Fantasy Earth is a gritty, realistic low-fantasy role-playing system. By low-fantasy, I mean a fantasy style which focuses more on individuals and storytelling within a fantasy setting. The characters tend to be less potent in terms of combat prowess, but the game focuses less on killing monsters and collecting treasures and more on role-playing. However, the realistic nature of the combat and magic systems make all combat and conflict more exciting.
Why write a realistic fantasy game? After all, for many the point of fantasy gaming is escape from reality. However, the theory behind Fantasy Earth is that the more realistic a game system is, the easier it is to role-play. After all, we all know what it is like to be a real person with human vulnerabilities. Therefore, in a system which accurately models that, we can role-play by simply doing what we think real people would do in the game setting.
Once the game has a realistic base on which to build, fantasy elements can be added on in a consistent manner to achieve almost any level of fantasy desired for a particular setting, but at the base level the characters will all still behave in a manner which we can believe. Normal people will be normal people, while heroes will be real heroes. Fantastic monsters and powerful wizards become truly fearsome foes, not more paper tigers, and the defeat of such opponents is the stuff of legend.
Fantasy Earth uses a skill based character development system. Characters are defined by a set of skills and can choose to improve any skills at any time, regardless of their starting skill set or their prior decisions. A set of basic ability scores determines each character's aptitude for certain skills, giving them bonuses (or penalties) and determining their maximum possible advancement. Skills related to combat and magic are handled just as all other skills, and any character can learn or improve these skills.
Combat is handled with an attack and parry system which emphasizes the importance of skill and numbers over the impact of the equipment of individual characters. The effects of each wound apply individually, so every injury matters and even the most powerful character can be killed by a single lucky shot. This system adds additional danger and excitement to combat, but also means that most combatants are defeated without being killed or even suffering fatal injuries, allowing for the possibility of role-playing even within the context of combat.
The Fantasy Earth magic system is designed to model mages of legend more than mages of modern fantasy literature. In folklore, mages were feared not because they hurled fire or shot lightning, but because they knew things that others did not know, could control men's minds or fool their senses, or even cheat death or traffic with dark powers.
Mages in Fantasy Earth do have some spells aimed at combat, but many others have powers which are more impressive when used in conjunction with planning and role-playing and help more in achieving story goals than winning combats. Also, in the skill based system of Fantasy Earth, mages are free to learn and use normal weapons to defend themselves when magic fails.
Magic is divided into categories, grouping together spells which have a similar theme, such as the elements (fire, air, earth, and water), illusions, or necromancy. Most mages will have access to two or three categories to start with. This division allows several mages in a group to all have distinct magical personalities and also separates the offensively potent categories from those with more general usefulness in a campaign.
I hope this introduction to Fantasy Earth has both informed and intrigued. More information (including specific product names and ordering information) is available on other pages.
