The Bardic Inquiry

Fabula Ultimate is an JRPG-inspired RPG which focuses on the characters. I found the RPG captured the feel of JRPGs through its various mechanics, but ultimately it was the multi-class system and the refreshing take on conflict scenes that sold me on the RPG.

Fabula Ultima is a JRPG-inspired RPG

Fabula Ultima, designed by Emanuele Galletto and published by Need Games and Rooster Games, is an RPG inspired by JRPGs. Think video games like the early Final Fantasy releases, Chrono Trigger, or any of the Dragon Quest games.

The rule book reads like a labour of love and, with regards to the freely released Press Start version, includes everything you will need to run and play a game of Fabula Ultima.

The Press Start version lends itself well to game masters new to hobby as it leads them through running scenes and contains solid advice for beginners such as framing scenes and asking questions.

Fabula Ultima also takes some inspiration from Ryuutama for the core resolution mechanism which involves rolling two dice, one each from a character’s attribute (either the same or different attributes) to then be rolled, but the RPG makes greater use of the dice by leveraging each value rolled for spells and other special effects.

Creating characters in Fabula Ultima was an enjoyable experience for me

Creating a character for a game of Fabula Ultima focuses on each having a strong identity from the collaboratively created world and the multi-class system.

Every game of Fabula Ultima can have a different world, though some core elements are always shared such as everything having a soul. However, the players and the game master will work together before a campaign to craft their own version of this world.

Using a series of random tables for inspiration, the group will determine the role of magic and technology in the world, what kingdoms and nations may exist, and any mysteries or threats that hang over the denizens. The RPG starts strong by investing every player, and the game master, in the world.

When creating characters, players start by assigning five levels between two to three different classes of which there are fifteen to choose from (and a few extra in some freely released content).

Each class is made up of a series of different skills and when a character advances a level, the player can invest that level into a new class or one of their existing classes.

This leads to a varied cast of characters with everything from a gambler to a red sorcerer, each composed of different classes and skills.

I like how combat in Fabula Ultima focuses on character syngery instead of positioning tactics

Fabula Ultima uses conflict scenes to resolve tactical combat, a duel of wits, infiltration, chases, and other such scenes.

The players and the enemies each take turns to do something during a conflict scene which involves JRPG-inspired actions like attack, guard, inventory, objective, and other such things. The actions capture anything a character would want to do, but it doesn’t feel tiring to remember the actions as they are intuitive.

The key aspect I liked about the combat is that the new mechanisms end with those actions, and some of them are not new mechanisms. There is no movement or positioning in Fabula Ultima combat because the game is more focused on the synergy between each of the different characters and their abilities.

Final thoughts

Fabula Ultima is an RPG that captures the feel of JRPGs by focusing on the characters, whether that is by providing a framework to make interesting and diverse characters or shifting the focus of conflict scenes towards what makes each character unique instead of where they are positioned in the scene.

This is a game that I will likely run for my table at some point, though I think a friend might beat me to it. If you have ran or played the RPG, let me know your thoughts below!