New soon to be FantasyCraft dm here, i just downloaded the rulebook, any advice?
>>47639794
1) Congratulations on getting a group together. The game is niche.
2) Have a cheat sheet ready for common actions and conditions, and have NPC quality definitions WRITTEN ON EACH GODDAMN NPC SHEET
3) Building NPCs is easy, go to (http://www.meadicus.plus.com/craftygames/npc-builder/NPCBuilder.html)
Other than that, general GM advice applies.
>reward creativity
>do not punish, but DO NOT BE AFRAID TO LET THE FULL CONSEQUENCES HAPPEN
>maintain setting tone and logic
>remember that nothing is canon until you the moment you tell your players about it
>>47639794
If you can, convert NPC stats before you play.
>>47639794
Don't forget about the various special combat actions like grapple, trip, threaten, taunt, etc. All they need to be effective is a decent bonus in the skill used, and they make combat a lot more fun and interesting. If your players are also new to the system, they'll likely overlook these at first, and they'll take more notice of them if they see you using them effectively against them.
Be generous with using action dice to reward good roleplaying, clever ideas, or other kinds of player behavior you like. Personally, I especially like to give out action dice when a player deliberately chooses a course of action or suggests an event/effect despite knowing it would be bad for them, simply because it would be in-character. For instance, I've had players say they think they should probably take some stress damage from an upsetting experience -- that's usually worth an action die in my book.
On a related note, remember that you get an action die whenever you give one to a player, and you can use your action dice to help the players in addition to using them against them. Normally you'll use your AD to make life more difficult for the players, but you can also boost their rolls or invoke perks in their favor if they're trying something you'd really like to see succeed, or struggling more than you'd expected/wanted at a given point.
I'm going to just claim this as the new FC general.
Royal Guard (Medium Folk Walker — 68 XP): Str 14, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 12, Cha 10; SZ M (1×1, Reach 1); Spd 30 ft. ground; Init VI; Atk V; Def VI; Resilience III; Health V; Comp IV; Skills: Intimidate V, Resolve V, Tactics III; Qualities: damage reduction 1, fearless I, feat (Fencing Basics, Fencing Mastery), honorable.
Gear: Orcish Saber, 3 throwing spears, moderate plate mail with heavy fittings.
Does this look like a reasonable fight for a lone level 1 PC with no armor?
>>47643990
Reasonably likely to beat the the PC. Also, Comp IV and Tactics III conflict.
Anyone have a good character sheet? also what rules of the game should i let out
mmm i am having a hard time grasping action dice mechanics, even if my players roll a nat 20 or 1 they need those dice to it become critical succes failure?
>>47647628
To activate success, player uses action dice, to activate failure, GM uses action dice
>>47649687
isnt it better to just let players have their crit with a 20?
>>47650115
Not really. If the players are being imaginative and doing cool stuff, you should be rewarding them with action dice. So burning 1 to activate a crit is fine. If the players are running out, it's likely they are being too timid or you are being to stingy. Discuss the problem ("Do cool things, guys!" or "Remind me when another player does something that you think should be rewarded!") and figure out what your group needs to do. When the soldier hits 6th level and picks "activate crit hits for 1 fewer AD", he'll be super hyped you didn't just give everybody something that makes him special.
>>47649687
Not quite. You use action dice to activate your own threats (crit success) and to activate the opponent's errors (crit fails). The GM uses his that way and the party uses theirs the same way. Note that (without the Treacherous quality) only Special NPCs can activate their threats. Standards aren't that cool.
>>47650115
Don't do that. Crits in this game aren't just double damage; they're "you killed them," if the enemy was standard, or you bypass their vitality and possibly one-shot them if the enemy was special.
>>47642845
>Don't forget about the various special combat actions like grapple, trip, threaten, taunt, etc.
This. I started DMing this game after playing Pathfinder with my group and for the first couple of sessions they would mostly take turns slapping each other. Once they start getting a hang of the game, give them some enemies they have to think differently for. Give them a heavily armored foe then remind them that a grappled character loses 1/2 their DR from armor and that as a grapple action you can lower their DR by another half. Or break their weapons so they have to rely on other tricks like Tire checks. Stuff like that.
>>47650922
i was thinking in making all weapons do lethal damage and subdual when you wanted
>>47651332
You can do that by default but you take a -4 or so penalty to the attack check when you do damage that's not the weapon's default type. But it's your game, so you can do away with that rule if you want. Just remember that, for standard characters, you add up all lethal, subdual, and stress damaged they took do determine the save they have to make to not get knocked out. So subdual damage is doubly effective against them since, if the damage doesn't just knock them out, it can still leave them fatigued.
>>47639794
dont be surprised when the lancer winds up riding a gorilla
or a giant robot
or a dinosaur
>>47647393
This is what I generally use, but I saw a modified version that has better writing spaces.
>also what rules of the game should i let out
ESL, huh? Well, what systems you should leave out depends on what kind of game you are playing or, if this is the first time your group is being exposed to FC, what their background in gaming is.
>>47654862
Don't be surprised, be excited.
>>47660037
This should be the first rule of Fantasy Craft.
What is FantasyCraft? A variant of D&D?
>>47660217
A work using the Open Game License.
>>47660257
Interesting. It's about second time I heard abot this game. What are the differences between it and 5e?
>>47660326
FC throws out a lot of dnd legacy and rebuilds stuff from the ground up. A big one is that monster math is designed so that 3/4 BAB is the baseline, not 1/1 BAB. So people with 3/4 are still doing just fine ina fight, people with 1/2 BAB are lagging just slightly behind, and people with 1/1 are extra killy.
FC also includes a new piece of chargen on top of race and class, the specialty. Every character gets yo pick a specialty, and each offers a number of interesting bonuses it can be hard to get anywhere else, along with a free feat. Most dnd classe are actually specialties in FC, including fighter, rogue, cleric, wizard, barbarian, bard, sorcerer, possibly more I'm forgetting. These specialties cover most of what makes those dnd classes what they are, and you can pick a class that goes even further in the same direction if you want to double down on that theme, or pick something wholly different to have a broader character. For example, Burglar is the "rogue" class all about being sneaky and evasive with a sideline on some sneak attack and a focus on making opponents bleed, and then exploiting that. You could be a Rogue Burlgar, and have all of you enormous sneaking ability along with a lot of trap-finding and increased agility, or you could go Rogue Soldier, and be a killing machine with some unusually good acrobatics and trap-finding-- or yo ucould be a Fighter Burglar, and be a much more tanky, violent sneakthief.
FC also does away with Vancian casting, and also with arcane and divine being asically the same thing. Arcane casters have spellpoints which refresh every scene, and a spell costs points equal to its level to cast, meaning cantrips are always free. Cantrips ae also genuinely useful, so there's that too. To cast an arcane spell, you spend your point and then have to roll a spellcasting skill check vs a DC determined by the spell's level.
>>47639794
If you have a laptop handy, there's a .exe convertor program for npc stats on drivethrurpg somewhere.
Also posting alternate sheets.
>>47661239
le part deux
Anyways, FC was my first love. Sure my first campaign was a bit clunky but valuable lessons were learned regarding player types.
I wanna run Deadlands Reloaded but I also wanna run a FC epic about a corrupt empire and mad dragons but waaaah. Halp.
>>47661210
>Con't
Divine casters follow paths, which they get from their alignment.
Alignment in FC is way more open than in dnd. Each alignment is designed from the ground up by the gm and the players working in conjuction. Thematically an alignment can be anything from a single god to a a whole pantheon to the star-sign you were born under to a non-religious philosophy that nonetheless grants miraculous power-- whatever fits your campaign. Mechanically, each alignment has 3 to 5 paths associated with it, which are available to divine casters of that alignment. It also includes a number alignment skills, which become class skills for divine classes of that alignement, along with a specific kind of ritual weapon and an Avatar, the representative of that alignment that it's possible to summon.
Each path has five steps on it, and each step grants a thematic bonus. Many of these are passive bonuses, but many steps of many paths also offer spells that divine caster can use a listed number of times per scene without needing any kind of roll at all.
