I do like the fact that some classes have more options to choose than others, because some players are intimidated by pages after pages of spells and things to write/remmeber.
Agreed - and since you choose more than one class the balancing between classes is imho decidedly less important, because you can e.g. choose one for power and one as a complement. He chose a weird example for a class with less options though. The chimerist is some sort of blue mage that can attempt to learn any spell an enemy casts. Which, over the course of a campaign could become quite a lot, even if you start out with not all that much. (Which btw. is an absolutely great feature from a Story-Telling perspective, because a character reusing the signature moves of past encounters always serves as a short trip down memory lane what the group has already overcome and how that session went.) ... ... I guess that settles my next purchasing decision.
From running simulations, they actually seem pretty well balanced when considered that you MUST multi-class anyway. Some of those 'simple' choices also hit like a freight train, in particularly when in combo with effects set up by team members.
Given the recent changes with the OGL, and my table really being stuck with D&D, I convinced them to branch out a bit and try Fabula. One world building, and one playing session later, the other DM in the group (who has basically only played D&D for the last 7 years) announced he would be putting his long running game on pause and be switching us all to Fabula.
My group are all anime and jrpg fans, so we kinda naturally fell into the GM scene idea. Never really thought it out before this game called them out. Typically they are either moments that set flavor and tone (like a short interaction between npcs) or, more rarely, an interaction between the villains to build tension
I did a game master scene for a large battle. Ahead of time I asked players about choices they would make in certain instances and then wrote out the battle from different characters' points of view. It was really well received, but I didn't do it that often.
I already do the Game Master Cutscenes, but I do it between sessions. I'm a writer first and foremost, so I'll just write out a cutscene and post it on our discord in a specific channel for said cutscenes. It's a *fantastic tool* that I wish more GMs would embrace because a ton of us are way more talented writers than we think.
I find the dual attribute rolling to be pretty simple with a bit of a mental formula. One stat is for the theme of the problem, the second is the stat for how they are doing it. Grtting a boulder up a hill is Might by default. Character pushes it, then the other is Might A character jumps up top and tries to run it up, Dex A character tries to work out leveage, Insight A character tries to convince someone else to do it? Well that's a new challenge so thr first stat changes to Wisdom
I like how narrative focused and abstract the system seems to be while still evoking the “feel” of a JRPG. By not getting too bogged down in specific mechanics, it seems like it would be relatively simple to adopt this system to a variety of styles of settings across the JRPG spectrum.
Remember, the Player and the Character are two different people. The player wants a success, but the Character's must overcome hurdles, thanks to Brennen Mulligan for that incite to GMing and playing the game. I just bought it though. So thanks for showing this too me. If nothing else, due to lack of a party, I can Solo RPG this and feel like I am playing whatever Fantasy game I want to play!
I could see this as being a fantasy RPG a decent mount of gamers would have fun with. Green Ronin took a stab at emulating anime and manga through Mutants & Masterminds Mecha & Manga supplement and it was pretty good. This REALLY looks spot on JRPG even down to the art and how the weapons, gear, and monsters are laid out. Even just watching the review, the book reminded me of an old strategy guide for one of those games. And for the Game Master Scenes I do a method like that in my cyberpunk game, but I just call them "cut scenes" and let the players see what's going on with some of the NPCs or how their actions affect other groups in the game. I keep them short and as entertaining as possible. I also limit them to one or two a game session at most, but sometimes I do not do any if I believe they are not needed. The players enjoy them and it gives them an almost "behind the scenes" look at what is going on with other characters in the game world. Plus my players are good with handling in-game info vs. player info, so there is no problem with anything.
Some small things: The loot flow is typically best done with basic gear, IP, or Sellable items. 150 zenit per soldier allows you to plug in for bosses and champions fairly easily. If you give IP for kills too freely then Rogues and Wayfarers can feel a bit redundant, so I reccomend not going overboard with it. Recipes for consumables outside the ordinary to spend IP on are also fun. The book usually reccomends against having people just find loose change on monsters, but if you're running a game where monsters go poof after they are killed, then you've got no reason not to. Additionally, a lot of the simpler classes can be deceptively complex. For instance, chimerist is one of the most complicated classes due to their spell list almost entirely functioning off of enemy abilities. They are as potent as your GM decides to make their enemies.
One of your cons to me is actually a pro: I think the dual-attribute rolling system is quite clever. So many times in an RPG, a player wants to do something that stretches the boundary of what a single skill or attribute can do; for instance, you can flex and show your muscles in the hope of impressing someone and swaying them to your cause; clearly that's some sort of diplomacy or Charisma-based skill but you're using your sheer Strength to do it. 5e does suggest using different attributes for different applications of skills, making this a Diplomacy (Strength) check, but it always felt a little clunky to me. A game like this makes it very easy; you just roll Might and Willpower together, and your combined ability in both helps influence your effect on the narrative. My only sticking point was simple checks that really only have one core attribute and how those would be implemented, and I saw in your preview that you can roll the same attribute twice, so just physically lifting a shut portcullis would be Might and Might, letting you really lean into your strength ideal. That solves my problem immediately, and I consider that an elegant solution. I've been seeing the cover of this book for a while now, and it's always something in the back of my mind that I wanted to get. This video has convinced me that I will be buying it both digitally and physically, because not only does it look like an excellent system, but it's gorgeous as well. It's the perfect item on my shelf to combine my love of TTRPGs and JRPGs!
the jrpg genre could be excellent to mine for ideas on how to best do theater of the mind ttrpgs because outside of specifically tactical titles, they eschew battlefield maps in favor of lining up
Perhaps one idea might be that instead of a villain necessarily transforming, his defeat causes one of his villainous plans to manifest in an awkward way that leads to a bigger fight? Perhaps the villain was holding onto the last seal keeping an evil god from being reborn? Perhaps the villain's GIANT ROBOT malfunctions and goes ballistic if it detects its master has been slain? I can think of a few others that might use that "mechanic" without being narrated like the villain getting an ascended form.
Or the villain is a legendary hero that mysterious vanished years ago and was only discovered again once he been defeated by the players characters which just brings more questions than answers. I love the idea of there being a true master mind behind the villain running things and the fact that they have been successful so far without being discovered means they are either scary smart or they got nations in their back pocket. This system looks interesting.
