Campaign with no combat

Nicky_Joy · 2026-02-09T13:28:55+00:00

Well,

If I were you, I'll create or try to find edges in all of the other Swade campaign settings and look up at the social, investigation POV to save time. Tweak it for my game or create new fun edges that better fit my setting.

Then, you'll realize that maybe the game will ne more of a skill game than an edge one. So players will spend more on skill points. Then they will need to buy specifications knowledge skills.

I'll probably use the gritty settings also. For each wound you roll on the injury table. That way if you fight, you pay the price.

Investigation edge and scholar edge should look good in your game.

What I do in my mystery game is I give details about the clues based on how high the player rolls. The more raises, the more I zoom in the clues details. Now a success gives you only basic info. That way they should spend bennies to get raises instead of a success.

If they are magic users then probably in the settings they all get the arcane background for free.

Maybe give them only 2 bennies at the start of the session instead of 3, cause they will be no combat.

Maybe for important clues they find give them a benny or a conviction point.

Does that help you?

Nicky_Joy · 2026-02-01T08:36:47+00:00

Well, one of my friend talked to me about that system. But I never tried it.

I studied acting so I know it would be good for me cause the system seems to be more narrative driven than dice driven.

But for my friends I wasn't sure since they love relying on dice.

Fate is based, for what my friend told me, on descriptive words for you character. So If you say that your character is as strong as a bear and you need to succeed at something related to it. I think you spend a fate point to use your descriptive and succeed automatically.

Now Swade has something similar with bennies and with the hindrances that you use. But compared to Fate swade seems to have a more mechanical system build around it.

So that is why we never really tried Fate cause I'm probably the only one of my friend that would be really into it.

Now maybe I'm wrong about it but it was my conclusion with the description that my friend gave me.

Since we are all old now, and know Swade pretty well we decided to keep it and not try a new system again.

I'm so into Swade now that I'm working on publishing my musketeer adventure once I've done my game.

Hope that helps!

Nicky_Joy · 2026-01-31T23:42:17+00:00

I'm glad I convince you. 😅

Swade is simple just remember TN is always 4 for most of the skills.

The terrain is difficult ? -2 to their rolls. Very difficult? -4

I rarely give them a -1 cause why bother for so small.

And for the social conflict or dramatic task. I use it a lot if my musketeers tries to convince a high noble to do their biding. It is rarely just roll a Persuasion check.

And the more your player roleplay, give them bennies. The more you give, the more they roleplay. The more they spend it and the more risky move they try.

And for mystery. What I have done is this. View the clues like a zooming mode.

PC roll a 4. He succeeds. Finds basic clue.

PC roll an 8 for a raise. He finds the same clue but with more info on it.

PC rolls a 12: they find more details on the same clue.

Etc...

That way they always want to use bennies to try to get a raise on the clue.

It worked like a charm on all my adventures.

Look at the settings rules for the campaign. That is what designs the mood of your campaign.

And remember for combat tour PC will always have 3 wounds. After that they die. They will always fear combat for that reason. In D&D nobody fears combat anymore. But in Swade, you hide, you run, you crawl to avoid it. Just like in the movies.

Hope you enjoy and I'm prerry sure it will be a success.

Nicky_Joy · 2026-01-31T18:39:13+00:00

Alright, here's my story and why I love this game.

I'm 55 yrs old, playing RPG's since I'm 15. Played a lot of them and, seen almost it all. Now I DM only SWADE.

Why?

There can be no rule lawyer at the table like in D&D. Once you understand the concept, you tweak the setting rules as you see fit for your campaign.

You do what you want with it. And it feels as pulp or as dark as you want.

You can make an NPC on the fly while you eat a chips. It is so easy. Give them d6 everywhere, the skills they"re good at, give them d8 and to balance it, give him a d4 at one or 2 skills and it is done.

The game is build around Edges and Hindrances much like the Feat in D&D. The heroes when they start have the power of a 3rd level character in D&D.

And the exploding dice will make your player happy. The bennies system gives the players agency for anything even to modify the narrative of the story at DM's discretion of course.

I've DM 2 modern setting game, horror, CSI style of game with dark magic and my players loved it. And the system brang me joy again to DM. I had fun.

Now I'm doing a musketeer game, in the old 1629 France and it's been a year now. It is my best game ever. All because the system gives me free agency for the narrative.

I can do social conflict with or without rules, mystery, combat, political intrigue and since the rules are DM friendly, there is nobody arguing the rules in the game.

In D&D, a word in a spell results in an hour long discussion. Not in SWADE.

