Fantasy Craft

Is it any good?
What makes it different than every other d20 OGL clone?
What are it's strengths?
What are it's flaws?

Other urls found in this thread:

rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/63884/Fantasy-Craft-Second-Printing
mediafire.com/download/rscnai437ptu23k/FantasyCraft.torrent
mediafire.com/folder/nzs6xsnzbid4t/Fantasy_Craft
dropbox.com/sh/5dkzgw3cn842eyw/AACivEvWTEODXQgsjBPsHv8wa?dl=0
crafty-games.com/fantasy-craft-print-bundle/
meadicus.plus.com/craftygames/npc-builder/NPCBuilder.html
sletchweb.wikidot.com/fc-origin-creation
crafty-games.com/forum/index.php?topic=8257.msg160117#msg160117
dl.dropbox.com/u/1016700/species feats.xls
crafty-games-fans.wikia.com/wiki/Class_Creation_Guidelines_(Mastercraft)
drive.google.com/file/d/0B7JqPtKRnUBYTkF0YlYxNllQN0hXY0V2c01xa1QzWGd6OF9J/view
twitter.com/SFWRedditGifs

>Is it any good?
Yes.
>What makes it different than every other d20 OGL clone?
It's not a clone, for starters. It is based on the OGL, but made by people who actually thought through and understand the system.
>What are it's strengths?
Adaptability, good class design, actually useful and meaningful feats.
>What are it's flaws?
Spellbound never.

Obligatory saurian burglar booty.

Is it any good?
Oh, yes!

One thing I really enjoy about FC is the variety of species you can play as.
You can play as a living statue or a sea serpent or a two headed troll or a drider or a fucking tree!
The options are dizzying!

Playing as a giant dragon seems sorta unbalanced. And not in the fun way.

*Looks up Level Adjustment for playing as a Wyrmling in That Other Game*

In That Other Game a Wyrmling Black Dragon is size Tiny (No real reach), Breath Weapon (2d4), Claws and Teeth (1d3 and 1d4), Winged Flight (100 ft), it is a +3 Level Adjustment.

This game a Lesser Drake is a Large Beast (With a Reach bonus), Breath Weapon (2d6 + ConMod), Claws and Teeth (1d8 and 1d10), Winged Flight (40 ft), and it is considered a standard player race.

You might think that the Drake is insanely unbalanced. But no, it is not. The inability to use weapons other than your natural ones, the high cost of armor that you can wear, and the ability of regular humans to get quite powerful balances everything out. I think the Drake, along with some of the other non-standard races, provides a good example of what I call Asymmetrical Balance; the game is balanced while looking very unbalanced.

Also, exactly how bad is Reviled? Well, looking at the table MUCH farther along in the book it is enough to drop someone two grades in liking you.

Also, the book gives lots of fluff about the race, like physical and mental characteristics.

It's balanced by the fact that you don't have thumbs so any equipment you get needs to made specifically for your use, which makes anything you buy a lot more expensive. This goes double for armor which is made more expensive for a large creature and then more expensive to fit a beast (which is the subtype the Drake belongs to.) Also, you're easier to hit and flank because of your size. That's all on top of the other penalties that come with being a Drake like becoming sickened when you take cold damage because you're cold blooded and the fact that other races hate you by default.

Reviled is pretty bad. It's a -10 to any charisma based skill against, basically, anyone you just met.

Here are some summaries of the various race options in the game.

>Dwarf
The classic Tolkien dwarf. Compared to That Other Game there are some similarities, but a few notable differences. In FC their Darkvision only works in Dim and Faint light and not total darkness. They have the same poison resistance. Same 20 ft speed. Instead of a Charisma penalty though it is a penalty to Dexterity.

>Elf
Elves are smelly, stuck-up, arrogant tree-fondling hippies... oops, sorry, wrong guide. *Closes Dwarf Fortress Wiki*

Wise, but frail form. And fast with a 40 ft movement. They have keen sight and hearing but their long lived nature and standoffish attitude is represented by penalties. But their beauty gives them a bonus. Also being Fey type animals ignore them and they do not age. Honestly, FC elves feel more elf like than elves from That Other Game.

