Iron Kingdoms Savage Conversion - Stats
As I said in the my previous post. I have already started my Iron Campaign with the Savage Worlds system. I made a basic conversion of the Iron Kingdoms RPG to Savage Worlds so that my players can start playing. But now, I realize that there are some things that does not feel as they do in the Iron Kingdoms RPG. So I have to step up my conversion so the flavor of the Iron Kingdoms will be preserved.
In my conversion I have three goals. I have to be able to play soon, I have to be able to convert Iron Kingdoms Stat Blocks from the bestiary easily and if possible I have to be able to convert a full fledged character to Savage Worlds. All of that has to stick to the Savage Worlds creed, Fun, Fast and Furious.
So in my initial approach, I look at the Iron Kingdoms Career system, like a class in d20 RPGs and the like, and found appropriated edges in the Savage Worlds books or create one if it doesn’t exit. At that point I didn’t red all the core rule book of Iron Kingdoms and some things weren’t as good. For example, I created an Arcane Background (Warcaster) that’s totally useless compare to other Arcane Backgrounds. But when I created my first draft, I just wanted to be able to play soon, so my conversion was hasty.
Now that my group is actually playing in the Iron Kingdoms, I see as a game master that if I took a more system to system approach, my live would have been easier, because I could just pick up the bestiary and convert the stat block and use these monsters in the game and the flavor would have been preserved.
But, I think it’s now to late, so that’s why I revisit my conversion. If I change an edge my players are using, I will let them the choice to keep the one they have or to use the new one. I think it’s only fair for them to let them play what they intended at first.
So, to take a system to system approach, I think it’s wise to start with character traits, in Savage Worlds terms or stats in Iron Kingdoms one. So here I table representing Iron Kingdoms stats and their Savage Worlds counter-parts based on the description in both book. I will not copy past those description, because it’s copyrighted materials and I don’t want to be sewed.
| IK Stat | SW Trait |
|---|---|
| Physique (PHY) | Vigor |
| Speed (SPD) | Pace |
| Strength (STR) | Strength |
| Agility (AGI) | Agility |
| Poise (POI) | Shooting / Throwing |
| Prowess (PRW) | Fighting |
| Intellect (INT) | Smart |
| Arcane (ARC) | Arcane Background Skill |
| Perception (PER) | Notice |
| Willpower (WIL) | Spirit |
| Defense (DEF) | Parry |
| Initiative | n/a |
| Armor (ARM) | Toughness |
In Iron Kingdoms, character statistic can range from 2 to 8, and in Savage Worlds it’s from d4 to d12+2. In both case, the last step is only available at Epic/Legendary tier of play. So it’s as simple as one to one mapping.
On more interesting point, is that really strong race, like the Ogrun, can go up to 10 in their STR stat. And in Savage Worlds Deluxe edition, in the race creation section, you can give a race a d8 as a starting value and that can go as high as d12+4 so even with our exception it will work.
| IK Stat Value | SW Trait Dice |
|---|---|
| 2 | d4 |
| 3 | d6 |
| 4 | d8 |
| 5 | d10 |
| 6 | d12 |
| 7 | d12 + 1 |
| 8 | d12 + 2 |
| 9 | d12 + 3 |
| 10 | d12 + 4 |
So, to convert that table in a simple mathematical expression. SW Trait Dice = d(2xIK Stat Value). That way I don’t have to remember the whole table by heart and can really quickly convert an enemy stat card.
For Willpower to Spirit I’ll have to use a different approach. Since Willpower is the addition of two different statistics I have to evaluate based on the bestary compared to equivalent monsters in Savage Worlds and there is no simple mathematical formula.
| IK Willpower Value | SW trait dice |
|---|---|
| 1 - 5 | d4 |
| 6 - 7 | d6 |
| 8 - 9 | d8 |
| 10 - 11 | d10 |
| 12 + | d12 |
And for Defence and Armor, I’ll use that simple formula for quick convertion (because normally I calculate the parry and toughness based on Abilities, traits, edges and equipements).
| IK trait | SW trait formula |
|---|---|
| Defense(DEF) | Parry = ( DEF + 1 ) / 2 |
| Armor (ARM) | Toughness = ( ARM + 1 ) / 2 |
In my next post, I’ll talk about skills from Iron Kingdoms to Savage Worlds.