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In Short

The Good: Gun slinging, magic using, hardboiled detectives are just cool. The system is intuitive for those already familiar with RPGs, especially d20 and Shadowrun 3rd Edition. A robust spell list and two more free form systems of magic should provide a lot of fun for those with a special love for magic users. Ten different Fae types provides a wealth of Fae options.

The Bad: d8s are more difficult for some consumers to come by than d6s or d10s. There are no social mechanics. The author uses a very informal voice and has a few very strong opinions. Artwork does little to enhance the product. Skill and Spell lists are excessively specific. Two Skills are used for boats (one for sail boats the other for powered boats) and two Spells are used to turn into fish (Transform: Fish, Small and Fish, Medium).

The Physical Thing

A fine table of contents and index do help to improve the book, but the writing does not. The author/narrator speaks to the reader directly and sometimes becomes different characters. Unfortunately, it’s not always clear when the narrator is the author or a person in the game world. I also found the that the casual style of the narrator's speech did not read well for me.

Under the Cover

A timeline of events leading up to 1930, historical information on this period in history (with a strong focus on the United States), and a brief picture of how the Fae fit into recent history is all provided. The historical information is useful and does a good job of reminding the reader of the differences between our own time and the 1920s. The brief inclusion of the Fae is surprising. Though the Fae returned in 1918 and the game is assumed to begin in 1924, there seems to be an incredible amount of acceptance for the Fae despite their only having been around for 6 years. Not only did they participate in the Great War, but they also have forced Earth governments to cede territory to them. A large portion of New York City, for instance, was surrendered to one of the Fae Noble Houses by the United States.

I was surprised by the time of the setting. When I think of hardboiled detectives and a noir atmosphere I think of the late 20s and 30s, not the much earlier date of 1924. The product seems more pulp-like than noir, and that’s a serious distinction. When I read about the aftermath of the Great War and the return of magic to the world I get more of a sense of hopeful optimism than the bitterness and desperate atmosphere of the Great Depression era, which is more often associated with noir. I can only guess that the author wanted bootlegging and prohibition era speakeasies to factor prominently into the game, but even the 21st Amendment wasn’t passed until 1933. Nevertheless, you are free to set the game at any point in history you like. Just be aware that the book may generally lack the noir atmosphere you’re looking for.

Chapter 2 Character - 22 pages.

Players determine a character concept, select a Race, purchase Attributes, Skills, Personality Flaws, and then spend character Build Points. Once all that is done they spend their money and they’re done!

So you can follow along a little bit better, here’s how the system works. A d8 pool based on a character’s Skill is rolled against a target number of 6 or higher. Any die that equals or exceeds that number counts as a success. If the target number goes above 8 (and it routinely does) then dice that come up as 8s are re-rolled and the new number is added on (they ‘explode’). Where no successes are rolled but 1s are rolled the character may botch the attempt (royally screwup). Skill costs are determined by Attributes, which tend to have a more static and subtle effect on play. So: High Skills are good because they result in larger dice pools and a better chance of hitting the target number. Low Skills are bad because of their high chance to botch.

Let’s build a character!

Example: The concept I’m working with is Urg, an Ogre who often works as a bouncer. He’s not very bright, nor does he have a particularly good heart. And he’s ugly. But by golly, he’s going to be a protagonist in this game whether he wants to be or not!

Fae Noir provides ten different Fae Races for players to choose from, not including the default Human. Each Race has different modifiers and ultimately costs a certain number of Build Points to select. The Races are: Brownie, Elf, Fairy, Faun, Goblin, Kobold, Leprechaun, Ogre, Troll, and Tuatha.

Example: Urg is, of course, an Ogre. He starts with two extra points of Strength and Toughness, his maximum cap for Strength and Toughness are both increased, but he can not buy as many points in Looks or Intelligence as other Races. He also may not use Fae Glamour, a sort of mental magic that most Fae can use. All of this, plus a few intrinsic benefits that all Fae receive, costs 19 Build Points.

Next, players purchase Attributes. Fae Noir uses eight different Attributes including: Agility, Strength, Toughness, Speed, Looks, Intelligence, Willpower, and Perception. It also uses several magic-related Attributes, but they can’t be purchased just yet. Players receive 16 points to spend on these Attributes, and the human average is around 4.

Example: I put 5 points into Strength and 5 points into Toughness, giving me an 8 in each (all Attributes default to 1) and leaving me with 6 points. I place 3 into Agility and 3 into Speed, allowing him to be at least Average when it comes to quickness. This results in a significant increase in melee weapon damage, extra health boxes, and a faster healing rate. His very low Looks also results in extra Personality Flaws (I take Ugly at Level 4 and Poor Hygiene at Level 1), low Intelligence makes Skills more expensive to buy later in the game. Every Attribute provides bonuses and penalties at the extremes.

