Aldarc
Legend
Fabula Ultima TTJRPG by Emanuele Galleto has finally been translated and released in English! Fabula Ultima is a "Table Talk" RPG (the term Japanese TTRPGs use for the hobby) inspired by electronic Japanese Roleplaying Games - e.g., Final Fantasy, Chrono Trigger, Octopath Traveler, Dragon Quest, Fire Emblem, etc. - hence "TTJRPG." The game has been out for a year or so in Italy, but the English edition has finally been released as part of the 2022 Internationale Spieltage SPIEL (Essen Game Fair) in Essen, Germany.
Fabula Ultima was partially based on the Japanese TTRPG Ryuutama: Natural Fantasy Roleplay (i.e., Studio Ghibli + Oregon Trail), but it is not a direct port of the game by any means. I also found the list of TTRPGs that helped inspire this game to be quite telling, if not highly appealing to my own tastes:
Having read the book, though I have not yet had a chance to see it work out in play, the game reads like a fairly Neo-Traditional game. The characters are front and center. The game world revolves around the characters, which is fairly standard for JRPGs.
BASICS: Attributes, Stats, and Resolution System
The attribute system comes from Ryuutama, but it is similar to Savage Worlds or Cortex Prime. There are four attributes - Dexterity, Insight, Might, and Willpower - which are rated with dice: d6 through d12. These attributes also determine Hit Points (HP) and Mind Points (MP). There are also Inventory Points (IP), but IP is not derived from attributes like HP and MP are. To explain IP briefly: the PCs have a certain number of IP (typically 6) which they can use to just declare that they have an item in their Inventory: potions or utility items. A Healing/Remedy Potion, for example, costs 3 IP. IP can only be replenished in town and spending the game's currency: Zenit.
IP does not include adventuring gear, because the game basically assumes that the characters have what is reasonable for adventurers to carry: e.g., rope, torches, water skins, etc. If you want your game to be about PC Item Resource management as per OSR or some D&D games, this game will not be for you.
By D&D standards, this game is Skill-less. When there is a Check, players will usually be rolling two of these or double and adding them together. This also comes from Ryuutama. For example, a sword attack may be Dexterity + Might; investigating a situation may be Insight + Insight; or avoiding a trap may be Dexterity + Insight. The GM calls for rolls, and they use a small difficulty ladder: Easy 7, Normal 10, Hard 13, and Very Hard 16. There can also be Opposed Rolls. Greater than or equal to succeeds, and lower than DC fails. Players automatically succeed and score a Critical Success, regardless of the difficulty, if they roll doubles of two 6 values or higher (i.e., 6+6, 7+7, 8+8, etc.), but they Fumble and fail automatically if they roll double 1s. Earning a Fumble gives the PC a Fabula Point. Earning a Critical Success gives the PC an Opportunity, a favorable twist in the narrative. The book provides a list of Opportunites the PC can choose from.
It's also worth pointing out that the game also uses Group Checks, including for things like Initiative (Dexterity + Insight) or even some social scenes, such as an audience with the king/queen. In these cases, one character is designated the Leader for the check and the other characters are Supporting Characters. The Supporting Characters roll Support Checks against DC 10. Each success bolsters the Leader's roll by +1.
The game provides instructures, guidelines, and principles for the GM about resolving rolls: e.g., never subvert the outcome, succeeding at a check means the PC earns the success, no do-overs. The game though does provide an option for Success at a Cost. Characters can also invoke their Traits or Bonds (later) by spending a Fabula point to re-roll or improve their results, which is highly reminiscent of Fate. But more reminiscent of Cortex, the players can also invoke one of their Traits to automatically fail a check. This does not cost a Fabula point; instead, it earns them 1 Fabula Point.
SETTING
There is no default setting for Fabula Ultima. Instead, the GM and Players build one together. There are three suggested thematic setting archetypes that the group could choose for the tone of their game: High Fantasy, Natural Fantasy, and Techno Fantasy. There is also a Group Creation process that involves picking a Group Type to make sure that the players and GM are all on the same page about what sort of game the players want for their heroes: e.g., Heroes of the Resistance, Guardians, Seekers, Revolutionaries, etc.
CHARACTER CREATION
Player Characters have three Aspect/Distinction-like Traits: Identity, Theme, and Origin. Identity is analogous to the High Concept in Fate. The Theme of the character is the motivating factor, ideal, or emotion that drives the character's actions. There is a list of Themes, which are all one-word descriptors: e.g., Justice, Duty, Vengeance, Ambition, Guilt, etc. The PC's Origin represents where they are from. Notice that I said nothing about Species, Race, or Ancestry. It has no mechanical impact. If relevant, your Species can be included into your Identity or possibly Origin. Identities and Themes can change over the course of the game, but Origin cannot.
Bonds
Characters have Bonds with other characters (and NPCs), organizations, religions, or nations. There are six bonds, or really three sets of two opposing bonds: e.g., Admiration vs. Inferiority, Loyalty vs. Mistrust, Affection vs. Hatred. For each emotion that one feels for the character, the strength of that bond goes up by 1. So for example, feeling Loyalty and Affection towards the Princess provides the PC towards them with a Bond of +2. This Bond bonus can be used to bolster Checks or even some class abilities.
