Hindrance Cards

GMs in Savage Worlds are encouraged to hand out bennies when the players roleplay their Hindrances, although no specific guidelines are given - rewarding bennies falls very much into "GM's discretion" territory.

Personally I usually aim to award 1 benny per Hindrance per session. I will also give additional bennies for special cases, but those first 3 bennies tend to be the easiest to earn, particularly for crunchy Hindrances. For example I'd award a benny to a Lame character the first time they're in a Chase, or in a situation where their reduced Pace prevents them from completing a desirable action; I feel that it should be easier to earn bennies for crunchy Hindrances, to compensate for the fact that they also give a mechanical drawback (compared to the fluffy Hindrances that are purely roleplayed).

This approach works well for me, but sometimes I forget which PCs have which Hindrances, and which Hindrances I've already rewarded during the session. This becomes particularly problematic for one-shots and new campaigns, as it takes me a while to familiarise myself with the various PCs.

One solution I came up with is to write out the PCs Hindrances on cards (one Hindrance per card), and hand out the cards at the beginning of the session. The players can then cash in each of their cards when the respective Hindrances come into play, as long as their justification isn't too much of a stretch.

More recently I've had some newer players who aren't familiar with the system, and they sometimes have difficulty remembering what their Hindrances do (which can sometimes make it difficult to know when to cash in a card). So I decided to put together a tool that can generate printable cards complete with descriptions.

You can access it here: Hindrance Card Generator

Savage Dragonmarks

Now that Savage Vancian Magic is complete, I thought it might be fun to take a look at some of the other ways in which the new spells can be used. One idea that immediately sprung to mind was the dragonmarks from Eberron - elaborate tattoo-like skin patterns that grant magical abilities.

Kristian Serrano's comprehensive Savage Worlds Eberron Conversion Companion does already include rules for dragonmarks, but they work more like traditional Arcane Backgrounds. The alternative solution I'm providing here is instead designed to complement the spells and Edges described in Savage Vancian Magic.

Dragonmark Edges

Only humans, halflings, elves, gnomes, dwarves, half-elves and half-orcs can take Dragonmark Edges. A character can either take Aberrant Dragonmark, Least Dragonmark, or Heir of Siberys, but each blocks the other two. If a character takes Least Dragonmark then they may later branch into Lesser Dragonmark, Greater Dragonmark and/or Dragonmark Heir.

Aberrant Dragonmark

Requirements: Novice, Special

  You cannot take this Edge if you already have a dragonmark. Choose one of the following spells when this Edge is first taken: Beguile Person, Cause Moderate Wounds, Chilling Touch, Cone of Fire, Feather Fall, Hovering Disk, Leap, Light, Produce Fire, Sense Hidden Doors, Shield of Force, Terror, or Traceless Step. You may cast your chosen spell once per day, using Spirit as the spellcasting skill. Your caster rank for this spell is the same as your character rank.

Least Dragonmark

Requirements: Novice, Special

  You cannot take this Edge if you already have a dragonmark. Choose one of the Marks available for your race when this Edge is first taken. You immediately gain the listed skill bonus. Select one of the Least spells available to your Mark: You may cast this spell once per day, or twice per day if it's a Cantrip, using Spirit as the spellcasting skill. Your caster rank for Dragonmark spells is Novice.

Lesser Dragonmark

Requirements: Seasoned, Least Dragonmark

  Select one of the Lesser spells available to your Mark: You may cast this spell once per day. You may also cast your Least spell an extra time each day. Your caster rank for Dragonmark spells is now Seasoned.

Greater Dragonmark

Requirements: Veteran, Lesser Dragonmark

  Select one of the Greater spells available to your Mark: You may cast this spell once per day. You may also cast both your Least and Lesser spells an extra time each day. Your caster rank for Dragonmark spells is now Veteran.

Dragonmark Heir

Requirements: Seasoned, Connections (House), Least Dragonmark

  You gain a +2 Charisma bonus when dealing with members of your own Dragonmark House. You may also choose an extra Least, Lesser and Greater spell from those available for your mark (or gain the ability to cast your existing spell an extra time each day); if you don't yet have the Lesser or Greater Dragonmark Edges, you must wait before choosing your extra Lesser and Greater spells respectively.

Heir of Siberys

Requirements: Heroic, Luck, Special

  You cannot take this Edge if you already have a dragonmark. Choose one of the Marks available for your race when this Edge is first taken, and select one of the Siberys spells available to your Mark: You may cast this spell once per day, or twice per day if you are Legendary rank, using Spirit as the spellcasting skill. Your caster rank for Dragonmark spells is the same as your character rank.

