Reviewing FC after a year

[Catodon]

In general, we don't like governmental restrictions.   

Perhaps that explains why I played so much Shadowrun in college?   

Speaking of Shadowrun, is anyone else excited about the mention of a cyberpunk setting for Spycraft 3.0?

Sorry for the sidetrack on the thread Catodon.

I'd love to be in but with three active pbp games and a new FATE game starting at my table I'm a too busy.
 (Fantasy Craft Failed to get support again, sigh).

[Desertpuma]

Shatterpunk will be awesome ... been discussed since 2.0 started

[Catodon]

Not so truly massive version of prev. posted section:

1st and 2nd printings. Alas Truly Massive…
Soon after I got my first pdf Crafty produced the Second Printing of the game. At a glance the two versions are hard to tell apart; however, scattered throughout the second printing are dozens of small corrections and alterations incorporating both errata and player feedback. Rules that had not sat well with fans including banned actions and the drawbacks associated with iconic classes and specialities Also some balance issues addressed. The bottom line? Hidden away in the second printing are numerous changes that make a good game better.
Alas for missing things…
The Truly Massive feat was one of my favourite features of the game. It enabled player to take on the role of Huge giants, dragons, and rootwalkers (in d20 games Huge is a size category covering creatures up to about 30’ tall). Without Truly Massive a giant is limited to about 15’ tall. Truly Massive was a great fit for my world: mythic PCs for a mythic setting. More generally Truly Massive enabled Fantasy Craft to recreate old AD&D favourites like Bronze Dragons or Cloud Giants in a satisfying manner. Beyond D&D, many fantasy settings in literature, film, and myth feature Huge characters. Unfortunately, this feat was cut from the Second Printing. Without Truly Massive a portion of the game’s ability to realise fantasy archetypes as PCs was lost. Speculation on the Crafty forum regarding the cut suggested a number of reasons. including: a) that if the game is to play smoothly ‘out of the box’ then giving players the option to play characters that aren’t going to fit in those common dungeon adventures isn’t a good idea; b) that trying to cater for several species with one feat produced a generic bland result; and c) that the feat was mechanically unbalanced.
The authors of fantasy Craft are to be congratulated for changes to rules such as strength/size, types, weapon scaling etc. that have broadened PC horizons beyond what d20 could traditionally handle well. With Huge characters maybe, just maybe though we have found something the system cannot do. In the second printing they appear to have recognised this and removed Truly Massive as part of a raft of changes that have improved the game.

TIP: The paper second and first printing look almost identical without very close inspection. To quickly check that copy you find in the bargain bin: the second printing does not have the small coat of arms for Mongoose Games on the back cover.
TIP: If you do get a first printing copy of the rules there is a 41 page booklet free on the Crafty site to get you up-to-date at http://www.crafty-games.com/downloads.
TIP: Even if you do have the Second Printing the above document’s introduction explains the approach taken by the design team and how they imagine you might best use their toolbox game.
TIP: If your local store has copies of the first printing get the manager to contact Crafty, in the past they have done a replacement deal.
TIP: If you are going to run lots of dungeon adventures consider cutting Ogre, Giant, Drake, and Rootwalker from the available PC species in your world.

[Catodon]

We have really got bogged down in the last section. To get ahead I'm gonna mix things up a little, rather than writing a section then getting your reactions perhaps you can suggest ideas to put into the remaining sections.
Sections left to write:

Online support (inc. forum, crafty website, Fantasy Craft Database, Need to Know feed)
Online play (inc. pbp INFRNO and other methods/sites)
One-off Table test (observations from RL table games welcomed)
Summary: is Fantasy Craft for you?

[ludomastro]

I only noted a few small things.

Not so truly massive version of prev. posted section:

