Savage Worlds: Characters

In my previous post about Savage Worlds, I mentioned that converting to and from Unisystem is a breeze.

Typically here I'd throw in my witches. But given the gritty feel of SW, the level of magic in the system and as nod to the author I think Ill convert a different iconic Unisystem Character, Ash.

The Savage Dead
Ashley J. Williams is a great choice really. He fits the feel of Savage Worlds well, he has really cool Qualities and Drawbacks and most everyone that would play either game knows who he is.

This is a fairly direct conversion. No real attempt has been made to massage these numbers into place. Given that, I think they look and feel about right.

Ash (there would be one of those grinning skull things here)
Rank: Heroic (my best guest)               
Race: Human

Attributes
Agility d12, Smarts d6, Spirit d8, Strength d12, Vigor d12+2

Skills
Climbing d4, Driving d6, Fighting d10, Guts (d6)*, Intimidation d8, Investigation d4, Knowledge d4, Notice d6**, Persuasion d8, Repair d8, Riding d6, Shooting d10, Survival d4, Swimming d4, Taunt d8, Throwing d4

Hindrances
Enemy, One Hand, Quirk (Schmuck)

Edges
Attractive, Combat Reflexes, Fast Healer, Hard to Kill, Inspire, Natural Leader, Mr. Fit-it, Nerves of Steel

*Not converted from the source, but rather derived.
** Converted from Notice and Perception

In most cases the Hindrances and Edges convert right from the quality of the same (or similar) name. Others, like Schmuck, Really Big Chin and Promised One don't and are broken up into their components.

For weapons give him a chain saw and a boom stick and we are groovy.

Ash is good example of a Unisystem character that feels right at home in SW, what about the other direction?
For this I want to go with Rippers.

Ripped Slayers
In Rippers there is a group of monster hunters called the Rippers. A faction of these are known as the Slayers. The current leader of the Slayers is a 17 year old girl (In 1892) named Tara LaGrange. So young girl fighting monsters and calling herself "The Slayer"...sound familiar yet? Well to be fair she is a slayer, not a Slayer. But the idea is there so lets see how she looks in Unisystem using the Ghosts of Albion rules. Also, since we can, lets go ahead and make Tara here (what? I didnt name her) an honest to goodness Slayer. In Ghosts of Albion she is an Apprentice or in Buffy a White Hat. To make a her a Slayer we will change her to a Journeyman or Hero and have those stats follow after. So for Strength she has 3 if she is just a normal girl, or 6 if she is a full Slayer. The normal human is a direct conversion of the Rippers rules with no attempt made to massage the stats. As with Ash I think it works out well.

The Slayer of Victorian Age, Tara LaGrange.  Flanked by Victorian Willow and Tara by mqken.

Tara LaGrange, the slayer
Type: Apprentice Normal Human (Ghosts of Albion Rules)

Life Points: 49
Drama Points: 20

Strength: 3
Dexterity: 4
Constitution: 3
Intelligence: 4
Perception: 2 (again based on best estimates)
Willpower: 4

Qualities
Contacts (Rippers, 3)*
Contacts (Supernatural, 3)*
Fast Reaction Time
Hard to Kill, 5
Nerves of Steel

Drawbacks
Adversaries, 2 (vampires, demons, werewolves and the like)
Minority (woman) (From Ghosts of Albion)
Obligation (Rippers, 3)*

Skills
Armed Mayhem 3, Athletics 1, Crime 3, Engineering 2, Fisticuffs 3, Influence 3, Knowledge 2 (part of the SW/Ripper Common Knowledge rule), Languages 1 (English read/write), Marksmanship 5, Notice 3, Occultism 2, Wild Card (Ripper Tech) 1

* Not in the Savage Worlds character stats but assumed as part of being a Ripper.

That worked REALLY well in my mind. Sure, she is a bit light as a Slayer, but this is a normal girl with a really big chip on her shoulder. Her skills ended up a tad high for a starting character, but this is an NPC with some history, so that is fine really.
Adding the Slayer Quality makes the following changes:

Tara LaGrange, the Vampire Slayer
Type: Hero Slayer

Life Points: 73
Drama Points: 15

Strength: 6
Dexterity: 7
Constitution: 6
Intelligence: 4
Perception: 2 (again based on best estimates) (note this is actually too low for a Slayer and really should be raised to 4)
Willpower: 6

Qualities
Contacts (Rippers, 3)*
Contacts (Supernatural, 3)*
Slayer
- Fast Reaction Time (part of Slayer)
- Hard to Kill (part of Slayer) 5
- Nerves of Steel (part of Slayer)
- Regeneration (part of Slayer)
- +1 to Armed Mayhem and Fisticuffs (part of Slayer)
- Lesser Sensing (in the Buffy book, but the name comes from Ghosts of Albion)

Drawbacks
Adversaries, 4 (vampires, demons, werewolves and the like)
Minority (woman) (From Ghosts of Albion)
Obligation (Rippers, 3)*

Skills
Armed Mayhem 4, Athletics 1, Crime 3, Engineering 2, Fisticuffs 4, Influence 3, Knowledge 2 (part of the SW/Ripper Common Knowledge rule), Languages 1 (English read/write), Marksmanship 5, Notice 3, Occultism 2, Wild Card (Ripper Tech) 1

* Not in the Savage Worlds character stats but assumed as part of being a Ripper. In this case the Rippers take the place of the Watchers.

I like it. So Miss LaGrange is now my official Slayer in 1892.

Ok, next time I go back and try some Savage Worlds magic.