Generally when I write my stories, I'm more focused on making orcs be plausibly orcs, and then letting the PCs figure out the best way through whatever made sense in the context of the setting. It is a philosophical departure from D&D, but I've found you see a lot more clever avoidance of fights by PCs when the world is designed that way.
That said, when I'm looking at the statline for for an antagonist and wondering if it is a good fight I look at the following:
- Can it hit the PCs? (Look at its die type for attacking, make sure you'll hit most PCs at least 25% of the time)
- Can it get through the PCs armor? (As above, look at the damage dice and think about the expected value)
- Conversely, can the PCs hit and damage the antagonist?
- Finally, will the antagonist slaughter the PCs (Look at average damage and hit chances, if you're going to hit most PCs most of the time, and do serious damage, then be careful)
This is a bit more work than just looking at a CR, but after you do it a bit, you'll start to get a "feel" for what works and what doesn't. Also, don't be afraid to modify stats some to suit your needs- if a normal orc doesn't do it, maybe they should be up against a bigger, nastier breed orc with some better combat stats.
I think there are some suggestions I can offer, but first I wanted to check with one of the comments that you have made.
You say that characters with a d6 in shooting can't hit. This seems a little off because the odds for hitting a TN of 4, i.e. a target at short range with no cover, are 75% for a Wild Card. I certainly have players in my games with d4s and d6s in shooting that have no problems with hitting, especially once you take into consideration how frequently a d4 will explode (1 in 4 chance).
Assuming that you are applying the rules properly, I can suggest a few things that will improve the situation:
Melee Combat
Ganging Up - This gives +1 to hit for every ally in combat with your foe up to +4. Even if a character isn't hitting they can assist with giving bonuses to other people.
Push Manoeuvre - This relies on the Strength Attribute rather than Fighting Skill, and allows you to move the target around, cause damage if you have a shield, or knock the target prone.
Wild Attacks - These give +2 to hit and +2 damage, and are extremely effective. Watch out for the reduced Parry you get though.
Smarts/Agility Tricks - These have a similar effect to Taunt and Intimidate, but are more dependent on good teamwork as the -2 Parry on a simple success only lasts until the affected creature's next turn.
I'd try and be as flexible as possible as GM when players come up with ideas for tricks. One of the best examples I've ever had is with someone who grabbed a can of baked beans and threw it whilst shouting 'grenade!' - as a successful smarts trick it had all of the enemy diving for cover
Ranged Combat
Aiming - Do nothing for a round whilst you aim and you get +2 to hit, which is very effective.
Using a shotgun (depending on the setting) - gives +2 to all shooting rolls if you fire a single barrel. Makes you more likely to hit an innocent bystander though.
You've also got double tap (+1 to hit and damage), and three round burst (+2 to hit and damage) with certain weapons.
Other general comments
There are a few general Edges that can assist with low skill combat characters. One that springs to mind is Elan, which gives +2 to any roll you make as a result of spending a Bennie.
Consider giving non-combat characters things to do whilst others are fighting. Dramatic tasks are good for this, but get a bit old if overused. For example, your computer hacker is trying to break into a security system so you can escape the room you're in whilst the rest of the group are holding back the drug enhanced super mutants.
Also don't forget that a successful trick, taunt or intimidate with a raise will shake your opponent, making them MUCH easier to wound. For high toughness creatures this becomes a hugely valuable tactic.
Also, there are a couple of general resources that you might find useful:
Savage Worlds Combat Survival Guide - which summarises the options you have, along with suggestions as to when each of these might be used. It should be noted though that there are a couple of new options introduced in the Deluxe version of the rules, e.g. pushes, that are not covered on this sheet.
Whispers From the Pit - Expanded Trickery - which goes into details about tricks and how to run them as GM. ... looks like this site has been corrupted
Best Answer
I tend to look at the resolution to this problem more from a stand-point of visualization than system. In a slightly off-color blog post last year I called it, 'Premature Imagination.' The key point of that entry was to say that a major failing in approach that can lead to increasing dissatisfaction with, and growing focus on, the problem of whiff & ping is that players and GMs can come to forget that the outcome of the dice determines only results, not the events of the scene, or the way it is imagined and described.
I recognize that the question asks for a way to mitigate the effect of whiff&ping in Savage Worlds, and that the advice to seek out the Combat Survival Guide is a very sound first step, as is the advice from The Geek Life Project about discussing threat leveling in encounters. However, I think that premature imagination also plays a significant role, in that it colors the expected outcome for both GMs and players and tends to make it devolve into a sort of tunnel vision where all the vagaries of chance and change that combat could be, is instead boiled down to hits and misses and amounts of damage.
I approach dealing with the situation by changing the focus of the GM and the players from basing their expectations on the basic function of the die roll, to basing them on the descriptions we invoke in response to them. This is a small thing, but it can have a profound effect. By removing the concept of I swing and miss, and I hit, but did no damage and replacing them with What do these die rolls represent this turn? combat expands into a much more dynamic and opportunity-laden experience that can sometimes even be resolved narratively rather than only by applying damage.
Focusing on what people are attempting, narratively, and then applying the die roll to the attempt, rather than the expected outcome, turns the focus from failure, to a more fluid and ongoing interplay of offense and defense. This in turn helps the players and GM define hooks, openings, weaknesses, opportunities, errors, mistakes, etc in those attacks and defenses which can be turned into bonuses and penalties that can then be applied mechanically to overcome the systemic problems of being able to hit, but not damage, or not being able to hit at all; harnessing the overall creativity and imagination of the group.
If an encounter description shifts from the Player stating that they shoot the mook in the face, to "I line my revolver up on the man's head and pull the trigger!" and then prepare the dice for an aimed shot, they have shifted the focus from what they want to happen to what the character is doing to achieve it. If a miss is rolled, the scene is already partially described. It is not a cold and meaningless "I roll to hit and I miss" but rather a vivid image of the character aiming his smoke wagon at a gangster in the midst of a raid. What happened to interfere with the shot? That is where the focus needs to be to avoid the annoyance generated by Whiff. That is also where the answers to generating the much-needed modifiers to mitigate the problem will be found as the players and GM make their way through detailing the scene. Who knows? The GM might even have the villain capitulate [if that is a desired effect] now that the scene is made so graphically clear. Ping works the same way - What prevented a significant wound? What needs to change to ensure victory? A good example from film is in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom when Indy is fighting the enormous guard in the mines. He has no trouble hitting... ;) Things don't improve until he shifts his tactics to incorporate scene elements such as ore... and a huge crushing machine.
The end result is, once the players and GM have a grip on not being limited to what the function of the die roll is (hit/miss) and return it to facilitating the imagination of the scene by adding complications and results to attempted action (not verifying or preventing completed actions such as "I blow his head off") the resulting descriptions can be harvested to provide the group with the modifiers and conditional/situational information necessary to resolve the systemic problem.