Fantasy Age Companion is Actually Planned for 2018

So I'm going to claim I was using reverse psychology, but truth is it looks like the Fantasy Age Companion really is on track for 2018. Yay!

I'm looking forward to this book and seeing what it has to offer. Consensus among my group has been that we should give Fantasy Age a try (again) soon, as the right combo of players and interest seems to be in the mix now.

Also of interest is the Modern Age book, due out some day (right)? and the Lazarus adaptation which I know nothing about other than it ties in to an Image comic (I think), as well as the planned supplement for Dragon Age, which remains intriguing because honestly I think that the tabletop RPG for Dragon Age is a better successor to the original computer game than every other CRPG sequel to be produced so far.

Nonhumans of Sarvaelen in Fantasy AGE

In working out details on the nonhumans of Sarvaelen I decided to skew as closely as possible to the core book, both for ease of access for my players and to avoid spending a lot of time on specialized race details that are at best minor in difference compared to the core. The only exception is the Abashan, the dark elves of Sarvaelen. 

Nonhuman Races of Sarvaelen

There are a handful of deminhuman races in Sarvaelen, and their numbers have been growing in the two centuries since Camrinal’s fall. Among these demihumans are:

The Ilmarain Elves

The elves of Ilmarain are a secretive, suspicious race. The Ilmarain herald from their dominion in the Realm of the Faerie where they claim to belong to the Summer Court. Their disdain for men and love of cruelty is only slightly less than that of the Abashan, the dark elves. Their Queen of Air and Water is the ruler of the Summer Court. The term Ilmarain apparently is also the name of the elven city from which most elves enter the mortal world.

Unlike elves of other realms, Ilmarain are strongly affiliated with their realm of the fey, the Faerie Court. This tether makes it possible for them to slip between worlds into the beautiful but deadly and maddening fairie lands when they sense a weakening of the veil that separates their realm from the mortal world.

Ilmarain Characters: use the elf template in Fantasy AGE, with one additional special trait:

·         Ilmarain elves receive a unique focus: perception (weave). Like all elvenkind, the Ilmarain are indelibly tied to the Faerie Realm, sometimes known as the Weave. Any elf has a natural affinity for the places in the world where this region is weak, and a perception (weave) check will help pierce the veil between worlds and allow them to move between the two realms. The strength of the opening in the veil determines whether they can bring people with them, and how difficult it can be to detect.

The Abashan Dark Elves

The elves of Abashan are counter to the Ilmarain. They are dark of skin, seeped in shadow and darkness, and servants to the Winter Court. Their ruler is Mab, the Queen of Air and Darkness, a destructive immortal of pure power. The Abashan are most comfortable in shadow and seek out the darkest corners and depths of the earth in which to manifest. They are inimical to mortals, and treat them as playthings at best, cattle at worst.

Like their fair kin, the Abashan have a profound connection to the land of shadow where the Winter Court presides, and can innately sense and manipulate weak spots in the veil to traverse into the realm of shadow.

Abashan Characters:

·         Dark elves gain +1 to dexterity

·         Choose one focus from dexterity (stealth), communication (deception) or strength (intimidation)

·         The dark elves have darksight out to 40 yards instead of 20

·         Dark elves start knowing only Abashan Elvish; dark elves disdain the languages of other races.

·         Dark elves start with a speed of 12+dexterity (minus any armor penalties)

·         Abashan dark elves gain a unique focus similar to Ilmarain: perception (shadow), which allows them to pierce the veil to the realm of shadow, tethered to the dominion of the Winter Court. The ability to bring others along as well as spot the veil of shadow depends on the strength of the veil in that area.

·         Abashan get two rolls on the following benefits:

Abashan Dark Elf Benefits

2D6      Benefit

2          +1 Communication

3-4       Focus: intelligence (arcane lore)

5          Focus: perception (hearing)
6          Weapon group: light blades

7-8       +1 fighting

9          Weapon Group (bows)

10-11   Focus: Dexterity (initiative)

12        +1 Accuracy

The Orcs of Sugante and Aphoros

The orcs of the Lower Kingdoms are an ancient force unmeasured, for their presence in the world is new. It is not known if they are a recent manifestation, perhaps born out of the incalculable destruction of Camrinal or something more ancient, waiting for the wane of human rule to allow their species passage to conquest. Their rise in numbers has forced many dwarven enclaves to escape closer to the surface realms to avoid destruction.

