Friends & Fables Combat Is Off Right Now — Here Are Your Options

What is actually happening with Friends & Fables combat?

Per Friends & Fables' own Gamemaster Settings, combat encounters are currently off by default while the team revamps the combat system. Players can switch them back on, but the system is being rebuilt, so behaviour can shift during the work. Separately, the team has been building a new product called Craft aimed at power users, and has said Friends & Fables is not being sunset — it stays as the accessible, unlimited AI D&D 5e-style experience.

So this is not “the product is dying.” It is “the combat you might have come for is mid-renovation, with no public completion date.” For narrative-only players that is a non-issue. For anyone whose sessions revolve around encounters, it is the whole question.

Why an “off by default” combat system matters

A combat system that is off by default and under active reconstruction is a moving target. You can toggle it on, but you are opting into a work-in-progress: rules can change between sessions, an encounter that ran one way last week may run differently next week, and any campaign you build around the current behaviour is building on sand until the revamp lands.

If you are starting a new campaign now — especially a long one, or one with a group — you want the mechanical layer to be stable for the months you will be playing it. That is a reasonable thing to want, and it is the practical reason to look at what else is available while the rebuild is in flight.

Mechanics before narrative: what that means

The design principle worth holding onto through any revamp is mechanics first, narrative second. The dice and the rules resolve the outcome in code; the AI's job is to describe what happened, never to decide it. When it is the other way around — the model narrates a dramatic hit and the numbers are back-filled to match — combat stops being a game and becomes a story with dice-shaped decoration.

On LoreKeeper, every mechanical outcome is resolved server-side before the AI sees it: attack-versus-AC math, saving throws, advantage/disadvantage, spell slots, 40 conditions, 7 damage types, initiative order, and death saving throws. A signature touch is karmic dice — after five consecutive failures, the next roll gets advantage — so a cold streak never wrecks a session. The AI receives the resolved result and turns it into prose. It cannot invent the number because it never had the pen.

That is also a memory property, not just a combat one. When hit points and conditions live in durable game state instead of being re-derived from the transcript, the AI cannot “forget” that an enemy is already down or that your fighter is poisoned. More on that in why AI Game Masters forget your campaign.

Combat that does not turn off

LoreKeeper's combat engine is on by default and not a toggle. It is the core of the platform, not a module in renovation. If you start a campaign today, the same rules resolve your fights next month.

• Real dice, resolved in code: d4–d100, advantage/disadvantage, attack-vs-AC, saves — no model-invented numbers
• Full 5e-inspired state: 40 conditions, 7 damage types, 7 creature types, initiative, spell slots, death saves
• Karmic dice: advantage after five straight failures, so variance never ruins a night
• Multiplayer combat: up to 6 players in real time via Socket.io, everyone sees rolls as they land, invited guests play free
• Stable pricing: permanent free tier (20 daily turns), then EUR 7.99/mo

For the full picture across platforms, see the best AI Dungeon Masters of 2026 and the dedicated LoreKeeper vs Friends & Fables comparison.

Where Friends & Fables still wins

This is not a eulogy. Friends & Fables' tactical map with token movement is a real strength — a shipped visual battlefield where you can see range and positioning. LoreKeeper's own tactical combat mode is still in active development, so today F&F is ahead on that layer. Its free tier is also unlimited in a way LoreKeeper's is not, and it has a large, established player base.

If a visual grid is non-negotiable for you, the honest answer may be to wait — for the F&F revamp, or for LoreKeeper's tactical combat mode — and play narrative sessions in the meantime. If what you want is fights that follow the rules and stay put while you run a months-long campaign, that is available now, and it does not have a toggle.