put together a straight forward, quick intro to playing Savage Worlds for newbies.

While introducing new people to SW is obviously a GM's task, and understanding that playing a Savage game is the best way to pick up on the mechanics, I still think there would be value in a short form, here are attributes, they are linked to skills, skill rolls base target number is 4, initiative is determined by cards, damage shakes and then wounds... primer so precious time at the table is not the first exposure to the game.

So, why have I not shot one and done it myself you might ask? I very well might, but I know my strengths and I'm smart enough to know when to ask for help.

I'm a beginning GM, and I'm sure someone with more experience GM'ing would know intuitively what should be demo'd and what can be left for players to learn by doing. Secondly, I've never made nor uploaded a YouTube video or pretty much shot a video of anything other then my two year old randomly dancing around a room with my tablet.

Ultimately, if I must, I may take a crack at it, but I have a hunch there's expertise on these forums that could knock something like this out in their sleep.

Thoughts?

[Savage_Mask]

Hi Matt!
Long time no see. I understand where you're coming from.

Having introduced Savage Worlds to many gamers and first time players during demos and conventions I can tell you that the "show dont tell" approach is usually the best. What this means is that your instructions will make much more of an impact during the game than before. Whitout context it's often really for us slow minded humans to learn that way.

Personnally, I take about 5 mins prior to a game that features new players to explain to dice convention, wild die, bennies and cards for initiative. They may nod and pretend they understand but more likely they dont want anybody to think they're stupid. It's human nature. Start off with something simple like a Notice or Knowledge check and guide them through the process. Explain what is going on and what their options are. (situational modifiers, edges, should I spend a benny?) After going through this process a couple times they will declare their result before you get the chance to walk them through it. Then you'll know it's time to step it up. Maybe a Dramatic task or even a Chase. Lastly, the ultimate test: a combat scene. Having cheat sheets like the combat survival guide and attack options summary are very useful tools to teach the game. Have them ready.

RPGs arent all that different from boardgames or card games. You can read the instructions but not much of it makes sense until you start playing it. If everybody has a copy of the test drive rules with them, I bet you they'll flip through it once you start playing because it will start making sense to them.

Best of luck to you!

[Sean-Khan]

One great thing about Savage Worlds is it's logical and action descriptions translate well into mechanics. Players can describe what their characters do and you can convert that to mechanics, explaining what happens on the fly.

I've been thinking of doing such a quick intro to help my players get in the game, I'll post it here if I ever really get it done.
_________________

Shaper & Maker - modelling, gaming & a lot of other stuff

[Dracones]

Isn't this covered by the test drive rules and all the one sheets?

I mean there's pregen characters for several genres and one sheets to run them through a quick adventure.

[Savage_Mask]

I dont know about your group but from my experience not everybody likes to read a rules pamphlet no matter how short and comprehensive it is.

[ProfMarks]

Thanks for posting gents. I agree with all that's been said. However, I still see some utility in a short video and hope,I'm not alone.

While I wouldn't expect a player to pick up the game from a video without playing, I've seen similar videos for board games and it really downs the intimidation factor of trying a new system.

Also, I don't know about you, but when I try something new, I feel uncomfortable if I don't think I'm prepared. Something like this could lower the barrier for entry and help a player feel like they get the games concept rather the pouring over the book solo. As a GM, I also provide the EE or at least the quick start to new players prior to game day, but have little confidence they are read. I'd think most would take the time to preview a quick vid.

Appreciate the comments.

[Dracones]

I have done video tutorials before. I put one together on using a Pathfinder framework for Maptools: http://tarsis.org/?p=55

It was a decent amount of work to put together, probably more relevant to the medium(PC desktop) and really hasn't gotten much viewing.

Videoing an in person game would be a lot harder. Camera position, making sure they can see the dice rolls, proper lighting, using a multiple person script, etc etc.

Smiling Jack's podcast has done a decent job covering quite a few Savage World systems like dramatic tasks, mass combat, etc. I'm sure that was a lot of work and it was just voice, not video.

