Savage Worlds magic to Hero?

[bigbywolfe]

My game group is currently playing a fantasy game using Savage Worlds. As a mental exercise I began converting the characters to Hero in my head. I became stuck on the Mage though. The spells are easy enough to convert, but I don't know what to do for the magic system itself. I don't want to just recreate SW's magic system in Hero, but I would like it to have a similar feel. (It doesn't help that my Fantasy Hero book is currently loaned out so I can't browse the sample magic systems).

 

So, any suggestions?

[mhd]

Re: Savage Worlds magic to Hero?

 

I don't have my SW book handy, but as far as I remember the basic Savage Worlds power system is pretty simple, you've got your magical ability (Science, Faith, Magic etc.), and then depending on your specific background X powers and Y points to fuel them. Which should translate pretty easily into lots of spells with the Requires A Skill Roll limitation and an Endurance Reserve to power them. Or am I missing some side effects ("trappings")?

[Lucius]

Re: Savage Worlds magic to Hero?

 

Start thinking like a storyteller. Describe the way magic works in "plain language" rather than by any mechanical system. Then think like a Hero gamer, converting that description into Hero terms.

 

Lucius Alexander

 

What did you expect, a palindromedary?

[bigbywolfe]

Re: Savage Worlds magic to Hero?

 

I'm not expressing myself very well. I have it 90% done. SW uses Power Points, so I'll have magic run off of an END Reserve with its recovery limited. Being able to cast magic at all will be Perk that has to be taken at character creation like the Arcane Background in SW. Most of the spells our mage has require Gestures and Incantations so I'll have that be a requirement across the board to keep the same feel. Magic will also Require a Skill Roll and Concentration (1/2 DCV) because that seems to help keep the utility of the mage in line with the rest of the characters.

 

My issue is how to actually purchase magic. Pay for each spell in full? I think that would be cost prohibitive. 1/3 cost like the Turakian Age? Buying spells as Skills with each one costing some arbitrary number (1 or 3 points are what I've seen most often) and count on the need to purchase the END Reserve and skill roll and a very limited list of spells to choose from to keep from being too cost effective? Making them purchase all each spell but allowing them in a Multipower?

Most of the time I look at running Fantasy Hero I plan to use an established setting and running the magic system chosen for it. With this I don't know what will be balanced and match the feel I'm going for (essentially, feeling similar to SW without reinventing the magic point for point).

[mhd]

Re: Savage Worlds magic to Hero?

 

Have you tried statting out an existing or sample character to see how the points would turn out? Given suitable limits, I found that you can get a decent mileage out of individually buying spells. And it's not like SW mages have that many spells either, it's not like you'd be trying to emulate the full grimoire a D&D or Ars Magica wizard has. For some related spells, a multi-power is a good choice. "Fires of Destruction" with different elemental attacks, some with areas, some without...

 

As a personal matter of taste, I'd go without a perk if you're buying the spells individually, it's mostly useful if you're doing something cheaper (spells as skills etc.), so that you can offset part of that.

[Lucius]

Re: Savage Worlds magic to Hero?

 

I'm not expressing myself very well. I have it 90% done. SW uses Power Points, so I'll have magic run off of an END Reserve with its recovery limited. Being able to cast magic at all will be Perk that has to be taken at character creation like the Arcane Background in SW. Most of the spells our mage has require Gestures and Incantations so I'll have that be a requirement across the board to keep the same feel. Magic will also Require a Skill Roll and Concentration (1/2 DCV) because that seems to help keep the utility of the mage in line with the rest of the characters.

 

My issue is how to actually purchase magic. Pay for each spell in full? I think that would be cost prohibitive. 1/3 cost like the Turakian Age? Buying spells as Skills with each one costing some arbitrary number (1 or 3 points are what I've seen most often) and count on the need to purchase the END Reserve and skill roll and a very limited list of spells to choose from to keep from being too cost effective? Making them purchase all each spell but allowing them in a Multipower?

Most of the time I look at running Fantasy Hero I plan to use an established setting and running the magic system chosen for it. With this I don't know what will be balanced and match the feel I'm going for (essentially, feeling similar to SW without reinventing the magic point for point).

 

Sounds to me like the END Reserve IS the Perk. You spent points on it, you're a mage, you didn't, you're not.

 

Lucius Alexander

 

The palindromedary is reserved at one end and perky at the other

[Killer Shrike]

Re: Savage Worlds magic to Hero?

 

I'm not familiar w/ Savage World's mechanics, but if the rules are available in PDF form, or if you could give a detailed description of how they work I could give a suggestion or two.

[mhd]

Re: Savage Worlds magic to Hero?

 

The test drive should be sufficient (magic rules are on pg. 14 under "Powers").

[Orion]

Re: Savage Worlds magic to Hero?

 

Although it's nearly heresy on these boards, I'd suggest not worrying about the point cost at all. Make them buy the END reserve and skill necessary to use magic, but then ignore the costs of individual spells. Set limits on active points and the total number of spells known, but don't worry about their costing anything. As long as the characters are balanced in ability and the players are happy with what they can do, it doesn't matter if spells cost 1 point each, or 25.

 

When I've been a Fantasy Hero GM in the past, I ignored the cost of individual spells and it worked out well. Admittedly, this was in part because all the players were new to the Hero System and didn't care about points, only about what they could do. If point totals are important to the players, just increase the price of the magic skill or end reserve so that the characters all end up costing about the same.

[Killer Shrike]

Re: Savage Worlds magic to Hero?

 

I bought the Savage Worlds deluxe book yesterday evening and just skimmed the powers section.

 

My first thought is, it feels like someone read the HERO System Powers section and and made a subsystem of it by trimming off anything complicated and applying RSR universal. I'm actually a little irritated about it.

 

On the other hand, I can see the appeal. It reminds me of what the HERO System felt like to me when I first stumbled upon it lo those many (22) years ago.

 

My second thought is, you don't need a "conversion" for this per se. It's basically epimorphic / surjective.

 

The one wrinkle that I see up front is the expenditure of power points and variable effect based on same. My first thoughts on this are to leverage either END reserves or perhaps recoverable charges on a VPP. Also, I think I already modeled something like this for one of the other magic systems I've done in the past; I'll let my subconscious dredge my memory and see what it comes up with.

 

I actually look at this from the other direction; I would want to use the HERO System to get rid of the imposed limitations such as RSR, limited "power points", short durations, and so forth.

 

 

Anyway, I'll continue reading the book and see what I come up with.

[Killer Shrike]

Re: Savage Worlds magic to Hero?

 

Ok...here's where I'm at on this. I started to do a full conversion...I even went out and bought the Fantasy Companion, but in the end I just couldn't bring myself to do it due to lack of interest. There's just nothing to this "magic system"; the effects are for the most part direct ports to the HERO System, and the mechanics are compatible as is.

 

Honestly, I can't shake my impression that Savage Worlds is pretty much just HERO System Lite.

 

Anyway, if I were going to port a Savage Worlds fantasy game over to the HERO System and were looking to just do it expediently, I would just sub in the Magecraft system detailed on my site, perhaps with a couple of minor tweaks, and call it a day. It's not an exact match, but its pretty close and it works well in gameplay per past usage.

 

 

If there are some specific "spells" that are not bleedingly obvious to port over, let me know and I'd be glad to do a write up in Magecraft terms for a few of them as an example.