I love how the characteristics are both fluffy and crunchy. Burden of Ages, Aloof, Natural Elegance all make perfect sense from the fluff angle. If you think of elves, these are the kind of traits that should come to mind and they have nice, logical, mechanical effects in game. Good work Crafty.

>Giant
The second of the "This would have a high Level Adjustment in That Other Game" races. More jolly than fee-fi-fo-fum and super difficult to knock over due to their size and Improved Stability. Oh, and they can literally step on enemies with their Trample Attack.

Also something of note that shows up in all the species descriptions is their reactions to friends and companions. It gives a nice way to show how the characters behave in a party and why. The drake for example demands that their party members be respected just as much as they are since if the party is good enough for the drake to work with they must be good enough to be honored. I like that about the descriptions.

Also, interestingly, giants have no modifiers to Attributes.

>Goblin
Small, hyperactive, tricksters that often mouth off. As the image shows, they are quite willing to insult an armed dwarf. Agile and tough with a bonuses to defense, vitality, and strength. They also gain Ambush Basics and Darkvision I reflecting their ability to launch surprise attacks from the shadows and live in caves.

>Human
Ugly bags of mostly water. Meatbags. You know them. Some of you probably are them. In this game, Humans are Diverse and get a Talent that reflects this. There is a whole list of them, that is later on though.

>Ogre
Yup. Ogre. Playable species.

Ogres are strong and tough with a whopping +4 to Constitution. But they are not too smart and suck at talky words, even so far as being untrained with Influence checks. Influence is part of the Impress skill by the way and Impress keys off Charisma, which is penalized. So, do not expect to charm people as an Ogre, ever. You cannot get higher than a 15, even if you had max ranks in Impress at Level 20 and rolled a 20. Their smell might have something to do with it, the flavor text describes it as "Overbearing".

>Orc
Huh, how odd. The numbers, they are odd: +3, +3, -3.

Orcs are corrupted elves according to the fluff.

Like Ogres they cannot Influence well. But they are definitely made for combat. That two points of subdual damage to anyone who missses you could add up quickly; however, I notices it does not say it ignores DR and resistances so does that 2 subdual get negated by armor easily?

Also, their Enlightened Intimidate could be quite fun. I could easily see someone taking the feats that let them threaten multiple enemies (There is one for that, right?) and yelling at people to cause stress damage.

>Pech
Hobbits, Shire Folk, Halflings. They even have the trait that they eat a lot and it has a mechanical benefit with the Hearty Appetite feat. Again, another example of fluff and crunch merging together nicely.

I could not help but check the SRD. And I hate to keep mentioning it because I feel it will look like I am dissing it, but FC just does so much more with the species. The species in the SRD are boring. Just some various mechanical numbers that modify other numbers. But if you want Meriadoc Brandybuck or Peregrin Took to wonder about second breakfast and snacks FC gives you a nice crunchy reason to do so.

Oh, and they are fast for their size, moving at 30 ft, same as a human.

>Rootwalker
Simply put, you can be an ent. And a bunch of different kinds too according to the splinter race info.

No attribute modifiers but there are a lot of other effects, including having the Plant type. They are easily flanked and have a penalty to reflexes, so you would probably not want to be on the front lines. But they cannot bleed. Not even sap? So, no maple syrup from these trees? I suddenly have the creepy image in my mind of rootwalkers being kept as slaves by an evil maple syrup maker. Someone make a campaign out of that!

And they look like a tree, so can hide among other trees, makes sense.

>>Saurian
Saurians are agile with Dex being the only bonus they always get and the player getting to choose where the other +2 and the -2 go. Like Drakes they are cold-blooded so do not eat as much, but I would bet that most GMs ignore the food and water requirements except in special situations like traveling the desert. So far in our game the weakness to cold has not hurt me yet; I am a Burglar so Evaded a Cone of Cold and took no damage.