Dave says he doesn't like the rolling two stats, but damn I love that mechanic! I wonder if its a metatextual reference to Ryuutama, who had the same system. By using the same core mechanic as the best known Japanese TRPG does this game feel even more like a JRPG? 🤔 Regardless I find using it really easy in practice. You pick the most obvious stat, then pick the stat you feel like would help. The dice as abilities make it super easy to keep track of and you get to reflect the actual depth of "well actually you do need to be really strong to pull a bow!"
id recommend taking a look a the fan translation of japan's most popular indigenous ttrpg Sword World 2.5. 2d6 system that highly encourages multiclassing with a simplified combat model that splits the battlefield into friendly/enemy rearguards with a skirmish zone.
I’m tempted by this game. It has a lotta stuff I’ve been looking for for a future Final Fantasy campaign I’m planning to run. Now I’m like super on the fence between this and the unofficial Final Fantasy TTRPG (4e) for when I do that 🤔 One one hand, this games core mechanics and combat rules are things my players might be into, plus group mechanics seem cool. On the other, FF4e’s character creation, spells and class abilities seem more in line in what we’re looking for, plus well made ways to create monsters. Tho there’s also the fact I cant seem to get EITHER in a physical book XD I’d much much much MUCH rather have a physical book than a PDF
One "flaw" (not really) of the game is that you NEED a group that knows and is OK with all the tropes of a JRPG, if you want to have a good time. For example, in any other game a battle ending with "And with a loss of a point the villain gets away. No, you can do nothing to stop it, it gets away" is awful for everyone but people who are very familiar with the genre and want to play it. Same for the combat and inventory, either your entire group is fully familiar with the feeling of the genre or you will find issues at every turn. This doesn't make the game worse, but it does make it more niche than other systems.
I freaking love JRPGs but as a TTRPG newbie a ruleset that is 350 pages is quite daunting. Also seems like this game needs an even more creative DM than even most TTRPGs need
my take on the dual attribute rolls is actually more positive as a 5e DM i actually regularly change the ability modifier of sill checks in my games based on circumstances quick example juggleing heavier objects like dumbells might be a strength performance roll so its not that out there for me
I think I can adapt it to d20 system, I don't like the roll 2 dice like Ryuutama has. Maybe I'm in my comfort zone of d20... Anyways, I can see Fabula Ultima being use with my Eorzea Encyclopedia.
Awesome review, but one question: Math is not my strong suit, but doesn't having criticals happen on doubles make criticals less likely on higher dice amounts? On 2d6 you have a 1 in 36 chance to roll any two doubles. On 2d8 it's 1 in 64 and so on. Even though doubles of 6,7, and 8 means there are more sets you could potentially match, the chance to match is still 1.6% (compared to 2.8% on 2d6) It seems like rolling dice of a different type would make this even harder - a d12 can crit on 6 digits, but a d6 can only crit on 1, meaning your odds of crit'ing are not great. Again, maybe I got that wrong (or there's more rules), but it seems like the better you are in your stats, the less likely you are to crit.
Well you can only crit if you role matching name and that number has to be a 6 or higher so you do get more number that can match with bigger die with the expectation of a skill that lower the crit to 2 or higher but I seen some game play and seen critics happened twice in a single combat that lasted a single round crits don't happen often but they do happen often enough just not something to rely on
Seems interesting from an aesthetic standpoint, it looks like it hits all the marks and serves to emulate many tropes of the genre. I'm a little, I don't know, _worried_ about the maths in the skill tests... I think it will work fine most of the time, but in the example shown at 6:32, when you invoke a Trait to reroll one or two dice... Let's say you have a d12 and a d6 in your relevant attributes for that task, and you roll a 3 in your d12 and a 6 in your d6. If you reroll your d12 you would have a higher overall chance of success against a DL of 13, but a lower chance of getting a Critical success than if you had rolled d6 + d6. So, yeah, OK, but kind of weird.
You should probably pin a comment here: You don't always combine two attributes for a roll, but you will always roll two dice. Just in that chart, one of the examples is [Might + Might]. The GM is ultimately given great lateral freedom to decide which stat(s) are required for a roll.
Okay this game looks pretty cool. Although I feel if I bought it I dont think I'd ever run it or play it. It would be one of those...hey this is a thing that I got! It would be more of a collectors item. Although the game does look fun...hmmmmm
The opposite, actually - the game comes out and says that if your themes are something like "Vengeance" or "Guilt" or that if your character is dark and gloomy and edgy that should change quickly.
My group recently picked up this game. I dm/play dnd and I love the classes and mechanics for combat but dm scenes and group world building reaaallly grinds my gears Why? The group i play for has named everything after Fairy Tail and League of Legends locations, added dragons that have nothing go on except "they are dragons". I made a country where eco terrorist rabbit folk are attacking dwarves trying to save their economy through a new moning expedition while thinning their fragile alliance with the human settlements... across the way are cat people and dwarves on a volcano who live peacefully and do nothing. >->" plus as a dm, if the scene has anything important going on then it should be done with pcs present so they can actually react and be the story?
And no one pays attention when we're on a continent or setting they didn't make, and everyone now feels like they're the protagonist, just waiting for their spotlight and on their phones for every other scene...also scene change rules drive me nuts when my character runs to comfort a wounded ally at the end of combat just to "fade to black" and start in the next dungeon room no dialogue no roleplay
Thank you for the great review! And yes, the various cons you listed are intentional areas that require both GM and Players to take on the responsibilities described in the introduction. In short, it rocks when the group is the right group, and quickly crumbles and reveals when it's not. Intentionally! ^^
I got the feeling from my quick skim-through of the book that you're supposed to "wing" the skill checks. Someone describes what they want to do and how they want to do it. The GM then decides which 2 (or just one) Attributes make the most sense for the roll. For example, if my character wanted to intimidate someone why threatening physical harm, the GM might have me roll MIGHT + WILLPOWER. Likewise, if my character wanted to intimidate someone by threatening to turn them into a newt, then INSIGHT + WILLPOWER might be the check. (Or maybe WILLPOWER + WILLPOWER).
