It’s been a hot minute since I’ve tackled a campaign game for BGQ and I was pleasantly surprised to find Fateforge cross our path. The components looked great on the publisher’s Mighty Boards display table at Gen Con. I count myself lucky to spend some time again with a dungeon-crawling cooperative narrative adventure.
Fateforge is app-assisted and designed by Gordon Calleja of Vengeance fame. It utilizes a dice action mechanism like that previous system but is now set in a fantasy world.
Gameplay Overview:
It is important to note that Fateforge requires a device to utilize its app. The app provides the overarching narrative, battle setup, and enemy information, and it also tracks important character statistics. Players begin in the app, learning a bit of the world, and cycle between narrative and battles over the course of three acts.
Each act’s progress is tracked as players complete battles and take respite to heal, train, and purchase new items. The rest of the scenes are unique in Fateforge as they provide players with a set amount of time to spend toward available options. Do you seek new equipment at the blacksmith? Or would it be better to follow a side quest for potential new allies or hidden locations? There can be a lot of avenues to pursue, and the time crunch makes decisions matter.
After a section of the narrative that reveals more of the world and sets actions in motion, players enter battle. The app provides the location setup. Setup consists of a specific set of tiles, gems, chests, and traps, among other items that are uncovered along the way. It also indicated which enemy cards and tokens to gather and place. Each fight has a specific round structure as well as objectives that must be met by that time.
There are five characters in the base game. Each has their own dice pool and set of skills and upgrades. Characters have predetermined health and energy (their stamina), as well as inventory limits for weapons and gear. Characters have skills specific to their role as well. For example, the Mercenary can build up block tokens for defense, whereas the Forest Guard can reroll dice under certain conditions.
Battles showcase the skills of your characters by challenging them to be efficient and constantly work toward a goal. On player turns, they choose initiative order, and the app determines when some enemies may take a reaction turn—either before or in the middle of player actions. The enemies also have a priority system based on color—this system makes it very easy to determine targets and movement.
During a turn, players can utilize their rolled pool of dice to take actions via their skill cards which require a combination of certain results. Or they can just use the icon on the die face to move or open a chest or kick down a door. The skill system starts slow, with two starter skill cards, but gathers steam over the course of the campaign as players learn their character styles and ways to complement roles. New dice are added via weapon cards, though a restriction of four dice being rolled can make plans change if the correct results do not appear.
Battles typically last four or five rounds. Efficiency truly is key. Thankfully there is a fail-forward system for many battles (not all!) that allow players to take a beating and continue crawling through the dirt as they seek a breather. Along the way, the story attempts to provide unique characters and shifting alliances as characters hop from location to location trying to learn the truth behind the narrative mysteries. It also reveals new rules gradually to not overload casual gamers.
Game Experience:
Here I stand, bruised and battered at the end of my first campaign. And my initial reaction to a full play through much the system has to offer is a bit of a mixed bag. What I can say is this: I had fun.
The star of the show is certainly the battle system. Setup is relatively quick, and Fateforge keeps things simple by designing enemies with minimal health and damage occurring based on rolled icons. Roll a sword and deal damage. There are very minor situations that may change this exchange but for the most part, characters are constantly moving forward and killing enemies. You feel powerful as you dash into a room, cut down a skeleton, roll into the next room, and chop away at a swarm of rats before opening a treasure chest.
And system limitations add to the tension. After setup, you begin to plot your path toward an exit or the cult leader, knowing that you only have X amount of time to both move and attack along the way. The time limit is part of the fun and is typically spot-on with how to make players plan effectively. It also provides a way to push for an extra round if things are not going well, though it adds corruption to all characters—and corruption card effects are not fun to deal with.
Fateforge does an excellent job with limitations during rest phases. These typically happen after a set of two or three battles, and they allow for a moment to heal (there are not many opportunities to heal between battles) and enhance characters. But, players cannot visit all the shops and upgrade all their items or skills. Or even get to all side quests. As such, players are not going to see all that is on offer in one playthrough. In fact, there are several moments of hard choice during the narrative as well which provide a reason to return.
There are certain frustrations at times. Yes, dice rolls mean that we need mitigation. And while there is some available via character energy and items, there can be plenty of bad rolls that hinder progress. Rerolls are hard to come by and getting all movement icons when you are in a room full of baddies eyeing your blade is not fun. There are some enemy abilities that are a bit too punishing as well. But the biggest offender is the way damage works. Players must always be mindful of health as they only regain a tiny bit between battles. The scaling during progression isn’t calculated quite right and healing items can be scarce.
As such, Fateforge can feel like a tease at times. It promises rewards, but they don’t always work well for your character. And it keeps treasure just out of reach and only rewards those who roll well. The rest scene tension combined with the minor battle rewards does make progression a little weak at times. There’s certainly a balancing act at play and there will be some who find it withholding.
I have issues with other areas of the game’s design, but none more glaring than the story. I’ve read or watched other reviewers who have praised the story. For my taste, Fateforge falls into the trap of throwing random references to historical events and a bevy of random names to try to build its world. It forgets to build up its central characters, provide heft to the principal momentum, and make the world feel lived-in. It does a decent job of condensing the story to match the quick battles so that time spent with each feels balanced, but it did not impress me with what it wanted to convey.
Other areas of note are the app and components. The app does a good job of presenting the story and battle setups. It lacks an undo option, needs an update to fix some minor issues in certain setup areas, and the battle music is laughable. And as for components, the enemy disc tokens lack a certain weight to them—they feel cheap. There are things hidden behind stickers that do not need to be as upon reveal they state the obvious. And an atlas map (a la Frosthaven) rather than cardboard tiles would’ve been an amazing alternative.
Final Thoughts:
By the time you finish reading this, you could’ve already played through a battle in Fateforge: Chronicles of Kaan. The efficiency of its battle system is a breath of fresh air for the fantasy dungeon crawler. It’s also ripe for expansion campaigns—there’s already one out called Clash of the Immortals featuring a new playable character. I’m going to give the narrative a pass for the time being, in the hope that the future provides a more immersive story and location. Until then, I’m pleased with rushing through some battles and feeling powerful. Thirty minutes, rinse, and repeat. There are not a lot of games from this genre that can provide quick quality gameplay in a progressive campaign quite like this.
Final Score: 3.5 stars – Lightning quick combat and myriad discoveries propel Fateforge beyond its lack of compelling narrative.
Hits:
• Quick and smart combat
• Tough rest scene decisions
• Enemy variety
• Dice and skill combos
Misses:
• Unfocused and generic narrative
• App needs QoL improvements
• Map/stickers feel like an afterthought