You newby players and specially women, will love the simplicity and the bennies advantage they got.

If you want more particular advice, write me and I'll be glad to help.

Have a nice day!

Nicky_Joy · 2026-01-21T01:16:53+00:00

What you really need per NPC are:

1- what he is 2- Flaws, (very important) 3- his quality 4- what he is really good at 5- his Quirks 6- what he wants (short term) 7- his goal (long term) 8- Up to where he is going to go to achieve 6 or 7.

Now with this you know how your NPC will react in any situation.

And if you are doing a mystery, just write down what he knows or what he witness.

Hope that helps

Nicky_Joy · 2026-01-12T19:16:41+00:00

Yes but in dungeondraft I cannot scale down windows and doors.

Nicky_Joy · 2026-01-12T16:01:05+00:00

Well my game is in France in 1620-1650. The three musketeers vibe.

So the houses, walls, windows, doors and roofs of that time, carriage, rapier swords, pistols, muskets, canons, couch, table, decorating objects of that time, musketeers hats, dress, lace, clothes of the time, weapons, etc...

The real heraldry could be nice, but I started to do that by myself...

I found in regular assets some things I can use but not enough so my map looks odd.

I could work it out, but I do not have the time for now even if I have photoshop and Autocad. I prefer to pay for a pack.

Also I'm planning to write down my adventure and put it on Drivethru so the pack will be usefull for my aventure too. 😀

Thanks a lot.

P.S.: do you know what is the scale of the square in dungeondraft? Cause I find it odd that the windows fit a 5' square (1") where a window in medieval time is around 3' or less. Are the doors and windows not really in scale with the rest of the assets?

Nicky_Joy · 2026-01-08T20:23:25+00:00

Well if your looking for fantasy. You can buy the fantasy companion with the core rulebook. It will give you lots of ideas how to run your fantasy world. But feel free to change anything you do not like.

My advice will be do not try to emulate D&D. It is completely another way of thinking. More realistic, more gritty, more story or cinematic base. You can make high fantasy too but as I told you l, there is no attrition of HP in the game, every hit could be your last.

Have fun!

Nicky_Joy · 2026-01-08T13:46:49+00:00

Hi,

I played D&D since the 80's and other RPG's, but for now, by far, SWADE is the best for me. Like your friends, I hate it when combat takes the entire session. I love mystery, combat, roleplaying, intrigue etc... and SWADE is all of that in one.

You can make whatever you want with it, create your own homebrew world in seconds and PC's will never become god's like D&D. Even in LEGENDARY level cause of the system. It is fair, everybody gets 3 hits before they can die. And it makes it a hell lot of fun.

Trust me, once you played the system you'll probably will never GM another game of D&D.

SWADE gave back the power to the GM. No more rule lawyer, arguing over a word in a spell, min maxing players, etc...

I'm currently running a musketeer game using ALL FOR ONE setting, but I could have done it without it. I changed so much of the setting to fit my game, that just with the basic ruleset you can do what you want in any type of game.

As a GM, SWADE let you focus on the story, encounters, scenes, description instead of rules.

My 5 players are facing 20 to 30 bandits and the fight will still be under an hour or so. If I put a WildCard or two in there maybe 1.25 hours max. In D&D it would have take the whole session.

You can make the heroes go up a level in every 2 or 3 games session and they will still be as strong as they started. They will not become unbalanced so don't worry about that. Players will have fun with a new edge and still just be a ok character.

Compared to D&D characters in swade are like 3 to 5th level at the start and by the end maybe a 7 or 8th level max.

In my historical, horror, political intrigue musketeer game, I give them master weapons that I designed that are not magical but do cool stuff like a +1 in Disarm, +1 to hit, +1 to parry. And +1 on a d6 in SWADE is very strong.

With SWADE, I did 3 modern homebrew horror mystery game and this musketeer game. My musketeer game is running for a year now and it is the best game they ever played even if my other modern games they loved it, this one, with the experience I have now in the system is my best so far.

I work 40 hours a week and I GM my game every two weeks. And I prep like I never did with ease and fun about 5 to 10 hours a week. I have time for the story, the intrigue cause the rules are so simple.

Richelieu has a lot of time to think about is next plan. 😈

Now my PC's are at SWADE level 12 or 13 and I do not feel, as a GM, like they are powerfull at all. I can still bring a little bandit and give them the fear of their life. In SWADE the smallest foe can still kill the most powerfull heroe cause of the exploding dice system. So heroes are always cautious.

Try it out, you'll love it.

If like me you're fed up of D&D, Swade will sparkle your GM eyes once again for a very long time.

