overgeeked
Open-World Sandbox
To be fair, it's dead simple to make monsters in Fabula Ultima. I get it, but it's super easy to do yourself.
Fabula Ultima Hardback & Bestiary Vol. 1 Kickstarter
- Thread starter Aldarc
- Start date
overgeeked
Open-World Sandbox
ffanxii4ever
Explorer
JRPG-inspired in that it leans into many of the tropes and themes of the genre, from character classes that heavily resemble anything you would see in a Final Fantasy game, to an emphasis on bonds between your PCs, and combat which deliberately tries to emulate the classic heroes and enemies lining up and taking turns hitting each other, instead of a grid-based tactical game like Draw Steel or Pathfinder.
Mechanically, it is pretty simple, just two dice, maybe plus a modifier, rolled vs. a Difficulty set by the action or GM. The size of the dice range from a d6 to d12 and are your attributes. It has a slight PbtA vibe (at least to me) in that everything is supposed to push the narrative forward, success or failure, and has some more lightweight narrative rules to it.
Mechanically, it is pretty simple, just two dice, maybe plus a modifier, rolled vs. a Difficulty set by the action or GM. The size of the dice range from a d6 to d12 and are your attributes. It has a slight PbtA vibe (at least to me) in that everything is supposed to push the narrative forward, success or failure, and has some more lightweight narrative rules to it.
overgeeked
Open-World Sandbox
Already passed the $500,000 mark. Here's to hoping it's another $1 million Kickstarter.
Congrats to Emanuele Galletto and Need Games.
Congrats to Emanuele Galletto and Need Games.
overgeeked
Open-World Sandbox
Oh. And they're minutes away from unlocking their last listed stretch goal, solo mode.
ETA: And unlocked.
ETA: And unlocked.
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Aldarc
Legend
Fabula Ultima is a TTRPG inspired by Japanese Roleplaying Games, particularly Japanese console games (e.g., Final Fantasy, Chrono Trigger, Dragon Quest, Octopath Traveler, Zelda, etc.) and inevitably also some anime. It's meant to emulate the feel of these games as a whole.
The game draws inspiration as well from narrative-first games like PbtA games, Blades in the Dark, Fate, etc. but also games like 13th Age and 4e D&D.
The resolution system is adopted from the Japanese "tabletalk game" Ryuutama. It involves having four attributes that are rated by different die sizes. Most checks involve rolling two dice based on the two (or even one) attributes involved plus modifiers (weapons, spells, etc.) vs. the Difficulty set by the GM.
The game also uses Fate-like aspects for characters (Traits) as well as character Bonds (with a PC/NPC, nation, organization, etc.). There are Fate-like points for PCs called Fabula points. Likewise the GM has Ultima points that can be used for villain actions: e.g., having them escape after being defeated, invoking traits, recover, etc. The GM can also escalate by powering up the villain.
All characters are multiclass characters, typically combining 2-3 class/job options to a max cap of 10 levels per class. Starting characters actually start at level 5 and there are 50 total levels. When you level in a class, you are typically either gaining a new ability (e.g., spell, talent, invention, etc.) or improving one (to the cap).
Edit: Here is a Character Sheet from the Press Start quickstart so you can get a bird's eye view:
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overgeeked
Open-World Sandbox
For those wondering, the lock icons and numbers represent which scene in the quickstart you will use (or unlock) that part of the character sheet. It legit walks you through how things work in a specific order to teach you the game like a JRPG tutorial.
Also, the classes make up building blocks, not whole character concepts on their own. Your character starts at level 5, and you need to spread those levels over 2 or 3 different classes. Each class has a number of "skills" (which from a D&D perspective are more like class features), and for each level you take in a class you get to choose one of those skills. Some come in multiple levels. There's also a fairly long list of how to use the classes and skills to realize various concepts. For example, to make a "ranger" you could start by three levels in Sharpshooter giving you Ranged Weapon Mastery and two points of Warning Shot, as well as two levels in Wayfarer giving you Resourceful and Well-traveled. A "red sorcerer" combining melee with magic could take three levels of Elementalist for Elemental Magic (Iceberg) and two points of Spellblade, one level of Spiritist for Spirit Magic (Heal), and one level of Weaponmaster for Melee Weapon Mastery.
Once you've taken ten levels in a single class, you have Mastered that class and learn a special Mastery feature and can't take any more levels in it – so you'll never be able to take all the skills from a single class.
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