Fate Core vs Savage Worlds
Compare Fate Core and Savage Worlds side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, and more.
| Fate Core | Savage Worlds | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Universal | Universal |
| Tags | Narrative, Fiction-First, Character-Driven, Collaborative, Tag-Based, Toolkit, Worldbuilding, Rules-Light, Social Combat, Strong GM Support | Cinematic, Fast-Paced, Tactical, Pulp Action, Heroic, Miniatures |
| Core Mechanic | Roll four Fate dice and add a skill rating to compare with the opposition. Spend Fate points to invoke a relevant aspect for +2 or a reroll. Accept an aspect-based complication to gain a Fate point. | Roll trait die + wild die (d6), keep the highest. Target number 4. Raises every +4. |
| Dice | 4dF | d4–d12 |
| Complexity | Low | Medium |
| Availability | Free core rules | Free quickstart |
| Runnability | 5 of 5 book tools | 5 of 5 book tools |
| License | CC BY 3.0 (SRD) | Savage Worlds Adventurer's Guild |
| Third-Party Publishing | Commercial publishing allowed — Open license | Not yet researched |
| Summary only, not legal advice. Check current terms before publishing. | ||
| Publisher | Evil Hat Productions | Pinnacle Entertainment |
| Year | 2013 | 2018 |
| Languages | English, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian | English, French, Italian, Spanish, German, Portuguese, Russian, Chinese, Hebrew |
| Best For | Groups who want to build their own setting and follow capable heroes through personal complications and dramatic conflicts. | Fast-paced pulp action across any genre. Great for large groups and mass combat. |
| Highlights | Compels turn character weaknesses into story complications that earn Fate points. Creating advantages gives allies free aspect invocations to combine for decisive actions. Conceding a conflict preserves some control over defeat and earns Fate points for later scenes. | Fast resolution, genre-flexible, handles large groups well |
| Considerations | Aspect use depends on agreement about which fictional details apply. Full character and setting creation can take an entire session. Magic and other extras require group decisions about permissions and costs. | Exploding dice can produce extreme variance in outcomes, setting books vary in depth: some provide minimal mechanical content beyond a genre frame |