Fabula Ultima general thread [+]

[Aldarc]

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."

Fun fact. Cutscenes kind of exist in the game. When the villains have a typically brief scene without the PCs, much like a cutscene where the villains hint at their plot in dialogue with each other, the PCs get a Fabula point.

 

[Reynard]

Fun fact. Cutscenes kind of exist in the game. When the villains have a typically brief scene without the PCs, much like a cutscene where the villains hint at their plot in dialogue with each other, the PCs get a Fabula point.

Is the GM expected to perform a one person show for the players when their PCs aren't present?

 

[zakael19]

Is the GM expected to perform a one person show for the players when their PCs aren't present?

Brief foreshadowing mostly to show how the villain is Doing Stuff, far less than the usual read-aloud text you see in a D&D campaign.

 

[Ashilyn]

Is the GM expected to perform a one person show for the players when their PCs aren't present?

Kinda, but I think that's somewhat the wrong mindset for it. It's more a brief window into what the villains are doing for a moment, like Golbez chastising Kain in FFIV, or getting flashbacks to Zio petrifying an entire city in Phantasy Star IV, or Rufus confronting the reality of the approaching Diamond Weapon in FF7. You don't even have to be that specific. If the players suspect the chancellor is evil and, hey, he is, have him meeting with the villain behind him without explicitly identifying who it is, or show him scheming because they already suspect him anyway. It can be brief.

It gives players a clear idea that the enemies are up to something without having to spell it out for the players (unless you want to, much like how cutscenes in JRPGs work), and it also gives players a Fabula point if there's a villain in the scene, which can be used to replenish PCs on a resource if they're low. It also gives them direction if they need it, and it seems like on average FabUlt games are designed to be less sandboxy and a bit more around structured narratives than other games like Pathfinder or D&D.

 

[Reynard]

Kinda, but I think that's somewhat the wrong mindset for it. It's more a brief window into what the villains are doing for a moment, like Golbez chastising Kain in FFVI, or getting flashbacks to Zio petrifying an entire city in Phantasy Star IV, or Rufus confronting the reality of the approaching Diamond Weapon in FF7. You don't even have to be that specific. If the players suspect the chancellor is evil and, hey, he is, have him meeting with the villain behind him without explicitly identifying who it is, or show him scheming because they already suspect him anyway. It can be brief.

It gives players a clear idea that the enemies are up to something without having to spell it out for the players (unless you want to, much like how cutscenes in JRPGs work), and it also gives players a Fabula point if there's a villain in the scene, which can be used to replenish PCs on a resource if they're low. It also gives them direction if they need it, and it seems like on average FabUlt games are designed to be less sandboxy and a bit more around structured narratives than other games like Pathfinder or D&D.

I'm not even an immersion person, but cut scenes the players are privy to without their characters present feels off to me.

 

[Ashilyn]

You don't have to do them. It's just another way the game provides to emulate that feeling of experiencing a story in a JRPG video game. I'm personally used to it, it's been a tool myself and other GMs I know have been using since the 2000s, but it isn't for everyone - particularly if your group has a hard time separating player knowledge from meta knowledge.

In my experience it can lead to a lot of hype "I KNEW IT!" or "oh no this is bad" realizations, but I've never really had to worry about groups wielding that knowledge ICly either. If that is a concern, then just don't use them.

 

[Gradine]

I've utilized "cutscenes" of this nature before in other TTRPG, including D&D, and it's usually incredibly effective. Of course, I typically use for a more intimate and narrative way of providing exposition/buildup*, rather than "here's what the villains are up to", but having played many, many JRPGs in my time I can see how they would work out. Especially since their use here seems to be more about establishing mood and tone moreso than giving the players answers to riddles they're supposed to solve themselves.


*I once had a campaign where, at the beginning of each adventure I would briefly introduce an NPC, narrate them arriving in the region the campaign was set, coming across a small piece of the Trouble that the upcoming adventure would revolve around, and then, typically, die. It was a real fun tone-setter for sure.

 

[Reynard]

I'm not saying the idea is badwrongfun, just that I don't like it on its face.

 

[Aldarc]

I'm not saying the idea is badwrongfun, just that I don't like it on its face.

Then don't use them. The rules don't require that you use these scenes. EmaRooster isn't going to break into your home if you choose not use them either, and they definitely won't send the Pinkertons you choose not to use them either.

 

[Reynard]

Then don't use them. The rules don't require that you use these scenes. EmaRooster isn't going to break into your home if you choose not use them either, and they definitely won't send the Pinkertons you choose not to use them either.

I don't own the game. I was asking about it to determine whether I would be interested. Some posters seem to suggest these scenes are fundamental to play, which tamps down my interest.

I don't understand the hostility here.