Fantasy Craft for New RPGers

[hannibalisfun]

My brother wants me to run a game for some of his friends.  Most of them have never played a pnp rpg before.  I figure I would start with a standard fantasy game.  At first, I thought about running pathfinder, 4e, or a custom skill based d20 system my friends use but then I remember fantasy craft. 

I have been wanting to try out Fantasy Craft for a while now.  I was curious if you guys had any suggestions for running Fantasy Craft for new rpgers and how well it has worked out for players with little rpg experience?

[Gentry]

Where's that thread of Kruelos' with the mix-n-match level zero characters? I can't find it.

[Bhurano]

Hi there,

and welcome to the forums.

Since it will be your first run with people completely new to the game, you should keep it easy.
It would probably a good idea to talk with them beforehand just to see what they expect and what they want to play.

You could also use the Iconic (pre-gen characters) so that they don't get swamped with the character creation - there are just so many delicious options.
You can find the iconics under: http://www.crafty-games.com/index.php?q=node/851

If you use the Iconics, they can concentrate on the game itself and after they have seen the game in action - which is just awesome - you can walk them through the whole character creation or they go on with their chosen Iconic.

A good start would also to use one of the adventures in "Time of High Adventure".

These steps will at least ensure that you don't have to much on your plate to handle and fully concentrate on the game.

When it comes down to D&D players you have to make clear that there are some changes to the whole system. It's mostly not that much... and many things are thankfully streamlined, which makes FC really easy to run... even if there are some preconceptions that D&D players need to wrap their head around.

Biggest things in my group:

- The Priest is not necessarily a healer, nor a combatant -> he can choose his way according to his beliefs
- The Mage is not the end-all-solution, nor a I-win button... a great thing in my book.
- There are no perfect setups... since you can have Soldiers who fight dirty or a gentleman warrior with a quick flourish of his rapier
- There is also no need to adhere to 1 Healer, 1 Mage, 1 Thief, 1 Fighter... you can have all Fighters and anyone might end up different
- Skills are useful in combat
- Even guys who don't fight can contribute to the fight
- Armor actually reduces damage
- Putting a caster in Armor? No problem.
- Handing the caster freaking big sword? Again, no problem.
- FC is a Toolkit System so you take what you want.
- NPC can be scaled easily with your group. So goblins and other enemys can always pose a threat.
- Biggest one: You can create a character in a way you imagine, without being pressed into a certain role.

Hope, I didn't miss one. In general someone who hasn't played D&D might grasp FC easier than those who have... but with a bit of play they will cherish the whole game.

I hope that helps.

[Bhurano]

@Gentry

Do you mean by any chance this thread??: http://www.crafty-games.com/forum/index.php?topic=5902.0

I forgot that thread, which is a shame ... because it's a quick and easy way to start the game.

[Coyote0273]

I have been wanting to try out Fantasy Craft for a while now.  I was curious if you guys had any suggestions for running Fantasy Craft for new rpgers and how well it has worked out for players with little rpg experience?

In my experience, it has actually worked out better for those players with little experience than those with a lot of experience. Simply because there's so much that's similar to d20 that experienced players get into their d20 rut and suddenly go "WTF?!?!?" when something different happens, which is often.

I also agree with Bhurano, there's 3 adventures out  that are already all pre-built with NPC stats and everything. That would give you a decent intro into the system to see if the game is what you like.

[tfwfh]

This is all good advice for new players.  I'm guessing you haven't run FC before, and if so I have some advice for you as the GM.  Take a few minutes to get familiar with some of the more notable different aspects of FC.  In particular, I have four suggestions.

1. The different damage types and how they work, both on standard and special characters.  In particular, you should pay attention to the way that subdual and stress damage work.  This seems to be a big source of confusion for new players because they don't work quite the way you might think at first.
2. The system of getting stats for NPCs.  Get familiar with the difference between Standard and Special NPCs.  Get familiar with the way the damage save works (in particular you should note that it is the same for all damage types).  And be familiar with the concept of Threat Levels and how it's used to turn NPC stat blocks into usable modifiers at the table.  If you have some extra time, it can also be helpful to walk through stating up an NPC of your own.
3. Look over the Campaign Qualities and decide which ones you might want to use.  You should pay particular attention to the Sorcery and Miracles qualities, and the options they present.  If you're using one or both, I recommend going with the basic option for each when you're starting out.  You can tweak it later after everyone has a few sessions under their belt.
4. Give some thought to Alignments.  If you are using the Miracles Quality, Alignments will have a substantial mechanical effect in addition to the flavor they bestow on the setting.  Especially give some thought to which alignments will oppose each other, which comes up surprisingly often when dealing with magic items and the abilities of a number of monsters.

