Rules | Guides | Home | Maps | Campaigns

Fantasy Rules Based on Fudge

Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Character Generation
    1. Information
    2. Attributes
    3. Gifts
    4. Faults
    5. Skills
  3. Magic
  4. Character Advancement
  5. Character Templates
  6. Combat

Introduction

These rules are based on the FUDGE rules by Steffan O'Sullivan and were developed to be used in the fantasy campaign that planned to run as a PBEM in 2003.

To use these rules you will need to be familiar with the core rules of FUDGE, and these combat tables.

ABOUT FUDGE

Fudge is a role-playing game written by Steffan O'Sullivan, with extensive input from the Usenet community of rec.games.design. The basic rules of Fudge are available on the Internet at http://www.fudgerpg.com and in book form from Grey Ghost Games, PO. Box 838, Randolph, MA 02368. They may be used with any gaming genre. While an individual work derived from Fudge may specify certain attributes and skills, many more are possible with Fudge. Every Game Master using Fudge is encouraged to add or ignore any character traits. Anyone who wishes to distribute such material for free may do so - merely include this ABOUT FUDGE notice and disclaimer (complete with Fudge copyright notice). If you wish to charge a fee for such material, other than as an article in a magazine or other periodical, you must first obtain a royalty-free license from the author of Fudge, Steffan O'Sullivan, P.O. Box 465, Plymouth, NH 03264.

DISCLAIMER

The following materials based on Fudge, entitled Fantasy Rules for FUDGE, are created by, made available by, and Copyright (C) 2003 by Jakim Friant, and are not necessarily endorsed in any way by Steffan O'Sullivan or any publisher of other Fudge materials. Neither Steffan O'Sullivan nor any publisher of other Fudge materials is in any way responsible for the content of these materials unless specifically credited. Original Fudge materials Copyright (C)1992-1995 by Steffan O'Sullivan, All Rights Reserved.

CREDITS

The Gramarye v1.0 is Copyright © 1997 by Carl D Cravens (raven @ phoenyx.net).

Character Generation

Subjective character creation is the easiest way to create a FUDGE character and will be the one that is generally used in these rules. Players should start by writing up a paragraph explaining the character concept. This should just be a quick sketch of what the character is like. The rest of the character generation should be based on this concept.

Information

Attributes

These describe your characters physical and intellectual capabilities. Each character will start out with one Great attribute, one Good attribute, and two Fair attributes. Players can also opt to reduce one attribute by one level so they can raise another by one level (for example, one can elect to take Dexterity at Mediocre so that Strength can be raised to Superb).

Gifts

A character starts out with two gifts chosen from this list.

Faults

Three Faults should be chosen for a beginning character from this list.

Skills

These represent knowledge that a character has gained while growing up. A beginning character will have up to 12 skills. These are divided up as two Great skills, six Good skills, and four Fair skills. The skills should be chosen from this list of skills.

Magic

Magic is based on the system called The Gramarye. The following paragraphs outline my changes to the system and a basic spell list (note that new spells can be created with these rules).

In Wythmende most mainstream magic is based on scientific theory. Spells are generated by manipulating a physical energy called mana that is present through out the world. New spells are developed through research and experimentation.

To cast a spell, a mage can draw mana from his surroundings. The amount of mana that a mage can draw in is governed by his Will attribute. At the default level of Fair a mage can draw 4 points of mana. This is increased by one for each level above Fair, or decreased the same way for levels below Fair. For game play, mana works like a pool. When a spell is cast, the cost in mana is deducted from the pool. If there are remaining points of mana, then additional spells may be cast. Spent mana is recovered at one point every turn (which is usually 5 seconds).

Since most mages will not have enough personal mana to cast many useful spells, using props and powerstones will be very important. Wands, staffs, and other magical items can be permanently enchanted to provide some or all the mana needed to cast the specific spell bound to them. Some spells will require a physical component that will be used up in creating the spell. These are the most common prop needed, and though these type of props are very small (a hawk feather, a drop of snake venom, a pinch of sulfur, etc.) they still will serve to limit the number of spells that can be cast at any one time.

According to the Gramarye, spells are created by combining understanding of an area of magic (Realm) with a skill to manipulate magic (College). By combining these two you come up with a basic difficulty and mana cost. This is modified by the size and effect of the spell (bigger spells cost more and are more difficult to cast).

The following list of Realms and Colleges are taken from the Gramarye and are the official list for the Wythmende world. Each is learned as a separate skill and when creating a spell the characters effective skill level is equal to the lower of the two.

Realms

Colleges

I've worked up a list of basic spells that can be cast. At the beginning of each spell the required Realm and College is listed. After that, the effect is also the difficulty level rolled against to cast the spell. Then the mana costs are broken down and the total mana required is listed.

Character Advancement

Characters will improve their skills over time as well as be able to learn new skills. Free skill points will be awarded during the game that can be spent to increase current skills by a level. New skills are learned at the Poor level and can be increased later on as well.

Two skill levels can be traded in for one free attribute level. Increasing attributes is limited in that no attribute can be raised past Good during a game without the GM's permission.

Faults can be removed by trading in four skill levels.

Gifts can not normally be added to a character once the game has started.

Character Templates

I have developed a number of standard character types that can be used in this campaign.

Combat

Combat will be conducted using the regular FUDGE rules (see the combat tables). The attacker will have a number of factors that will be added up to give a total Offense value. These include character strength, relative size, weapon strength, and weapon size. The defender has a Defense value made up of the armor strength, relative size, and any special defensive modifiers. The relative degree of success from the to-hit roll is added to the Offense value and the total is compared to the Defense value to determine if the defender was hit and how badly.

Offensive Factor = Strength + Relative Size + Weapon Damage

Defensive Factor = Armor Strength + Relative Size + Special Modifiers (including Damage Capacity)

Damage Factor = Degree of Success on Roll + Your Offensive Factor - Opponents Defensive Factor

If the to-hit roll was missed then the Damage Factor does not need to be calculated since it will be zero. But a hit could be made that still does not raise the Damage Factor above 0 and so the hit is discarded (it bounced off the armor). If the Damage Factor is 1 or more then the following table is consulted to determine what kind of wound was done.

Damage Factor
1,23,45,67,89+
Wounds:ScratchHurtVery HurtIncapacitatedNear Death
OOOOOOO

The circles below the wound level are for recording the wounds a character has received. Once a character has filled in all the circles and receives another wound at that same level, then mark in the circle in the next highest level that hasn't been filled in. For example, a character with three scratch wounds and one hurt wound will fill in very hurt the next time he receives another scratch wound. Note that scratch wounds will never advance the wound level past very hurt.

Weapons and Armor

Weapons have two attributes, size and sharpness (or quality), that make up it's damage value. The size is based on the table below. Quality of most weapons is Fair or normal with a +0 bonus.

Armor is similar but normally is rated only on the protection. Examples are given in the table below.

Detailed weapon and armor lists may be provided by the GM, but as a general guide the following values will be used:

Size

Example

Bonus

Small (Fair)

Knife

+0

Medium (Good)

Short Sword

+1

Large (Great)

Broad Sword, Axe

+2

Large, Two-Handed (Superb)

Bastard Sword

+3




High Quality (Good)


+1

Low Quality (Mediocre)


-1




Light, non-metal armor (Good)

Cloth

+1

Heavy, non-metal armor (Great)

Boiled Leather

+2

Light, metal armor (Great)

Scale

+2

Medium, metal armor (Superb)

Chain

+3

Heavy, metal armor (Legendary)

Plate

+4



Note: for references see Fudge: Weapons, by A. Spallino, and Medieval/Fantasy Weapons, by C. Jones