1st and 2nd printings. Alas Truly Massive…
Soon after I got my first pdf, Crafty produced the Second Printing of the game. At a glance the two versions are hard to tell apart; however, scattered throughout the second printing are dozens of small corrections and alterations incorporating both errata and player feedback. Rules that had not sat well with fans including banned actions and the drawbacks associated with iconic classes and specialities. Also, some balance issues were addressed. The bottom line? Hidden away in the second printing are numerous changes that make a good game better.
Alas for missing things…
The Truly Massive feat was one of my favourite features of the game. It enabled players to take on the role of Huge giants, dragons, and rootwalkers. (In d20 games Huge is a size category covering creatures up to about 30’ tall). Without Truly Massive a giant is limited to about 15’ tall. Truly Massive was a great fit for my world: mythic PCs for a mythic setting. More generally Truly Massive enabled Fantasy Craft to recreate old AD&D favourites like Bronze Dragons or Cloud Giants in a satisfying manner. Beyond D&D, many fantasy settings in literature, film, and myth feature Huge characters. Unfortunately, this feat was cut from the Second Printing. Without Truly Massive a portion of the game’s ability to realise fantasy archetypes as PCs was lost. Speculation on the Crafty forum regarding the cut suggested a number of reasons. Including: a) that if the game is to play smoothly ‘out of the box’ then giving players the option to play characters that aren’t going to fit in those common dungeon adventures isn’t a good idea; b) that trying to cater for several species with one feat produced a generic bland result; and c) that the feat was mechanically unbalanced.
The authors of fantasy Craft are to be congratulated for changes to rules such as strength/size, types, weapon scaling, etc. that have broadened PC horizons beyond what d20 could traditionally handle well. With Huge characters, maybe, just maybe, though we have found something the system cannot do. In the second printing they appear to have recognised this and removed Truly Massive as part of a raft of changes that have improved the game.

TIP: The paper second and first printing look almost identical without very close inspection. To quickly check that copy you find in the bargain bin: the second printing does not have the small coat of arms for Mongoose Games on the back cover.
TIP: If you do get a first printing copy of the rules there is a 41 page booklet free on the Crafty site to get you up-to-date at http://www.crafty-games.com/downloads.
TIP: Even if you do have the Second Printing the above document’s introduction explains the approach taken by the design team and how they imagine you might best use their toolbox game.
TIP: If your local store has copies of the first printing get the manager to contact Crafty, in the past they have done a replacement deal.
TIP: If you are going to run lots of dungeon adventures consider cutting Ogre, Giant, Drake, and Rootwalker from the available PC species in your world.

[ludomastro]

Online support (inc. forum, crafty website, Fantasy Craft Database, Need to Know feed)
Online play (inc. pbp INFRNO and other methods/sites)
One-off Table test (observations from RL table games welcomed)
Summary: is Fantasy Craft for you?

For what it is worth, here are my thoughts.

The online support is better than that for any game that I have ever played.  It also has the benefit of being one of the friendliest pieces of the Internet devoid of most of the dross found on your typical forum.

Online forum play (pbp) takes some getting used to but is worth it as you have the world in your neighborhood.  There are ALWAYS people ready to play.  I can't comment on other types of on-line play.

Here is my post for the one-off playtest/demo I did for my local game store.

Is FC for me?  Yes, absolutely!  It is now my go-to game for fantasy.  Given the amazing things I have seen out of it, I'm looking forward to SC3.0 for modern and future play.

[Catodon]

Online support
I had a great new game, but my group was deep into two long campaigns and I was working too many hours to take on a weekday afternoon campaign. Furthermore it’s hard to talk about a game and your ideas for it with people who have never played it. I needed an outlet, so I checked out the company forums. This was a new experience for me; I had never seen a forum before, no really. I found the community was large welcoming and well behaved (I have since discovered this is far from the norm). I was able to get thoughtful criticism for my ideas and help developing new PC species and the like. It was only possible to submit this review before the deadline because of the help of forum members in editing. The forums have Q&A threads for the company’s games where if other forum members can’t answer your question the game designers will.
As well as the forum the Crafty site hosts regularly updated news feed that keeps customers notified of latest releases and what conventions the Crafty designers will be attending. There are occasional links to video of ‘town hall’ meetings where gamers ask the company’s two designers questions directly. If you are into the company’s games these can be illuminating but for specific questions the Q&A threads on the Forums are a better choice. There is a largely neglected wiki. This seems to be intended as a space for gamers to post material and there are a few items there but it just never took off.
If you do want to post material for Fantasy Craft the best place is not the company site. A more recent addition to the Fantasy Craft online community is the Fantasy Craft Database (FCDB). The moderator of this site “Veector” is to be commended for the speed at which he checks material and posts to the site. The moderator does not act as editor, any and all Fantasy Craft material seems to be accepted. The site does have a voting system to help users distinguish good material from poor or simply dreadful items; however either too few people are using the site or too few of them are voting. Most items have few votes and even the top rated items generally have less than ten votes. With so few votes cast they are a poor guide to item quality. There is no space for users to comment on the work of others.
Overall, online support for the game is good. Both the company site and the FCDB are regularly updated and the online community surrounding these sites is large, welcoming, and active.