Feats are actually worth taking, and are more plentifully available. There are much fewer prerequisites for taking any given feat.
There are a bunch of other differences, but just listing them all would be crazy. Is there anything specif you want to know about?
>>47639794
Also watch for players who don't grok such a rules heavy system brah.
Anyone thinking of ways to help merge Epic Six and Fantasy Craft? Regardless, I just feel that Vitality bloat is a real issue when it comes to high level play.
>>47661980
I would use or design a campaign quality to limit or help circumvent vitality, rather than stop classes from leveling up past 6. You miss out on so much doing that, including most any level but the first couple of an expert class and master classes entirely, along with even base classes getting their gamebreaker at 14.
I'm doing up home brew weapons rules for early WW1 era shennanigans. Essentially I'm planning to run an alternate history occult thing with WW1 and I was wondering what sort of weapons/items would turn up?
Melee weapons are mostly present already, clubs, knives, spears, entrenching tools, etc. Probably need something for brass knuckles though, maybe just a held item that adds +1 to unarmed damage. To emphasize melee I'm also going to add in some feats that let you use spear/club tricks with rifles/shotguns with the appropriate mods.
I've got the usual, Bolt action rifles, shotguns, revolvers, big crew operated machine guns. Is there anything else that should get some stats done up?
Currently I'm planning to add in a flamethrower, mines, big scary howitzers, etc. A lot of siege weapons that will probably be used against the players. Also lots of gas.
>>47662018
I only have about a school year to do the campaign in and it'll probably end at level 6 just because I won't be at that school anymore after that.
>>47662070
You don't necessarily have to start at level 1. Personally I like 3, a lot of classes get their first really standout ability at that point.
>>47662192
I usually do just to start simple - I usually GM for newbs and FC isn't really newb friendly.
How do you use action die to use consequences/rewards for a crit or fail? I get the rules in the book, but the examples are garbage.
>>47661980
It does. Use of fragile heroes helps, that or using the Table of Ouch very liberally.
>>47662258
There is that as well, yeah, Sorry haven't touched the rulebook for a very long time.
>How do you use action die to use consequences/rewards for a crit or fail?
What? To which rules are you referring?
>>47662935
Activating a critical miss or failure. Page 65 only lists one example, so in the middle of a game I'm often at a loss to quickly figure out how many action die give what effect.
>>47651332
I would advise making all weapons do lethal - subdual is kind of broke if players have easy access to it, especially at higher levels when vitality points balloon up.
It works great as a fatigue system, but for weapon damage it doesn't make much sense.
>>47661980
>>47662018
Actually I've given it considerable thought, but I ended up not running that campaign. It struck that in FC, where you scale the enemies and skill checks to the player's level, there's a lot of numbers that go up for no real reason - it only serves to unbalance the game and create a lot of busywork.
My idea was E8: give everyone their class bonuses as if they were level 8 (taking the average between their classes if necessary), and scale monsters to the same (or 6 or 10, depending on their Menace). PCs still start at level 1 and pick up new feats, class abilities and so on as they advance, but numerically they don't change that much. The bulk of their VP and skill ranks are gained at level 1, but you might want to grant 0-3 in each at every level to retain a sense of progression. To simplify bookkeeping I was going to turn skill ranks into skill "proficiencies", where you can assign up to 2 for a +4 bonus each time and turn the benefit for class skills into a straight +3, so you cap out where a character would end at level 8 by RAW.
On top of that I'd straight halve vitality points for players and special npcs. Or maybe a monsters vitality reserve should just be TL+Healthx5 instead of multiplying the two. I chose level 8 because it's when different classes and npc grades have fairly pronounced differences numerically, but the Vitality bloat has already set in by that point.
>>47663093
Pretty straight forward.
If a character scores a threat, then the person controlling that character can activate the threat according to the skill text.
Alternatively, IF THE GM WISHES, then the GM may and/or the group as a whole can come up with cool and unique things to spend AD on. It can't cost more than 4 AD.
As to what the rewards should be, that is completely up to the GM and/or group. There are two caveats that are presented. Well, one presented and one implied. First is that you should not make it so that if someone spends AD that the scene ends immediately. That's less fun for the whole group and especially jarring to the person who spent the AD. The second is that rewards should be worth the AD spent. Using 4 AD on one thing is A LOT of awesome being thrown around and should be treated as such.
tl;dr: Make it up. make it fun.
>>47663404
Thank you very much for your input. If you don't mind, I would like an example so I have something to call back to if I fuck up.
>>47663404
If I'm reading it right:
Gunther
Level 1 Hardy Guardian Soldier
STR 14
DEX 12
CON 18
INT 12
WIS 12
CHA 10
Talent:
+2 CON
Base Speed 30 ft
Double Boost Con
Iron Gut
Thick Hide 2
Specialty:
Bonus Feat Elusive
Practiced Notice
Step In
Tenacious Spirit
Class:
Accurate
Fight On! (Greatsword Basics)
Proficiences:
Edged forte
Unarmed forte
Blunt forte
Level:
Draconic Heritage (Total DR 4)
Class Bonuses:
BAB: +8, Fort: +4, Def: +5, Init: +5, Lifestyle: +4, Skill Points: 55.
Vit 80, Wounds: 18.
The numbers seem a bit big.
>>47661239
>If you have a laptop handy, there's a .exe convertor program for npc stats on drivethrurpg somewhere.
There's also this online tool:
http://www.meadicus.plus.com/craftygames/npc-builder/NPCBuilder.html
If you hit "Load Previous NPC", you can paste in a statblock from the bestiary or your own design, and from there you can scale it to whatever TL you need it to be, or modify it through the various tools it has there.
It does have some bugs that you need to watch out for, though. The load function is extremely picky about the spelling and syntax it will accept, so even statblocks from the book will sometimes lose a couple abilities when loading them in, and you'll have to add those back in manually. (One thing in particular I've found is that the tool misspells the Monstrous Attack/Defense NPC qualities as "Monsterous", and won't recognize the properly-spelled qualities.) It also doesn't really handle templates properly, as templates that add graded qualities (like Tough) will overwrite rather than add to that quality if the base statblock has it.
>>47662258
>How do you use action die to use consequences/rewards for a crit or fail? I get the rules in the book, but the examples are garbage.
I'm not sure what you're getting at with this question. Do you mean how to gauge the payoff for spending multiple AD on a crit/fail using a customized outcome rather than the generic crit effects for that check in the book?
>>47663404
>and turn the benefit for class skills into a straight +3
>PF style class skills in FC
No. Just no.
FC relies on skills a lot more heavily than 3.PF, and because they're so much more prevalent in gameplay skill access serves a very important role in differentiating characters. Opening up skill access to be totally divorced from class homogenizes the classes considerably. And using PF's method of "class skill" status being a +3 bonus gets way out of hand with how many class skills FC gives relative to the overall skill list. Even a low-skill class has fully half the skill list as class skills (including origin skills). It would only take the slightest bit of multiclassing to nab that +3 class skill bonus on every skill in chapter 2.
>>47665020
That's exactly what I'm looking for. I'm having trouble coming up with things on the fly and so do my players most of the time. They're creative in long term plan, but not 'in the second' ones.
>>47664911
Yeah, this thing's pretty useful.
Used it to build a bunch of XCOM enemies once, though I had to kludge the plasma weapons (at least they're sort of built-in to the monsters)
>>47665245
There's not much in the way of hard and fast rules for it, it's pretty much just a matter of what seems reasonable as a result of the action. What's reasonable kind of depends on the scope of the action in question; for instance, the examples in the book deal with an out-of-combat skill check meant to encompass a fairly extensive bout of sneaking, so the crit could have long-reaching effects impacting the entire scene. A crit on a combat action probably shouldn't have such long-lasting effects, since the action itself is more limited.