Sugante and Aphoros Characters: both orcish groups can use the standard Fantasy AGE orc stats for character creation. Orcs of aphoros have a strange connection to the Weave, and may opt to learn the Focus: perception (shadow) because of this mysterious connection as a racial focus instead of the standard choices.

The Dwarves of the Lower Kingdoms

The stout dwarves are elemental sons of the earth, and they revere the Old God Satarnas as their creator, from whom they rose out of the earth in the wake of his steps in the caverns of the deeps. The dwarves dislike surface dwellers and rarely come out of their caverns save out of necessity. In the last century the rise of the orcs and other monsters in the darkness have forced the dwarves to seek passage out of their dark lands and to even call upon the aid of humans.

Dwarven Characters: the dwarf in the core rules can model dwarves of the Lower Kingdoms.

The Gnomes of Rekaras

The gnomes are a race similar to the dwarves and some claim a similar origin, created by the Old Gods though the gnomes insist that they are something different. They have some cities, such as Rekaras, on the surface world but many gnome tribes still dwell hidden in deep caverns and dark forests. The gnomes are a pernicious lot, inventors and madmen who have the logic of the fey, suggesting a connection to the Other World.

Rekaras Gnome Characters: use the standard gnome template in the core rules.

The Halflings of the Western Shores

Remote communities of halflings thrive north west of Emon. The haflings call themselves the True Folk, and claim to have been around when men were a new race in the world. Haflings are rare but for their lack of adventuresome spirit, and keep to themselves mostly. Halflings can and do disappear in times of war, and their ability to burrow into the earth and hide in the depths of the forests and mountains serve them well in dark times.

Halfling Characters: Western Shore Halflings can be made using the core rule Halfling as default.

Sarvaelen in Fantasy AGE: The Emoniae as a PC race

I've been working on lots of Sarvaelen conversions for Fantasy AGE. Here's the Emoniae, the human race with elemental taint that dwells in the far west, and once comprised one of the larger forces in revolt in the old civil war against the Empire of Camrinal which also survived the devastating purge of the emperor that destroyed everything....

This race has a bloodline taint which I have left as an optional aberration, although I considered modeling it as a specialization...problem with that is if I do, then emon can't also choose from a specialization. Ultimately the taint is a powerful trait which eventually corrupts the emon's humanity, swallowing it whole....enough, perhaps, to weigh out the advantages knowing that too many elemental traits will turn the PC into a dangerous NPC.

The People of Emon

Also known as the Emoniae, the people of this distant land exist far in the west, beyond the ruined expanse of the wastelands of Camrinal. Emon was the greatest independent threat to Camrinal in its era of rule, and the Emoniae were a culture of sorcerers much like the Empire. When the Final War erupted, their lands were devastated, and the Empire sought to exterminate their greatest rivals as quickly as possible. When the conflict ended with the destruction of Camrinal, most of Emon’s warriors were caught in the destruction, and destroyed. Still, there were plenty of survivors back home, now mostly dwelling in ancient, deep enclaves within the vast Adasatrak Mountains where they stood guard against the outside world.

Today the Emoniae are still driven by magic as a way of life and such arts find a greater acceptance within their mountain fortresses than anywhere else. The Emoniae remain isolated and tend to mistrust the young eastern kingdoms that have arisen from the ashes of the Final War. It is also the only land where the study and worship of the Old Gods is still permitted.

Elemental Taint: Emoniae revere the elemental old gods, and still worship them. There is a chance that any emoniae has some elemental heritage in his or her bloodline. The immediate effect is an innate basic understanding of the elemental tongue and an affinity for that element, which means that they tend to be regarded favorably by elementals of like type that they meet (at GM's discretion a +2 reaction modifier; see below for other features this taint induces).

