"Comparing With The Fantasy Trip" Topic

I know that Legends of the Ancient World is a 'clone' of The Fantasy Trip (Metagaming), but what are the differences?

Basically, it is just simplified. Less talents. Magic is a roll against intelligence. The turn sequence is different.

In some ways it works better than the original. It does cry for an advanced version. I've talked with both the owners…they aren't interested yet in producing one. BTW, the sci-fi and Western adventures are excellent.

Joe Collins

Magic always was a roll against Int in TFT. GURPS changed that to a skill roll based on Int.

I still have my TFT collection in the RPG pile. Including a copy of the SciFi version which is not so great but TFT is my favorite RPG of all time.

I agree with Dynaman. I haven't seen Legends, but TFT itself holds up remarkably well even after all these years (30? 40?). It makes for a cracking little skirmish game – I've used it for straight fantasy, LOTR, Runequest/Gloranthan battles, Greek mythology skirmish, and have generally preferred its simplicity and elegance over most newer, "shinier" sets.

The story of TFT (and Metagaming itself) remains one of the saddest in the industry.

By the way, this is an inspirational site if you're interested in doing TFT with miniatures:

meleewizards.com

The main problem with TFT was that ST powers magic, so Wizards tend to ve as strong as the Warriors. Sone variants introduce a Stamina or Mana stat to fix the problem.

Agree. I was looking at my copy the other day and thought it odd that strength for spell use was treated exactly the same as wounds. It has been years since I played it, but seems like that would make wizards extremely limited in the role they could play in an adventure.

Not so much, Wizards loaded up on IQ and ST. Others loaded up on DX and ST. The other thing wizards have after a short while were powerstones. Lots and lots of em.

Wasn't TFT originally intended as a duelling sort of game, which grew into a fully fledged RPG? A lot of the design decisions seem to make a lot more sense from that perspective.

Melee and Wizardry (name correct?)…microgames from Metagaming. TFT consists of three books: "Into The Labyrinth", "Advanced Melee", "Advanced Wizardry".

Ah right, I am getting the order wrong.

Legends is essentially the original Melee and Wizard with a few skills thrown in. From the start, it was intended to be a rules-lite entry level game.

The primary difference between Legends and Melee/Wizard is in how character advancement is handled. In Melee/Wizard you purchased attributes based on total attribute ranges: for instance, a 36-pt character paid x amount for the next attribute point, while a 39-pt character paid proportionally more. In legends, you purchase attributes based on the character's current attribute. I don't have the rules in front of me, but I believe it's 10 times the next value. For instance, increasing strength from 11 to 12 costs 120 experience points.

Legends is stingier with experience points than Melee/Wizard.

As for "Advanced Legends", take a look at Heroes and Otherworlds. It is essentially Legends taken to the next level, and the two games are nearly 100% compatible. The interesting thing with Heroes and Otherworlds is that you cannot improve your attributes. Instead, you increase your skill level which are adds to your attributes. For instance, an IQ 12 Wizard cannot improve his IQ, but with six levels of skill in a given spell, he can cast that spell with an effective IQ of 18. Of course, if the spell requires an IQ greater than 12 (in this case), it's a 4d6 roll instead of 3d6.

To compensate for the inability to increase your character's attributes, Heroes and Otherworlds characters have an additional attribute called Endurance, from which damage and fatigue are first deducted before deducting from your character's strength. If strength falls to zero, your character dies. So, endurance effectively increases your character's durability.

Endurance is unique to hero characters. Monsters and NPCs do not normally have this attribute.

Heroes and Otherworlds also has a magic supplement with literally hundreds of spells and a very large bestiary supplement. Again, totally compatible with Legends and for the most part Melee/Wizard/The Fantasy Trip.

If you are interested in Melee/Wizard/The Fantasy Trip style games, I really encourage you to check out Legends and Heroes and Otherworlds: heroworlds.blogspot.com/.

Regards,

Scott Chisholm

"Heroes and Other Worlds" – I was trying to remember the exact name. I've got it and think it good. :-)

There is also a Tekumel variant for TFT out there, also quite good:

link