I think the main point of the class system in Fabula Ultima is that they're more like skillsets you take levels in that can interact with each other. While you have the Elementalist class, it's purpose is more along the line of your character training in learning elemental magic and related abilities than actually being an "Elementalist". It's why the game suggests starting with 2 or 3 classes and you can master a class at its 10th level so you can then pick another to dip into : they build your actual class. For example, we have a game planned next monday of Fabula Ultima and my character is a Sage (an Arcanist / Elementalist / Spiritist) which is inspired both from Rydia and Tellah from FF4. There's no actual "Sage" class in Fabula Ultima but that combination of classes was chosen to thematically make my character a Sage. Also, some classes have more support oriented abilities like the Wayfarer which is basically a lot of quality of life skills along with a pet while the Tinkerer's main draw is being able to invent items and even make projects (like building an airship!) Take the Chimerist which is glossed over : its main draw is Spell Mimic which makes it so that its spell list is pretty much any monster ability you can come across as the Chimerist is basically a "Blue Mage" from Final Fantasy. It's why it doesn't have a spell list like the Elementalist or Spiritist.
I was literally complaining about this to my colleague a couple of weeks back! “Why hasn’t Square done a TTRPG given how loved their IPs are!” 😂 Damn this looks incredible. And yeah Prima do still exist but from what I heard they aren’t doing the Game Walkthrough books anymore… Though I might be wrong.
@@midiannite8347 Disappointingly true 😢. It saddens me how terrible they’ve become over the years, and in such a short amount of time during the 2010s (2013 to be exact). And now their in an equally worse spot compared to where they were when FF14 rolled out.
Game Master Scenes i could easily see be something you can round off a session with. Like if the party has accomplished a major plot point (like defeating a major antaganist) at the end of the session the primary antaganist learns of their failure, muses how it affects their plans, and makes preperations for their next move. Or it can cut to a place that the party is going to head off too, but they notice something is approching them. You don't need to give the full details, but just enough to perk the players interest sense when they get back next session, these points might be elaborated on.
This is super interesting! I’ve been looking for something like this for a long while and had no idea this existed. Excellent review; picking it up now :)
Alright, i think i'll give this one a try~ I've been mastering Ryuutama a lot lately, with my own campaign, so the dual-attribute rolls come naturally to me now ^^ It's only confusing during the first session, but it happens with most systems when you're getting used to what every stat means. Here, you just gotta be a bit more creative. This looks great also because i love the JRPG feel, and the games, while not really being a fan of actually playing them haha Love the fact that you mix classes from the start and all the variety! Sounds incredibly fun~
Talk about aesthetic whiplash between the subject and sponsor! Thanks for posting this, game looks really rad. Another sure contender to be placed in the bullpen of possible games for my group's future.
This game looks fun. I love step dice as they let me use all my dice and it gives me a much more crunchy Ryuutama feel witch is wonderfull as Ryuutama is curently my favorite TTRPG. Thanks for the review though now I am going to have to get my hands on this to try it out.
Great review. My group just got into this ( we had 5 sessions so far ) and it'd has been interesting. The non minis or grid/battlemal requirements for combat helps alot as we can play this in a Cafe with ease.
As a GM, I find Fabula Ultima too much of a hassle to run sadly (for my group at least). I would agree with your Pros and Cons, there are a number of good Pros but none of them are "mechanical". Trying to run a game I find nearly everything to be a Con. Every time someone want to roll for something, the game stops and there is a discussion as to what stats to roll. Sometimes it's obvious but all too often there's some obscure reason there might be an alternate. Even when it's decided, the player then has to check their character sheets to double check which dice should be rolled. Every step there's a delay, every step breaks the players out of the immersion. So, lots of conceptual Pros, but the Cons just drive the game to a halt all too often. No doubt certain groups don't have these issues but I feel players should be aware there can be issues.
The game was not designed for immersion and does expect a degree of engagement and cooperation (and, I'd say, enjoyment) in that kind of rules chat and negotiation. So yes, that's its nature, and I can see how it could not fit someone's preference! Thank you regardless for having dedicated time to it 🙏
@@roosterema2352 Despite my comments above 🙂I do plan to dedicate more time to the game but first I want to get my hands on the physical book. I'm in the UK so I hope it also will be available sooner than later.
Support the channel by joining my Patreon! www.patreon.com/thaumavore Sign up for my newsletter! bit.ly/ThaumavoreNewsletter Errata: Invoking a Bond doesn’t allow you to reroll, it adds 1-3 to a roll depending on the strength/rank of the Bond itself.
I just have gotten into it myself and seeing this video made me immensly happy. Thank you! I also love that the book gives examples of different styles of fantasy like high, natural and techno and what sort of stories and characters are common for the themes to help the group build the setting and game with the players.
You compare the dual stat rolls to the 2d20 system, but dice mechanic explicitly comes from Ryuutama, which is another game that you have reviewed several years ago.
Just bought it after seeing your review (using your link). I was on the fence when I first saw this book on DriveThruRPG but you convinced me. I just wish the print version will come out soon.
I think the "skill" system where you're combining attributes makes sense Like You say you want to do something And then you think "if I were doing this, how would I do it" And you roll whatever attributes seem reasonable for it Sure makes a lot more sense than trying to figure out whether something falls under say, insight or investigation in d&d Or even just at the most basic figuring out whether you should call for a Wisdom save, or a Charisma save Here, if you have something that straddles two attributes, you just.. do both, and move on
I don't think it comes out of nowhere : Between the ATT + ATT system and the Natural Fantasy Setting, I think Ryuutama opened the door and Fabula Ultima saw the door opened
It does read so good, but I'm a bit hesitant since they provide not an example minisetting. Those are the best ways to sell a game to me, since they show how you can put theory into practise. Otherwise it looks so good.
Honestly, looks amazing and with the right table seems like exactly the game I want. My only issue as a little number goblin is that Staves and Tomes seem _way_ too good at physical damage: they would do as much as a Iron Warhammer, wheras a fist only does HR+0. I would put them down at like HR+2 or something...
