Combat in Savage Worlds
Forget three-hour battles against a single goblin! Savage Worlds combat flows like your favorite action scenes - whether it's the Avengers assembling, lightsaber duels, or anime battles where fighters move faster than the eye can see!
The Action Movie Principle
Combat in Savage Worlds should feel like a movie fight scene. Heroes leap through windows, swing from chandeliers, deliver witty one-liners, and take down groups of minions in seconds. If it would look cool on screen, you can probably do it!
Initiative: The Action Deck
Cards, Not Dice!
Savage Worlds uses playing cards for initiative, creating dynamic combat where turn order changes each round!
Basic Rules
- Deal one card per character/group
- Act in order: Ace (high) to Deuce (low)
- Suits break ties: ♠ > ♥ > ♦ > ♣
- Reshuffle at the end of any round in which a Joker was dealt
Special Cards
- Joker: Go whenever you want, +2 to Trait and damage rolls this round, and every player character gets a Benny!
- Quick Edge: Redraw cards 5 or lower
- Level Headed: Draw an extra card, act on the best
- Hold: Wait and interrupt later
Example Round: Spider-Man gets 3♠, Green Goblin gets K♥, thugs get 4♦. Order: Goblin → Thugs → Spider-Man. But wait! Spidey has Quick, so he can redraw any card of 5 or lower. He swaps his 3 for a Queen♠, and now he goes first!
Combat Actions
What Can You Do?
On your turn, you can move and take one action (or up to three actions, at -2 to each for every action past the first):
🗡️ Attack
Fighting for melee, Shooting for ranged (Athletics to throw)
Roll vs Parry (melee) or TN 4 (ranged)
Thor swings Mjolnir at Loki
🏃 Move
Move up to your Pace (usually 6")
Run for extra d6" (with -2 to actions)
Black Widow sprints across rooftops
💬 Test
Taunt, Intimidate, or trick opponents
Success: Distracted or Vulnerable; a raise also Shakes them
Spider-Man's combat banter
🤝 Support
Help an ally's next action
Success gives +1, raise gives +2
Cap coordinates the team
🛡️ Defend
+4 Parry until your next turn
No other actions - focus entirely on not getting hit
Jedi deflecting blaster fire
🎯 Aim
+2 to next Shooting or thrown (Athletics) roll
Must not move or be Shaken
Hawkeye lines up the perfect shot
Making Attacks
The Attack Sequence
- Declare target and roll to hit
- Melee: Fighting vs target's Parry
- Ranged: Shooting vs TN 4 (plus modifiers)
- If you hit, roll damage
- Melee: Strength + weapon die
- Ranged: Fixed damage (like 2d6)
- Raise on attack = +1d6 damage
- Compare damage to Toughness
- Less than Toughness = No effect
- Equal or up to 3 over = Shaken
- Each 4 over (each raise) = 1 Wound, and Shaken
- Already Shaken and Shaken again = 1 Wound
Damage and Wounds
Taking Hits Like a Hero
Shaken
Stunned, rattled, or momentarily out of action
- Can only move and take free actions
- Must recover to act normally
- Recover: Spirit roll at the start of your turn (success = recover and act), or spend a Benny any time
Spider-Man seeing stars after Rhino's punch
Wounds
Actual injuries that impair performance
- Each wound: -1 to all Trait rolls and Pace (max -3)
- Wild Cards can take 3 wounds
- More than 3 wounds = Incapacitated
- Extras: 1 wound = out
Batman fighting through injuries
Incapacitated
Down and out of the fight
- Roll Vigor; the result decides how bad the Injury is
- A failure means Bleeding Out; a Critical Failure can be fatal
- May need immediate aid
Hero's dramatic collapse
Soaking Damage
Shrugging Off Wounds
Heroes can spend Bennies to "soak" wounds - representing narrow escapes, lucky breaks, or sheer toughness!
How to Soak
- Immediately after taking wounds (before rolling for Incapacitation)
- Spend a Benny
- Roll Vigor
- Each success and raise soaks 1 wound (success = 1, one raise = 2, two raises = 3)
- Don't like the result? Spend another Benny to reroll the Soak roll
Example: Iron Man takes 3 wounds from an explosion. Tony's player spends a Benny and rolls Vigor, getting a raise! He soaks 2 wounds, leaving only 1. The armor's reactive systems absorbed most of the blast!
Movement and Positioning
Dynamic Battlefield
Tactical Positioning
- Cover: -2 (light), -4 (medium), -6 (heavy), -8 (near total) to be hit
- Prone: harder to hit from a distance (counts as cover), easier to hit up close
- Higher Ground: no core modifier; many GMs grant +1 (house rule)
- Ganging Up: +1 per additional adjacent attacker (max +4)
Ranged Combat Modifiers
Factors Affecting Shots
Common Shooting Modifiers
| Situation | Modifier | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Medium Range | -2 | Hawkeye at city block distance |
| Long Range | -4 | Sniper on distant rooftop |
| Extreme Range | -8 | Impossible shots only heroes make |
| Unstable Platform | -2 | Shooting from a galloping horse |
| Light Cover | -2 | Behind a car door |
| Heavy Cover | -6 | Stone wall with gun ports |
| Dim Lighting | -2 | Dusk or candlelight |
| Dark | -4 | Nighttime, no moon |
| Aiming | +2 | Taking time to line up shot |
Example Combat Round
The Warehouse Showdown
Let's see a full combat round in action!
Round 1: Cards Dealt
- Spider-Man: J♠ (goes second)
- Doc Ock: K♦ (goes first!)
- Thugs (group): 5♣ (goes last)
Doc Ock's Turn
Attacks with mechanical arms (Fighting d10)
Rolls 8 vs Spidey's Parry 6 (Fighting d8) = Hit!
Damage: Strength d10 + arms d6 = 11 vs Toughness 6 = 5 over, one raise = 1 wound + Shaken!
Spider-Man's Turn
Spends Benny to remove Shaken (he could roll Spirit first and save the Benny)
Multi-action: Taunt and Attack, -2 to each, plus -1 for his wound
Taunt: "Nice arms, Doc! Compensating for something?"
Success vs Doc's Smarts - Doc Ock is Distracted!
Web-swing kick: Fighting d8 aces (8 + 2 = 10), -2 -1 = 7 vs Doc's Parry 7 = Hit!
Thugs' Turn
Three thugs act on their shared card and each shoots at Spider-Man
Extras, so no Wild Die: Shooting rolls of 3, 2 and 5
Two miss; the hit's 2d6 damage comes to 5, under Spidey's Toughness 6 - no effect!
Combat Quick Reference
Turn Sequence
- Deal initiative cards
- Act high to low (Jokers anytime)
- Move up to Pace
- Take one action (or multi-action)
- Resolve damage immediately
Attack Summary
- Melee: Fighting vs Parry
- Ranged: Shooting vs TN 4
- Raise on hit = +d6 damage
- Damage - Toughness = Effect
- 0-3 over = Shaken, each 4 over = 1 Wound
Key Numbers
- Pace: Usually 6"
- Running: +1d6"
- Multi-action: -2 each
- Wounds: -1 each to rolls (max -3)
- Wild Cards: 3 wounds, then Incapacitated