Some examples of things I've done/seen in my group with crits in combat are:
>Crits with Trip: Also trip second adjacent enemy, or also deal damage with trip, or fling enemy a square or two away
>Enemy perched on roof/wall or near window critfails attack: Overextends and gets pushed off roof/wall/out window
>Enemy critfails bite attack against character with crystal elemental heritage: Breaks teeth on crystals, can't bite anymore and takes 1 damage
Out of combat, I once had a player critfail a Tactics check I called for to judge the success of his ploy to set fire to a house to lure in zombies that were swarming the town, to thin out the amount they'd need to fight through to get to their destination. I dumped 4 AD on that critfail to cause an explosion, causing the zombies to come running MUCH faster than planned, triggering the midboss fight of the adventure early with plenty of extra zombies around.
>>47663478
Regrettably this was years ago and I'm totally pulling these numbers out of my ass and putting them on top of my head. And they were never tested in play in the first place, so go and do what you see fit.
But judging by >>47663949
I'd say it holds up fairly well. This guy can take a lot of hits but he's also about the toughest human in existence. I'd say it's reasonable if he ends up with 120-150 vit at level 20. Obviously don't implement an option like this if you want fantasy heroes that can chew through armies without denting their hp pool too much.
The potential sticking points for players are:
- he gets most of his skill points up front, so decide what you're going to specialise in early. In practice though, you want to be doing that in RAW.
- if he multiclasses to something less martial, then his BAB and Vit total will go down. Consider it the price of neglecting your training. It might feel like bullshit though, to players who are used to steady 1-20 growth.
>>47665200
>FC relies on skills a lot more heavily than 3.PF, and because they're so much more prevalent in gameplay skill access serves a very important role in differentiating characters. Opening up skill access to be totally divorced from class homogenizes the classes considerably.
I'd argue that the skills characters invest in play an important role in differentiating them, and I don't really give a shit how they get hold of the skills they want. You're right that it does homogenize classes somewhat. That's fine by me, FC already has a very flexible character building system for a nominally class-based game. Hell I'd be ok with reducing them to a menu of class abilities and have players buy their saves and lifestyles and so on separately.
Restricted skill access is one of the problems with FC core anyway, because there are a lot of basic combat actions that can only be defended against with a specific skill.
>>47668738
>Restricted skill access is one of the problems with FC core anyway, because there are a lot of basic combat actions that can only be defended against with a specific skill.
That's a feature, not a bug. Combat actions being skill-based, with having the relevant skill not being a given, is a big part of what makes them useful. And having tradeoffs to weigh where you can't cover every possible base is good game design, since it's a safeguard against overpowered builds, makes character building decisions more meaningful (you actually have to choose what you prioritize rather than just checking all the boxes), and supports dynamic, tactical play where there are weaknesses that can be exploited using unorthodox tactics.
B
U
M
P
Tell me your favorite build, and wackiest build, and most annoying builds
>>47671833
I kinda liked the sexy goblin build, where you can end up with 22 diplomacy or so by level 3.
>>47671833
I've never gotten to play and never got to have a build as I just bought the books, so I will tell you what I am up to right now instead. I am currently preparing a pseudo-spelljammer setting for my group. I am attempting to achieve maximum fun in it, so any suggestions from you fine gents would be lovely.
>>47672000
FAST FEATS, Mr. Trips. Give it to your players. It's the most fun quality.
>>47668738
I'd half the vitality again. Tempted to put Gunther into a proper sheet.
Anyway, how exactly do expert classes factor into this hack?
>>47671833
Being speed buggy is pretty cool.
>>47671833
I built an oni once who could reliably beat the Tarrasque in a grapple.
Sadly, no way of actually forcing the issue, but if the Tarrasque tried to grab and chomp this guy, he'd actually inevitably, if slowly, win because he could reliably keep the Tarrasque pinned and then CdG with his horn.
>>47671833
Whip Mastery + Knife Mastery for ultra asshole build.
>oh whats that you're next to me and on your ass.
>oh whats that a knife in your gut? Here are some sneak attack dice.
>>47676481
I prefer Wrestling Basics + Knife Basics. Ideally with Fluid Style so that after your Wicked Dance stab you can shift right back into Open Stance and trip the next nerd who tries to hit you.
"Of course my hands are free. Knife's in my boot."
>>47672626
Thank you sir!
>>47671833
For a recent one-shot set under the sea I built a drake to be a giant moray eel. Azurescale, Truescale (Aquatic terrain, sonic breath weapon) and Dragon-Tailed are a pretty great combination, especially on a Martial Artist.
>>47676893
You need the Sorcerer specialty for that, right? Sucks that most bizarre combos require that.
>>47676919
Yeah, it's pretty unfortunate that there isn't another published specialty that gives a species feat. Not that it's hard to brew one up, given origins' point system, but even so.
>>47677035
There's a couple in the unofficial Book of Holding. I think I'm going to allow that in the future.
>>47677522
On the note of the Book of Holding, how well does it stack up to the published material?
>>47678037
I haven't tried it, but it's hard to go wrong with the point based creation system. Decent production values too.
>>47678646
Haven't read the Book of Holding stuff. Have read Grand Adventures, another big homebrew doc. A couple bits were wobbly but there was a lot I liked.
>>47678666
Where can I find that?
>>47678762
Not sure I can share it. I'll toss the thread at the guy who showed it to me, though, and he can decide if he wants to post it.
>>47678780
Oh ok. If you can't that's fine.
Id post bag of holdin, but its to big. Will condence then post when I get home tonight
>>47677522
>>47677035
Here they are. Or just do what some GMs do and give out free speciality feats like candy.
>>47680492
>Monster
>Draconian Legacy Palm Snid Martial Artist/Dragon Lord
>>47680689
>>47675087
Late reply, but the way I'd do it is
- when you level up, take the next class ability from any class available to you as normal. take the skill/vit contribution appropriate to the class as well, whatever you've decided that should be for this hack.
- if you have levels in more than one class then average out the attack, save etc. bonuses from each of them. how many levels you have in each doesn't matter, so if you dip into an expert class for one level it'll still change your character fairly radically.
You could also do the more traditional E6 method and just add the ordinary table bonuses until level 8, when they stop advancing. I personally don't like how that skews things like save progression.
>>47661276
Not the guy who originally asked, but I've been eyeing up Fantasycraft for a while. A lot of what you said sounds quite technical, is the game hard to get into for someone who, like me, is quite scared of all the tables and crunch of DnD/PF?
>>47681116
Easiest way to learn is by doing.
Honestly, I'd be willing to run one of the pregen adventures for a few folks from /tg/ who have been wanting to try FC and not had the chance, guide you guys through chargen and such.
>>47668977
I'm all for characters having weaknesses, but the all-or-nothing skill defense is pretty clumsy, and it feels unfair that the single-classed Captain or Soldier will always be wide open to trip attacks. It's especially obnoxious if you have great dex and reflex save, but you'll always be a lumbering oaf unless you learn gymnastics specifically.
4e did this much more elegantly, by turning Fort/Ref/Will into generic defenses that each protect against broad classes of attack. You can still have a weak defense, but it won't be so weak that specific attacks are an auto-win, and you'll be weak to similar styles of attack in a way that makes intuitive sense.
>>47681035
Thanks.
It's a little confusing having the numbers of a level 8 but being level 1 and having the qualities of a level 1. But I think I will try a few sessions with this with my house mates and see how it pans out.
>>47681149
Please tell me you're in Europe or something. I'd love to do that, I have a week off work next week if you can only do American hours.
>>47678037
It's a bit hit and miss. Some of the races are great, some are technically sound but built with some pretty backward/ill-fitting design decisions, some stretch rather too far beyond the known territory of the origin point system and are highly questionable for it. Classes are actually mostly pretty solid, nothing too jarring there. Feats are very much a mixed bag.
>>47681192
I'm American, but I have a pretty open schedule except Mondays and Wednesdays.
>>47679989
Could always just link the Google Drive version.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8FCrAZcFJJDOV9nLUlyVlZLUDA/view?usp=sharing
>>47681156
>and it feels unfair that the single-classed Captain or Soldier will always be wide open to trip attacks
>What are Origin skills?
>What are paired skills?
>What is Prodigal Skill?
If you are missing a skill, it is because you chose not to invest in it. Period.
>>47681268
Of course that's true. I just think it's silly that not wanting to invest in Acrobatics leaves you defenceless against trips. It's a major noob trap.