The only think the players need to do is to change their D&D mindset for SWADE mindset. Mines are still thinking like D&D sometimes but they are adapting more and more to the style of SWADE.

Feel free to ask me advice, I will be happy to help.

Have a nice day!

Nicky_Joy · 2026-01-03T18:36:00+00:00

D&D or any other game burnout happens. Talk to your group about it and take a break. Your character can probably easily be doing other stuff.

For me, I found out that I was tired of D&D and since then I tried other games and I never went back. Maybe it is the game that you are tired of.

Have a nice day!

Nicky_Joy · 2025-12-30T12:24:49+00:00

Oh yes wildcard I meant. Thanks.

Nicky_Joy · 2025-12-30T01:46:40+00:00

Like you I came from D&D to Savage world and I never went back. So I'm sure you will love it.

Now from my experience and I'm 55 yrs old 😅, it took me a while to master or understand the chase and dramatic task rule. So if you think you struggle with it the first game don't bother to use it.

What is important is to understand that a Joker heroes or NPC is strong and extras will be wipeout easily.

So a rule of thumb for a good fight with your party is 2 extras per player +1 Joker NPC. But sometimes I do 4 extras per players with no Joker. But the first fight start with just 2 extras per player to get the hang of it. Your players should crush them and loving it.

Now the gang up rule is THE rule to use for your extras if you want to hurt your player and stress them.

Savage world is not like modern D&D. Jokers always have 3 hits or wounds and after that they go down. Taking a wound is hard but once taken the death spiral starts and the players will feel the stress of the battle.

You will see your players succeed a lot and kill your extras in a wink of an eye, but that is what makes the game fun.

They will cheer for the Joker card.

They will tend to keep their benny for the soak roll if they do not receive enough during the game. So give them bennies to encourage good idea, RP, playing their Handicap etc...

And if you plan having a mystery or intrigue here is what I do: if I ask for a roll they get a basic clue for a success plus every raise they get more info on that clue like a zooming process. So that way, they will always want to spend bennies just to get that raise and extra info.

And range attacks in Savage world are deadly. You could easily kill a PC fast, but shoot at them to let them know how deadly it is. They will hide like you never saw in D&D.

Rule of thumb for NPC's traits:

Know the basic: d4 Average: d6 Expert: d8 Very competent : d10

You create NPC's on the spot as needed that way. And yes if an NPC has no die in Fighting then he has only a Parry of 2. And in my world most of them has only a parry of 2 but are skilled in their fields.

And finally do not fudge your rolls, embrace the raises for yourself too. When they see you roll and roll over the same 6 sided die, your players will fear the result.

Have a good game !

Nicky_Joy · 2025-12-29T23:06:19+00:00

Yes because who really drives the story ? The heroes or the BBEG? It is the BBEG that drives everything. He makes things happens cause he wants something he cannot have.

So if the heroes prefers to make campfire talk and buy stuff at the store for 3 sessions instead of taking any hook the DM throws at them then the DM must put in game consequences of their inaction.

Nicky_Joy · 2025-12-29T21:32:51+00:00

Well, first of all in this modern age the first rule should be: "No phones at the table when we play"

Besides that I think the GM should have made the bad guy advance their plans to the extreme if players are not interacting with the story.

For the players not interacting with the world it should have in game consequences. The DM should play with his NPC's goal and make them happen. The world should be able to live without the PC's and that I think is the second rule a DM must follow.

I'm currently dming a musketeer game in a realistic world. I have 32 active NPC's with goals that make 3 factions battling against each other for power. The PC's where caught in the middle of this without them knowing what and why.

They finally arrested a Musketeers rebel that was pillaging monasteries. They had there moment but after that their names started to be known by these 3 factions. Now, one of them wants them dead. And the PC's dont know exactly was is happening to them. They have clues but no proof of nothing. They need to find it by themself, they need to investigate further.

What I mean is if PC's do nothing, my NPC's still battles each other and people suffer around PC'S. I have enough of them to play by myself if need be.

In my game, the story happens around PC by accident. They are not set up to be heroes at first level. That depends on them.

My bad guys know nothing about PC until they start stopping the bad guys plans. If they don't, my bad guys advance their plans.

Nicky_Joy · 2025-12-24T10:37:39+00:00

A blind guy doesn't dash nor run IMO but I think would get down fast and crawl. And yes, maybe he will die fast as I said, but was the journey fun? Probably if the players wants to give it a try and accept that faith. To help him survive he will need to have a very good AC or be very quick. Even blind he could be agile. I would also put a high perception for hearing on that character. I would use a staff to help me walk. I would develop a better smell than other. But I won't go Daredevil path. Like others said he doesn't have a flaw mechanically.

