FATAL

Spun off from this thread. You should probably read that thread before this one. It's not long, either!

Anyway, I'll be doing this pretty much stream-of-consciousness.

Let's start with the cover. It has two adventurers buck naked fighting a goblin, one male and one female. Well, the guy has a banana hammock. You'd think it would be a good idea to go into battle with something to protect your vitals beside your skin, but nope!

Now onto the first page. They state right away that they want this game to be as realistic as possible while still retaining mystical elements. Seems fair. Since there's more than one god, they've gotten rid of Christian elements. Again, good for the setting. They've isolated Europe, meaning that everybody is Caucasian and there are no foreign influences. No Chinese spices, to use one of their examples.

The next section explains what an RPG is. The example they give has an adventurer rescuing a maiden from a tower. They also show that they're using a Karma Meter-like system. Here's what happens depending on the character.

• Free the maiden out of respect for humanity.
• Free the maiden hoping to win her over.
• Free the maiden, and hold her for ransom.
• Free the maiden, but only after she's given the PC head.
• Don't free the maiden. Instead, rape her.
• Don't free the maiden. Instead, eat her.

Now I'm starting to understand what people were talking about. The game lets you be a dick or not be a dick, but they go into rather disturbing detail.

So yeah. Expect more. So far I've only read the title and the intro and it's already messy. Can't wait for the actual rules!

edited 5th Sep '09 7:34:01 PM by JBridge

(shudder)

Again, you are a braver soul than I.

edited 5th Sep '09 7:34:01 PM by Tzetze

it begins

do you regret?

By the way... since this is tabletop, any roleplaying system could be used for good or evil, it just might have more mechanics one way or the other.

And isn't this ~900 pages? Just thinking about it?

Why... are you...

You poor soul.

Y'know what? I'm impatient. Let's start this shit!

Keep in mind that I will be listening to this song on repeat while writing this and reading the book.

The next section is called "Necessary Gaming Materials". let's see what you need.

Apparently it's suggested that each player have a copy of the book, not just the GM. Everything else seems to be relatively normal. Also, they provide a list of what you need. Here it is.

• Numerous copies of this book
• Gaming dice (d4, d6, d8, d10, d20)
• Character Generation Program
• Neveria Fantasy World (Note from J Bridge: This is a book that explains the game's lore and world.)
• Pencils, erasers, scratch paper, and graph paper
• 25mm Miniatures or small markers such as coins
• Gaming mat (1'' grid)
• Calculator
• Players

So yeah. There's one problem though- Neveria hasn't been released. at least, not as far as I can see.

The next section describes terminology. They go out of their way to say that they'll be avoiding gender pronouns, replacing them with the singular they unless a gender pronoun is more appropriate. The rest of the section is explaining dice terminology. (1d10 means roll one d10 once, etc.)

Now for Math. Considering what I've heard about the game, this might be a long one. "Players will not need math that is more complicated than basic algebra, and even that is rare." Hm. Maybe what everybody's been saying about the horrendous equations and stuff was wrong. Also, apparently you always round down in this game. They also give a few examples. Apparently we need basic percentages explained to us, because that's pretty much all these examples are.

Making opening sentences for these paragraphs is starting to be a pain, so I'll just use headings from now on.

Roles

Apparently this game's term for the GM is Aedile. This term apparently comes from the ancient Roman legal system. They don't like Killer Game Masters. Good, I guess. From what I hear it's pretty easy to die in this game, so I guess that's a good thing. The rest of the section is just standard GM stuff.

Creating A Character

This is probably going to be a big section, so I'll leave off here for now.

NO MORE MUSIC!

edited 5th Sep '09 8:03:13 PM by JBridge

"Basic algebra" could cover anything simpler than differentiation. Addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, exponentiation... well, you'll see, and I don't think it has the fifth.

The aedile was the Roman officer whose job it was to spend a shitload of money.

Huh, it was.

@WWW: Considering that this is an RPG, that might be just a bit too accurate.

edited 5th Sep '09 8:17:50 PM by JBridge

You... are a far better man than I, Joel.

Accurate? ACCURATE?!?

Historically accurate! Historical rapeseeds!

It's based on famous battles that actually took place in ancient Japan!

So there's this Giant Enemy Crab...Technically, giant enemy crabs, since it's FATAL.

edited 5th Sep '09 8:27:20 PM by Haven

Players can face off against this Giant Enemy Enema!

@ninja'd by better pun.

edited 5th Sep '09 8:27:50 PM by Tzetze

@Haven: Actually, there are no STDs in FATAL.

edited 5th Sep '09 8:28:40 PM by JBridge

J Bridge: Fail has increased exponentially. Not yours, of course, but... you know.

THAT WHICH WILL NOT BE NAMED

Of course, that would be unrealistic if there was any risk involved.

@J Bridge: For reasons of realism and historical accuracy, I assume.

I think it was discussed in the review rebuttal. Here it is, if you want to look at it.

Alright, let me see what his reason is:

I searched for information on sexually transmitted diseases in the Middle Ages. Although I did not search with vigor, the few times that I have searched, I have failed to find any information. Some others have made this same argument. When I asked them to provide a source, so that I can include the information, I never heard from them again. If Jason were credible, he would provide a scholarly source.

*epic facepalm*

Yeah, you would have to search with very little vigor not to hear about syphilis in the middle ages.

edited 5th Sep '09 9:51:23 PM by Haven

Now, now, Haven, everyone knows syphilis came from the New World, so he couldn't include that.

Wikipedia sex sez:

The exact time of onset of gonorrhea as prevalent disease or epidemic cannot be accurately determined from the historical record. One of the first reliable notations occur in the Acts of the (English) Parliament, In 1161 this body passed a law to reduce the spread of "...the perilous infirmity of burning."[14] The symptoms described are consistent with, but not diagnostic of, gonorrhea. A similar decree was passed by Louis IX in France in 1256, replacing regulation with banishment. [15] Similar symptoms were noted at the siege of Acre by Crusaders.

Wow, that was hard.

edited 5th Sep '09 9:55:20 PM by Tzetze

Much of Hall's rebuttal to the review consists of contesting whether the mechanics are actually as nonsensical and difficult to implement as the reviewers attest, while glossing over the complete offensiveness and inanity of what he's written.

For instance, yes, a person can have an attractive face but an unattractive body, that is a defensible position. That is not the conflict that he has to reconcile though, he has to deal with the fact that a character's body can be physically repellent while at the same time their face "causes wetness." Even if you resolve the apparent contradiction, you still have to deal with the fact that the contents of the source book are stupid and tasteless.