>>47681337
Cool. You know how IRC works? Join me in #FCdemo on Rizon, those of you who are interested.
If not let me know and I can give more detailed instructions.
>>47681306
"Noob trap" suggests that defense against trips is something totally indispensible, like lacking it will totally cripple you. That's a rather catastrophizing way to look at it, and frankly suggests to me that you're just stuck on the powergamer idea that you have to be able to cover all your bases and having reliably-exploitable weaknesses is unacceptable.
Being vulnerable to trips is far from crippling. Remember, most other characters won't have Acrobatics either, and not all that do will be inclined toward tripping. And if you do get tripped, it's hardly the end of the world. Yeah, you're made a bit more vulnerable, and can't attack quite as effectively, but you're hardly helpless.
>>47681306
I wouldn't say you're defenseless against trips, you just don't have good chances in an actual trip attempt. You can always spend action dice to improve your roll if it comes down the that, for one thing, but there's a lot you can do to avoid being in a tripable situation in the first place. Engaging from range is a one-- to trio, you usually have to be adjacent. You can get a lot of mileage out of tricks like shove or fend to keep would-be trippers at a safe distance, especially with a Reach of 2 or higher-- which is easy to get.
>>47681434
This reminds of me of when climbing was involved and only one member of the party had Athletics. Good times.
>>47681245
thanks m80. had lost the link to it
>>47681363
If anybody else wants in, this is an open offer, by the way.
>>47682351
Might go for it if it's on next week.
>>47683373
It's on whenever's convenient for folks. Except Monday and Wednesday, I've got other games those days.
>>47683517
Cool, cool.
>>47681485
This is what pitons and rope is for! Climbing a rope is easy.
>>47685559
Indeed. Even an untrained character should be able to manage a DC 10. Heck, it's only DC 6 if you can take your time and have climber's gear or otherwise rig up some manner of harness so you can hang and rest for a bit.
So what exactly does it mean to suffer a critical failure? Is it just rolling the 1, or does it need to be activated by someone spending an action die? For example: if an npc has the Critical Hesitation trait, do they get slowed when they just roll a 1 or when that critical failure is activated by a PC spending an action die?
>>47686907
A natural 1 (or perhaps slightly higher, if you have an increased error range), in and of itself means nothing.
A natural 1, if that is a failure on the check in question, is an error. (If you can hit the DC even on a 1, a natural 1 is not an error.)
An error becomes a critical failure only if somebody spends an action die to activate it.
So, for the example of an NPC with Critical Hesitation, they would be slowed only if (1) they rolled a 1, (2) they failed the check by doing so, and (3) an opponent spent one or more action dice to activate the critfail.
>>47686907
Rolling a 1 (in general) is an Error.
An activated Error is a Critical Error.
Rolling a 20 (in general) is a Threat.
An activated Threat is a Critical Success.
You spend action dice to activate Errors and Threats.
Ninja'd!
>>47687048
>>47687068
Ah, ok. Thanks for the quick response.
For someone who wants to make a Dragon Martial Artist, do these natural attack feats seem good or are they too overpowered?
http://www.crafty-games.com/forum/index.php?topic=7767.0
>>47688755
Those all are quite reasonable. If anything, the only thing I see off in there is the Gore Supremacy trick being a bit on the weak side; it could easily have no use limit at all and still be quite reasonable for its position in the chain.
So, help me make a level 1 human lancer?
>>47690907
I would prioritise STR and CON. DEX isn't as important since ride is an auto-succed and your mount's defence will probably be lower than yours. Average DEX leaves room for increasing mental stats. What race are you going for?
>>47691048
Yeah, was thinking that as well
Human
What traits, specialties, feats and skills might be best?
>>47691065
If you think you can rely on your mount's health, Stern Human gives nice combat boosts. If you want to be social, Svelte Human gives a nice boost to health, athletics and social skills. Though, Ruthless Human has menacing threat which works great with your intimidate auto-succeed.
For specialities, Figher works well. Peasant (from the adventurer's companion) wouldn't be too bad. Extra health, edge prof and a riding focus. If you plan on going a knight with lance, sword and shield, shield-bearer is another good option.
If you go for the Ruthless Human, I really recommend the feat Glint of Madness, since this will make your threaten-actions more effective. Combat rider (adventurer's companion) is another nice feat to give you more control over your damage taken. It also allows more freedom in your weapon choices.
Skills I'm not sure about. I would grab at least athletics and resolve for combat. Mounted characters are also vurneable to a special trip action that splits them apart. Because of this, acrobatics is probably a good pick for an origin skill.
Hope any of this helps.
>>47691315
This is fucking great, thanks be to you good sir
I'll get to devouring the rulesbook
>>47691315
What about the other talents? Are they any good, or situational?
>>47691584
There's nothing wrong with taking any Talent you like, it's just that some of them will help focus down on stuff you were already doing, while some will add broader utility. It's the difference between doing Lancer stuff at an A+ level, and doing Lancer stuff at an A level and something else at a Cor B level on the side. Take whatever fits your concept.
>>47688755
What >>47688864 Said.
I personally have soft spot for the Unpredictable talent, although it doesn't do much in terms of attributes.
>>47691643
What about a lancer with a bit of social skills on the side?
>>47691674
Well the links in this got all weird. It's meant to respond to >>47691584 and reference >>47691643.
>>47691689
Sounds good. Social skills are always nice to have. More CHA also means more money.
Is Adaptable any good?
>>47692127
It's good if you want to play a class that lacks a lot of skills you want. Maybe you're playing a mage but you want acrobatics, athletics, sneak and tactics Very situational. The action die upgrade does add som nice consistency to boosted rolls. The lack of attribute boosts means you wont really excell at anything unless you sacrifice a lot for it. Then again, the same goes for rootwalkers and giants. I can see myself trying it out, though only if I'm going to play a class that gets a lot of skillpoints.
>>47692127
It's pretty nifty for a Sage. An Adaptable Tribesman Sage can have access to every single skill if you take Talented for your BSM pair from the Tribesman specialty. You get your 10 Sage class skills, plus 4 more class skills from the core ability, plus 4 Origin skills, and then your Paired Skills from Tribesman and your Talented feat let you get a free point in both Athletics and Survival every time you rank up Resolve, without needing either of those as class or origin skills.
Then you can pick up I Can Swim! at level 3 and be the ultimate skillmonkey, just getting ranks in whatever skill you happen to need at the moment. And then if you want full completion, pick Subtle & Quick to Anger for your first cross-training to get access to Spellcasting.
And then as the icing on the cake, since you've got the whole "take ALL the skills!" part of the build taken care of by level 3 (or 4 at the latest, if you want Spellcasting), Adaptable also helps toward building on the Sage's other big role of support. Sages often want to pile on the Chance feats to improve their ability to help teammates out with action die boosts, and Grace Under Pressure contributes toward that.
Posting the Dropbox
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/5dkzgw3cn842eyw/AACivEvWTEODXQgsjBPsHv8wa?dl=0
>>47681363
Just letting everyone know that the offer's still open.
>>47694673
Tons can be dropped out of the box since you have the latest book of holding in there.
Stern might be best
>>47696349
Well, on the other hand some GMs may want to use just a few specific home brew races and find it easier to just give those particular PDFs to their players rather than the whole Book of Holding and then have to fend off players asking to use this or that other thing they saw in there.
This thread can't die!
>Spellbound won't come out in your life time.
>>47702047
If you die while waiting for Spellbound, you get to go to Spellhalla, where you feast and run fights endlessly while Angelic Heritage Elf Sheildbearer Soldier maidens wait on you, bring fresh pages of spells and new arcane classes whenever you demand.
But if you loose faith before you die, you go to Niflfinder, where they take away your FC books and may you play 3.pf or, worse, gurps.
>>47702047
My FC game died out due to this.
I find FC ironic in the sense in that the martial support is great, but spell support is seemingly lacking.
>>47703533
Bizzaro 3.5
>>47703533
>>47704150
Is it because colossal turbotards want to play out their power fantasies?
