Basic Fudge

Basic Fudge is a stripped-down generic role playing game that uses the basic core mechanic of Fudge to resolve disputes.

About Fudge: Fudge is a role-playing game written by Steffan O’Sullivan, with extensive input from the Usenet community of rec.games.design. The basic rules of Fudge are available on the internet at http://www.fudgerpg.com and in book form from Grey Ghost Games, P.O. Box 838, Randolph, MA 02368. They may be used with any gaming genre. While an individual work derived from Fudge may specify certain attributes and skills, many more are possible with Fudge. Every Narrator using Fudge is encouraged to add or ignore any character traits. Anyone who wishes to distribute such material for free may do so - merely include this ABOUT Fudge notice and disclaimer (complete with Fudge copyright notice). If you wish to charge a fee for such material, other than as an article in a magazine or other periodical, you must first obtain a royalty-free license from the author of Fudge, Steffan O’Sullivan, P.O. Box 465, Plymouth, NH 03264.

Disclaimer: The following materials based on Fudge, entitled Basic Fudge, are created by, made available by, and Copyright ©2001 by Brett Peters, and are not necessarily endorsed in any way by Steffan O’Sullivan or any publisher of other Fudge materials. Neither Steffan O’Sullivan nor any publisher of other Fudge materials is in any way responsible for the content of these materials unless specifically credited. Original Fudge materials Copyright ©1992-1995 by Steffan O’Sullivan, All Rights Reserved.

Basic Fudge also uses the story-importance difficulty tables introduced in Fudge: Buffy the Vampire Slayer by Michael Gentry. Many thanks to him and Wendy Lane for the ideas that led to this document.

Introduction

Basic Fudge is a generic roleplaying game usable with any setting. Using a simple, easy to learn scale of seven adjectives, Basic Fudge encourages players to portray their characters as they envision them, not according to the constraints of a rule system.

Basic Fudge determines results with Fudge dice; six-sided dice with two sides marked +1, two sides marked -1, and two sides marked 0. To use them, roll four of them (abbreviated 4dF) and total up the pluses and minuses. The result is a number between -4 and +4.

Fudge dice are available from Grey Ghost Games. You can make your own with regular six-sided dice and markers or paint: color two sides green (+1), two sides red (-1), and leave two sides uncolored (0). A game of Rock-Paper-Scissors can also be used in dice-unfriendly environments to generate a modifier of -1 (a loss), 0 (a tie), and +1 (a win). If using Rock-Paper-Scissors, three games is usally enough to determine a good outcome, but players may choose to use any number of games from one to four.

Characters

Nearly anything can be a character in Basic Fudge. Players can portray humans, vulcans, cyborgs, animals, sentient machines, starships, or even entire cultures. Whatever the concept, characters are described by traits in Basic Fudge. Traits are the distinguishing characteristics, qualities and properties of the character.

Most traits can be described by levels, one of seven adjectives arranged in a scale measuring quality from Terrible to Superb. The modifier of a level is calculated from this median value of Fair.

Level Modifier
Terrible -3
Poor -2
Mediocre -1
Fair 0
Good +1
Great +2
Superb +3

Levels worse than Terrible are written as Terrible-1, Terrible-2, etc.. Likewise, levels above Superb are referred to as Superb+1, Superb+2, etc..

Character Creation

Character creation is subjective in Basic Fudge; players make up their own traits and assign them levels as they see fit, with the implicit understanding that the goal is to create a believable, interesting and compelling character. Each character has a Story, Attributes and Skills. Fudge Points, representing luck or fate, are assigned by the Narrator.

Attributes are your character’s inherent qualities; how fit, smart, understanding or lucky he is. The following six attributes are common but not standard; other attributes are possible. Rate your character in each attribute on the Terrible…Superb scale. If an attribute is not listed, the character is assumed to have it at Fair.

Skills represent the learned qualities of your character. There is no set skill list in Basic Fudge; you are free to come up with whatever seems most appropriate for your character. Any sort of activity that you figure you’d be good at is fair game. When you take a skill, rate it on the Terrible…Superb scale. Unlisted skills are assumed to be Poor.

Your character’s Story is that something out of the ordinary that makes them unique. Maybe you’re a terrorist. Maybe you’re an android trying to be human. Maybe you’re an ex-con trying to make good. Maybe you’re a misunderstood vampire extolling the virtues of a balanced diet. Whatever it is that sets you apart, that’s your Story. Work with your Narrator to ensure your Story fits his setting and to assign whatever traits seem appropriate.

Fudge Points represent the heroic fortune of the player characters and allow players to fudge a game result. Fudge Points can give you a +1 to a roll, invoke a serendipitous story element, improve your character’s timing, make a good first impression, shrug off wounds, and so on. Not every game will use Fudge Points. If used, each character usually begins play with one Fudge point. Unused Fudge Points are saved up for the next episode. Each player may get an additional number each gaming session, determined by the Narrator.

Action Resolution

Levels indicate the average ability and performance at a given action or task related to the trait; a Good Painter usually paints Good quality or better artwork. To determine the specific performance level of a particular action, roll 4dF and adjust the trait level by the resulting modifier. If your character is a Good Painter and you roll a +1 result, you’ve created a Great painting. If you had rolled a -3, the result would be a Poor painting.

Every task has a difficulty level, a minimum performance level needed to accomplish it. If the performance level meets or exceeds the difficulty level the action succeeds. A character needs a Fair or better performance with a Climbing skill to climb a Fair difficulty cliff.

There are no difficulty lists in Basic Fudge; the Narrator should trust his judgment, assess the task and assign a difficulty level accordingly. Most tasks are of Fair difficulty. Environmental factors can modify the difficulty level; a +/-1 shift represents a minor advantage or disadvantage, +/-2 a major one, and +/-3 an overwhelming one.

The Narrator may opt to set difficulty levels based on how crucial the task is to the story instead of how hard the task is. This is especially useful in situations where the Narrator is unfamilliar with the task, like with magic or advanced technology, or when an action is crucial to the outcome of the episode.

Importance Description Difficulty
Incidental The task has no real bearing on the current story. Fair
Limited  The task will reveal a clue or overcome an obstacle, but is not strictly necessary; there are other ways of solving the same problem.  Good
Major The task reveals a clue or overcomes an obstacle that cannot be solved without it; the crew would be stumped indefinitely without it. Great
Utmost Victory or defeat hinges upon the successful completion of this task. Superb

When two characters oppose each other, like in combat, success is determined by the performance of the other character in addition to the difficulty level. The degree of success is the number of levels between the two performances and measures how well a character succeeds. The degree of success can be translated into levels to provide a guide as to the effects of an action.

Degrees of Success Level Description
0 Terrible The characters perform equally well; a standoff results.
1 Poor One character has a slight advantage over the other.
2 Mediocre One character has a minor advantage over the other.
3 Fair Once character has an advantage over the other. In combat, perhaps the opponent is stunned or disarmed.
4 Good There is a marked difference in performance; one character has a definite advantage over the other. A Good wound will cause penalties to the other character.
5 Great Clearly superior performance. In combat, one opponent is incapacitated.
6 Superb Overwhelmingly superior performance.

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