GENERAL HOUSE RULES
FROM DOCTORBOSON
This is a full list of the (relatively) few house rules that I
play with in Savage Worlds Adventure Edition, generally
regardless of se�ing.
This ranges from character creation through the core
rules, and includes a few custom Se�ing Rules that pop
up in a variety of games.
CHARACTER CREATION
All rules updated from the Character Creation chapter
of Savage Worlds.
SKILLS
A few skill changes and some new skills are listed here.
• Comprehensive Modifiers: It may be useful to
consider modifiers provided in Savage Worlds Deluxe
as a guideline for modifiers in the current edition.
• Riding: In more realistic se�ings, riding a mount
without a saddle inflicts a –2 penalty to Riding. In
more high-powered or modern games where Riding
is exceedingly rare, ignore the Riding skill and simply
use Athletics instead, inflicting Familiarization
penalties if characters who don’t know how to ride
a�empt to do so.
ESPIONAGE (SMARTS)
This is used to carry out spycraft, including surveillance
and counter-surveillance, cryptography, running a spy
network, “doublespeak” (or speaking about a topic in
such a way that untrained individuals will not recognize)
and tradecraft, including arranging clandestine meetings
and “dead drop” transfers. This is also used to spot
another agent’s handiwork.
LAW (SMARTS)
This skill reflects a deep understanding of the messy
tangle of the legal system, court proceedings, and cases
which establish important precedence. It’s more
important in modern and futuristic se�ings.
Games set long ago didn’t have legal systems nearly as
complicated, and Common Knowledge with appropriate
penalties tends to fulfill this role instead. In some games,
this can be a�ributed to Academics instead.
This game references the Savage Worlds game system, available from Pinnacle Entertainment Group at www.peginc.com.
Savage Worlds and all associated logos and trademarks are copyrights of Pinnacle Entertainment Group. Used with permission.
►Limiting: In a modern court Social Conflict, use the
lowest of the lawyer’s Persuasion and Law skills.
TAUNT (SMARTS)
The Taunt skill is extremely narrow in the scope of the
Savage Worlds rules. To broaden the scope of the skill, this
now fulfills the role of “social manipulation.” In contrast
to Persuasion (which is ge�ing people to do what you
like by wanting to help you), Taunt is the skill of egging a
target into doing something without knowing that you
even want a reaction out of them. This broadening is
particularly useful in interrogations (Social Conflicts vs
Smarts) in order to trick a target into revealing
There are three major “trappings” of Taunt, and the
Core rules covers one of them: derision, which includes
ridicule, cruel jokes, or otherwise working to undermine
a target’s self-esteem. The second is annoyance, or
throwing out puns, quips, and trying to irritate a target
into taking some kind of action.
The last use of Taunt is reverse-psychology—allowing
a target information that they feel compelled to act on
without realizing that you wanted to give them that
information and for them take action. (E.g. saying within
earshot “if that man leaves, he’ll give away all of our
plans to his boss,” prompting him to unwittingly lead
you to their secret lair.)
►Lying: Taunt is not the lying skill; lying requires the
target to believe what you are saying is truth, which falls
under the purview of Persuasion.
HINDRANCES
There are a variety of Hindrances from several Savage
Se�ings that can be included in almost any game, with
the GM’s approval. To avoid any copyright issues, I will
only be listing the name of these Hindrances and the
se�ing or book from which they hail.
HINDRANCE CHANGES
A couple of Hindrances have minor adjustments:
• Clueless: This subtracts –2 from Common Knowledge
and Notice rolls, rather than –1.
• Mean: A failed Persuasion roll also decreases the
target’s Reaction Level by one.
 HOUSE RULES
• Ugly: This also inflicts a –1 to Performance rolls if the
character is visible, or –2 if Major.
NEW UNIVERSAL HINDRANCES
These are available in almost any setting, with GM
approval of course.
• Allergy—Super Powers Companion.
LAZY (MAJOR)
The hero has a hard time focusing on any task he feels is
unimportant, which unfortunately includes most of
them. His Wild Die is a d4 rather than a d6 for all Trait
rolls. If the character spends a Benny to reroll a Trait, his
Wild Die returns to a d6 for the reroll.