>>47705916
Yes, very much so
>>47705916
It's because spells eat up pagespace fast and Crafty is poor.
They admitted that at this point they're almost definitely selling Spellbound at a loss because it is a much bigger project than they're actually able to handle.
>>47706425
But then it'd make it popular to the colossal turbotards
Goddamn bump
Guess as many options as you can that are represented here.
>>47707884
Is the one at the top some kind of unborn runeknight with an eye in its chest?
>>47707884
From left to right.
Dead Saurian Martial Artist, Some sort of half-fish fuckboy Explorer, Goblin Personal Lieutenant, Half-Giant Captain maybe, Pech Scout? rudeboy, Smug Keeper, Giantblooded Dwarf Martial Artist, Floater Unborn Rune Knight, Pech Mage, Two-Headed Ogre Soldier.
How much did I fuck up?
>>47708028
>Dead Saurian Martial Artist
Dead Saurian, yes. Mage.
>Some sort of half-fish fuckboy Explorer
Dolphin-nation, yes. I actually don't know the class as it was kept secret from the rest of us players..
>Goblin Personal Lieutenant
Yes.
>Half-Giant Captain maybe
Full Giant Captain, yes.
>Pech Scout? rudeboy
Yes.
>Smug Keeper
Yes.
>Giantblooded Dwarf Martial Artist
Giant, uhh, I forgot the class. MA is probable.
>Floater Unborn Rune Knight
Floater, Hollow Unborn. I, once again, have forgotten the class.
>Pech Mage
Pech, yes. Didn't get to figure out the class, he? only appeared for a half session before the time slot had to be scrapped.
>Two-Headed Ogre Soldier.
Two-Headed Ogre MA. The reason the size differences are strange is because the artist didn't get to really hear how big each character was. The ogre is so large because several options were taken to max his size. He was literally as large as Large could get before it became Huge.
>>47706425
Because they fucked it up is why.
The biggest problem seems to have been their decision to give each school of magic the exact same number of spells instead a *sufficient* amount.
They've admitted that decision lead to their call to keep Spellbound as a book release instead of breaking it down to a series of individual releases in order to be able to balance all the spells against each other. By the time they realized it was the wrong call to have made, they were mired firmly in Development Hell.
>>47639794
>any advice?
Read the rulebook.
Currently working on a katana build. Will go soldier into edgemaster. I currently don't have any specific game I'm making it for. Just having som fun with the creation itself.
Unpredictable Human Mercenary
14 STR, 14 DEX, 12 CON, 16 INT, 12 WIS, 12 CHA
Origin: Acrobatics, Haggle
Class: Soldeir / 1
Feats: Devilish Heritage, Lightning Reflexes, Yeoman's Work, Quick Draw
Tricks: Parry, Arrow-cutting, Fully engaged, Ragged wound
Quick Draw is essential since the fighting style will include drawing the katana at the start of each initiative count and sheathing it after attacking.
I have some questions. I want another stance to use with Fluid Style. Should I go for sword or knife basics? I don't have any points in sense motive so sword would be for the stance alone. Would it be better to replace my acrobatics origin with sense motive? Lastly, are there any other feats or tricks I should consider to get a fun and cool fighting style? It doesn't have to be mechanically good.
Fantasy Craft is fucking great
>>47708320
Then read it again and again until it makes sense.
>>47708815
It depends on just what you want to do, especially if you don't want it to be mechanically good. Get Sense Motive instead of Acrobatics if you want your character to be better at Anticipating his foes. Keep Acrobatics if you want your character to Tumble around the battlefield. If you're going with Acrobatics, then I would take Knife Basics so you can Tumble into positions to flank and get your sneak attack damage. But it really just depends what you want to be, not what's better. Do you want to be Mugen or Jin?
>>47709530
It's not that I don't want it to be mechanically good. It just doesn't have to be. Really liking the sound of tumbling around the battlefield though. Maybe I can pick up the mobility or ambush feats to support this. Knife basics it is. Thank you.
I don't know Mugen and Jin.
>>47709695
They're from Samurai Champloo.
What does favored gear (mount) actuality mean? Do I get a horse or do I need to take the animal companion feat?
>>47709746
Animals count as gear in this game. So you don't get a mount from favored gear, but if you buy a horse then you can use your favored gear feat on it. If you don't want your favored gear to be an animal, then you can switch what item you use favored gear for every level.
>>47709746
You can buy a mount just like you can buy a weapon, with silver. Favored Gear (mount) will give you a bonus to AD spent on it, but the feat can only be designated on something you own. Animal Partner could change your standard NPC mount into a Special NPC mount, which makes it more awesome.
>>47709795
Should I buy a horse or just get it as part of Animal Partner? I'm kinda tight on money
>>47709795
>>47709807
Thanks a lot, bros
>>47709822
Put ranks in Survival then go out and wrangle one. Or take Animal Partner and ride something crazier than a horse, since you get to build the animal yourself.
>>47708815
Snake Strike bro, literally the drawing cut you're looking for.
>>47711953
But wont that not work if its the same weapon being redrawn? It says weapons that have not been used in combat before
>>47714229
Carry a lot of Katans?
>>47714229
Still good for that opening attack, anyway.
You know, I vaguely remember seeing a homebrew Iaijutsu B/M/S chain once up on a time. Lemme see if I can dig that up.
>>47714606
Found it!
IAIJUTSU BASICS
When you draw your blade, combat is decided.
>Prerequisites: Edged Forte
Benefit: You gain a +4 bonus to the keen value of attacks made against characters with lower Initiative than you. Also, you gain a stance.
>Iaido (Stance): Once per round when you are attacked by an adjacent adversary, you may immediately draw a stored weapon and attack that adversary as a free action. This attack occurs first, as if it were a Readied action, and may only be performed if you have no weapons drawn when attacked. You may not apply tricks to this attack.
IAIJUTSU MASTERY
No one is sure how you move that fast, but they're certain the wounds are real.
>Prerequisites: Iaijutsu Basics
Benefit: While in Total Defense, you are not limited to only one Parry or Arrow Cutting attempt per round. Also, you gain a trick.
>Blind Sever (Keen Weapon Sheathing Trick): Adversaries within 10 ft. must make a Reflex save (DC 10 + the attack's keen value) or begin bleeding. You may use this trick once per round.
IAIJUTSU SUPREMACY
You deliver the edge of your blade like the lightning strikes of an angered god.
>Prerequisites: Iaijutsu Mastery
Benefit: The free attack granted by your Iaido stance may now trigger and be made against non-adjacent adversaries in close quarters, even if they are not within your weapon's reach. If the attack is made against an adjacent character, tricks may be applied. Also, you gain a trick.
>Steel Blade, Iron Mind (Keen Weapon Melee Attack Trick): You may substitute your Resolve (Wis) bonus for your melee attack bonus. If the attack misses you become flat-footed at the end of your Initiative Count. You may use this trick as many times per combat as you have Melee Combat feats.
>>47714678
Guy who posted the build and asked for suggestions here. Some pretty fun stuff in that chain. The mastery trick seems strong since it can (and probably will) be used every round. I really like the idea of walking into the middle of a bunch of foes, sheathing your blade, only to have them realize they've already been cut. Though isn't Total Defence the worst time to attempt a parry? If they managed to hit you with the higher def the dc on the parry will be really high as well. The stance is cool as well. Can be used with Fluid Style to switch out of it after its once-per-round use.
>>47714319
Lol so like pistols. Just carry a couple bracers of them instead of reloading. Were is that black star webm when I need it.
>>47715281
Is Fluid Style a trick or something?
>>47716876
It's a feat in Adventure Companion.
As a captain cavalier I already get a man at arms, if I grab the animal partner feat would that make things too trivial?
>>47717118
It's cooler to go Cavalier Lancer and then go Captain.
So you have you, your mount, your PL, and your PL's mount. All special characters, so your wingman rocks.
>>47717118
What kind of animal companion are you looking for? Because if you already have a crony for combat you should get a utility animal and vice-versa. If your sidekick is a soldier get a falcon or ferret or dog-sized spider, if your lackey is a skillmonkey or mage get a cobra or bear or horse-sized hornet.
