Quick Skirmish rule

Combat in Savage Worlds is pretty fast, but it can still take a while to resolve, and the GM may not wish to play out every single fight using the normal combat rules. Sometimes the session needs to be sped up because the GM is running behind schedule, other times a combat scene might be there solely for story purposes, or to set the scene for a bigger encounter, and the GM doesn't want it to bog down the session - but equally they don't want it to be purely narrative, they want it to offer some sort of mechanical challenge as well.

Savage Worlds has two abstract subsystems for fast combat resolution. The first is the Mass Battle rules, which are designed for large scale combat, where the heroes either lead the army or try to make a small difference on the battlefield. The second is the Quick Combat rules, a newer mechanic that hasn't yet made its way into the rulebook, which is designed to handle smaller scale (and far less dangerous) confrontations.

Mass Battles are fine for armies clashing on the battlefield, but it's extremely dangerous for individuals to wade into battle, and they have a relatively small impact on the outcome. It's not really suitable for a skirmish scenario.

Quick Combat is a nice fast mid-game mechanic, serving as a bridge between scenes, but it's not designed to be very challenging, and it offers no real risk/reward if you're using it to end a session (for example when you've run out of time, and want to bring the adventure to a quick conclusion). Unless the characters are already wounded, there's absolutely no risk of failure, while the reward for an exceptional success is a Benny, which is lost at the end of the session anyway.

So I decided to put together a new rule that combines elements of Mass Combat and Quick Combat, for scenarios that are more challenging than Quick Combat but not as dangerous as Mass Battles, and suitable for an end-of-session wrap-up fight scene (similar to that used by +Eric Lamoureux, when he ran short of time at the end of 6 Heads for the Head Honcho).

Quick Skirmish

The GM can assign a modifier of between +2 and -2 depending on the relative competence of the enemy, and another modifier of between +2 and -2 if one side has a significant tactical advantage.

The number of foes is represented by a pile of tokens, typically 3-5 tokens per player for a reasonable challenge. This is a fairly abstract representation of the number of foes the heroes have to face, and should take into account the objective of the scene - it could represent how many foes are still alive, how many are still fighting, or it might just represent how many the heroes need to defeat before they can break through the enemy lines and make their escape.

Each round, each player draws an action card for initiative, and makes a skirmish roll on their turn. On Clubs they suffer a complication: -2 to the roll, and on a failure the damage is 4d6 rather than 3d6. The player can choose which trait they use for the skirmish roll - usually a combat or arcane skill, but other traits are permitted as long as they fit the scene and can be justified through appropriate narrative. The GM may also wish to award a situational bonus of +1 or +2 for a particularly creative and inspiring description of the hero's actions; interesting narrative is essential for an abstract subsystem!

‣ Failure: The character suffers 3d6 damage (increased to 4d6 on Clubs).

‣ Success: The character or an ally under their control suffers 2d6 damage, and the player takes one token from the table.

‣ Raise: The player takes two tokens from the table.

Shaken characters should make their Spirit roll to recover before making their skirmish roll each turn. If they remain Shaken, they must still make a skirmish roll, but they suffer a further -2 penalty.

The GM may optionally set milestone benefits for earning a certain number of tokens. For example a character who earns 3 tokens might be allowed to escape early, leaving the rest of the party to fend for themselves. Or perhaps at 5 tokens the character breaks through the enemy lines and can attack them from the rear, receiving a +2 bonus to their next skirmish roll this scene.

Once all of the tokens have been taken from the table, the final objective has been reached, and the heroes are victorious. If the Quick Skirmish has been used for a mid-game scene, the GM might also wish to award a Benny to the player with the most tokens.