Vehicle Forge — User Manual

Overview

Vehicle Forge is a browser-based vehicle and mount builder for Savage Worlds. It covers everything from a courier's motorbike to a capital warship or an interstellar cruiser, using the Science Fiction Companion's vehicle and mass-combat framework as its foundation.

No login is required. Vehicle Forge runs entirely in your browser. A build is held in memory during your session — export it before closing the tab if you want to keep it, or use the Hangar to save builds locally for the session.

The tool works in two modes, switched from the command strip at the top: Hangar, your library of saved and canon builds, and Workshop, where you build and edit a vehicle.

Vehicle Forge does not auto-save to a server. Export your build (JSON is the safest round-trip format) before closing the browser if you want to return to it later.

Quick Start →

Quick Start

1 Switch to Workshop mode and give your vehicle a name.

2 On the Build step, set Size and pick a Locomotion type — this fixes your base cost multiplier and available speed range.

3 Adjust the build fields (Toughness, Armour, Speed, Handling, Wounds, Crew, Passengers) away from Standard as your concept requires.

4 Move to the Mods step and add any modifications — each has a mod-point cost and, usually, a credit cost.

5 Move to the Weapons step and mount weapons from the 156-entry catalogue, filtered by era.

6 Move to the Specials step and add any Special Abilities the vehicle needs.

7 Check the stat block in the display panel, then export — Copy Stat Block, FG .mod, .json, or FG XML.

← Overview Interface Layout →

Interface Layout

The command strip along the top switches between the two modes:

Mode	Purpose
Hangar	Your library. Tabs filter between All, Canon (pack-supplied reference builds), and Mine (builds you've saved this session).
Workshop	The build screen. A chevron bar along the top of the Workshop steps through Build, Mods, Weapons, and Specials.

Installed Modifications are always visible in Workshop mode regardless of which step you're on, so you can see your running mod-point spend as you work.

← Quick Start The Build Fields →

The Build Fields

Nine fields govern a vehicle's core profile. Each of Toughness, Armour, Speed, Handling, Wounds, and Crew runs on a level scale either side of Standard (0) — nudge it up or down rather than entering a raw number, and the tool computes the underlying stat for you.

Field	What it controls
Size	Drives the vehicle's Class letter and base cost. Size 1–30 on the slider.
Toughness	Level adjustment to structural durability, Standard by default.
Armour	Level adjustment to Armour value, Standard by default.
Speed	Level adjustment to top speed within the chosen Locomotion type's range.
Handling	Level adjustment to the vehicle's Handling modifier.
Wounds	Level adjustment to Wounds before Incapacitation. At vehicle scale, a Wound represents sustained attrition — fires, cascades, accumulated damage — rather than a single hit.
Crew	Minimum crew required to operate the vehicle.
Passengers	Additional seating beyond crew, 0–200.
MPH Override	Optional. Leave at 0 for the tool to calculate top speed automatically from Locomotion type and Speed level; set a value to override it directly.

← Interface Layout Locomotion Types →

Locomotion Types

14 locomotion types across five categories. Locomotion sets the base speed rating, the cost multiplier, and which special rules apply.

Ground

Type	Base Speed	Notes
Wheeled	4	Standard wheels.
Tracked	3	Ignores Difficult Ground.
Hover	5	Ignores low obstacles and water.

Air

Type	Base Speed	Notes
Aircraft, VTOL	7	VTOL, hover, or fly.
Aircraft, Turboprop	10	Min speed 60 MPH or Out of Control.
Aircraft, Jet	12	Min speed 120 MPH or Out of Control.

Water

Type	Base Speed	Notes
Water, Sail	2	Wind-powered. Speed varies with conditions. No fuel cost.
Water, Propeller	3	Boat or ship, propeller or oar driven.
Water, Jet	4	Boat or ship, jet driven.

Walker

Type	Base Speed	Notes
Legs (Bipedal)	6	Walker rules. Fighting, Stomp, Death From Above.
Legs (Multileg)	5	Walker rules. 3+ legs: Reroll failed Piloting vs Out of Control.

Spacecraft

Type	Base Speed	Notes
Spacecraft, Thruster	8	Reaction thrust. Maneuvering, station-keeping, orbital repositioning.
Spacecraft, FTL	15	Interstellar-capable drive. FTL travel between star systems.

Setting Speed to a custom figure beyond the type's normal range, or below its stall speed for Turboprop and Jet aircraft, is possible via MPH Override but should be used deliberately.

← The Build Fields The Class System →

The Class System

Vehicle Forge classifies both vehicles and weapons on the same Science Fiction Companion scale — a single letter derived from Toughness (vehicles) or Damage (weapons). The bands are not evenly spaced: the first band is wider, then the scale steps in even 10-point increments.

