****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
Nothing I can add to what's already been said about this fantastic roleplaying game. It truly is fast, fun, and furious (and I'd add a fourth "F" to the list too with "flexible").After years of D&D 3.5 and Pathfinder, I gave Savage Worlds a shot in 2011, and pretty much haven't looked back since. This is a GREAT game to introduce to those new to RPGs, as the flexible character generation lets them play any character they want without feeling like they have to sacrifice something because "well, that class you chose doesn't let you have that."It's so fast and easy to use, that it inspired two of my group members to try their hand at GM-ing, and both were wildly successful with it, because it makes it so easy for the GM to be working on the story and interacting with the characters, and not worrying about the rules.That said, even with Savage Worlds being easy to grasp and streamlined, there's still quite a bit of solid character-building options. You can easily create unique, fun-to-play characters, and its a cinch to move between different genres and settings as your mood takes you.It's hard to describe, but there is a unique, cohesive elegance to the Savage Worlds rules that really brings all of its varying elements together. Some people have said that this rulebook "doesn't read well," and that you need to really give it a chance at the table before passing judgement, but I never had that problem. For me Savage Worlds delivered in SPADES the fun it promised within the pages of the rules, far beyond what I could have hoped.If you're a long-time RPG player and haven't tried Savage Worlds, you are seriously shortchanging yourself. Pick it up and give it a shot.*Two final notes: I want to clear up a misconception that some reviewers seem to be passing around for this game. Some have insinuated that this game is really only good, for single, "one-off" sessions, or for running mini-campaigns of 6 or 7 sessions at the most. Nothing could be farther from the truth. I'm now in the middle of a campaign that is well past the year mark. It's still going strong, and none of us as players are anywhere close to "maxing out" the available options for our characters. Prior to that, I ran a campaign that lasted 15 months, and came to its natural conclusion, and the characters still had plenty of room to grow. Don't let other reviews fool you --- Savage Worlds is EXCELLENT for long-term campaign play.As for the size of the book: I was fortunate to pick up a hardcover copy of the rules while it was still widely available in print. If you can find the hardcover, I recommend it, even though it retails for $30 instead of $10 like the "perfect paperback" sized book, because I like the size and weight, and enjoy the larger versions of the artwork. But you're certainly not losing anything in terms of playability if you go with the softcover. The hardcover hasn't had a re-printing for a while though, so available copies are scarce at the moment.
