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Pen & Paper Roleplaying Central => Pen and Paper Roleplaying Games (RPGs) Discussion => Topic started by: LiferGamer on November 16, 2020, 11:40:58 AM

Title: Going to put FantasyCraft through its paces today - will report.
Post by: LiferGamer on November 16, 2020, 11:40:58 AM
I'm going to post here for feedback/comments - rather than a review it'll be a lot of back and forth.

Big thanks for Tenbones for getting me interested, now finish the breakdown thread!  =)

We're going to whip up a couple PCs, I'm converting a 1e adventure to see how clunky that is, and play it in slow motion if need be.
Title: Re: Going to put FantasyCraft through its paces today - will report.
Post by: LiferGamer on November 16, 2020, 10:38:28 PM
I like it but I can't say for sure whether I get it. Scheduling didn't work out the way I wanted to so we ended up doing a lot of reading and Theory crafting no real play.

.I dug into some old Forum posts on the crafty games forum as well as a couple of cool blogs.  On the one hand while it doesn't seem like there's much coming out terrible quick, it's pretty goddamn complete as is and doesn't really feel like it's missing much.

Title: Re: Going to put FantasyCraft through its paces today - will report.
Post by: consolcwby on November 17, 2020, 10:13:28 PM
Hm... I've heard about this, but I know nothing about it. It's been off my radar as of late, however.
I like it but I can't say for sure whether I get it. Scheduling didn't work out the way I wanted to so we ended up doing a lot of reading and Theory crafting no real play.
You should do a capsule review in this thread, like just 3 pros and 3 cons. Especially if you don't 'get it'. And if you eventually 'get it', you can post your new opinions. I'd like to understand what exactly this is. (A new lite/narrative system?)
Title: Re: Going to put FantasyCraft through its paces today - will report.
Post by: tenbones on November 17, 2020, 10:54:22 PM
Godspeed to you sir!
Title: Re: Going to put FantasyCraft through its paces today - will report.
Post by: tenbones on November 17, 2020, 10:56:19 PM
Hm... I've heard about this, but I know nothing about it. It's been off my radar as of late, however.
I like it but I can't say for sure whether I get it. Scheduling didn't work out the way I wanted to so we ended up doing a lot of reading and Theory crafting no real play.
You should do a capsule review in this thread, like just 3 pros and 3 cons. Especially if you don't 'get it'. And if you eventually 'get it', you can post your new opinions. I'd like to understand what exactly this is. (A new lite/narrative system?)

BWAHAHAH! Capsule review? Rules Lite? Narrative? Oh lord... 

Here's the capsule review: Fantasycraft - what 3e aspired to be and should have been.

Title: Re: Going to put FantasyCraft through its paces today - will report.
Post by: consolcwby on November 17, 2020, 11:41:37 PM
Hm... I've heard about this, but I know nothing about it. It's been off my radar as of late, however.
I like it but I can't say for sure whether I get it. Scheduling didn't work out the way I wanted to so we ended up doing a lot of reading and Theory crafting no real play.
You should do a capsule review in this thread, like just 3 pros and 3 cons. Especially if you don't 'get it'. And if you eventually 'get it', you can post your new opinions. I'd like to understand what exactly this is. (A new lite/narrative system?)

BWAHAHAH! Capsule review? Rules Lite? Narrative? Oh lord... 

Here's the capsule review: Fantasycraft - what 3e aspired to be and should have been.
Which one 3.0 3.5, 3.71269 FUD Edition?... Or are you just saying it's like Pathfinder but it's not.
*In my Joe Biden voice*: Come on, man. Tell me how you REALLY feel! I got some people to sniff. ;D
Title: Re: Going to put FantasyCraft through its paces today - will report.
Post by: Spike on November 18, 2020, 12:07:22 AM
See... now I'm curious. I've had the FantasyCraft book for ages, and I recall liking it, but it never really felt... Complete.

Are there multiple books that I just never heard about?
Title: Re: Going to put FantasyCraft through its paces today - will report.
Post by: tenbones on November 19, 2020, 11:16:51 AM
Well there is this little thread I started not too long ago...

https://www.therpgsite.com/pen-paper-roleplaying-games-rpgs-discussion/3e-side-by-side-battle-pathfinder-dd-3-5-fantasy-craft-walk-into-the-thunderdome/

And I've been talking about Fantasycraft for years. It's the best iteration of 3e ever.

