Fabula Ultima general thread [+]

[overgeeked]

The [+] is to keep things positive and prevent arguments about Fabula Ultima and more narrative-focused or video game-inspired RPGs. There are plenty of other threads to hate on games and play styles you don’t like.

There are a few people on here who play Fabula Ultima and want to talk about it without the constant negativity of the other threads, so I thought we should have a general [+] thread about the game.

Anyone play this? What did you think? Any relevant links to share?

There's currently a Kickstarter for hardbacks and a Bestiary.

Need Games' Fabula Ultima website.

Need Games' discord.

Fabula Ultima discord.

Fabula Ultima playtest material.

Press Start, the Quickstart for Fabula Ultima is free on DriveThru.

 

[darjr]

Who’s run the Press Start?

Any advice?

 

[Reynard]

I would like to know more about the game, its intended playstyle and loop, etc. Because all JRPG means to me as a CRPG player is "interminable cutscenes."

 

[overgeeked]

Who’s run the Press Start?

Any advice?

It's a great game for what it's trying to do. It's more narrative focused like Daggerheart, shared worldbuilding, shared storytelling, etc...but it has no illusions about emulating a real world. It's very much a game that's trying to be a JRPG simulator. Things work like they would in a JRPG, not a living breathing world. So there's a definite mindset shift that needs to be made.

Press Start, the quickstart, is legit a masterclass in introductory adventures. There's no gotchas or missteps that I remember. I've run it twice. Other than the mindset shift I mention, there's nothing to say beyond "Give it a shot and have fun."

 

[Elvish Lore]

Yea, we did play a few games of this last year. Lots of fun, lots of cool subsystems, some gaming technologies that feel fresh and exciting for a heroic fantasy genre. It's a love-letter to JRPGs which I can't fully appreciate because I don't have a nostalgic view of them from back in the day like the game designers do. I agree with Overgeeked that it's got a more narrative bent than Daggerheart.

 

[SpellObjectEnthusiast]

I would like to know more about the game, its intended playstyle and loop, etc. Because all JRPG means to me as a CRPG player is "interminable cutscenes."

Fabula Ultima is inspired by classic JRPGs - specifically games like FF6, FF7, Chrono Trigger.

The game tries to emulate the stories and vibes that comes from those games. That is - heroic stories featuring an ensemble cast of protagonists with simple but clear personalities, and clashes against (frequently recurring) villains and bosses.

Each campaign starts with a cooperative worldbuilding exercise, during which the table has a lot of freedom, but must remain within the bounds of the game's "eight pillars" which enforce the genre tropes of JRPGs. The group determines their characters' relationships and goals that they must pursue, like fighting against an enemy empire or searching for lost relics. The game presents 3 broad "genres", inspired by popular JRPG tropes - High Fantasy, Techno Fantasy, and Natural Fantasy - and gives the tools to implement each. (Each also gets its own dedicated supplement book)

The system itself is heavily inspired by Ryuutama, with elements from many other RPGs sprinkled throughout. Each character consists of 4 stats represented with a die size, and checks consist of rolling two dice and adding them together vs a target number. Characters also have health, mana, defenses, special abilites, and character traits. The traits represent emotions and relationships, and can be "invoked" by spending Fabula points, similar to Fate, to augment rolls.

Each character is compulsively a multiclass character- you must select at least 2 starting classes. Each class grants active and passive abilities, giving a lot of room for customization. Classes are inspired by JRPG archetypes and multi-classing makes each character feel unique.

The game is not concerned with simulation or realism - much of the world is expressed in the abstract. There isn't a concern with tracking food or drink, light sources, or anything like that. The game is divided into Scenes, much like games like Fate or City of Mist. If nothing of interest is happening, you move forward to the next scene. The game uses Clocks to track abstract progress towards tasks rather than playing out every minute detail.

Combat doesn't use distances or maps. Combat tactics involve learning and exploiting elemental weaknesses, combining skills together, and otherwise making best use of your actions. Positioning doesn't matter.

The game relies a lot on its cooperative worldbuilding - in addition to the shared world creation, players can also introduce new story elements by spending fabula points or dramatically change the direction of a scene when rolling crits.

 

[SpellObjectEnthusiast]

Who’s run the Press Start?

Any advice?

I have! Try to let the players really run with the worldbuilding segments - listen to how they answer questions and try to incorporate those into the villains' goals and the scene dressing. Blair and Cassandra have the biggest ties to the story.

 

[overgeeked]

The game is not concerned with simulation or realism - much of the world is expressed in the abstract. There isn't a concern with tracking food or drink, light sources, or anything like that.

To me this is best exemplified with Inventory Points. Each PC has 6 IP they can spend on the following: mana potion (3), healing potion (3), anti-condition potion (2), elemental damage (2), and a magic tent (4). You can spend those IP at any time and they recharge at certain points. That's the inventory and encumbrance system beyond weapons and armor.

The game is divided into Scenes, much like games like Fate or City of Mist. If nothing of interest is happening, you move forward to the next scene.

Yeah, it's really well done and well explained. Keep moving to the excitement. But it does provide for both conflict scenes and interlude scenes. Downtime and RP scenes are still a thing in Fabula Ultima. They handle that split well, I think.

The game uses Clocks to track abstract progress towards tasks rather than playing out every minute detail.

I'm a sucker for clocks and they do clocks well.

 

[Reynard]

Fabula Ultima is inspired by classic JRPGs - specifically games like FF6, FF7, Chrono Trigger.

The game tries to emulate the stories and vibes that comes from those games. That is - heroic stories featuring an ensemble cast of protagonists with simple but clear personalities, and clashes against (frequently recurring) villains and bosses.

Each campaign starts with a cooperative worldbuilding exercise, during which the table has a lot of freedom, but must remain within the bounds of the game's "eight pillars" which enforce the genre tropes of JRPGs. The group determines their characters' relationships and goals that they must pursue, like fighting against an enemy empire or searching for lost relics. The game presents 3 broad "genres", inspired by popular JRPG tropes - High Fantasy, Techno Fantasy, and Natural Fantasy - and gives the tools to implement each. (Each also gets its own dedicated supplement book)

The system itself is heavily inspired by Ryuutama, with elements from many other RPGs sprinkled throughout. Each character consists of 4 stats represented with a die size, and checks consist of rolling two dice and adding them together vs a target number. Characters also have health, mana, defenses, special abilites, and character traits. The traits represent emotions and relationships, and can be "invoked" by spending Fabula points, similar to Fate, to augment rolls.

Each character is compulsively a multiclass character- you must select at least 2 starting classes. Each class grants active and passive abilities, giving a lot of room for customization. Classes are inspired by JRPG archetypes and multi-classing makes each character feel unique.

The game is not concerned with simulation or realism - much of the world is expressed in the abstract. There isn't a concern with tracking food or drink, light sources, or anything like that. The game is divided into Scenes, much like games like Fate or City of Mist. If nothing of interest is happening, you move forward to the next scene. The game uses Clocks to track abstract progress towards tasks rather than playing out every minute detail.

Combat doesn't use distances or maps. Combat tactics involve learning and exploiting elemental weaknesses, combining skills together, and otherwise making best use of your actions. Positioning doesn't matter.

The game relies a lot on its cooperative worldbuilding - in addition to the shared world creation, players can also introduce new story elements by spending fabula points or dramatically change the direction of a scene when rolling crits.

Thank you for the detailed reply.

 

[darjr]

Thanks for the feedback. I’m going to have to try that!