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So my group of friends are going to give Rippers a go. It sounds like fun and interesting (picture Helsing movie).

Can anyone give me some more insight into game mechanics and character creation? Or anything else that may be important?

Thanks.

Savage Worlds is a pretty good system that is somewhere in the middle, leaning light, on the "Light<->Heavy" continuum of RPGs.

Characters are relatively light. Don't think it's weird if characters have somewhat similar stats. Edges really make things.

For example, Two 'Gun bunnies' would both probably have a similar die type in Agility (Or whatever the SW Dex-stat is) and would also have a good skill level in Shooting, so they're above-average with any ranged weapons. Bows, guns, etc. (I think thrown weapons are separate.)

At this level, the specialists in gunslinging/duelist, traditional sniper, and high-Rate-of-fire heavy weapons may look pretty similar. As I said, high Agility and Shooting. They get interesting by Edges, which starting characters will generally have a couple of.

The sniper might take edges to enhance use of the aiming action, reduce range penalties, etc. There's also options to specialize with a specific weapon.

The Gunslinger would take edges to enhance quick-draw abiltiies, shooting from the hip, etc. Again, specialist skills in the gunslinger's chosen weapon.

The heavy weapons guy would take a third set of feats to make high-rof weapons more feasible, possibly even to enhance maintenance (to resolve jams) as well. And specialization int he weapon of choice, of course.

Edges are a lot of what defines a character.

Thanks for the helpful reply Balance. What about game play? Is it like Deadlands at all? I remember using a deck of cards with all the dice.

boogeyman wrote:Thanks for the helpful reply Balance. What about game play? Is it like Deadlands at all? I remember using a deck of cards with all the dice.

Savage Worlds originally started as a modification of the Deadlands minis rules, actually... So in a weird way, Deadlands (RPG) begat Great Rail Wars (Minis rules, so very trimmed down) which begat Savage Worlds (RPG, lighter than Deadlands).

Initiative is card-based, but much simpler than Deadland's system (where you rolled a stat, then got a number of cards based off that roll, so could have multiple actions per round in many cases). In SW, every Wild Card (A major character, like a PC or a named opponent) or group of mooks gets a single card. Some Edges tweak this, such as allowing a redraw if you don't like your initial card. Everyone acts once in almost all cases.

Rolls are simpler as well. In general, you have a Skill or Attribute which is a die type (d4, d6, etc) and roll that die against a target number that is generally 4. Wild Cards (As above, PCs, major opponents, etc.) also get a 'wild die' which is a d6. You take the highest die roll, and dice 'explode' if the max is rolled. Many rolls are changed by figuring the number of 'raises' on the roll, so while rolling a 4 might hit, rolling an 8 hits for more damage, etc...

I was not happy with Savage Worlds at first but have come around and like it now. it's a lot simpler than Deadlands: a character's stats can be written up on an index card isntead of requiring a two-sided character sheet. it's a very 'tinker friendly' system

I have the first minis rules for Rippers somewhere. Never got the RPG book. I know the minis rules have a few easter eggs that refer to Deadlands, although they're not technically the same setting.


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Oh... Wounds in SW are kind of 'warhammer-ish' in that mooks have 1 'wound' while named characters have 3. Wild Cards also have bennies (Deadland's 'Fate Chips') that can be used for rerolls or to 'soak' a wound (still requiring a toughness roll) to make them a bit tougher.

One of the neat things about SW is it has a lot of rules for commanding mooks, so a situation where PCs command a squad of troops is totally playable. Mooks have abstract ammo rules so record keeping is minimal,

The default magic system is something of a rough point. The designers intentionally went the opposite direction from Deadland's books and books of magic spells and variant systems. Instead there's a simple 'power point' system and spells are intentionally vague. A spellcaster might take the Blast power, and it's up to the GM and player to say if the Blast is a traditional Fireball or some other effect. Either way, it has listed damage and area of effect, and the GM is encouraged to use the agreed-upon details, or trappings to add extras. For example, if two mages have a blast spell, the ice mage might be able to put out a fire with their Snow Blast while the fire mage could melt an ice wall.

Some settings go into more detail with this. Deadlands Relaoded, for example, adds some special rules to make the generic spell caster more like the classic Deadlands huckster. I believe the newer version adds back a version of the much-loved "form a poker hand to see how well the spell goes off' mechanic.

Thanks again. I think we will be getting together a couple of times this month, but will be finishing up some Marvel super hero rpg before starting up Rippers. We liked the Deadlands setting/genre, but I think the mechanics is what turned us away. It sounds like Rippers will be simpler so we should stick with it for at least a whole campaign.

Any advice on creating a character like Mani from Brotherhood of the Wolf? My other ideas are just as unoriginal, like a detective (Sherlock Holmes) or a professor (Indiana Jones).

No name yet - Native American tracker/fighter
Tinker Blake - orphan boy with a detective's mind (Tinker from Sexton Blake stories, with a mind like Holmes)
and no name again - Professor of mythology and the occult. The man with the answers about all the supernatural stuff.

Thanks again.

I never saw Brotherhood of the Wolf.

For character creation, my biggest suggestion is to find time to read through the Edges as they make a massive difference for characters.

There's a few edges/flaws that definitely work for some of your ideas. The orphan boy could have one to indicate he's small/young, which is probably going to be a major flaw so he'll get a boost elsewhere.

I'd also check with the GM about 'upgrades' as from what I remember, some characters in Rippers may take on various monster traits by essentially implanting monster bits.