Played a short campaign in a chat-only game (there was no communication by microphone, only by writing in chat). It worked very well in my opinion, as the GM had prepared a lot of pixel art and appropiate background and music to really make you believe, you are playing one of these 16-bit videogame rpgs from the 90s. The suggestions for creating the world and party worked quite well and our GM was able to give us a really interesting story and villains thanks to our imput. For example, one of our villains was the daughter of my character, that turned the last fight quite tense. Clocks were also used often to emphasize, that a fight couldn't only be one by reducing HP to zero. Instead, we could overcome a strong beast, by destroying the magical device that controlled it. Sadly, the group couldn't stay long together.
Out of curiosity, how was the pacing? Because I'm in a text-only Fabula Ultima campaign and while its interesting it's incredibly slow paced. Short investigations of single small rooms can take half an hour in real time to prosecute.
@@piragintheevercorpulent1526 In general, don't play investigations in Fabula Ultima. The game is made to emulate videogame RPGs or better said, to emulate the story telling and feeling of the classical JRPG-combat. When our characters were looking for a treasure inside an ancient ruin, we knew what we were looking for and the real issue was the fight against the stone dragon guarding it, not finding the treasure. Basically we cut out that part entirely, which is something you can do in FU.
I was curious about this game. I read way too many of those D20 hacks published as a word document that you mentioned back in the early 2000s. This looks like a game I might actually want to play. I especially love the layout design. Someone really did their homework. As an aside. If you look in the back of the strategy guide for Octopath Traveler (localized and published in the US by Dark Horse) there is a sort of transcript of an actual play along with character sheets. They use some kind of percentile based system because, apparently, the most popular TTRPG in Japan is Call of Cthulhu. At least, according to the internet :)
Looking at the character sheet the level system is interesting. At the end of each session you get 5 xp. Then essentially for every Fabula point spent during the session you get another xp at the end of the session. When you have 10 xp you turn them in and level up. The system is very story based.
Playing this, this weekend. Fabula Ultima is one of the most well done RPGs I’ve come across and the system as a whole sounds really fun. Loved making my character.
I find that the big numbers makes a lot more sense once you actually run the game. Combat hits very hard, with even basic attacks often hitting for 10-20 damage right at game start.
I wish someone would put together a heavily video-game inspired, pixel art virtual tabletop. I know you can just use pixel-art assets in Roll20 or Fantasy Grounds, but that's not really what I've been looking for. If you could rapidly create maps using 16x16 pixel tiles, even on the fly. Track character and enemy stats with console-RPG style menus right on the board, and even keep track of character sheets and DM notes right there. Add a chiptune soundtrack and sound effects that the GM can control. Allow for offline use, solo play, LAN play, as well as online, I would be in absolute heaven.
It's worth noting that not all checks require combining two attributes. In some cases, you can roll the attribute twice (ex: shortbow using [DEX+DEX] for accuracy checks).
![[Limbus Company - Teaser] Season5 - Oblivion](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/8anKuEeZLeI/mqdefault.jpg)
I do like the fact that some classes have more options to choose than others, because some players are intimidated by pages after pages of spells and things to write/remmeber.
Agreed - and since you choose more than one class the balancing between classes is imho decidedly less important, because you can e.g. choose one for power and one as a complement.
He chose a weird example for a class with less options though. The chimerist is some sort of blue mage that can attempt to learn any spell an enemy casts. Which, over the course of a campaign could become quite a lot, even if you start out with not all that much. (Which btw. is an absolutely great feature from a Story-Telling perspective, because a character reusing the signature moves of past encounters always serves as a short trip down memory lane what the group has already overcome and how that session went.)
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I guess that settles my next purchasing decision.
From running simulations, they actually seem pretty well balanced when considered that you MUST multi-class anyway. Some of those 'simple' choices also hit like a freight train, in particularly when in combo with effects set up by team members.
Given the recent changes with the OGL, and my table really being stuck with D&D, I convinced them to branch out a bit and try Fabula. One world building, and one playing session later, the other DM in the group (who has basically only played D&D for the last 7 years) announced he would be putting his long running game on pause and be switching us all to Fabula.
This comment made me stand up with my hand held high while I sang, "Jesus is Good".
Hopefully it's not an indefinite pause lmfao.
My group are all anime and jrpg fans, so we kinda naturally fell into the GM scene idea. Never really thought it out before this game called them out. Typically they are either moments that set flavor and tone (like a short interaction between npcs) or, more rarely, an interaction between the villains to build tension
One minor correction: Invoking a Bond doesn't grant a reroll, it grants a bonus to your result.
Someone already caught that. It’s in the errata of the pinned comment.
I did a game master scene for a large battle. Ahead of time I asked players about choices they would make in certain instances and then wrote out the battle from different characters' points of view. It was really well received, but I didn't do it that often.
Looks like I found the system to do my "sequel" storyline to Legend of the Dragoon.
Awesome to hear :)
Nice to see that I wasn't the only one who thought of Legend of the Dragoon! Hope you enjoy!
I feel like this will be the key to getting my Video Gamer friends into TTRPGs
That would be cool!
I already do the Game Master Cutscenes, but I do it between sessions. I'm a writer first and foremost, so I'll just write out a cutscene and post it on our discord in a specific channel for said cutscenes. It's a *fantastic tool* that I wish more GMs would embrace because a ton of us are way more talented writers than we think.
And are people reading it? Because I have the impression a lot og gms thinks of them as being way less boring/annoying writers than they are.
My group and I played our first Fabula Ultima session and it was fantastic. Realmy captures the jrpg experience
RE: "Game Master Scenes". In the 3.5 Ravenloft Dungeon Masters guide, a similar thing was recommend, to add tension for the next session.
Picked this up this weekend at GrandCon, and it's rapidly becoming one of my new top 5 games. Definitely in my top 5 fantasy TTRPGs.
I find the dual attribute rolling to be pretty simple with a bit of a mental formula. One stat is for the theme of the problem, the second is the stat for how they are doing it.
Grtting a boulder up a hill is Might by default.
Character pushes it, then the other is Might
A character jumps up top and tries to run it up, Dex
A character tries to work out leveage, Insight
A character tries to convince someone else to do it? Well that's a new challenge so thr first stat changes to Wisdom
I like how narrative focused and abstract the system seems to be while still evoking the “feel” of a JRPG. By not getting too bogged down in specific mechanics, it seems like it would be relatively simple to adopt this system to a variety of styles of settings across the JRPG spectrum.
