Quote from: Armchair Gamer;1139311One question that comes to mind as we start on the character creation path: How forgiving is FC when it comes to character optimization? With all the moving parts, do you have to be careful when choosing combinations, or can one successfully play to or against archetype and still wind up with a reasonable character?

After all, the other two systems up for comparison are notorious for allowing players to cripple or supercharge a PC with the wrong choices out of the gate.

I'm working on the Class posts, it's a lot.

In terms of being forgiving...

It's *extremely* forgiving relative to Pathfinder and D&D3.x.

1) The Feats are so beefy that there literally are no bad choices unless you're intentionally trying to go a radically different direction - and even then it will likely still work.

2) Feat acquisition is far more robust. You acquire Feats faster, even to the point where the GM can award them through role-playing (in terms of training during downtime or whatever).

3) Feat "trees" are never more than three-feats deep and they all build on one another directly. None give you some inherent penalty, or bullshit limpdick bonus to justify some other Feat.

4) Combined with inherent Class abilities as we'll see, the power and flexibility of classes in FC are really powerful. Even the Social-based classes are crazy useful with their Social combat skills being super deadly by setting up roleplaying hooks that can *really* change the course of things. I'm looking forward to covering these classes in particular.

Classes and Feats are *very* distinct from one another. Feats are expressions of what your PC learns or is doing in the game. The Class is the collection of training that defines their profession. Then when we get into Specialties, as the cherry-on-top, these define your background with mechanical benefits that ideally should round out your character quite a bit - and might surprise people in their logic, because it's a big departure from the assumptions of D&D and Pathfinder. Rather than kill sacred cows, they put them in a new pasture.

I'd noticed the Feat and Trick Training favor options when reading through the Forge section in my copy of the core book this weekend, but hadn't fully realized the implications.

I think the Class/Feat distinction of FC is what Star Wars Saga Edition, 4th Edition, and even 5th Edition wanted to do with feats, but the first two were held back by a level of design conservatism. I don't know 5E well enough to comment.

Also, if anyone wants a hardcopy, nobleknight.com has copies of the 2nd printing of the core book (you really want the second printing to get all the errata and clarifications) for $20 US.

Quote from: Armchair Gamer;1139360I'd noticed the Feat and Trick Training favor options when reading through the Forge section in my copy of the core book this weekend, but hadn't fully realized the implications.

I think the Class/Feat distinction of FC is what Star Wars Saga Edition, 4th Edition, and even 5th Edition wanted to do with feats, but the first two were held back by a level of design conservatism. I don't know 5E well enough to comment.

Exactly. The downstream sub-systems fly beneath the radar until you read them and realize how much impact everything has on the game. Instead of approaching the design that each class is some kind of distinct "species" unto themselves, they want all Feats to be attractive to all people wanting to endeavor in a style of play. Your class just happens to be what your'e trained to do (and multiclassing in FC is *way* better because of the mechanical cohesiveness of the rules), but your Feats are what you excel at by choice. So nothing takes away from your core-class assumptions - a Lancer (mounted warrior) is not a weak-bitch in melee, he just is super-good on a mount. But contextually if he came from a culture with a heavy horseman tradition, a Feat or two in some of the Weapon Styles, and he'd be very dangerous even without his mount. So you don't get the mounted cavalier/paladin issue that you see in Pathfinder or D&D.

In Pathfinder/D&D Feats seem to be made obviously for some classes to do what you expect them to DO regardless of the Feat system. Which is entirely backwards.

Even spellcasters can dive into learning martial abilities and not be screwed in combat if they wanted.

Quote from: Armchair Gamer;1139360Also, if anyone wants a hardcopy, nobleknight.com has copies of the 2nd printing of the core book (you really want the second printing to get all the errata and clarifications) for $20 US.

This is a STEAL. If you don't own Fantasy Craft and have *any* remote interest in it - this is worth the purchase.

Thanks for the tip-off armchair I grabbed a copy. I've got a couple players that are nostalgic for GURPS including me, but I've been more nostalgic for the old school all dice matter leveled play.

As an aside - I ***HIGHLY*** recommend anyone getting Fantasy Craft core, to get one other book: The Adventurers Companion.

It has a *lot* of content that didn't make it into the Core, plus 4 mini-settings to get your feet wet with the rules, and shows you what can be done with a few twists of a dial.

