Fateforge Review
I originally posted this article on A Pawn's Perspective on November 12, 2020.
Fateforge is a 5e-based RPG taking full advantage of the OGL and including many new concepts and rules to flesh out an entirely new setting that is self-contained with no need for any D&D books. For those familiar with 5e, you’ll feel right at home digging into the world of Eana and will find new and fresh ideas presented within the books. For those new to roleplaying, or the 5e system, you’ll find the rules clearly defined and easy to approach, a hallmark of 5e and one of the reasons it’s one of the most popular systems on the planet.
Fateforge is comprised of two books, Adventures and Grimoire. You technically only need Adventures to play, but in reality, you’re going to need both. The books are 400 and 320 pages, respectively, and are slightly taller than a standard-sized D&D book. This is great because of the extra space on each page, but it makes them a bit harder to fit on a shelf. The Adventures book contains the core rules and setting of Eana, while Grimoire delves into magic, madness, corruption, and the Awakening. It also contains more than 360 spells, some from the 5e SRD, and a ton of new ones.
Other than the rules, character options, and lore, increadibly artwork fills the pages, helping you flesh out a vision of Eana. The art direction comes from the same team that worked on the award-winning French RPG, Shadows of Esteren. It’s detailed, slightly gritty, and increadibly epic. Many standard fantasy tropes are embelleshed and spun to really make Eana stand apart from similar settings.
Fateforge, being a 5e system, is d20 based, and pretty much the entirety of the 5e SRD is included. There’s also some additions, like the Scholar class, madness and corrption, tons of new items and spells, as well as new races. It’s enough to excite those already familiar with the system, and enough to really get a ton of use out of the the two core books without needing much else. Everything is also compatible with any other 5e material released, giving players and GMs a ton of options for expanding upon the provided material.
Released last year after a successful Kickstarter campaign, Fateforge is now out in the while, though a little tricky to get your hands on. Copies of both books are available on Amazon, though as of this writing you may only be able to get your hands on used copies. It’s well worth trying to get both books as they’re both an excellent alternative to Dungeons & Dragons and an extension to D&D all the same.
The world of Eana contains all the class swords & sorcery fantasy players love with a history that’s compelling and entertaining to dive into. With 720 total pages of content, both Adventures and Grimoire are worth their cost for the amount of information you’ll get out of them. Even if they don’t fit well on a standard RPG shelf. Sometimes bigger is a bit better.
Copies of Fateforge Adventure and Grimoire were provided free for review by Studio Agate