Dragonmarks

Each dragonmark lists the race that can take it, the skill bonus it provides, and the spells available for the Least, Lesser, Greater and Siberys version of the mark.

Mark of Detection

Race: Half-Elf

Skill: +1 to sight-based Notice rolls

Least: Sense Magic (Cantrip), Sense Poison (Cantrip)

Lesser: Sense Scrying, Sense Invisibility

Greater: Truesight

Siberys: Foreknowledge

Mark of Finding

Race: Half-Orc and Human

Skill: +1 to Notice rolls when searching an area

Least: Identify Object, Internal Compass (Cantrip), Find Object

Lesser: Guiding Hand, Find Creature

Greater: Find Route

Siberys: Find Location

Mark of Handling

Race: Human

Skill: +1 Charisma when dealing with animals

Least: Pacify Animals, Beguile Beast, Speak with Beasts

Lesser: Dominate Beast, Improved Enchant Claws

Greater: Enlarge Animals, Summon Animals (Veteran)

Siberys: Grant Sentience, Summon Animals (Heroic)

Mark of Healing

Race: Halfling

Skill: +1 to Healing rolls

Least: Cure Moderate Wounds, Restore Minor Vitality

Lesser: Cure Major Wounds, Cure Poison, Cure Disease, Restore Moderate Vitality

Greater: Heal

Siberys: Improved Heal

Mark of Hospitality

Race: Halfling

Skill: +1 to Persuasion rolls

Least: Purification (Cantrip), Prestidigitation (Cantrip), Invisible Servant

Lesser: Conjure Food and Water, Secure Lodge

Greater: Magnificent Feast, Extradimensional Dwelling

Siberys: Teleportation Device

Mark of Making

Race: Human

Skill: +1 to Repair rolls

Least: Improved Mend Object, Mend Object (Cantrip), Mend Moderate Damage

Lesser: Create Object, Mend Major Damage

Greater: Fabricate Object, Improved Create Object

Siberys: True Creation*

Mark of Passage

Race: Human

Skill: +1 to Survival rolls

Least: Expeditious Jog, Summon Steed, Dimension Leap*

Lesser: Minor Teleport, Ghostly Steed

Greater: Improved Flight, Teleportation

Siberys: Improved Teleportation

Mark of Scribing

Race: Gnome

Skill: +1 to Investigation rolls related to translation

Least: Arcane Signature, Empathic Comprehension, Windborn Message

Lesser: Illusionary Writing, Illusionary Page, Empathic Linguist

Greater: Telepathic Message

Siberys: Rune of Death

Mark of Sentinel

Race: Human

Skill: +1 to Notice rolls related to reading body language

Least: Mystic Armor, Arrow Resistance, Spirit Shield, Shielding Link

Lesser: Energy Armor, Sphere of Invulnerability

Greater: Improved Sphere of Invulnerability

Siberys: Mental Shield

Mark of Shadow

Race: Elf

Skill: +1 to Streetwise rolls

Least: Darkness, Glamour, Illusionary Image

Lesser: Clairvoyance, Shadow Conjurer, Scry

Greater: Decoy, Eye Spy, Shadow Step

Siberys: Improved Eye Spy, Improved Scry

Mark of Storm

Race: Half-Elf

Skill: +1 to Agility rolls related to balance

Least: Environmental Endurance, Obscuring Fog, Blast of Wind

Lesser: Sleet Storm, Wind's Favor*, Wall of Wind

Greater: Shape Wind, Shape Weather

Siberys: Vengeful Storm

Mark of Warding

Race: Dwarf

Skill: +1 to Notice rolls when searching an area

Least: Alarm Ward, Secure Lock, Explosive Trap, False Aura

Lesser: Explosive Sigil, Warding Sigil, Detection Ward

Greater: Phantom Watchdog, Improved Warding Sigil, Protect Stronghold

Siberys: Prismatic Barrier

* This spell isn't covered in Savage Vancian Magic, instead it is described below.

New Spells

The above marks use three new spells, which are only available to characters with dragonmarks, and work as follows.

Dimension Leap

School: Conjuration

Rank: Novice

Casting: Incantation

Range: Smarts x 2

Duration: Instant

Trappings: Direct and Ranged

  This spell instantly teleports you and everything you're carrying to any desired destination within range, which can either be a visualized location or a specified distance and direction. If a destination is occupied by a solid body, you are automatically Shaken and transported to a random unoccupied location within range.

