The Shiny: It's not very shiny at all. In fact my version is all text. It's free, so I can't complain.
FUDGE dice are cheaply available - or make your own with permanent marker
Gameplay:
The game revolves around "FUDGE Dice" - d6 cubes; with two sides marked with a "+", two sides marked with a "-" and two blank sides. Each roll involves using 4 FUDGE dice.
Each "+" moves the result up a level; each "-" moves the result down a level.
The FUDGE dice are easy to make - I made mine in 5 minutes with a permanent marker and some clear matte spraypaint - but you can buy + or - dice cheaply from EM4 or Grey Ghost themselves.
Skills & Stats
Player skills and stats can be whatever they decide. Most stats come in 7 levels (although you could expand them - i.e. levels above superb, like "legendary" are quite common):
Superb
Great
Good
Fair <-----------human average
Mediocre
Poor
Terrible
The good feature about this is that stats can be about whatever you choose - and the same mechanics are used for attributes and skills. In a typical wargame you might choose "Missile" "Melee" "Defence" "Willpower" "Strength" and "Agility" as base stats, for example - but you can customise your stat-line as you choose.
The beauty of this system is it is word based (i.e. you can describe things, and your description gives the stat i.e. "Legolas is a superb archer" - giving him a missile skill of "Superb" whilst "Gimli is good at throwing his axes" - giving him a missile skill of "good". It is quite intuitive.
Unopposed Roll: Tasks are assigned a difficulty level (i.e. "Great" difficulty). You then roll the 4 FUDGE dice (hereafter called 4DF), add any + results and deduct any - results to your relevant attribute or skill.
I.e. a wall might be "great difficulty" to climb. A elf with "good" agility would need to increase 1 level to "great" to succeed. He rolls 4DF, and gets [+] [ - ] [ ] [+]. The [+] and [ - ] cancel each other out, leaving one [ + ] which increases his agility result from "good" to "great" - he succeeds in climbing the wall. If he had rolled [ - ] [ - ] [ ] [ ] he would have been -2 levels ("mediocre") resulting in a failure or a fall.
Opposed Rolls: These are usually used for combat and the like. Both sides roll 4DF and increase or decrease their relevant stat according to the + and - results thrown. I.e. a elf and a orc are in melee.
The elf has "Fair" combat skills - he rolls a [ + ] [ - ] [ - ] [ ] decreasing him 1 level to "mediocore".
The Orc is also a "Fair" fighter. He rolls [ + ] [ + ] [ ] [ ] increasing 2 levels to "great".
The orc wins comfortably (by a difference of 3 levels). The difference is called the "relative degree" of victory (or failure) and may have further implications.
For example, the orc might then roll to damage using its strength stat, plus 4DF, then add its relative degree of success (+3). The elf would roll is toughness stat plus 4DF.
The relative degree of that roll might determine damage i.e. 1-2 difference = scratch, 3-4 = hurt, 5-6 very hurt; 7-8 incapacitated; 9+ dead.
The beauty of this system is it is word based (i.e. you can describe things, and your description gives the stat i.e. "Legolas is a superb archer" - giving him a missile skill of "Superb" whilst "Gimli is good at throwing his axes" - giving him a missile skill of "good". It is quite intuitive.
The second thing I like is results are predictable due to the "bell curve" of the 4DF. i.e. the chance of rolling +4 or -4 levels is quite low - both have only a 1.2% chance of occurring i.e.
+4 or -4 = 1.2%
+3 or -3 = 4.9%
+2 or -2 = 12.3%
+1or -1 = 19.8%
no change = 23.5%
This means characters tend to behave how they are expected with a "fair" skilled character commonly capable of mediocre to good results but seldom being truly superb or genuinely terrible; most of the time the mini will perform as advertised.
The game also uses "Fudge points" - heroic characters usually have 1 to 5 of these. "Fudge points" can be used to increase or decrease rolls by 1 level (or wounds by 1 level) per point spent. These recharge after each adventure or mission and are thus a resource to be managed during battle.
There is a simple points build system where skills and attributes can be raised or lowered. Skills above "Fair" cost points whilst stats below "Fair" reimburse build points.
The free FUDGE rules include a basic magic (including psychic powers) and a basic combat system. There are a zillion homebrew rules and mods for FUDGE - some quite 'complete' and professional. A quick google will reveal a zillion systems for combat and magic. Alternately you can buy sourcebooks from Grey Ghost themselves.
Obi Wan says this is not the fudge you were looking for....
TL:DR
"FUDGE" can be bolted into almost any ruleset by virtue of its description-based nature. It can be used as a simple solution to replace part of a game you are unhappy with. Don't like the magic system in a game? Replace it with a FUDGE based system.
It is also easy to "stat up" random models as the stats are descriptive rather than numbers. Eyeball the model. I.e. if a benchmark human warrior is "fair" - would that ogre have "good" or "great" strength in comparison?
The FUDGE dice give a bell-curve of results making results more predictable than usual, which may benefit those cursed by the dice gods (my wife knows what I am talking about - she only likes games where '1's are a good result). The fact the same "engine" is used for all skills and actions makes his game easy to learn - I taught the basics to my wife in 5 minutes waiting for a train...
Recommended? A solid RPG system in its own right (Origins award nominated), it is highly customisable and very welcoming to home-brew add-ons. You can also use the basic mechanics in the system to "fix" bits of other games that annoy you without adding lots of complication. And did I mention it is free?
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