Fantasy Genre Compendium, Volume I: Species, Professions, Gear, Magic and more

With a big long title like this, you will likely guess that this book is for fantasy roleplaying. Yes, it’s for “fantasy,” but we wanted “fantasy” to be more than crawling through corridors, hurling fireballs, crossing swords, and killing monsters. That is why our fantasy is a bit different.

In the Fantasy Genre Compendium, we talk about present fantasy as a genre in literature, comics, and film, but also rooted deeply in folklore and fairytales. Now, this genre is coming to the Cartoon Action Hour rules system, an Origins Award-nominated roleplaying engine known for quick and easy gameplay, using only a 12-sided die for all actions. The rules of Cartoon Action Hour have been specifically licensed from Spectrum Games for this project, and the highest amount of attention has been paid to a full compatibility of the compendium with the Cartoon Action Hour rulebook, and vice versa.

Volume I contains 14 chapters. Here is an overview:

Chapter 1: Introduction – This is where you will get to know, bit by bit, what this book is about and how it is organized. Beginners should start here. There is no esoteric mumbo-jumbo in here to overwhelm new or casual roleplayers. All the rules are presented in clear, plain English.

Chapter 2: Adaptation of the Rules – A fantasy world patterned on medieval Germany is different from a world patterned on Ancient Greece or Rome; a game based on fairytales with talking animals is different from a sword-flashing, gritty low fantasy. So, sometimes the rules have to be adjusted. The FGC is written to accommodate all those different shades, styles and flavors.

As the FGC does not use a pre-defined “world” or “era”, you can use it as a guide to play in any semi-historical, mythic, folksy, cartoon-like, or postmodern setting. The ages covered go from our real Earth’s stone age all the way to the 18th century (with musketeers and pirates, for example). Just fine-tune a few numbers, add or ignore magic, and set your stage. You never have to buy another book to go to a different “era.”

Chapter 3: Character Creation Guidelines – Everybody needs a character to start playing. In this chapter you will find the basic rules for building a player-character, as well as useful hints and ways to get inspired.

Chapter 4: Species – Did you ever get tired of games that only allow playing humans and a handful of “fantasy humanoids”? We have opened up a wild plethora of new creatures, including some beings that were previously only known as monsters and NPCs, and some almost never seen in a roleplaying game before: More than 50 Species to choose from, including variants and subtypes to make things more interesting. Quick-find charts to help you look up the stats for any of them.

Winged humans can mingle with earth and air elementals, golems of steel and vile ghouls dwelling beneath graveyards; Middle Eastern djinns pop out of their bottles and join up with insectoid warriors, intelligent dragonflies, 10-foot spiders and 7-foot ants. There are pixie fairies! There are dog people! And, of course there are cat-girls (…and cat-boys)! You could also play a centaur. You could play a mermaid … or a vampire … you could play a vampire mermaid! Don’t let anyone stop you.

This chapter is divided into eight categories: those that live in daylight; those that are awake at night; mythical beings like fairies and nymphs; Species that can fly; maritime and coast-dwelling Species; Species that carry the curse of Undeath; Elementals, Demons and other “chaotic” beings; and ultimately, the summer-children, otherwise known as insects.

Chapter 5: Professions – Give all your player-characters valuable job skills. “Profession Templates” allow for a wide variety of realistic and fantastic jobs. Play everything from a farmer to a mighty sorcerer. Choose more than one job. Play an assassin spy who pretends to have another profession. And the biggest advantage is: Every Profession is open to every Species.

Chapter 6: Weapons – What would a barbarian be without his sword? In the FGC, you can find dozens of variations of simple items like swords and axes. Shields, bows, slings, and other weaponry are also covered. Just pick a weapon “off the rack” and use it in the game, no point calculation necessary. At the end of this chapter, you can even find full stats for massive weapons like early cannons, catapults, giant crossbows, and the dreaded mobile siege tower.

Chapter 7: Armor – Just like the chapter on weapons, the section about armor covers the entire range of protective accessories, all in all around 6,000 years worth of stuff: from donning a primitive animal skin to the cuirass of Spanish conquistadors. Get an enchanted armor that doesn’t wear you down anymore. We’ve got it all here.

