Spycraft news - genre books to be stand-alone

[Psion]

Good news for Glassjaw, and perhaps others looking for a 4e alternative.

Crafty has started the MasterCraft line. Existing books slated as expansions (FantasyCraft, Farthest Star, 10K bullets) will have a stripped down "Henchman" version of the system included, making them stand alone products. Much of the more complex material in SpyCraft will serve as portable "expansion" rules, and the material in the new books will still be portable to spycraft.

Details here:
http://www.crafty-games.com/node/635

When we at Crafty Games announced Fantasy Craft last fall the number one request was that it be a standalone product. People loved the idea of traditional adventure gaming with the powerful and versatile Spycraft system but they only wanted to use one book to make it happen. Plus, they worried about rules from what’s perceived to be a modern action-espionage product interlocking to create a different genre.

Simultaneously, we’ve been developing Henchman Edition, a lighter, faster, and sleeker version of the rules for the growing part of our fan base that want to use them but can’t quite wrap their heads around the full Spycraft 2.0 experience. The response on this product has been overwhelmingly positive but ultimately it’s yet another book you’d have to add to the expanding collection.

So we’ve decided to go another way, folding the basis for what would have become Henchman into all our future print products. From now on you’ll see a new logo on the back of Crafty books...

The Mastercraft system lets us continue producing games with one of the strongest tactical rules systems on the market without conversion or adaptation. Every book, from Fantasy Craft to our street noir opus Ten Thousand Bullets to our space opera epic Farthest Star and beyond, will be expressly tailored to the genre at hand. Better yet, you’ll get everything you need to play — from character creation to skills to combat and building adventures — in one streamlined package.

Mastercraft material will be portable into Spycraft and vice-versa, and the License to Improvise will still be supported for those looking to get their hands dirty with a little development of their own. We’ll continue supporting Spycraft as well — our flagship isn’t going anywhere! Basically, it’s everything Crafty Games has always offered plus everything you’ve asked for and an upgraded, polished new rules set to boot!

Welcome to a new era. An era powered by Mastercraft.

 

[TheAuldGrump]

I am hoping that making Fantasy Craft a stand alone game entices one of my players into running for a while.

One of them used to run a very occasional Spycraft game set in Canada, but after a while I noticed that he was asking me to run scenarios in his setting more often than he was running himself.... He still makes noises about it, but he has not run one in quite a while.

The Auld Grump, always the wedding planner, never the groom....

 

[GlassJaw]

Yeah, I saw this on their site. I think it's a good move. I was lambasted pretty good on the Crafty forums when I said Fantasy Craft should be stand-alone when it was announced....

I still think Crafty's timing with their new releases, especially Fantasy Craft, is unfortunate because they'll be competing with 4E and Pathfinder, both of which will be already established.

 

[JQP]

Yeah, I saw this on their site. I think it's a good move. I was lambasted pretty good on the Crafty forums when I said Fantasy Craft should be stand-alone when it was announced....

I still think Crafty's timing with their new releases, especially Fantasy Craft, is unfortunate because they'll be competing with 4E and Pathfinder, both of which will be already established.

Not really on topic, but I wish point-based fantasy that emulates classes well was more in-demand and available. I wish D&D would move that way, really. What with all the dissatisfaction with this or that in D&D, you'd think it would be more viable.

I'm not really able to get excited about the umpteenth version of class based fantasy anymore. I like classes, I think they're a good idea, but not as the base. I like the idea of classes within a point-based system much better.

I hope the M&M version of fantasy has rules included, which is why I'm replying here. I like the idea of reprinting the rules along with genres. One of the things that puts me off existing point-based systems (not high on the list, mind) is that you have to use a genre-less rule book, or a rule book from the wrong genre. Nothing takes me out of any given genre's mood like consulting a rule book filled with all the wrong art and tropes.