In military campaigns, this character also suffers from
the Goldbrick Hindrance (this is the Major version).
MOTION SICKNESS (MINOR OR MAJOR)
The character must make a Vigor roll every time he
boards a ship or airplane. On a success, the character
manages to control his sickness. With a failure, he suffers
a level of Fatigue until he spends an hour on solid
ground. This cannot lead to Incapacitation.
If the character’s vehicle is caught in a storm or other
similarly jostling environments, he must make a Vigor
roll at the start of each round until the conditions calm or
his sickness kicks in. If already suffering from the
sickness when the storm begins, failing his roll inflicts a
further –2 to his rolls.
This is considered a Major Hindrance if the campaign
is built around such vehicles, or if the character is also
sensitive to more common vehicles such as cars in a
modern game.
NEW MILITARY HINDRANCES
• Goldbrick—Weird War I.
• Replacement—Weird War I.
NEW PULP OR NOIR HINDRANCES
• Lyin’ Eyes—Deadlands: Lost Colony.
• Rebellious—Deadlands: Lost Colony.
• Schmuck—Deadlands: Noir.
• Smart Mouth—Deadlands: Noir.
22
EDGES
These Edges are new, compiled from other sources, or
altered from their source material.
BACKGROUND EDGES
• Brute: This does not tie the Athletics skill to Strength;
instead, Brutes may reroll Athletics when climbing,
jumping, pushing, or swimming (but not when
grappling or interrupting actions). Brute increases the
character’s throwing range as usual.
• College Boy—Weird War I.
• Luck: In addition to its usual effects, the hero may
spend a benny to reroll any non-Trait roll, including
the Running die, deviation, Table results, “luck” dice,
random loot, etc.
• Great Luck: In addition to its usual effects, if you roll
a Critical Failure, you may spend a Benny once for
another roll. A nasty effect still occurs—the weapon
malfunctions, a picked lock breaks, etc.—but if the
reroll is successful the character still “succeeds” at the
original task. (Essentially, Great Luck grants the
effects of the Dumb Luck Se�ing Rule.)
EIDETIC MEMORY
Requirements: Novice, Smarts d6+, Common
Knowledge d6+, Research d6+
This character has near-perfect memory recall and adds
+2 to all Common Knowledge rolls.
COMBAT EDGES
• Hard to Kill: Ignore all penalties when making Vigor
rolls to avoid Bleeding Out. Should the character
perish by any means, roll a die. On an even roll, he
remains Incapacitated but somehow escapes death.
• Harder to Kill: If the character is Incapacitated by any
means, roll a die. On an even result, he is not
Incapacitated. If the Incapacitation would have been
caused by damage, the character must still make his
Vigor roll and roll on the Injury Table as usual. If this
leaves him Bleeding Out, he makes his Vigor roll to
avoid death at the start of his turn as usual.
 HOUSE RULES
• No Mercy: This adds +4 when spending a Benny to
reroll damage, rather than +2.
• Quick Draw—Deadlands: Lost Colony.
• Take ’Em Down—Savage Rifts.
• Improved Take ’Em Down—Savage Rifts.
• Two-Fisted: This negates the Multi-Action Penalty for
throwing a weapon, as well as a�acking with a
Fighting roll. Two-Gun Kid now exclusively applies
to Shooting rolls.
WHY CHANGE THAT EDGE?
Brute: Strength-based Athletics has exactly two
benefits: it’s use in defending against Athletics Tests
is incredibly niche and its point-saving benefits are
only felt during character creation and Advances.
This new effect provides a powerful in-game benefit
that actually feels as though the character’s strength
and fitness makes him more athletic.
Hard to Kill: Hard to Kill is nice to have, but it’s a
very small boon, only being helpful if the character
is on death’s door. Even worse, the Edge’s actual
benefit decreases if the character takes Nerves of
Steel! Merging the old Hard to Kill and Harder to
kill into a single Edge carries a much stronger
impact when it counts.
