Savage Worlds
- Genre: Universally adaptable
- Core focus: Fast, action-packed adventures
- Complexity: Low
- Languages: German, English, French, Spanish, Italian, Brazilian Portuguese
Savage Worlds is a universal role-playing system designed for fast, cinematic, and action-packed adventures in nearly any genre – be it fantasy, western, science fiction, horror, superheroes, or pirate adventures. Rather than focusing on a fixed game world, Savage Worlds is a flexible rule system that game masters and players can use to create their own worlds or utilize existing settings more freely.
The game utilizes a simple rules framework with various types of dice (D4 to D12), Bennies (a kind of fate points), and a focus on action rather than tactical gameplay. Characters can be created in minutes, which is especially helpful for one-shots or frequent campaign switches.
Savage Worlds is especially suitable for dynamic scenes such as chases, mass battles, or glorious heroic deeds due to its focus on quick sequences. In contrast to D&D, which relies heavily on classes, levels, and detailed combat tactics, Savage Worlds is much more flexible and mainly emphasizes narrative.
It forgoes rigid class structures and allows for individual combinations of abilities, enabling creative and individual character concepts. Fights are often shorter, but more intense. Due to its greatly simplified rules and the freedom the system offers, Savage Worlds is primarily suited for beginners and groups who just want to enjoy a quick round without getting bogged down by rules or world-building.
However, if you struggle to find enough people with whom to play your rounds, fortunately, there are other options available. There are numerous games in the digital space that are based on tabletop role-playing games and specifically on D&D, that can be wonderfully played alone: 10 games for fans of Dungeons & Dragons who have no one to play with
