So the Savage Worlds sci-fi companion beta has dropped. It's about half of the total PDF, but I thought it was worth sharing. I haven't read it yet, but I plan on perusing today and I'll drop some thoughts.

Table of Contents


Random Art/races






New Hindrances
Some are pretty cool - Ex-Drone (survivor of being part of a Hive-Mind), FTL Sickness among some obvious Sci-fi trope classics like Low-G, Zero-G Sickness etc.

New Edges
Some real interesting ones here. Ammo Counter - halves the ammo used when using high-rof weapons. Gravitic Acclimation/Atmospheric Acclimation - both different Edges that allow you to manage different environmental conditions (specific - not all of them). Rocket Jock - Ignores multi-action penalty for Boating, Driving or Piloting checks! There are about a dozen or more others.


LOTS of GEAR based on different Technological Development levels. Weapons, Armor, equipment, modifications, tons of stuff.

The beta is supposed to be half of the final document, it's clocking it right now at 65-pages. It's pretty dense for 65-pages, but you can see the missing info based on the headers in the TOC. If anyone has questions based on the TOC, ask away.

I'll post my thoughts later.

This looks extremely interesting, pretty curious to see how much of this could mix and match with the other Companions...

Looks like they took some of the races from The Last Parsec and added them to the companion.  This will be interesting to see.  I am surprised they only have it half done.  Usually they have the .pdfs ready to go by the time the Kickstarter is done.

The sci fi companion is slated to be larger than the previous companions, and will require commensurately longer development time. I'm highly skeptical that 65 pages represents "half" of the final book.

Quote from: Corolinth on April 24, 2024, 11:13:27 AMThe sci fi companion is slated to be larger than the previous companions, and will require commensurately longer development time. I'm highly skeptical that 65 pages represents "half" of the final book.

I still think it looks good so far and I will buy it when its done and ready for sale.

They have Jell-O people from the planet Cosby.

Quote from: NotFromAroundHere on April 24, 2024, 10:37:01 AMThis looks extremely interesting, pretty curious to see how much of this could mix and match with the other Companions...

It is 100% compatible with all the other Companions (which should be no surprise). All of the Savage Worlds subsystems are meant to be dropped into play as needed.

Yeah I'm salivating at this. I can see a lot of potential legwork already done for converting their favorite crunchier RPG to Savage Worlds, or better, creating a SW version of their favorite IP.

First and foremost - WH40k where you're actually playing Space Marines, could *easily* be done using the Sci-Fi Companion and dropping in elements from Savage Rifts. One could *easily* create a more tactical and kinetic skirmish mission-based game or fullblown 40k campaign with a little bit of time.

The final book is going to clock in (according to Pinnacle) over *300-pages*. I don't think I read that wrong. That's *fucking huge* for a Savage Worlds book.

It looks like the beta is a tiny bit. Last Parsec is naturally designed to fold into the Companion (they have a small section for it). But they're going hard on other Sci-fi tropes I'm sure you'll all recognize...


They have a free Walkers preview.

Aliens vs. Starship Troopers...


The Companions are designed to go hog on all the tropes we want and let us go wild with them. Should be really interesting.

Quote from: Corolinth on April 24, 2024, 03:26:14 PMThey have Jell-O people from the planet Cosby.

If they offer you something to drink, just don't accept.

Quote from: tenbones on April 24, 2024, 05:33:37 PM

Quote from: NotFromAroundHere on April 24, 2024, 10:37:01 AMThis looks extremely interesting, pretty curious to see how much of this could mix and match with the other Companions...

It is 100% compatible with all the other Companions (which should be no surprise). All of the Savage Worlds subsystems are meant to be dropped into play as needed.

Yeah I'm salivating at this. I can see a lot of potential legwork already done for converting their favorite crunchier RPG to Savage Worlds, or better, creating a SW version of their favorite IP.

First and foremost - WH40k where you're actually playing Space Marines, could *easily* be done using the Sci-Fi Companion and dropping in elements from Savage Rifts. One could *easily* create a more tactical and kinetic skirmish mission-based game or fullblown 40k campaign with a little bit of time.

I will be interested to see what they have regarding creating walkers.  Didnt feel the rules in the original companion were clear or full enough to really do anything.