Quote from: tenbones;11393524) Combined with inherent Class abilities as we'll see, the power and flexibility of classes in FC are really powerful. Even the Social-based classes are crazy useful with their Social combat skills being super deadly by setting up roleplaying hooks that can *really* change the course of things. I'm looking forward to covering these classes in particular.

First off, I just love you for creating this thread. I mentioned FC like a couple weeks back in that "preferred edition of D&D" thread, and had no idea it was going to get mentioned again, much less get what's basically its own thread. So yeah, I'm happy.

You had a lot of good stuff to say, but I quoted this part specifically because I have (what I think is) an interesting story related to it. I've been baking a little, so I may ramble. Buckle up.

See, a few years back I actually got into a game of Fantasy Craft that lasted a good while. Man, that GM was amazing. He put so much thought into the setting and was so great at reacting to everything we threw at him. And the other players were so great. Just . . . we really did meet pretty much randomly through Infrno and hopped into a game together, and it just worked. One thing was that it was a no-to-low-magic setting with a very good reason; something had happened in the past to seal the old gods away from the world and pollute the world's magic. Magic became so unpredictable and deadly that it stopped being used except by the very rare researcher, and steps were taken in many places to prevent spellcasting from being passed on to the next generation. Yeah, in some places they were scared enough to destroy records and spellbooks and everything. Our adventures took place long after this, after magic had faded into myth for most people. As a result, the world was also a little more technologically advanced than most D&D settings. Not a lot, but there were some spring-powered machines and clockwork people. Street lamps. Things like that. But no phone or TV. It had the trappings of modernity without anything really being functionally different. Like a new skin. But it was really fun.

Ok, so to my point. At one point, we did have to have a discussion about my character's abilities. I focused on Stress damage, and even chose my race and racial feats to boost both how many enemies I could target at once and how much stress damage I could do. And as a social class, the Emissary from the Adventure Companion, I had Intimidate out the wazoo! I was a stress-inducing MACHINE. Which was great, usually, because the actual fighter-dudes were damage-causing powerhouses, and the other dude was pretty destructive as well. Divide and conquer, man. But he used monsters from the book, and some of them that really should be resistant(if not immune) to stress damage, such as certain kinds of elementals, didn't have any such resistance in their write-up. And tbh, when he talked to me about it I agreed with him. It really didn't make sense for my ability to work on certain things. I was like "Hey, let me check some stuff real quick," and a few minutes later I gave him a list of NPC/monster abilities that would make something more resistant in certain ways and in one case outright immune and was clear with him that I was totally fine if he wanted to slap some of those on things if he felt they were appropriate. Like I trusted him not to use it to hose me or anything - he was a good dude. And as far as I know, none of the other guys ever complained and there was no problem. Besides, getting physical more often gave me a good excuse to take a 1-level dip into Martial Artist to give that class a little try(much fun; do recommend) before the game was over.

So I guess I got a bit of advice. Be aware that all those different kinds of damage exist and make sure that creatures that should have resistances do have resistances. Don't let the ones new to Fantasy Craft, like stress, get overlooked in your NPC/creature building. And if you pick something from the book, look over it to see if its resistances(or lack thereof) makes sense.

Yeah! The Social-Based classes and Stress-mechanics are *severely* under-rated. I had a player who ran with a Courtier and envisioned himself like "Littlefinger" from the GoT books. Holy hell, as long as combat hasn't started, this guy was doing things all over the place. Right from the start he was having people set up to be murdered off-stage and immediately moving up the power-structure.

I'm jumping ahead LOL we'll get into that in my next post on Classes. Looking forward to your thoughts!

I went ahead and ordered both books thanks for the recommendations and the insight.

Classes (and Backgrounds/Specialties)

I've been trying to think of how to lay this down as fair comparison. Because this the where the big differences between Fantasy Craft and Pathfinder and D&D3.x really start to go their own ways. Fantasy Craft I'll cover last, simply because there is a *lot* more going on and its sub-systems dig much deeper into the core-mechanics than Pathfinder or 3.x which cleave reasonably close to one another.

I plan on dwelling on Core Classes of D&D/PF/FC that are directly analogous to one another. I'll do a separate deep-dive into the core Fantasy Craft classes that have no analog in *core* rules for D&D/PF - but I encourage anyone that is interested to dig out supplementary analogs from other material to compare and contrast in the thread.