Harder to Kill: Using the same requirements as the
core Harder to Kill, this makes it not just hard to
finish the character off, but to keep him down at all.
This allows for badass moments such as a warrior
pulling himself to his feet with his arm blown off
and continuing to fight his enemies.
No Mercy: The +2 bonus just isn’t that much in
regards to damage, especially at the cost of a Benny.
Two-Fisted: This allows for archetypes such as the
dual-wielding dagger warrior to throw his weapons
as he fights.
Ace: Restricting the ability for Wild Cards to Soak
for their vehicles made this Edge too strong. Making
that benefit “global” mellows out this Edge’s
desirability, while its new benefit preserves the
“keeping the car alive be�er” paradigm.
33
CHARGE
Requirements: Seasoned, Fighting d8+
Inspired by Savage Rifts. The warrior may ignore the
penalty for Running when making a Fighting a�ack at
the end of her movement.
Additionally, if she moves at least one inch beyond her
Pace before making any Fighting a�acks, the hero adds
+2 to her damage rolls. Any target Shaken by such an
attack is knocked Prone. This benefit does not apply if
“circling” the victim of her a�ack (GM’s discretion).
DARK FIGHTER
Requirements: Novice, Spirit d6+, Notice d8+
This character has learned to relax his reliance on sight
and instead improve his sense of hearing. As long as his
objective isn’t purely visual, he may halve all sight-based
penalties within 10”. This is not cumulative with Low
Light Vision or Infravision, but it does function in pitch
darkness or with Blind characters.
This trick is accomplished by sound, so environments
which interfere with sound negate the Edge’s benefits.
This cannot be taken by characters with Hard of Hearing.
IMPROVED DARK FIGHTER
Requirements: Veteran, Dark Fighter
This character’s senses are so a�uned that his eyes
are almost vestigial. This functions as the Dark Fighter
Edge, but now ignores all penalties within range for
bad lighting or vision.
DIRTY FIGHTER
Requirements: Seasoned
Inspired by Savage Rifts. If a character makes a
successful Test with Athletics, Fighting, Shooting, or an
arcane skill, the victim is Shaken in addition to the usual
effects. If he scores a raise, the victim is Distracted,
Vulnerable, and Shaken.
TRICKY FIGHTER
Requirements: Veteran, Fighting d8+
The hero suffers no Multi-Action penalty when making
a Test against a foe when his next action is a Fighting
a�ack against that target.
 HOUSE RULES
LEADERSHIP EDGES SOCIAL EDGES
• Team Leader: From the Super Powers Companion. This • I Know a Guy: From Savage Rifts. This works as
benefit only applies to non-combat Support rolls wri�en, but requires a Networking roll at –4 instead
(GM’s discretion). of a Smarts roll.
• Team Player—Super Powers Companion.
LEADER OF MEN
Requirements: Veteran, command
Command comes easy to this commander. Those under
his command work like a well-oiled machine when he’s MILITARY EDGES
in charge.
These Edges may be useful in a “modern” or science
Allies under the leader’s command roll a d10 as the
fiction military or war campaign, whether on the
Wild Die instead of a d6 when making group rolls.
battlefields of late-20th century Europe or fending off
genocidal aliens.
PROFESSIONAL EDGES
• Ace: Any character controlling a vehicle can now BACKGROUND EDGES
spend a Benny to Soak damage dealt to the vehicle
• Academy Graduate—Weird War I.
using their maneuvering skill. Aces now may choose
to reroll results on the Critical Hit Table when they • Grizzled—Weird War I.
take damage.
COMBAT EDGES
HACKER • Blood and Guts—Weird War I.
Requirements: Novice, Smarts d6+, Hacking d8+,
Research d6+ • Bullseye—Weird War II.
Some characters can hack; for this rogue, it’s almost as
• Improved Bullseye—Weird War II.
simple as breathing, and they can do it without a trace.