Players then spend 18 points on Skills. Skills are limited by Attributes. In Fae Noir task resolution most often involves just a Skill roll – Attributes rarely enter play directly. Thus, a character’s Skills are very important.

Example: I want to start out with some combat Skills based on Strength. I drop 4 points in Axe and 5 into Rough Housing. I place 5 into Heroics (a sort of physical strength skill) in the hopes that he will be able to do something heroic. Criminal Underbelly, Investigation, and Interrogation. Finally, I decide Urg is an amateur astronomer and place 1 point into Astronomy.

Personality Flaws come up in play where a player is asked to roll their Willpower against the Flaw in some scenes and, if they fail the Willpower roll, they must roleplay that Flaw in a given scene. To check Ugly 4 I would need to roll Willpower against Ugly (4d8) and I’ll need to get at least 1 net success to keep that Flaw out of play.

Example: Urg is Alcoholic 2 and Lazy 2. This supplements his low Looks Flaws of Ugly 4 and Poor Hygiene 1. The dice will fly whenever I take him to a party!

Characters have 42 Build Points that may be spent on Attributes, Magic Attributes, Skills, and Edges. Defects may be taken to give a character even more Build Points.

Example: 19 Build Points were already spent on Ogre. 4 Build Points are spent to increase Urg’s Willpower and Perception to 2. Fists of Iron, for 3 points, allows Urg to not break his hands when he hits armored foes. Wild Child, for 4 points, makes animals automatically friendly towards Urg. Nightvision for 4 points allows Urg to see his foes in the darkness. Finally I drop 8 points in Skills, buying Athletics at 1 and increasing Shotgun, Rough Housing, and Heroics all to 7.

The three broad types of magic – Genius, Glamour, and Faith – may also be purchased at this stage. Genius is classic wizardly magic, Glamour is the tricky illusion magic of the Fae, and Faith represents faith in one of the major (and only the major) world religions.

The author also makes much of the fact that there is no Charisma Attribute or related Skills. Here’s the statement, to give you a feel for whether or not the tone of the game may be to your liking:

There is No Charisma: I’m sure that some of you are wondering where the Charisma attribute is. Well, I’ll tell you. There isn’t one. If you want your character to be slick, an ace with the ladies, manipulative or whatever, you’re going to have to actually act all of that out yourself. Because, well, what’s the fun of just rolling some dice and saying; “I absolutely seduce the Tuatha duchess.” Wouldn’t you rather have a sense of satisfaction you can only get from a job well done? No? Well, though. There’s still no Charisma attribute.

Unfortunately, the Looks Attribute he has chosen to use isn’t as integrated into the system as the other Attributes.

Chapter 3 Skills - 12 pages.

Skills range from 0 (untrained, default to Attribute with +4 to difficulty) to 8 (the very best there can be) and the Skill number determines the number of d8s rolled. Fae Noir makes use of a moderately detailed skill list, over 60 Skills in total including magic Skills.

Some of the Skills are of very questionable use. Why would Astronomy be rolled in a noir inspired game? Panzer operation? Two Skills for water going vessels (Sailing and Ship Piloting)? How about Bootlegging – where there’s already a Smuggling and Criminal Underbelly Skill? I just don’t feel like many of these Skills are necessary, have a distinct use, or are even desirable. But, if you like specific Skill lists then you’ll probably enjoy Skills in Fae Noir.

You will find everything you could want to build a noir detective, a mobster, a reporter, or whatever else you’re interested in. Interrogation, Investigation, and many other noir appropriate Skills are easy to pick out.

Chapter 4 Vroom! The Game Engine Chapter - 36 pages.

The target number for an average task is 6 (though the base TN before mods can go up to 14). Players typically roll their Skill total in d8s against that number, and d8s that come up 6 or higher are successes. Many situations, such as poor lighting and tools, can increase that base difficulty. Where two characters are opposed to one another, such as where one is trying to hide and another trying to find the hider, both roll their respective Skill against TN 6 and the one with the most successes wins. Those familiar with dice pool systems will find the Fae Noir system to be intuitive and easy to work with.

Combat will similarly be easy to understand for many readers. Initiative is determined every round by a d8 roll (plus modifiers from the Speed Attribute). Characters receive two Partial Actions or one Full Round Action to do with as they wish. Firing a pistol, rifle, or shotgun is a Partial Action. Swinging a melee weapon or firing a machine-gun are both Full Round Actions. Movement, spellcasting, and other activities can fall into either group.