>>47717144
If you want things to get even more ridiculous, you can go into Beast Master for even more powerful mounts.
Could have you and your PL bro riding around on T-Rex (T-Rexes?) without to big of an investment in feats.
>>47717356
>T-Rex (T-Rexes?)
I'm not sure what the definitive plural's supposed to be. I've seen:
Tyrannosauridae Reges
Tyrannosauri Reges (and --Rex)
--Rexes
Tyrannosaurs
and it being the same as the singular case.
>>47717822
Go full on radical and class into winged knight and get a winged robo-rex
>>47639794
Yes.
Let me join you because I don't know anyone who ever wants to play/run Fantasy Craft and I've been hyped to try to play it for years. :(
>>47717910
You can have a winged robo-rex just as a regular old Beastmaster.
Wind Knight just gets you a griffon buddy to join in on the fun, and if you max out the class your sheer fabulous magnificence inspires your allies to be more awesome.
>>47718789
>Flying inspiration
>>47718949
For real though, the Wind Knight's gamebreaker is one of the coolest in the game. And it's a great example of how FC uses abstraction to create mechanics that are simple, but evocative, even without any flavor text to explain what it's supposed to be.
sleepy bump
>>47720536
More wakeful bump.
Does anyone have links to spellbound preview and the grimoire. I used to have them but cant seem to find them anymore or the megashare link.
>If you have the money and want to support the game
http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/63884/Fantasy-Craft-Second-Printing
>If you want to try before you buy
http://www.mediafire.com/download/rscnai437ptu23k/FantasyCraft.torrent
https://www.mediafire.com/folder/nzs6xsnzbid4t/Fantasy_Craft
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/5dkzgw3cn842eyw/AACivEvWTEODXQgsjBPsHv8wa?dl=0
Other useful links:
>Errata & accessories
http://www.crafty-games.com/fantasy-craft-print-bundle/
>Web NPC builder
http://www.meadicus.plus.com/craftygames/npc-builder/NPCBuilder.html
>Custom PC Species creation guides
http://sletchweb.wikidot.com/fc-origin-creation
>Species feat creation guide & reference spreadsheet
http://www.crafty-games.com/forum/index.php?topic=8257.msg160117#msg160117
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1016700/species%20feats.xls
>Class design guidelines
http://crafty-games-fans.wikia.com/wiki/Class_Creation_Guidelines_%28Mastercraft%29
>Leaked Spellbound Preview
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7JqPtKRnUBYTkF0YlYxNllQN0hXY0V2c01xa1QzWGd6OF9J/view
>>47692127
Adaptable is great, get all the action dice.
>>47723099
~<3~ ara ara~~
What happens if you get the same class feature twice? Like If you start as a Burglar then go into Shinnobi and get Very Very Sneaky again?
>>47724978
It stacks afaik, so your Shinboy levels would add to your Burger levels when determining the result.
>>47725009
Oh, right. I was remembering it working as your career level+20, but it's actually your class level+20.
>>47725009
Thanks for answering, I was about to start a Gesalt game and this clarifies things.
I kinda want to play a goblin captain with his brother as a PL.
>>47726082
>Gestalt FC
Your GM is a madman.
>>47727206
I've been watching DS9 lately, so I immediately pictured this as Quark and Rom.
>>47729145
Craziest gestalt combo? Soldier/Martial Artist is going to have so many feats, my god.
Rune Knight with fill full progression in Soldier or Mage on top of that is also going to be a pretty crazy one.
Spellbound fucking when. Jesus Christ.
I'm very curious about this, is it more balanced than D&D?
What I already like about it is the vast number of options in core, thats really cool.
>>47730331
Yeah, caster/martial discrepancy is pretty much fixed and it's pretty hard to make a bad character. While some builds are complete monsters in combat, there are penalties to even it out.
>>47730331
In terms of martials I find it more balanced. You can even play a talker class and do amazing support features out of battle.
Magic users tend to have the shaft ironically enough. It helps with the spellbound leak we had, but even then you only have a few mage classes. Mind you its a really good mage class, but only one nonetheless.
...Oh wait 3, 3 base classes as two more were in the spellbound preview.
>>47730374
>>47730384
Cool, I'll read it, might give it a shot if I can convince my frinds to play. I can pretty much only play d20 games as my friends dont want to learn new games.
>>47730621
If you've played other d20s this should be easy to learn.
>>47730621
I usually lothe d20 games, but the only ones I can seem to stomach are M&M and Fantasycraft. And only the latter is closer to traditional DnD.
I highly recommend getting the Spellbound preview leak though. The main book is really lax on the spells and the Spellbound preview leak greatly expands the list.
13th Age is more popular than this game, hahaha
Crafty bump
So what's your favorite feat and why isn't it animal companion?
>>47733346
That isn't Combat Focus.
>>47733346
Because lionheart BMS is the best line for GLORIOUS BATTLE!
>>47733346
Why is animal partner good?
>>47733873
It's not
You fucks
What do people think of games run using this system?
>>47737703
bad for your health. misfortune strikes those few that have tried
>>47737725
I keked
Why though?
>>47737954
waaaay back when, before the spellbound preview leaks and the second round of call to arms classes, we have several people say that they were going to gm and shortly after say that something occurred in real life that prevented them from gming. i recall one person having his laptop die, and another got hit by a bus, and i think there was a third that had something happen to his group
>>47738012
So, it's Final Destination: the game?
More people should be playing this great game
How do you even use the NPC builder?
>>47740449
You mean the NPC rules in general, or the online tool here?
http://www.meadicus.plus.com/craftygames/npc-builder/NPCBuilder.html
>>47741315
Preferably both
>>47741611
Chapter 5 pretty much has everything you need. It's mostly just sticking in the attributes, feats, and qualities.
>>47741611
Basically, the NPC creation system is an entirely point-build method of making a character, as opposed to the class-and-level based method for PCs. The total point value of the NPC's statblock is directly proportional to its XP reward; you multiply the NPC's XP value by its threat level to determine the XP earned for defeating 1 special or 1 mob of standards of that type. The details are all pretty well explained in Chapter 6, but the Cliff's Note's version is:
>Step 1: Determine mobility, size, types
For mobility, you get 30 ft speed of the movement type of your choice for free. Each additional 10 ft of speed, whether increasing that base movement or in a different movement type, costs 1 XP. You can reduce its base movement below 20 ft if you want, but there's no XP refund unless you make it totally immobile (which subtracts 5 XP).
Size you pretty much pick whatever is appropriate, and likewise set its footprint as appropriate to its body shape (the maximum footprint for each size category is on p. 217, but you can go smaller, and even non-square footprints). Size does not affect XP value.
For types, it must have at least one, but may have more than one if appropriate. For instance, you could have a Beast Horror Undead for some kind of mutant zombie monstrosity. Types other than Folk come with certain benefits and (in some cases) restrictions; those with lots of benefits (like Construct and Undead) cost 5 XP, while those with few/no benefits (like Animal and Folk) cost 0 XP.
>Step 2: Assign stats
You start with 10 in each of the 6 core stats, and can increase them at a 1-to-1 XP cost. You can (and should, if appropriate) reduce stats below 10, but this gives no XP refund. For instance, a stat spread of 16/12/12/6/10/8 is worth a total of 10 XP (6 XP for the 16, 2 for each of the two 12s, no refunds for the 6 or 8).
>>47742588
>Step 3: Assign traits
These are probably the trickiest piece of the NPC creation system for beginners. Traits (Attack, Defense, Health, Resilience, Initiative, and Competence, and Signature Skills) are assigned using a Roman numeral scale from I to X, where I is really poor and X is amazing. For the most part, these can be compared to class progressions for these stats in PCs: A grade of I is equivalent to a low stat progression in a player class (or even a smidge lower), grade III is about equal to a moderate progression, V is equal to a high progression, VI or VII is roughly around the max a player can typically manage by really minmaxing that stat, combining feats and such with their class bonus, and anything higher is beyond what PCs can pull off. The one notable exception is for Health; special NPC vitality scales up much faster with Health grade than do their other stats with the corresponding traits, since it's generally expected specials will get ganged up on and need to be able to handle lots of punishment.