And you can bite people, which is always fun. I am going to take this moment to also talk about the stacking of some things. Natural Weapons and Thick Hide both have an interesting way they stack, take the highest and add 1 for each additional regardless of their actual value. It is a nice way to keep the numbers from getting too large but also to still provide a little boost and reason to stack. I like it.

>Unborn
Playable golems. Yup, you can be a construct. And, looking ahead, Constructs are resistant or immune to a lot, even subdual damage. I know that we are not yet at the section that details the types, but I do wonder from the audience out there how GMs handle having an unborn in the party against enemies with blunt weapons.

The huge bonuses of being a construct though are balanced out by a -4 penalty to Charisma making anything above a 10 expensive and -2 proficiencies so some classes will start with 0 meaning you will suck with weapons for a while if you pick one of those classes. And like trees, they are easily flanked and have a reflex penalty.

The unborn certainly seem like a species for advanced players given the rather extreme bonuses and penalties.

And that closes out the base twelve species. But, there are a lot more than twelve once you factor in the Species Feat options.

I am intrigued.

...

>What are it's strengths?
One of the iconic characters is a hot elf mage in striped socks and a mini-skirt who swings around a great sword.

I usually explain FC as D&D 3.5e with 60% more anime, compared to PF being 3.5e with 20% more anime.
So far, running it (only two relatively short campaigns, but enjoyed them nonetheless) seems to go very smoothly. My complaints are that mooks die a little too easily, some of the weapon supremacy feats are broken, and that character creation takes 3+ hours even if:
>you know your character concept
>you have someone more experienced helping you
>you're using a helper spreadsheet designed specifically for FC character creation
>it's a full moon
>you've sacrificed an unborn child to the tabletop gods

also spellbound never, as mentioned.

>spellbound never
I'm so mad about that.

>I have said this for a very long time. The sad truth of the matter is that Fantasy Craft as a line simply isn't generating enough revenue to warrant us interrupting the business that keeps our doors open to push this forward. I still believe we can get it done - it's really not that far from complete now - but if I were to stop and finish this now it would severely hurt us on multiple other fronts.

>So I have to wedge it in when I can, and that means it has to wait its turn.

>June 20, 2016

When they've been saying for a year that they almost have it ready we swear this time guys!

Mooks die as easily as you want them to. You can always tack on the tough quality to have them last longer. That being said, the npc creation is a bit finicky and takes some experience to make encounters that're challenging but won't kill the party.

Here's the standard OP:

Noteworthy points:
>Drastically reined-in magic system putting casters on equal footing with non-casters
>Classes and the game as a whole designed to ensure everyone can contribute in a wide range of circumstances, even outside their primary niche
>Separate cash and Reputation economies keep mundane gear relevant and magic items special
>Custom monster and NPC design is a breeze
>Optional Campaign Qualities tweak mechanics to suit your preferred style and tone
>If you have the money and want to support the game
rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/63884/Fantasy-Craft-Second-Printing
>If you want to try before you buy
mediafire.com/download/rscnai437ptu23k/FantasyCraft.torrent
mediafire.com/folder/nzs6xsnzbid4t/Fantasy_Craft
dropbox.com/sh/5dkzgw3cn842eyw/AACivEvWTEODXQgsjBPsHv8wa?dl=0
Other useful links:
>Errata & accessories
crafty-games.com/fantasy-craft-print-bundle/
>Web NPC builder
meadicus.plus.com/craftygames/npc-builder/NPCBuilder.html
>Custom PC Species creation guides
sletchweb.wikidot.com/fc-origin-creation
>Species feat creation guide & reference spreadsheet
crafty-games.com/forum/index.php?topic=8257.msg160117#msg160117
dl.dropbox.com/u/1016700/species feats.xls
>Class design guidelines
crafty-games-fans.wikia.com/wiki/Class_Creation_Guidelines_(Mastercraft)
>Leaked Spellbound Preview
drive.google.com/file/d/0B7JqPtKRnUBYTkF0YlYxNllQN0hXY0V2c01xa1QzWGd6OF9J/view

Thank you, kind user.