This is the list of Core Classes from each game. I'll do direct comparisons head to head.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]4653[/ATTACH]

Prestige Classes/Expert Classes
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* - No direct analog doesn't mean you can't play these concepts. They exist as Specialties or in other expressions which we'll get into later
** - Monks are not a class in the core book. However in the supplementary material of the Adventurers Companion they have Martial Artists, which are analogous to the d20 Monk
*** - These are Prestige Classes or as they call them in Fantasy Craft 'Expert Classes'

Something to note - the Fantasy Craft classes are less thematic ideas rather than being thematic professions. They are very specific on what their respective roles are and what their professions mean. They try to remove the nebulous nature that has grown from the previous editions of D&D and get straight to the meat of what they do.

As such some of the traditional classes that are missing in Fantasy Craft appear in other ways to supplement these professions. As a toolkit approach the GM sets the standards of the setting - so some of these classes will be more appropriate than the others, but with the Specialties sub-system and the mechanical heft it brings to the Class system (see below) it gives GM's another handhold to fine-tune their setting to their desire and still give players what they want in a PC.

So before we get into the head-to-head comparison I should talk about Fantasy Craft Specialties because it's a huge part of choosing your Class. 5e sort of uses this in the form of Backgrounds. But Specialties represent your background and inform your Class in terms of flavor and your PC's personal inclinations. Once you pick you species you choose your Specialization then Class. The first thing people should notice is that a many of the standard d20 Classes are represented here as Specializations (which is why I'm putting it after the Class list despite normally choosing it first before Class). These Specialties defuse many of the debates you find on forums about "what IS a Fighter" supposed to represent? or "what is the difference between a Druid vs. a Cleric vs. a Priest? narratively or mechanically?". With Specializations you can have your cake and eat it too - AND come up with entirely new approaches to your concept and express it mechanically? Joe want's to be a "Shaman" but doesn't want to use the Shaman Specialty for whatever reason - he could be a Priest with the Barbarian Specialty? Or whatever you and your GM agree works for both of you. There are MANY ways to skin the proverbial cat of any character concept that goes beyond normal D&D3.x and Pathfinder assumptions.

Fantasy Craft Specializations
Acrobat
• Bonus Feat: Basic Skill Mastery (Robber)
• Agile Defense: Your base Defense increases by 1.
• Attribute Training: The lower of your Strength or Dexterity scores increases by 1 (your choice if a tie). Apply this bonus after any modifiers from your Species or Talent.
• Fast: Your Speed increases by 10 ft.
• Practiced Athletics: If you spend an action die to boost an Athletics check and it still fails, you gain the die back after the action is resolved. Against multiple targets you only regain the die if the check fails against all of them.

Adept
You collect lost knowledge from all over the world.
• Bonus Feat: Any 1 Spellcasting feat
• Free Hint: Once per session, you may request a free hint from the GM. If he refuses, you gain 1 bonus action die.
• Heroism: You gain a +1 bonus with all attack and skill checks you make during Dramatic scenes.
• Practiced Search: If you spend an action die to boost a Search check and it still fails, you gain the die back after the action is resolved. Against multiple targets you only regain the die if the check fails against all of them.
• Turning: Choose a Type from the following list: animal, beast, construct, elemental, fey, horror, ooze, outsider, plant, spirit, or undead. Once per combat you may Turn characters of this Type.

Adventurer
You chart your own course, exploring tombs one day and rescuing damsels the next.
• Bonus Feat: Adventurer's Luck
• Glory-Bound: You may purchase Heroic Renown for 40 Reputation per rank
• More than Luck: You gain 1 additional starting action die.

Archer
You've made a living by the bow, as a hunter or perhaps a warrior.
• Bonus Feat: Bow Basics
• Animal Turning: Once per combat you may Turn animals.
• Bow Hunter: You inflict 2 additional damage on standard characters with a bow.
• Bow Proficiency: You gain the Bow proficiency.
• Camouflage: Choose a terrain: aquatic, arctic, caverns/ mountains, desert, forest/jungle, indoors/settled, plains, or swamp. You gain a +5 gear bonus with Blend checks while in that terrain.

Aristocrat
You're a child of nobility or wealthy parents, accustomed to living a life of privilege.
• Bonus Feat: Basic Skill Mastery (Actor)
• Charming: Once per session, you may improve the Disposition of any 1 non-adversary NPC by 5.
• Flashy: Your Panache rises by 2.
• Noble Blood: You may purchase Noble Renown for 40 Reputation per rank (see page 187).
• Origin Skill: Choose 1 additional Origin skill.

