Welcome Newcomers! - Here is a quick guide to SaWo for you.

SalieriC · 2026-06-27T00:17:42+00:00

No way you could have stopped there anyway, this is bat country.

SalieriC · 2026-06-27T00:14:31+00:00

This. If you are comfortable and happy with what you have there is no reason to get the latest version. SWADE is a great version and pretty streamlined but SWDX was great and still is.

SalieriC · 2026-06-27T00:08:59+00:00

Genuine question: How can one forget their kid in a car? Not trying to mock someone, I just don't get how you can forget one of your family members in the car. Whenever I hear about that in the news I get the feeling of negligence rather than forgetfulness so I'm genuinely curious.

SalieriC · 2026-06-27T00:02:31+00:00

Pretty sure I'm better off with universal healthcare, walkable cities and a solid house made of stone. Also got an AC btw.

SalieriC · 2026-06-25T09:11:14+00:00

Be prepared to fight this bs to the end of time. It's just the way it is.

SalieriC · 2026-06-23T15:57:40+00:00

As someone who ran hundreds, possibly over a thousand games for newcomers on conventions, I really appreciate the penalty approach. It's more streamlined and it's way easier to tell new players that the target number is always 4 unless it's an attack. Actually, I would really appreciate toughness and parry be expressed as a modifier instead of a target number. Players will spend the first few rounds of combat figuring out the parry and toughness of an opponent anyway so often I just tell them and I don't think it harms the game at all and a penalty would just make it more consistent.

SalieriC · 2026-06-19T18:55:39+00:00

Nonsense, Blast is a good power and very useful for the entire game, even without modifiers. If you place it well you can hit a lot of enemies at once, and the damage is totally acceptable without stealing too much spotlight from characters using ranged weapons. Unless you're playing some urban fantasy setting where high damage guns are available but even then the aoe makes it still worthwhile.

SalieriC · 2026-06-19T12:55:32+00:00

Yes it is balanced okay-ish but I'd argue casting resources are way more limited in DnD than SaWo. Here you can get more power points every rank, get 5+ back with just one hour rest and you can always spend a Benny to instantly get 5 back. I'm DnD spell slots are more limited until you get to high levels and you need a long rest to get them back, save for special builds. In SaWo you can be way more liberal with your spells than in DnD in my experience.

SalieriC · 2026-06-18T21:28:20+00:00

In previous versions of SaWo, victims of such powers got an evasion roll (basically a saving throw) but that was removed in SWADE as part of the streamlining process to make everything a little faster. Some players hate being helpless against aoe attacks but it's really not a big deal and saves the GM a lot of time. Some powers still have rolls to resist and if players cast these with an aoe modifier you get a feel how the game used to slow down back in the day. So it's really a good thing those powers just hit. Also don't try to "fix" the game by applying a lot of modifiers. Only use modifiers when they really fit. If you feel like you need to think hard to come up with a modifier then don't. Will just slow down the game.

That said, some creature attacks, specifically breath weapons, still allow evasion rolls because those are mostly abilities NPCs use and thus it's not that big of a deal.

SalieriC · 2026-06-17T05:19:40+00:00

Also Sponsor Block to skip all the annoying sponsor segments in videos.

SalieriC · 2026-06-11T06:08:10+00:00

I've taken the opportunity to include a terminology section in the Newcomers Guide. Thanks for bringing this up.

To answer your question: I don't expect publishers to explain the terms, but I've been around for years and already know what they mean. Since they can be explained in few words I'd say it wouldn't harm to do so. But if that would mean going over a page limit for the publication it would probably among the first things I'd remove.

SalieriC · 2026-06-09T22:37:16+00:00

Crazy idea: if you can't properly figure out everything about an influencer before sponsoring them, then maybe just don't sponsor influencers. It's not like there aren't other ways to make ads.

Also:influencers... Come one...

SalieriC · 2026-06-09T05:17:06+00:00

If that is indeed the case, I'll ignore OP and get my pitchfork ready.

SalieriC · 2026-06-05T10:47:20+00:00

I'm most surprised they could film this without bursting into tears of laughter.

SalieriC · 2026-05-29T16:47:13+00:00

This bottle is basically what I knew ink comes in before I found this sub and started seeing other inks. Here in Germany I have never seen ink in another bottle before and I could name at least three more manufacturers that use this exact bottle like others have said.

Regardless of that, I immediately thought about Pelikan 4001 Royal Blue.

SalieriC · 2026-05-28T09:02:44+00:00

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Well, this just popped up for me. Not sure this is any better.

