Roll 20 Advice for Savage Worlds by Darrell Hayhurst

Getting Started
1: Create a game. Games > Create New Game.
2: Name the game, don't bother with tags unless you plan to open the game up to strangers.
3: Choose a Character Sheet: *IMPORTANT* choose Savage Worlds Offical (Pinnacle). It's going to do so much of your
work for you.
4: Click I'm Ready, Create Game.
5: Click Launch Game.

Background: Now you're on your Start page. This is also the page the players land on. In the top right if you click the
Pages you'll see options to create new pages, and drag and drop the little red bookmark flag that says "Players" to other
pages. Each page is essentially a different map you can store. As the GM, you can see all the pages and switch around to
them. Your players ONLY see the one that has the red bookmark flag. So you can prepare maps, and the players don't
see anything until you switch them there.

General Settings
These are optional, but recommended for both GMs and players for a truly Savage experience.
6: In the top right click Settings (looks like a Gear).
7: Check to Enable 3d Dice and Automatically Roll 3d Dice.
8: Change Player Video/Avatar Size = Small.
9: Click on the Collections button.
10: Check Show macro quick bar.
11: Under Decks click Show on Playing Cards.

Pro-Tip: If you're not using the Roll20 native video/sound set I want to Broadcast to others and I want to Receive from
others to Nothing (Disable) and then click Reconnect. This prevents sound echoes and other issues.

To upload Maps and Tokens:

1: Click on Art Library.
2: Switch to My Library.
3: Click Upload and upload whatever assets you want to use. Pinnacle has multiple assets such as Bennies available for
free.

Pro-tip: Most tokens should be a .png file sized 280x280 pixels with a transparent background.

4: For a map, click the blue Page Toolbar icon at the top.
5: Click Create new Page.
6: Click on the New Page's name to rename it to something appropriate.
7: Click on that new page so your view switches to it.
8: In the Layers menu (looks like a box), choose Map & Background.
9: Drag your map from the Art Library, either your My Library if you uploaded it, or from Premium Assets if you
purchased it or it was a free sample.
10: Resize your map as desired.
11: Click Layer and switch back to the Objects & Tokens Layer.

Troubleshooting: Objects on the different layers have different properties. Only items on the Objects & Tokens layer can
be freely moved around. These objects also default to snap to a single square on the map. If a token isn't appearing in
the Turn Order, can't be grabbed and moved, or its size is strange it's probably on the wrong layer.
Characters
Characters can take a lot of the work out of playing once they're set up.

1. Make sure that in the Game Settings the Game uses the Savage Worlds Official (Pinnacle) Character Sheet.
2. In the Journal section, click +Add and choose Character.
3. Enter a name, choose In Player's Journals: All Players (for the moment), Can be edited and controlled by: leave Blank
unless this is someone's character.
4. If you have an image upload it or select it from your Art Library tab for the character's Avatar.

Pro-Tip: The Avatar can be a full body image, but I prefer using the same image as the token. In part it keeps it clear who
the character is, but also players can choose to use the character's Avatar instead of their own, and a circular or square
token icon works best for this. To use a character's Avatar, on the Chat tab, at the bottom, where it says As: [You] Send
click the dropdown menu and choose the character from the options.

5: Fill out any Bio&Info you choose, this is the description that all players can see once the character is visible.
6: Click Save Changes.
7: Select the saved character and look at the Character Sheet tab. Set any necessary Traits. Clicking the small d20 icon
rolls that Trait in the chat window.

Pro Tip: Dragging the d20 icon next to a Trait into the empty Macro bar at the bottom of the screen gives you a 'quick
button' to do that roll without opening or clicking on the character sheet. A Trait roll's default name is long and
technical, but right-click and choose Rename to call it something more elegant. If the Macro bar isn't visible, go to
Collections and select Show Macro Quick Bar. If it's hard to see select and de-select Show macro quick bar a few times to
help spot it.

