Fantasycraft

[AdmundfortGeographer]

What I have read in reviews has intrigued me a lot. The D20 heritage draws me to it, yet strangely, I've been hesitant at making an investment in the system purely because, I think, of the D20 heritage.

I can't think of a D20-heritage game where high level gaming (above 12th level) doesn't break down in undesirable ways. Those kinds of things didn't show until a long time into a campaign.

At a glance, can you see any obvious efforts to make high level play doable where for 3.5 gaming in those levels was strained?

 

[pawsplay]

Well, firstly, a lot of the core abilities are available early on, so you don't spend years trying to develop your character into being cool. Also, most of the awesome abilities appear at level 14, or level 10 for Expert classes (very elegant), which means there is still some room upstairs to play up to level 20. It also appears that leveling is designed to slow down gradually, so you won't shoot up to very high levels very quickly.

If you do get to level 20, it appears to me the game has done an excellent job of not making level 20 characters invulnerable to being ganged up on, or capable of doing ludicrous amounts of damage. At the same time, characters have a good range of abilities at all levels, and the NPC scaling system means that encounters always have some kernel of mathematical sanity. There is plenty to do, also, besides slaying monsters, such as building up Holdings, crafting powerful items, cultivating contacts, and so forth.

Certainly, a level 20 Soldier can go toe to toe with an evil sorcerer, a dragon, or an army of ghouls.

 

[Psion]

At a glance, can you see any obvious efforts to make high level play doable where for 3.5 gaming in those levels was strained?

1) Lack of iterative attacks
2) Mechanical play not exclusively focused on combats
3) Scaling NPCs
4) Emphasis on endurance over power in magic as compared to core d20
5) Distinction between standard and special NPCs
5a) Terminal effect rules
6) Cheating death rules make raising magic seem like less of an aberration as compared to levels before such magic is available.
7) The existence of a medium progression for saves, etc.
8) A bit more internally consistent philosophy with respect to feat and class design (IME, the second biggest problem with high level 3.5 was not any one thing, but the accumulation of marginally too good character options.)
9) Magic and wealth are not implicit elements of the game. You want no teleport magic? Make a game without it.

 

[mach1.9pants]

I have been contemplating FC since it's release, however not played yet. We will finish our 4E campaign first. However Psion seems right to me above...
Pawsplay has also got a real good point here

The game is robust, but not exceedingly complex. However, it is not organized in a teaching style. Important rules are scattered throughout the chapters, meaning that someone will have to learn the rules thoroughly and ask as a mentor to other players at first. I think a 10 year old could handle it easily enough. It has lots of options, however, so new players especially would benefit from guidance from the GM.

I have read the book through about 4 or 5 times, plus sips here and there. I still couldn't figure out the weps/armour rules etc for large characters despite an hour of searching...however the forum guys are awesome, so the answer can always be found eventually

 

[TheAuldGrump]

Something that I am finding very handy right now is hidden in the dusty recesses of the Fantasy Craft Wiki on the Crafty Games forum - the rules for creating species and other backgrounds.

Right now I am working on a steampunk game based (very) loosely on Disney's Gargoyles. I was able to whip out a working prototype of the species in less than half an hour. Now there is something that gives a GM control over his game!

The Auld Grump, one of my players has gone to Gathering of the Gargoyles on at least one occasion....

 

[AdmundfortGeographer]

My curiosity got me. I went and bought it, then grabbed both Call to Arms bundles. It feels new and familiar at the same time.

I hope Crafty Games comes up with a Quick Start Rules package that could be handed to newbies to get them going fast.

With my interest strongly in world building, the innovative material on campaign qualities are inspiring. The guidance on alternative alignment systems is really giving my world-builder brain extra juice. I'm still digging through it all, but the toolkit ethos in the design is evident and a welcome breath of fresh air.

I'm pleased Crafty is continuing support with new .pdfs. I really hope to be able to run it some day.

 

[PrinceMorganti]

Funny thing that, I can, and have, taught players how to play 2.0 with just the core book, in a single sitting.

Fantasy Craft, is honestly, not that hard. Take everything you think you know about d20, throw it out the window, then read the book.

As for a quick start, the Iconics package and Darkest Hour work great for that.

Hell, the iconics, and any old module you might have lying around work well too Converting OGL monsters and adventures is pretty straight forward.

Also, One thing I have learned, especially about crafty products, is that if you use them, things tend to out themselves quite nicely, particularly the way things fit together in character building.

~D~