Characters with this Edge get a free reroll when Hacking, • Grazing Fire: From Weird War I. Shooters may ignore
as well as for Research rolls when going through digital up to two points of penalties from their targets (cover,
systems for information. Prone, etc.) when using Suppressive Fire. If using the
new Suppressive Fire rules (see page 8), targets
subtract an additional –2 from their Spirit rolls, and
INFILTRATOR are hit with a 1 or 2 on their Spirit die (regardless of
Requirements: Novice, Smarts d6+, Notice d8+,
the Wild Die).
Persuasion d6+
Infiltrators specialize in going undercover, or otherwise • Hose ‘Em Down—Weird War I.
assuming a new identity. They are normally trained by
• Improved Hose ‘Em Down—Weird War I.
government agencies, or simply have a natural
predisposition for lying.
Infiltrators add +2 to all Persuasion or Performance rolls
made to lie or otherwise decieve those around them,
including maintaining a cover or disguise.

44
 HOUSE RULES
SHARPSHOOTING
Requirements: Novice, Marksman, Agility d8+
Inspired by Savage Rifts. Sharpshooters may halve the
Multi-Action Penalty for all of their Shooting or Athletics
(throwing) a�acks that round: two a�acks at –1, or three
a�acks at –2. Further, they may receive the benefit of the
Marksman Edge for all Shooting or Athletics (throwing)
a�acks with a Rate of Fire of 1 if they do not move.
SNIPER
Requirements: Veteran, Marksman, Shooting d10+
Soldiers with this Edge are skilled enough with a rifle
to put a round in a target several miles away!
This sniper benefits from the Marksman Edge even
when Aiming! Additionally, she gets a free reroll when
firing at Extreme Range.
TRICK SHOOTING
Requirements: Veteran, Sharpshooting, Steady Hands
Inspired by Savage Rifts. Trick Shooters can:
• Make attack rolls with traditionally two-handed
ranged weapons (like rifles) one-handed at no
penalty, but the minimum Strength required is
increased by one die type.
• Benefit from the Marksman Edge when moving up
to her Pace in a round, but not while Running.
• Ignore the penalty for running and firing a weapon
with a Rate of Fire of 1.
55
LEADERSHIP EDGES
• A Few Good Men—Weird War I.
• A Few More Good Men—Weird War I.
• Cry Havoc—Weird War I.
• Death Before Dishonor—Weird War I.
• Rank (NCO or Officer): From Weird War I. As wri�en,
but rather than receive +2 Toughness, NCOs get a free
reroll on Soak rolls to reflect their hard-bi�en nature.
ART OF WAR
Requirements: Novice, Smart d8+, Ba�le d8+
Inspired by Weird War I. This character gains a free
reroll with the Ba�le skill during Mass Ba�les.
PROFESSIONAL EDGES
• Commando: From Weird War II. These characters may
reroll all Survival rolls, and add +1 to Stealth rolls.
• Conditioned—Savage Rifts.
• Demolitionist—Savage Rifts.
• Expert Demolitionist—Savage Rifts.
• Jump Qualified: From Weird War II. This functions as
written, but also halves penalties from free-fall or
zero-G environments.
• Medic!—Weird War I.
TECH HEAD
Requirements: Novice, Smarts d6+, Electronics d8+,
Repair d6+
Inspired by Weird War II. Modern warfare relies on
technology. The side that can get the most out of its
equipment may have a decisive advantage in ba�le. You
intend to see to it that the winning side is your side.
This character has an intuitive understanding of most
mechanical and electronic systems, and gets a free reroll
on Electronics rolls.
 HOUSE RULES
WATER TRAINING
Requirements: Novice, Vigor d8+, Athletics d6+
GEAR
This soldier has been to one of the various military There are a few gear changes that consist of minor tweaks
schools that teach combat swimming. This rigorous for balance while striving closer to realism or historical
training has improved the grunt’s swimming ability far accuracy.
beyond those of a typical person.