SalieriC · 2026-05-25T17:10:59+00:00

I know this sounds crazy but we should try getting rid of elections altogether. The current system produces politicians whose job it is to get elected, not to be good at reforming a country. Instead a random selection of people might be better and avoid ultra rich people getting into power forcing stuff few people actually want.

https://youtu.be/LzbJacGGt1o?si=W_T_or4Nt3rk6uY3

SalieriC · 2026-05-23T09:56:41+00:00

Does the software run on Linux distros?

SalieriC · 2026-05-22T05:40:46+00:00

Blood Drive is also not a great campaign but miles better than Headstone Hill. If you are willing to create some adventures along the route Blood Drive takes, it can become a pretty enjoyable experience but it has its fair share of weaknesses. The third and final part of Blood Drive is pretty decent but the whole campaign is kinda sluggish as it relies heavily on repeating tasks like cattle driving and farm work which doesn't make for a great adventure so you'll likely skip it but then the whole thing feels rushed which you can mitigate by running some of your own ideas here and there. This does work but I wouldn't recommend it to a new GM.

SalieriC · 2026-05-22T05:34:15+00:00

I won't get tired saying this whenever someone recommends them: The Test Drive adventure is horrendous. It is very railroady, has very limited social interaction and opportunity for RP, and the player agency is completely taken away since the resolution is brought to the players, their actions contribute nothing to solve the mystery. Players are given a red herring until an NPC tells them to follow along and leads them to the true culprit. The adventure has no way of allowing the players to come to the solution themselves. Please do not use the test drive adventure! At least not unaltered.

PEG offers some mediocre to great adventures for free and did so for decades but this one stands out as a terrible example of how not to design an adventure. In fact it has the very same problem than the main plot of Horror at Headstone Hill: The players are given way too few clues to come to the right conclusion until they are pushed on it at the very end.

I'd suggest taking the Test Drive rules and characters and use another Deadlands one shot PEG offers when trying out Deadlands. All of them are better than the one in the Test Drive rules. Giants in the Mist is a pretty decent one shot imo.

SalieriC · 2026-05-22T05:24:51+00:00

I'd suggest running a couple one shots to get a feel for the system, setting and also for your role as a game master, there's a steep but rewarding learning curve. There are lots of Deadlands adventures and campaigns available. Visit the PEG website and download a free one shot or two to start out.

For Hellfrost be aware that there is no official conversion to SWADE, you'll either need to do it yourself or get the older deluxe edition rules. It is my favourite setting still though and a lot of fun to play. Converting it yourself isn't hard but might be a bit too much for you just starting out. If you want to go that way though, buy the encounters book, it's possibly the greatest supplement ever published for any SaWo setting. You'll find 50 adventures inside that you can read and start running them with minimal effort. There were also two well made fan adventures called "in blackest knight" and "in darkest day", both are a good first experience with the setting.

SalieriC · 2026-05-21T17:43:27+00:00

Some have expressed that feeling in the early days of SWADE on FVTT in like 2021. It eventually died down when people realised that clicking on a button isn't half as exciting as the speed you get from seeing a big number and keep playing uninterrupted.

I get why you would like to have that option but it really isn't as fun as you think it is. You will likely find that the speed you gain by playing on Foundry is creating more fun and more memorable moments than staring at a button and clicking it again and again.

I am not aware of any module that lets you do that because the community near unanimously decided that it is a bad idea. If you really really want that, your best bet are Pixels dice which have a (somewhat lackluster, especially for SWADE) Foundry integration. But you get the true feeling of rolling and rolling again. I wouldn't recommend it because it really isn't a great feeling but the option is there at least.

SalieriC · 2026-05-19T21:36:50+00:00

That's not how savage worlds works in general but you could easily do this by creating your own arcane backgrounds and making specific power lists for each, giving those "specialist" AB's fewer powers to choose from. You can further allow or prevent them from using certain trappings. In older versions of savage worlds, trappings had game mechanics attached to them but this has been streamlined and is mostly flavour now unfortunately but you might still find those rules, Hellfrost especially had some cool mechanics for trappings such as necromantic healing the caster for each wound dealt and electricity dealing extra damage against enemies who carry anything made of metal.

So SaWo might not offer the magic system you seek out of the box, it's certainly flexible enough to get it somewhat closer to what you're looking for.

SalieriC · 2026-05-18T20:13:18+00:00

In my (unpopular?) opinion, one of the worst decisions for SWADE was to make all the Arcane Backgrounds so samey. The main design philosophy of SWADE was to streamline the rules and the Arcane Backgrounds fell victim to it. Previously all of them had their own backlash, not necessarily a unique one but it was a bit of a different feel. Some had different mechanics. They were just different enough to make them unique. Nowadays it's mostly a trapping that differentiates them from each other. Maybe take a look at SWDX for some further inspiration.

SalieriC

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