I don’t often do reviews but I couldn’t find one for this so…

I owned the last version of the super powers companion but now we have the SWADE version. I didn’t do the kickstarter (and I missed the Fantasy companion as well – since they moved from kickstarter I’m clearly not getting the press as I did Rifts, SWADE Rifts, 3rd Rifts KS and Seadlands).

For a more indepth review with section breakdowns read here

https://that70sgame.com/2022/05/23/savage-worlds-supers-power-companion-review/

So I’m going to summarise this as I review other things:

The Great: Nothing stands out.

The Good: Lots of powers. The bases seem to be covered but they are still easy to use and modify. A wealth of bad guys but…Way too many.

The Bad: I don’t feel they added much to the previous book. They’ve tried to capitalise in the blurb on things like the Boys but then you get two tiny paragraphs which says which World Rules to use and i’m not convinced they would do the job. There are token rules for Relics and HQs but they are small sections. The powers are tightened up, but I’m not sure how much new stuff this book is really bringing. And almost half the book is writeups for made up characters that lack the history of mutants and masterminds or sentinels and so while useful for reskinning or one shots or reference, didn’t need this much space.

The Ugly: Making a character above level 1 is still a pain. Spend power points, and starting abilities, skills and edges and then work out what other edges, abilities and skills I can get as I level up. And this is necessary for a lot of NPCs and it’s more complicated than it should be

So it has the good stuff from the previous Super powers companion(s) but adds very little. Everything is updated to SWADE, but then SWADE was only really a tweak to Deluxe. Chances are if you wanted this book you helped to kickstart it. And if you didn’t you probably aren’t bothered!

Is the pdf worth it?

How much do you like Savage World Supers? If you do and don’t have it then sure.

Will you be buying the physical book?

Maybe? If it’s cheap then there’s a good chance.

Is this book worth getting SWADE for?

If you’ve never played Savage Worlds don’t start with supers. Buy the core book. Play some action heroes. Get Deadlands. Then maybe think about this. I wouldn’t start playing Savage Worlds just to play this. It’s good, but it does still feel tacked on to the basic Savage Worlds chassis.

Can I make hero X/Y/Z in it?

Probably? There will always be characters that are hard to make in games outside of Champions and M&M, but this seems to do a good job.

Does it fix any of the problems Savage Worlds has at this level?

Not really. There are sidebars with good advice on how to work around certain comic book tropes. But they also seem like a get out clause for anywhere the system falls over or doesn’t work like the comics do.

So you seem pretty down on this book?!

Not at all. I’m looking forward to making characters with it and hopefully playing it. And hopefully trying it out. But it doesn’t solve any Savage World issues I have OR do something to pull me away from other games.

Overall this does what the last Super Companion did . It lets you play Supers in Savage Worlds. If you already did that it’s a bit newer. If you didn’t, it’s not really bringing anything new to the table.

So 3 out of 5 stars. If you’re a Savage Worlds Fan, make that 4.

very clean nice ruleset. perfekt conversion. love it

A great conversion - the setting feel is 100% there and it most definitely carries the Fast, Furious, and Fun aspect of Savage Worlds. I have been a longtime player of Pathfinder and after trying this out, I'm a now true believer in the Savage Wrolds system. It's been qa blast to play.

This is, perhaps, the best Savage Worlds add-on I have purchased. It follows the SW use of cards and makes for a more visual representation of dramatic tasks and quick encounters. Really cool for quick dungeons, scavenging (or finding) a ruin, or a data hacking run!

No layout for the city. If you want one, you'd have to purchase the layout separately and it sucks and it gets a single star review (I'd give a review but I wouldn't spend a nickle on the map. Zero info of people/things/names inside of any buildings. Just blurry blobs of square and rectangle roof tops.)

This was a really useful transition guide for switching from D&D to Savage Worlds in a fantasy setting. A useful little guide, quite limited in scope but precisely what I needed to bridge the gap.

One of my absolute favorite Savage Worlds settings!

This module makes very easy to play Sprawlrunners. I recommend use it with Quick Search module, so you can find anything you need very quickly.

Really good replacement for the stock No Power Points rules in Savage Worlds

If you -- like me -- find the standard No Power Point rules systems in SWADE to feel a little underbaked, then this is the supplement for you! Across it's all-killer-no-filler pages you get a complete rework of the system. You no longer need to halve Power Point values each time to derive modifiers, and magic users no longer face stiff dice roll penalties for their standard powers. Instead, learning new tiers of powers is tied to an Edge progression tree, and they take penalties to arcane skill rolls based on the use of Power modifiers.

