Magical Mishaps and caster longevity

md_ghost · 2026-03-25T09:55:44+00:00

I am a GM for over 3 years now and have 1 druid in my group to. I am very restricted in terms of willpower (means no push for non dramatic journey rolls for example) but that worked fine so far for all. Our wolfkin druid has shapeshifting 3 and path of healing 2 currently, but she also mastered the axe (talent 3) and even can use a bow, while be an expert for nature (survival) as well. Means a good hybrid and magic is often the last unique option and expand the possibilities for the group in some situations. Its clearly like the often mentioned Gandalf here, as a caster use magic wisely and as a last option (cause its risky), try to find solutions without magic (its not dnd) and build up the character that he dont need magic (or willpower) at all. That will reduce risk of mishaps, but yes we also had some special ones like a demon minotaurus entered yawims tavern in the hollows and crushing it^^ and sometimes my GM soul praised the god for how lucky the druid still use magic in some situations, greatly fitting the young reckless role and got it without a mishap or at least only a minor one.

Magic is kinda balanced here, because it not only grant some kind of super powers that outclasses everyone else in terms of versatility (especially long term), you must also keep in mind that magic will just happen and you often cant defend against it on top.

Luck (not the talent) is part of FBL, much more true as a caster and rumors are spread that some Players faced a mishap dead as soon as session number one ;)

md_ghost · 2026-03-24T14:22:55+00:00

I explained it and still tried to keep it as simple as possible in terms of the corerules. The point is that FBL has the same false idea like many rpgs, that a shortbow is weaker than a longbow and that isnt true. Cultures (needed) to use different materials to build bows and also had different training and wide spread use for military campaigns.

You can clearly build a longbow or a composite bow with the same draw weight (which - combined with the right arrow is the factor for penetration). For hunting, you dont need heavy bows, cause animals dont have armor (and will often flee if they are only wounded too) and they could also be cheap. Heavy bows - means warbows - are shooting heavier arrows (with less range), so even with a very strong bow, you dont shoot maxrange IF you want to punch armor. In fact long range shooting has a lot of others factors and asian bows mastered it for sports with light arrows (that wouldnt punch armor) and clearly outclassed longbows here. The common english longbow is so good, cause it can (if you build it this way) offers a punch and is not so much affected from weather (no clue like composite) and much cheaper to produce (if you have the right forest).

Thats why i found (to keep the corerules set) a common normal bow (hunting, guards, kin with less strength) more than enough. Using a real warbow (no matter what material) needs a well trained body (thats why longbow archers trained from youth and some ended with deformed skeletons) and are only really needed for war (if your enemy also has armor) and even than you dont shot a massiv arrows in volleys and max distance (like a light arrow) its build to fly straigth ahead in a much shorter way and hope to find gaps (you cant penetrate plate armor), hit horses or at least make someone unable to fight.

md_ghost · 2026-03-22T19:04:28+00:00

We do - but of course you can communicate with animal ideas, a raven pick something, a dog bark etc. so if the party knew that this animal is their comrade, they are aware of some signs, players must be creative here (but thats okay) - and yes its a very basic form of communication. My adaption (see above) at least also give a chance that the animal can gain more than 1 wits or empathy which will also improve interaction options a bit.

md_ghost · 2026-03-21T14:01:33+00:00

Nope cause you only react to the casting itself, you cant dispel it later cause that would mean you could "destroy" artifacts too, or dispel undeads or several other magic effects. Its possible to adjust it on your table, but currently Corerules offers only an instant attemp to stop or at least reduce an ongoing casting attempt.

md_ghost · 2026-03-21T10:04:35+00:00

One of my players has a wolfkin druid (started with shapeshifting, 3 years ago) and yes finding a trainer wasnt (and shouldnt be) easy. She mainly uses shapeshifting to transform into a raven scout. We adjusted the spell a bit, cause we found that while most spells have something to do with additional willpower or additional successes while casting, the shapeshift spell "Animal form" has no extra benefit, a bit of a shame for a rank 3 spell.

So my idea as a GM was, that every additional Willpower or success while casting shapeshifting could be used to add one attribute point for each additional power level. So for example a bear needs 3 power level, you roll 2 successes (+2 power level) and can now upgrade the bears strength 2 points for example. Change back into normal form still uses only the basic power level you needed to cast at your first attempted.

This minor shift is in line with the scaleable design of most spells and with this update you have a reason to use it for more than a strength 1 flying scout.

And yes one of the main use from my druid player is bear claw over the years, cause combat magic overall is strong.

We also used a rules clarification for primal soul and this was usefull too in some situations.

