Fantasy craft??? will you bother?

[King of Old School]

Given their inability to get products out in anything like a timely fashion, I can't help but wish that the Crafty guys would actually stick to supporting their stated core audience (i.e. people who want "d20 tuned for modern action gaming") and get previously announced stuff like Farthest Star, The Crucible and C:S out before deciding to reinvent the perfectly good wheel that is D&D.

KoOS

 

[Gundark]

Given their inability to get products out in anything like a timely fashion, I can't help but wish that the Crafty guys would actually stick to supporting their stated core audience (i.e. people who want "d20 tuned for modern action gaming") and get previously announced stuff like Farthest Star, The Crucible and C:S out before deciding to reinvent the perfectly good wheel that is D&D.

KoOS

QFT. This was the point of my thread to begin with

 

[GlassJaw]

Don't get me wrong, I love Spycraft. It's my first choice for any modern/future game. That said unfortunetly there were a few items which made the game bog down. The Gear section and the skill section. Both these sections ended up with alot of look up time for us (What happens with a critical success on a stealth? Hold on, what security gear picks do I get with at calibre 3 again?)

This is exactly what I'm afraid of.

As I said, I'm in the planning stages of a campaign and the more I work on it, the less enthused I am. There's just so much "stuff" in the book that you have to look up, consult, etc. The book is absolutely chock full of really cool ideas but the deeper I immerse myself in it, the more I question how everything will translate into "fun" when the group actually comes together and play.

I pitched my campaign idea to the group a while back and everyone was really into it (military horror - Predator/Aliens/The Thing/A-Team). Most of the group is well-versed in RPG's and different rule systems but the one common factor between all of us is that no one really has a lot of time. I don't have much time to prep for the game, we only meet every other week, and we don't do marathon sessions.

I'm concerned that the amount of out-of-game prep time (for everyone, not just me) to get up to speed with the rules and the amount of time during play to consult rules will be too much. I also don't think that amount of time spent will correspond to an equal amount of "fun" in the game. :\

 

[Insight]

I absolutely LOVED the idea of FantasyCraft... about six months ago. With 4E right around the corner, I cannot imagine getting my group to even try it now. It's hard enough to get them to play something other than D&D, and really, the only reason I can even do that is because they get bored of D&D. With a new version of D&D coming, they will have zero interest in another system.

It's a pity, because I think what the Crafty guys have done with Spycraft is outstanding. I think they're going to be a victim of really bad timing on this idea.

 

[trancejeremy]

Ack, when was this announced? I completely missed it. And are there any more details? The Crafty Games site is awfully sparse (and IMHO, sucks, it's set up as a blog, which is great for blogging, but terrible for anything else).

I guess it could be a way of keeping 3.x alive, if it were a more streamlined version of those rules. But if it's completely different, I dunno how it will compete with 4e.

Maybe if it makes it out in Dec 07, it might be people giving it as gifts. But given how their products have slid and slid and slid and slid, I think 4e is more likely to come out first.

 

[solkan_uk]

Pretty sure I'll end up getting both.
Unless one or the other misses where I expect them to go, I think I'll end up using D&D4E for a 'kiddie/lighthearted game' with my young nephew and when the other groups just want to do chill out games, and FantasyCraft when I try and run a serious campaign (espionage in a fantasy world is something that intrigues me).

 

[Psion]

Before the annoucement of 4e, and before the saga rules where released I would have been really excited by this.

I have pretty much the opposite reaction. I held very little interest in FantasyCraft's public face (i.e., the Spycraft fantasy product lines, Origin of the Species and Spellbound) before the 4e announcement and subsequent teasers and speculation.

After that, my interest was piqued. Why?

For one, exactly what some people are damning here: the attention paid to skills.

D&D/D20 has a dandy skill system going for it, with many marvelous innovations and other features going for it (Take 10/20, the ease of handling opposed checks, etc.) But they woefully underplay it (frex, with poor skill deployment among the less skilled classes).

Then I hear the vague threat the SWSE is supposed to be representative of what we can expect out of 4e. If this is true in regards to skills, it's a step in the wrong direction.

Dramatic conflicts, complex skill checks, skill-related class abilities, and character options like origins that let you easily shape you skill selection (without making class skills meaningless) are something I would consider a desirable addition to a fantasy game.

 

[Toccata]

I'll definitely be picking it up. Half of my group can't stand D&D but likes Spycraft and fantasy games. Even if they end up liking 4E, Fantasycraft will basically be learning new character options and a different gear setup, whereas 4E would be a whole new edition with pretty substantial changes to learn.

 

[GlassJaw]

Then I hear the vague threat the SWSE is supposed to be representative of what we can expect out of 4e. If this is true in regards to skills, it's a step in the wrong direction.

Dramatic conflicts, complex skill checks, skill-related class abilities, and character options like origins that let you easily shape you skill selection (without making class skills meaningless) are something I would consider a desirable addition to a fantasy game.

I love everything I've heard about 4E. It's less simulationist and more gamist. That's exactly what I want in a fantasy RPG.

I like Spycraft a lot but as I explore more of the system, some things are a bit too simulationist, even for me (and I like crunch). I want my fantasy to be tactical but to play very fast and be very cinematic. Spycraft is tactical and can be cinematic but it's certainly not fast, nor is the learning curve very friendly to those unfamiliar with the system.

I hope they scrap the monolith that is the Gear system for FantasyCraft too.

 

[RodneyThompson]

I think there's an argument to be made that no attempt at game design is a "waste of effort." Given my history I think it's pretty obvious how highly I think of the Spycraft system, so I think it should be very interesting to see what they come up with. The great thing that the d20 system/OGL has done is it's expanded the arena of ideas out to the point where, for the first time, there is a widespread culture of game design that can benefit from new ideas from anyone, not just the lucky few that work at WotC, White Wolf, SJG, etc. Like advancements in technology, new game designs benefit from the work that's come before it, and Fantasy Craft at the very least will help lay groundwork for the next generation of game design philosophy. Whether it moves in the same direction as 4E/Saga is irrelevant as long as there is some thoughtful and innovative game design at its core.