8: Scroll down to the Weapons section of the character sheet to enter common attacks. Click +, name the attack, and
change the Button Behavior to Atk + Damage. If you have a ROF of 2+ entered you also have the option for that button
to be Atkx + Damage. This is GREAT for Frenzy or ROF weapons. Change the skill and damage dice properties as needed.

Pro-Tip: With a macro for a common attack and Spirit most Extras won't even need an open character sheet. Everything
needed is on the Macro bar. Atk + Damage is a huge time-saver for the GM and the players once it's set up correctly.

Setting a Token:
1: Drag the appropriate token from the Art Library onto the map.
2: Click on it, click Settings (the Gear). For Represents Character: choose the saved character. Most of the settings autofill
from there. Importantly, the Name and Controlled By. Show Nameplate is optional but can help keep who the characters
are clear. Save Changes.
3: In the rare case that the token should be a different size, such as a giant monster, right-click on the token and choose
Advanced, then Set Dimensions. Each 1" square on the map is 70 pixels by 70 pixels by default.
4: Open the Journal for that character again. Switch to the Bio & Info tab and click Edit. Click on the Token to make sure
it's selected, then under Default Token in the Journal click Use Selected Token. Click Save Changes.

Pro-Tip: Setting things up this way can be a huge time-saver. When you need to add characters to a map just drag and
drop each character from the Journal list (grab in the middle of the character's name, not the left where you'd move it
up and down the folder list) and it creates an instance of the token as it was when it was saved. This is great for dropping
large numbers of Extras on a map!
Initiative
Roll20 has everything needed for Action Card based Initiative already built in.

1. On the Collection Tab, make sure the Playing Cards Deck is visible. Click on Hide to change it to Show if it's not.
2. Next, set up a Turn Order. Click the Turn Order icon (it looks like a clock). If anything is there click Setup (the Gear on
the bottom) and click Remove all Turns (Clear List).
3. Right-Click on each Hero's token and select Add Turn. Do the same for any Wildcard Villain. Do the same for each
group of Extras. Note that it's usually best to have a single token off the map for the Extra, and add that to Turn Order. If
one of the tokens on the map is used and the figure gets killed, once it's deleted it disappears from the Turn Order and
now the other Extras aren't getting turns anymore!

Pro-Tip: You can click and hold to draw a selection box, and select every token inside, right-click, and hit Add Turn once
to add a turn to everyone all at once.

Troubleshooting: Only tokens on the Objects & Tokens Layer appear to players in the turn order. If they can't see the
villains, they may be on a different Layer. The Turn Order is also seperate for each Map, so if the players are looking at a
different Map than the GM they may see some or none of the Turn Order. Keep it simple, get everyone on the correct
map and all the tokens on the same layer!

4. On the Playing Card Deck, click Deal, and choose "Deal cards to turn order items"

New Cards: If a character has an Edge or Hindrance that requires different cards, the easiest way to handle it is just deal
the new card onto the table by mousing over the Deck and dragging the card that lifts up out onto the table. Once the
final card is accepted, manually type in the new value on the Turn Order, such as Kh for a King of Hearts.

5. Drag and drop the characters into the correct order once all new cards are handled.

Pro Tip: There is a button that arranges cards automatically by suit, but if any manually edited cards are in the list it
won't work right. It's also very easy to click the wrong button and ruin the Turn Order dealt. It's safest and easiest to just
drag and drop.

6: After a Joker comes up, click on the Playing Cards Deck, choose Recall, then Shuffle. Now the Deck is shuffled and
ready to deal again. Note that this won't affect the Turn Order. Once the cards are "dealt" to it they are in a tracked
discard pile, the Turn Order just has the copied value of the card so hitting Recall won't delete them or change them.

Pro Tip: If someone goes on Hold just change their card to HO. There's no easy way to not deal them a new card, so just
change a new turn's card to HO. Once someone finishes acting delete the card in the Turn Order and drag them to the
bottom of the list. It keeps the Action order very clear!
Bennies
Disclaimer: There's more than one way to handle Bennies in Roll20, this is just the method I prefer.