Artisan
Your mastery of the arts makes you a welcome guest in any land.
• Bonus Feat: Crafting Basics
• Celebrated: Your Legend increases by 2.
• Crafting Focus: You gain 1 Crafting skill focus.
• Natural Elegance: Your Appearance bonus increases by +1.
• Practiced Crafting: If you spend an action die to boost a Crafting check and it still fails, you gain the die back after the action is resolved. Against multiple targets you only regain the die if the check fails against all of them

Barbarian
You're a savage warrior, driven by sheer fury.
• Bonus Feat: Rage Basics
• Fast: Your Speed increases by 10 ft.
• Tenacious Spirit: You gain 1 additional vitality per level.
• Trap Sense: You may roll twice when making Reflex saves prompted by security devices and traps, keeping the result you prefer.

Bard
You hold the night at bay with practical wisdom and good cheer, commonly using stories and song.
• Bonus Feat: Well-Rounded
• Beguiling: When you successfully Taunt a standard character, you may decline the standard result to have your target become fixated on you for a number of rounds equal to your Charisma score. If you gain this benefit from multiple sources you may also damage the target once without interrupting his fixation (you may do this only once, no matter how many times you gain the benefit).
• Encouragement: Once per scene, you may speak to 1 of your teammates for 1 minute to grant them a +1 morale bonus with saving throws until the end of the current scene.
• Free Hint: Once per session, you may request a free hint from the GM. If he refuses, you gain 1 bonus action die.
• Practiced Impress: If you spend an action die to boost an Impress check and it still fails, you gain the die back after the action is resolved. Against multiple targets you only regain the die if the check fails against all of them.

Cavalier
You've been trained to fight from the saddle.
• Bonus Feat: Favored Gear (mount)
• Crunch!: Your Strength-based damage rolls inflict 1 additional damage.
• Glory-Bound: You may purchase Heroic Renown for 40 Reputation per rank(s).
• Practiced Ride: If you spend an action die to boost a Ride check and it still fails, you gain the die back after the action is resolved. Against multiple targets you only regain the die if the check fails against all of them.
• Triumphant Swing: You gain the Triumphant Swing trick.

Cleric
A servant of faith, you're both herald of their will and shepherd of their followers.
Requirements: Alignment
• Bonus Feat: Any 1 Chance feat
• Charming: Once per session, you may improve the Disposition of any 1 non-adversary NPC by 5.
• Field Medicine: You are always considered to have a doctor's bag.
• Paired Skills: Each time you gain ranks in the Resolve skill, you gain equal ranks in the Medicine skill. This may not increase your Medicine skill beyond its maximum rank.
• Turning: Choose a Type from the following list: animal, beast, construct, elemental, fey, horror, ooze, outsider, plant, spirit, or undead. Once per combat you may Turn characters of this Type.

Corsair
• Bonus Feat: Basic Skill Mastery (Officer)
• Agile Defense: Your base Defense increases by 1.
• Flashy: Your Panache increases by 2.
• Terrifying Look: The Will save DCs of stress damage you inflict increase by 4.
• Water Vehicle Focus: You gain the Ride skill's Water Vehicles focus.

Criminal
What's mine is mine and what's yours is about to be mine.
• Bonus Feat: Basic Skill Mastery (Pickpocket)
• Attribute Training: The lower of your Dexterity or
Intelligence scores increases by 1 (your choice if a tie). Apply this bonus after any modifiers from your Species or Talent.
• Cheap Shot: You gain the Cheap Shot trick.
• Fast: Your Speed increases by 10 ft.
• Practiced Intimidate: If you spend an action die to boost an Intimidate check and it still fails, you gain the die back after the action is resolved. Against multiple targets you only regain the die if the check fails against all of them.

Dragoon
You're trained as mounted light infantry, fighting from horseback and on foot with carbine and blade.
Requirements: Reason Era or later
• Bonus Feat: Quick Draw
• Black Powder Proficiency: You gain the Black Powder proficiency.
• Commissioned: You may purchase Military Renown for 40 Reputation per rank.
• Edged Proficiency: You gain the Edged proficiency.
• Paired Skills: Each time you gain 1 or more ranks in the Ride skill, you gain equal ranks in the Tactics skill. This may not increase your Tactics skill beyond its maximum rank.

