Having run some Ultraman inspired stuff during playtesting, I think I'd just keep it simple and use the Scale rules. Mundane is when you're a normal lil fella and then I'd just jump straight to giant for when you're a big ol' fella.
But... if you wanted to get spicy with it? I'd have everyone make one character with the normal rules, but then use the rules for creating a Kaiju to create their "Great Hero" form. Then I'd fight them with Kaiju. I like this approach because it leaves some fun options for military intervention so you can run asymmetrical combats that feature human reaction to giants fighting.
I believe there's a small subsection in the Mech section. They work based on the pilot's skills. For multiple pilots, everyone rolls. If the majority of the rolls succeed, the action is a success. It's a very "we're in this together" mechanic.
Savage Tokusatsu is a Savage Worlds supplement that converts the general system into something that might run Kamen Rider, Power Rangers, or Godzilla.
Or Spiderman.
Or live action Sailor Moon.
It's 99 pages, solidly full of illustrations, and the layout feels a little bit dense but is still completely readable.
Rules-wise, a lot of new build options are presented to the players. You get a variety of potential frameworks depending on how you transform, each with solid mechanical differences, and you get the option to play as a kaiju if your group okays it.
Kaiju are practically a different game, and don't really interact socially with the PCs unless you're doing a My Neighbor Totoro sort of set-up, so it may be better to have them as secondary characters that you switch to during the really big fights, rather than an everyday member of the party.
Setting-wise, ST offers a quick overview of the genre and then spins out several possible styles of play, depending on how you like your tokusatsu. Some have to do with different genres and level of grittiness, but there's also a really neat optional set of rules for kaiju-as-villain games where the kaiju is treated like an impending natural disaster with its own prep clock and the players are effectively readying a tower defense for it.
From the GM end of things, there's a heap of resources here too. There's monsters, items, infrastructure, etc, but also a full sample campaign. The tone for the premade material is more goofy, less dark, but there are some dark beats as well, and the campaign itself is a nice mix.
Overall, if you're comfortable with Savage Worlds (or if you're willing to learn the engine, which is super easy,) and if you enjoy tokusatsu storytelling, this supplement offers a lot of premade material that brings those two interests together. Some assembly is required, as it takes a toolkit kind of approach, but at worst it's handy and at best it's a way to take a familiar system and get really fun mileage out of it. If you like Savage Worlds, and you like the media mentioned here, give this a shot.
Question! In the setting rules for Containment Breach, a rule called "Guts" is mentioned, but I can't find it explained anywhere within this book! I also can't find it in any other Savage Worlds books, but I may be missing the source. Was this rule included in SavTok but under a new name?
Sorry for the confusion! Guts is a setting rule from Deadlands but it's a pretty easy one:
You add a new Skill to the game called Guts. Instead of making a Spirit check to oppose Fear, you make a Guts check. That's all it is. Hope that helps!
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Question: How would one go about recreating a "Great Hero" series a-la Ultraman?
Having run some Ultraman inspired stuff during playtesting, I think I'd just keep it simple and use the Scale rules. Mundane is when you're a normal lil fella and then I'd just jump straight to giant for when you're a big ol' fella.
But... if you wanted to get spicy with it? I'd have everyone make one character with the normal rules, but then use the rules for creating a Kaiju to create their "Great Hero" form. Then I'd fight them with Kaiju. I like this approach because it leaves some fun options for military intervention so you can run asymmetrical combats that feature human reaction to giants fighting.
Hope this helps!
Neat! I was thinking of doing that for a Solitaire Savage Worlds game.
How do skills for Mechs work? I can't find anything about that
I believe there's a small subsection in the Mech section. They work based on the pilot's skills. For multiple pilots, everyone rolls. If the majority of the rolls succeed, the action is a success. It's a very "we're in this together" mechanic.
This is a fun surprise to find in the bundle! I'm looking forward to trying this!
Savage Tokusatsu is a Savage Worlds supplement that converts the general system into something that might run Kamen Rider, Power Rangers, or Godzilla.
Or Spiderman.
Or live action Sailor Moon.
It's 99 pages, solidly full of illustrations, and the layout feels a little bit dense but is still completely readable.
Rules-wise, a lot of new build options are presented to the players. You get a variety of potential frameworks depending on how you transform, each with solid mechanical differences, and you get the option to play as a kaiju if your group okays it.
Kaiju are practically a different game, and don't really interact socially with the PCs unless you're doing a My Neighbor Totoro sort of set-up, so it may be better to have them as secondary characters that you switch to during the really big fights, rather than an everyday member of the party.
Setting-wise, ST offers a quick overview of the genre and then spins out several possible styles of play, depending on how you like your tokusatsu. Some have to do with different genres and level of grittiness, but there's also a really neat optional set of rules for kaiju-as-villain games where the kaiju is treated like an impending natural disaster with its own prep clock and the players are effectively readying a tower defense for it.
From the GM end of things, there's a heap of resources here too. There's monsters, items, infrastructure, etc, but also a full sample campaign. The tone for the premade material is more goofy, less dark, but there are some dark beats as well, and the campaign itself is a nice mix.
Overall, if you're comfortable with Savage Worlds (or if you're willing to learn the engine, which is super easy,) and if you enjoy tokusatsu storytelling, this supplement offers a lot of premade material that brings those two interests together. Some assembly is required, as it takes a toolkit kind of approach, but at worst it's handy and at best it's a way to take a familiar system and get really fun mileage out of it. If you like Savage Worlds, and you like the media mentioned here, give this a shot.
Question! In the setting rules for Containment Breach, a rule called "Guts" is mentioned, but I can't find it explained anywhere within this book! I also can't find it in any other Savage Worlds books, but I may be missing the source. Was this rule included in SavTok but under a new name?
Sorry for the confusion! Guts is a setting rule from Deadlands but it's a pretty easy one:
You add a new Skill to the game called Guts. Instead of making a Spirit check to oppose Fear, you make a Guts check. That's all it is. Hope that helps!
Ah! Of course it’s in the one book I didn’t check! Thank you! Really love what I see in this game.