Well, I am super excited to be launching a Kickstarter for my new game, Fantasy Originals, on April 1st just before midnight (link forthcoming). I decided against doing any real promotion, because I have a strong feeling that the right sort of people will gravitate toward it, and frankly, it is such a good game that success is the only logical outcome. However, I thought I would go ahead and share some of the highlights of the game here.
• FO features FOUR unique character classes, including Fighter, Thief, Wizard, and Tantric Wrestler.
• There are eighty-seven playable races, including fifty-five unique variations of human, half-humans, quarterblood humans, elves, dwarves, an elf/dwarf hybrid that bears a striking resemblance to a human, and elves with hats.
• Whether you are a pole-vaulter, ape-wrestler, or poetry-slammer, maximize your character’s potential with over one-thousand balanced skills with no redundancy or overlap. Each skill is equally useful to the adventuring party and just as necessary to survive!
• A dynamic magic system with 18 distinct spells that gives players the option whether to blast foes with lightning or roast them with a ball of fire. One spell even turns people invisible by refracting light!
• Easy to learn, intuitive rules based on the thirty-four-sided Danish lottery die. Want to shoot a human with an arrow? Just roll the dice! There are no unwieldy modifiers to jumble up your role playing experience.
• Unleash your imagination with a dozen monster archetypes, each with unique options for customization. Liven up your run-of-the-mill goblins by giving them horns, fangs, or even human skin! Change a monster’s color to increase its difficulty, or select one of two weapon options for an added challenge.
• An equipment list based on actual weapons and armor used during the Middle Ages or inspired by dreams.
• Unlike other role playing games, Fantasy Original includes clear goals and objectives for winning the game with an integrated achievement update system to avoid confusion and ensure that players understand their progress.
ACTUAL SAMPLE OF PLAY
Both playtest games of Fantasy Originals proved wildly successful. What follows is a transcription from the second playtest group's actual game. Player 1 is playing a Half-Human Tantric Wrestler named FootFace. Half-humans are very good at heavy lifting and winning games of chance. Player 2 is playing an Elf Wizard named Crackshot, who eliminates enemies with his trusty bow. The GM’s name is Russell, and he enjoys anything with mango flavoring.
GM: You enter the slime encrusted hallway. Walking down this loathsome passage, you feel as though you are delving into a giant nostril.
P1: Ewww gross!
P2: I search for traps. [Player 2 rolls a die against his Finding Traps skill. He rolls a 7. Success!]
GM: You don’t find any traps, but you do notice three goblins approaching from the other direction. They have blue skin and elephant trunks, and one of them is wearing a hat.
P1: Blue skin! Those are particularly tough.
P2: And that one with the hat must be their leader. I draw my bow and fire. [Player 2 can use a bow because of his character’s Use Bow skill. He rolls a die against the monster’s Get Hit value and rolls a 7. Success!]
GM: The goblin falls down dead and bursts into flame. His companions rush forward to attack.
P1: What should we do?
P2: I draw my bow and fire. [Player 2 rolls another 7. Success!]
GM: A second goblin falls down dead. The last remaining one attacks you with his rusty bec de corbin. [Russell rolls against the monster’s Hit Opponent value and rolls a 7. Failure.] He narrowly misses, and the weapon’s long spike traces a line across your gorget.
P1: That was close!
P2: I draw my bow and fire.
GM: Oh no! It looks like you are out of arrows.
P1: Way to go not buying enough arrows from the kindly forest fletcher, lame-brain.
P2: Okay, I will cast a magical spell instead. [Player 2 rolls against his Cast Spell as an Alternative to Melee Combat skill and scores a 7. Success!] I am going to throw a ball of fire at him.
GM: He’s dead! You killed them all. Congratulations, you have cleared this part of the dungeon and are 1/20th of the way to winning the game.
P1: Hooray!
P2: I unstring my bow and place it in its carrying case.
Anyways, I hope that you guys enjoyed this sampling and are as excited about this game as I am. It clocks in at just over 400 pages in 6 point Comic Sans and took me nearly a month to write. I'm not a great artist, but I did all of the illustrations by having friends dress up in costumes and then applying Photoshop filters and wild effects to the images. Also, I found some of the art on the Internet. I'm confident that everyone will enjoy this game every bit as much as I do, and I'm really looking forward to your feedback!
Spellcasting is only limited by your imagination. Market research has shown that most players have an imagination that can accommodate 18 spells. Also, all of these spells work in real life. It was very difficult to research so much functional magic, particularly the fireball.
Fantasy Originals has a richness of character development unparalleled by any other game on the market with a level of game play that transcends traditional role playing. The example of play includes subtle nuances detectable only by master gamers who have been delving into the very soul of gaming for at least 31+ years. There is genuine emotion at the table, people crying, laughing, and vomiting -- sometimes all at once and for no reason. There are no reference charts or die roll modifiers to take you out of the immersive experience. In fact, there is very little substantive content whatsoever to get in your way.
Only advanced players with a deep rooted grasp of game mastery should read any further than the first sentence. Also, I was contacted by the three founders of Kickstarter and assured that if my game doesn't raise one million dollars within twenty-four hours that they would fund its production themselves. I didn't advertise this initially as I wanted my first post to reflect my tremendous humility.
Danish lottery dice are the most mathematically precise gaming instruments on the market today, and ownership of several is the hallmark of a superior gamer. The four additional faces allow for greater role playing possibilities than the traditional North American thirty-sided die.