FATAL: A Campaign Journal

[Zeta Kai]

So, babies are the sexiest people on the world?

Hmmm... FATAL has Unfortunate Implications of extreme sexual deviancy. I never would've guessed.

Also, this has to be a record for FATAL-based threads on this site. Most would've self-locked by now. FATAL is the Hitler of gaming discussions. Kudos to all those who can follow the forum rules.

[Arakune]

What is this

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"debauchery"

thing?

[Fawkes]

Remember when this thread was a campaign journal?

[Yuki Akuma]

In FATALese, it means how kinky you are.

[AstralFire]

Remember when this thread was a campaign journal?

The times, they are a-changin'.

[OMG PONIES]

Remember when this thread was a campaign journal?

It still is; we're all rolling our characters.

[Randalor]

Pssst. You forgot to edit out the Sexual Features section...

Oops, I kept in the Sexual Features section because of the 1" nipples and the tounge that's almost half his height, but forgot to cut out the naughty bits. Fixed now.

[Greenish]

Oops, I kept in the Sexual Features section because of the 1" nipples and the tounge that's almost half his height, but forgot to cut out the naughty bits. Fixed now.

Wait, tongue size is…

Oh my poor, (formerly) pure mind.

[Bayar]

The reason that most characters wind up slaves is because slaves are about 60 % IIRC, 22 % are serfs (which is FATAL's HISTORICALLY AND MYTHOLOGICALLY's equivalent of a middle class). Only 8% are nobility, and from that there are only 1 % royalty. The process of rolling these percentages is very convoluted though, so better be a slave than try to figure it out and make sense of it (LOL common FATAL sense).

[warmachine]

There's 10% missing from the statement above. If the serfs are the middle class, what are the yeomen, freemen, artisans and merchants?

[Yuki Akuma]

Hall is an idiot, basically. In his mind, Slaves are at the bottom, then Peasants (what anyone else would call serfs, but, again, he's an idiot), then Serfs (which anyone else would call the middle class; i.e. artisans, merchants, yeomen), then the Nobility and finally the Royalty.

Did I mention Byron Hall is an idiot?

[Hand_of_Vecna]

I rolled up another character today a male cliff ogre named "Bystandard Forcer" seriously that's what the generater named him. Crazily strong low charisma and agility (I believe that's normal for an ogre) but his rhetoric is really high despite a significant racial penalty. I was pretty excited about him until I rolled begger for an occupation so I just have my racial skills, haggle and 2 skill points which I put into haggle and intimidate. I think he can get by pretty well on those two skills plus wrestling he has big bonuses in intimidate and wrestling from his huge strengh score and size. I picture him as giant version of badger from firefly including a bowler hat and working to create a underworld organization from the ground up.

I also noticed that begger gives 1 AP per 100 sp recieved, ok what's with the crazy exchange rate anyway it says recieved and not "recieved from begging" so maybe anykind of income counts. Considering that it's F.A.T.A.L I'm pretty sure favorable RAW interpretations are kosher.

[Mystic Muse]

Did I mention Byron Hall is an idiot?

Yes, but not nearly enough times.

[TheLaughingLich]

I also noticed that begger gives 1 AP per 100 sp recieved, ok what's with the crazy exchange rate anyway it says recieved and not "recieved from begging" so maybe anykind of income counts. Considering that it's F.A.T.A.L I'm pretty sure favorable RAW interpretations are kosher.

Wait, so doesn't that mean you can:
1) Gather 100 sp.
2) Find another beggar.
3) "Beg" it back and forth between each other until reaching the level cap.

[true_shinken]

Wait, so doesn't that mean you can:
1) Gather 100 sp.
2) Find another beggar.
3) "Beg" it back and forth between each other until reaching the level cap.

And they say beggars can't be choosers... /drumstunt

[Lord Raziere]

It still is; we're all rolling our characters.

eleven pages and you are still making your characters?

FATAL lives up to its name doesn't it?

[Hand_of_Vecna]

So who's gonna run this thing?

[warmachine]

I don't study medieval history as I regard it as a dark age from which virtually nothing can be learned but even I know serfs are below free peasants. That single fact alone makes a lie of FATAL's historical and mythological accuracy. I don't think FATAL has a single redeeming feature. Not one.

