Wait, hold up, what's next?
If there is one thing peculiar about some of the early versions of some of the Troll Lord Games is the patchy and out-of-order methods of character creation in some of the games. Some of the earlier Castles & Crusades versions had the lists of character races after the class section, and this was always a little confusing to me. It is a great system and my favorite fantasy system of all time, but I am a fan of the step-by-step character creation process where everything is laid out clearly.
Amazing Adventures has a few issues in this regard as well. For the most part, creation is the beautiful 3d6 pick-a-class sort of style game, but there are a few points that made me do a double-take and stumbled when I hit them. Now, all of these are listed in the "advanced action heroes" section of the book, so they are optional rules, so use this if this is how you play.
Generic Class Abilities
Pages 57-62 list a number of generic class abilities that you can swap any class ability with. Want to be an ace pilot? Find a class ability you don't want and swap it out. This is a cool rule and allows a good deal of class customization, so it is not that hard to figure out.
Now, these are strange when mixed with the SIEGE Engine, since if you were to swap out a class ability for the medicine generic class ability; medicine is now a class ability for your character, and you get to add your level to SIEGE checks when performing medicine. Even though your class may be a gumshoe, perhaps you are a medical investigator who can also be a doctor. That medicine skill can be used with all SIEGE ability checks (INT, WIS, DEX, etc), and your level adds a bonus to the roll.
This is very different than the base C&C game and adds some fluidity with skill checks with the SIEGE engine that is not as cut-and-dried as the base C&C game, so it is worth taking note of.
BYO Classes?
Given Generic Class Abilities, above, would I allow a player to swap any class' ability into another class? Wow, um, possibly. Talk to me and give a good reason, and we can do a custom class easily. Classes in AA feel more fluid than their C&C counterparts
Bonus Languages are Knowledge Skill Picks?
The book does not tell you half of your bonus languages (2x your INT bonus) can be swapped for knowledge skills. So do not pick 6 languages right off!
In addition, every class gets a free knowledge skill in their class. These are not your traditional "active skills" like perception, but knowledge only - useful for recalling information or knowing facts, and give a +3 to the roll if they can be used. These also improve +1 per four levels, so at level 4 the bonus is a +4, a +5 at level 8, and so on.
Knowledge skills are funny since if your gadgeteer were trying to repair something, that is a class ability and not a knowledge skill use. Knowing what a piece of junk was? Yes, knowledge skill check. The same thing with the medicine knowledge skill, you could identify procedures and possible ailments, but not treat them.
With knowledge skills, this only applies to situations where a player asks, "does my character know something?"
Knowledge skills never apply to, "My character does something."
Backgrounds
Backgrounds represent the character's pre-history and interests before becoming an adventurer, give a +2 on the roll, and improve by +1 every 5 levels. These can be applied to any skill roll they could assist, such as a law enforcement background applied to a search roll. They can also be used as a knowledge skill too and provide information. There can be special cases where knowledge skills and backgrounds overlap and provide a bonus for each, but that usually isn't the case.
I would require roleplaying to use these and gain the bonus on the roll. If a character had a law enforcement background that is not a blanket +2 to hit with ranged weapons, search rolls, interrogations, or any activity where this could apply. If the character was trying to get a hostage taker to surrender, and the player roleplayed this like a police negotiator, then the bonus clearly applies. If they don't roleplay, then no bonus.
So with backgrounds, roleplaying is required to get a bonus on any action. It is a small requirement, but I feel that +2 is a huge bonus and it should not universally apply for free.
And these can be used for both knowing and doing.
Fate Points
All characters start with 10 fate points, easy, but this is not like C&C at all since we are in a pulp game. These go up by every level by half the new level number, with optional GM awards for heroism or dramatic play. You can cheat death once per level for 3 fate points, so these are pretty powerful resources, but limited. Given you are in a modern world, with a B/X hit point scale and guns, I can see these being used a lot.
Mana Energy Points
AA uses a mana-point system in addition to the normal spells per day, equal to d4 + CON bonus + primary spell casting attribute bonus, plus 1d10 a level. I would probably skip this rule since "spells per day" covers spellcasting nicely and aligns better with C&C. I would use this as an optional rule for worlds with "exhausting magic" only, such as a Cthulhu-style game world.
Traits
The game has a system of optional traits which are trading a +1 and -1 of two sets of actions, like the abrasive trait giving a +1 CHR bonus to intimidate and a -1 CHR penalty to being diplomatic. The -1 seems like a very minor bonus and I feel a +2/-2 is a better feeling modifier.
A Great Pulp Game
If a pulp game is taking attention off Savage Worlds for me it is a great game. Amazing Adventures hits a sweet spot of D&D-style progression and challenge levels, the classic low-to-high level play, and it uses basic B/X style stats and dicing. The characters and character sheets are half as complicated as Savage Worlds, there aren't as many "tricks" to the system, and it plays like straight B/X with fate points, and it works well from the classic pulp era, to modern, to sci-fi.
I still love Savage Worlds, but if I want that classic B/X and OSR feel and gameplay in a pulp game, this is hard to beat. Again, the C&C style rules simplify everything down to a few ability scores, eliminates complicated skill systems
And remember, referee rulings are still the gold standard rule here, so if a player is saying, "I have 30 hit points, there is no way a gun to my head would hurt me!" They are likely wrong, and this - for any PC or NPC - could be ruled lethal. This way of thinking is purely created by more modern rules systems where you start needing rules for everything and the book gets to be a 600-page monster.
If something feels like it is not survivable in the game world, then it probably is not.
If you have fate points left, you can "wake up later" or miraculously survive, but then again, this is also dependent on the lethality of the world and referee ruling.
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