He can hold his breath for twice as long, and all
Athletics rolls for swimming are at +2. ENCUMBRANCE
For values above d12+2, use the Load Limits from the
Superhuman Strength table in the Super Powers
SOCIAL EDGES Companion. Otherwise, use the following:
• Band of Brothers—Weird War I. strength encumbered max weight
• Scrounger: From Weird War I. This requires a d12 100+ lbs 400 lbs
successful Networking roll. d12+1 125+ lbs 500 lbs
d12+2 250+ lbs 1,000 lbs
PULP EDGES
If the campaign focuses on big heroes, loose morals, ARMOR
underbellies of the big city, or even the Wild West, these
• Thick Leather/Tough Hides: This armor includes
Edges give your heroes a hand.
gambeson; use the same stats.

PROFESSIONAL EDGES • Plate Armor: In addition to its usual benefits, this also
makes the wearer Hardy in locations where the armor
• Sleuth—Deadlands: Noir. is worn.
• Kevlar: Items that reduce damage from firearms by 4

SOCIAL EDGES (notably kevlar vests) instead reduce the number of

• Moxie: From Flash Gordon. Requirements: Novice,
Humiliate. You can use Taunt to resist Intimidation
and Taunt Tests.
REPUTATION
Requirements: Veteran
Whether a hero or villain, this character has earned a
serious reputation. She gets a free reroll on Intimidation
if the target has heard of her exploits (a Common
Knowledge roll modified by how likely the individual is
to know the hero).
Wounds received from firearm attacks by one. This
does not affect the Shaken condition.
WEAPONS
• Mace: Use the stats for the warhammer to be�er reflect
its role as a weapon designed for use against armored
opponents.
• Minigun (7.62mm): The minigun should have RoF 6.
• SAW (5.56mm): The SAW should have RoF 3.

66
 HOUSE RULES
VEHICLES
• Linked Weapons: Some vehicles, especially old
fighter planes, had lots of weapons. Instead of using
the rules on page 84 for more than 4 linked weapons,
either dual- or quad-link the weapon set, then increase
the weapon’s Rate of Fire by 1 for every four
additional guns, to a max of RoF 7.
A P-51 Mustang’s 6 guns are considered “dual-linked”
but increase their Rate of Fire by +1. A Spitfire’s 8 guns is
considered “quad-linked” and bump the RoF up by +1.
A B-25H Mitchell, with 10 guns, is considered “dual-
linked” but increase their Rate of Fire by +2!
GAME RULES
Changes to rules in Chapter 3.
• Extreme Range: This is normally only available to
firearms and similar modern or futuristic weapons,
though more antique weapons can situationally gain
them (such as firing a bow from a high vantage point).
• Healing: Subtract 2 from Healing rolls without a basic
First Aid kit or similar supplies. A�empting to heal the
Wounds of an Incapacitated patient also suffers a –2.
RATE OF FIRE
Use this Bullets per Rate of Fire Table instead of the one
in the core rules:
rate of fire bullets fired
1 1
2 5
3 10
4 20
5 40
6 80
7 100
77
SITUATIONAL RULES
• Free A�acks: Characters can use almost any combat
maneuver the GM approves of (including Pushing
and Called Shots), but not Wild A�acks.
COVER AND OBSTACLES
Weapons can hit “through” Cover with an Armor value
no higher than 2 + (2 × the weapon’s AP value). If
attacking a target behind Cover with a higher Armor
value, the target cannot suffer Wounds from a�acks that
hit “through” the Cover (though they can still be
Shaken)—they must be able to hit past the Cover (TN 4
after Cover modifier) to Wound.
Certain weapons, particularly shotguns, may compare
their damage (ignoring Acing) to see if they destroy most
Cover (at the GM’s discretion). See Breaking Things.
Heavy Weapons ignore this rule entirely— targets
suffer damage as usual, adding the normal Armor bonus
from Cover.
GRAPPLING
A�empting to grapple a target with more than 4 steps of
difference in Strength automatically fails. For example, a
Strength d8 character could try to grapple a Strength
d12+2 target, but a Strength d6 character would fail his
a�empt.
If a grappler is Shaken, he must make an immediate
Spirit roll at –2 or let go of his grappled victim.
ILLUMINATION & FIRING BLIND
Note that attacking a character in Pitch Darkness—or
otherwise when you don’t really have a bead on the
target, like if they’re completely concealed behind a wall
or invisible—requires a Notice roll to determine their
location and a�ack at normal penalties.