Druid
You're a servant of nature, at home in the world of men and in the wild.
• Bonus Feat: Animal Partner
• Attribute Training: The lower of your Constitution or Wisdom scores increases by 1 (your choice if a tie). Apply this bonus after any modifiers from your Species or Talent.
• Practiced Medicine: If you spend an action die to boost a Medicine check and it still fails, you gain the die back after the action is resolved. Against multiple targets you only regain the die if the check fails against all of them.
• Practiced Survival: If you spend an action die to boost a Survival check and it still fails, you gain the die back after the action is resolved. Against multiple targets you only regain the die if the check fails against all of them.
• Trackless Step: The DCs of Tracking checks to follow your trail increase by 10.

Fencer
You've made a name for yourself with footwork and swordplay.
• Bonus Feat: Fencing Basics
• Decisive: You gain a +5 bonus with Initiative.
• Edged Proficiency: You gain the Edged proficiency.
• Fast: Your Speed increases by 10 ft.
• Parry: You gain the Parry trick.

Fighter
You're no stranger to the battlefield; you've already survived some tough fights and have the scars to prove it!
• Bonus Feat: Armor Basics
• Attribute Training: The lower of your Strength or Constitution scores increases by 1 (your choice if a tie). Apply this bonus after any modifiers from your Species or Talent.
• Extra Proficiency: You gain 4 additional proficiencies or tricks.
• Melee Combat Expert: You're considered to have 2 additional Melee Combat feats for any ability based on the number of Melee Combat feats you have.

Fist
Your rigorous discipline has toughened your mind and body, turning you into a living weapon of the highest caliber.
• Bonus Feat: Two-Hit Combo
• Attribute Training: The lower of your Strength or Wisdom scores increases by 1 (your choice if a tie). Apply this bonus after any modifiers from your Species or Talent.
• Fast: Your Speed increases by 10 ft.
• Practiced Acrobatics: If you spend an action die to boost an Acrobatics check and it still fails, you gain the die back after the action is resolved. Against multiple targets you only regain the die if the check fails against all of them.
• Unarmed Proficiency: You gain the Unarmed proficiency

Gladiator
You were raised in the brutal world of death sports, carving out a reputation in blood and steel.
• Bonus Feat: Combat Instincts
• Crunch!: Your Strength-based damage rolls inflict 1 additional damage.
• Extra Proficiency: You gain 1 additional proficiency or trick.
• Harsh Beating: The Fortitude save DCs of subdual damage you inflict increase by 4.
• Paired Skills: Each time you gain 1 or more ranks in the Athletics skill, you gain equal ranks in the Impress skill. This may not increase your Impress skill beyond its maximum rank.

Guardian
You're a professional bodyguard, trained to be alert and to sacrifice yourself if necessary to save your charge.
• Bonus Feat: Elusive
• Practiced Notice: If you spend an action die to boost a Notice check and it still fails, you gain the die back after the action is resolved. Against multiple targets you only regain the die if the check fails against all of them.
• Step In: Once per combat, you may choose to receive all of 1 attack's damage on an adjacent character. Your Damage Reduction and Damage Resistance apply normally.
• Tenacious Spirit: You gain 1 additional vitality per level.

Lord
You're a paragon of your people, a genuine champion who leads from the front in times of strife.
• Bonus Feat: Followers
• Noble Blood: You may purchase Noble Renown for 40 Reputation per rank.
• Practiced Tactics: If you spend an action die to boost a Tactics check and it still fails, you gain the die back after the action is resolved. Against multiple targets you only regain the die if the check fails against all of them.
• Stand Together: You gain a +2 morale bonus to Defense and all saves when at least 2 adjacent characters share your Species.

Merchant
The wheels of commerce don't turn themselves.
• Bonus Feat: Basic Skill Mastery (Trader)
• Attribute Training: The lower of your Intelligence or Charisma scores increases by 1 (your choice if a tie). Apply this bonus after any modifiers from your Species or Talent.
• Linguist: You gain 2 additional Languages.
• Paired Skills: Each time you gain 1 or more ranks in the Haggle skill, you gain equal ranks in the Search skill. This may not increase your Search skill beyond its maximum rank.
• Thrifty: Your Prudence increases by 2.