Vehicle Class (by Toughness)

Class	Toughness range
A	1–15
B	16–25
C	26–35
D	36–45
E	46–55
F	56–65
G	66–75
H	76–85
I	86–95
J	96–105
K	106–115
L	116–125
Z	126 and above — catch-all for anything past the named scale

Weapon Class (by Damage)

Class	Damage range
A	1–20
B	21–30
C	31–40
D	41–50
E	51–60
F	61–70
G	71–80
H	81–90
I	91–100
J	101–110
K	111–120
L	121–125
Z	126 and above — catch-all for anything past the named scale

Class letters appear in the exported stat block as Class X (Roman numeral) — a Glassforge convention layered on top of the Companion's numeric scale, not a replacement for it.

← Locomotion Types Walker Systems →

Walker Systems

Legged locomotion (Bipedal or Multileg) unlocks a dedicated Walker Systems modification category and interacts with a few rules other locomotion types don't touch.

Mod	Effect
Jump Jets	Thruster-assisted leap. Move as VTOL once per encounter. Walker only. Clear obstacles, reposition, or perform Death From Above.
Dual Cockpit	Pilot and gunner operate independently. Removes multi-action penalties between manoeuvring and firing. Walker only.

Bipedal walkers use Fighting, Stomp, and Death From Above rules at the table. Multileg (3+ legs) walkers reroll failed Piloting checks against Out of Control instead.

← The Class System Weapons →

Weapons

156 weapons spanning seven eras, from ancient siege engines to advanced-era exotic and capital-scale armaments. Filter the Weapons step by era to narrow the list to your setting.

By Era

Era	Weapon Count
Ancient	8
Medieval	9
Black Powder	9
Industrial	17
Modern	30
Future	48
Advanced	35
Total	156

By Category

Category	Count
Cannons	19
Missiles	16
Capital Weapons	13
Siege Engines	11
Mass Drivers	11
Torpedoes	9
Ordnance	9
Autocannons	9
Blackpowder Guns	7
Rockets	7
Lasers	7
Particle Weapons	7
Machine Guns	5
Slugthrowers	4
Ion Weapons	4
Melee Systems	3
Plasma Weapons	3
Incendiaries	2
Defensive Systems	2
Flamethrowers	2
Naval Guns	2
Stun Weapons	2
Exotic Weapons	2

Weapon stat lines (Range, Damage, AP, RoF) live in the tool itself and aren't reproduced here — open the Weapons step and filter by era or category to browse them directly.

← Walker Systems Modifications →

Modifications

42 modifications across eight categories. Each costs mod points (some negative — Drawbacks refund points in exchange for a limitation) and usually a credit cost scaled by Size.

Drawbacks

Modification	Effect
Unmanned	No crew compartment. Remote or AI controlled. Immune to crew-targeting but vulnerable to signal disruption.
Open Crew	Crew positions exposed. Take 1: Medium Cover (-4). Take 2: Light Cover (-2). Take 3: No Cover. Chariots, technicals, open-topped vehicles.
Temperamental	Unreliable systems. Repair at -1 per take. Snake eyes on any vehicle roll shorts a random system for 1 round.
Gas-Guzzler	Burns fuel at +50% rate. Range reduced accordingly. The price of power.
Low-Tech	No electrical systems. Immune to EMP but cannot mount any electronic modifications.
Skeleton Crew	Crew capacity halved. All tasks at -1 from being short-handed.
Bone Shaker	Rough ride. Unstable Platform penalty is -3 instead of -2. Constant vibration makes everything harder.
Death Trap	Catastrophic failure mode. Full collision damage to crew, eject at -2, crew take +2 damage from penetrating hits.

Core Systems

Modification	Effect
Machine Intelligence	AI-assisted operation. 1st take: d6+Wild Die independent action. 2nd: d8. 3rd: d10 + one free action per round.
Enhanced Sensors	Advanced optics and sensors. 30x magnification, ignore 2 points of Illumination penalty, +1 Notice.
Tactical Relay	Shares targeting data and sensory feeds with linked allied vehicles. +1 to Battle rolls when networked.
Signal Rig	Long-range communication. 1st take: 15 mile range. 2nd: 75 miles. +1 to cooperative rolls within range.
Remote Operator	Remotely controlled from a separate location at -1 Piloting/Driving. Requires Signal Rig installed.
Detection Grid	Area surveillance system. Auto-detects movement within 40 yards. +2 Notice vs hidden or concealed targets.
Sensor Array	Multi-spectrum scanning. Range: 1 light-year or line of sight. Full round to deploy, vehicle is Vulnerable. +2 Notice at extreme range.