As an added bonus, some careful tweaks to different Arcane Backgrounds help distinguish them from each other so they feel more different at the table.

It feels like a great system and my mage player is already excited about the possibilities! We're going to introduce it at our table the next chance we get.

This is a truly great alternate magic system. Not complicated at all, and it gives that epic yet dangerous feeling of magic. I also like that the Arcane Backgrounds actually feel distinct at last. I would use this system in any high fantasy game any time instead of the default magic rules.

for me personally this is the best rpg system i have ever played. in a rpg its inportant and fun to use your imagination thats why it also makes most sense to me to play an universal system. there is no end to your imagination and u can also use some of the many great settings in SW.

Spoiler free review:

Deadlands has gone through a lot of changes sinced I first found out about it in 1998. Learning a new game after being weaned on AD&D was intimidating, but the lore was what kept me coming back. Especially knowing that Deadlands: The Weird West was a growing, changing and living campaign.

And "The Cackler" may be the most exciting that I have read.

Alternate histories are a difficult genre, taking known characters and events of American legend and making them fictional but feeling familiar. At some point, the writers could be expected to "dry up" their well of knowledge because, eventually, how much of a threat can the Reckoners and their Servitors be if players can vanquish them in their published adventures?

The Cackler does this by introducing new threats that feel fresh and original and still familiar! A Living Worlds means that moving forward sees heroes perish.

I loved The Cackler as a new villain I recognize, and I am anxious to see how Shane Hensley and the Pinnacle crew how far the Deadlands mythos will change in the coming years. Sorry I didn't get in on the Kickstarter for this one.

Usually you get what you paid for but in this case, one could argue that you are getting a lot more since its only a measly couple of bucks... The adventure itself is very interesting and could work in any militaristic campaign but the fact that its happening during the Falkland war gives it an edge. Worth mentioning some instances of dubious grammar, other than that its a solid one-shot. Also, dont see the need for 2 PDF files but thats besides the point.

This rule set conversion is a godsend. Pathfinder started as a continuation of a system I loved. And it's why we all loved it. I was heart broken and fearful at the release of Pathfinder 2. Most did not enjoy it, and it made me worry that Golarion might vanish, as well as things like the alchemist and magus.

This ruleset feels like the natural continuation of pathfinder. With fixes for things like multiclassing spellcasting classes, level of efficacy, and archetype mazes, this is the place I made the characters I want and we tell the stories each session of the legendary acts we've performed in previous sessions. And because new settings and addendums come out for Savage Worlds all the time, I know the system has a place for a long time. I'm hooked on this new path for pathfinder.

Overall, I think this is a really solid product. Rigger rules are fine. Magic rules are fine. Firearms rules are fine, just the right mix of options + some customization to feel flexible, but not overwhelming. I like the logistics points rules that loses a traditional nuyen counting approach for a more abstract currency progression system (though it takes some getting used to).

There are just a few issues that stop me from the full 5/5 stars.

Example Enemies: I know it's not a lot to write up some quick n dirty stat blocks in Savage Worlds, but I would have really liked to see 4-5 generic enemies using some of the Sprawlrunners gear/edges/abilities for quick reference. Having a baseline to work with is nice.

Hacking Rules: They are almost there. I'd like to have seen in-combat options. I'm coming from a Shadowrun 5e experience, which based on what I've seen in other reviews, this game isn't trying to mirror. Even so, I feel that's a pretty major cyberpunk feeling, and it's a bit lacking here. I also think the rules as is fit slightly oddly into the "standard" shadowrun formula. Generally in my experience the hacking is part of the legwork before the mission (which ideally wouldn't take too long) and then the run execution is more combat-y. These hacking rules seem to expect that the hack is part of or otherwise happening along with the run execution. Maybe that's on me to run the game differently? But I'm not really sure how to do so, since my players gravitate to their current play patterns.

Logistics Points Confusion: I really like the idea in principle, but I'd appreciate a little more guidance about how to handle common player questions/behaviour and how the system intends for them to be handled (looting useful gear from subdued enemies jumps to mind).

Cyberware Costs: There's a little bit of oddity with cyberware costs. The Implant Points system has some oddities with 0 cost implants, and the pool of options being just slightly too small, so once certain big ticket items are purchased, there isn't a fantastic backup selection. It's not broken, but it's jarring.

Altogether I would recommend this product. Together with the base Savage Worlds my group is having a much better time than we were with Shadowrun 5. 4/5