Fudgerylog

It is sometimes forgotten by those who are experimenting with the rules of Fudge that Fudge points are, in fact, designed to be used by players for the benefit of their own characters, and not by GMs for the benefit of non-player characters. As it states in Chapter 1, “Fudge Points are meta-game gifts that may be used to buy ‘luck’ during a game — they let the players fudge a game result.” Non-player characters have no need for Fudge points since they are controlled by the GM who already has the advantage of omniscience (apart from — in some cases — what the players themselves are thinking). Fudge points are a limited resource that players can use to give them an edge when they feel they need it most or to mitigate otherwise dire circumstances. If non-player characters are also granted Fudge points, then there is nothing to stop them from cancelling out the effects of Fudge points used by players. They would, in fact, be foolish not to, and since they outnumber player characters as a rule, it would be a simple matter of engaging them in a spending war that the players cannot possibly win. Fudge points would then become the exclusive advantage of non-player characters to thwart the actions of player characters at will. It might be considered fun by those who love to suffer; it might even be an effective implementation in Franz Kafka’s Ordeal by Role-Playing. For the rest of us, however, the plainly stated rules are plainly better.