Wind's Favor

School: Transmutation

Rank: Seasoned

Casting: Gestures and incantation

Range: Smarts x 2

Duration: 3 hours per caster rank, dismiss early as a normal action

  This spell creates a focused tunnel of wind 2" wide, 2" high, and as long as the range. The wind has the same intensity as a Fresh Breeze (see the 'Wind Scale' section), and you can change its direction by up to 45 degrees as a full-round action.

True Creation

School: Conjuration

Rank: Heroic

Casting: Gestures, incantation, components and a benny

Range: Smarts

Duration: Instant

Trappings: Creation and Ranged

  This spell requires ten minutes to cast, and creates a single non-magical object made from minerals or non-living plant matter, with a maximum volume of three cubic feet per caster rank. If such an object would normally require skilled craftsmanship you must also roll the appropriate skill (as if you were crafting the object normally, except it occurs instantly and doesn't require tools).

  The cost of the components is equal to the cost of the raw materials needed for the object.

Savage Vancian Magic

Vancian magic (aka "fire and forget") seems to be one of those things that some people love and others hate. Although freeform magic is still probably my favorite approach in general, I was introduced to the Dragonlance novels at a young age, and Raistlin made a lasting impression on me.

More recently I've been interested in converting 3.x material to Savage Worlds, particularly the excellent War of the Burning Sky adventure path. I originally came up with a simple “Fast, Furious and Fun” solution for handling spellcasters (see the Arcane Backgrounds in Savage War of the Burning Sky), and used trappings to cover their spells (such as those in my Savage Spellbook supplement), but as the campaign progressed and the PCs advanced (and the wizard's player wanted to use the same sort of spells that had been available in our former D&D 3.5 campaign) my solution felt increasingly like trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. It just didn't capture the feel, the flavor, of the magic system. So after running a couple of dozens gaming sessions I went back to the drawing board and tried again, and this is the result.

It's perfectly possible to play a superhero game in Savage Worlds using just the core rules, but I find it much easier with the Super Powers Companion, which offers an alternative power system specifically geared towards supers settings. Savage Vancian Magic does exactly the same thing for D&D/Pathfinder settings. Neither the Super Powers Companion nor Savage Vancian Magic are required, but they are both designed to make the GM's job easier when running certain types of campaign.

You can download it from here: Savage Vancian Magic

The goal

"I love Savage Worlds. Half of the guys in my group love Savage Worlds. But part of what keeps the other half from jumping on board, at least for a fantasy campaign, is the lack of a Vancian magic system"

Vancian Magic in Savage Worlds

"But when it comes to fantasy, Vancian magic is hard coded into many gamers’ DNA. That’s certainly the case in my group – they like Savage Worlds well enough, but the lack of a Vancian magic system is a major stumbling block. They like being able to learn a large number of spells, and cherrypick from them each session. The Fantasy Companion doesn’t address that need, which is a shame since its addition could have won over some of the holdouts."

Savage Worlds: Fantasy Companion [Review]

"SW is bad at settings with tons of weak magic spells. The average magic user in Savage Worlds has half a dozen quite powerful spells, most of them geared towards combat. If you want a game where the magic user has a lot of weak utility spells, and part of your fun is to find creative ways to use and exploit them, Savage Worlds is not the game for you."

Discussion about Savage Worlds

The goal of Savage Vancian Magic is to capture the flavor of the 3.x magic system in a way that still feels like Savage Worlds. It is specifically aimed at people who want to play Savage Worlds, but also want 3.x–style spellcasters. Despite its name, this supplement covers both Vancian (i.e., “prepared”) and non–Vancian (i.e., “spontaneous”) spellcasters.

If you hate the 3.x magic system, you probably won't find Savage Vancian Magic useful – except perhaps as proof of concept, to demonstrate the versatility of Savage Worlds, and prove to the naysayers that even their sacred cow can be Savaged.

If you hate long spell lists then you definitely won't like this, but should instead take a look at my Savage Abilities supplement, which takes the opposite approach - it trims all the fat, reducing the power list to just five different powers. Those five powers can then be customised with modifiers and trappings to design a huge range of custom spell effects.

It should also be noted that this magic system differs from the magic in Jack Vance's work, as it’s inspired by the 3.x approach rather than Vance’s novels, however the commonly used term for both is still "Vancian magic".