Getting Started

What's a Roleplaying Game?

A "roleplaying game" is one in which a group of players take on the roles of various characters and attempt to complete quests, tell a story, or overcome obstacles set before them by a "Game Master," or "GM." The GM might create all this straight from her imagination, or she might use one of the published settings and adventures created by Pinnacle, or by other creators who have licensed the rules for their own worlds.

Most of the time, the players and GM simply narrate their various actions in the voices of their characters or those of the world around them. Sometimes they roll dice tied to their characters' abilities to determine the outcome. This book describes that process— how to create characters, battle monsters, and complete quests through collective story telling and interpretation of various die rolls.

If you're new to this whole thing, we recommend watching some "actual play" videos on the internet to get a feel for it.

And if you are new, we think you'll love exploring the incredible world of roleplaying games!

What You Need to Play

Here's what else you need to begin your journey…

Dice

Savage Worlds uses traditional gaming dice: 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, and 20-sided. You also need a special "Wild Die," a d6 of a different color explained in Chapter Three. Dice are available from your favorite local gaming store, or online directly from Pinnacle.

We abbreviate the different dice as d4, d6, d8, d10, d12, and d20. If you see something like 2d6 + 1 , that means to roll two six-sided dice, add the two together, then add 1 to the total.

Bennies

For Bennies our table tends to use flat marbles or poker chips.

Friends

It will help if you have another person to play with. But, it can be played solo using the various solo options out there. I recommend Mythic.