Wow.
Mammals are rude.

Here's a character randomizer someone made to show that no matter how wacky you make your character it can still be built to work.

>What are it's flaws?
NO PLAYERS
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>Can't even look for Fantasy Craft games on Roll20

What gives with that?

The Roll20 devs are insane and also lazy, since there's already a character sheet for it and such,

I just don't understand the search system at all. Why do you need to select the game from a predetermined list? Why does it not use the same menu as the character sheet list? They just severely pigeon hole what games you can search for.

My take on it was that it was just another re-hashing of the The Same Old d20 Shit. It's close enough to the rest of the OGL evolutionary tree to be functionally the same, while being different enough that you need to sit down and learn the intricacies of yet another 400 page rule book.

It isn't a rehash; they rebuilt the whole thing from the ground up. But I get where you're coming from. I can see a lot of people not wanting to relearn a 3.x system. Which is a shame, because it's a real good one.

Breath weapons seem like they suck.
Break it down for me.
>dragonic heritage, draconic legacy
>breath weapon like drake (or just do drake, I guess)
>attack roll in line
>assuming you hit, 2d6+ConMod damage (let's pretend 3, that's pretty high)
>let's pretend we roll max, 1/36 chance
>15 damage
>reduced by reduction and resistance
>okay, say, 10 damage now
>reflex save to avoid being caught on fire (DC 10)

>if they fail (DC 10 m8) they take one 1d6 more damage (reduced by resistance/reduction again? If that's the case...)

Is it me or is this really, really awful?

Fire damage also increase by 1d6 for every turn that you are on fire.

>flaws
Races are pigeonholed into classes even harder than D&D's ability score modifiers

Right, but A, nobody's going to fail that reflex save in the first place, B, is that 1d6 reduced by reduction and resistance (because it might be nothing at that point) and C, that took a full round action? Come on.

Objects don't get to make reflex saves and fire spreads pretty quickly.

Hey guys, how hard would it be to hack FC for some OSR goodness.

The 1d6 isn't affected by armor and resistance. It's added to the fire damage you suffer at the start of each initiative count, which is the fire damage you suffered after armor originally.

See, now we're on to something
That actually sounds halfway decent, I like the idea of burning someone's clothes off.
Does spreading fire still get reduced by armor/resistances?

Though if a target has 3 or 4 resistance/reduction, they're never going to get lit on fire by 1d6 a round.

Legit, thanks. That clears it up a lot.

Still seems ridiculously unlikely to actually light a person on fire. But hey, hope.

Gotta say, it sounds like the easiest system I can see to run a straight Tolkien game in.

Also keep in mind that Drakes start with this. So it's a pretty big weapon at low levels when things have no vitality and characters can't afford most weapons that do 1d12 or more. But after that we start to get into the vitality bloat issue of the game.

Often fire breath can be expected to also deal stress damage, meaning it can effectively deal double damage to standard characters.

>tfw talked the GM into running with fragile heroes (2/3rds vitality gain, essentially) after bringing up the vitality bloat issue and suggesting it as a cool fix

>tfw feel like GM doesn't actually adjust NPCs based on the issue, so it's just the same thing with PCs having less vitality

Rootwalkers are fucking awesome.

Some of the splinter races are excellent.

I have this dream of playing Malcom X the Rootwalker.

>Not playing Spruce Lee
I don't feel you, tbphwyfam

Not playing a lumbering monk, faggot.

Have you talked to your GM? Fragile heroes is supposed to be a campaign quality to make things harder for players. You should tell your GM you wanted it to keep combat shorter.

I made a goblin blooded, pure wood, rootwalker to be a stout, mushroom man for our groups next game. I'm pretty excited for it.

