Yora
2015-08-19, 10:45 AM
Though I think that overall the AGE system looks like the best one I've seen in my many years as a GM, providing the perfect amounts of crunch hardness and spontaneous freedom, the Fantasy Age Basic Rulebook really isn't doing a good job at explaining how it is played. Even as a fully generic system, there's not much guidance on what you do with it.
And there are some rules in the book that are not as self-evident as combat is. Exploration and Roleplaying Stunts are a common source of confusion. With magic items having no price and no encumbrance system, what is money good for once you got your prefered weapon and armor?
The Fantasy Age rulebook is still quite new, but the Dragon Age game has been around for years (and is 90% identical) and also appears to have been quite popular for a B-list game, and still is. So perhaps there might be some people who can share some insight on what works when running an AGE system game and what doesn't.
My first impression is that it's really not a game of attrition. Hit points are plenty, there are many sources of healing, mages have an unlimted magic attack, and you can regain a decent number of Magic Points during a break in the action for a few hours. Potions can't be bought and there are no spell scrolls or anything like that. And on top of that, spells are relatively limited in their power. The most powerful spells become available to mages at 5th level, there isn't anything more flashy or spectacular coming as the game progreses, just a broader selections of spells to chose from.
Conserving their resources is not going to be a major concern for players most of the time. And when preparing encounters and dungeons a GM does not have to worry about putting up enough opposition so that the players won't be too powerful when they face the big boss at the end. Though I need a lot more practice with the system to say that for sure.
And there are some rules in the book that are not as self-evident as combat is. Exploration and Roleplaying Stunts are a common source of confusion. With magic items having no price and no encumbrance system, what is money good for once you got your prefered weapon and armor?
The Fantasy Age rulebook is still quite new, but the Dragon Age game has been around for years (and is 90% identical) and also appears to have been quite popular for a B-list game, and still is. So perhaps there might be some people who can share some insight on what works when running an AGE system game and what doesn't.
My first impression is that it's really not a game of attrition. Hit points are plenty, there are many sources of healing, mages have an unlimted magic attack, and you can regain a decent number of Magic Points during a break in the action for a few hours. Potions can't be bought and there are no spell scrolls or anything like that. And on top of that, spells are relatively limited in their power. The most powerful spells become available to mages at 5th level, there isn't anything more flashy or spectacular coming as the game progreses, just a broader selections of spells to chose from.
Conserving their resources is not going to be a major concern for players most of the time. And when preparing encounters and dungeons a GM does not have to worry about putting up enough opposition so that the players won't be too powerful when they face the big boss at the end. Though I need a lot more practice with the system to say that for sure.