If this roll is failed but the character wants to a�empt to
fire on a target he suspects is nearby anyways, he may
make a Shooting roll with the usual penalties. If he hits,
the target can make an unmodified Stealth roll to avoid
the a�ack completely. This roll suffers a –2 if the a�acker
is using a RoF 2+.
 HOUSE RULES
LYING & LIE DETECTING
Many characters rely on their sharp tongue to lie their
way out of trouble, and others rely on their keen senses
to make sure their enemies don’t do the same. In
investigative and espionage games especially, lying and
catching liars is just as important as anything.
The liar must make a Persuasion roll (–2 if the lie is
particularly far fetched) opposed by Notice. If the
perceiver scores a success, she suspects the target isn’t
being completely truthful; with a raise, she can tell what
topic the character is avoiding or lying about. A success
on Persuasion convinces the target.
Lie detecting machines, while not particularly realistic,
are much more difficult to consistently fool. If the liar is
hooked up to the machine properly, it becomes a
Dramatic Task to lie successfully.
PUSH
If the defender would be pushed into a wall or other solid
object, he suffers the a�acker’s Strength as damage, +1d6
if the a�acker scored a raise.
Tackle: A variant “pushing” option, this is an opposed
Strength or Athletics roll as usual (the shield bonus does
not apply). On a success, both the a�acker and defender
are thrown 1” and land Prone. With a raise, the defender
is Entangled as well.
RELOADING
Characters who wish to load magazines, clips, or bullets
faster may a�empt to load as a free action, but this
requires an Agility roll; on a failure, the character cannot
load at all this turn. This cannot be done with weapons
that have a listed Reload time.
SLEEPING & WAKING UP
Often times, it’s important to know if characters wake up
in dramatic situations. Characters that are sleeping
(obviously) cannot respond to purely visual stimuli and
also suffer a –2 penalty to hearing-based Notice rolls;
loud noises may ignore this penalty.
If a character is waking up to combat, he only receives
an Action Card if he rolls a raise. On a success, he is
simply stirring awake and receives no card (similar to
failing the Notice roll for a Surprise combat round).
88
If a�empting to sneak around sleeping guards, a failed
Stealth roll allows the guards to make a Notice roll (at –2,
as above). With a success, the guard wakes up as inactive
(perhaps assuming they woke up naturally), while on a
raise he knows he was awoken by a noise and are
considered active.
SNEAK ATTACK
The melee “sneak attack” rules under the Stealth skill
assume that the victim is not in an ongoing combat or
otherwise directly aware that he is in danger.
In these circumstances, if the target loses track of (or is
unaware of) the sneaker, a successful Stealth roll allows
him to remain hidden and gives the opportunity to pull
away or to ignore free a�acks like First Strike. A raise on
this roll makes the victim Vulnerable to the sneak
a�acker until his turn ends.
SUPPRESSIVE FIRE
This replaces the core Suppressive Fire rules, pu�ing the
ability to resist suppression in the hands of the targets
and creating a more “random” spray of bullets overall.
Place a Medium Blast Template and make a Shooting
roll as described in Savage Worlds. With a success, all
characters under the template must make Spirit rolls (at
–2 if the shooter scored a raise). Targets may add half of
their total penalty to be hit (Cover, the Dodge Edge, the
deflection power, etc.).
With a 1 on the Spirit die (regardless of the Wild Die),
the target is hit and suffers normal damage—this occurs
before Shaken or Distracted results from Suppressive
Fire. If this roll is failed, the victim is Shaken and
Distracted; with a success, they are only Distracted, and
they are completely unaffected if they scored a raise
(unless they rolled a 1).
This uses the same ammunition and Maximum
Casualty rules as normal Suppressive Fire.
 HOUSE RULES
THE ADVENTURE TOOLKIT
Changes and additions to the rules in Chapter 4.
• Intoxication: Rules for interrogations can be found in
Deadlands: Noir or The Goon.
