Monday, July 26, 2004

Savage Worlds: Knight Errant

I've been kicking around ideas for a replacement PC should my fella Rondoo buy the farm Wednesday night.  (A likely occurrence in my estimation.  He's severely wounded, low on power points, and the Ant Riders of Doom are closing in.)  So I decided to investigate playing a knight that travels the land doing good deeds and smiting evil.  The big issue with playing one of these types in Savage Worlds (as in many games) is the equipment.  For just a basic knight I would need a warhorse with saddle, chainmail armor, a pot helm, a shield, a longsword, a lance, and a few minor miscellaneous items (a whetstone, some decent clothes, etc).  All told this stuff comes to a total of slightly more than 2,000 bucks.  Considering a basic character starts with only 500 smackers, the economics of being a knight pretty much demands that I either start out missing key pieces of gear or else I absolutely need to take two Edges: Noble and Filthy Rich.  That gives me 2,500 in starting funds, making the equipment I need affordable.  The next problem is how heavy the stuff is, which plays out in two different angles.  First, most combat gear has a Strength min.  Most of the gear I want has a minimum of d6 Strength, but in the case of medium shields and lances the Strength min is d8.  So I lower my guy's Smarts to d4 and up his Strength to d8.  I didn't want his Smarts to be on the bottom rung, but the other stats are all higher priority.  The other problem is that the total weight of my combat gear comes to 59 pounds.  At Strength d8 that means he'll suffer a -1 penalty on all Agility and Strength related activity.   To carry the stuff without penalty would require either a d12 Str or the Brawny Edge.  Not wanting to lower any of my other stats, I guess I'll have to go with Brawny.  That's three Edges total for the poor slob, so I'll have to max out on hindrances.  Heroic is a good start. That'll be his major hindrance.  He also needs two minor hindrances.  Vengeful (minor) ought to work, but I'm still trying to figure out a good third hindrance.

Sir Hugh
Agility d6
Smarts d4
Spirit d6
Strength d8
Vigor d6

Skills:  Fighting d6, Gambling d4, Guts d4, Notice d4, Persuasion d6, Riding d6, Knowledge (heraldry) d4, Tracking d4, Survival d4, Shooting d4, Swimming d4, Throwing d4

Edges: Brawny, Noble, Filthy Rich

Hindrances: Heroic, Vengeful (minor), ?

I find it interesting that I needed to maximize my character in this fashion just to start out as a knight in somewhat shiny armor.  Are the price lists out of whack or was the game designed to make it hard to build medieval tanks?  This guy has to be in the upper, upper class to start out with a horse and armor.  Is that some sort of political commentary hardwired into the game?

No comments:

Post a Comment