After coming up again in the news recently with another very unfavorable story, I have made the decision to start to distance myself from 5th Edition Dungeons and Dragons. Luckily for me, the fantasy scene is ripe with other great products from the soon to be Kickstarted Tales of the Valiant game from Kobold Press to the recently published 2nd Edition of Green Ronin’s Fantasy AGE.
Today I am focusing on the latter. I’m looking at the the character creation process and how it differs from the first edition of the game. The core of the game remains unchanged from its initial release, but the fresh coat of paint that they were able to put on the existing structure is very, very good. From a brand new class that focuses on supporting their allies to letting players choose a specialization at 1st level to reducing stunt bloat and analysis paralysis by introducing the concept of Class Stunts that you get access to as you level up, there’s a lot of little things that are different and exciting about this new edition of the game.
So let’s look at Eliza Rowann, shall we?
Eliza was born into the prestigious Rowann family but it was clear from a very young age that the young woman would not toe the line with regards to proper manners and etiquette befitting a woman of her station. Instead she picked fights with other kids and snuck wineskins from the cellar for her and her friends to enjoy. Try as they might, her parents could never quite bring her to heel. In fact, they more they tried, the more she rebelled against them.
And so they gave up trying to stop her – instead hiring a traveling duelist to teach their daughter how to handle a blade so she was at least learning from a somewhat reputable source instead of from back alley braggarts and blowhards. They secretly hoped that their change of heart would cause Eliza to turn away from her rebelliousness out of spite, but they were soon disappointed when she continued her loud and boisterous ways, leveraging her family’s wealth and status to learn what she wanted to.
Eventually her teacher moved on, having taught the young woman everything he knew about the art of the duel. In order to progress any further, she would have to strike out on her own and earn some practical experience. And in traditional fashion for her, she threw herself one of the biggest going away parties the small portside town had seen before jumping a sailing ship towards distant horizons.
She’s still rough around the edges, but the young woman has a fire to prove herself as the best duelist in the land before she’s done and she’s eager to test her mettle. Those that can get past her brash demeanor and haughty attitude will find a firm friend, and those that stand against her will find a stalwart enemy awaiting the clash of steel.
I decided to go with something a little bit simple for my first foray into the new edition and had been inspired by a post I had seen crop up again on a friend’s social media about “the hatpin panic” which if you’re unfamiliar is a particularly good bit of feminist history from 120 years ago or so. And it was this movement that spawned the phrase “petticoated swashbucklers” which was the genesis for this character concept – a young woman, rich and possessing all the flash and flair she can afford coupled with dangerous dueling skills.
If you’re familiar with Fantasy AGE you’ll see that much of the sheet remains unchanged (though this new one is absolutely more pleasant to look at). The biggest change you’ll likely see is the “Class Stunts” section on the second page of the character sheet. I touched on that briefly above but want to expand on that concept.
Unlike other AGE games where there are extensive lists of stunts that you can perform for a given action that can often lead to new players feeling overwhelmed or unsure of what they can do, this new edition of Fantasy AGE has about a dozen to 18 different core stunts for the major pillars of the game: combat, exploration, and social. These are the “Core Stunts” which everyone has access to. There’s also a list of core spellcasting stunts that those characters who are magically gifted have access to. Then, each class has a list of “Class Stunts” that may provide them easier usage of certain Core Stunts or give them access to more potent versions and entirely new options. As the character advances in level, they learn more and more from this list and are even able to learn a couple of tricks from the other classes’ lists. This makes for what should be an easier and more streamlined process of figuring out what your character can do with the stunt points they generate when they roll doubles on their dice. I’m eager to see it in action.
As of right now you can still get in on the pre-order for the Fantasy AGE 2nd Edition Core Rulebook and take advantage of Green Ronin’s pre-order plus deal to get an immediate copy of the PDF for an additional $5 from their website. But act fast – it likely won’t be sticking around after the book officially launches.
Ben Erickson
