Fantasycraft?
- Thread starter TerraDave
- Start date
Psion
Adventurer
What would you like to know? I've run it once at NC Gameday and will be running another session at DC Gameday. And I'm trying to pitch it to my group.
The system is the first in Crafty Games' "Mastercraft" line, which is a third generation descendant of D&D 3e (D&D/D20 3e->Spycraft 1.0->Spycraft 2.0->Mastercraft.) The mastercraft system is made with the ideal of keeping some of the advanced techniques of Spycraft 2.0 and returning to the simplicity of Spycraft 1.0.
At its core, it's d20--it's got classes, levels, skills, and feats, and rolls are d20+mods. But it's not just a simple reskinning of the d20 core rules.
As with its parent Spycraft 2.0, it has a scaling NPC system that is significantly different that core d20, and it has a lot of hooks for campaign customization called "Campaign Qualities". For example, magic is not assumed or implicit in the game. To play a spellcasting character, the GM must select the appropriate campaign quality.
It has an action dice mechanic similar to SC2.0, armor provides damage reduction, and there is a vitality/wounds mechanic similar to the pre-Saga SW d20 rules (but without some of its foibles.)
Character generation requires the player to pick a species (and if human, a talent), a specialty, as well as a class. There are lots of capabilities built into the talents/species and specialty, so you can do a lot with a 1st level character right out of the gate.
Part of the guiding principles the authors had was that a lot of typical fantasy gets missed by D&D, so you'll see some familiar species selections in the book... and some not so familiar ones. Ever want to play a dragon? A (tr)e(a)nt? And ogre mage? (Let me quickly note that Fantasy Craft does not use ECL, instead trading on Feats and other qualities to represent species advantages.)
Likewise, it isn't assumed that combat is the central role of all classes in the game. In addition to familiar standards like Soldiers and Mages, you'll find the likes of Courtiers and Explorers. Combatant is just one of the assumed "roles" in Fantasy Craft. Talker, Backer, and Specialists (aka "skill monkeys") are all considered valid character types as well. And the specialties can further refine the way the classes operate.
Oh, yeah, by the way: a priest in Fantasy Craft is very much not a D&D cleric. And a mage can cast healing spells. But they are very different from one another. A priest might not cast spells at all.
The mage uses a spell point system. The spells will mostly seem familiar, but the system is designed to never really leave the mage starving for spells. But to use their best spells, the mage may have to accept some limitations.
Alignment is totally optional and totally flexible. The GM can define alignments any way he or she wishes. They might be the traditional D&D alignments, Moorcockian law vs. chaos, bloodlines, clans, philosophies, etc.
I've sort of scattershotted my answer. If there is something more specific you wish to know, let me know.
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SteveC
Doing the best imitation of myself
Let me add in my good words about Fantasycraft. I have pretty much left 3x systems behind in favor of playing 4E, but if someone were to tell me they had a Fantasycraft game going, I'd sign up in a heartbeat.
Why? Because it fixes the problems I had with the 3x system very well. Those are: too complex at high level, poor balance between the classes and far too many fiddly bits with the game as a whole. It fixes them very differently from 4E (there are almost no similarities) but it is definitely a very grown up and mature system, not to mention one you can use to run a wide variety of games.
The only downside (which isn't a downside for me) is that it tends to be heavier on the crunch side than a lot of other 3x based games. If you're looking for a rules light game, this ain't it. It is, however, much more streamlined than Spycraft, which I also enjoy very much.
You likely won't see too much support from Crafty, but with their license there are likely to be some third party companies that run with the ball.
--Steve
Why? Because it fixes the problems I had with the 3x system very well. Those are: too complex at high level, poor balance between the classes and far too many fiddly bits with the game as a whole. It fixes them very differently from 4E (there are almost no similarities) but it is definitely a very grown up and mature system, not to mention one you can use to run a wide variety of games.
The only downside (which isn't a downside for me) is that it tends to be heavier on the crunch side than a lot of other 3x based games. If you're looking for a rules light game, this ain't it. It is, however, much more streamlined than Spycraft, which I also enjoy very much.
You likely won't see too much support from Crafty, but with their license there are likely to be some third party companies that run with the ball.
--Steve
Krensky
First Post
IT depends how you want to define support.
There are three short PDFs containing an Expert Class and some feats and an adventure. There's another adventure, campaign settings, and the specialist caster books in the pipeline. There's also a pie of stuff from SC2 that can be used. Then there's tons of support on the forums.
There are three short PDFs containing an Expert Class and some feats and an adventure. There's another adventure, campaign settings, and the specialist caster books in the pipeline. There's also a pie of stuff from SC2 that can be used. Then there's tons of support on the forums.
Herremann the Wise
First Post
Just a quick thank you to Psion here. I've been teetering whether to purchase the pdf or not and he pushed me over. Downloaded it and it looks brilliant!
Best Regards
Herremann the Wise
Best Regards
Herremann the Wise