Chapter 8: Equipment – Not every situation in a fantasy adventure can – or should – be resolved by strength of arms or the effectiveness of armor There are also many other mundane items and ordinary tools that will come in handy. Just don’t be caught without a rope or a torch. Traveling through the wilderness is all nice, but it can get nasty without a functioning tent. Imagine you’re a master thief stuck in front of a big wall. Wouldn’t a grappling hook be the right thing now? You may be a skilled rider and have the right steed, but did you think about the saddle and stirrups?

Chapter 9: Modification of Items – You may know all the various items under the sun, but all items are not created equal. In this chapter you can find a great deal of information about using different metals to forge things (copper, brass, silver, iron, and fictitious “holy metals”). Don’t forget that items can also deteriorate over time, becoming brittle or blunt. Here you get the full stats for playing with “aged” items, broken swords, etc. In addition, you can boost items with better materials and new technologies, creating tools successively more powerful.

Chapter 10: Mounts – The knight on horseback, the dragon-riding fantasy warrior, or the brave desert trader astride his camel. We have them all assembled in here. Get all the info you need about horses, donkeys, camels and similar animals. For traveling in even more exotic worlds, go all out by choosing a dragonfly steed, a Pegasus, or a spider. Get a steed like no other.

Chapter 11: Vehicles – When horses are not enough, adventurers may have to resort to large vessels: boats on rivers and lakes, mighty sea-going ships, or sturdy coaches on land. We have equally included Roman battle chariots and nondescript, humble carts to cram your load on.

Chapter 12: Magic – What would fantasy roleplaying be without magic? Sorcery? Witchcraft? Spellcasting? We have provided a chapter that explains the foundations of magic: where does it come from, and who can learn to control it? Magic in the FGC does not take the shape of spell lists that determine every single effect or point cost. Instead, the weaving of magic is divided into three things: Source, Catalyst, and Glamour. Sources are whatever grants you magical energies – a god, a demon, a spirit, essences, raw materials, research, or even yourself. Catalysts are ways and means to make that energy work for you (rituals, inscriptions, concoctions, meditation, and so on). Glamour is the way in which your magic becomes noticeable to the world around you. For those characters currently unwilling or unable to “cast” magic, the FGC offers magical potions, enchanted objects, charms and special wands.

Chapter 13: Traps, Poisons, and Diseases – There are more things that can make a character’s life hard besides opponents and monsters. You sometimes face situations where you will have to deal with other, non-sentient foes. The trails you travel may be full of traps. Somebody may have poisoned an arrow or a drink at the tavern. So how can you fight a poison? How can you neutralize it? Diseases are brutal, too. They do not distinguish between rich and poor, human and non-human, spellcaster and non-spellcaster. In a realistic medieval world, a simple flu can kill you, let alone more grievous infections. That is why you ought to have information about diseases and cures.

Chapter 14: Optional Rules – This is the chapter where you will gain a lot of new insight about additional options not covered in the other chapters: A Troll’s sword is probably not the same as a Human’s sword. A Human’s pocket-knife would be a gigantic weapon for a pixie. But what if you have a Troll, a Human, and a Pixie all in the same group? Maybe you are forced to use an item made for someone else’s size. There are a few simple rules to take care of that problem. In addition, we offer new rules for languages, chases, running contests, and damage in “mortal” combat, too.

The book does not end there. You also get a 16-page overview of source material: sources that inspired the writers of the FGC, and sources they want to recommend to the reader. This list includes information about many cartoon series, animated features, live-action films, fairytales, novels, and short stories. We have included some rarely discussed works that you certainly didn’t expect.

Moreover, the first FGC volume gives you nine cool player-characters, more than enough to get going in an exotic world. All come with fully playable traits, abilities, and equipment. Use them “as-is” or as inspiration to create your own party. Still not enough for you? There is a full Series Guide, titled “Alliance of the Little People.” This is both a starting adventure and a sample campaign complete with its monsters and story hooks.

FGC Vol. I is lavishly illustrated by highly skilled fantasy artists.

FGC Vol. I is also the first roleplaying game book that uses photographs of painted miniatures as illustrations. The miniatures shown are high-quality resin figures by Fenryll.