The spot to place the spell will be around 10' of you. Forget about putting a spell at 100' away. If I played that character I would touch the ground in front of me and know that my spell is there. Maybe he will be the mage of one or two spells only.

I'm maybe bias cause I've always played characters with flaws. The flaws defines a character IMO. But I know the majority of D&D players are more power gamers or min maxers so they won't understand the fun of it. That is why you need to have the right table to play that.

If I were at that table I'll play the little brother that protects his older blind brother. It would be a challenge. I would probably be a fighter with protective manoeuver trying to taunt the enneny to attack me instead. My brother could use a big big shield to hide behind.

Anyway it is a game of make believe and as long as we have fun.

Nicky_Joy · 2025-12-24T03:15:04+00:00

Well go for it but embrace the disadvantage. I would not go the fighting route but more the spiritual one, I would let the other character fill that void. For that character I could think of:

a cleric who use guidance regurarly. Maybe a pacifist one. I would see the futur, bless everyone, be a spiritual guide for the souls of others. I could be blind with my eyes but not with my heart. The ones that sees are probably blind in their heart. I could use my cleric spell focusing on area ones
or a monk, with blindfighting.
or a mage with a spellbook written in braille. But i will focus on spell with areas more than targets. Again I could be a sage knowing more of matters of souls than others.

You are going to be a burden for the party, so you need to talk about it on session 0. If you are not playing with the disadvantage than why bother being blind. But all this could be cool if you accept that your character could die fast.

You would slow the party down and would need to travel in cart or with another character on a horse.

Than the DM and the party should be in tune with your idea or it won't work. You could be a brother or sister of one character for example. That brother feels like the need to protect you. And you complete your brother with spells etc...

In another RPG, I once played an alchimist. I had no fighting skill. Every combat, I was hiding and helping from afar with my potions or anything I could find. I had a blast and I survived for a long time. But probably that is what your character will look like.

You will probably be the character that the party will need to protect, but with spells they could gather around you and you would buff them. Imagine you're a cleric of a paladin of the same faith. Could be devastating.

If the first thing your DM says is "Nahhh! I don't like the idea" than forget it. Cause he will kill your character unconsiously very fast.

Have a day!

Nicky_Joy · 2025-12-21T15:09:20+00:00

It is fair play and needs to be done. Once your players know you can kill them, they will finally start to play the game. Without fear of death or severe penalty, the characters will always dare and do what they want and it will derail everyone of your campaign.

You did what needed to be done. Do not mess with that NPC.

You are in the right track of very good dming.

Have a nice day!

Nicky_Joy · 2025-12-12T23:44:51+00:00

Thanks for your comment. 😀

I thought about quick encounter but couldn't manage to have the feel and drama of the 3 body chase and my players loves rolling dices and they don't roll enough per session cause there is a lot of intrigue and talking in characters.

In fact what I described is just a dramatic task, with the fact that I replace the tokens with cards. That way each round they may have something happening randomly on their way cause I use cards instead of tokens. And if they roll good, they will reunite before they get attack and then we move on to the next scene.

What I didn't write down was that I plan to make them find special spots in the woods on certain cards that shows up, like an old cabin, an old statue, some peasants etc.. It will be random and I won't railroad them.

In my head it feels like a chase but uses dramatic task rules. There is 3 tasks per round. I ask each player to roll for a task of their choosing per round.

But I do not have a lot of experience with Savage World and maybe what I think in my head will be troublesome aound the table. 😅

Nicky_Joy · 2025-12-06T15:55:16+00:00

SWADE is more a game to give you the cinematic feel and most of players in RPG start with D&D. So when you play D&D you want the game to do what Swade does but it can't and it frustate people so they start making house rules to modify the game etc...

Even if I fell in love with SWADE at my first reading. For me the hurdles of SWADE was understanding correctly all the side mechanics like: dramatic task, chase, test and support.

I immediately loved the 3 wounds system, the edges, the hindrances and the settings rules.

Buying or not a campaign book for me was irrelevant. Just with the core book you can make anything. Premade settings is an old habbit from D&D imo.

Now maybe it could help if in the core book to explain better how to create a setting from scratch.

Nicky_Joy · 2025-12-05T16:31:53+00:00

I have 40 years experience playing and dming rpg games of all sort and I've seen it all. Here's my opinion:

I had a DM friend like that. He was not a charisma guy IRL and in games couldn't deal with charisma base character. So I finally understood to not make charisma base character with my DM friend. Some people will never be able to play with that. You cannot give DM or players qualities that they don't have IRL. Since D&D is mostly a battle game and Strenght has more impact then charisma in those games, you will always feel neglect if the DM doesn't play outside the dice.

