Basic Fantasy RPG

Basic Fantasy
RPG
Authors	Chris Gonnerman
First Publication	2006 (1st Edition) 2008 (2nd Edition) 2013 (3rd Edition) 2023 (4th Edition)

A retroclone of the old B/X rules, Basic Fantasy is currently in its third edition. The main book features the classic four classes: Fighter, Cleric, Thief, Magic-User; in addition, adaptations of the monster manual and equipment lists, all in one concise, easy to understand package.

Due the OGL Crisis of 2023, Gonnerman and much of the fans for the system came together and got a new edition put together that decoupled the system from the old Open Games License.

What It Changes

• Races are kept separate from classes.
• It uses a d20 style attack style where you want to roll at or over your enemy's AC.
• Speaking of AC, it is now ascending rather than descending.
• All race/class combinations may go to level 20.

What's Good About It

• It is completely free from its website with steady updates in the form of rule clarifications, supplements, and adventures.
• If you need the book physically, the author sells them at cost through Amazon. This means you could get ALL of the books in print for just under $30 before shipping costs.
• Being a retroclone, it is almost perfectly compatible with all other old school and retroclone modules.
• Being a community project, the website features a lot of curated player made content, including reintroduction of classes like the Paladin and Bard as well as a lengthy list of gear, spells and magical items.
• The rules are simple enough that a GM and players can skim the book and have a party and an adventure ready very quickly (characters in under 10 minutes, an adventure in maybe an hour).
• There are several free adventure modules for it that emulate a lot of the old adventures (The Chaotic Caves=Keep on the Borderlands, Saga of the Giants=The Giant Adventures, etc.).

Some Minor Issues

• Typical weapons used by clerics are scaled to more closely match more typical fighter weapons and with far more weapons being able to be found that are magical other than swords it makes clerics a bit too powerful for some people's tastes.
• The layout of the book makes you have to flip back and forth quite often to find rules such as what your character's attack bonus and saves are rather than simply looking at your class's page. While this is more in line with the older editions of D&D, its inclusion is a bit of a throwback and can be a bit confusing.
• While many laud the free modules for their hearkening back to modules of yesteryear, that can be a bit of a problem if you're wanting something new as well.

tl;dr: It's a cheap, well written, and accessible way of introducing younger players to how D&D used to be played without losing any of the beardiness.

List of Books for Print

• Basic Fantasy RPG Core Rulebook
• The Field Guide (basically an expanded Monster Manual)
• Equipment Emporium (lists of equipment, gear, clothes, services and more)
• AA1 Adventure Anthology One, a collection of 14 small adventures.
• AA2 Adventure Anthology Two, a collection of 15 small adventures.
• BF1 Morgansfort, an adventure with a small town/keep and three nearby dungeons.
• BF2 Fortress, Tomb, and Tower, another adventure with three dungeons to explore.
• BF3 Strongholds of Sorcery, a series of adventures, four this time.
• CS1 Castle by the Sea, a unique module where there are six adventures that all use the same map but are not related whatsoever.
• CS2 The Dark Temple, same as above, but replace the castle with a temple.
• DC1 Tales from the Laughing Tavern, "a Dragonclaw Campaign" or three linked adventures to form a low-level campaign.
• JN1 The Chaotic Caves, BFRPG's take on the classic The Keep on the Borderlands.
• JN2 Monkey Isle, BFRPG's take on The Isle of Dread but with more monkey/ape people as the name entails.
• JN3 Saga of the Giants, BFRPG's take on Against the Giants but with all of the giant subtypes getting used instead of turning against the Drow.
• KH1 The Blackapple Brugh, a medieval(-ish) village where the fae are mucking about with plenty of adventure hooks for low-level players.

Iron Falcon

In 2015, Gonnerman released Iron Falcon, an RPG aiming to be for OD&D what Basic Fantasy was for Moldvay Basic. Focusing on just adapting the original rules plus Greyhawk, the game is also free.

See Also

• Dungeons & Dragons
• Old School Roleplaying
• Retroclone

Offsite Links

• Basic Fantasy Download portal
• Iron Falcon Download portal