Fantasy Craft Second Printing Q&A Thread

[Kerebrus]

the Breath weapon feats maybe should have also included access to breath weapon tricks.

and it looks like Canny shot (or Determined shot, if you just wanted to stack CON) are not really options for breath weapon users, as those tricks require Forte, and there is not a proficiency associated with exhaling gouts of flame.

[The_Grand_User]

True, though that could possibly be an oversight, or might reasonably fall under "Unarmed".

[Psion]

the Breath weapon feats maybe should have also included access to breath weapon tricks.

and it looks like Canny shot (or Determined shot, if you just wanted to stack CON) are not really options for breath weapon users, as those tricks require Forte, and there is not a proficiency associated with exhaling gouts of flame.

That's roughly paralleled by the fact that there is no "Mastery" feat corresponding to unarmed attacks.

[MilitiaJim]

True, though that could possibly be an oversight, or might reasonably fall under "Unarmed".

Bites, claws, and etc are unarmed, but I can see why a GM would not let them apply to a Breath Weapon.

[veector]

I'm reading through everything and I've gotten to the Campaign Qualities section.

I'm at a loss to understand why the GM must spend action dice to add the Hearty Heroes or Luck Abounds campaign qualities.

I'm under the impression that campaign qualities that benefit the heroes and GM alike are 0 action dice or Permanent.

Why, if the effect is primarily beneficial to the heroes, should the GM be the one spending the action dice?

[Doublebond]

I'm reading through everything and I've gotten to the Campaign Qualities section.

I'm at a loss to understand why the GM must spend action dice to add the Hearty Heroes or Luck Abounds campaign qualities.

I'm under the impression that campaign qualities that benefit the heroes and GM alike are 0 action dice or Permanent.

Why, if the effect is primarily beneficial to the heroes, should the GM be the one spending the action dice?

The cost is determined not by how negatively the quality affects the PCs but by how drastically it affects the game play.

[veector]

Another question...

From the book:

It’s your job as the GM to determine XP rewards, near the end of building each adventure. XP is awarded for completing objectives (see page 135), encountering traps (see page 338), and defeating adversaries (see page 337). As a rule, the sum of these awards should fall between 750 and 1,000 XP for a single adventure, though you can go as high as 1,500 XP for a truly landmark outing.

Assuming you stick to these numbers, your party should level approximately once per adventure through Level 5. After that the rate should drop off to about once per two adventures until Level 11, then remain steady at once per three adventures until the late game (Level 17). Four adventures per level common from then until Level 20

I'm confused. The XP per career level chart doesn't support these numbers. I've GM'd D&D for a long time and I'm happy to ignore this, but I'm just curious where these numbers come from? Especially since other XP per adventure examples in the book don't follow this.

[ArawnNox]

Unlike DnD XP isn't divided amongst the party, its the amount each character gets.  Also, XP is multiplied by the adventures threat level. See "Applying XP" on page 342. And welcome to the boards.

[dorward]

On the subject of XP, the NPC quality Veteran and campaign quality Legendary Monsters raise the threat level of NPCs.

Is the XP for them calculated using the Threat Level for the adventure, or the modified Threat Level for the NPC?

[veector]

Unlike DnD XP isn't divided amongst the party, its the amount each character gets.  Also, XP is multiplied by the adventures threat level. See "Applying XP" on page 342. And welcome to the boards.

Thanks for the welcome, although this still doesn't answer my question. Even if 1000-1500 XP is correct for a single party member, I'm just confused where they got the 1000-1500 number. The "leveling once per adventure from levels 1-5" doesn't work out if I'm gaining 1000-1500 xp per adventure. And leveling once per two adventures through level 11 doesn't work out either. So either, the estimate is wrong, which I'm inclined to believe, or the chart is wrong.

I'm not trying to knock the game, I'm really just trying to understand how fast the game assumes PCs are leveling.

[Deral]

Another question...

From the book:

It’s your job as the GM to determine XP rewards, near the end of building each adventure. XP is awarded for completing objectives (see page 135), encountering traps (see page 338), and defeating adversaries (see page 337). As a rule, the sum of these awards should fall between 750 and 1,000 XP for a single adventure, though you can go as high as 1,500 XP for a truly landmark outing.

Assuming you stick to these numbers, your party should level approximately once per adventure through Level 5. After that the rate should drop off to about once per two adventures until Level 11, then remain steady at once per three adventures until the late game (Level 17). Four adventures per level common from then until Level 20

I'm confused. The XP per career level chart doesn't support these numbers. I've GM'd D&D for a long time and I'm happy to ignore this, but I'm just curious where these numbers come from? Especially since other XP per adventure examples in the book don't follow this.

I think- and I haven't gone through that part of the text recently- that part of the text is immediately followed by a part telling you to then multiply that sum by the threat level, so 750-1500 x TL does work out pretty well to one level per adventure.

[Krensky]

Unlike DnD XP isn't divided amongst the party, its the amount each character gets.  Also, XP is multiplied by the adventures threat level. See "Applying XP" on page 342. And welcome to the boards.

Thanks for the welcome, although this still doesn't answer my question. Even if 1000-1500 XP is correct for a single party member, I'm just confused where they got the 1000-1500 number. The "leveling once per adventure from levels 1-5" doesn't work out if I'm gaining 1000-1500 xp per adventure. And leveling once per two adventures through level 11 doesn't work out either. So either, the estimate is wrong, which I'm inclined to believe, or the chart is wrong.

I'm not trying to knock the game, I'm really just trying to understand how fast the game assumes PCs are leveling.

Actually, it does. Reread the "Applying XP" section on page 342.

Ignoring Menace, you multiply that number by the average party level.

So at level 1, 1000 base XP adds a 1000 to your XP total, making you second level.
At level 2, it adds 2000, making yo third level.
At level 3, it adds 3000, making you fourth level.
At level 4 it adds 4000, making you fifth level.
etc.

[veector]

Ah... now I see. Since the two explanations were under different headings, I thought they were different.

I considered the "Applying XP" section to define what XP means to a Hero, not how to calculate how much of an award an individual hero gets. Now it makes more sense.

Thanks for the help.

[Crafty_Alex]

I'm reading through everything and I've gotten to the Campaign Qualities section.

I'm at a loss to understand why the GM must spend action dice to add the Hearty Heroes or Luck Abounds campaign qualities.

I'm under the impression that campaign qualities that benefit the heroes and GM alike are 0 action dice or Permanent.

Why, if the effect is primarily beneficial to the heroes, should the GM be the one spending the action dice?

The reason is you are changing the game environment. Permanent qualities are not necessarily beneficial (though most are "harmless" like Sorcery) - rather, they change how characters function and thus cannot be turned on or off after a campaign starts. 0 AD qualities encourages the GM to change the environment at will, which can make things a little confusing for the players if done too often or too liberally. The expenditure of an action die is not an punishment for doing so - rather, it's a reminder something has changed.

[Doublebond]

The only thing I've had problems with temporary campaign qualities is how a great many of them I'd have a hard time explaining.

Take Wuxia, for example. The circumstances would have to be a little bit contrived in order to explain why that quality is in effect.