Fabula Ultima: Table Talk JPRG in English

[Blue Orange]

I liked the bit about villain Escalation, where once you defeat the villain they can come back in a larger, more menacing form. Yep, they do that in JRPGs.

The pillar of 'Everything has a Soul' is a nice animist touch alluding to the cultural differences between Japan and Europe/North America. (Marie Kondo's bit of thanking objects before you throw them out seems a lot more natural that way.)

Was also fun to see what bits they pulled from where. Having not played the full slate of JRPGs, I could still go "hey, there's the Time/Space Mage from FF5 and FFTactics!" (Entropist) "Hey, there's the Blue Mage, but they turned it into a Druid!" (Chimerist) "There's the Summoner!" (Arcanist) "There's the Swordmage from FF5!" (Spellblade build) "There's the Red Mage from FF1 onward!" (Red Sorcerer build) "Hey, there's all the Flame and Ice shields from all the games!" "There's FF6 and FF7's techno dystopia!" (Techno Fantasy)

The pixelated pics of the items were cute.

 

[RainOnTheSun]

I haven't gotten a chance to test out the gameplay yet, but I've bought Fabula Ultima and I'm very excited about it. It's fun to look through all the class skills and pick out fun little synergies you could build a character around.

 

[Aldarc]

I liked the bit about villain Escalation, where once you defeat the villain they can come back in a larger, more menacing form. Yep, they do that in JRPGs.

Yeah, like a defeated villain makes a pact with a dark force, merging together, and then turns into an even bigger bad guy as part of the power-up.

The pillar of 'Everything has a Soul' is a nice animist touch alluding to the cultural differences between Japan and Europe/North America. (Marie Kondo's bit of thanking objects before you throw them out seems a lot more natural that way.)

I liked this point as well for similar reasons.

Was also fun to see what bits they pulled from where. Having not played the full slate of JRPGs, I could still go "hey, there's the Time/Space Mage from FF5 and FFTactics!" (Entropist) "Hey, there's the Blue Mage, but they turned it into a Druid!" (Chimerist) "There's the Summoner!" (Arcanist) "There's the Swordmage from FF5!" (Spellblade build) "There's the Red Mage from FF1 onward!" (Red Sorcerer build) "Hey, there's all the Flame and Ice shields from all the games!" "There's FF6 and FF7's techno dystopia!" (Techno Fantasy)

The pixelated pics of the items were cute.

Agreed. There was a lot of Final Fantasy, but I was also in the middle of playing Octopath Traveler when the English version of Fabula Ultima dropped, so I can see things like the Scholar (Cyrus) as well. There is no real shapeshifting to the Chimera to really call it much of a Druid nor much mastery over plants, though that may come with the Mutant and Floralist classes in the playtest documents.

 

[overgeeked]

I wish that more games would do this. 4e was the game that made me realize how much I love magical rituals in TTRPGs. 5e's backsliding to making utility and non-combat magic into instant-cast spells disappointed me.

IMHO, Rituals are often an afterthought to a lot of games, where so much magic are instant cast combat-oriented spells. They don't really do a good job of representing the fiction of magical rituals that are commonly depicted in media. It's a shame because rituals make such great set pieces and flavor for conflict in TTRPGs: i.e., PCs must stop the ritual before it is cast OR the PCs must defender the area so the ritual can succeed.

Exactly. It's such a big part of the media that inspires these games, and yet, it's mostly forgotten in the games themselves.

I liked the bit about villain Escalation, where once you defeat the villain they can come back in a larger, more menacing form. Yep, they do that in JRPGs.

I watch Critical Role and it's a common theme that Matt's boss fights are clearly inspired by JRPGs. There was something of a boss fight in last night's episode and with Fabula Ultima on the brain I just kept thinking of how the fight would work in this system. It would be a whole lot smoother and less confusing for the players, that's for sure. The advice on telegraphing aspects of boss fights is on point.

The pillar of 'Everything has a Soul' is a nice animist touch alluding to the cultural differences between Japan and Europe/North America.

Yeah, I gotta say I love that about JRPGs and Japanese media generally. Animism is a lot of fun and has amazing potential for gaming. Planegea (a recent 5E book) handled that really well, I think. By giving the referee advice on making certain nature spirits come alive and take the place of magic shops and gods in the setting. You want an enchanted item, you have to go to the river spirit and negotiate.

Was also fun to see what bits they pulled from where. Having not played the full slate of JRPGs, I could still go "hey, there's the Time/Space Mage from FF5 and FFTactics!" (Entropist) "Hey, there's the Blue Mage, but they turned it into a Druid!" (Chimerist) "There's the Summoner!" (Arcanist) "There's the Swordmage from FF5!" (Spellblade build) "There's the Red Mage from FF1 onward!" (Red Sorcerer build) "Hey, there's all the Flame and Ice shields from all the games!" "There's FF6 and FF7's techno dystopia!" (Techno Fantasy)

Absolutely. Though I got way more of a Dragon Quest vibe from the monsters for some reason.

The pixelated pics of the items were cute.

^.^

I haven't gotten a chance to test out the gameplay yet, but I've bought Fabula Ultima and I'm very excited about it. It's fun to look through all the class skills and pick out fun little synergies you could build a character around.

It's a character builders dream. Fifteen classes with five skills each. Some can be taken only once, some can be taken multiple times. You can only have three active classes at a time and you're capped to 10 levels in a class. There's a lot of freedom there and a few restrictions. I'm generally not a fan of builds meant to break games, but I'd like to see builds that show off the versatility of the game.

Agreed. There was a lot of Final Fantasy, but I was also in the middle of playing Octopath Traveler when the English version of Fabula Ultima dropped, so I can see things like the Scholar (Cyrus) as well. There is no real shapeshifting to the Chimera to really call it much of a Druid nor much mastery over plants, though that may come with the Mutant and Floralist classes in the playtest documents.

Yeah, that was definitely jarring for me as well. A druid that doesn't shapeshift? What?

 

[TwoSix]

Bit of a bump.

Did the Patreon classes you mentioned in the OP, @Aldarc, ever get released? Did the hardcover ever come out?

 

[Crusadius]

Bit of a bump.

Did the Patreon classes you mentioned in the OP, @Aldarc, ever get released? Did the hardcover ever come out?

I have not seen word about a hard cover, but a soft cover (with dust jacket) is available for sale via Modiphius.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Identity is analogous to the High Concept in Fate.

Not a clue as to what this means.

 

[Aldarc]

Not a clue as to what this means.

The high concept in Fate is a short descriptor about your character concept: for example,...

• Force-Sensitive Farmboy
• Hot Shot Spice Smuggler
• Last Son of Krypton
• Friendly Neighborhood Web-Slinger
• Capitalist Inventor in a Technological Suit

 

[TwoSix]

I have not seen word about a hard cover, but a soft cover (with dust jacket) is available for sale via Modiphius.

Modiphus was pretty expensive for me (I'm in the US, and it looks like the were shipping from the UK). But I did find an American distributor (Studio 2 Publishing), and have a copy en-route.

 

[1000buffalo]

I picked up a copy yesterday at my flgs (Black Diamond Games) on a lark, and after giving it a read, I’m really impressed. Looking forward to giving it a spin.