Looks great, but for somebody who bit on SWD and bought all the Last Parsec and the SWD companion I'm not 'upgrading'. This is the bane of any otherwise good line from a great company, SWD had lots of great products and there not enough juice for the squeeze of SWADE.

I would like to see a deeper take on the post apoc side of their Sci fi (I wonder if they keep it more muted since they have Savage Rifts (which to me is not post apoc...it gonzo sci fantasy)) and just flat out rip off a setting like fallout.  They had Darwin's world which as sort of a split between Fallout and Rifts.   I would love to see a FO take on SW.  Though that is a touch lazy as FO is extremely easy to convert to SW on the fly and now that ip if it gets loose from modiphius is going to cost.

Quote from: nedleeds on April 24, 2024, 10:09:30 PMLooks great, but for somebody who bit on SWD and bought all the Last Parsec and the SWD companion I'm not 'upgrading'. This is the bane of any otherwise good line from a great company, SWD had lots of great products and there not enough juice for the squeeze of SWADE.

Well given that SWADE Edition was their real chance to update the system (and we can definitely argue the pros/cons of SWADE vs. Deluxe edition) I personally find a lot of stuff from Deluxe was sacrificed unnecessarily to bring *everything* under the banner of SWADE.

BUT...

I'll say SWADE is *fantastically* modular and it allows for backwards shoe-horning of those older versions of sub-systems with relatively little effort under the guise of "Setting Rules". For example, I *very* much prefer the Trappings rules of Deluxe over SWADE, but there is nothing preventing me from using them in SWADE games either.

I feel you on the Last Parsec, but I also feel that the Companions only *enhance* the Deluxe settings material, they don't necessarily replace them. After all they're supposed to be Genre content fit for all settings within the Genre. And yes they do give some nods to Last Parsec, it's definitely not a "Last Parsec" with a different name. In fact, if you're playing Last Parsec, you could look at this Companion as a massive content enhancer for your own stuff, or material to drop right in and deepen and widen your established game.

Depends how much tinkering you like to do. SW is a system made for tinkerers and worldbuilders that want to hit the ground running. Once you understand the basic task resolution and balancing modifiers you can literally do almost anything you want - especially with the Companions now in play.

The REAL thing I'm waiting to see, and I'm kind of seeing it now, is people like YOU and ME and *everyone here* taking the SW rules and making our own settings and putting them out there for publication.

Quote from: oggsmash on April 25, 2024, 09:59:26 AMI would like to see a deeper take on the post apoc side of their Sci fi (I wonder if they keep it more muted since they have Savage Rifts (which to me is not post apoc...it gonzo sci fantasy)) and just flat out rip off a setting like fallout.  They had Darwin's world which as sort of a split between Fallout and Rifts.   I would love to see a FO take on SW.  Though that is a touch lazy as FO is extremely easy to convert to SW on the fly and now that ip if it gets loose from modiphius is going to cost.

There are like three Post-Apocalyptic settings in the Deluxe era that could use a SWADE update. Broken Earth, Deadlands Hell on Earth, and Darwins World SWADE Ediiton.


There are several fan-made Savage Worlds Fallout documents out there from Deluxe editions.

Deluxe Edition material
https://i.4pcdn.org/tg/1447209076852.pdf
https://savagefallout.blogspot.com/?m=0

SWADE Fallout
https://steeldraco.wordpress.com/2018/10/23/savage-fallout-final-version/
http://gunrocksgamingrules.pbworks.com/w/page/112537060/Savage%20Fallout
From Guardsilent
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1aM0WnYvqUh64dK8OMqUkzfdDlNaCxQra

With rules from Savage Rifts as a guideline for gear and weapons/armor - you could *easily* recreate any flavor of Fallout you want. (I plan on making my own Fallout campaign - I'll likely pick up the Modiphius version just for conversion material).

What I have been working on and waiting on the Sci-Fi Companion for to see if they have more vehicle rules, is a Autoduel/Mad Max setting which I'm going to build from the ground up. All glory to the almighty exhaust-belching fury of the V-8, shiny and chrome brothers!

Yeah I have the Modiphius version for just that reason.  I agree Rifts SWADE makes conversion a literal on the fly endeavor.  I do not care for Modiphius's game system at all, but their production quality of books is always impressive.