Great! Thanks for the answers. So, the Fireball example was perhaps a bit extreme but between reading and skimming I was looking at how Fantasy Craft handled common scenarios. (I completely missed the reduced Fireball damage as well). It's good to know that its the exception not the rule.
I don't find that combat is slowed by dice rolling in the game, although some might since most actions are resolved with an opposed roll. If you find that happening, see the above Rule of 10 (or whatever you want to call it).
By "rules light" I suppose I mean someone that enjoys the game, interacting with the story and making the rolls/roles happen but doesn't care much about knowing the details (or just never seems to pick up on them.) With 3.5 DnD mostly, this falls under combat and perhaps some fiddly feats. But the basic underlying mechanic is roll a d20, roll damage, record damage. My concern would be in Fantasy Craft it seems the combat rules are simplified / streamlined but the complexity is pushed a bit to the character sheet. So just a bit worried a player that may need consistent advice on AoOs or something is now going to need regular hand holding tracking the various bits on the sheet.
That might be a concern, but the best answer there is for those players to avoid characters with the more complex options. Scott Gearin (aka Morgenstern) posted a series of feats for those who wanted to keep their number of choices in combat down too (
Simple combat feats). I haven't seen much of that, although I admit my players tend to be the engaged sort. I have found some quick copy and paste from the PDF to a Document and printing the result out to give new players a summary of their abilities helps those unfamiliar. Similarly, I would strongly recommend starting at 1st level to minimize the number of options in play so your players can get used to them.
Of course, from my perspective as GM, if the players forget their abilities that's their issue, not mine.
(Well, if it's a constant thing is sort of is, but you know what I mean.)
Thanks for the Narative Control and Cheating Death rules suggestions. I haven't gotten all the way through the book so I either skimmed those or haven't seen them yet.
They're both in Chapter 7. The narrative control rules are rather simple, basically thy consist of the players spending action dice to change or define aspects of the environment. It's similar to, but not as strictly defined, Adventure! D20's system. Cheating Death basically involves the player of a PC who bought it coming up with a story about how, no, he really survived. I typically allow a certain amount of colaboration, sometimes even helping myself. Once the story's made up, the whole table rates it and the player gets to roll. Good ratings mean it's more likely the PC survives with little consequence. Bad ratings mean it's less likely the PC survives and if he does so it will be with worse consequences (scarring, permanent injuries, hauntings, psychological issues, etc.)
Need to check out the NPC Builder it sounds like! With 3.5 I found a laptop with software to build and track NPC / Custom monsters pretty indispensable, so that shouldn't be an issue. Still, having a pre-printed list of monsters at "Typical" Threat Levels seems like a decent idea if you are running things on the fly.
Tracking is simple, especially since most NPCs are Standard ones. The builder is pretty straight forward, and a laptop is a bit overkill, I can run it on my tablet (
Web NPC Builder). There's also tiny windows application that converts the grades to play numbers up on DriveThruRPG for free (
Fantasy Craft NPC Builder - Crafty Games | DriveThruRPG.com).
Also, I have yet to check much into the gear section. How well does that work? The "lifestyle" stats (panache / prudence) is a new concept to me and I've heard negative things about both Fantasy Craft and earlier Spycraft editions and how they handle gear/equipment. Is it, in your opinion, a good feature and a working one at that?
I like it, but I know there are others who find it too different then the norm.
The lifestyle stats work smoothly in play. Panache give them a bonus for some social interactions and a bit of coin at the beginning of an 'adventure'. Prudence determines how much of their haul they can save at the end of an 'adventure' and how much they blow on high living. Typically, I let the players do some shopping before downtime to soften some of the sting.
Things like potions and food spoil at the end of the 'adventure' as well.
The number of magic items (and other Prizes, like castles or contacts and such) a character can have is limited by their Renown. Reputation is the 'big' coin used for these sorts of things, if they're available for purchase. Silver is just for mundane stuff (which still includes a number of 'magic' items like potions and scrolls).
The other common thing I've seen as a complaint is that it seems like PCs start off poor. First, it's important to remember that the items listed in the Forge chapter have a mechanical effects. The backpack isn't just a backpack, it's one good enough to give you a bonus to your carrying capacity. That sort of thing. The second is that if you find the amount of silver too low, just increase it.