TIP: Before posting to the FCDB put your creation on the forums for critique. The input of other gamers always refines and improves an idea.
TIP: Some new referees comment that the PCs romped through combats cutting through evil trolls and black knights like butter. If you find the same ….(see forum for fixes, guys help!)
TRICK: Many fan rules never make it past the forum. If you can’t find something in the database try using the search function in the forum before doing the hard work of creating the thing yourself.
TIP: The Crafty Wiki contains an unofficial guide to creating species and specialities. It does not guarantee balance but it will get you close enough to start play-testing your idea.
PLEE: I’d like to see more people voting on the FCDB. It only take a few seconds to rate an item. If more people voted on items the FCDB would be a much more useful resource helping you judge which items are likely to be fun, useful, and balanced in play.

[ludomastro]

Online support
I had a great new game, but my group was deep into two long campaigns and I was working too many hours to take on a weekday afternoon campaign. Furthermore, it’s hard to talk about a game much less and your ideas for that game it with people who have never played it. I needed an outlet. So, I checked out the company forums. This was a new experience for me; I had never seen a forum before. No, really. I found the community was large, welcoming and well behaved (I have since discovered this is far from the norm). I was able to get thoughtful criticism for my ideas and help developing new PC species and the like. It was only possible to submit this review before the deadline because of the help of forum members in editing. The forums have Q&A threads for the company’s games and where if other forum members can’t answer your question then the game designers will.
As well as the forum, the Crafty site hosts regularly updated news feed that keeps customers notified of the latest releases and what conventions the Crafty designers will be attending. There are occasional links to video of ‘town hall’ meetings where gamers ask the company’s two designers questions and get direct answers. directly. If you are into the company’s games these can be illuminating but for specific questions the Q&A threads on the Forums are a better choice. The company website also features a There is a largely neglected wiki. This seems to have been be intended as a space for gamers to post material and while there are a few items in the wiki there but it just never took off.
If you do want to post material for Fantasy Craft, the best place is not the company site. A more recent addition to the Fantasy Craft online community is the Fantasy Craft Database (FCDB). The moderator of this site - “Veector” - is to be commended for the speed at which he checks material and posts to the site. The moderator does not act as editor: any and all Fantasy Craft material seems to be accepted. The site does have a voting system to help users distinguish good material from poor or simply dreadful items; however, either too few people are using the site or too few of them are voting. Most items have few votes and even the top rated items generally have less than ten votes. With so few votes cast, they are a poor guide to item quality. Unfortunately, there is no space for users to comment on the work of others.
Overall, online support for the game is good. Both the company site and the FCDB are regularly updated and the online community surrounding these sites is large, welcoming, and active.

TIP: Before posting to the FCDB put your creation on the forums for critique. The input of other gamers always refines and improves an idea.
TIP: Some new referees comment that the PCs romped through combats cutting through evil trolls and black knights like butter. If you find the same ….(see forum for fixes, the guys help!)
TRICK: Many fan-rules never make it past the forum. If you can’t find something in the database, try using the search function in the forum before doing the hard work of creating the thing yourself.
TIP: The Crafty Wiki contains an unofficial guide to creating species and specialities. It does not guarantee balance but it will get you close enough to start play-testing your idea. Without ever saying so officially, the game designers have tried to point those working on the creation guide in the "right" direction.*
PLEE: I’d like to see more people voting on the FCDB. It only take a few seconds to rate an item. If more people voted on items the FCDB would be a much more useful resource helping you judge which items are likely to be fun, useful, and balanced in play.

Given the size and the small shop feel of Crafty, I wonder if there is a better word than "company" to describe them.  It is completely accurate; however, for me, it summons up the idea of a behemoth, not the friendly nature of Crafty.  Nonetheless, I have used this wording in my edits.

* This is my impression, backed-up by the posts I have read related to the fan work on reverse-engineering the species/talents and specialities.

[Catodon]

thanks again.

[ludomastro]

Most welcome, sir.

[Bill Whitmore]

PLEE: I’d like to see more people voting on the FCDB. It only takes a few seconds to rate an item. If more people voted on items the FCDB would be a much more useful resource helping you judge which items are likely to be fun, useful, and balanced in play.

Usually ludomastro has already caught everything I see, but I finally found one that slipped through.

[Eärendle]

PLEA: I’d like to see more people voting on the FCDB. It only takes a few seconds to rate an item. If more people voted on items the FCDB would be a much more useful resource helping you judge which items are likely to be fun, useful, and balanced in play.

