Fantasy Companion not adding additional Arcane Background Edges

[rodney418]

The Fantasy Companion module doesn't list its new Arcane Edges (Alchemy & Sorcery) in the Edges list, even though the extension does work correctly in listing them in the Powers section of the character sheet (see screenshot). It's not a huge deal, but it does get slightly confusing when you are trying to build a character and can't list the correct amount of Edges under the Main section of the character sheet. I believe the Horror Companion has the same issue with Arcane Background: Ritualism.

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[Mortar]

Neither of those source books have Edges listed for the ABs in them in the PDF or physical version.

[rodney418]

Yeah, they do. There are three new Arcane Backgrounds given in the Fantasy Companion, just not listed under the main Edges list. This is also how it's done in SWADE, which only lists a general "Arcane Background" Edge in the list in the book.

However FG lists each one as a specific Edge in the ruleset. So either FG should list one general Arcane Background Edge (like the SWADE book does) or list ALL of the Arcane Backgrounds as Edges. Currently it lists each one in SWADE as an individual Edge, but not the ones in the Companions, which is definitely not coherent.

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[Talyn]

All the companions were built at a time when there was no QA and no real "here's the process we should all be doing things by for consistency" so no, those Edges were not built. The details for them are on the 'New Arcane Backgrounds' page for the Fantasy Companion. I'm not finding it in the Horror Companion at all, but I also have little patience for attempting to "read" those old DLC from the time before time. :(

[rodney418]

I think probably the best solution would be to change the SWADE ruleset to be like the book i.e. have one Arcane Background Edge in the Edges list that can be dragged into the Main tab during character creation. Then a player can choose whatever specific Arcane Background they have in the Powers section. That would solve the problem instantly.

In other words, it's not the Companions that are faulty, it's actually the SWADE ruleset.

[Talyn]

That still means it's the Companions' fault (and it absolutely is) because the ruleset does not have any Edges. All data is contained in the book modules.

[rodney418]

No, it's not. The Savage Worlds Deluxe book did assume that each different Arcane Background was an individual Edge, but that was changed in the Adventure Edition. Now the rule is that the Edge you take is just called Arcane Background, and then later down the line when choosing Powers you decide which particular Arcane Background it refers to. The current SWADE ruleset preserves the Deluxe methodology of a bunch of different Edges instead of adopting the new system as written in the book. If it did adopt the new system then all the Companions would work absolutely fine out of the gate without needing any alteration at all, since they would all just be subsets of the Arcane Background Edge.

So my original title on this thread was actually wrong. The problem is not that the Companions have missing Edges - in fact the problem is that the SWADE ruleset has too many :-)

You can also see this in action in the Savaged.US online Character Creator for SWADE, where again you just get to choose the one basic Arcane Background when choosing Edges, and then specify which one when choosing Powers:

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So I guess this really needs to be addressed by whoever is in charge of the SWADE ruleset, not whoever was doing the Companions.

[Talyn]

Right, it's technically just 'Arcane Background' but there wouldn't be any automation or anything else that way, with the way FG works under the hood. That's why we have to specifically build out each Edge within the database(s), which still means the Companions are missing those Edges. :)

Aki does have plans for some time down the road to allow the introduction of new Arcane Backgrounds without the need for a Lua extension, so whenever that happens, possibly we would be able to re-streamline things and remove all those custom arcane background Edges (unless the new functions specifically rely upon them) but we won't know until he makes some sort of announcement about it.

[Ikael]

I am the main developer of Savage Worlds ruleset and have adapted several products including SWADE. Arcane Background split into individual Edges is deliberative design choice. This design choice has been reflected to many products but it seems Fantasy Companion product has not yet followed the design. Ie. Fantasy Companion product should provide Arcane Background as separate Edges.


The main reason for this design choice is better support for automation. Also at some point I have plans to change Arcane Background selection to be tied to Edges you have, meaning that instead of need to select Arcane Background from dropdown, you only need to add the AB Edge to your character sheet. Current AB implementation is very restrictive and for instance does not allow you to have multiple Arcane Background.

I will be in contect with Fantasy Companion author and ask him to add each AB as Edge in the module.

[Talyn]

Thanks, Aki! :)

As for the Horror Companion, all I'm seeing in the PDF is the section on Rituals which change casting into a Dramatic Task. So there would not be any sort of arcane background involved there, nor does the word "ritualism" exist in the text.

[rodney418]

OK, that makes sense. Thanks for putting up with my nitpicking guys :-)

[Doswelk]

Fantasy Companion DOES have the edges, just not the version you guys have... :P

I've uploaded to Smiteworks this evening, should be added to updates soon.

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Now I suppose I need to do the same with Horror Companion

[rodney418]

Thank you for this Doswelk!

[Steamlord]

I just purchased the SWADE and Fantasy Companion rulesets and noticed that though the Fantasy AB Edges are available in the Edges section, they do not have any available options in the dropdown when selecting arcane background under the Powers tab on the Character Sheet. The only options available are Gifted, Magic, Miracles, Psionics, and Weird Science which means the only AB skills which link their dice correctly to the powers are Focus, Spellcasting, Faith, Psionics, and Weird Science.

For example, I gave a character the Sorcery Arcane Background Edge and d6 Spellweaving, but since there is no Sorcery background option on the Character Sheet's Powers page the ruleset treats all of the powers as unskilled rolls.

[Talyn]

Make sure you load the Fantasy Companion extension, that's what enables the Arcane Backgrounds.