Miner
You've bent your back digging riches from the earth's bosom -- experience that's surprisingly useful in your adventuring career!
• Bonus Feat: Pathfinder Basics (caverns/mountains)
• Blunt Proficiency: You gain the Blunt proficiency.
• Paired Skills: Each time you gain 1 or more ranks in the Athletics skill, you gain equal ranks in the Crafting skill. This may not increase your Crafting skill beyond its maximum rank.
• Stonecutting Focus: You gain the Crafting skill's Stonecutting focus.
• Unbreakable: Each time you suffer attribute impairment, it decreases by 1 (minimum 0).
• Warding Strike: You gain the Warding Strike trick

Musketeer
You're a member of an elite corps trained to use early blackpowder weapons.
Requirements: Reason Era or later
• Bonus Feat: Bullseye
• Attribute Training: The lower of your Dexterity or Wisdom scores increases by 1 (your choice if a tie). Apply this bonus after any modifiers from your Species or Talent.
• Black Powder Proficiency: You gain the Black Powder proficiency.
• Called Shot: You gain the Called Shot trick.
• Commissioned: You may purchase Military Renown for 40 Reputation per rank.
• Heroism: You gain a +1 bonus with all attack and skill checks you make during Dramatic scenes.

Mystic
You're a folk healer using hidden lore and a hint of magic to assist your community.
• Bonus Feat: The Gift
• Attribute Training: The lower of your Constitution or Charisma scores increases by 1 (your choice if a tie). Apply this bonus after any modifiers from your Species or Talent.
• Inquisitive Mind: You gain 2 additional Interests.
• Paired Skills: Each time you gain 1 or more ranks in the Investigate skill, you gain equal ranks in the Medicine skill. This may not increase your Medicine skill beyond its maximum rank.
• Sharp Mind: You gain 1 additional skill point per level.

Nomad
Your travels have led you far and wide and introduced you to many tribes.
• Bonus Feat: Basic Skill Mastery (Horseman).
• Animal Empathy: The Dispositions of non-adversary animals increase by 5.
• Attribute Training: The lower of your Dexterity or Constitution scores increases by 1 (your choice if a tie). Apply this bonus after any modifiers from your Species or Talent.
• Linguist: You gain 2 additional Languages.
• Practiced Haggle: If you spend an action die to boost a Haggle check and it still fails, you gain the die back after the action is resolved. Against multiple targets you only regain the die if the check fails against all of them.
• Trackless Step: The DCs of Tracking checks to follow your trail increase by 10.

Physician
With poultice and scalpel, medicine and bandages, you can hold death itself at bay... for a time.
Requirements: Ancient Era or later
• Bonus Feat: Basic Skill Mastery (Healer)
• Chemistry Focus: You gain the Crafting skill's Chemistry focus.
• Contagion Sense: You may roll twice when making Fortitude saves prompted by disease and poison, keeping the result you prefer.
• Edged Proficiency: You gain the Edged proficiency.
• Paired Skills: Each time you gain 1 or more ranks in the Medicine skill, you gain equal ranks in the Crafting skill. This may not increase your Crafting skill beyond its maximum rank.

Ranger
You're an experienced woodsman specializing in the careful study and decimation of certain enemies.
• Bonus Feat: Battlefield Trickery
• Animal Empathy: The Dispositions of non-adversary animals increase by 5.
• Camouflage: Choose a terrain: aquatic, arctic, caverns/mountains, desert, forest/jungle, indoors/settled, plains, or swamp. You gain a +5 gear bonus with Blend checks while in that terrain.
• Favored Foes: Choose 2 Types: animal, beast, construct, elemental, fey, folk, horror, ooze, outsider, plant, spirit, or undead. Your threat range increases by 2 when attacking and making Notice, Sense Motive, and Survival checks targeting standard characters of the chosen Types. You may choose an additional Type at Career Levels 6, 11, and 16.

Rogue
Your methods are sometimes shifty but also quite effective.
• Bonus Feat: Ambush Basics
• Practiced Sneak: If you spend an action die to boost a Sneak check and it still fails, you gain the die back after the action is resolved. Against multiple targets you only regain the die if the check fails against all of them.
• Sharp Mind: You gain 1 additional skill point per level.
• Trap Sense: You may roll twice when making Reflex saves prompted by security devices and traps, keeping the result you prefer.

