Great White Games/Pinnacle Entertainment Group

[bpsalinas]

I’m just about ready to run my gaming group through our first ever Savage Worlds game. I’ve got a nice little setting all lined up, some interesting NPCs and plot hooks, and a few nifty little rewards. But I’m stuck on one of the most crucial bits - monsters.

How can I tell how powerful a monster is relative to my PCs? For instance, if I want to use a Zombie from the SW book, how can I be sure I’m not going to totally wipe out the party? All of my RPG experience up to this point is with D20, so I’m used to each creature having a CR that tells me exactly what level player that creature is built for. But there’s nothing like that in SW that I can tell. How do you balance monsters in this system?

[jblittlefield]

[RuneStriker]

Check out the "with the roll of a die" column in Shark Nibbles #1 for the answer to your question.

http://www.sharkbytes.info/subpages/nibbles/Jan05_SharkNibbles1.pdf

[jblittlefield]

[RuneStriker]

Doh! It wasn't there when I hit the reply button. Damn you JB, I should have known you were lurking, but I figured I might save you the effort.

[jblittlefield]

[Clint]

Just a quick note...

Orcs in SW are tough. Like Lord of the Rings Uruk-Hai tough. There have been a couple of instances where beginning GM's assumed a group of orcs with a shaman versus Novice PC's would be an equal fight.

The results were... enlightening.

Goblins are a good Novice Rank challenge, maybe with a single Orc leader. A group of orcs with a shaman... not so much.

Just wanted to put that warning out there.
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Clint Black
Savage Worlds Core Rules Brand Manager

www.peginc.com

[Bill]

Don't forget that fights in SW can be deadly no matter who the "weak" creature may be due to the posibility of aceing the hit and damage. Even a weak Goblin that gets surprise (and possibly "The Drop") can put a legendary character DOWN with a high enough damage roll.

SW experience is NOT based on the trail of bodies you leave thus you can have more intelligent encounters, both ways!

If you have a weak encounter (say one goblin extra per character) have the goblins use tricks and good tactics (gang up if possible) against the heroes to show them that even these "easy" monsters are not pushovers in SW. Teach them the value of good tactics so they don't go the wade in and swing route, only to die
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The More I Learn, The Less I Know

[charliebananas]

Tell me about it. The first week i ran savage cthulhupunk, my players came up against a small group of zombies, and instead of trying to out pace them, they went toe to toe, needless to say, the only character in the group with arcane background, ended up wearing a toe tag!
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http://www.wildcards.fusiveweb.co.uk/

[Simon]

On the other hand, an unbalanced fight in SW is usually not as deadly as in d20. With a very steep power curve, d20 fights that outclass the PCs almost always get someone killed. In SW, the PCs are likely to have a bit longer to figure out the fight's too tough, and get out of there.

Of course, there's always that goblin that rolls half a dozen aces.

[SlasherEpoch]

In my experience, a Wild Card villain with a couple of Edges, some decent armor, and d10 Fighting and Strength can hold an entire party at bay if you think before acting a little bit.
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Proud Savagepedia contributor.

Evil Wig Enterprises Minion #15 - "The
Machete"

[jblittlefield]

[Wiggy]

[strongbif]

I like the idea of a danger rating, but how should I handle a setting where most of the combat happens with ranged weapons (Bureau 13 for my group)?

Does half of strength and damage modifier really apply anymore?

I was thinking of applying the average damage of the firearms used to get the danger rating, but that pretty much always comes to 7.

I kicked around the idea of halving shooting skill and adding some sort of number based on firearms effectiveness, but I'm really too inexperienced to know just how to go about it.

Has anyone come up with a workable quick and dirty "dangerousness" estimate for ranged combat-heavy settings?
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Courage is being scared to death, but saddling up anyway.
-John Wayne

[Clint]

Actually, you hit the nail on the head. There was an add-on to the above that basically said, use the average damage (disregarding acing) of ranged attacks for characters who depend on those.

For a mage with bolt, who can fire off a 2 or 3d6 version, you can average the damage of both for a 9, but that is more dependent on the player.

Hope this helps!
_________________
Clint Black
Savage Worlds Core Rules Brand Manager

www.peginc.com

[Bill]

I think it was Clint who reminded me of this. Since damage aces if you are figuring average scores bump the result up by one point per dice. Thus a 2d6 shot would "average" 9 points with aces allowed. Still, with danger ratings ignoring the aces is probably a better idea
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The More I Learn, The Less I Know

[sagaston]

Alternately, just set up the story in an interesting way and put a reasonable number of monsters for the situation. Just be sure to warn the players that they shouldn't expect to have a reasonable chance of taking on every bad guy they find.

Then don't worry about it.

If 2 zombies are guarding the gates, the PCs should make quick work of them. If they sneak into the Orc Encampment and come across 50+ Orcs, they'll have to be smart enough not to get into a fight.
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Clockworks - a Savage Worlds powered Steampunk webcomic. Updates hopefully twice a week.

[Clint]

[Clint]

Since I was asked, I thought I'd update my old recommendation above...

Until you become familiar with the way in which Savage Worlds functions as a system, it may be tricky to detemine if an encounter is appropriate to the abilities of the characters. To get a rough estimation, you can try getting a Damage Rating (DR) for your PCs. This rating is then compared to the encounter to give a general idea of how challenging an encounter may be.

Keep in mind though, no combat is guaranteed in SW; there is always a risk (as there should be in any dangerous situation) no matter what the capability of the opponent. Remember your "ace in the hole," bennies; the GM can adjust the flow of any encounter by the rate with which bennies are handed out to the players. To continue...

To figure the DR, take half the character’s "standard" damage dice (adding in any bonuses). For melee this would be half their typical weapon (i.e., the one they use the most) die and Strength die (a d10 Strength characer who usually uses a d8 longsword would have a 5+4=9). For ranged weapons, it would just be half the damage dice for the weapon (a 2d8+1 assault rifle would have a 4+4+1=9).

For variable damages, it's typically best to go with the maximum. A bolt can do 2d6 or 3d6 damage and a shotgun can vary from 1d6-3d6; in both cases, the DR would be figured off the maximum 3d6 value.

Then the GM can average individual DRs to figure out a DR for the group as a whole, comparing the overall DR to their intended opponent’s Toughness:

• If it's equal, then the characters have an edge over an equal number of opponents.
• If the Toughness is a point higher, then the fight should be about "even."
• If the Toughness is two points higher, then it will be a tough fight (One opponent for every two characters).
• If it's three points higher, the characters are in trouble (One Opponent for every four characters).

For purposes of this comparison, the opponents are figured to be Wild Cards as well, and for Extras, it should be considered that two are about equal one Wild Card.

Of course, there are other factors to consider, such as arcane powers, Edges, and Hindrances, but the above method should give you a rough idea of how your players will fare against the things you decide to throw them up against long enough to get a feel for the system.
_________________
Clint Black
Savage Worlds Core Rules Brand Manager

www.peginc.com