CHASES & VEHICLES
• Evade: When Evading, the penalties to hit and to be
hit last until the character actively stops Evading (a
free action), rather than until the beginning of his next
turn. Characters cannot both start and stop Evading
on the same turn.
• Hold Steady: This ignores up to two points of
penalties from Scale, Unstable Platform, and an
opponent’s Evade maneuver. Note that when Holding
Steady, a character cannot Evade.
DRIVING AND USING WEAPONS
Characters attempting to use a weapon that is not
integrated into the vehicle’s controls, such as firing a
pistol while driving a car, the a�ack suffers a –2 penalty
(akin to a “multi-action penalty” for both steering and
a�acking simultaneously).
If firing a weapon that is integrated into the vehicle’s
controls, such as machine guns or missiles in a fighter jet,
controlling your vehicle tends to be part of the aiming
process and does not impose this penalty.
FOOT CHASES
There are two minor changes during foot chases.
• Change Position: Characters who intentionally drop
back a card may ignore the Running penalty on
subsequent actions; dropping back two Chase Cards
means the character stands still for a few moments as
well (useful for Edges like Marksman).
• Hold Steady: This cannot be used in a foot chase.
99
HAZARDS
• Falling: Characters can make an Athletics roll to
decrease the damage done by two points, while falls
of over 30 feet impose a –2 penalty to this. When
falling into water, falls of over 60 feet suffer a –2 to the
Athletics roll; falls above 120 feet inflicts a –4 penalty,
if it’s possible at all (GM’s discretion).
ALTITUDE
At high altitudes, the atmosphere begins to become very
thin, causing dizziness and lightheadedness. At worst, it
can cause hypoxia and unconsciousness until the
character’s body fails due to a lack of oxygen.
Every four hours spent above 15,000 feet altitude,
characters must make a Vigor roll or become Fatigued;
this cannot cause Exhaustion or worse. If the character is
above 25,000 feet, the character’s Vigor rolls suffer a –2
penalty, and this can cause Exhaustion or Incapacitation.
Note that during rapid depressurization (such as in an
airplane cabin with a hole in it), the body doesn’t adapt
well to the new atmospheric conditions, and rolls must
be made every minute.
At 40,000 feet, the penalty increases to –4, and
characters must roll every minute (or every round under
rapid depressurization).
Death: Incapacitated characters must make a Vigor roll;
failure means the character dies in 2d6 hours unless he’s
brought to a lower altitude (see below).
Recovery: Victims can recover Fatigue in areas with air
pressure similar to that of below 15,000 feet. Between
15,000 and 25,000 feet, the character can recover up to
Fatigued status.
 HOUSE RULES
SETTING RULES REAL-WORLD COMBAT
In se�ings where combat should feel gri�y, realistic, and
• Dumb Luck: If using the modified version of the Great desperate, such as World War II or various cosmic horror
Luck Edge above in this document, characters with mysteries, use the Gritty Damage and Hard Choices
that Edge may spend two bennies to ignore a Critical Se�ing Rules, along with a few new changes:
Failure and reroll as usual.
• Critically Shaken: If a character rolls a Critical Failure
• Hard Choices: Characters with Luck may spend a to Unshake, they are unable to spend a Benny to
Benny once per session without giving it to the GM, or Unshake until their next turn.
twice per session with Great Luck.
• Evasion: Characters who successfully Evade are
Prone unless they score a raise, and Prone characters
KINETIC COMBAT suffer a further –2 to Evasion rolls.
In some se�ings, fights in close quarters can have
unintended consequences, such as characters being • Readying Weapons: Readying any weapon is an
thrown backwards or mooks dropping their weapons action; weapons that would normally take an action
after taking a slug across the jaw. under the Savage Worlds rules require an Athletics roll
If a character scores two or more raises on an a�ack, he instead.
may choose one of the following effects to impose on his
target, if it makes sense (GM’s discretion).
• Disarm: The victim drops on item he’s holding (a
weapon, McGuffin, and so on).
• Distract: The target is Distracted until the end of his
next turn.
• Prone: The target is knocked Prone.
• Push: The target is pushed 1” in a direction, chosen by
the a�acker.

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