Defensive Systems

Modification	Effect
Sloped Armour	Angled armour plate. -2 to enemy Shooting rolls against front arc (direct-fire energy and kinetic weapons only).
Armoured Facing	Heavier frontal protection than sides and rear. Each take reduces flank and rear Armour by 25% of the front value (minimum 0). Take 1: \u221225%. Take 2: \u221250%. Take 3: \u221275%. Take 4: no side/rear armour. Called Shot to flank/rear (−2 Shooting) applies penalty; also applies automatically when attacker achieves a flanking position.
Countermeasure Suite	Jammers, chaff, and flares. +2 to evade Guided Weapons. One free Evasion reroll per encounter.
Surge Protection	Hardened electronics. Halve all EMP and ion penalties (round down).
Crew Escape	Emergency evacuation. Ejection seats (Size 6 and under) or escape pods (Size 7+). Agility or Smarts roll at -1.
Nanorepair System	Self-repairing hull. 1st take: roll d6 each round, 5-6 heals 1 Wound. 2nd take: heals on 4-6.
Deflection Field	Energy shielding. Charges equal to half Wounds. Soak damage with Smarts roll. Recharges 1 per round out of combat.
Stealth System	Radar-absorbent materials or active camouflage. -4 to detect with Electronics. Low-observable profile.

Offensive Systems

Modification	Effect
Gimballed Weapons	Enhanced weapon articulation. Reduces Unstable Platform penalty to -1 for all direct-fire weapons.
Fire Control	Computerised targeting system. Reduces Shooting penalties by 1 (Called Shot, Cover, Range, Scale, Speed). On a raise, by 2.

Locomotion & Power

Modification	Effect
Amphibious Kit	Sealed hull and water propulsion. Can enter water at Handling -1, Speed 2. 2nd take: Speed 3.
Boost Injector	Nitrous, afterburner, or emergency thrust. Once per encounter: +1 Speed Rating for one round per take.
Reserve Tanks	Extended fuel capacity. +50% operational range per take. Doubles endurance for long-range operations.
Off-Road Package	Reinforced suspension and skid plates. Wheeled vehicles only. Halves Difficult Ground penalties.
Fusion Core	Fusion power plant. Energy capacity x8. Locomotion Critical Hit: roll d6, 1-2 = core breach.
Road Vehicle	Optimised for paved surfaces. Wheeled only. +3 Speed Ratings on roads, -1 Handling off-road.
Submersible	Pressure hull and ballast tanks. Submerge as an action, -4 to detect. 2nd take: deep dive capable, crush-proof.
Variable Form	Transforming chassis. Switch between two locomotion types as an action. Use base Toughness in both forms.

Personnel

Modification	Effect
Berths	Sleeping quarters for extended operations. Each take adds living space for 8 crew or passengers.
Comfort Upgrade	Climate control and sound insulation. Take 1: +1 Spirit. Take 2: +2 Spirit, +1 Persuasion. Take 3: +3 Spirit, +2 Persuasion.
Troop Bay	Infantry compartment with rapid-deployment ramp. 8 passengers per take, designed for short tactical insertions.
Specialist Workshop	Onboard skill-specific facility (medical bay, armoury, lab, etc.). +2 to relevant Trait rolls performed aboard.
Environmental Seal	Life support and pressurisation. Airtight, climate controlled. Operates safely in vacuum, toxic atmosphere, or radiation.

Structural

Modification	Effect
Vehicle Bay	Internal hangar. Carry up to 8 Size points of smaller vehicles per take. Includes fuelling and maintenance facilities.
Compact Engineering	Miniaturised components and efficient packaging. Each take frees internal capacity for additional systems.

Walker Systems

Modification	Effect
Jump Jets	Thruster-assisted leap. Move as VTOL once per encounter. Walker only. Clear obstacles, reposition, or perform Death From Above.
Dual Cockpit	Pilot and gunner operate independently. Removes multi-action penalties between manoeuvring and firing. Walker only.

← Weapons Special Abilities →

Special Abilities

37 Special Abilities across six categories — free narrative and mechanical flags that don't consume mod points, covering how a vehicle moves, how crew experience it, how durable or fragile it is, and its operational quirks.

