Some questions for those familiar with Fantasy Age 2e

Thomas Shey

Legend
I'm curious about some experiences people who are familiar with the latter day AGE products, particularly Fantasy Age 2e have had.

Many a moon ago I ran a Dragon Age game, and while we liked quite a lot about it for the first 6 levels, it, to be blunt, went to hell not long after that. Part of it write off to the fact the first five levels were playtested much more thoroughly than the other 15.

But I've heard that some of the problems we have have still carried over, and wanted to hear if they were true, and to what degree.

The first was that level elevating hit points and damage absorbing armor don't play all that well together. This meant that even with the stunt that halved armor, the upper levels could be an awful slog (and this was only by 8th level; though the hit point elevation flattens out about 10 I still hate to think about what it could be like by 12th or more).

The second was that after a while, to-hit outraced any defense you were liable to have, to the degree that hit rolls were almost pointless. You were just checking for Stunt Point generation.

Related to the first, healing powers became progressively less relevant because they choked off at about 3D6, which is mostly a pointless waste of time when people have 60-80 hits, which meant a character who invested in it had wasted a lot of development. Thee were a number of issues similar to this with various spells (I know the FA magic system is considerably different, but its hard to assess just from skimming spell lists).

Now, the issue I can't easily tell is whether the new additions in terms of Stunts, Talents and Specialties impact any of this meaningfully.

Thoughts by anyone who's read one of the more recent ones in more detail than I have?

(Far as that goes, is the FA Companion worth investing in? I know it was written for 1e. I've already got the Modern Age Companion, so is it likely to give me anything I don't already have?)
 

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Tales and Chronicles

Jewel of the North, formerly know as vincegetorix
IIRC many things from the Companion made their way into the second edition. I dont think it's vital to get it should you decide to go with 2e edition.
 

Thomas Shey

Legend
I already have 2e; I'm just trying to get a feeling from people who've actually used it, rather than just read it.

(I was a little surprised to see some of the options, such as the more gritty damage ones, from Modern Age weren't in it).
 

Tales and Chronicles

Jewel of the North, formerly know as vincegetorix
I already have 2e; I'm just trying to get a feeling from people who've actually used it, rather than just read it.

(I was a little surprised to see some of the options, such as the more gritty damage ones, from Modern Age weren't in it).
Wow, seriously?

They were talking during the playtest of adding those dials in for different modes of play. Sad.

So, its the same game with the same problems, but with more player options and smaller general stunt lists?
 

Thomas Shey

Legend
Wow, seriously?

They were talking during the playtest of adding those dials in for different modes of play. Sad.

So, its the same game with the same problems, but with more player options and smaller general stunt lists?

Maybe? While I own 1e I'm not as familiar with it as I could be. I haven't read 2e in enough detail to know if there are more baked-in changes than I remember from DA. It certainly has more Talents and Specializations, and the spell categories seem more extensive; there also seem to be possibly more combat stunts, though some are gated by advancement.
 

Aldarc

Legend
All classes now get a +1 bonus to Defense at levels 6, 11, and 16. Also all classes also get their weapon focus added to their damage rolls at level 6 and their Stunt Die added to their damage rolls at level 16.

Considering that characters now get their first specialization at level 1, that should also speed up progression and access to some of the features that provide bonus damage, defense, etc.

Does that make enough of a difference? I'm not sure. I have not yet playtested or ran it at those levels yet.

I will try to get around to some of your other concerns that you raised later.
 

Thomas Shey

Legend
All classes now get a +1 bonus to Defense at levels 6, 11, and 16. Also all classes also get their weapon focus added to their damage rolls at level 6 and their Stunt Die added to their damage rolls at level 16.

See, this is the sort of thing you can miss by skimming. I thought I'd remembered something about bonuses to Defense but couldn't find it when I looked.

Considering that characters now get their first specialization at level 1, that should also speed up progression and access to some of the features that provide bonus damage, defense, etc.

Does that make enough of a difference? I'm not sure. I have not yet playtested or ran it at those levels yet.

Its at least something.

I will try to get around to some of your other concerns that you raised later.

I'd be interested in what you have to say.

We really liked some elements of DA until it started to break down. But I'm a little leery of trying again and having another campaign break down; I'm getting a little old for campaigns that break in the middle.
 




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