I need to get back to that thread... but day job and my secret project has been devouring my life.
Title: Re: Going to put FantasyCraft through its paces today - will report.
Post by: LiferGamer on November 19, 2020, 11:53:40 AM
I've tried shaming Tenbones multiple times into continuing =D.

SHORT SHORT NON-REVIEW

A FEW OF MY FAVORITE PROS:
Gives me a toolbox to both create the world as I want it as a GM with rules clearly laid out on the front end, and gives the players 'currency' to tweak bad luck nudge results sort of like Savage Worlds Bennies:

CONS are all related to complexity (I skipped 3rd and 4th edition, as I was into GURPS) and the amount of work that needs to happen on the front end.

In short: I can already recommend it if you are a prep-heavy GM, building a new campaign especially.
Title: Re: Going to put FantasyCraft through its paces today - will report.
Post by: tenbones on November 19, 2020, 01:07:48 PM
I *will* get back to it. I want to have that thread exactly for moments like this as a reference.

Fantasycraft requires a little extra "system-mastery" from the GM. It's a toolkit, not a setting. But once you get proficient at using it comfortably it's pretty amazing.
Title: Re: Going to put FantasyCraft through its paces today - will report.
Post by: LiferGamer on November 19, 2020, 03:38:14 PM
Another Pro that I haven't tested but sounds awesome is that I can stat a critter once, and easily adjusted upwards or downwards in terms of Threat Level to match the characters.

5th edition challenge ratings are a pain in the ass for me.
Title: Re: Going to put FantasyCraft through its paces today - will report.
Post by: LiferGamer on November 19, 2020, 03:41:50 PM
I found an older blog I've been pouring over that's got some cool examples - here's one of the more interesting ones:
https://philgamer.wordpress.com/2009/09/23/fantasy-craft-sample-combat-zhao-meng-vs-hsi-rong-in-a-restaurant-rumble/
Neat blog with some other good FC stuff.
Title: Re: Going to put FantasyCraft through its paces today - will report.
Post by: tenbones on November 19, 2020, 10:40:35 PM
Another Pro that I haven't tested but sounds awesome is that I can stat a critter once, and easily adjusted upwards or downwards in terms of Threat Level to match the characters.

5th edition challenge ratings are a pain in the ass for me.

Yes! It's one of the best things in the system. You can customize a monster in a snap and scale it up/down as you see fit.
Title: Re: Going to put FantasyCraft through its paces today - will report.
Post by: Lurkndog on November 20, 2020, 10:30:55 AM
I was playing in a long-running FantasyCraft tabletop campaign before lockdown put it on hiatus.

Overall, I have a positive impression of the system. I'm not a huge fan of D20 but the Crafty systems generally let me get what I want done as a player.

My character is a kung-fu doctor, patterned after Peter Davison Doctor Who, built as Explorer class with the Cleric specialty and a combination of martial arts, chance and alchemy feats. It all works pretty well. My only real issue is that combat and damage are a bit too random. My character has both one-shotted a Big Bad when my damage rolls exploded, and gotten his ass kicked and his lunch money stolen by a nameless villager. But that's D20 for you.

We were using FantasyCraft with a Pathfinder campaign, and it worked pretty well.
Title: Re: Going to put FantasyCraft through its paces today - will report.
Post by: Aglondir on November 24, 2020, 01:35:30 AM
On sale now!

Quote
Right now, Crafty Games is hosting a sitewide sale.
Everything except pre-orders is automatically 20% off.
As a small token of our appreciation for your support, all of you on our mailing list enjoy an additional 5% off with the code:

staycrafty2020

This discount applies on top of the sale discount
.
Title: Re: Going to put FantasyCraft through its paces today - will report.
Post by: consolcwby on November 26, 2020, 12:31:50 AM
Thanks to everyone who gave their opinions. I just picked it up - now I just gotta read it!
You all convinced me!  ;D
Title: Re: Going to put FantasyCraft through its paces today - will report.
Post by: GeekEclectic on November 26, 2020, 04:41:12 AM
For those asking about books, there are 3 that I know were released physically.