Shaman
You're a holy man, communing with the ancients to pass down their wisdom.
• Bonus Feat: Blessed
• Attribute Training: The lower of your Wisdom or Charisma scores increases by 1 (your choice if a tie). Apply this bonus after any modifiers from your Species or Talent.
• Contagion Sense: You may roll twice when making Fortitude saves prompted by disease and poison, keeping the result you prefer.
• Origin Skill: Choose 1 additional Origin skill.
• Practiced Sense Motive: If you spend an action die to boost a Sense Motive check and it still fails, you gain the die back after the action is resolved. Against multiple targets you only regain the die if the check fails against all of them.

Shield Bearer
As a hoplite, legionnaire, or huscarl, you're trained in the particulars of shoulder-to-shoulder warfare with a shield.
• Bonus Feat: Shield Basics
• Agile Defense: Your base Defense increases by 1.
• Blunt Proficiency: You gain the Blunt proficiency.
• Melee Combat Expert: You're considered to have 2 additional Melee Combat feats for any ability based on the number of Melee Combat feats you have.
• Practiced Resolve: If you spend an action die to boost a Resolve check and it still fails, you gain the die back after the action is resolved. Against multiple targets you only regain the die if the check fails against all of them.
• Shield Block: You gain the Shield Block trick.

Sorcerer
Your cold, calculating demeanor suggests something not quite natural in your ancestry.
• Bonus Feat: Any 1 Species feat
• Charming: Once per session, you may improve the Disposition of any 1 non-adversary NPC by 5.
• Paired Skills: Each time you gain 1 or more ranks in the Spellcasting skill, you gain equal ranks in the Intimidate skill. This may not increase your Intimidate skill beyond its
maximum rank.
• Terrifying Look: The Will save DCs of stress damage you inflict increase by 4.

Swindler
You've learned a lot by keeping your eyes open and your mouth shut.
• Bonus Feat: Basic Skill Mastery (Spy)
• Attribute Training: The lower of your Dexterity or Charisma scores increases by 1 (your choice if a tie). Apply this bonus after any modifiers from your Species or Talent.
• Beguiling: When you successfully Taunt a standard character, you may decline the standard result to have your target become fixated on you for a number of rounds equal to your Charisma score. If you gain this benefit from multiple sources you may also damage the target once without interrupting his fixation (you may do this only once, no matter how many times you gain the benefit).
• Charming: Once per session, you may improve the Disposition of any 1 non-adversary NPC by 5.
• Practiced Bluff: If you spend an action die to boost a Bluff check and it still fails, you gain the die back after the action is resolved. Against multiple targets you only regain the die if the check fails against all of them.

Tribesman
You hail from a simple society that lives off the land.
• Bonus Feat: Basic Skill Mastery (Athlete)
• Extra Proficiency: You gain 1 additional proficiency or trick.
• Game Hunter: You inflict 2 additional damage on standard animals and beasts.
• Paired Skills: Each time you gain 1 or more ranks in the Resolve skill, you gain equal ranks in the Survival skill. This may not increase your Survival skill beyond its maximum rank.
• Thick Hide 2: You're considered to be wearing partial armor that provides Damage Reduction 2. This DR does not stack with other armor (only the best protection applies). If you gain thick hide from multiple sources, your hide offers the highest single DR value + 1 per additional hide benefit (e.g. thick hide 4, thick hide 3, and thick hide 1 offer DR 6).

Vanguard
You're an elite guardian of your people, determined to protect them from all threats.
• Bonus Feat: Misdirection Basics
• Basic Combat Expert: You're considered to have 1 additional Basic Combat feat for any ability based on the number of Basic Combat feats you have.
• Charming: Once per session, you may improve the Disposition of any 1 non-adversary NPC by 5.
• Paired Skills: Each time you gain 1 or more ranks in the Resolve skill, you gain equal ranks in the Impress skill. This may not increase your Impress skill beyond its maximum rank.
• Stand Together: You gain a +2 morale bonus to Defense and all saves when at least 2 adjacent characters share your Species.

Warden
You patrol the fringes of civilization to ensure nothing comes upon your community unexpectedly.
• Bonus Feat: Pathfinder Basics (any 1)
• Attribute Training: The lower of your Intelligence or Wisdom scores increases by 1 (your choice if a tie). Apply this bonus after any modifiers from your Species or Talent.
• Decisive: You gain a +5 bonus with Initiative.
• Practiced Investigate: If you spend an action die to boost an Investigate check and it still fails, you gain the die back after the action is resolved. Against multiple targets you only regain the die if the check fails against all of them.
• Unbreakable: Each time you suffer attribute impairment, it decreases by 1 (minimum 0).

