Fantasy AGE is Green Ronin’s new “generic” version of their
Dragon Age licenced game. It is 144 page and relatively slim. As such, it isn’t
comparable in size to generic games like GURPS or the Cypher System and is
perhaps better compared to Savage Worlds or FATE in terms of quantity of
content. Another fair comparison might be Dungeon World.
Overall, Fantasy AGE is a satisfactory game.
We played a session of the game, making characters and
playing a short adventure which involved a two combat encounters and a bit of
intermittent role-playing with dice supports. One session is not the ideal for a real test of a game (three is better), so take this with a pinch of salt: The play went quickly, suffer
little mechanical “bog-down” for a new system, I didn’t spend much if any time
laboring over the system, and the players had a couple of cool moments. But I
also didn’t think the monsters were challenging the PCs, and I felt one or two
characters were too universally good at everything. With a few good roles and
min/maxing your race, you’d end up with a decent mage who was the equal of most
warriors in combat – the Dwarf Mage was a mean melee combatant.
The game features readily accessible rules and uses a fun
dice mechanic – you roll 3d6, with an off-colour die as your “stunt” dice. When
you roll doubles, you get a critical effect. This doesn’t just pertain to
combat, as spells, exploration, and interaction all have potential stunts.
Players and GMs get to choose their stunts, so the system has some depth. In
theory, the bell curve of a 3d6 should make players less vulnerable to a cold
night of rolling (a problem with linear dice rolls).
But, beyond the dice and stunt system, Fantasy AGE is
perhaps too generic. The races are all the usual suspects (elf, dwarf, orc,
halfling, etc) and the classes – Mage, Rogue, and Warrior—are different, but
don’t carry much detail. There is a background system, but it doesn’t offer
much beyond a descriptive quality. The system doesn’t attempt to reward any
characterization, and there isn’t much of a setting offered.
The book looks good, is well presented and offers good
advice. However, it offers little in the way of monsters and adversaries, and
what there is is pretty bland. The monsters aren’t imaginative nor do they feature
interesting abilities. Now, in a game this generic, you’d expect goblins,
dragons, giants, etc, but a few interesting takes or curve ball monsters make a
game distinct in a simple way.
The magic system has range, and I think it could be used to
build interesting organizations, but as it is, the spells are there. They’re
generic enough that the passing resonance of games like Ars Magica or Mage in
the use of language like arcana and rolling for effect and stunt, just makes you
think those games have fun magic systems and this system is without texture and
nuance.
The players enjoyed the critical stunt process, but wondered
if there were better ways to handle things than a chart. It seemed to at least
two of the players that you’d start defaulting to certain stunts and ignoring
the majority of the chart. I don’t think the charts slowed play, and once
players were familiar with it, the game would be pretty quick.
But the major stumbling block is the game gives you Elves and
Dwarves and Mages and Rogues, and well, D&D already does that…Unlike
Burning Wheel, which gives you Elves and Dwarves, but ramps up the mythopoetics
and mechanics to be unlike D&D, Fantasy AGE is generic in the way earlier
D&D was. That means you’ve got a lot of work making a setting and
presenting something interesting. I suppose if you’re ideologically opposed to
D&D, Fantasy AGE might fit your bill, but I think most games who reject the
premise of D&D won’t find much in Fantasy AGE.
That said, the game isn’t flawed. If you’re burnt out on
D&D or Pathfinder mechanics but want to keep things going in the same
generic vein, then this game might work for you. The starting adventure is a
good one (a riff on a common horror movie motif).
If I consider the comparisons mentioned in the opening
things shake out like this:
Compared to FATE, Fantasy AGE is not a story-driven game.
Mechanically, FATE and F/AGE are heading in different directions, but like
FATE, there isn’t much in terms of setting to enjoy. You’ll need to work to
make the game start off and while FATE gives you a lot of examples, FATE CORE
is harder to run “off-the-book” than F/AGE. But, if you AND your players are
into giving FATE the full go, I think it has more mileage. On the other hand,
F/AGE doesn’t require the kind of investment on the player’s part that games
like FATE (and Burning Wheel) require.
Compared to Savage Worlds, F/AGE is a pretty limited
package. Savage Worlds will give you a better “off-the-book” experience and
offer you more latitude. There’s a better starting adventure in F/AGE, and
there’s more work to be done running SW as fantasy (personally, the “language”
of Savage Worlds works against using it for Fantasy and Sci-Fi games).
As an aside, the Cypher System rulebook arrived in the mail just
as I was prepping to try F/AGE out. The monster’s provided there are so much
more fun and variety that it was really glaring. Now, the Cypher book is more
than twice as long as F/AGE, so the comparison isn’t entirely fair, but it was
quick striking.
I think Fantasy AGE is a satisfactory game. Green Ronin do
reliably good work, and this product holds up in terms of quality and
presentation. It’s easy to learn, quick to play, but it only offers a generic
experience.
Three stars.