All traits start at grade I, except signature skills which are optional, and Competence for Animals which is always 0. The XP value of the traits is equal to their combined Roman numeral value (so the minimum possible XP value from traits is 5, for an Animal with no signature skills and a I in all traits except Competence, which it lacks).
The NPC system is designed to let a single statblock be used at any level of play without being mathematically unable to accomplish anything against the players (or the other way around), and Traits are how that happens. When you go to use an NPC in actual play, you need to convert the Roman numeral trait grades to actual bonuses in those areas, according to the NPC's threat level. You do this by looking up the value in the table on p, 229, or you can put the statblock into that online tool and select the TL you want from the dropdown to let it automatically convert the values for you.
>>47742614
Signature skills, as mentioned, are optional, and represent the handful of things the NPC is particularly good at. An NPC should generally only have up to 5 signature skills at absolute most, more typically only 1-3; all other skills use its Competence bonus instead. Signature skills (other than Spellcasting) must have a grade higher than the NPC's Competence. Signature skills are the skill trait that really correlates to player skill bonus progressions as I described above; grade III in a signature skill is about the same as a normal maxed rank for a PC, while grade is about 1/2 max rank for a PC and V is similar to max rank in an Enlightened skill (or otherwise with some manner of bonus). Competence is much, much lower.
Arcane casting is acquired by taking Spellcasting as a signature skill, and generally functions like other signature skills except that, as mentioned, it need not be higher than the NPC's Competence. An NPC with Spellcasting knows a number of spells equal to that skill grade unless further increased by other options (like the Expanded Spellbook NPC quality) -- so a lot narrower list than a PC caster, as NPCs are meant to be more focused toward a particular, small role in a story -- and spell points equal to 2 x its TL.
>Step 4: Assign NPC qualities
"NPC qualities" are pretty much the catch-all for anything that's not a natural/extraordinary attack or one of the above mentioned stats. There's a whole big list of them, and each has its own XP value. Some (like Achilles heel) are drawbacks that reduce the NPC's XP. NPCs can also access feats and tricks (for 2 XP each) and many player class abilities (at a price specific to that ability, as listed in the book) as NPC qualities. This is where the bulk of really fleshing out the unique features of your NPC is done.
>>47742633
>Step 5: Natural & Extraordinary attacks
Natural attacks have a grade from I-V, which affects damage and threat range, and can have various upgrades like dealing an exotic damage type or having weapon properties like Trip. Different natural attacks have different base stats, as given on p. 237. If an NPC has natural attacks, they cost 2 XP per grade + 2 XP for each upgrade.
Extraordinary attacks (like dragon's breath or a basilisk's gaze) deal damage or inflict negative conditions. They also have a grade from I-V, and cost 2 XP per grade for damaging attacks, but cost per grade for "save" attacks (those that inflict conditions) depends on what it does. Grade affects save DC, and size of damage dice (1dX per 2 TL) or severity/duration of effect. Extraordinary attacks can have a range/area for an XP cost based on the size & type of area, and damaging attacks with a range/area allow a Ref save for half.
>Step 6: Gear & Treasure
The GM can assign whatever gear he wants to an NPC with no XP cost; the "cost" for this is that the NPC's gear will presumably fall into the players' hands as loot if/when they beat him. For player-controlled NPCs like Personal Lieutenants and Animal Partners, you can buy gear out of the NPC's XP budget, increasing its XP by 1/10 the total Complexity of all gear so bought (rounded up), and no piece of gear so bought can have Complexity higher than 15. Anything else must come out of the PC's own pocket.
GM-created NPCs also have a treasure code, which tells you how much and what kind of treasure the PCs can gain by beating it. These use single-letter abbreviations to tell you what kind of treasure to roll for, and a number to tell you how many to get of each: (A)ny, (C)oin, (G)ear (ie, non-magical items), (L)oot (ie, art, gems, trade goods, and other valuables; essentially coin but in fancier form), (M)agic (ie, potions, scrolls, and magic items), or (T)rophies (ie, body parts and personal effects, also essentially just money).
>>47742657
The NPC creation system is not rigorously balanced, and can and will break if you try to minmax it. The book admits as much; it's designed for flexibility, with the expectation of use by a reasonable, non-adversarial GM who's trying first and foremost to flesh out a concept, not make as strong a monster as possible within a given budget. You should go into NPC creation with a clear idea of what your NPC is about and what he's supposed to do, and resist the urge to munchkin it out as much as possible. XP value can be used as a rough guide to power level (as described on p. 243-244), but that doesn't work so well if you're actively trying to make it as strong as possible within a given XP budget. On the flip side, it also can give you an overestimate if you've bloated the NPC's XP with a bunch of superfluous stuff; these are not like PCs, which are expected to face a wide variety of different challenges over the course of an extended campaign, they have a much narrower role to play in a much smaller segment of the campaign, and should be focused only on that role.
I would highly, highly recommend carefully reading the whole explanation of the NPC creation system in chapter 6, especially "Tips & Tricks" section from p. 241-244, as it has loads of useful advice on how to build an NPC without breaking the system. There's definitely a bit of an art to it.
If all that's a bit daunting at first, you can get quite far just by using the existing statblocks and only applying templates or making custom tweaks, rather than making your own from scratch. For instance, you can easily make stronger/elite versions of enemies by adding the Alpha, Dire, and/or Predatory templates, and create variant monsters by swapping out or adding a few particular qualities. A pyrohydra, for instance, is easily made just by adding Achilles heel (cold) and Damage Immunity (fire) to a hydra, and adding the Alternate Damage Type (fire) upgrade to its attacks.
>>47742674
As for the online tool, it's basically a handy way to help automate the process. You can use its fillable fields and dropdown menus to assign the stats and abilities you want, and it will automatically calculate the XP total for you, plus you can set a TL to have it calculate trait bonuses for that level (including the relevant modifiers from things like attribute and size, where applicable -- though not including other bonuses like from feats or gear). You can also use the "Load a Previous Character" button to paste in a statblock you've made with it, or one from the book, and make adjustments or calculate a TL. Note that it's not very flexible about syntax though, and often loses NPC qualities or natural/extraordinary attack upgrades if they're not spelled/phrased exactly the way it's looking for, so be sure to double-check that everything's there when you load a character in, and put it back manually if needed. I also would recommend caution about using the templates on there, as it doesn't properly stack in stackable abilities from templates; for instance, when adding a template that gives Tough to an NPC that already has Tough, it overwrites the NPC's existing Tough grade with what the template gives, rather than adding them like you're supposed to.
>>47738142
More like the Curse of the Scottish Play. You can run it, but if you ever talk about how you are currently running it a terrible fate befalls you and ruins it all.
>>47733873
I just like how it's a feat and not a class feature in this game so anyone can have an animal friend if they want. I also like how you get to build your own instead of picking one from a list where some animals are objectively better than others.
>>47662055
Light machine guns like the Lewis gun and Chauchat gun. Maybe sub-machine guns. There were crates of Tommy guns on the docks ready to go to Europe when the armistice was signed.
>>47662055
Grenades also.
>>47662055
The folder has some feat chains for guns as well.
>>47742588
Holy shit, you're the real mvp
>>47742588
Praise be to you, a god amongst mortals
More awesome
This is a shite system
This is a shite post
Have a magic item.
Kuuboyumi
>This ornate Oriental-style bow can be invoked to transform an arrow into a winged construct that fights on your behalf.
Base item: Armor-piercing daikyu
Greater essence: Exotic damage (ranged; explosive)
Lesser charm: Spell effect (Call From Beyond III)
>This spell can only summon the following NPCs, rather than the normal Call From Beyond options:
Reisen (Tiny Beast Construct Outsider Flyer — 60 XP): Str 10, Dex 16, Con 10, Int 10, Wis 10, Cha 10; SZ T (1×1, Reach 1); Spd 60 ft. flight; Init IV; Atk IV; Def VI; Resilience II; Health I; Comp I; Skills: Acrobatics V, Search III; Qualities: achilles heel (explosive), banned action (hover), feat (Charging Basics, Lightning Reflexes, Mobility Basics).
