General RPG Rules DiscussionDiscuss the rules of any game except D&D or Pathfinder, such as Arcana Evolved, Mutants & Masterminds, Star Wars Saga, d20 Modern, and the like.
I recently got my hands on a copy of the Explorer's Handbook and have run my friends through a few pulp adventures.
It's been great, other than the binding starting to fall apart after three or four days.
Most of the people I game with, though, are most interested in fantasy games. So I'm wondering how the Fantasy Companion plays. I've seen it on Amazon, but don't have access to a copy to browse through it.
Some of the things the group likes and dislikes about SW:
Pro: It's fast. Things are pretty simple and you can figure it out in only a few minutes. The combat flows and there are almost always fun things to try and experiment with. Bennies offer a bit of a safety net, especially when trying something risky.
Cons: It's *very* high-level, so a character "type" (like generic two-fisted pulp hero) will often end up looking quite a bit like most others of that type. It's very swingy -- one unlucky explosion and a character can be taken out completely. And no one likes the "Shaken" condition, since you can't do anything while shaken.
So based on that thumbnail description, does anyone have anything to say about the Fantasy Companion and how it plays?
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Most of the people I game with, though, are most interested in fantasy games. So I'm wondering how the Fantasy Companion plays.
I have the Fantasy Companion, but haven't used it in play. You'd probably get much more response on the pinnacle forums. They are very friendly and helpful.
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I recently got my hands on a copy of the Explorer's Handbook and have run my friends through a few pulp adventures.
Welcome to the fun!
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Cons: It's *very* high-level, so a character "type" (like generic two-fisted pulp hero) will often end up looking quite a bit like most others of that type. It's very swingy -- one unlucky explosion and a character can be taken out completely. And no one likes the "Shaken" condition, since you can't do anything while shaken.
It's all in the trappings. You may have two guys that have the "Slugger" edge, but one of them is a boxer and the other one is a martial artist. If the players are cynical about it ("but it's the same effect, so the characters are the same!") then they're playing a different game. It's the same argument that comes up with regard to spells and powers. The powers are completely generic; the challenge to the player is to describe what her version of "Bolt" looks like, as well as what it's called.
Quote:
So based on that thumbnail description, does anyone have anything to say about the Fantasy Companion and how it plays?
I have the Fantasy Companion and I had the Fantasy Toolkit before that (they have a lot of crossover content). The Companion is a solid book, and it was welcome in my game, mostly because my players are fantasy bigots...
The big thing it adds is the system for magical items (this was also present in the toolkit). The addition of arcane backgrounds, I think, wasn't all that exciting, but it at least gave me a handful of examples to take and tweak or rebuild to my liking. If you're into wargames, it also has some siege rules. A few new powers, but nothing that you couldn't have hacked together on your own. Ah, also it has a pretty good system for making new races (also available in Slipstream, I believe.)
So, if your group is mostly into fantasy rpg like mine, then it's pretty essential for the magic items, alone.
Yep, the Fantasy Companion is definitely useful, if you want to run fantasy games. It's not absolutely required, as you could think up everything yourself, but if you do not want to do that, it takes quite some work off your shoulders.
It's the same book format as the Explorer's Edition.
Bye
Thanee
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Agree with everything the OP said. But, still loving the hell out of it.
Then again, I didn't go fantasy - we're playing an SF setting.
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I second Ragboy's comments -- it is very helpful and has most of the "Fantasy" stuff you need all in one place. It has the "Loot" side of fantasy gaming plus a few more powers, edges and monsters. Between the powers, edges, and existing monsters, you should have enought to eyeball convert just about any monster from other systems.
On the bad binding -- on their forums, about halfway down this thread on the bad binding, you can see many went to kinkos to get theirs coil bound. I did so with mine and I like it much better than the original binding (it lies flat). I am tempted to do that with the Fantasy Companion, even through its binding is solid. Otherwise, they will make good on a new copy.
Oh, and I forgot to say in my original post that as one recently introduced to SW, it ROCKS! I was pretty much sold when I read their document on how the system evolved and to whom it might appeal. I am running some SW this weekend to introduce RPGs to a retiree friend of one of my friends - I think the FFF! will hook'em right in!
{I buddy of mine handed me the new Pathfinder book -- I thought "ugh, I am getting to old to go through yet another partial system upgrade to the D&D rules." Pretty book, though!}
I got Kinko's to rebind my copy with a comb that makes it easy lay the book flat.
I've never had any problems with the binding, but I just might have to get that done. Brilliant idea! Do they cut off the old binding, too, or do you need to do that yourself? Does the new binding obscure the text at all?
I love SW. It was my interim system because I gave up 3rd edition the moment 4e was announced. In that time I ran a military/sci-fi/horror game using the Necropolis setting, and I ran a generic D&D-style fantasy game using just the explorer's edition handbook.
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I was pretty much sold when I read their document on how the system evolved and to whom it might appeal. I am running some SW this weekend to introduce RPGs to a retiree friend of one of my friends - I think the FFF! will hook'em right in! 
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