Creating a Benny "Deck"

1: Go to the Collections Tab, under Decks click +Add.
2: Click on the "New Deck" that appears. Change the Name to Bennies and check Cards in deck are infinite.
3: Upload an image for your Bennies. Pinnacle provided plenty of options for these in their VTT kits. Drag and drop the
file for the Card Backing image (or Choose a file to upload one).
4: Click +Add Card. Call the card Benny and use the same image or a different one for the front of the Benny. Click Save
Changes.
5: Click Save Changes for the Deck.
6: Choose Show under the Deck options in Collections.

Using a Benny Deck

1: At the start of the game click Deal, enter 3 and choose "All players". Everyone, including the GM (who counts as a
player) now has a "hand" of 3 Bennies, which appear above their names.
2: Deal any extra Bennies needed to the GM only, or individual players with Luck.
3: When a player does something cool award them another Benny just by clicking Deal, 1 card to that player.
4: When a player draws a Joker deal 1 card to all players. (The GM gets an extra one, just drop it back on the table.)
5: To use a Benny, players should announce it and then do whatever action it was spent for: re-roll, soak, etc. Once
everything is resolved, including spending extra Bennies for more rolls, open your hand by clicking on the Benny above
your name. Just drag any Bennies used from your hand to the tabletop, where they can be deleted. Use the same
process to get rid of extra Bennies if a character is Unlucky or the GM gets dealt a Benny along with the players.

Advantages
There are several positives to using this method for Bennies. The GM can see how many Bennies each player has and tell
if someone is starting to run out and maybe needs a little help. It also allows the GM to properly reward players,
announcing that someone has earned a Benny and then dealing one into their hand. Using different thematic Bennies
for games is very possible with very little effort.

Disadvantages
The downside to this method is there is an extra deck on the table. New players can struggle trying to spend Bennies at
first, and there can be a long pause while people fumble with game hands when really, they should focus on rolling first.
If a GM deals Bennies to the Initiative Order it's catastrophic, and it's likewise messy accidentally dealing Action Cards
into players hands.

Conviction
The exact same method may be used to create a separate deck for Conviction. The advantages are the same, but the
disadvantages are even more pronounced. Since the Official Character Sheet has a selector for Conviction it's usually
easier to just handle that via the sheet.
Status
For most "Status" operations it's best to use basic "Up, Down, and Off the Table" operations.
Shaken: By default, when you click on a token you can select the Circle button that appears below it to set one of a list of
different states. The red X puts a big red X over the token and works great to simulate a figure being knocked "Down."
Just click the X again to remove it once the figure recovers from Shaken.
Incapacitated: For true "Off the table" just click the token and press the delete button on the keyboard. For NPC's this is
fine. For players don't delete them until they are dead since they still get cards to resolve Bleeding Out and similar
effects. Just leave the big red X on them, no other state marker is necessary to denote that they're Incapacitated,
Bleeding Out, and so on. The pained cries of the player are all that's needed there.

Advanced Status

To deal with more advanced state tracking it usually works best to simulate the table-top experience, which means
creating tokens for the states and dropping them on top of characters and deleting them as they come and go.

1: Upload a token for each status you want to track. I recommend Distracted, Vulnerable, Entangled, and Stunned.
2: Go to Journals, click +Add, select Folder and name it named Status Tokens
3: Still in Journals, click +Add, select Character this time, and create a character for each different Status you have a
token for. Use the token as its Avatar. For Bio & Info copy the rules for the state and how to recover from it.
4: Drag a copy of the token out on the desktop, Right-Click on it, and choose Advanced. Click Set Dimensions and enter
35 by 35. This makes the token half the normal size on the grid, so it won't completely cover the character its placed
atop. Click Set.
5: Click on the Setup option for the token (it looks like a Gear), and for Represents Character pick the Status character
that was already created.
6: On that Status character, under Default Token (Optional) click to Use Selected. Make sure In Player's Journals and Can
Be Edited & Controlled By are both set to All Players. Save Changes.

In play now the GM and players have a folder of these Status tokens. A status can be dragged from the list and dropped
on any figure. The list also provides a reference so if unique tokens are used for Status it's clear what each state means
and what the rules around it are.