Fantasy Craft - the core book with everything you need. The PDF that's readily available is the 2nd printing, which is the same as the first with some errata. If you want physical, that's harder to find, and you'll either want the 2nd printing or the 1st printing w/ the errata document. Here (https://www.crafty-games.com/product-category/game-support/fantasy-craft-downloads/) is a page of free Fantasy Craft downloads including the aforementioned errata, free NPC builder software, and a few other goodies.

Adventure Companion - 3 ready-to-use settings(nothing as detailed as a dedicated Forgotten Realms book, but a nice starter), a few new classes at each tier(basic, expert, master), and some new feats and a handful of new campaign qualities. All very well thought out.

Time of High Adventure - It's just 3 adventures with some NPC and monster stats thrown in as needed. No new player options IIRC. 2 of the adventures are published separately in their own PDFs(to avoid accidental double-purchase, in case you're interested in this kind of things).

Then there are the Call to Arms PDFs. They're just new classes. Some of them are included in the Adventure Companion. Avatar, Crusader, Inquisitor, Shinobi, Skirmisher, and Witch Hunter are not, in case you want to know which you can get without doing an accidental double purchase.

Laboratory of the Forsaken - another adventure, only available in PDF.

Then there's the big, unreleased thing . . .

Spellbound - at least, I think this is what it was going to be called. They've given the option to refund your preorder since it's been quite a few years, but I keep holding out hope that it'll come out someday so have thus far not done that. That's probably dumb of me, but I really, really want it and don't want to give up. (This is also why I'll never, ever, EVER buy a Mistborn RPG product even though I love Sanderson's work to death.) Anyway, it's the big magic supplement. New spells; newer, less generic magic-using classes. I know at some point they released what they already had, but for the life of me I can't find the PDF on this computer. Sorry, if I could, I'd give you more specific info about what they actually finished.

Next in the pipeline was supposed to be an equipment and gear book. I don't even know if they had a tentative name for it. But since it looks less and less likely that a full release of Spellbound will ever see the light of day, this one's even more of a pipe dream.
Title: Re: Going to put FantasyCraft through its paces today - will report.
Post by: BugbearBrigand on November 29, 2020, 07:38:38 AM
I know at some point they released what they already had, but for the life of me I can't find the PDF on this computer. Sorry, if I could, I'd give you more specific info about what they actually finished.

The Spellbound material released to pre-order supporters included a draft of the some new spells sans NPC stat blocks and a preview document that includes two base classes (Conjuror and Reaper), one expert class (Hexer), one master class (Arcane Savant), and two spellcasting feats (Familiar Basics and Spell Specialist.) I would consider it part of the first party material for the game and I personally include them as part of character options when running my own games.
Title: Re: Going to put FantasyCraft through its paces today - will report.
Post by: LiferGamer on November 29, 2020, 12:56:30 PM
TESTING CONTINUES:

So going forward, now that I've given it a full readthrough, I'm crafting a party of adventurers AND converting an old-school module series to see both sides of the toolbox.

Desert of Desolation

It's obscure enough that I'm -certain- my players don't know it, so if the conversion/test goes well I can run them through it.

I'm working off the original versions - from 1982 and 1983

Module I3 - Pharaoh
Tracy and Laura Hickman
meant for 6-8 characters of levels 5-7

I'm going to try it with 4 or 5 FantasyCraft characters.

Johnny Vulhkan - This handsome devil is equal parts Foghorn Leghorn and Harry Mudd.  This steampunk alchemist was the perennial pain in the party posterior during our GURPS Castle Falkenstein/Infinite Worlds game.

I'm going for a level or two of Courtier and sage into Alchemist.

Edit:  Campaign settings:  Industrial, Fast Levels, Miracles and Sorcery

Setting it industrial to play with a little black powder.