Damn son. That's awesome.

Captain into Paladin: Lead a holy war against those who kill Trees and Rootwalkers.

Plus, gotta find those Ent Wives.

>Not playing Robert the Spruce.
No clansman of mine/10

Want to play rootwalker warrior. So I can play a total bad ash.
High Charisma, so I can be a poplar guy.

your assumption is based on an silly notion. Using a breath weapon on a singular enemy. My DM ran us through a module in plague infested city with plague walkers, rat hordes and were rats. a cone of fire becomes amazing when used on groups. I also had an obscene amount of melee attacks for when things got down to one on one.

Also the special actions that you get to select from are absolutely amazing, allowing for much more dynamic non magic combat beyond I hit person a with my attack, they hit me with their attack I role to dodge. Specific to my drake(because of wings) was a wing buffet that knocked enemies prone based on my flight speed and their size.

If I remember correctly you can take them in place of proficiencies which you get based on class and level (with more for other miscelleneous stuff.)

It's gona be for a "Misunderstood Monsters" campaign where we're all going to play the more monstery races and defend our home from the encroaching civilizations. I think we're going to have the Feat Swap campaign quality so we can get more species feats/ replace the specialty feat with a species feat to emphasize the monster-ness.

Damn son. I would love to play.

An user posted a backer leak in another thread, so that helped somewhat.

Nah bruh
Nah

There are also straight up Lord of the Rings based p&p games but I don't have any experience with them

Just pointing out my question since it got lost amongst the fire discussion.

>but I don't have any experience with them
Sometimes the fact that a system is built for a certain type of game doesn't actually mean it's the best for that type of game. See: Shadowrun.

Nobody's posted these two cuties yet?
That's unfortunate.

>Good
>It's a good game.
>It's not a d20 clone, it's it's own thing that plays similarly on the surface but works very different underneath.
>It's well balanced.

>Bad
>Magic options are very limited, the book on mages has been stuck in development hell for literally years.
>NPC/Monster Creation is... Unintuitive (at least for me).
>Very little content available, basically just the core book. No large bestiaries, or prewritten adventures you didn't have to convert from a different game.

If you want to do a low magic, anime-esque sword and sorcery game, with the emphasis on the sword part, and you're cool with statting up your own adversaries, it's good.

I also find the actual damage tracking at *best* on par with D&D, but for standard enemies and subdual damage, worse.

You still have to track HP, but now it gets reset at random and you have to roll saves rather than just taking damage.

In order to deal with vitality bloat, couldn't you just alter how quickly people gain vitality back? Like instead of "A quick breather after battle gets it all back" couldn't it be something like an extended rest?

Yeah, but that hits the same thing online games do; how much combat do you get through in a session?

In theory, you can try to wear a party down through successive encounters, but it's not very practical for party sizes above one.

What's better at simulating shadowrun than their own RPG? Legit curious because I like the shadowrun lore but think the RPG is far to complicated.

FATE does literally everything, if you don't mind the lack of crunch

>"A quick breather after battle gets it all back"
What? Where did you get that idea? Rule is : "A special character regains 1 vitality per Career Level per hour of rest, and 1 wound per day of rest, so long as he restricts himself to light activities during that time (i.e. no combat)." (Fantasy Craft pg. 212).

A level 10 high-vit class with a large amount of Con is going to take a whole day to regen.
16 Con Medium Soldier/10 has 150 Vit and takes 15 hours to regen naturally, at base.
10 Con Medium Burglar/10 has 60 Vit and takes 6 hours to regen naturally, at base.

>What's better than shadowrun at shadowrun?

Maybe GUR...
>Too much crunch

FATE. *MAYBE* Savage Worlds.

Don't know why I included that they were Medium. That's only tangentially related by way of Wounds.

honestly because of that I'd actually be really happy if Crafty went under(especially if their games were then bought up by a more competent company), cause this is a just plain asshole move no matter how you try to spin it