Hello all,
this is a slightly modified repost of something I wrote on G+ yesterday.
Because several people have repeatedly shown an interest in my Savage Space supplements current status I thought it is time I make a post about it. For anyone with no idea what I am talking about, it is a Sci Fi fan PDF for Savage Worlds I released a year ago. You can find it in the Download section of this Blog.
Savage Space was very well received when I published it and the positive comments indicated that I had something there. What not too many people know is that after the first release and a bit of work on an updated version I actually began polishing it up and expanding it to get a Savage Worlds License and publish it. However as you all know this has not happened so far. As many have learned before me publishing something is a different beast than writing something for your friends.
For me Savage Space heart has always been the Ships as Characters idea. The Toolbox approach was neat but needed a Background so I could sell it. I had to straighten the rules and address problems specifically in the Spaceship as Characters chapter.
The gaming group for Space never happened so I had no way of actually revisiting the rules and play test them more. And even if I had I really did not have any Idea how to actually solve the issues (e.g. different Ship sizes Deadliness, Ground vs Space) for lack of tools to analyze the problems critically. Game Design is harder than it looks indeed. And then of course I am not as dedicated a person as I need to be to get this done. I made many amateurish mistakes, including foolishly underestimating the amount of work required for polish. I was so convinced I could do it I even commissioned art already. Yea, I am a fool.
As most of you will know High Space was released a while ago. It has some similar concepts, especially Ships as Characters of course. After reading High Space I must admit I think he solved some of the problems I fought with by simply not sticking as close as I had to the “Ship as Character” concept. It is much more polished and better written too. The toolbox void will be closed soon with the official Sci Fi Companion.
Because of that I do not see much of a future for Savage Space, the reasons for originally writing it are mostly gone.
I would be very interested to hear what others think of course. Is there any reason you can think of why I should begin work on it again and release another version? What is it you liked about Savage Space, especially in comparison to High Space? Is my focus wrong or is there something in there you liked that I am not seeing? I am honestly curious. I got a lot of people saying they liked it but not much detailed criticism. Are there any questions you have or points I should elaborate more? Tips you want to give? I won’t promise anything but any advice and comment is really appreciated so I can learn something from this.
AlienMasters
September 30, 2012
Hey Chaosmeister.
Just wanted to say that I have purchased High Space and in a side by side comparison of the two products your Savage Space blows High Space out of the airlock. High Space is truly beautiful to look at but Savage Space is a lot more complete, a lot more useful, and in terms of rule sense feels a lot more like an official product. I can’t go into detail on a side by side comparison without just listing a bunch of complaints about High Space, and I don’t want to do that – they are fellow Savages after all and therefore already better than the common galactic citizen in my book! They are also still working on their product, and it will no doubt get better with time.
Another point of comparison is that Savage High Space is Hard-ish Sci Fi, and therefore less broadly appealing than Savage Space which is the Star Wars and Firefly tech level. I like gritty games but don’t want to have my players be vaporised by a hull breach in their first ship combat.
Since you asked for detailed criticism I will give you a nugget that you are already aware of based on your post. As you saw in High Space the ships as characters concept feels better if you rename the character attributes to something different for ships. Same rules, but different flavor. Quick and easy change!
I have run many Savage Worlds one shots and campaigns in all genres and recently decided to blast off for the stars for my next full campaign. I will be using your Savage Space as my handbook for that campaign, and so even if you abandon further work on this now the hard work you have already poured into this product is very appreciated and will be enjoyed by my gaming group for many many hours. Hats off to you, good sir.
-AlienMasters
Chaosmeister
October 15, 2012
Hello Alien Masters, I was sure I already replied to you back when you originally posted but apparently not. Thank you for your kind words and I wish your group the best of luck! I am still working a bit on it here and there but nothing I can really show yet. When Something changes I will make a new post
shortymonster
October 20, 2012
I will get back to you on a review, but the basic idea just sounds amazing. And based on what Alienmasters has to say, i think I’m probably going to come down in favour of the Savage Worlds system.
Lee
April 17, 2013
Latecomer here, sorry about that. I’ve only just found Savage Space, and will be reading it closely. I not-so-recently ran a Star Frontiers game using SW, and may go back to that. This could be a help.
Chaosmeister
April 17, 2013
Hello there, no reason to be sorry, glad you found it! I hope you will find Savage Space useful. If you have any questions just shoot me an email. Have fun gaming!