I am LOVING this system... this is how I've been trying to manipulate D&D with Homebrew... thanks for this review!!
Remember, the Player and the Character are two different people. The player wants a success, but the Character's must overcome hurdles, thanks to Brennen Mulligan for that incite to GMing and playing the game. I just bought it though. So thanks for showing this too me. If nothing else, due to lack of a party, I can Solo RPG this and feel like I am playing whatever Fantasy game I want to play!
I could see this as being a fantasy RPG a decent mount of gamers would have fun with. Green Ronin took a stab at emulating anime and manga through Mutants & Masterminds Mecha & Manga supplement and it was pretty good. This REALLY looks spot on JRPG even down to the art and how the weapons, gear, and monsters are laid out. Even just watching the review, the book reminded me of an old strategy guide for one of those games. And for the Game Master Scenes I do a method like that in my cyberpunk game, but I just call them "cut scenes" and let the players see what's going on with some of the NPCs or how their actions affect other groups in the game. I keep them short and as entertaining as possible. I also limit them to one or two a game session at most, but sometimes I do not do any if I believe they are not needed. The players enjoy them and it gives them an almost "behind the scenes" look at what is going on with other characters in the game world. Plus my players are good with handling in-game info vs. player info, so there is no problem with anything.
Some small things:
The loot flow is typically best done with basic gear, IP, or Sellable items. 150 zenit per soldier allows you to plug in for bosses and champions fairly easily. If you give IP for kills too freely then Rogues and Wayfarers can feel a bit redundant, so I reccomend not going overboard with it. Recipes for consumables outside the ordinary to spend IP on are also fun. The book usually reccomends against having people just find loose change on monsters, but if you're running a game where monsters go poof after they are killed, then you've got no reason not to.
Additionally, a lot of the simpler classes can be deceptively complex. For instance, chimerist is one of the most complicated classes due to their spell list almost entirely functioning off of enemy abilities. They are as potent as your GM decides to make their enemies.
One of your cons to me is actually a pro: I think the dual-attribute rolling system is quite clever. So many times in an RPG, a player wants to do something that stretches the boundary of what a single skill or attribute can do; for instance, you can flex and show your muscles in the hope of impressing someone and swaying them to your cause; clearly that's some sort of diplomacy or Charisma-based skill but you're using your sheer Strength to do it. 5e does suggest using different attributes for different applications of skills, making this a Diplomacy (Strength) check, but it always felt a little clunky to me. A game like this makes it very easy; you just roll Might and Willpower together, and your combined ability in both helps influence your effect on the narrative. My only sticking point was simple checks that really only have one core attribute and how those would be implemented, and I saw in your preview that you can roll the same attribute twice, so just physically lifting a shut portcullis would be Might and Might, letting you really lean into your strength ideal. That solves my problem immediately, and I consider that an elegant solution.
I've been seeing the cover of this book for a while now, and it's always something in the back of my mind that I wanted to get. This video has convinced me that I will be buying it both digitally and physically, because not only does it look like an excellent system, but it's gorgeous as well. It's the perfect item on my shelf to combine my love of TTRPGs and JRPGs!
the jrpg genre could be excellent to mine for ideas on how to best do theater of the mind ttrpgs because outside of specifically tactical titles, they eschew battlefield maps in favor of lining up
my groups go to game for 5 months now and still going
Perhaps one idea might be that instead of a villain necessarily transforming, his defeat causes one of his villainous plans to manifest in an awkward way that leads to a bigger fight?
Perhaps the villain was holding onto the last seal keeping an evil god from being reborn?
Perhaps the villain's GIANT ROBOT malfunctions and goes ballistic if it detects its master has been slain?
I can think of a few others that might use that "mechanic" without being narrated like the villain getting an ascended form.
Or the villain is a legendary hero that mysterious vanished years ago and was only discovered again once he been defeated by the players characters which just brings more questions than answers.
I love the idea of there being a true master mind behind the villain running things and the fact that they have been successful so far without being discovered means they are either scary smart or they got nations in their back pocket.
This system looks interesting.
5:04 It's actually an identical dice rolling system to Ryuutama.
Dave says he doesn't like the rolling two stats, but damn I love that mechanic! I wonder if its a metatextual reference to Ryuutama, who had the same system. By using the same core mechanic as the best known Japanese TRPG does this game feel even more like a JRPG? 🤔
Regardless I find using it really easy in practice. You pick the most obvious stat, then pick the stat you feel like would help. The dice as abilities make it super easy to keep track of and you get to reflect the actual depth of "well actually you do need to be really strong to pull a bow!"
Ryuutama is basically Fabula Ultima's parent, yeah. It started as a Ryuutama hack and then moved on to be its own thing!
Having 4 stats and rolling 2 out of them is just a more complicated way of having 6 stats and rolling on one.
This sounds amazing! Too bad it's only available in PDF, I would snap this up in an instant if there were a hard copy available.
id recommend taking a look a the fan translation of japan's most popular indigenous ttrpg Sword World 2.5. 2d6 system that highly encourages multiclassing with a simplified combat model that splits the battlefield into friendly/enemy rearguards with a skirmish zone.
I’m tempted by this game. It has a lotta stuff I’ve been looking for for a future Final Fantasy campaign I’m planning to run. Now I’m like super on the fence between this and the unofficial Final Fantasy TTRPG (4e) for when I do that 🤔
One one hand, this games core mechanics and combat rules are things my players might be into, plus group mechanics seem cool.
On the other, FF4e’s character creation, spells and class abilities seem more in line in what we’re looking for, plus well made ways to create monsters.
Tho there’s also the fact I cant seem to get EITHER in a physical book XD I’d much much much MUCH rather have a physical book than a PDF
Just found this game and read the full book in a few hours. I think I'm in love.
We stared a Campaign and it's been an absolute BLAST! Can't recommend this game enough to folks.
One "flaw" (not really) of the game is that you NEED a group that knows and is OK with all the tropes of a JRPG, if you want to have a good time.
For example, in any other game a battle ending with "And with a loss of a point the villain gets away. No, you can do nothing to stop it, it gets away" is awful for everyone but people who are very familiar with the genre and want to play it. Same for the combat and inventory, either your entire group is fully familiar with the feeling of the genre or you will find issues at every turn.
