Savage Worlds Character Guidelines

Current Rank: Novice (0) / Initiate

See this page for more on character advancement:

Paragon Creation

Build your paragon with the SWADE Core rules. We will use the expanded Hindrances, Edges, and Powers from Sci-Fi, Horror, and Fantasy, but refer to the appropriate pages for what is or is not allowed.

Refer to these pages for more campaign-specific rules:

Creation Guide

Setting Rules

Core Setting Rules (Core, pp. 136-142)

Conviction — A special award that persists over sessions until used; grants a d6 to all Trait and damage rolls until next turn.
Dynamic Backlash — A Critical Failure on an arcane skill check results in Fatigue.
Fanatics — Henchmen sacrifice for their boss.
Gritty Damage — Wounds cause an Injury.
Hard Choices — Spend a Benny? GM gets one.
More Skill Points — Start with 15 instead of 12.
Multiple Languages — Gain the Linguist Edge for free: start with a number of languages equal to half your Smarts.
- The Linguist Edge sets your Language skill die at d6. Treat the languages as Specializations.
- If you also take the Linguist Edge, you instead start with a number of languages equal to your Smarts.
Skill Specialization — Some skills require specialization (see sidebar).
Unarmored Hero — +2 to Soak rolls when wearing no armor.
Wound Cap — Wild Cards never suffer more than four wounds from a single hit.

Science Fiction Companion Setting Rules (Science Fiction Companion, pp. 78-100)

Difficult Healing — Each medic has only one chance to heal a particular set of Wounds.
Downtime — Skill-based vignettes to pass time and reap rewards.
Energy Management — Divert power from one electrical system to another.
Extreme Environments — Atmosphere, gravity, and pressure impose varying effects.
Hacking — All biologics and electronic devices are connected to the Mnemoscape. Drifting through the Hollow is resolved as a Dramatic Task.
Logistics — Use detailed logistics to put more emphasis on Salvage & Trade.
Salvage & Trade — Take advantage of Networking, Cargo Space, and remote trading for profit.
Transhumanism — Experience transference or experiment with bioengineering.
Vehicle Rules — Use Tactical Combat or Clash rules to resolve vehicular conflicts.

Horror Companion Setting Rules (Horror Companion, pp. 37-50)

Expanded Fear Effects — Failure on Fear Checks may result in Psychosis.
Playing to the Tropes — Gain Bennies by subjecting your character to risky behavior common in the Horror genre.

Specializations

In a setting such as this, it’s important to differentiate skill details. Listed below are all skills with their specializations. On your character sheet you denote skills and specializations like this:

[Skill] [skill die] ([specialization 1], …, [specialization N]) [modifier]

Example:

Persuasion d6 (Leadership, Seduction)

How Specializations Work

First purchase:

The first time a character buys a skill (at any die type), choose one Specialization for free. That Specialization automatically uses the skill’s full die.

Since Core skills begin at d4, you may only choose the free Specialization when first raising the Core skill to at least d6.
Recording:

List the Specializations you know in parentheses after the skill (e.g., Hacking d6 (Cyberwarfare)). You do not keep separate dice for each Specialization; they all share the same trait die.
Using an unlearned Specialization:

When a task clearly falls under a Specialization the hero hasn’t learned, roll the normal skill die at ‑2 (this replaces the Familiarization penalty).
Learning more Specializations at Character Creation:

After you buy a skill and obtain the first Specialization. You may invest another skill point for an additional Specialization.

You may repeat this for as many Specializations as you have skill points.
Advancement:
- Gain a new Specialization: Counts as one Skill Increase below the linked Attribute (i.e., you could take two new Specializations with a single Advance, or one Specialization plus a normal die‑type increase).
- Raise the skill die: Works as usual and immediately raises all Specializations of that skill.
Prerequisites:

If an Edge, Power, or other rule lists a skill requirement (e.g., Shooting d8), possessing any Specialization of that skill at the required die type is sufficient.

Example:

Miko buys Hacking d4 at character creation and picks Cyberwarfare as her free Specialization.
On her next Advance she spends one Skill Increase to raise Hacking to d6 (all Specializations rise) and the second Skill Increase to add the Cybersecurity Specialization.
Later, asked to navigate to an uncharted crypt in the Hollow, Miko rolls Hacking d6‑2 because she does not possess the Hollow Drift Specialization.

Complete List of Skills

All skills used in the campaign are listed here with their specializations. Arcane Background skills are highlighted in Purple. Core skills are highlighted in Green. You are considered trained in all Core skills with d4. All other skills are untrained with d4-2.