Melee attacks are resolved by both the attacker and defender rolling their relevant melee combat Skill against TN 6. Whoever rolls higher hits the loser and deals damage (based on weapon and Strength). This, strangely, can result in an attacker taking damage. Ranged attacks are different because the defender may not defend. Instead cover and other factors can increase the TN above 6, but even a single success is enough to strike the target with a bullet. In both cases, Armor may mitigate the damage of the attack. Any remaining damage is applied to a simple health wound level system.

Poison, cold, fire, disease, and various other ways that a person could come to harm are all included. Vehicle and Artillery Combat are also presented. The chapter wraps up with about a page of short NPC blocks to make the game a bit easier to run in play.

Chapter 5 That Old Time Religion - 10 pages.

Faith is a magical Attribute that may be purchased which allows a character to perform God granted miracles. As long as a character conforms to the requirements of their faith they may call upon powerful Miracles. In addition to the Attribute characters also have a pool of temporary Faith points – as Miracles are called upon those points are depleted temporarily. Miracles may range from coincidences at the low end to plagues and the destruction of cities on the high end. To obtain a Miracle the character rolls a number of d6 (yes, d6) equal to Faith against a Target Number, spends temporary Faith points for extra successes, and then compares their total successes to a chart. This power seems to come either from a collective consciousness or God, and as such can’t be used to circumvent the rules of the faith (no calling God’s fury to smite an orphanage). Only followers of the largest world religions (such as Christianity and Islam) may take Faith.

Chapter 6 Sweet Arcadia - 28 pages.

Throughout this chapter the author switches voices between the Narrator, the book author, and a Fae discussing the Fae people. A complete history of the Fae is provided over a few pages, and then each of the Fae Noble Houses is discussed. The Houses are split into two major groups – the Seelie and Unseelie – which loosely correspond to ‘good Fae’ and ‘bad Fae’ as the Unseelie seem to think of humans as unintelligent animals meant to be played with. Nine major Houses each receive about a half page of discussion.

There are a few downsides for me at this point. While each House has a few general things that set it apart, none of the Houses felt like they had clear goals. I don’t know why I’d want my character to belong to one rather than another, except that some seem less appropriate for group play (because they’re evil). The lack of any symbol or graphic to help distinguish between them is unfortunate and could have gone a long way towards making them a little more distinct.

Glamour and Fae society both see attention. Glamour is basically illusion magic and the system for it is a simple casting roll followed by opposed Perception roll whenever others interact with the Glamour. Fae society largely involves the roles of all the various Fae Races. Each Race receives about a half page to page long write up and a quote from the fictional Fae Narrator.

I like Glamour because it’s simple and flexible, but it does have little mechanical support. The Races are another matter, however. Ten Fae Races is, in my view, too many. I don’t feel like many of them are distinct enough to warrant a new set of bonuses and a new description. Nevertheless, there are plenty of options here to choose from.

The chapter wraps up with a brief discussion of the interaction between Arcadia and the modern world, such as the general locations of the trods that connect the two lands.

Chapter 7 Arcana - 56 pages.

Magic, other than Faith and Glamour, is split up into Alchemy, Conjuration, Enchantment, Prognostication, and Sorcery (each of which is covered by the Genius Attribute). Individual Spells are purchased similar Skills. The character rolls the Spell Skill in d8s, trying to hit a target number (the Spellcasting Test). One success is usually plenty, but in most cases multiple successes will result in a much more powerful spell. The spellcaster then makes a Control Test, rolling the relevant spell Skill against a target number that varies by spell. This represents the spellcaster’s ability to retain control of the magical energies they’re making use of. Failure often results in horrible backlash of some form.

Spells tend to be very narrow in focus. Transforming into different animals of different sizes are all represented as individual spells. Many spells have different versions of increasing power that require increasingly difficult Control Tests. However, the magic system is both robust and complete. While I feel like a wizard would have a lot less creativity at their option than a Fae using Glamour, there’s no doubt that many of these spells pack a punch. Whether you want to play a potion slinging Alchemist or a diviner who predicts the future you can easily do it here. With almost 50 pages of spells there’s certain to be something for everyone. The only big downside is that some players may not like the Control Test mechanic, as some spells can have severe side effects.

Chapter 8 Advancement - 8 pages.

Fae Noir makes use of a very standard XP mechanic where points are awarded every game session and used to improve various aspects of a character. Personality Flaws may be gained and worked off as well.

Chapter 9 Equipment - 30 pages.

Tommy guns, swords, clubs, shotguns, and a variety of other weapons and armors are all listed here. The equipment is a mix of medieval and 1920s weapons, due in large part to Fae bringing weapons and training with them from Arcadia. Vehicles, drugs, and other such equipment may also be found here. While there’s little variation, everything you need to start playing immediately may be found here.

My Take

If you enjoy the pulp era, fairy legends, and leaving social activity up to individual roleplaying then Fae Noir may be the game for you.

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