Usually ludomastro has already caught everything I see, but I finally found one that slipped through.

[ludomastro]

And thanks to both of you for keeping me honest.

[Catodon]

Ok, I've beenreally busy with work. Fortunately my editor has granted a small extension.
Anyway here's the next bit:

Online play
Another facet of the forum community is a very active play-by-post section. Play-by-post (pbp) takes some getting used to but is worth it as you have the world in your neighbourhood.  There are ALWAYS people ready to play. This alone is a good reason to recommend Fantasy Craft to those who can’t find a regular gaming group or are too busy to join one.
Generally, a new game opens every month or so and about a third of these never get very far. Games always have a limited number of places and you might not be selected. A little patience is required. A typical game would require one or two in character posts a week.  Even though I’m pretty busy I can play two or three pbp games at a time. Compared to a table top game this pace is very slow and takes some getting used to.
While many consider pbp the poor cousin of table top gaming the media does have its own advantages. Play-by-post gives you the time to look up the rules and consider your options before describing your action. For this reason pbp is a great way for those new to the game to learn the rules. Another advantage of pbp is that you can play characters with odd mannerisms or motivations. For example one of my characters had an unusual code of behaviour and always spoke in a formal archaic manner, this would be very difficult to keep up around the table.
I also tried looking for games on the INFRNO site that merges skype type conference calls with a virtual ‘table’; however at the time there was very little Fantasy Craft being played there and all of it in American time zones so I never got further than uploading a character. Having a quick glance at INFRNO now it looks like the number of Fantasy Craft players and games is growing. This is not surprising given the very active community for the game online. Perhaps in the future live online gaming will be a viable option for Fantasy Craft players.

TIP: Most pbp games only accept a small number of players and increasingly they are not first come first serve. When you have spare time pre-write a few character concepts ready; then when a game is advertised you can respond quickly picking a concept from your stable that might appeal to the referee.
TIP: Only about one in three pbp games gets very far. Don’t be too disappointed if a game dies, just sign up for another.
TIP: For online games in text environments don’t arrange your character as on the character sheets, instead keep all the class abilities together, all the feats together, etc. This allows harried pbp gamers to check each others working.
TRICK: I found keeping PC’s for pbp games on the wiki made a lot of sense.

[ludomastro]

I'm a bit sleepy but since we are on a deadline, here goes:

Online play
Another facet of the forum community is a very active play-by-post section. Play-by-post (pbp) takes some getting used to but is worth it as you have the world in your neighbourhood.  There are ALWAYS people ready to play. This alone is a good reason to recommend Fantasy Craft to those who can’t find a regular gaming group or are too busy to join one.
Generally, a new game opens every month or so; however, and about a third of these never get very far. Games always have a limited number of places and you might not be selected; therefore, a little patience is required. A typical game would require one or two in-character posts per a week.  Even though I’m pretty busy I can play two or three pbp games at a time.  Something to watch out for: compared to a table top game the pbp this pace is very slow and takes some getting used to.
While many consider pbp the poor cousin of table top gaming the media does have its own advantages. Play-by-post gives you the time to look up the rules and consider your options before describing your action. For this reason pbp is a great way for those new to the game to learn the rules. Another advantage of pbp is that you can play characters with odd mannerisms or motivations. For example one of my characters had an unusual code of behaviour and always spoke in a formal archaic manner, this would be very difficult to keep up around the table.
I also tried looking for games on the INFRNO site that merges skype type conference calls with a virtual ‘table’; however at the time there was very little Fantasy Craft being played there and all of it in American time zones so I never got further than uploading a character. Having a quick glance at INFRNO now it looks like the number of Fantasy Craft players and games is growing. This is not surprising given the very active community for the game online. Perhaps in the future live online gaming will be a viable option for Fantasy Craft players.

TIP: Most pbp games only accept a small number of players and increasingly they are not first come first serve. When you have spare time pre-write a few character concepts ready; then when a game is advertised you can respond quickly picking a concept from your stable that might appeal to the referee.
TIP: Only about one in three pbp games gets very far. Don’t be too disappointed if a game dies, just sign up for another.
TIP: For online games in text environments don’t arrange your character as on the character sheets, instead keep all the class abilities together, all the feats together, etc. This allows harried pbp gamers to check each others working.  Your GM may have a favored format for this.  Check with her.
TRICK: I found keeping PC’s for pbp games on the wiki made a lot of sense.