Academics (Smarts): Applied Theory (covers business, fashion, finance, computer science, mathematics), Humanities (covers archaeology, art, history, journalism, linguistics, literature, philosophy), Social Systems (covers anthropology, criminal justice, cultural studies, education, law, political science, psychology).
Athletics (Agility): Sports (choose one), Swimming, Throwing (precision). General training covers climbing, jumping, grappling, throwing (non-precision), tumbling, interrupting from a Hold, and other basic athletic feats.
Battle (Smarts): Aerial (dogfighting), Land, Naval (including space cruisers).
Boating (Agility): —.
Common Knowledge (Smarts): General training covers corporate powers, etiquette, landmarks, pop culture, and popular technology.
Driving (Agility): Hover, Wheeled, Tracked.
Electronics (Smarts): Networks (covers analog/digital computer systems, Mnemoscape interfaces, Slipstream buoy integrations), Sensors & Comms (covers image mapping, signal jamming, surveillance tech, triangulation, transmissions), Vehicle Systems (covers bot diagnostics, engine consoles, mech diagnostics, ship subsystems, turret calibration). General training covers electrical engineering and common electronic devices.
Faith (Spirit): —.
Fighting (Agility): Blades, Clubs, Martial Arts, Whips. General training affects Brawling and your Parry.
Focus (Spirit): Chronomancy, Gravitation, Mysticism, Transformation, Voidrunning.
Gambling (Smarts): —.
Hacking (Smarts): Cybersecurity, Cyberwarfare. General training grants you programming, Ghost Speak, basic functions in the public access Mnemoscape, and drift navigation.
Healing (Smarts): First Aid (covers patching Wounds, stabilizing a Bleeding Out ally, Mnemoscape tether extraction, triage), Medication (covers antitoxins, drug administration, immunosuppressants, overdose response), Surgery (covers biological and cybernetic operative care, implant repair, trauma).
Intimidation (Spirit): —.
Language (Smarts): Treat this skill like any other where languages are your Specialization. Because Multiple Languages Rule is in effect, this skill begins at d6. Your choice of languages begin with Terran Standard and your native cultural tongue. If your Smarts is higher than d4 (one per die step above d4). At character creation, avoid the Forbidden Languages. The rare human languages require background rationale and GM approval.
Notice (Smarts): Awareness, Insight, Investigation. General training covers active perception.
Occult (Smarts): —. (covers alien relics, Nox culture, Void cults and entities, and anything else horrifically alien)
Performance (Spirit): Instrumental (choose one), Physical (covers dance, modeling, physical expression, embodied storytelling), Visual (covers digital art, graffiti, painting, sculpting, static visual composition), Vocal (covers chants, dramatic reading, spoken word).
Persuasion (Spirit): Fast Talk, Leadership, Seduction. General training covers charm. This is the default means of convincing others.
Piloting (Agility): Fixed Wing, Helicopter, Mechanized Bipedal, Spacecraft. General training covers bots and jetpacks.
Psionics (Smarts): —.
Repair (Smarts): Demolitions (covers bomb assembly/disposal, breaching rigs), Gear (covers armor, bots, power suits, weapons, cyber gear excluding implants), Mechanical Systems (covers analog machinery, industrial tools, land vehicles, loaders, moving parts, structural elements, watercraft), Starships (covers core drives, hulls, inertial dampeners, power conduits, reactor systems, sensor arrays, Void plating)
Research (Smarts): Alien, Digital, Physical. (these represent the medium of research, not the subject)
Riding (Agility): Consider an Equine sport under Athletics.
Science (Smarts): Engineering (covers architecture, engineering, geology, materials science), Life (covers agriculture, biology, biotech, etymology, genetics, medicine, veterinary, xenobiology), Physics (covers astronomy, chemistry, geography, meteorology, physics), Theoretical (covers abstract models, dimensional collapse, glyph logic, Mnemoscape resonance, Lux/Nox energy).
Shooting (Agility): Archery (covers bows, crossbows), Big Guns (covers assault cannons, grenade launchers, guided missiles, machine guns, rocket launchers), Flamethrowers, Ordnance (covers all vehicle-mounted artillery including torpedoes), Personal Guns (covers pistols, submachine guns), Rifles (covers assault rifles, longarms, shotguns, sniper rifles).
Stealth (Agility): —.
Survival (Smarts): Alien, Extreme Cold, Extreme Heat, Outlands, The Verdance, Urban.
Taunt (Smarts): —.
Thievery (Agility): Forgery, Lockpicking, Trap Disarmament. General training covers sleight of hand.

Skill Changes