Super Powers in Fantasy RPGing
- Thread starter RangerWickett
- Start date
RangerWickett
Legend
Sen Udo-Mal said:
There is? I haven't seen it yet
Now if you have a book version I will have to find it. I have been interested in this BUT I am iffy on PDF (i have a couple so I am not 100% against them).
Sorry to ask but did you put out the book of extra power also?
Well, it's not quite the same as a normal book. RPGNow has the print on demand option. Since we don't have to deal with both distributors and retailers taking a cut of the profits, we can price it about the same as a normal book, despite it costing us a heckuva lot more to print these one by one than it would (per unit) to print thousands with a press. So we get fairly cheap, nice products in print version, balancing logistical ease against lesser exposure in stores.
Actually, the current FCTF doesn't have a POD option, I'm pretty sure, but I'm fairly certain the revised version will. When we start advertising the revised book, look for the print on demand option at RPGNow.com.
And for the big book of superpowers, our planned expansion, it kinda fell through. I'd still like to do it eventually, but I'll be frank (extra frank actually, since I'm highly sleep deprived right now), I'd rather work on other projects.
Dr. Strangemonkey
First Post
I use 4CtF a lot, and for precisely the sorts of things mentioned at the top of this thread.
Had a group of characters who did something that merited a divine blessing, gave them a level of hero, counted it as a +1 level adjustment, and those of them that have figured it out have never been happier.
Used it to do some pretty unconventional stuff too. Lots of very nice sensory powers and such. A PC who can talk to magical items, another who gained the power to grip anything. Very nice.
Just now looking at M&M, so far I have to say I'm not as impressed as I was with 4CtF. The only edge M&M seems to have is the illustrations. Otherwise it doesn't seem as intuitive or flexible. Course, as I said, I have just begun to look at it.
Had a group of characters who did something that merited a divine blessing, gave them a level of hero, counted it as a +1 level adjustment, and those of them that have figured it out have never been happier.
Used it to do some pretty unconventional stuff too. Lots of very nice sensory powers and such. A PC who can talk to magical items, another who gained the power to grip anything. Very nice.
Just now looking at M&M, so far I have to say I'm not as impressed as I was with 4CtF. The only edge M&M seems to have is the illustrations. Otherwise it doesn't seem as intuitive or flexible. Course, as I said, I have just begun to look at it.
I also want to put in a good word for 4CtF. First, I have to say that I prefer Mutants and Masterminds for a "standard" superhero game; it drops the parts of the D20 rules set that I personally find incompatible with superhero gaming -- AC, hit points, classes, levels, etc. What I find so appealing about 4CtF, though, is that it provides a mechanism for filling one of the gaping holes in the D&D system.
To elaborate: heroes in myths, legends, novels, films, etc. often have unusual abiliites or high levels of competence that are impossible to represent with standard D&D rules. That role in D&D is instead filled by magic items -- heroes in D&D are more often defined by the things they have rather than what they can do. This is one of the reasons that "low-magic" games so often fail; without many magic items, the characters will never be able to approach even the abilities of action-movie heroes, much less ones from high fantasy.
4CtF provides a way to substitute innate abilities for the assumed level of wealth & magic items from the DMG -- whether special powers, enhanced stats, or additional skills and feats. It's a nice alternative for DMs like me who are tired of D&D's heavy emphasis on equipment, but who still want to run heroic games. In fact, using 4CtF allows me to much better simulate characters from fantasy and film that the "standard" item-heavy D&D approach.
To elaborate: heroes in myths, legends, novels, films, etc. often have unusual abiliites or high levels of competence that are impossible to represent with standard D&D rules. That role in D&D is instead filled by magic items -- heroes in D&D are more often defined by the things they have rather than what they can do. This is one of the reasons that "low-magic" games so often fail; without many magic items, the characters will never be able to approach even the abilities of action-movie heroes, much less ones from high fantasy.
4CtF provides a way to substitute innate abilities for the assumed level of wealth & magic items from the DMG -- whether special powers, enhanced stats, or additional skills and feats. It's a nice alternative for DMs like me who are tired of D&D's heavy emphasis on equipment, but who still want to run heroic games. In fact, using 4CtF allows me to much better simulate characters from fantasy and film that the "standard" item-heavy D&D approach.
Marius Delphus
Adventurer
RangerWickett said:
I know; it was a bit of a ringer anyway.
(Slightly OT, but bear with me; it *is* leading somewhere....) One of my pet ideas is an amazingly flexible magic system where a mage can cast any sort of spell he can imagine using any slot he cares to spend (and has available): the level of the slot determines how powerful, overall, the spell can be, but the spell's effect is chosen "on the fly." Another assumption is that these "on the fly" spells are less powerful than prepared spells of the same levels. Anyway, it's been percolating for a couple years now and is nowhere near finished... but (veering suddenly back on topic) if it *was* in a playtest-able form I'd probably model that character by multiclassing FTCF Hero (for the FX) with Wizard/Mage/Whatever.But thanks for your thoughts! I've since skimmed FCTF again and I'm starting to see a lot more that I missed on the first read.
I want to put in my vote to keep the fantasy slant in the revised book (at the very least, as an appendix like the current Modern one).Why, thank you.
Last edited:
