DESIGNER NOTES
Introduction
Fantasy is the most overdone genre in the world of RPGs.
I designed Fortune and Power because my system and setting tastes are unusual. I want a fantasy game that is in the middle of the great RPG debates.
Goals for the system:
In my eyes, combining the above makes a fun game.
The mechanics are unoriginal. FaP takes elements from the Hero System, West End Games's classic d6 system, Dungeons & Dragons, GURPS, Fudge, and many others.
Character Generation
The costs of traits increase with level to prevent munchkins from placing all their points into a single ability. Such characters are gods at one thing and useless at all else. The system is designed to discourage this.
The exponential increases also allow traits to be open-ended without fear that someone will have a Strength of 700.
This cost scheme also means that it is painless for a character to gain a small amount of any trait. Mastery, on the other hand, requires dedication.
Traits are broad for the sake of simplicity. I have tried to group different abilities together under single traits in ways that make sense. Characters are less customizable than in games with hundreds of skills, but I think the ease of character building is worth the trade. Chargen is simpler with a small number of broad traits than with a large number of narrow ones.
The division of traits into Talents and Professions is purely aesthetic. Talents describe what you are. Professions describe what you do.
The trait list focuses on adventuring abilities; trade skills are abstracted. I did this so that talented craftsmen and scholars can compete in the adventuring arena. All craft skills, from blacksmithing to shoemaking, are considered part of a single trait: Artisan. All academic skills are considered part of Scholar. This is unrealistic, but I think it's fun.
This is meant primarily for player characters - most NPCs will be specialists with professions like Farmer or Carpenter.
Traits can be added. If a player wants their character to have Singer or Sailor as a profession, let it be done.
The decision to leave out traits related to social dynamics was deliberate. I prefer for such situations to be resolved through roleplaying rather than dice. If you want to be beautiful and dashing, fine. If you would rather be ugly and scary, good. There are advantages and disadvantages to both.
Gifts exist to add arbitrary rules and abilities to the game. One could add a gift called Bondage that allows one to control minds with a Command roll or a gift called Illusion that lets one do damage with a Perception roll. Taken to the extreme, one could even use gifts to emulate magic systems like those found in other games, where every spell is a rule unto itself.
An expensive Gift is required for the use of sorcery to prevent every character from having the ability.
Fortune is like a combination of drama points, hit points, and mana. It's an abstract resource that exists purely for game purposes. I think it's fun.
System Mechanics
The mechanics are meant to be easy to learn and simple to execute, yet powerful in possibility.
Goals:
The game uses rolls of 2d6 + Trait as the core mechanic. The probability distribution looks like this:
| x | p(roll = x) | p(roll >= x) |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | 0.028 | 1.000 |
| 3 | 0.056 | 0.972 |
| 4 | 0.083 | 0.917 |
| 5 | 0.111 | 0.833 |
| 6 | 0.139 | 0.722 |
| 7 | 0.167 | 0.583 |
| 8 | 0.139 | 0.417 |
| 9 | 0.111 | 0.278 |
| 10 | 0.083 | 0.167 |
| 11 | 0.056 | 0.083 |
| 12 | 0.028 | 0.028 |
On average, players should roll a 7 about 17 percent of the time. 45 percent of rolls should fall between 6 and 8; 67 percent of rolls should fall between 5 and 9; 83 percent of rolls should fall between 4 and 10.
The degree-of-success mechanic takes care of several things at once - there is no need for damage rolls, hit locations, or techniques to allow a knife fighter to get through heavy armor. It's all there in the dox. It also means that trait checks are not just pass/fail; you get information on the quality of the success or failure.
The system is unconcerned with the detailed differences between types of weapons and armor. Players don't need to choose swords for tactical reasons if what they really want is axe-wielding barbarians. At the same time, a dagger shouldn't do the damage of a longsword; daggers have other advantages (small, lightweight, easily concealed, useful in grappling). Therefore, the size of a weapon determines its benefits; Players choose the characteristics and cosmetics.
Random initiative adds some variety to the types of tactics possible in the game. Players can create a samurai-like warrior by putting emphasis on aggressive initiative and striking or a fencer who concentrates on fending off an opponent while seeking an opening.
Sorcerers ought to have options when casting a spell so that supernatural duels are as exciting as physical ones. Spell intensity, duration, area, and casting time should be flexible. The rules are designed so that sorcerers may trade one for another in various ways. This will hopefully lead to interesting tactics.
Powerful sorcerers need not be strong or quick - those in stories are often old and feeble. Thus, all of a sorcerer's abilities are based on his mind. The ability to defy or deflect spells without physically moving is part of this.
Settings
I have always enjoyed creating my own settings and don't much enjoy using ones created by others. I was surprised to learn that this was not the case for all game masters. I designed FaP to be a semi-generic system, with the types of abilities and power level I like, that I can use with the various fantasy settings (and, with a little work, non-fantasy settings) I dream up. I've included examples in the appendices, but this game is really intended for those who like to roll their own.