New to Fantasy Craft - Some Simple Questions, I Hope

[ludomastro]

While the idea that there is a 5% chance for the heroes to hit the big bad regardless of AC, spells, plot points, etc. can be nice, I do not like the downside correlation.  The idea that an uber-hero fails 5% of the time - all the time - just smacks of heavy handed and kludge to me.

None-the-less, Your Dungeon.  Your Dragon.  Your Way.

[cjs65]

Thanks for the clarification, everyone, along with the subsequent interesting discussion.

Personally, I like to play RAW at least for the first few sessions so I can get a good feel for the system (which is why I asked the question), so no auto miss/hits for me. I've played very few games that haven't been house ruled in some way, but I have a really good feeling about this one for some reason. Except for warhammers doing subdual damage, that is. No matter how I try to rationalise that one, I just can't get my head around it... 

[Gentry]

Except for warhammers doing subdual damage, that is.

For the moment, play with it as is. Make sure it's not actually doing what you want to see it do (you may be surprised) before you change it to do what you think it should do. 

[ludomastro]

For the moment, play with it as is. Make sure it's not actually doing what you want to see it do (you may be surprised) before you change it to do what you think it should do. 

I second Gentry on this.  I've been GM'ing FC for over a year and a half and it has never been a problem at my table.

[SilvercatMoonpaw]

Except for warhammers doing subdual damage, that is. No matter how I try to rationalise that one, I just can't get my head around it... 

That gets brought up a lot, so you'll find some people to work with once you want to try changing that.

[Coyote0273]

For the moment, play with it as is. Make sure it's not actually doing what you want to see it do (you may be surprised) before you change it to do what you think it should do. 

I second Gentry on this.  I've been GM'ing FC for over a year and a half and it has never been a problem at my table.

I third this. I've been running FC since it came out 2ish years ago, and we have almost no problems with the rules as written. It took some of my long term D20 players a few sessions to get the grip of things, but nobody's had any serious problems or broken any mechanics yet.

As a side note, I've never done the 1/20 auto fail/hit thing with FC, but we almost always activate them as crit errors/hits anyway so it balances out better in story wise.

[Sletchman]

While the idea that there is a 5% chance for the heroes to hit the big bad regardless of AC, spells, plot points, etc. can be nice, I do not like the downside correlation.  The idea that an uber-hero fails 5% of the time - all the time - just smacks of heavy handed and kludge to me.

Lets look at it from the other direction: The hero with a gigantic prototype flare launcher (+1 scale Flare) that for anyone else literally explodes in their face fully 1/5th of the time will never suffer a misfire - entirely due to his exceptional ability to attack.  He transcends the possibility of mechanical failure.

That's why I'm playing that an error is an error, even if you did pass/hit/whatever.  I'm far more likely to make it a success and a critical failure at the same time (you open the lock, but every orc in the dungeon hears you do it / your crazy prototype flare explodes, but still launches the fireball at your target).

[Mister Andersen]

Yeah, errors on successful checks are just crazy fun from a storytelling perspective.

I like to think of Han's inspired banzai charge on the Death Star as a critical error on a successful distraction check

[ludomastro]

Fair points on both examples.  I'm fine with having a successful check also be a failure (one of the more likeable things about Shadowrun 4E - speaking personally) but that is mechanically and narratively different from the situation posed by the original question.

If a 1 equals true failure while a 20 equals true success regardless of other factors, I take umbrage.  However, if we are using it for flavor, then I'm definitely game for some good story.

[Geek2theRight]

Except for warhammers doing subdual damage, that is. No matter how I try to rationalise that one, I just can't get my head around it... 

Subdual is different in Fantasy Craft. It's not less dangerous than lethal damage, except to the rare enemy that can't be fatigued. It's just differently dangerous. And in some cases it's actually the preferred tactic to take the enemy down(you can choose to finish them off or let them live at your leisure once they're knocked out). It's really quite brilliant, and it's nice to have at  least some weapons to choose from to deal subdual instead of everything dealing boring ol' lethal.

[Gentry]

But again, don't let the initial look of it mess with your head. Play it out at your table for a while and see how the mechanics actually work. THEN start futzing. You're likely to be pleasantly surprised.

[cjs65]

I thought I'd report back on my first ever Fantasy Craft playing session that's just finished, as mentioned in the first post.

It was a complete, total, resounding success. My players, all D&D3.5 veterans, loved the system. Use of action dice to activate opponents' errors was a particular hit and really added to the narrative flow by producing some genuinely interesting results. They liked the way armour works and just loved the range of actions that are available in combat. There was only one short combat during the session, but it was incredible how much happened in just 4 rounds and how right it felt. The skill system also worked well, as did knowledge checks and studies.

I think my feeling that this is the system I've been looking for has been mostly confirmed. Just magic & miracles to check out now before it gets the final seal of approval... But I'm already certain I'd play this over any other d20 system currently available.

I'm a very happy GM indeed and eagerly awaiting the publication of Spellbound, which is the only item currently on my RPG 'Must buy' list!   

[Gentry]

That's great to hear! Welcome to the fold.

[Desertpuma]

Yes, welcome to the fold!!!

[Crafty_Pat]

Great to hear! Welcome to the fold cj!