Classes and Levels
There are 50 total levels, and PCs start at Level 5. This may sound weird, but hold on, because it makes more sense with Classes. There are 15 Classes in the game (later). Taking a "level" in one class gives you the option to take a class Skill, and it's possible to take some Skills multiple times. This means that Classes are more like loose, thematic skill packages rather than hard, bound archetypes.
A starting Level 5 PC must take at least two different Classes but also no more than three so you are building your character through Multiclassing. The max level a character can put into a single class is 10, and the class is considered "mastered."
- Arcanist: summoners who merge with spirits for passives and release them for powerful active effects
- Chimerist: copy cats monster or NPC abilities they encounter
- Darkblade: edge lord warrior - dark knights, death knights, etc.
- Elementalist: black mage, kaboom, elemental spells
- Entropist: astromancer, chaos mage, diviner, etc.
- Fury: berserker but also martial artist
- Guardian: defense mundane warrior
- Loremaster: the character who likes to know and analyze
- Orator: the face, speaker, envoy, etc.
- Rogue: ninja, thief, etc.
- Sharpshooter: ranged warrior for bows and guns
- Spiritist: healer, white mage, priest, etc.
- Tinkerer: alchemist, artificer, etc. but also good with IP
- Wayfarer: the wilderness component of rangers, travelers, scouts, etc.
- Weaponmaster: offensive mundane warrior
What's also nice is that the book provides GM guidance about how to potentially build scenarios around the classes and abilities that PCs choose. There are also additional classes on the author's Patreon that are being playtested: i.e., Chanter, Commander, Dancer, Floralist, Gourmet, Invoker, Merchant, Mutant, Pilot, Psychic, and Symbolist.
The game does provide templates and sample starting builds, including suggested attributes. For example, the Valkyrie (hello Final Fantasy Dragoon!): Elementalist (2 levels: Soaring Strike, Vortex), Guardian (1 level: Fortress), and Weaponmaster (2 levels: Bladestorm, Melee Weapon Mastery).
Fabula and Ultima Points
I mentioned before that Fabula Points are this game's version of Fate points. They can be used to Invoke a Trait or Bond, use or power a Skill, or Alter the Story. This latter point works much like in Fate. The character can alter an existing element or add a new element. Three examples given include (1) a PC spending a Fabula Point to declare that they know a scholar nearby who can help them decipher an ancient language; (2) a PC spending 1 Fabula Point to declare that the dragon they tracked to its lair is presently sleeping; and (3) a PC spending 1 Fabula Point to declare that the city guard who is stalking them turns out to be an old war buddy from the PCs past. PCs get Fabula Points a variety of ways, including when a Villain enters the scene.
One of the more interesting innovations though comes from Ultima Points. Ultima Points are like Fabula Points for the Villains. Ultima Points do gain Ultima Points like PCs do. Instead, they have a fixed amount based upon their significance in the narrative: i.e., Minor (5), Major (10), or Supreme (15). A Villain without Ultima Points is no longer a villain, but, instead, becomes a regular NPC. Villains can spend their Ultima Points to Invoke a Trait/Bond, Recovery (i.e., status effects and regain 50 mind points), AND to ESCAPE! That's right. Here is the mechanic for when your JRPG Villains jump off a cliff and land safely on a flying ship that takes them out of the scene. Ultima Points are how your Villains live to fight another day!
That said, if a Villain goes from a minor villain to a major one - power ups or mergers into a new big bad - then they are effectively treated as a new Villain. There is also guidance for handling villains with secret identities, multiple villains, and back-to-back scenes with Villains. The GM can also have a scene with the Villains and no PCs. (Think about the cutscene without the PCs where the Villains plot, scheme, and talk among themselves.) Even in these Villain-only scenes that don't directly involve the PCs, the PCs will gain a Fabula Point.
Concluding Thoughts
There is a lot more to this game that I have not discussed: 0 HP (surrendering and sacrifice), Crisis (i.e., 4e's Bloodied), etc. but this incomplete overview is at least a start. In many respects, the feels lighter than 5e D&D, but it is still a medium crunch game. There is a lot that I like about the game, and it's pretty clear from reading the game that the author has taken a lot of the guiding principles of its inspiration - both the JRPGs and the TTRPGs that inspired the game - to great heart.
I am definitely excited about trying this game at some point. The PDF is available on DriveThruRPG, and a hardback is coming soon. It's one of the few books that I began reading from cover to cover as soon as I got it. Fabula Ultima is probably in my Top 3 games of this year so far.
There are conditions for self-sacrifice, namely that two of the following are true: (1) a villain is present, (2) the sacrifice would benefita character you have a Bond with, or (3) you believe that your sacrifice would make the world a better place. The "effect" of self-sacrifice can be grand, though it has to be negotiated with the GM, but the game lists some examples: lifting a centuries old curse, temporarily disabling the powers of a demigod, or fighting off an army single-handly to give your allies time to escape. And below this section on Sacrifice is something else that is quite notable: mechanically, there is no Resurrection magic.* According to the author, this is because character death should be meaningful and the afterlife should be a mystery that can be explored in play.