The Emoniae As a PC

Many emoniae have a talent for magic, and are most commonly mages by class. Emoniae are, like pureblooded of Camrinal, prone to attracting the attention and interest of demons, spirits, elementals, old gods and other beings from the Elemental Realms. Elves have an abnormal fascination for them, and as a result it is more common to run into half-elves of mixed elvish and emoniae blood than any other combination. Emoniae are a special type of human, with the following racial traits:

·         Emoniae gain +1 in intelligence or +1 in Fighting.

·         Emoniae may choose Focus: intelligence (arcane lore) or Focus: intelligence (natural lore) to start.

·         Emoniae move at a speed of 10+dexterity like other men.

·         Emoniae learn the common (Aeronostic) tongue as well as Emonish, their cultural language.

·         Emoniae roll on the following benefits table:

Emoniae Benefits

2D6      Benefit

2          +1 Intelligence

3-4       Focus: intelligence (writing)

5          Focus: communication (persuasion)
6          Weapon group: staves or light blades

7-8       +1 communication

9          Focus: intelligence (elemental affinity)

10-11   Focus: willpower (self-discipline)

12        +1 Willpower

Emoniae Focus: elemental affinity (choose one elemental type)

This focus lets the emon mage add his focus bonus to elemental attacks of the same type (i.e. fire, air, water, earth, shadow). Gaining this focus also means that the emon has elemental taint (see next), can speak the elemental language of choice, and may gain the focus bonus on positive reaction rolls with elementals.

Elemental Taint

An emon who chooses to be a mage and also gains the elemental affinity focus gains elemental taint. The first time this happens, usually at level 1-3 (the GM can roll randomly to determine when),

he or she begins to manifest a sign of elemental corruption, usually in the form of a glow or emission from the skin, and a slow but certain "change" on the skin that seems to be a manifestation of that emon's elemental taint (stone-like skin, persistent water running from pores, smoke, or a misty fog following the emon). This first manifestation is cosmetic and can be suppressed with concentration (a TN 11 vs. willpower (self-discipline) check).  Once the emoniae reaches level 4 and chooses a specialist discipline, each rank of proficiency thereafter the emoniae must make a check against willpower (self-discipline) at TN 12 (novice), TN 16 (expert), and TN 21 (master) to avoid manifesting new taint effects. This roll becomes harder (-2 penalty) if the elementalist specialization is taken.

Roll each time to see what manifests:

Emoniae Elemental Corruption Chart

1D6      Elemental Corruption Type

1-3       Elemental resistance: take half damage from the elemental type you are tainted by; if you roll this a second time gain immunity to that elemental type damage.

4-5       Gain power to summon an elemental of your corruption type for 1 hour. Requires 5 minutes of concentration to summon and 5 MP to cast. The second time you roll this you learn to summon a larger elemental for 8 MP, and the third time a huge elemental for 12 MP.

6          gain permanent emission of elemental type: stone skin (gain 5 AR), fire erupts from flesh (immune to damage from it but deals 1D6 to all on touch), air (gains levitate at will at your speed), or water (emits water permanently, gains water breathing). These traits are very difficult to disguise and require a willpower (self-discipline) check of TN 18 to supress for 1 hour. The second time you roll this effect you become a true elemental being. The form changes noticeably to be "more" of the elemental type and the emon's humanity becomes suppressed. Breathing is no longer necessary. The third time you roll a 6 the emon gains the ability to plane shift to his elemental plane of appropriate type at will for 6 MP. The fourth time the emon rolls 6 on this chart he becomes a true elemental and departs the material plane, becoming an NPC at the GM's discretion.

Making Monsters in Fantasy AGE (a Green Ronin link)

Green Ronin's got a great article up by Jack Norris on designing monsters for Fantasy AGE and Dragon AGE. Check it out here!

There's some very useful advice, as well as a good way to frame thinking about how to design FAGE monsters in terms of what you want them to do mechanically. If you, like me, have had some fun making FAGE monsters but are keen to get a better sense of the underlying process this article is extremely useful.

He may have a -2 Accuracy but that 4D6+8 potato peeler only needs to hit once!

I'm still quite into Fantasy AGE.....this one looks like it's got staying power. The Titansgrave campaign book is fun, too, now that I've finally secured a physical copy. The setting looks very cool, even if you weren't raised on the old cartoons it's inspired by.