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Category Archives: Fudge

On the Benefits of Lances, Spears, and Pikes

There is, if I recall correctly, only one rule in Fudge that addresses the benefits of pole arms, and then only indirectly. From Section 4.31, Melee Modifiers: Compare combatants’ weapon sizes and shields (see Section 4.54, Sample Wound Factors List). If one fighter’s weapon + shield value is +2 (or more) greater than the other [...]

Yet Another Cliffhanger Skill for Fudge

Heroes in movie serials are often outnumbered by their enemies, but they are not without their own tactics to even the odds in a fight. One of these is the popular tactic of lying in wait on the ledge of a cliff or stealthily approaching from the roof of a building and then leaping upon [...]

Fudging Disease Rules

Diseases can be dealt with in Fudge in much the same way as poisons (q.v.). That is, by describing it in character and in terms of its real world effects rather than worrying about which attributes and skills are lowered by how many levels or what its proper notation should be on a wound track. [...]

On the Benefits of the Shield

For all the millennia that the shield was considered an indispensable part of a soldier’s arms and armor, it is baffling that it should be afforded so little significance in any war game or role-playing game concerned with ancient or medieval combat. In Dungeons & Dragons (at least the editions I am familiar with), the [...]

Personalizing Skill Difficulty

Skill difficulty in Fudge is normally presented in one of two ways: as a single difficulty for all skills, or as a difficulty that varies from skill to skill. (Here I am speaking of the difficulty, and hence the cost, of learning skills, not the difficulty levels associated with using skills.) Another possibility is a [...]

Reconsidering Default Skill Levels

I have reached the conclusion that having multiple default skill levels is not desirable in my Fudge games. I had formerly believed that the standard default skill level of Poor (and skill difficulty of Average) was fine for free-form games and creating characters on the fly (with certain exceptions), but I now think it’s best [...]

Cliffhanger Close Combat Clobbered

A typical cliffhanger has at least one close combat scene per episode, and unless the hero is endowed with supernormal powers that enable him to dispatch his foes with alacrity, the fight will probably be lengthy and have an even chance of ending in triumph or defeat. A single blow will rarely put an enemy [...]

Another Cliffhanger Skill for Fudge

One of the most infamous tropes of the cliffhanger movie serial is that of the superhero with the flimsy secret identity. Whether it’s reporter Clark Kent’s curious absence whenever Superman appears or Batman and Robin driving Bruce Wayne’s automobile (or even being chauffeured by Alfred),* somehow the hero is able to maintain a separation of [...]

Promoting Clarity in Fudge

Fudge, to my knowledge, goes further than any other role-playing game to make the hobby understandable to newcomers in terms of reducing jargon. This, I maintain, is one of the greatest assets of Fudge, and it is a byproduct of one of its design goals, which includes “a character sheet you can understand without having [...]

How to Juggle Hit Location Rules in Fudge

As I mentioned previously (q.v.), I like to use different rules options depending on my mood in any given session. Some options are too good not to use, so I try to use them all. Another combat-related example is hit locations. I like called attacks. I also like random hit locations. I also like hits [...]

Alternate Rules: Random Character Creation

As much as I enjoy both subjective and objective character creation in Fudge, I cannot deny that there is a special kind of fun to be had in just doing it all randomly, especially if one is feeling the least bit indecisive. When Fortune take a hand in the affairs of mortal players engaged in [...]

How to Juggle Combat Rules in Fudge

One of my quirks as a Fudge GM is that I enjoy shifting from one rules option to another depending on circumstances and general mood. For example, I see no reason not to use story elements, simultaneous combat rounds, and alternating combat turns at different points during the same session as long as it feels [...]