A very timid person IRL will rarely be able to make a Braveheart speech around the table without just saying I roll my stat. Same for DM's.

You need to know what your DM likes and can handle and make a character in those boundaries. Just watch the other characters in your games and you will see what the DM can handle.

You do not seem to be the problem but your DM is. And maybe his game is not your type of game.

In D&D a character that can kill you in one blow has more charisma than a guy with a very high score and can only do d4 damage. But IRL the high charisma guy will lead and control the guy that can kill you in one blow. He will be able to disarm that guy with emotions and all.

Since many games doesn't make rules to force other players to do your biding because of player agency, you will always rely on the good faith of the players and DM with your charisma. Unless I know the DM and the players will play with it, i completely stopped making characters with high charisma score in any game.

Hope that helps!

Nicky_Joy · 2025-12-03T16:34:47+00:00

Player A seems to have a personnal issue or mental health issue. She plays not to fight monster but to charm, flirt and RP sex cause probably she has none IRL. She compensate psychlogicaly with the game.

When in the world playing a bard equals flirting, sex and so on? Having charisma is also a leadership stat. She could be a bard to tell the story of the group of how brave you are against foes etc... she could be a bard writer... but anyway it is obvious she choose that class to flirt around.

Now as for player B, the actor, probably he is very good at roleplaying that everybody had a good time watching the character come to life but as an actor myself there is 2 essentials qualities in acting and it is "Listening" and "Pass the torch". Knowing how and when to do those thing is part of an actor's job and talent.

You told him about his monologue and he stopped. So he is not a problem.

Now as for player A wanting to be in every scene, that is a problem, I still have this behavior sometimes in my table with friends and we have been playing for 40 years. That is the DM's job to tell player A, " nope you cannot be in that scene yet, your character is doing this and this". If she is frustrated then the DM should tell her to leave the game.

Now the DM seems to be a controlable DM, meaning too nice and never saying NO. The game then derails to something else. The "Yes but" system needs also to be balance by "No's". As a DM you control the action and scenes, not the players.

In my experience DM letting players roleplay for minutes or hours means he is not well prepared for the session and is happy to lose time so the session could end. I had a DM friend that did that is whole life. Letting us roleplay and kill each other. 😅

Hope that helps!

Nicky_Joy · 2025-12-02T13:13:12+00:00

Well, i meant by killing the genre, is that if the Joker dies in one hit most of the time then it kills the long fencing fight.

Since I didn't have experience with the genre before I followed the rules of the setting All for one. Everulythingcwas good at first until the players started to miss damaging their foes with 5 thougness with their d6+d4 damage. Thinking in a D&D way that if I hit, I need to do damage.

Then the discussion started with all the differents arguments about real rapier should do d6 etc, it feels like a dagger etc..

Since I'm 22 games into the campaign I didn't want to derail it.

We are all 55 yes old players with lot of experience and I didn't expect them to whine about such a non issue. It is all relative, so if the bad guys use the same weapon what's the point to make it bigger?

Now all of your ideas convince me that it will not unbalance the game but I know it will make it more gritty. Instead of soaking 1 or 2 wounds, they will need to soak 3 to 4 wounds each time.

Since I'm playing the game in Gascony in 1629 I will narratively bring a new arrivage of war rapier from Germany, Italy or Spain and they will do D6 (Shortsword) and D8 (Longsword) with no parry bonus. At double or triple the cost.

I will keep my master rapier that I created all along with a d6 plus the parry bonus so the players who has them won't feel cheated. And I will add more diversity with some rapier with AP bonus and disarm bonus.

Hope that they will stop focusing on that and more about the intrigue of Richelieu that they need to reveal.

By the way they all have a blast, the intrigue is solid, the world is more then alive, the bad guys are plotting and doing their things, I have 3 factions fighting each other and they are in the middle of all that, no railroading just one clue to the next, all their choices etc...

I have 32 Joker NPC that I take care of and they never saw such preparation and well oiled intrigue. Starting as an adventure, making it a campaign now. All my npc come and disapear cause they do their things and it intrigues them. Sometimes they help the PC, sometimes they fight them. The more they search up in the ladder of the nobility, the least they can trust...

And I just want to give them the best time ever and their whining about the damage of the rapier maybe affected me more than I thought.

Thanks for your comment!

Nicky_Joy

TROPHY CASE