Tweaking Savage Worlds

In a previous post, I talked a little about my opinion of the Savage Worlds RPG, and as you may recall I'm not overly fond of it. Still, it has some good bits, and the other day I started thinking about what I might be able to do to bring the things I dislike more in line with my preferred mechanics.

One of the mechanics that rubs me the wrong way is the spell point system. In fact, most times that I run into a system that seems like ammunition, my knee-jerk response is, "Oh, so you're saying that I can have exactly this much fun before I suck at life." If a character wants to build a magic-user in an RPG, he should be able to be a magic user all day, every day. That's his schtick. He shouldn't have to turn it off halfway through a day or a fight.

So I began tinkering. I wanted to share the results. Mind you, the following system won't make sense married to the Weird Science arcane background, but for backgrounds like Magic or Miracles, I think it looks pretty good.

Arcane Power Fatigue

Characters do not have power points. All arcane backgrounds should have their Starting Power Points entry replaced with a Resist Fatigue entry. Resist Fatigue will determine with which of the five basic attributes (usually Vigor or Spirit) characters of a particular arcane background resist drain.

When a character uses a power, instead of deducting the corresponding number of power points from a pool, he will make a trait test with the appropriate attribute. The target number for this trait test is equal to the number of power points the effect would have cost. Failed checks generate one level of fatigue. Successful checks generate no fatigue. This check occurs immediately after the effects of the power occur

Maintaining a spell after its standard duration expires subtracts one from the corresponding arcane skill roll as usual. The character also subtracts one from his rolls to resist fatigue from spellcasting.

Levels of fatigue from spellcasting fade as soon as the caster has a moment to catch his breath away from urgent situations.

Non wild card characters who fail spellcasting Resist Fatigue rolls do not accumulate fatigue, but are instead shaken. This shaken result cannot cause a wound.

With this system, a character can easily cast 1 and 2 cost effects over and over again as long as he hasn't been wounded. As the cost of an effect rises, so does the risk. The game would need a few new edges that might add a +1 or +2 to the fatigue resistance rolls, and edges that currently reference power points would have to be stripped, but I think you get the idea. If you're experienced with Savage Worlds, I'd welcome your feedback since my experience is a bit limited. Feel free to nitpick if my SW jargon in the italicized rules text isn't accurate too.