Fantasy Craft (I'm late to the party.)

jdrakeh

Front Range Warlock
So, I may have totally missed the boat on this. When it was shiny and new, I skipped it because I hated Spycraft 2.0 - and I still hate it, as I feel that it took a lot of what was cumbersome about D&D 3.5 and made it more cumbersome, less useful, and generally made things worse for the GM (I did like the chase mechanics). Anyway, somebody gifted me a copy of Fantasy Craft and.... it actually looks very clever. It seems to have made things significantly easier for the GM, streamlined the clunky system bits present in D&D 3.5 and Spycraft, and delivered an interesting, complete, fantasy solution under one cover. So, uh, is anybody still playing FC?
 

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Strider1973

Explorer
It's definetely one of my go-to-games for d20 fantasy TTRPG, together with D&D 5e, PF2 and The Dark Eye, and I really can't praise it enough! I REALLY ADORE IT!!! Unfortunately I'm not playing it a the moment and it's such a pity. It' s a wonderful game, at least to me. I hope that Crafty Games manages to deliver sooner or later Spellbound, the supplement about magic!
 


innerdude

Legend
I've owned the hardcover since 2011, but have never played it. However, I've read through the system 5 or 6 times, and based on my reading, it's the only iteration of the d20 OGL rules I'd ever GM ever again. The monster templating system is pure genius, and all the races+classes are rich with options.

Edit: it kind of fell off my radar shortly after I bought it, because that was right at the beginning of our group's 8-year run with Savage Worlds, and I was kind of done with D20 at that point. I'm only now starting to consider trying d20 stuff again.
 


Strider1973

Explorer
I'm really in love with this game!
My only problem with it it's that it might result as being VERY VERY crunchy, if compared to D&D 5e, mainly because of its many subsystems.
I love it because it's at the same time a highly technical & tactical crunchy game, and a very narrative and character driven system, really the best of both worlds!
It's a complete overhaul of the 3.X d20 system. It's more low power and low magic if compared to PF 1 &2, or to D&D 5e, and to me that's a plus; more than that, magic is completely an optional element of the game: you can play a totally satisfying campaign even without any form of magic, or using just arcane or divine magic.
Mages and Priests are truly different from each other in the way they use their powers and spells, and martial classes have so many many cool and interesting options!
The Character Creation system is really flexible and customizable, a truly joy for players! As Ancestries you can play Drakes (small Dragons), Rootwalkers (Treants), and Giants, together with your usual Elves, Dwarves, Pechs (Gnomes and Halflings), Goblins, Orcs, Lizard Folk and Humans.
And there are A LOT of Classes non focused at all on combat, yet very very effective in game, like the Courtier, the Keeper, the Sage (or something like that...).
And you have ALL that you need in just two books: the Core Rulebook (which is a sort of Players' Guide, Gamemasters' Guide, Equipment Guide and Monster Manual all in one volume) and the Adventurer's Companion (highly recommended for half races, new feats and three different and very flavourful complete settings!).
Definetely a game worth checking it out, and the community at their site is really friendly! They produced also a fan made supplement pdf document filled with new classes, species, feats and much more!
 

Strider1973

Explorer
One last thing, at least for the moment: Fantasy Craft is a wonderful toolkit. It really helps you to create the kind of story and setting you want to create and play, much like systems like GURPS, or Champions or Hero System. The Campaign Qualities help you to shape campaigns and worlds the way you want - characters more or less powerful and cinematic, worlds with more or less magic, foes more or less deadly...
Fantasy Craft is really a fantastic toolkit and a terrific game!
 

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