BESM vs Savage Worlds
Compare BESM and Savage Worlds side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| BESM | Savage Worlds | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Universal | Universal |
| Play Style | Character Building, Cinematic, Heroic, Pulp Action, Anime | Cinematic, Fast-Paced, Tactical, Pulp Action, Combat-Heavy, Heroic, Miniatures |
| Core Mechanic | Tri-Stat System: three Stats (Body, Mind, Soul) plus point-buy Attributes, Defects, and Skills built from a Character Point budget. Roll 2d6 + relevant Stat or Combat Value vs. a Target Number. Edges and Obstacles add or remove dice. Eight power levels scale from Sub-Human to Godlike. | Roll trait die + wild die (d6), keep the highest. Target number 4. Raises every +4. |
| Dice | 2d6 | d4–d12 |
| Complexity | Medium | Medium |
| Accessibility | Medium | Medium |
| Community | Medium | Medium |
| License | Proprietary (Tri-Stat) | Savage Worlds Adventurer's Guild |
| Cost | $$ | $$ |
| Publisher | Dyskami Publishing | Pinnacle Entertainment |
| Year | 2019 | 2018 |
| Best For | Groups who want to play anime and manga-inspired adventures in any genre — from magical girls and mecha pilots to demon hunters and high school detectives. | Fast-paced pulp action across any genre. Great for large groups and mass combat. |
| Highlights | Highly flexible point-buy system can model any anime concept, free primer available, decades of community support since 1997, scalable power levels from slice-of-life to cosmic | Fast resolution, genre-flexible, handles large groups well |
| Considerations | Point-buy character creation can overwhelm newcomers, balance depends heavily on GM oversight, anime-focused tone may not suit all groups, dense attribute list requires bookkeeping | Exploding dice can produce extreme variance in outcomes, setting books vary in depth — some provide minimal mechanical content beyond a genre frame |