So my questions are whether these are still there, have they changed, and how useable would they be in a 3e/pathfinder games are they (i.e. how much adaptation would it require)?
This is a cornerstone of Fantasy Craft, actually, and the system's been significantly upgraded. We include an extensive set of conversion tools so you don't lose access to all the 3E/OGL stuff you already have, but the rules focus on converting
to Fantasy Craft rather than away. If you're looking to bolt this system onto Pathfinder... It's doable, but it would take some work. Let me elaborate by way of explanation...
Fantasy Craft adversaries - whether they're "monsters" or drawn from the "civilized species" - are built by choosing the various bits and pieces - Size, Type, Traits (initiative, attack, and other bonuses, Defense, etc.), individual attacks (weapons, natural attacks, and extraordinary attacks), gear, qualities (special abilities and rules that apply to the creature), and when you're done you add up the "costs" of everything to get an XP value. This XP value becomes a reward in adventures when the characters defeat the adversary (whether they do it with violence or not). Ultimate customization, yet simple enough to learn and use in an evening.
We include a HUGE bestiary to get you started - over 120 base monsters spread over more than 75 categories plus over a dozen templates to adjust them with ease (ancient, clockwork, dire, kaiju, etc.) and the aforementioned build kit and OGL conversion rules as well. All built
using our rules - not breaking them.
Here's a clip of the relevant construction text from the front end of Chapter 6...
Building an NPC
Players sometimes use these rules to build followers (see page 98), contacts (see page 191), and hirelings (see page 190). Most of the time, however, this chapter is the province of the GM, who uses it to create all the other people and monsters the party meets and fights.
Building an NPC is a simple process that begins with a blank NPC Record Sheet. You can download one from
www.craftygames. com or photocopy page 400 of this book. Then just follow these steps. Detailed instructions are provided for each step beginning on the pages listed in parentheses.
Step 0: Concept (right): Start with the basics. Are you building a person, animal, or monster? They all use the same rules but the choices to be made in later steps are very different. Think a bit about the NPC’s appearance, motivations, strengths, and weaknesses. Your initial thoughts should be enough to decide whether the NPC is standard or special, and whether it should be an adversary.
Step 1: Statistics (page 226): Like player characters, NPCs have attributes, skills, initiative and attack bonuses, Defense, saves, and other statistics. Unlike PCs, a streamlined system is used to generate an NPC’s stats, making them faster to build and easier to use. This system also produces part of the NPC’s total XP value.
Step 2: NPC Qualities (page 230): NPCs also differ from player characters in that they don’t gain Origins or class levels. Instead, they have access to “NPC qualities,” which grant them special abilities and powers and sometimes assign weaknesses as well. Each quality also has an XP value, which is applied to the base total generated in Step 1.
Step 3: Attacks (page 235): NPCs can use dozens of different attacks: weapons, claws, bites, breath weapons, paralyzing gazes, and more. Special attacks are handled in this step and add to the NPC’s XP value based on type, strength, range, and upgrades. Weapon-using NPCs are equipped in Step 4.
Step 4: Gear and Treasure (page 239): Gear assigned to a player-created NPC increases its total XP value, as the NPC is assumed to be using the gear in the party’s favor. Gear and treasure added to a GM-created character, however, has no XP value. This is because anything held by the GM’s characters either doesn’t affect the PCs (weapons carried by non-combatants, for example), or is seized by the party when the fighting is done (the case with nearly all adversaries). Seized gear and treasure is its own reward and therefore generates no XP.
Step 5: XP Value (page 240): This step is only important for adversaries and NPCs the players build. For adversaries, the total XP from Steps 1–3 becomes the adversary’s bounty, or reward the characters gain for defeating the NPC (in or out of combat). For player-built NPCs, the total XP from steps 1–4 must fall
within the amount allotted by the rule granting the follower, contact, or hireling.
All other NPCs — the myriad inhabitants of the world that don’t oppose or help the characters — don’t need an XP value; the GM simply assigns them whatever stats, qualities, and other features he feels best fits the needs of the setting and story.
