446:, Leonard Wilson was enthusiastic about this game system, writing, "Simply put, from start to finish, FUDGE is the sort of quality product that can't be mistaken for anything but a labor of love for everyone involved. If you're a role-player who frequents the Internet anyway, you'll be missing a real treasure if you don't download yourself a copy. Even if you don’t frequent the Internet, if you've ever found yourself tinkering with the rules to a role-playing games, you'll find it well worth the effort to track down a copy of FUDGE."
299:
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468:, Mike Bell wrote, "What lifts FUDGE to new heights of excellence is the way it encourages and guides through designing your very own personalised RPG using the basic building blocks supplied by its author, Stefan O'Sullivan. Originally distributed via the Internet, buyers are actively encouraged to design and distribute their own FUDGE-based games so long as they include copyright notices and a disclaimer. Way cool!"
437:. "Not only must he role-play the NPCs, stage memorable encounters, and keep the story on track, he must also come up with Difficulty Levels for every conceivable situation. It ain't easy." He concluded by giving the game a rating of 5 out of 6, saying, "FUDGE is about as appropriate for novices as calculus is for preschoolers. Seasoned gamers, however, will be in for a pleasant surprise."
453:, Stéphane Bura liked the game system, commenting "This is, to my knowledge, the best system using a normal bell curve (frequent average results and rare extreme results) published to date ... Even if it requires some effort, FUDGE will satisfy those looking for a good generic system less complicated than
479:
marks a fundamental change in RPGs. Simultaneously a system of rules and a treatise on game design theory, it questions many of the methods and mechanics that are taken for granted about roleplaying and reshapes those assumptions, paving the way for other games to continue pushing into new forms in
169:
in
November 1992 on the rec.games.design newsgroup, and over the following months that online community would contribute to the directed project. One of the earliest stipulations of O'Sullivan was that the basic system would always remain free to the public over the internet, and the
277:
for "Free-form
Universal Donated Gaming Engine", but also because the word invoked connotations of an easy to make source of fun. This again was changed when Grey Ghost Press released their 1995 hard copy version of the game, to "Free-form Universal Do-it-yourself Gaming Engine".
409:
documents encourage players to "Just Fudge It"; that is, to focus on the story being created rather than on the game rules. For example, one character creation method encourages players to first write prose descriptions of their characters and then translate those into
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called this game system "a remarkable achievement, a concise, logical analysis of RPG theory that amateur and pro designers alike would do well to ponder." Although Swan liked the simplicity and logic of the open system, he felt that too much of the onus fell on the
281:
With the publication of the
Expanded Edition in 2000, the fad for acronym-based names had long since faded, and the writer and the publisher both felt that the forced acronym had become irrelevant. The game has been referred to officially as just
404:
are highly customizable and can be adjusted for the level of simplicity or complexity desired by the Game Master and
Players. Overall, the system is designed to encourage role-playing over strict adherence to a set of rules. In fact, the main
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if the player were to roll two plus sides, one minus side, and one blank—the minus side cancels out one of the plus sides and the remaining plus side raises the result by one step. The same
373:) and for every minus side that comes up the result is considered one step lower. The goal is to match or surpass the difficulty level, also on the adjective scale, of the test. Thus, a
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if you were to roll three minus sides and one blank. The same dice roll can be achieved with six-sided dice, treating a 1 or 2 as , a 3-4 as and a 5-6 as .
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is an extremely flexible, rules-light system. It works great, and everybody who plays it, loves it. Why isn't it more popular? I dunno."
361:" which have an equal number of plus, minus, and blank sides. A number of these dice are rolled, usually four at a time ("4dF" in Fudge
562:
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characters can also have Gifts and Faults, which are positive and negative traits that do not fit into the adjective scale.
192:, which includes several suggested rules systems for common RPG elements and an example basic fantasy "build" of the game.
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or setting and world builders are encouraged to invent appropriate attributes and rules tailored to the campaign.
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and, though the acronym has since been dropped, that phrase remains a good summation of the game's design goals.
365:), and for every plus side that comes up the result of using the Trait is considered one step higher (e.g. from
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There are also several alternative dice systems available that use ten-sided dice, coins, or playing cards.
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and players, and several different optional systems for resolving actions and conflicts are offered.
141:. Such things as what attributes and skills will define characters are left to be determined by the
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693:"Second Sight: The Millennium's Most Influential Company and The Millennium's Most Underrated Game"
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was conceived, it was stylish to give role-playing games acronyms for names (for instance,
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system. There have been three Grey Ghost Press editions, the most current being the
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184:, with the endorsement of Steffan O'Sullivan, publishes an expanded form of the
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offers a customizable toolkit for building the users' own specialized
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459:." Bura concluded by giving the game system a rating of 8 out of 10.
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ever since, though fans often still refer to it in the old manner as
269:), and originally the usenet design project referred to the game as
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Wilson, Leonard (January 1995). "The Best Game I Never Bought".
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O'Sullivan, Steffan (January 1995). "Feature Review: FUDGE".
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565:(Press release). Game Manufacturers Association. 2006-03-15
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In March 2004, Grey Ghost Press acquired the copyright of
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Rather than being a rigidly pre-defined set of rules like
807:. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press. pp. 232–234.