This doesn't make the game worse, but it does make it more niche than other systems.
Really helped my research into rpg genres
hi! little suggestion, but maybe say 'dice size' over step-dice in the future? xD
my chat has been cackling "oh no step dice, i'm stuck!" nonstop
This system sounds very fun, nice job in covering it.
I freaking love JRPGs but as a TTRPG newbie a ruleset that is 350 pages is quite daunting. Also seems like this game needs an even more creative DM than even most TTRPGs need
Sounds pretty interesting. Might give this a look if my group would be up to play it
This looks.... absolutely perfect for me.
This looks like a very interesting TTRPG. Breath of fresh air if I'm honest.
I think a lot of folks feel that way.
my take on the dual attribute rolls is actually more positive as a 5e DM i actually regularly change the ability modifier of sill checks in my games based on circumstances quick example juggleing heavier objects like dumbells might be a strength performance roll so its not that out there for me
heya man. Any chance of a top 10 list or just a spotlight on a bunch of systems you have already done?
So... do they sell a dead tree version anywhere?
The dead tree version in English (the game was originally written in Italian) has just recently become available.
I think I can adapt it to d20 system, I don't like the roll 2 dice like Ryuutama has. Maybe I'm in my comfort zone of d20... Anyways, I can see Fabula Ultima being use with my Eorzea Encyclopedia.
Awesome review, but one question: Math is not my strong suit, but doesn't having criticals happen on doubles make criticals less likely on higher dice amounts? On 2d6 you have a 1 in 36 chance to roll any two doubles. On 2d8 it's 1 in 64 and so on. Even though doubles of 6,7, and 8 means there are more sets you could potentially match, the chance to match is still 1.6% (compared to 2.8% on 2d6) It seems like rolling dice of a different type would make this even harder - a d12 can crit on 6 digits, but a d6 can only crit on 1, meaning your odds of crit'ing are not great. Again, maybe I got that wrong (or there's more rules), but it seems like the better you are in your stats, the less likely you are to crit.
Well you can only crit if you role matching name and that number has to be a 6 or higher so you do get more number that can match with bigger die with the expectation of a skill that lower the crit to 2 or higher but I seen some game play and seen critics happened twice in a single combat that lasted a single round crits don't happen often but they do happen often enough just not something to rely on
Seems interesting from an aesthetic standpoint, it looks like it hits all the marks and serves to emulate many tropes of the genre.
I'm a little, I don't know, _worried_ about the maths in the skill tests... I think it will work fine most of the time, but in the example shown at 6:32, when you invoke a Trait to reroll one or two dice... Let's say you have a d12 and a d6 in your relevant attributes for that task, and you roll a 3 in your d12 and a 6 in your d6. If you reroll your d12 you would have a higher overall chance of success against a DL of 13, but a lower chance of getting a Critical success than if you had rolled d6 + d6.
So, yeah, OK, but kind of weird.
You should probably pin a comment here: You don't always combine two attributes for a roll, but you will always roll two dice. Just in that chart, one of the examples is [Might + Might]. The GM is ultimately given great lateral freedom to decide which stat(s) are required for a roll.
Excellent breakdown! Very helpful for a interested ADHD boy 💛
Glad I could be of service!
Okay this game looks pretty cool. Although I feel if I bought it I dont think I'd ever run it or play it. It would be one of those...hey this is a thing that I got! It would be more of a collectors item. Although the game does look fun...hmmmmm
Villain elasticity already exists in dnd, it just lacks explicit mechanics.
Doesn't really look like my thing, but thanks for sharing. Looks like a lot of other people will like this one though, based on the comments
There have been a FF TTRPG before.. I'l check if it's the same game.
seems to me if any ttrpg encouraged your use of edgelords this would be the one
The opposite, actually - the game comes out and says that if your themes are something like "Vengeance" or "Guilt" or that if your character is dark and gloomy and edgy that should change quickly.
My group recently picked up this game. I dm/play dnd and I love the classes and mechanics for combat but dm scenes and group world building reaaallly grinds my gears
Why? The group i play for has named everything after Fairy Tail and League of Legends locations, added dragons that have nothing go on except "they are dragons". I made a country where eco terrorist rabbit folk are attacking dwarves trying to save their economy through a new moning expedition while thinning their fragile alliance with the human settlements... across the way are cat people and dwarves on a volcano who live peacefully and do nothing. >->" plus as a dm, if the scene has anything important going on then it should be done with pcs present so they can actually react and be the story?
And no one pays attention when we're on a continent or setting they didn't make, and everyone now feels like they're the protagonist, just waiting for their spotlight and on their phones for every other scene...also scene change rules drive me nuts when my character runs to comfort a wounded ally at the end of combat just to "fade to black" and start in the next dungeon room no dialogue no roleplay
You look it from a westerner point of view. The cons only cons due to our cultural background
Ew. Tabletop is so boring and so much work with so many good actual rpgs available
Seems like it needs more time in the oven
Thank you for the great review! And yes, the various cons you listed are intentional areas that require both GM and Players to take on the responsibilities described in the introduction. In short, it rocks when the group is the right group, and quickly crumbles and reveals when it's not. Intentionally! ^^
Amazing game, Ema! Thank you so much for your and your team hardworking making Fabula Ultima!
Congratulations on a really beautifully made game!
Im glad that Ive get to know this game since the rpg day one shot. its like seeing a kid grow
Great work Emanuele!
I'm still waiting when the english version will be available in print somewhere :(
Also worth noting, the creators Patreon has a TON of other classes and optional rules for settings. I HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend it
and when they put that in a non-subscription service I Might get it
@@JohnRaines the playtest classes and rules are free to get on the patreon, you don't have to pay them
@@JohnRaines Yeah you don't need to subscribe to their patreon, it's just full of free stuff
Link?
@@adamthaxton3157 Probably still need a Patreon account though ...
I got the feeling from my quick skim-through of the book that you're supposed to "wing" the skill checks.
Someone describes what they want to do and how they want to do it. The GM then decides which 2 (or just one) Attributes make the most sense for the roll.
For example, if my character wanted to intimidate someone why threatening physical harm, the GM might have me roll MIGHT + WILLPOWER.
