1 Changelog Version v1.1 02/07/14 -Removed 'Rock and Roll' because gameplay means that enemies will not often enough seek cover or use poor lighting to their advantage, so ranged characters rarely have to roll over TN 4 or 5 for shooting. Having no penalty on Auto-Fire basically makes it 3 free attacks. -Switched image style from between two columns to top and bottom of page, in SW:XE style. -Added edges to Demon Weapon section to improve (or rather just to add) choices for mid-to-late game play. -Fixed and stretched out formatting for ease of looking through everything. -Due to players maxing out Fighting and Shooting and not caring about other skills, lowered cap so that Skill die cannot exceed governing Ability die. Balanced this by reducing requirements for multiple edges, and currently, a very viable build involves 3 d8 stats, and a d6 and d4. -Added Archetypes to give new players a guide of what to choose. -Remade Special Technique (previously Special Attack) section, added more options and penalties. -Added Chain Resonance, must be tested for difficulty in achieving connection and value of various benefits. -Weakened Wavelength Disruption because if the target is separated + shaken, there is no coming back from that. That was one of the first unique edges I made so of course it was broken as shit. That was back before I made Weapon traits so...high... -Eliminated Wavelength Shield, it's basically just using a Stance but with added rules making Called Shots viable. You don't really need it. 2 Credits and Dedications The authors of this Savage Setting do not own Soul Eater manga, anime, or Savage Worlds, which belong to Square Enix, Studio BONES and Funimation, and Pinnacle Entertainment, respectively. These trademarks belong to their respective owners. Likewise, much of the art in this book is either from the Anime or fan art, neither of which the authors lay claim to and the rights remain with the respective creators. Therefore, this portable document file is to only be distributed for free. This game is a labor of love to Soul Eater and role playing games in general and dedication like that doesn't require monetary compensation. Technology wise, I'd like to thank the free word processor Libreoffice and the websites Zamzar.com for .odt to .pdf conversion and Pdfescape.com for making the fillable .pdf character sheet. Special credit given to Chris, my playtesters, /tg/'s Soul Eater threads, and Savage Worlds for making one of my favorite roleplaying systems ever. 3 4 The Savage World of Soul Eater In the world of Soul Eater, Shinigami wages an eternal war with the forces of magic and madness. The magic employed by the witches can lay waste to entire regions, and their more subtle machinations and inventions are even more dangerous. The forces of madness already exist in the hearts of every man, just getting ready to release the human mind from everything holding it back. Over eight hundred years ago, the first Demon Weapons appeared, and Lord Death used them to form an elite team dedicated to stopping the witches and forces of madness. Now, in the modern times, Lord Death has opened a vocational school called the Demon Weapon Meister Academy, a school dedicated to training Demon Weapons and their users, Meisters. However, Death's old enemies are just as clever as ever, and are always developing new tricks to use against him. Most games of the Savage World of Soul Eater will focus on the young students at the DWMA as they take assignments from Death, worry about homework and exams, and experience all the joys of anime high school. During all this, the characters might become involved in a witch's scheme or have to fight the encroaching madness. Against some of the smartest enemies in the world, they will have to be equally clever. Savage Worlds: Summarized The concept of Savage Worlds can be summarized with a few simple guidelines. Your character's experience in a skill is determined by the size of the dice they roll for that skill. Static bonuses added to the roll are rare and highly sought after. Most rolls simply require the character to roll against a difficulty number of 4, but bonuses and penalties can make this harder to attain. Player characters and special non-player characters gain a bonus dice called a Wild Die they can use to replace certain rolls, giving them a higher chance of success. These special characters also get Bennies (1920's slang for benefits) which allows them to reroll bad rolls, activate special powers, and make themselves more powerful. So remember, high dice and lots of bonuses and bennies are what you want to ideally have. 5 Starting Out This is where your character begins. Your character will either be a Demon Weapon or Meister. Consider your 'class' now, as it plays a crucial role in creation. When character creation is done, you can re-arrange how you made your character if you realize you do not want certain traits any more, etc. Character Creation; A step by step process: Character creation is the first part of Before you get into the mechanics of any roleplaying game. You design your character creation, you have to consider the character based on rules and in comparison character you want to play. A character is to the other players. But Savage World's more than a bundle of stats written down on character creation is easy as hell. This a character sheet. A character is your following guide is a very brief explanation of contribution to the setting put forward by the the various steps, with the following section Game Master, something you should be being more dedicated to each. To help, we'll proud of and feel a connection to. Consider also stat up a beginning Maka Albarn and what your character likes and dislikes, what Soul Eater Evans, a Meister and Demon kind of goals they have, and how they plan Weapon team from the series. to achieve those goals. Think about how 6 they act around others, how they spend all kinds. Some Demon Weapons are their free time, and how they approach strong and brutish, imbuing their Meister problems. When you get into the crunch of with great Strength and protection. Others character creation, these will help you are more clever and use tricks against their decide what kinds of skills, hindrances, and foes to both make up for their lack of edges to take. With the personality of your Strength or combat skill but to also help character picked out, focus on their physical allies. description. A picture can help you visualize. Think about factors like age, skin With a general character idea settled tone, eye and hair color, height, and weight. on, your first task is to pick your Traits. These are just to help you think and Traits are a measure of your character's visualize your character. With these down, stats, such as intelligence (Smarts), raw it's time to consider your last big decision Strength (Strength), and willpower (Spirit). before you design your character. Will you All of the Traits are important in their own be a warrior Meister or a powerful Demon ways, depending on how your character is Weapon? played. A Meister is both a warrior and a After Traits are selected, skills are conductor of sorts, guiding the demonic assigned. You get 15 skill points and assign power of the Demon Weapon. Meisters them to skills that would match your tend to be very hardy and physically strong. proposed character. You can pick from any Meisters also learn the special attacks. of the skills on the list. For a Meister, However, their actual fighting styles vary combat skills are crucial, but Demon widely. Some go for straight-up combat, Weapons can be more general, making others try to make up for their lack of them good for investigations, persuasion, or Strength with sneak attack damage. Others knowledge rolls. Of course, the Meister can use combat maneuvers to weaken and also be skilled at this. Some Meisters might destabilize their foes. not even be skilled in a stand-up fight. Hindrances are selected now. Gaining On the other hand, Demon Weapons hindrances make characters more fun to are the weapon of choice for their Meister. roleplay and even give you bonus advances They are humans who become weapons of (explained next). You can gain two 7 advances through hindrances. A major one ways to manifest abilities, etc. grants an advance and two minor grant an advance together. Of course, one doesn't At character creation (and every time need to take two advances worth of they gain rank) a Meister gains a free hindrances. They could just take one Special Attack. Use the rules in the special advance's worth or none. attack section to make one. Tier 1 is recommended but the character could even Now, to explain advances. At character choose tier 2 if they and their weapon creation, you have one advance, plus the partner could reach it. ones you might have gotten from hindrances. An advance can improve your Similarly, a Demon Weapon gets character, giving them better Traits, their first weapon trait which helps define increasing skills, or gaining Edges. You may their weapon. There are basic traits that any only boost one Trait by one die at character weapon can get, and also advanced traits creation. After that, you gain an Advance by they can get later.