These are some things I stumbled with the first couple times I ran FC.  They're some of the more complicated rules, and they come up early and often.  There's a lot of things you can just "wing it" if you don't know them off hand, but these really aren't any of those things, and it can bring everyone's fun to an abrupt halt when you have to start paging through the rules to see how things work.  And really, with new RPGers, the most important thing is to keep them engaged and keep the game moving so they can get comfortable with it.

[Gentry]

@Gentry

Do you mean by any chance this thread??: http://www.crafty-games.com/forum/index.php?topic=5902.0

I forgot that thread, which is a shame ... because it's a quick and easy way to start the game.

Yes, this is precisely the thread I meant. Apparently I'm a search engine cripple. Anyways, this is a great way to create a character very quickly, as well as get familiar with the origins system, which is arguably more important than the class system. Note that such a character will be mechanically weaker than a normal level 1 character, but that's ok for an intro.

And for intro purposes regarding people new to RPGs, if you're going to use something from ToHA I suggest The Cleansing of Black Spur (and skipping the final encounter--CoBS has easy tips for how to do that and stay suitably heroic). However, you may want to convert an "intro adventure" you've had on the shelf a while, and this would be a great exercise for you as a new GM. These forums are quite likely to help you with any mechanical conundrums you may encounter.

[SilvercatMoonpaw]

The community should start developing a mass of pre-generated characters.

[Desertpuma]

Now, there's an idea ... Split it into 1st levels and 3rd levels so GMs can grab based upon what they feel they want to start with... Sound good?

[SilvercatMoonpaw]

It might help to have a few of high-enough level to get one or two levels into an Expert Class.  Not necessarily for first-time players, but there might be rare cases where after trying low-levels players might want to see how some higher stuff works.  Plus it's just good for showing off how character can grow.

[Gentry]

I hate to be a wet blanket on an idea, but does anybody actually read pregrenerated characters? many 3.x books are chock full of the things--has anybody cared?

[Desertpuma]

To be honest, I see your point. But I also see the idea of doing them from the basic standpoint that FC is so damn versatile that you can break the mold on the "typical" fantasy character.

I'm fairly certain that WOTC's system is not geared for things as follows:

Dwarven Aristocrat Burglar
Elven Gladiator Keeper
Pech Physician Courtier
Saurian Swindler Captain
Drake Merchant Assassin
Unborn Dragoon Explorer
Goblin Lord Scout

Or a whole host of other combinations....

[ahzad]

I hate to be a wet blanket on an idea, but does anybody actually read pregrenerated characters? many 3.x books are chock full of the things--has anybody cared?

nobody probably wants to buy a book of them, but I do think a nice mess of them at various levels, looked over and approved by the more knowledgeable members of the boards, not the crafty guys they got to much to work on for us, would be a welcome addition to the download sections for folks new to the system, or people wanting to run some one shots at stores or conventions.

[Desertpuma]

Or even to just look at so they can dissect how they were constructed and understand it

[Gentry]

I can understand the eagerness to create such a thing. However, I suspect that such an activity would be much more self-serving than a lot of us would care to admit. I'd rather see new players discover these things organically. If option after option gets explored to death here, are we inhibiting the creativity of a newcomer by burying it under the weight of "oh, somebody designed that already--check it out over here"?

I think ultimately this is the beauty of Kruelos' "quick-character" system: rather than have to explain how a pregenerated character works (which can sometimes be eye-crossingly complex), or accidentally kill a newcomers creativity (by inadvertently showing him that his idea wasn't as creative as he thought, because it's already been done, right here), you build a suitable demo character in five minutes that really speaks to you in the moment, and sparks your own creativity. 'Cuz that's the magic of it--getting your own creativity going.