Post originally by Stitch at 2004-05-21 06:45:23
Converted from Phorums BB System

> Which leads to my next painful disclosure of
> honesty: this game just does not appeal to me

Not a bad review, but obviously quite colored by your preference. I'll admit: I don't think I'd go for it either. But this comment (and your dissatisfaction with Fudge) leads me to think that you're a "gaming" oriented gamer faced with a "dramatic/story-driven" rpg.

I can't remember where I read the distinction, but it made sense; someone drew broad categories of RPG: Simulationist, where you're trying to exactly replicate a reality, even if it's not ours (there's a roll for EVERYTHING, should you choose to use it), Gaming (where gameplay is easier but the thing feels more "gamey"--like the artificial class-based world of d20) and Dramatic (where the rules are as light as possible and generally only used when necessary).

Fudge tends to be more of a "dramatic" ruleset--very light, very flexible, easy to get the basics of, but extremely grainy. I highly recommend it (or the fudge variant of "FATE") for introducing new players to RPGs. People whose eyes glaze over at the idea of "er, you have a 14 strength, so on a scale of 3 to 18 with around 11-12 being average, that means you're slightly above average, which means maybe a +1 to your damage rolls, which you can calculate after your to-hit roll, which is done by taking your base THACO plus..." can easily get behind "you are a GOOD swordsman, so by rolling four dice which show +1, +1, 0, -1 you get a net +1 for a GREAT attack against your opponent's FAIR defense"

My point is this: Fudge is a great system paired with the right group and setting. Taken out of context, it's lousy--just like trying to run a complex fine-grained battle using the base d20 mechanics or using the voluminous charts of SpaceMaster for what should have been a three-second knockdown punch.

And if I'm reading the setting and intended play of HeartQuest, I'm guessing that Fudge is a reasonable rules-light system to go with it. Although it does beg the question "why not BESM?" which is already an existing well-supported flexible system clearly oriented toward anime. Of course, then you have licensing issues, but you can't have everything.

-->VPutz