Likewise, if my character wanted to intimidate someone by threatening to turn them into a newt, then INSIGHT + WILLPOWER might be the check. (Or maybe WILLPOWER + WILLPOWER).
You don't reroll when invoking a bond, you add the strength of the bond as a bonus
Ah, you’re right. I’ve added that to an errata in the pinned comment. Thanks!
I think the main point of the class system in Fabula Ultima is that they're more like skillsets you take levels in that can interact with each other. While you have the Elementalist class, it's purpose is more along the line of your character training in learning elemental magic and related abilities than actually being an "Elementalist". It's why the game suggests starting with 2 or 3 classes and you can master a class at its 10th level so you can then pick another to dip into : they build your actual class.
For example, we have a game planned next monday of Fabula Ultima and my character is a Sage (an Arcanist / Elementalist / Spiritist) which is inspired both from Rydia and Tellah from FF4. There's no actual "Sage" class in Fabula Ultima but that combination of classes was chosen to thematically make my character a Sage.
Also, some classes have more support oriented abilities like the Wayfarer which is basically a lot of quality of life skills along with a pet while the Tinkerer's main draw is being able to invent items and even make projects (like building an airship!)
Take the Chimerist which is glossed over : its main draw is Spell Mimic which makes it so that its spell list is pretty much any monster ability you can come across as the Chimerist is basically a "Blue Mage" from Final Fantasy. It's why it doesn't have a spell list like the Elementalist or Spiritist.
I was literally complaining about this to my colleague a couple of weeks back! “Why hasn’t Square done a TTRPG given how loved their IPs are!” 😂 Damn this looks incredible. And yeah Prima do still exist but from what I heard they aren’t doing the Game Walkthrough books anymore… Though I might be wrong.
I loved those guidebooks.
@@DaveThaumavore it was the Video Game Wikis before Wikis were a proper everyday thing. Really helped flesh out video games in the time before net.
Don't ask for Squeenix to do anything, they're not on top of their game anymore.
@@midiannite8347
Disappointingly true 😢. It saddens me how terrible they’ve become over the years, and in such a short amount of time during the 2010s (2013 to be exact). And now their in an equally worse spot compared to where they were when FF14 rolled out.
Funnily enough they just announced a ff14 ttrpg today!
Game Master Scenes i could easily see be something you can round off a session with. Like if the party has accomplished a major plot point (like defeating a major antaganist) at the end of the session the primary antaganist learns of their failure, muses how it affects their plans, and makes preperations for their next move. Or it can cut to a place that the party is going to head off too, but they notice something is approching them. You don't need to give the full details, but just enough to perk the players interest sense when they get back next session, these points might be elaborated on.
A good GM could do a lot of cool stuff with it. A bad GM would just narrate the short story that they wrote out beforehand.
This is super interesting! I’ve been looking for something like this for a long while and had no idea this existed. Excellent review; picking it up now :)
Glad it was helpful!
Alright, i think i'll give this one a try~ I've been mastering Ryuutama a lot lately, with my own campaign, so the dual-attribute rolls come naturally to me now ^^ It's only confusing during the first session, but it happens with most systems when you're getting used to what every stat means. Here, you just gotta be a bit more creative.
This looks great also because i love the JRPG feel, and the games, while not really being a fan of actually playing them haha Love the fact that you mix classes from the start and all the variety! Sounds incredibly fun~
Talk about aesthetic whiplash between the subject and sponsor! Thanks for posting this, game looks really rad. Another sure contender to be placed in the bullpen of possible games for my group's future.
This game looks fun. I love step dice as they let me use all my dice and it gives me a much more crunchy Ryuutama feel witch is wonderfull as Ryuutama is curently my favorite TTRPG. Thanks for the review though now I am going to have to get my hands on this to try it out.
I'm about to GM my first game of Fabula in 2 days and I am SUPER HYPED for what my players will bring to the table
How did that turn out?
@@KCuahtemoc very well, everyone had fun and is super excited when we play again every week
@@peterclaymore2239How the campaign ended?
hasn't ended yet but we are the second half now and things are going to get nuts soon.@@covilderagnaros1028
Great review. My group just got into this ( we had 5 sessions so far ) and it'd has been interesting. The non minis or grid/battlemal requirements for combat helps alot as we can play this in a Cafe with ease.
As a GM, I find Fabula Ultima too much of a hassle to run sadly (for my group at least). I would agree with your Pros and Cons, there are a number of good Pros but none of them are "mechanical". Trying to run a game I find nearly everything to be a Con. Every time someone want to roll for something, the game stops and there is a discussion as to what stats to roll. Sometimes it's obvious but all too often there's some obscure reason there might be an alternate. Even when it's decided, the player then has to check their character sheets to double check which dice should be rolled. Every step there's a delay, every step breaks the players out of the immersion.
So, lots of conceptual Pros, but the Cons just drive the game to a halt all too often. No doubt certain groups don't have these issues but I feel players should be aware there can be issues.
The game was not designed for immersion and does expect a degree of engagement and cooperation (and, I'd say, enjoyment) in that kind of rules chat and negotiation. So yes, that's its nature, and I can see how it could not fit someone's preference! Thank you regardless for having dedicated time to it 🙏
@@roosterema2352 Despite my comments above 🙂I do plan to dedicate more time to the game but first I want to get my hands on the physical book. I'm in the UK so I hope it also will be available sooner than later.
@@yotelex the publisher aims for Q1 2023 - the shipping situation truly locked many paths, we wanted this to be out at the end of 2022.
The core mechanic (the two stat rolls with polyhedral dice stats) is completely ripped off from Ryuutama and it worked just fine in that game
Ryuutama right? Cause the author said I the book he took it from that
Mechanically, it didn't feel like JRPG at all. Every part of it sound very generic and could be applied to lots of different settings.
Very nice RpG, so close to its themes. Also, the artwork part is so great and coherent along the whole book.
Couldn't agree more!
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Errata: Invoking a Bond doesn’t allow you to reroll, it adds 1-3 to a roll depending on the strength/rank of the Bond itself.
FINALLY!!!
Someone talks about this masterpiece.
I just have gotten into it myself and seeing this video made me immensly happy.
Thank you!
I also love that the book gives examples of different styles of fantasy like high, natural and techno and what sort of stories and characters are common for the themes to help the group build the setting and game with the players.
