I’d like to discuss stuff about it, but i have no idea where to do so. Can this be a discussion thread about this? It would be interesting to see if someone here has any interest on this.
I have looked it over, and even converted a lot of the math over to a google sheet to make play faster. However Ive not found anyone willing to play it out. Do you have experience in the system/have a group you could discuss the pros and cons of?
Oh hey! Someone actually responded. Thanks for taking your time.
I’m making this my personal project and i plan to dm it to my group of friends, but i have no experience with the system nor do i know anyone that has, but i would indeed like to discuss things about it. What i enjoyed about this one is the amount of classes, items, staves and everything, in comparison to other systems i found. Also could you make that google sheet available? that seems pretty useful!
I also found some support for a FE TTRPG on Roll20, but to use the more advanced stuff you need a pro account apparently
I’ve actually been working on a digital rendition and improvement of the system since December 2019 and I’ve got a discord server up now. I’d love to talk to you both about this so shoot me a message if you want the discord link or something.
I figured that I’d finally give a look over on this TTRPG, since this thread came up again. I know the OP isn’t the creator of the system, but I figure I’d give my opinions on the system in case anyone else stumbles upon this.
I’m not really a big fan of this ruleset, honestly. I think there’s better systems for every aspect, and that Fire Emblem doesn’t lend itself well to the roleplay aspect of a role playing game. My opinions are below under a pros and cons list (Fair warning that I have not played the system, but I am a world-renowned Fire Emblem ROMHacker with such works as Runa Does A Thing, so my opinion is the greatest in the world):
Pros:
Insanely easy homebrew for DMs
The rulebook even mentions this point. You don’t need to know assembly to create new game mechanics in a tabletop system, so creating interesting Fire Emblem maps is insanely easy, as long as you have the ideas. As well, new skills and actions are a single brainstorming session away from becoming reality. The rigid combat system also makes homebrew rules interactions much easier.
Name recognition: Fire Emblem fans will know the system instantly
If you’re looking for players to understand a system, running a Fire Emblem-based TTRPG will make any Fire Emblem fan not have to read the rulebook much, as they’ll already understand the rules from having played the games! As well, luring people in with a franchise they know might get some unwilling participants to join in. Might.
A solid wargame without being a TTRPG, a solid wargame being a TTRPG
Fire Emblem is a good game. It would make sense that a conversion to a tabletop setting with almost identical rules would also have the same good gameplay. It’s the GM’s game to mess up, really.
Neutral:
Class identity and balance are strong, yet each character is limited in their actions
Each class has class skills, its own statline, weapon proficiencies, and so on. The classes are defined essentially by their stats and what weapons they can use. While this does allow for each player to have a role to fulfill, it could also lead to the classes playing samey. Besides the Dancer derivatives, the laguz and the healers, each class is stuck with the exact same actions. The good news with this is that it makes classes quite balanced compared to each other, so no player will really feel “useless”.
No theatre of the mind, requires grid-based combat (obviously)
Fire Emblem is a grid-based strategy game. This is a no brainer. Do with this information what you will.
Strongest in play-by-post online games
This system requires a fair bit of calculations and such. Because of this, an online setting with some amount of automation would be the best way to run this system. As well, while mapping would be easiest in-person, some mechanics simply don’t work well playing at the table (looking at you Line of Sight).
Cons:
Non-combat rules quite lacking; abilities and saving throws both too simplistic and too complicated
Let’s be real. Who would play a Fire Emblem system for the non-combat? I understand the creator’s need to fill the void, but I don’t very much like the way they went about it in terms of checks. A proficiency bonus like DnD5e for LUK/2 might’ve worked well on the sheet, but you can’t fix using a d100 for every single check in the game. Big numbers are hard, man. Players already struggle with 3d6 and d20. And despite this complication, the checks can feel bland. There’s no system for skill bonuses besides INT-based ability points, which is fine I guess, but it doesn’t leave much for the players to be creative in their checks. Also, I couldn’t figure out what Class Abilities give to a check. Can someone explain this to me? Am I dumb? Could I just not find it?
Character customization extremely limited for players
I mentioned this above, but besides your boon, bane, and generic skill, there’s not much room for a player to really get creative outside of homebrew. The book also mentions this along with mentioning the freedom for the GM, but a system with a lack of options for the players isn’t gonna convince them to play.
Combat calculations quite complicated, normal Fire Emblem has a computer to help
There are so many variables that go into doing a single attack. Might, hit, skill, luck, avoid, hit, crit, crit avoid, the roll itself… Don’t even get me started on doubling or counterattacks. And speaking of that…
The standard die is a d100, huge numbers are harder to do arithmetic with
Can you do 18 + 3 in your head? That’s great. Can you do 79 + 22 + 14 in your head as easily? The last thing anyone wants to do in a TTRPG is math; just look at every Pathfinder DM that’s ever banned Sacred Geometry.
Generic skills balance issues, just a nitpick but still prevalent
Seriously, when is a player ever gonna pick Unorthodox or Clear Vision over Celerity, Brute Force, or Vantage? I know you can’t perfectly balance skills, so I won’t hold it against the creator. It’s just a weird thing for me, lol.
Struggles especially with the combat/roleplay dichotomy issue
Dungeons and Dragons, the most popular game, struggles with a difference between combat and roleplay. People treat combat as a completely different game than roleplay because the rules are different, which can lead to some problems in encounters. This system exacerbates this issue a fair bit in its design, which I wouldn’t really know how to suggest a fix for. Oh well.
Growths.
Some people don’t like the idea of rolling for stats or HP in other systems. Imagine rolling for all of your stats. Every. Single. Level. That’s how you make your players salty. I’d recommend fixed growths if you would ever run this system, though some might find this boring.
Encounter creation virtually impossible: hacks struggle to do it and hack creators can play their maps easily
Bro, it’s hard enough to make a chapter in the Fire Emblem engine. Could you imagine making a chapter and being unable to test it? Seriously, how would you test your encounters? This is the most glaring flaw of the system in my opinion. How do you handle your players wanting to press R on every single enemy in the chapter? How do you tell them the stats of twenty-five different enemies? Am I missing something again? I don’t know.
I’m tired, it’s 4am. If I messed up typing this, oh well. I’d recommend just playing DnD or Pathfinder or something and flavouring it as Fire Emblem. No offense to the creator, a solid effort was put into this system, but I just don’t think it works that well.
That’s a really good review of it, i appreciate your time and effort put into it!
But in the end, due to the problems you said there and more, i ended up giving up on the idea even though i found more systems. Most problems go on trough all of them.