Any requests or suggestions for the rest of the party?
Title: Re: Going to put FantasyCraft through its paces today - will report.
Post by: TKurtBond on November 29, 2020, 02:38:14 PM
Oddly enough, Desert of Desolation (either as the collected edition or the separate I3, I4, and I5 modules) shows up on several Best X D&D Modules lists.  See article 1 (https://www.thegamer.com/best-dungeons-dragons-adventures-ranked/), article 2 (https://www.enworld.org/threads/15-best-d-d-modules-of-all-time.662734/), and article 3 (https://sites.google.com/site/ddretrocrawl/DemonDogs/xp-story/adventure-log/30-greatest-dd-adventures-of-all-time).  I enjoyed them all in their original module form, especially the first two.
Title: Re: Going to put FantasyCraft through its paces today - will report.
Post by: LiferGamer on November 29, 2020, 03:45:34 PM
Oh yeah desert of desolation is excellent, I just find the latecomers and the Casual fans are just familiar with it is for example ravenloft or Tomb of Horrors.
Title: Re: Going to put FantasyCraft through its paces today - will report.
Post by: LiferGamer on December 04, 2020, 10:34:17 PM
Got sidelined by work.  Had three people out, and I'm the only one with a work ethic.  >:(

ANYWAY; finished Johnny Vulkhan - turns out I was able to make him the shifty, lying manipulator I wanted rather easily.  Three levels of Courtier, a single level of Keeper to buy the crafting and medicine skills needed to get Alchemist right at level 5.

Thematically, I'm not grabbing Spellcasting even though I now can - he'll get by on elixirs, potions, and his glib tongue.    He has 10 in Bluff, 12 in Crafting (chemistry),  10 in Medicine, and Black Powder Forte if he needs to fight.  Additionally, with Charming and Beguiling, Black Cat, and Elusive, he can stymie the opposition while he makes a quick getaway.

I've been fiddling with PCGen, the only program I can find that supports FantasyCraft character creation, and have attached a character sheet.  Sadly, without a template, I can't do plain text and I haven't taken the time to learn what I need to bang one out.  So I've attached the character sheet as a PDF in the meantime.
Title: Re: Going to put FantasyCraft through its paces today - will report.
Post by: LiferGamer on December 04, 2020, 10:42:46 PM
Next up:  Rykeena, the (half-)orc Martial Artist.

Since I discovered PCGen, this should be quicker.  I'm using the Eastern Horde (Skull Tribe) for half-orc stats -if I was doing a 'proper' Greyhawk style half-orc I'd redo and swap the intelligence penalty, but this works for now.

Since I didn't play 3+ or much Pathfinder, level pre-planning is novel and new to me.

I'm eyeing Martial Artist to Edgemaster, but that seem obvious, and Johnny V was a more interesting combo, so I might do something else.
Title: Re: Going to put FantasyCraft through its paces today - will report.
Post by: GeekEclectic on December 06, 2020, 01:57:34 AM
Since I didn't play 3+ or much Pathfinder, level pre-planning is novel and new to me.
Fantasy Craft is much, much more forgiving in this aspect than 3.x or PF. Your build will probably work no matter what. They really want you to feel competent in general, and very competent in your niche. Some options are more optimized than others, of course, but not game-breakingly so. Absolute tons of viable combinations. Expert/Master classes are about the only time you have to put any forethought into a build, and they tend to be a lot less stringent than 3.x/PF prestige classes in that regard, too.
Title: Re: Going to put FantasyCraft through its paces today - will report.
Post by: TKurtBond on December 06, 2020, 02:08:31 AM
Does anybody know if there are any Virtual Table Tops with Fantasy Craft support?
Title: Re: Going to put FantasyCraft through its paces today - will report.
Post by: TKurtBond on December 06, 2020, 02:32:07 AM
Does anybody know if there are any Virtual Table Tops with Fantasy Craft support?

A little more searching found a Roll20 character sheet (https://github.com/Roll20/roll20-character-sheets/tree/master/Fantasy_Craft).  It is convenient of Roll20 to have them all on github (https://github.com/Roll20/roll20-character-sheets).
Title: Re: Going to put FantasyCraft through its paces today - will report.
Post by: BugbearBrigand on December 06, 2020, 02:53:31 PM
Does anybody know if there are any Virtual Table Tops with Fantasy Craft support?
Quote
A little more searching found a Roll20 character sheet.  It is convenient of Roll20 to have them all on github.

Fantasy Craft is just supported enough that its playable and not entirely fringe, but still impossible to find games for
Title: Re: Going to put FantasyCraft through its paces today - will report.
Post by: LiferGamer on December 06, 2020, 10:08:01 PM
If I get the hang of it, I'm either running this or DCC as a side game online.