[BluSponge]

I recently distiller the test drive rules down to a double-sided handout for my library game. I dont think its what you are looking for, but it seems to do a great job of making the rules unintimidating. The first side is all trait test resolution, while the second covers the major points of combat. I tell the kids, "if you cant find it here, you probably dont need to know it." If you'd like a copy, shoot me a PM.

Tom
_________________
Lewisville Public Library Roleplaying
You control the character. You make the story. You are the legend.
The only limit is your imagination.

[ogbendog]

you should stick that on the savagewiki.

or heck, peg used to host stuff like the combat guide (which I can't find anymore), they might host this as well, or add it as an appendix to the test drive

[Thasmodious]

[Sean-Khan]

[Sean-Khan]

[BluSponge]

Please put it online! Sounds like a great thing for introducing new players - instead of video, it could be used by the GM as a reference when running a quick introduction of game mechanics. Sounds pretty much like what I started to do, but if such a thing exists, I don't need to finish it![/quote]

I sent a copy to Clint to see if there was any interest. I'm happy to give out copies per request, but since the text and imagery is pulled directly from the Test Drive rules, it doesn't seem right to post it online for general consumption. It was designed for my own needs, but I don't really want to lay any claim whatsoever to ownership of the content. I just like my stuff to match the source material.

In any event, I think a video would be a fine idea. It would certainly be something I'd link to on our library game blog. I've gotten my rehearsed rundown of the game down to about 5 minutes, and having an example of play to go along with that would be a great tool in today's new media age.

Tom
_________________
Lewisville Public Library Roleplaying
You control the character. You make the story. You are the legend.
The only limit is your imagination.

[mrcaptainpants]

Prof Marks, I agree with you that a video would be perfect (I believe I've possibly even mentioned this on this forum before).

People learn differently. Some are visual learners. Some are auditory learners. Some are kinetic learners. One style is not necessarily superior to another. But for people who doubt the usefulness of such a video when someone can just read a book...trust me, visual learners will benefit from it.

[ProfMarks]

Thanks for your two sheet Blu. Very helpful to keep thing as straight forward and to the point. I've put together a quick storyboard and script. Have visitors in town next couple weeks, and that whole how do you shoot, edit, and upload video thing to overcome, but i want this to happen so I'll keep at it.

[sablemage]

Here's the three paragraph intro I used with my group when I switched to SW...

"To succeed at a task, you need to roll the target’s Parry score (when rolling to hit someone in melee), or the target’s Toughness (when trying to wound them), or a 4+ (for anything else). More experienced characters roll dice with more sides, giving them a better chance of success. If you beat the required roll by 4 or more (called a “raise”), you get a better result. Any die which rolls its maximum (an “ace”) allows you to keep that score, reroll the die, and add the new result to your total.

PCs roll a d6 as well as the die for their skill or attribute whenever they roll, except when rolling damage; you can choose to use the result from the normal die, or the d6. PCs also start each session with three “bennies”. You can use a benny to reroll any one die, or to try to recover from wounds. PCs have 3 wounds, NPCs have one.

The combat system encourages swashbuckling and teamwork. You can attempt any number of actions per turn, although the more you try, the worse the penalties to your die rolls. Skills like Taunt and Intimidation, and tricks based on Smarts (“Look behind you!”) or Agility (throwing sand in faces) make it easier for you and your friends to damage enemies."

It worked well for them, YMMV.

[Mylon]

When you're on a strict time limit, skip character creation. It can take people 30 minutes or more just to figure out what they want to play. This saves the time of describing the accounting process or risk they produce a gimped character. Since disadvantages tend to be a bit personal to play, skip over them and just give these pre-gens a couple of free edges for demo purposes. Or possibly giving each PC a generic easy to understand edge. Ugly, Phobia, curious. Let the player define the phobia and change your creepy crawly scene in the adventure to match.

The rest of this thread is pretty good advice, but I just wanted to get this part out there.

[DonsSword]

Good thread. I agree with the orig poster, that some sort of cheat sheet that abridges maybe the Quick Start Rules would be good--it will make the game more accessible, and also help with those (like myself) who are a little intimidated to get started.

[GreenTongue]

This condensed version of an older release useful?
http://home.earthlink.net/~djackson24/SWnutshell.htm
(I no longer have access to updating it )
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[UmbraLux]