Movement

Special Ability	Effect
Amphibious	Can enter water at half Speed. Not a true watercraft — limited to calm conditions.
Four Wheel Drive	Halve Difficult Ground movement penalties (round down).
All-Terrain	Ignore Difficult Ground penalties entirely. Designed for rough country.
STOL	Short Takeoff and Landing. Needs only half the normal runway distance.
Unpowered	No propulsion system. Drifts with current, wind, or gravity. Effective Speed 0.
Shallow Draft	Can navigate rivers, shallows, and coastal waters inaccessible to deeper-hulled vessels.
Deep Draft	Requires deep water. Cannot enter shallows, rivers, or shallow harbours without risk of grounding.

Crew

Special Ability	Effect
Open Top	No overhead cover. Crew can be targeted directly. Ranged attacks against crew ignore vehicle Armour.
Enclosed	Sealed cabin. Crew protected from weather, debris, and environmental hazards.
Cramped	Tight interior. –1 to all physical actions performed inside the vehicle.
Spacious	Generous interior. Crew can move freely, change positions, even sleep aboard.
Ejection System	Pilot can eject as a free action. Lands safely on a Piloting roll at –2.
Cargo Bay	Internal bay large enough to carry smaller vehicles, mounts, or bulk cargo.

Durability

Special Ability	Effect
Heavy Armor	Only Heavy Weapons can damage this vehicle. Halves collision damage from non-Heavy Armor vehicles.
Sealed	Airtight. Proof against gas, vacuum, NBC hazards. Requires life support for extended use.
Pressurised	Maintains internal pressure at altitude or depth. Breach causes explosive decompression.
Fireproof	Resistant to fire and incendiary weapons. Halve fire damage.
Waterproof	Survives immersion without damage. Electronics and cargo protected from water.
Ram Plate	Reinforced prow or bumper. +2 damage on ram attacks. Vehicle takes half ram damage.

Operational

Special Ability	Effect
Long Range	Extended fuel capacity or efficient engines. Double normal operational range.
Short Range	Limited endurance. Half normal operational range. Common in fighters and interceptors.
Stealth	Low observable profile. –2 to Notice or Electronics rolls to detect this vehicle.
Loud	Extremely noisy. +2 to Notice rolls to detect. Can be heard long before it arrives.
Night Operations	Equipped for darkness. Headlights, IR systems, or NV as standard. No darkness penalties for driver.
Smoke Screen	Deploy smoke as a free action. Creates a LBT of obscuring smoke that lasts 3 rounds.
Flares / Chaff	Countermeasures against guided missiles. Electronics roll to spoof incoming guided weapons.
Towing Capacity	Rated for towing. Can tow another vehicle up to its own Size without penalty.

Quirks

Special Ability	Effect
Temperamental	Has a personality. Responds to its handler and may refuse strangers. Treat as a character for social purposes.
Famous / Infamous	This vehicle is well-known. +2 or –2 to social interactions depending on reputation and audience.
Cursed	Something is wrong with this vehicle. The GM draws a card each session — on a Club, something goes wrong.
Haunted	Inhabited by a presence. Lights flicker, instruments drift, voices in the static. May help or hinder.
Sentient	The vehicle has its own mind. It has a Spirit die and may cooperate, argue, or refuse orders.
Unreliable System	One specific system fails on snake eyes. Specify which system when this ability is taken.
Prototype	One of a kind or experimental. Spare parts unavailable. Repair at –2 but the vehicle has capabilities nothing else does.

Combat Systems

Special Ability	Effect
Bash	Drive bulk into a target as part of a move. Piloting vs defender Piloting/Agility. HW. Wild Attack (+2 attack, −2 Parry). Min Sz 4. Damage by Size — Sz 4–5: 2d6 AP4 \| Sz 6–7: 2d8 AP6 \| Sz 8–9: 3d8 AP8 \| Sz 10–11: 3d10 AP10 \| Sz 12–14: 4d10 AP13 \| Sz 15–19: 4d12 AP16 \| Sz 20+: 6d10 AP20
Stomp	The vehicle rears up and brings its full mass down on an adjacent target. Full action — cannot move and stomp in the same round. Piloting roll TN 4. Damage and AP scale with Size: Sz 8–9: 3d10 AP16 / Sz 10–11: 4d10 AP20 / Sz 12–14: 4d12 AP26 / Sz 15–19: 6d10 AP32 / Sz 20+: 6d12 AP40. Heavy Weapon, Medium Burst Template. On a raise, target is knocked Prone. Minimum Size 8. Recommended: walkers, legged constructs, and creatures with mass.
Creature Attack	A natural weapon — bite, claw, gore, or trample. Uses Fighting skill. Flat damage pool scales with Size: Sz 1–3: 1d8 AP0 / Sz 4–5: 2d8 AP(Sz/2) / Sz 6–7: 4d8 AP(Sz/2) / Sz 8–9: 4d8 AP(Sz/2) / Sz 10–11: 5d10 AP(Sz/2) / Sz 12–14: 5d10 AP(Sz/2) / Sz 15–19: 6d10 AP(Sz/2) / Sz 20+: 6d12 AP(Sz/2). Heavy Weapon for Sz 8+. Trample variant: AP equals vehicle Size. For beast-class vehicles, mounts, and living constructs.

