Fria Ligans forum

I want to start a fantasy campaign in august.
Have 20 years experience with gm roleplaying games. But never fantasy setting.
I pledged Forbidden Lands but a thought is bothering me.

"Everybody" (except me I guess) knows D&D. Is familiar with its system and setting. And then easy to get new players. Lots of support and extra material.
5th edition is a rather easy system and can be a low prep for gm. Lots of random encounters and other lists.

FL is a classic fantasy. Not that unique setting.

If I ask possible players to play Forbidden Land I imagine their response is "Why not play D&D. We know the setting and its rules. We have been familiar with that game for 20 years. Why test another D&D-done-right fantasy heartbreaker?"

What is the argument for favor and immerse into Forbidden Lands rather than the huge nr1 rpg D&D.

One of the most fun part with playing RPGs is when you play a new game with a new setting. Everything is new and fresh. We don't know much of the setting of FBL. I hope we will see some alpha-releases of the setting soon and not just the rules (and yes I also want to see the crafting rules). At least that is what I am looking forward to the most. Especially since Erik Granström is wring the setting. And even though the concept is that of a classic fantasy, the setting will have a new fresh feeling feeling to it. D'n'D mostly change rules when they change editions, the various settings for it, are mostly the same.

First of all, D&D doesn't really have a default setting (one isn't presented in the core books), but the theme presented (races, monsters, etc) is very much classic fantasy. The standard setting of Faerûn is very, very classic. FBL has a much less classic feeling to it, from what we've been shown so far. The only thing classic about it is that it has elves and dwarves, though they feel quite different to the classic, Tolkien interpretation.

I would never call D&D low prep for GMs, plus the rules are pretty complex. FBL is much lower prep and has a simpler ruleset.

In D&D, you play overpowered heroes who have a ton of health and are very hard to kill, unless players take very stupid risks. FBL is a survival game, with very deadly combat, and high level characters who are still vulnerable to a lucky shot from an enemy.

In summary, play D&D if you want invincible heroes running around in (mostly) classic fantasy settings. Play FBL if you want gritty, vulnerable heroes who struggle to survive in a unique fantasy setting.

Why can I say this? I have been playing D&D weekly for the past 5 years (4th & 5th editions) because my friends love it. I don't. FBL will bring a very different type of fantasy game to your table.

9littlebees says it well - Forbidden Lands will give you a very different experience than D&D, focusing on exploration and survival in a gritty, deadly world.

Playing D&D can be fun, but being the DM in D&D makes me hate the game. Magic solves like all problems in D&D, and that makes all the side "story hooks" to disappear. 

You are now out of food. NOPE got this cantrip...
The cart broke down and you now have to fix it. NOPE got this cantrip....
You found this ancient rune, but you cant understand what is says. YEP i understand it, got this warlock-thing....
You need to find a cure for the disease, otherwise... NOPE got this.....
AND SO ON. 

So, if you want epic magic battles fighting gods with huge HP pools flying around in the sky throwing fireballs go with D&D.
If you want facing some orcs to be a real threat, go with FL.

Playing D&D can be fun, but being the DM in D&D makes me hate the game. Magic solves like all problems in D&D, and that makes all the side "story hooks" to disappear. 

You are now out of food. NOPE got this cantrip...
The cart broke down and you now have to fix it. NOPE got this cantrip....
You found this ancient rune, but you cant understand what is says. YEP i understand it, got this warlock-thing....
You need to find a cure for the disease, otherwise... NOPE got this.....
AND SO ON. 

So, if you want epic magic battles fighting gods with huge HP pools flying around in the sky throwing fireballs go with D&D.
If you want facing some orcs to be a real threat, go with FL.

Well said!!

One of the things that intrigued me with writing for FL was that I was expected to do something new with well-known ingredients. Personally I prefer trying new things rather than go for more of the same and well known. This is for instance why I've recently written lyrics for a metal album.

To quote the Russian literary theorist Viktor Shklovsky: ”The role of art is not to explain – it is to alienate that which has become too familiar.” He coined the expression ”Ostranenie” in Russian.