[Randalor]

It's a good argument for mandatory psychological tests?

[Mongoose87]

Wait, so doesn't that mean you can:
1) Gather 100 sp.
2) Find another beggar.
3) "Beg" it back and forth between each other until reaching the level cap.

With the assumption that your GM should take pity in you for playing FATAL, I suspect he will allow this, so you can sooner access the game-breaking 20th level beggar ability to beg the universe to put itself out of its misery.

[Fawkes]

Seriously, the character rolling and new game needs its own thread, instead of just hijacking Dust's.

[Salbazier]

I don't study medieval history as I regard it as a dark age from which virtually nothing can be learned but even I know serfs are below free peasants. That single fact alone makes a lie of FATAL's historical and mythological accuracy. I don't think FATAL has a single redeeming feature. Not one.

Well, its not my favorite age to be lived, but IMO there's quite a bunch that can be learned from it. I've heard that 'dark age' is misnomer that slapped on it (or period after medieval, not sure here) to contrast the 'light' of the renaissance. Anyway, Serf indeed are not free. And there's no slave in the medieval, as far as I know.

[Ormur]

I don't study medieval history as I regard it as a dark age from which virtually nothing can be learned but even I know serfs are below free peasants. That single fact alone makes a lie of FATAL's historical and mythological accuracy. I don't think FATAL has a single redeeming feature. Not one.

But, but, the middle ages were a thousand year era of very differing characteristics of of which only the first part can be termed "the dark ages" with revolutionary changes that shaped modern European society towards the end.

That however just makes FATAL's confusion of the ancient world slavery and a high- and late middle age serfdom even worse. Not to mention towns ruled by the middle class where where people went to stop being serfs.

It might not have improved it's realism but the game would also at least have been less harmful to ones sanity if the creators had used a book on medieval cooking instead of prostitution as it's sole historical reference.

[Thurbane]

Can I port over my Spawn of Fashan character to this campaign?

[The Glyphstone]

I don't study medieval history as I regard it as a dark age from which virtually nothing can be learned but even I know serfs are below free peasants. That single fact alone makes a lie of FATAL's historical and mythological accuracy. I don't think FATAL has a single redeeming feature. Not one.

It makes other games look better by comparison?

[Terraoblivion]

Not to mention that common concepts of serfdom are largely based on Eastern Europe in the 18th century and not on the actual middle ages.

[DragoonWraith]

Not to mention that common concepts of serfdom are largely based on Eastern Europe in the 18th century and not on the actual middle ages.

Robots! Yes? I think so.

[Realms of Chaos]

Even though the thread has moved on from the discussion of FATAL's actual mechanics, there's one thing that I thought to add.

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Looking through this thread, I see a pretty obvious solution to at least one glaring problem in the game that would likely appeal to Mr. Hall's apparent desire for both realism and overcomplication.

What if instead of being forced to gain XP according to your class, you instead gained separate XP totals for each class that you meet the prerequisites to join. In short, a clerk could become a bandit (the class) by actually acting like a bandit and earning XP that way. Similarly, a mage who idiotically starts cutting people's hair for too long would become a barber.

Instead of making the XP system extremely stingy, you'd get XP for practically every big action you take but it would still take awhile before the XP you gain towards any single class is enough to level. It even seems a bit realistic as a clerk typically doesn't become a bandit by continuing his work as a clerk for 83 years.

This does nothing to remedy the other numerous problems but would make it possible for almost any group in existance to actually PLAY the game and level up in time, facing off against the challenges put forth against them rather than the difficulties put forth by a few unlucky rolls at the start of the game. It might require a few rule rewrites (such as magical scrolls the literate could use to gain XP as a mage) but it might make the game a bit more bearable.

[Connington]

I appreciate the utter brokenness of the XP system. It helps keep the foolhardy from attempting to play the game, which would inevitably lead to a string of failed SAN checks, sane class progression or no.

[Yuki Akuma]

Seriously, the character rolling and new game needs its own thread, instead of just hijacking Dust's.

I don't think making another thread about FATAL is a good idea.

Dust can still post his campaign log in here and we'll all enjoy it, you know...