← Modifications Export Formats →

Export Formats

Format	What it's for
Copy Stat Block	Copies a plain-text Savage Worlds stat block to your clipboard — paste straight into notes, a VTT chat window, or a document.
FG .mod	A Fantasy Grounds module file, ready to drop into FGU's modules folder.
.json	Vehicle Forge's own round-trip format. Use this to save a build you want to re-import and keep editing later, or to share a build with another Vehicle Forge user.
FG XML	Raw Fantasy Grounds XML, for import via the SWADE Importer extension or manual reference lookup.

JSON is the only format that reliably round-trips back into the tool for further editing. The others are one-way exports for use at the table or in Fantasy Grounds.

← Special Abilities Pack System →

Pack System

Vehicle Forge ships with four Core Collections installed by default, and can load additional genre packs (.vfx files) to extend the Hangar with pre-built reference vehicles for a specific setting or genre. Packs are additive — installing one never removes or overwrites another.

Across every pack currently in the manifest, Vehicle Forge's combined library holds 867 pre-built vehicles.

Core Collection	Vehicles
Core Collection — Roads & Wheels	11
Core Collection — Armour & Iron	13
Core Collection — Wings & Rotors	15
Core Collection — Hulls & Harbours	8

Beyond the four Core Collections (installed by default), 41 genre packs are available as optional installs, grouped into 21 families:

Family	Packs in Family
Arcane Conveyances	Magic & Mystery
Beasts of Battle	Human Kingdoms & Elven Hosts
Blood & Thunder	Age of Sail; Cursed Ships & Ghost Fleets; Broadsides & Buccaneers
Blood on the Bayou	River Boats & Southern Gothic
Chrome & Fury	High Speed Chase
Dread & Ruin	Gothic Horror; Weird West Horrors; Apocalyptic Horrors; Haunted Vehicles; Cosmic & Lovecraftian Horror
Dust & Thunder	The Weird West; Ghost Rock Contraptions; Outlaws & Lawmen; Pulp Western; Frontier Cavalry
Fang & Claw	Heavy Lance; Kaiju Defence Force
Iron & Shadow	Weird War Horrors
Iron & Steam	Dwarven War Engines & Chaos Machines
Iron & Steel	WWII Western Front; Weird War Walkers
Leviathans & Legends	Extreme Vehicles of All Eras
Rust & Ruin	Road Warriors; Wasteland Survivors
Sails & Gasbags	Fantasy Skyfleet; Skyship Warfare
Siege & Shadow	Dark Lord's Host & Undead Legions
Star & Void	Frontier Runners; Alien Encounters; Battle Fleet
Star Empires	The Dominion Wars; Xenos and Corporate
Teeth & Tusks	Orc Warhost & Monster Empire Armies
Thunder & Chrome	Pulp Land & Sea
Thunder & Propellers	Pulp Aviation; Pulp Weird Science
Wire & Chrome	Street Level; Megacity Runners; Corporate Firepower

Availability of individual genre packs depends on what's been released — check DriveThruRPG for current pack listings. This table reflects what's in the live install manifest, not a release commitment.

← Export Formats Troubleshooting →

Troubleshooting

My build didn't save

Vehicle Forge holds your work in memory for the session. If you close the tab without exporting or saving to the Hangar first, it's gone. Export to JSON regularly if you're working on something you don't want to lose.

A pack won't load

Confirm the .vfx file wasn't renamed or altered after download, and that it matches the version of Vehicle Forge you're running — packs are versioned against the tool.

Export looks wrong in Fantasy Grounds

Re-export and re-import — a stale FG .mod file from an earlier tool version can carry outdated field names. If the problem persists, use the FG XML export via the SWADE Importer extension instead.

← Pack System About & Licence →

About & Licence

Vehicle Forge is original Glassforge Games content, built for use with the Savage Worlds core rules from Pinnacle Entertainment Group. You will need a copy of the Savage Worlds core rules to use the stat blocks this tool produces.

Fantasy Grounds and Foundry VTT are trademarks of their respective owners; export support for those platforms is provided for interoperability and does not imply endorsement.

This manual documents Vehicle Forge v2.3.70. It is regenerated directly from the live tool's data — reference tables above reflect what's actually in the tool, not a fixed snapshot.

← Troubleshooting