Welcome to the world of Fantasia, a world much like ours was, long, long ago, when Mortal Men shared their lands with Elves, Dwarves, Dragons, Orcs, Ogres, Wizards, Witches, Fairies, Daemons and Angels. It is a world where endless caverns lead to untold treasures, and where cloudy mountains are ruled by winged Dragons! This world's mythology was designed to resemble Tolkien's Middle-Earth, thus paying tribute to that great story and that great man that gave us the fantasy genre, and also to Gary Gygax whose imagination gave us the concept and groundwork of role-playing games. Altogether, it is a classic medieval fantasy adventure role-playing game, yet one designed with simpler rules than most others in order to maximize role-playing over rule-playing.
Fantasia began taking shape twenty years ago. During the late 1980s, we felt that the flavor of role-playing games was being lost. Therefore we set out on our own journey, to design a game from the ground up, one that simply works with how players like to play rather than what sells, a game based on storytelling rather than tactics, a game which will thus will remain there for all as markets change and the years go on. The rules strive to remain simple, maintaining balanced numbers that keep the game challenging while not interfering with anyone's storytelling. Fantasia is role-playing as it began, and as it can now be enjoyed again.
The Fantasia game has been developed and playtested for twenty years. Constantly receiving input from gamers, finding the best balance between today's need for rules and classic role-playing, but more the later. This game has been taking shape while many other games have come and gone. We approach game design more from a storyteller's viewpoint rather than the wargamer's view, with drama and excitement as our focus rather than tacticals and power, indeed that one does not look at what the rules can offer him and limit his actions thus, but quite the opposite, simply telling his personal story freely and trusting the rules to back him up. Fantasia takes the time and care for each product to be so filled with new ideas, new interpretations of rules and imaginative encounters as to be memorable and worth your emotional investment, like a good movie or a good novel.
The Fantasia game system offers many rules and elements that are ever sought by role-players, and usually have been for some time, or will be soon enough. As the industry becomes more of a video game on paper, Fantasia focuses on storytelling. The basic structure of our game is outlined below by listing the standards it uses compared to other game systems.
1) Not d20. However, the rules are similar enough to both classic D&D and d20 that anyone familiar with either game can learn to play this one within a very short time. For example, Attack Rolls are made using D20, as are spellcasting rolls and skill checks, but they have modifiers from Skills, magical items and other factors that influence the rolling range of 1-20. However, the D20 is only one of many dice, and gets equal use. Yes, all your other plastic gems will see action in this game!
2) Class and Level based. However, there are rules for operating outside the Class system, and Levels are mere awards for accomplishment and do not dictate the difficulty level of the adventure nor how one Character measures up compared to the strength of his companions. For example, one could choose to be a Wizard Class, or choose generic 'adventurer' and build a mage of his own style by his selection of Skills, Powers, and other building attributes.
3) Reward systems beyond XP. This includes scoring systems for nobility, reputation, magical power, and even role-playing itself. All these systems compliment one another to help a Player structure his Character according to the story he wishes to tell. For example, the more Legend or fame one has, the easier he gains Nobility Points, as people trust and follow him with greater faith.
4) All dice and no percentages. All the classic dice (D4, D6, D8, D10, D12 and D20) are used (as is the D30 finding some uses, especially in spellcasting). However, there are no percentage rolls, and the idea of 'higher is better for whomever is rolling' runs through all the rules, eliminating confusion.
5) Variety of magic and faith. Spells are only one form of magic, and different magical means such as Necromancy, Elven power and Bardsong have different rules and different rolling methods, though all use the D20 to determine success, thus keeping different types of Characters balanced. Furthermore, the powers of Priests are not spells at all, but prayers and faiths, and thus offer different rolling systems. Magical treasures are not all magical either, as there are differences between magical or enchanted objects, Dwarven crafts, Elven treasures, artifacts and accursed treasures. This variety not only encourages more storytelling at the ground level of the rules themselves, but offers hidden bonus' to different Character types, further balancing the game. For example, Elves may have less choices of Character Classes, but they can use Elven treasures with greater skill and strength.
