Savage Reflections: Chargen

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Source Material

We will be using the Savage Worlds Adventure Edition (SWADE) Core Book for this game. Other sources will be considered case by case, but fair warning, I will be leaning hard to the assumption of Frail Mortals v the Supernatural.

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Rank

Characters start at Novice. Zero advances.

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Awakened Template

You are one of the Awakened. You can see Nightmares. You can stand against them. You can fight.

Adaptable: Gain one free Novice edge that you meet the requirements for.

Jaded: Awakened are confronted with raw horrors everyday. Use a if you have to roll on the fear table.

Exhaustion Talent: You can't sleep. That's why you can see them. Choose one skill that is tied to your condition. This is outside your normal skill allotment. This skill is always for you, regardless of your rating in its associated attribute.

• When you roll this skill and get a raise, you accrue no Fatigue.
• A regular success leaves you Fatigued through the following turn, but is treated as a success with a raise for the purpose of resolving the roll.
• A failed roll leaves you Exhausted through the following turn, but is treated as a normal success for the purpose of resolving the roll.
• A critical failure leaves you Incapacitated through the following turn and you cannot spend a benny.

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Note: If your Exhaustion Talent skill is a core skill, one of your non-core skills starts at

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Madness Talent: Lack of sleep can drive anyone mad. You walk that line like a drunken monkey skipping rope. Choose one Power of Seasoned or Novice level. You may activate this power by releasing your madness into the world, but be careful; madness draws the Nightmares!

You may roll whatever die size you wish to invoke your Madness Talent. There is no Power Point cost to use your Madness Talent power.

Player earns 1 Hope on a failed roll.* No Modifiers may be added to the Madness Talent power.

Neither Hope nor Pain are earned on a failed roll. Up to +1 worth of Modifiers may be added to the Madness Talent power.

GM earns 1 Pain on a failed roll.* Up to +2 worth of Modifiers may be added to the Madness Talent power.

GM earns 2 Pain on a failed roll.* Up to +3 worth of Modifiers may be added to the Madness Talent power.

GM earns 3 Pain on a failed roll.* Up to +4 worth of Modifiers may be added to the Madness Talent power.

(See Conviction, below)

* There must be real stakes involved in the roll for either side to earn conviction.

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Setting Rules

Conviction: Significant victory and significant loss (as well as certain instances of Madness) can earn the players Hope. Hope is tracked in a collective pool on the Character Table and spendable by any player at any time. One Hope lets you add to a final Trait or Damage total.

GM conviction is called Pain and may be earned on certain rolls when players fail to activate their Madness Talent. Pain is also tracked on the Character Table and lets the GM add to an NPC's final Trait or Damage total.

Fanatics: Greater Nightmares sometimes have meat-shields.

Unarmored Hero: +2 to soak rolls.

Wound Cap: Max 4.

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Action Cards

This game will not be using initiative or action cards. Please do not take edges whose benefits tie back to action card draws.

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Edges

The edges Arcane Background and Arcane Resistance are unavailable, as are all Power edges.

For those looking at Leadership edges, the majority of Extras in this game are going to be clueless mortals who probably can't even see Nightmares, though a small portion of them will be the Broken, dead Mortals slowly turning into Nightmares.

Two Fisted and Two Gun Kid remain separate edges for this game.

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Hindrances

Each character starts with 4 hindrance points to spend as normal, but we won't be defaulting to hindrances from the book. Instead, each Awakened starts play with the following four hindrances. Answer the accompanying questions to flesh out each hindrance and make it unique to your character.

• Insomnia: What's been keeping you awake? This should involve a personal stressor unrelated to Nightmares.
• Trauma: What was your first solid brush with the Nightmares? The one that still haunts you.
• Hunted: Which Nightmare has taken a specific interest in you now that you've Awakened? What is its name?
• Vulnerable: Name at least one NPC that the Nightmares might use as leverage against you. This NPC and your relationship with them should feature prominently in your background.

These are all roleplaying hindrances with no mechanical weight, so you decide how they affect your character's actions and attitude. Players who wish to also give their characters hindrances from the book may do so with GM approval, but these do not earn you more points to spend on positive traits.

Hindrances with penalties tied to action card draws are automatically off the table.

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Skills

Languages: To help keep focus on the horror side of things, there will only be two languages represented: Mortal and Arcanum. PCs speak both. A Smarts or Spirits roll (whichever is lower) will be required to safely read Arcanum, however.

Power Skills: Arcane Backgrounds are not available, so the Power skills Faith, Focus, Psionics, Spellcasting and Weird Science are likewise unavailable.

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Wealth/Gear

We won't roll Wealth checks for starting gear, but your starting gear is subject to GM approval. (If it seems reasonable, it will be approved).

This is starting Wealth for characters with the Poverty hindrance.

This is starting Wealth for base characters.

This is starting Wealth for characters with the Rich edge.

This is starting Wealth for characters with the Very Rich edge

Tech level for gear is Modern. Civilian issue items only. No armor above simple kevlar vest or sturdy clothes.

Tech in the City Beneath and the Ways: Satellite dependent tech and sufficiently complex machines work weird in the City Beneath, and don't work at all in the Ways.

Ammo: Ammo doesn't run out in the City Beneath or the Ways. Track normally in the City Slumbering.

Armor: Most Nightmares are able to cut through armor like butter (AP). Armor is most useful against Mortals and the Broken.

Nightmare Immunity: All attacks initiated by one of the Awakened are considered Arcane for the purpose of affecting/damaging Nightmares (who are otherwise immune to mundane damage).

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