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There's about 25,000 years of history in the Savage game, and current play takes place in the 7th Age of the world. During the 4th Age, the Dragons came to the world from somewhere else and took control of it completely. During the 5th Age, they raised all of the races up as slaves. During the 6th Age, which was just over a thousand years ago, all of the races rose up against the Dragons and sent them back to where they came from. In doing so however, they did two major things to the world: all of the magic got sucked out of one of the continents and people there, and an area of land full of high magic in another continent was ripped asunder, creating an area where mutant creatures started appearing. This area was sealed off by magic, but things still leak through. Now in the 7th Age, there's war coming between those that don't have magic and those don't. Think steampunk vs magic, and imagine the final battle at the end of LOTR. 

The cool thing about the special. Arcane background for the game is that it's more like a template or archetype that can be taken along with others, and in which powers are unlocked as certain experience levels are met. I've got about a dozen archetypes that can be chosen so far. As the players make it up the power scale, they eventually get to the powers of god-like creatures and they really change the way the world is.

It's also relatively easy for kids to get to grips with, particularly the dice system. With the TN staying pretty much static, and the dice being rolled changing it means they can focus on the story and the game. That makes it great way to train them for roleplaying rather than rollplaying. Once they're comfortable with that, introducing them to more complex game systems means that they can enjoy playing while picking up the mechanics of the new game system. I think that's the best approach to playing with kids - engage them in the storytelling first, and then introduce mechanics. Once you've got them hooked on the story, they'll unconsciously pick up the rules for the system and know it quickly.

A lot of people diss 4e, but one of the things I love about it, as do my kids, is the Powers. I make sure that during a game, when someone uses a power, they have to describe what happens when they do: what is seen, what is heard, how it starts, and how it affects the target. This way the Powers aren't just special attacks that do a certain amount of damage. Instead they're opportunities to embellish the story of the characters. You never remember the 20 points of damage you did against the Frost Dragon, but you'll remember when your Scorching Burst leapt from your open palm, crossed the distance between you and the Frost Dragon and scarred the side of its face, making the skin bubble and sizzle as it struck. Those are the moments we live for in games. Those are the moments we make and share with others as gamers.