Attacks/Weapons: Piercing Burst (damage II: ray 40ft. range; armour piercing 2), Piercing Hail (damage II: beam 20ft. range; armour piercing 2)
Ryusei (Small Beast Construct Outsider Flyer — 60 XP): Str 12, Dex 12, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 10, Cha 10; SZ S (1×1, Reach 6); Spd 60 ft. flight; Init II; Atk V; Def III; Resilience IV; Health V; Comp I; Skills: Acrobatics III, Search III; Qualities: achilles heel (explosive), banned action (hover), charge attack.
Attacks/Weapons: Dive Bomb (damage IV: ray 60ft. range; damage type: explosive)
>Rep cost: 5 + 5 * spell uses -10
>Minimum level 4
>>47755473
I like, thanks anon.
Out of curiousity, is there anything in the FC system that people dislike?
>>47756360
I don't like that Rune Knight has no support for unarmed combatants. I don't like that Sword and Fist requires a free hand even if you're using it to make natural attacks that don't use hands.
So who here actually plays this? Tell us about your game.
>>47756391
Some one on the crafty forums posted stats for a cetus that you can use. I'll dig it up later.
>>47756360
Probably my biggest dislike with FC is the vehicle rules. Or more specifically, the claim about how vehicles use "most" of the mounted combat rules. A lot of the mounted combat rules make little sense for use with vehicles -- in particular, the rule about using the lower Defense score of the mounted pair, since vehicles typically have piss-poor Defense, but many grant a cover bonus to the occupants. If a chariot driver is supposed to be considered in a mounted pair with his chariot, the cover bonus it gives him is rather pointless since he'd be stuck using the chariot's paltry Defense 10 regardless, right? And then of course there's the fact that most vehicles can (and presumably usually would) have multiple occupants, so is it just the main driver who's considered in a mounted pair or what?
It also kind of gets into one of my quibbles with the mounted combat rules in general, that there's no way to alleviate the drawbacks of mounted combat if that's what you really want to focus on. An expert charioteer should really be able to drive it well enough to warrant a Defense higher than 10, and the only ways in the system to boost vehicle Defense are the Agile upgrade (which is more about quality of vehicle than skill of driver) and the Captain's Take Command ability (which is a pretty meager bonus, and takes a lot of level investment to get since it's more of an ancillary part of the class).
>>47756360
The layout is Dogshit. I had to read the book several times to understand it.
>>47756412
I'm currently in a campaign being run over roll20 by my brother (whom I introduced to the system).
Our party consists of:
>Ninja with Darkness Elemental Heritage; every one of his kills so far has involved knocking something off a wall/out a high window
>Death metal bard with Devilish Heritage; total selfish dickass, has a penchant for collecting pants off of dead bodies
>Soldier girl with Metal Elemental Heritage and a big axe; mute, and possibly slightly sociopathic
>Artificial alchemical humanoid (living metal unborn) wielding bone swords produced from his own body; has 6 Cha and knows nothing of ordinary society, yet somehow by the blessing of the dice gods has done the most successful party face type stuff so far
>Drake martial artist with Crystal Elemental Heritage and Toxin Sacs (enraging poison)
>Horrendously ugly deep-sea fish-man gish; dual wields actual swordfish as swords
And then there's my character, who's literally hobbit Uncle Iroh (Pech Sage, Fire Elemental Heritage, and a homebrew Sensei specialty I found on the Crafty forums).
We also have another player who wasn't able to make it to any of the sessions in our first adventure, but he's apparently playing a gender-fluid (as in, literally shapeshifts between genders) kitsune Scout.
The GM decided to let us all have a free Species feat since half the players had concepts that demanded a splinter race to pull off.
The campaign takes place in an archipelago setting that's based on Norse folklore on one side, and Japanese on the other. But we're starting off running through adventures from Time of High Adventure as a sort of dream/spirit world trial to start out. Nearly got a TPK in The Darkest Hour, it was down to me, the bard, and the fish gish by the end of it, and if the fish hadn't gotten a lucky crit on a Threaten to stun Master we probably would've been cut to ribbons.
bumping from the brink
What do you guys think of this idea for an unarmed combat feat.
[NAME] (Living Weapon was taken)
Prerequisites: Martial Arts
Benefit: Choose a melee weapon type from the blunt or edged category. Your unarmed attacks are treated as a weapon of this type.
Thoughts?
>>47763174
Why bother when Martial Art and Master's Arts are a thing?
>>47763478
It lets you gain tricks and benefits from the melee combat feats. It's not too rare in fiction for a martial artist to emulate the use of a weapon with their unarmed style, and allows for some cool synergies.
>>47763615
That's pretty much precisely what Master's Touch is for. It still leaves non-trick benefits out, but that's probably better handled with a more general feat, or even a campaign quality, along the lines of:
>If an ability allows you to use a weapon of one type to perform tricks for a different type of weapon, you may also consider the first weapon as the other weapon for any other abilities you have that apply to the second weapon.
Putting that as a campaign quality or maybe a Basic Combat feat (presumably with some level of prereqs, like having 2 or more combat "Basics" feats or something) would allow for the unarmed approach, but also be usable for weapon users who get compatibility crossover through feats like Sword Mastery.
draw party
>>47756391
Couldn't you just allow it to use bare hands though? I mean it requires favored weapons, but it seems to me that a GM can help work around that somehow.
Bump from oblivion
>>47746495
>There were crates of Tommy guns on the docks ready to go to Europe when the armistice was signed.
BARs, maybe. The Thompson wasn't developed until 1921.
>>47760176
What a wacky group of oddballs.
>>47764786
Here's something one of my players drew for our crook campaign.
>>47764786
I like how one of the eels on RM's chest seems to be Strongjaw.
>>47770720
I thought you'd like that.
>fantasy craft threads will never reach bump limit
>>47770686
How old was this player?
>>47774487
Well, A for affort, I suppose.
Quick, make the sneakiest dragon you can! As a player not npc. Bonus to using non lethal poison as main weapon
>>47774603
Some variety of Truescale with the chosen terrain being whatever you're going to spend the most time in for that campaign.
Burglar isn't too bad a class for drakes, too. Just take covert feats whenever you gain a "free Melee Combat or Covert" level.
>>47774813
This. Just take the Ghost Basics line.
>>47774813
>>47775454
Guys, the point of this activity is to make different builds then argue with each other over semantics in an effort to keep the thread alive with civil discussion.
Thread's almost had it, anyways. Thanks /fcg/, it's always fun when you turn up again. I've never had more fun running a fantasy system than I have in Fantasycraft, so it's nice to see the occasional thread pop up and know that people out there care about it. Follow your dreams, chums.
>>47774603
Drake Acrobat Burglar
Feats (Achievable by level 15):
>B/E/LSM (Acrobat)
>Ghost B/M/S
>Blessed (Darkness I)
>Elemental Heritage/Legacy (Darkness)
>Prodigal Skill (Sneak)
Burglar abilities:
>Very, Very Sneaky
>Expertise (Sneak)
>Stick Close and Don't Make a Sound
Dex 20
>17 point buy
>-2 species
>+5 levels
At level 20, you'd have a total +43 Sneak before situational modifiers:
>26 ranks
>+5 Dex
>+8 Elemental Legacy
>+4 insight (Skill Mastery)
Situational modifiers that will likely occur frequently are you being bigger than the observer (generally at least -4, -8 if you're airborne or the observer is Small, -12 if you're airborne and the observer is Small), and not being in direct sunlight (+5).
And you have all the reduced penalties and increased flexibility of the Ghost chain.
You can always take 10, and you can smuggle another character with you.
>>47777742
Oh, also 17-20 threat, free crit activation, and 1/scene reroll from the Skill Mastery feats.
>>47777762
At this point they'd make plays about him hunting down lone Knights in a mining outpost. It'd be their version of Alien.
>>47778678
>Is this going to be stand up fight, my lord, or amother drake hunt?