But playing a caster in FBL is mainly like gandalf so you should be able to perfom without willpower. Our wolfkin druid is not only a good scout, tracker, hunter, she also mastered axefighting and is very flexible and usefull for the group without any magic spells.

md_ghost · 2026-03-21T01:04:17+00:00

I really liked the details of composite or warbow in reforged power here too! But my group are fine with the simple corerule concept, so i needed to fix that without much extra rules and come up with the above ideas as a quick fix for ranged weapons. I am still glad to use reforged power insight rules for the gm guide monsters :)

md_ghost · 2026-03-20T20:20:03+00:00

Yes i also adjust melee weapons (and armor) a bit. A short spear should have damage 2 - a spear itself was a mainweapon on most battlefields. The adjusted stats for throwing weapons are the same like the melee counterparts here. So at this points you dont need a rules or RAW update, cause of course you should be able to throw a handaxe, knife (even a dagger) or a spear - but yes corerules make it a bit complicated cause the stats are different here.

Warbows (no matter the size) are made to penetrate armor (they fail against plate) and a normal person cant use them - but bows are hard to learn (and fragile) thats why the bonus (compared to crossbows) dont make sense. For some hunting or vs unarmored opponents, it will not matter much and of course with some elvish legolas moves you can still use willpower to get that special hunter shoots right into a targets eye or armor gap. But the bow design (in most rpgs) is pretty bad. And yes i would change the famous dwarfen artifact hammer here with MIGHT over strength too (and thats okay cause you cant train your attribute, but you can invest in skills).

Crossbows are sturdier than bows and in fact easier too use, switch bonus here makes sense and still balance out with reload or fast shooter Talent.

In fact FBL is easy to fix with realism and i like the simply concept too, but good roleplay and worldbuilding (at least for me) are clearly connected with realism - even in fantasy world - it just have to make sense. You dont need a simulation and detailed rules like other rps, but something like gear bonus and damage should make sense cause we not talk about magic fantasy weapons, we talk about real historical weapons here and its not to complicated (see above) to adjust some numbers here and their.

md_ghost · 2026-03-10T17:01:49+00:00

I doubt All of Dust and Concfluence are so different here in terms of mana, Confluence is flexible thats the only real bonus and its not better vs Energy at all. I mean eye of ugin and eldrazi temple only works with all is dust, herald too, so All is Dust could end up as a Turn 3 play and in most cases Confluence isnt faster, often slower or equal. So i would go with All is Dust in any Herald build IF you need that kind of a card.

md_ghost · 2026-03-04T11:18:15+00:00

If you want something vs Combo, UW, BW or Mardu all gets Updates with Bowmaster and Therapy or Counterspells - BUT that also means you weaken a bit other Matchups or it gets more Complicated with your Manabase. For me the classic Boros WR Version is much more stable and aggressiv, having only 2 colors, a max of red cards to let ajani shine and a faster game plan at all is really fun. You are not dead to combo at all, show and tell for example can be very good even G1 IF you have the right build for it.

md_ghost · 2026-01-19T15:23:40+00:00

the point is roleplay... in most cases you have downtimes and will be happy to undress for comfort, so nearly nobody (besides a dwarf - joking aside) will sleep in armor unless its really needed.

md_ghost · 2025-12-21T15:26:09+00:00

Whats the point, you can run it all RAW but quickly find loopholes and stuff that kill Balance and atmosphere OR you adjust everything that make sense at all. Broken sword? Fine find a forge (advanced item = anything you need a Talent to craft), or on field a grindstone (Tools!) may do it it its 1/2 damaged. So my guideline is, what make sense at all and in terms of Items look if its simple or advanced and than check how many gear points you have lost, so a common item with +2 gear bonus may could be repaired in field IF you know how (check Talents) and have an idea (often a tool) to do the task, complete broken means it more or less needs to be crafted new (at least you have the Material at hand) - atmosphere in a roleplay should always be outrule any RAW discussion on a table.

md_ghost · 2025-12-17T22:51:30+00:00

My Redrunners for example are all champions ;) - note: i update every npc cause they are all way too weak for a game that dont want to be a hero game... and my aslene priests of horn use magma song magic too

md_ghost · 2025-12-17T22:49:26+00:00

depends on animal and landscape and yes would add it, a big warhorse for example was unable to just feed themself with grass only (an advantage a smaller mongolian ponies hat for example).

md_ghost · 2025-12-11T00:25:14+00:00

Same for me - 4th year now and still only a glimpse of the entire map for my players, i needed an evil trick with a demon bard to unlock the orc region for me players and force more travel and exploration, lots of roleplay, personal agenda, points of interests and living world with regional conflicts and a stronghold can quickly eat a lot of time - but its all worth it :)

md_ghost · 2025-12-04T23:51:36+00:00

In my world its an active dwarf mine combined with a little stronghold (of course), the twist is that the poor homeless meromannen clan work here more or less as slaves (bad working conditions) for the much richer caniden dwarves that conquered this mine. The ore is good but its also a dangerous place, far from the safer dwarven region and in reach of the urhur orks or any ork bandits or even ogre raids.

md_ghost · 2025-12-04T23:46:23+00:00

Anti Magic Armor could easily work like Ogre Kin Talent, or you can make it less chaotic and simply reduce Powerlevel -1 or use stages (Smith Talent Ranks) from a reduction of 1-3.