This is really cute! Gives me a lot of nostalgia for playing Ni No Kuni and Bravely Default in my childhood bedroom
Man, Bravely default is like, 10 years old now? It feels like yesterday
You compare the dual stat rolls to the 2d20 system, but dice mechanic explicitly comes from Ryuutama, which is another game that you have reviewed several years ago.
Cool.
I thought it was a videogame and I was looking for a gameplay and couldn't find it! now I know 😂
I tried to clear that up in the first sentence of the video! But I understand the mistake.
Just bought it after seeing your review (using your link). I was on the fence when I first saw this book on DriveThruRPG but you convinced me. I just wish the print version will come out soon.
I think the "skill" system where you're combining attributes makes sense
Like
You say you want to do something
And then you think "if I were doing this, how would I do it"
And you roll whatever attributes seem reasonable for it
Sure makes a lot more sense than trying to figure out whether something falls under say, insight or investigation in d&d
Or even just at the most basic figuring out whether you should call for a Wisdom save, or a Charisma save
Here, if you have something that straddles two attributes, you just.. do both, and move on
I don't think it comes out of nowhere : Between the ATT + ATT system and the Natural Fantasy Setting, I think Ryuutama opened the door and Fabula Ultima saw the door opened
we openly credit Ryuutama in the first pages, Fabula Ultima essentially began as a Red Dragon hack!
@@roosterema2352 Any word on High Fantasy Atlas release date? Loving the system.
It does read so good, but I'm a bit hesitant since they provide not an example minisetting. Those are the best ways to sell a game to me, since they show how you can put theory into practise. Otherwise it looks so good.
Honestly, looks amazing and with the right table seems like exactly the game I want.
My only issue as a little number goblin is that Staves and Tomes seem _way_ too good at physical damage: they would do as much as a Iron Warhammer, wheras a fist only does HR+0. I would put them down at like HR+2 or something...
Starting 2023 with the review of a really cool game, Dave. I love a lot of the games you have reviewed.
Played a short campaign in a chat-only game (there was no communication by microphone, only by writing in chat). It worked very well in my opinion, as the GM had prepared a lot of pixel art and appropiate background and music to really make you believe, you are playing one of these 16-bit videogame rpgs from the 90s. The suggestions for creating the world and party worked quite well and our GM was able to give us a really interesting story and villains thanks to our imput. For example, one of our villains was the daughter of my character, that turned the last fight quite tense. Clocks were also used often to emphasize, that a fight couldn't only be one by reducing HP to zero. Instead, we could overcome a strong beast, by destroying the magical device that controlled it.
Sadly, the group couldn't stay long together.
Out of curiosity, how was the pacing? Because I'm in a text-only Fabula Ultima campaign and while its interesting it's incredibly slow paced. Short investigations of single small rooms can take half an hour in real time to prosecute.
@@piragintheevercorpulent1526 In general, don't play investigations in Fabula Ultima. The game is made to emulate videogame RPGs or better said, to emulate the story telling and feeling of the classical JRPG-combat.
When our characters were looking for a treasure inside an ancient ruin, we knew what we were looking for and the real issue was the fight against the stone dragon guarding it, not finding the treasure. Basically we cut out that part entirely, which is something you can do in FU.
I was curious about this game. I read way too many of those D20 hacks published as a word document that you mentioned back in the early 2000s. This looks like a game I might actually want to play. I especially love the layout design. Someone really did their homework.
As an aside. If you look in the back of the strategy guide for Octopath Traveler (localized and published in the US by Dark Horse) there is a sort of transcript of an actual play along with character sheets. They use some kind of percentile based system because, apparently, the most popular TTRPG in Japan is Call of Cthulhu. At least, according to the internet :)
Looking at the character sheet the level system is interesting.
At the end of each session you get 5 xp.
Then essentially for every Fabula point spent during the session you get another xp at the end of the session.
When you have 10 xp you turn them in and level up.
The system is very story based.
It won best game at the ENnies 2023!!🎉
Well deserved. It’s a triumph.
Playing this, this weekend. Fabula Ultima is one of the most well done RPGs I’ve come across and the system as a whole sounds really fun. Loved making my character.
Thanks for the review!
JRPG themed Forged in the Dark with tactical combat. Sounds awesome !
The HP bloat seems insane in this game. Lots of cool stuff, though.
Yeah it's not a perfect game but I was surprised at how well it tackled its genre.
I find that the big numbers makes a lot more sense once you actually run the game. Combat hits very hard, with even basic attacks often hitting for 10-20 damage right at game start.
I mean at least you can’t say it’s not true to the genre haha
@MKInsane45 I feel like that happens the Video Games. Doing 9999 damage at end game. Which is exactly the point of the game
By the end of the campaign I GMed the PCs were at level 12 and were comboing the end boss for 50+ damage per attack
The dice system sounds a lot like Ryuutama
Fabula Ultima is incredibly fun! More people need to check it out!
Aabria Iyengar does ‘game master scenes’ really well. Usually only once per session as a ‘stinger’
I want this so much but its sold out everywhere.
The class system in this game is weird and fun! Started out as a Geomantric Archer, ended the game as a Dragon Riding Healer with a bow.
I wish someone would put together a heavily video-game inspired, pixel art virtual tabletop. I know you can just use pixel-art assets in Roll20 or Fantasy Grounds, but that's not really what I've been looking for. If you could rapidly create maps using 16x16 pixel tiles, even on the fly. Track character and enemy stats with console-RPG style menus right on the board, and even keep track of character sheets and DM notes right there. Add a chiptune soundtrack and sound effects that the GM can control. Allow for offline use, solo play, LAN play, as well as online, I would be in absolute heaven.
Check out "One More Multiverse". Its still in Beta, but it sounds like exactly what you want (me too, that's why I know about it)
Fantastic review. Thanks for covering so many varying games!
This is an incredibly cool and unique ttrpg. I really like how different it is!
Yeah I think a lot of people are feeling that way.
I’ve been running it a good bit now and can confidently say it succeeds very well at its goals. It’s AWESOME!
Great to hear!
It's worth noting that not all checks require combining two attributes. In some cases, you can roll the attribute twice (ex: shortbow using [DEX+DEX] for accuracy checks).