Wizard
Your mastery of arcane lore ensures you're in high demand as counsel in delicate matters.
• Bonus Feat: Spell Library
• Broad Learning: You gain 2 additional Studies.
• Encouragement: Once per scene, you may speak to 1 of your teammates for 1 minute to grant them a +1 morale bonus with saving throws until the end of the current scene.
• Practiced Spellcasting: If you spend an action die to boost a Spellcasting check and it still fails, you gain the die back after the action is resolved. Against multiple targets you only regain the die if the check fails against all of them.
• Thrifty: Your Prudence increases by 2.

Okay... lots to digest here. You're going to see more references to things like Interests, Action Dice, Studies, Tricks etc. We'll go over those things later (in Skills and when we cover the core system). Suffice to say just a casual look at these Specialities already adds another dimension to your PC class choice. You'll see all the things "missing" from the Core Class list are largely folded in here to represent the flavor those D20 classes give - but *aren't* specific professions unto themselves per se, like Sorcerer. Yet - what those things bring to the table are now applicable to ANY class in terms of what they really bring to the table (Sorcerer is a means to be "blooded" from another Species for instance). Nothing prevents you from being a soldier with Dragon blood in you... and access to those Species Feats.

What Fantasy Craft is trying to set up is a tighter and meatier taxonomy of design. Each sub-system roots itself deeper into the next element and deeper into the core rules (which at this point we haven't even gotten to yet).

NEXT post - we'll look at *head-to-head* comparisons.

There's also a Monk Expert Class in the 'Call to Arms' series of PDFs that Crafty Games produced, for those who want to go full-on D&D or chi-using monk from the Martial Artist baseline.

Yep. But I'm trying to keep it core. Otherwise I'll be comparing the metric ton of 3.x third party stuff... and down the already daunting rabbit-hole we go.

Quote from: tenbones;1139528Yep. But I'm trying to keep it core. Otherwise I'll be comparing the metric ton of 3.x third party stuff... and down the already daunting rabbit-hole we go.

   That way lies madness! But yes, that was just meant as a "FYI" footnote, not a request or encouragement to go beyond the core book.

If I'm reading Specialty correctly, those are flat things, correct?  You get the listed bonuses and they aren't adjusted by level?

Reason I'm asking is because I'm playing around with an idea that is close but not exactly to "throw BEMCI and 5E into a blender then rearrange the parts", which in some ways is similar to what FC does to 3E (only more basic, given the origin material).

FC is amazing, but there's just too much. We need an FC Lite.

Not sure if you've mentioned this yet, but in the Crafty forums there was a great thread on the 3.5 Cleric vs. the FC Priest. The player was complaining that he actually wanted to be a healbot, but the rules didn't really allow it. The designers tried to explain that one of the design goals was to eliminate the concept of "Cleric as healbot" freeing up the FC Priest for cooler options. Unfortunately the player wasn't getting it. My take-away was that the player had found a comfortable niche as the group's healer, a role which he served in for every game, and was nervous when faced with challenge of stepping outside of his comfort zone.

On a related note, I'm curious if (or how) FC solves the 3.5 CODzilla problem (Cleric or Druid + Godzilla) where the C/D is a better fighter than the fighter at higher levels. Or some of the other 3.5 conundrums, like LFQW or Christmas Tree mentality.

Tenbones, I'm surprised you didn't mention Trailblazer in your analysis, which to my mind would be the true cage match of the 3.75 editions (PF, FC, and Trailblazer.)

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/64009/Trailblazer

Quote from: Steven Mitchell;1139535If I'm reading Specialty correctly, those are flat things, correct?  You get the listed bonuses and they aren't adjusted by level?

Reason I'm asking is because I'm playing around with an idea that is close but not exactly to "throw BEMCI and 5E into a blender then rearrange the parts", which in some ways is similar to what FC does to 3E (only more basic, given the origin material).

Correct. They're flat. Basically they're like 5e Backgrounds with a lot more mechanical heft. (more correctly - 5e backgrounds are very watered down versions of Specialties). I don't know if 5e was inspired by FC (doubt it) but if they were, they dropped the ball.