Almost all rolls in Savage Worlds are performed with exploding dice. Exploding dice are dice that, when the maximum is rolled, the dice is rerolled and added to the number. Dice may explode infinitely in Savage Worlds.
When rolling, you are generally trying to meet or exceed a Target Number (TN). Most of of the time, this TN is set at 4. Notable exceptions are Fighting rolls, which uses the target's Parry score, and damage rolls, which use the target's Toughness score. Opposed rolls use the defender's (if one can be determined) roll to set a TN which the attacker must exceed.
If the roll exceeds the TN by 4 or more, it is considered a raise. For every 4 you exceed, another raise is obtained, indicating your degree of success.
There are two types of characters in Savage Worlds games - Wild Cards and Extras. All player characters are Wild Cards. Wild Cards are superior to Extras in several ways - whenever rolling traits, they roll their selected Attribute or Skill die, and additionally roll a d6, choosing the higher result. This is called the Wild Die. Additionally, Wild Cards can suffer multiple wounds (PCs can withstand three before becoming incapacitated on the fourth), while Extras are incapacitated after receiving a single wound.
The sole downside to being a Wild Card is the fact that with a trait die and a Wild die to roll, they are subject to critical failures - a 1 on both the trait die and the Wild die means that the Wild Card has failed in a spectacular fashion, typically left to the GM's discretion.
Attacks are resolved by the attacker rolling the appropriate Skill for their attack. Ranged attacks (Shooting and Throwing) at a single target are resolved by attempting to roll a 4 or higher. At close range, there are no other requirements to hit. At medium range, the roll suffers a -2 penalty, and at long range, a -4 penalty. Melee attacks are resolved by rolling Fighting and attempting to meet or exceed the target's Parry score.
On a hit, you then roll damage, adding 1d6 to the damage roll if you succeed with a raise. (Extra damages from raises is capped at +1d6.) Shooting attacks deal damage as leasted on the weapon. Fighting and Throwing weapons deal damage based on the weapon plus the user's Strength. A weapon cannot deal more damage than the user's strength, and if the user's Strength is not equal to the weapon damage, any special benefits granted by the weapon are lost. It retains any penalties.
Example: Joe hits with a Shooting attack. His weapon, an assault rifle, deals 2d8+1 damage, so he rolls 2d8 and adds 1 to the final result to get his damage result. Simple enough.
Joe then hits with a Fighting attack with a claw hammer taped to a stick, listed as d10 damage, +1 Fighting, Parry -1 (it's awkward to block with). His strength score is d6, so he hits only for d6(weapon)+d6(Strength) damage. The +1 Fighting bonus is lost, but the -1 Parry penalty is retained. He drops the weapon.
Jane picks the weapon up. She lifts, bro, so her Strength is d12. She receives the +1 Fighting bonus as well as the Parry penalty, and hits with 3 raises for d10(weapon)+d12(Strength)+d6(raise) damage. Joe and Jane's opponent is obliterated.
If the damage of an attack is a regular success (0-3 points over the target's Toughness), the target becomes Shaken. Shaken characters are rattled, distracted - but uninjured. On their action, a Shaken character must attempt to recover from being Shaken by making a Spirit roll: on a failure, the character remains Shaken and may only perform free actions. On a success, the character is no longer Shaken, but may only perform free actions for that round. On a raise, the character is no longer Shaken and may act normally. After rolling, on a failure or regular success, the character may choose to expend a benny in order to remove the Shaken status and act normally for that round.
If the damage of an attack is a regular success and the target is already Shaken, a wound is inflicted. Additionally, for every raise, an attack inflicts a wound, even if the target is not Shaken. For every wound a character is suffering, they receive a -1 penalty to all trait rolls and Pace. At four or more wounds, the character is Incapacitated and possibly dying. Make a Vigor roll, applying wound penalties. On a 1 or less, the character dies. On a failure higher than 1, the target rolls for a permanent injury on the Injury table. Additionally, the target is Bleeding Out (see the bottom of this section). On a success, the target rolls a temporary injury on the Injury table, which will go away when all wounds are healed. On a raise, the character rolls on the Injury table, suffering a temporary injury that goes away in 24 hours or when all wounds are healed.
| 2d6 Result |
Injury Location |
Injury Description |
| 2-4 |
Arm |
Roll left or right arm randomly - it's unusable like the One Arm hindrance. |
| 5-9 |
Guts |
A torso injury of some kind. Roll 1d6. 1-2 - Agility reduced by a die type, 3-4 - Vigor reduced by a die type, 5-6 Strength reduced by a die type. Minimum d4. |
| 10 |
Leg |
A serious leg injury. Gain the Lame hindrance (or the One Leg hindrance if already Lame). |
| 11-12 |
Head |
A serious head injury. Roll 1d6. 1-2 - Facial injury causes you to gain the Ugly hindrance. 3-4 Blinded - An eye injury causes you to gain the One Eye hindrance (or the Blind hindrance if they only have one eye). 5-6 Brain Damage - Head trauma causes the character to have their Smarts reduced by one die type (minimum d4). |
Bleeding Out is a condition that requires a Vigor roll at the start of every round. On a raise, the character stabilizes and no further rolls are required. On a success, the character hangs on for one more round, and must roll again at the beginning of the next round. On a failure, the character dies of their injuries.
'Bennies' are the term Savage World uses to describe a certain amount of heroic luck all Wild Cards (and the GM) are expected to have! Every session, all Wild Cards begin play with three (more, or less are possible with the right edges or hindrances). Bennies can be expended to reroll trait rolls, remove the Shaken status, or - possibly most important! - soak incoming damage.
Trait re-rolls are self-explanatory, as are spending bennies to remove the Shaken status. Be careful, though! Expending bennies for trait re-rolls can be a risky proposition unless you have a truly terrible roll - you MUST take the results of the reroll, or expend another benny in order to reroll again!
Soak rolls are bennies expended immediately after damage is rolled and the amount of incoming wounds are determined. Vigor is rolled, and a success as well as every raise on that roll blocks an incoming wound. You may only roll one soak per attack, but may benny that roll to re-roll it as for any trait roll. (That is to say, if you have three incoming wounds, you must roll a 12 on a Vigor check to block all three wounds, and you may reroll that Vigor check as many times as you have bennies trying to reach that number. Rolling three separate 4s will only result in one wound blocked.)