843:"Pyramid: Pyramid Pick: Fudge Expanded Edition RPG"
199:, and on April 6, 2005, they released a version of
174:of the 1995 version still is. The 1995 version of
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757:Bura, Stéphane (May–June 1997). "Critiques".
563:"Academy announces Origins Award Nominations"
178:is available under a non-commercial licence.
462:In Issue 30 of the Australian game magazine
324:Terrible, Poor, Mediocre, Fair, Good, Great,
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805:Monsters, Aliens, and Holes in the Ground
606:"FUDGE Expanded Edition: Playtest Review"
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473:Monsters, Aliens, and Holes in the Ground
449:In Issue 3 of the French games magazine
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318:, are rated on a seven-level, ascending
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719:(January 1996). "Roleplaying Reviews".
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302:Probability of results when rolling 4dF
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216:role-playing game system to build on
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761:(in French). No. 3. p. 51.
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786:Bell, Mike (November 1996). "XXX".
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829:"Anmeldelser | Article | RPGGeek"
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16:Tabletop role-playing game system
604:Kitkowski, Andrew (2000-11-14).
210:The OGL license has allowed the
78:generic role-playing game system
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538:FUDGE Expanded edition (Review)
422:In the January 1996 edition of
161:The project that would lead to
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492:(Danish) (Issue 15 - Feb 1997)
385:attribute would be considered
377:attribute is considered to be
190:Fudge 10th Anniversary Edition
149:is not tied to any particular
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584:"FUDGE Deryni Adventure Game"
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110:Best Role-Playing Game System
1249:Universal role-playing games
484:Other reviews and commentary
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220:as its underlying mechanic.
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771:: CS1 maint: date format (
310:, character Traits such as
82:freeform role-playing games
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1254:Open-source tabletop games
792:. No. 30. p. 38.
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104:has been nominated for an
90:Freeform Universal Donated
88:" was once an acronym for
1244:Role-playing game systems
1139:Powered by the Apocalypse
1015:Advanced Fighting Fantasy
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999:Role-playing game systems
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640:"net.rpg.freeform 2 of 2"
626:"net.rpg.freeform 1 of 2"
490:Rollespilsmagasinet Fønix
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657:"Fudge Designer's Notes"
500:- Fudge Expanded Edition
139:role-playing game system
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165:was first proposed by
942:Eureka Adventure Pack
922:Deryni Adventure Game
803:Horvath, Stu (2023).
535:J. Andrew Kitkowski.
480:the coming decades."
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115:Deryni Adventure Game
1124:Megaversal/Palladium
675:"The FATE Interview"
347:A set of Fudge dice
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957:Princess Bride RPG
859:Grey Ghost Press'
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167:Steffan O'Sullivan
39:Steffan O'Sullivan
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937:Another Fine Mess
789:Australian Realms
471:In his 2023 book
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354:uses customized "
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700:. Retrieved
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1149:QuestWorlds
1049:Cortex Plus
906:Fudge Games
143:Game Master
80:for use in
54:Publication
1238:Categories
1159:Rolemaster
1114:Masterbook
1030:Amber DRPG
947:Holy Quest
717:Swan, Rick
702:2008-02-16
611:2007-09-24
590:2007-09-24
569:2007-09-24
548:2007-09-24
505:References
435:gamemaster
396:Complexity
339:Fudge dice
312:Attributes
237:. Editor
233:as one of
203:under the
124:d20 System
44:Publishers
1223:Unisystem
1198:Traveller
1104:Interlock
1059:D6/OpenD6
1020:Alternity
917:Fudge RPG
727:TSR, Inc.
451:Backstab’
430:Rick Swan
418:Reception
320:adjective
241:stated "
65:Universal
35:Designers
1218:Ubiquity
1203:Tri-Stat
1010:3D&T
759:Backstab
729:: 90–93.
414:Traits.
223:In 1999
112:for the
92:(later,
1179:SilCORE
1084:Gumshoe
864:webpage
725:(225).
497:Pyramid
328:Superb.
322:scale:
226:Pyramid
157:History
1213:TWERPS
1208:True20
1079:Fuzion
1045:Cortex
811:
743:Shadis
722:Dragon
543:RPGnet
521:Shadis
443:Shadis
425:Dragon
316:Skills
266:TWERPS
62:Genres
1264:FUDGE
1154:Risus
1109:MURPG
1089:GURPS
1074:Fudge
862:Fudge
524:(17).
477:FUDGE
456:GURPS
412:Fudge
407:Fudge
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379:Great
356:Fudge
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260:GURPS
255:Fudge
243:Fudge
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151:genre
147:Fudge
135:Fudge
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102:Fudge
86:FUDGE
76:is a
73:Fudge
20:Fudge
1164:SAGA
1144:QAGS
1129:Omni
1119:MEGS
1099:Hero
1094:HARP
1069:Fate
1064:EABA
1040:CODA
809:ISBN
773:link
387:Poor
383:Good
375:Good
371:Good
367:Fair
359:dice
326:and
314:and
271:SLUG
263:and
249:Name
213:Fate
108:for
57:1992
1184:SRS
1054:d20
1035:BRP
369:to
306:In
172:PDF
127:or
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765:{{
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