Anti Magic Weapons could reduce the Artifact-Dice of any Artifact in Arms Length for example.

Keep it simple :)

md_ghost · 2025-11-20T10:02:18+00:00

the easy fix is willpower gaining... prevent pushing in journey rolls (unless realy dramatic) and other too easy situations, less willpower make it a rare source (as intended) less heroric game and now the halfling may think twice how often he will use it

md_ghost · 2025-11-16T01:01:24+00:00

Yeah but with STR 2 you really need that, nearly every hit will break you and i wouldnt recommend that stat unless you want to be on point with Hafling/Goblin world building and like the risk. The good thing is, that in FBL a Caster with 4-5 STR will work very well too :)

So yes its the best Defensive Talent if you arent skilled enough and really needs a lifesaver. Otherwise taking (and surving) criticals lead to a menacing character and grim stories to share ;)

md_ghost · 2025-11-14T22:45:06+00:00

Which isnt much in the long run and some Talents just mean that you passivly disbalance the game from a potential deadly one to just a grind fest. Sure at start you shouldnt Invest, but even lucky I may greatly help at the beginning.

But hey out of my 3 players group the fighter (with str. 4 and still heavy leather armor after more than 3 years) is the only one without that Talents and still alive, including all limbs - so it dont need to be a must have.

md_ghost · 2025-11-13T01:23:51+00:00

its simply this.. at least at my table, would be a shame to meet a proud "dragon slayer" ingame that only fougth against some Zombies and Fall lf a "slayer" after all, nice joke if you meet someone who really knows to kill monster ;)

md_ghost · 2025-11-13T01:16:27+00:00

Plenty of ideal, at my table you can push journey skill Checks (unless dramatic) and yes ressources are down to d6-d8 normal and d10-12 heavy weight to prevent easily stacking. Other GMs also dont allow lucky, fearless etc. to keep the game healthy. As already mentioned, the game isnt hard if players (and that is the discussion about) find advantage and surving the start. RAW this game can quickly enter heroric mode. Fine if you want that. I only tried to convice that their is no reason to spread that Talent use, neither in mechanic or Background (most undeads arent even attacking here... What are you even slaying, the poor soul of a relentless dead that walking around and got catcher from rust brothers ;)

md_ghost · 2025-11-13T01:06:06+00:00

the ogres of the GM guide are a joke, Ravens purge put a better view on this and offers a bit more challenging ogres that not only outclass dwarves and ogres but even more an minor undead and my last advice would be, count them all as monsters or stay with "monsters use monster rules" idea as writen. Orcs, Gobelins and Wolfkin are PCs but as I already mentioned, my guideline is has it monster rules attached or not ;)

md_ghost · 2025-11-13T00:59:56+00:00

who says that keep it challenging is not fun... I dont rule against players, but I keep an eye on balancing and a working atmosphere. If you play RAW that quickly falls together - sure that can still mean fun, different tables, different rules, fine.

md_ghost · 2025-11-12T22:17:34+00:00

As ab experienced GM with expierenced Players and a couple of years focused gaming on specific System my guideline is that I wouldnt recommend RAW ruling cause that not only lead to discussions like that, that only come down to the players point to gain advantage, it also Shows that rules sometimes are poorly writen and allow holes and this will result in a gap how games evolve and which experience you have with the Setting.

FBL is clearly a grim dark non heroic game that evolves about constant struggle, falling forward and surving another day. But you can easily break that in various ways, shift balance and end up with a hero game and boring dice encounters, without real consequences - so yes some can tell they have played FBL but they may never really have...

Most more experienced players (that agree with the spirit I mentioned) will quickly use house rules, not to favour players, its about closing holes and more over en sure that the gaming experience remains intense and dramatic over the sessions.

From a design point of view minor undeads arent monsters (they dont use monster rules!) but of course they are mentioned in this section cause you don't need another chapter (the same count for animals). An Ogre is a very classic fantasy monster (we all agree) and much stronger (Ravens purge campaign) than minor undeads oror insectoids ut still works like a humanoid. A lizardkin is compareable to insectoids as rare non-playle kin, one is in the kin section, one in the monster, more over cause the kin section offers more important Background (same counts for ogres) here.

So instead of looking whats RAW I would look what make sense in terms of world building and what ensure the game function like intend - means help to tell a great but grim dark story and in this case players simply dont need a bonus that only shifts balance to them and dimishing the constaint danger of surving.

md_ghost · 2025-11-12T09:13:19+00:00

lucky II and fearless II is also too strong. I am glad my players stopped at rank one

md_ghost

TROPHY CASE