ESSER vs Savage Worlds
Compare ESSER and Savage Worlds side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| ESSER | Savage Worlds | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Universal | Universal |
| Tags | Rules-Light, Theater of the Mind, One-Shot Friendly, Short Sessions, Fast-Paced, Low-Prep, Freeform Magic, Cinematic, Classless, Roll to Cast | Cinematic, Fast-Paced, Tactical, Pulp Action, Heroic, Miniatures |
| Core Mechanic | Roll d20 + skill bonus + attribute bonus. A result of 1–9 fails with a complication, 10–14 succeeds at a cost, 15–19 fully succeeds, and 20+ succeeds with an epic effect. | Roll trait die + wild die (d6), keep the highest. Target number 4. Raises every +4. |
| Dice | d20 | d4–d12 |
| Complexity | Very Low | Medium |
| Accessibility | Very High | High |
| Runnability | Medium | Very High |
| License | Proprietary | Savage Worlds Adventurer's Guild |
| Third-Party Publishing | No verified route found | Not yet researched |
| Summary only, not legal advice. Check current terms before publishing. | ||
| Cost | Free | $$ |
| Publisher | Espen Erlandsen | Pinnacle Entertainment |
| Year | 2026 | 2018 |
| Languages | English | English, French, Italian, Spanish, German, Portuguese, Russian, Chinese, Hebrew |
| Best For | Groups seeking a two-hour, genre-flexible one-shot where the same d20 engine handles action and conversation. | Fast-paced pulp action across any genre. Great for large groups and mass combat. |
| Highlights | The same d20 roll handles standard checks and direct contests, making transitions between scene types quick. Interface scales open-ended supernatural or technical effects by skill tier, letting one procedure cover magic and hacking. NPCs need a core bonus, Strikes, and an optional trait, so a GM can prepare threats with few statistics. | Fast resolution, genre-flexible, handles large groups well |
| Considerations | No default setting is provided, so groups must supply a world for their adventure. Gear grants fictional permission rather than numeric bonuses, limiting equipment-based builds. Strikes reset after each adventure, so the track does not preserve mechanical attrition between adventures. | Exploding dice can produce extreme variance in outcomes, setting books vary in depth: some provide minimal mechanical content beyond a genre frame |