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View Full Version : F.A.T.A.L is obviously a joke



Anon-a-mouse
2007-02-23, 01:00 PM
For those who haven't heard of it, f.a.t.a.l is an rpg with a 900 page rulebook consisting of laboriously complex and pointless rules covering everything up to defecation, absurd scholarly pretensions referencing the stupidest bits of discredited academic texts and (of course) frequent and extreme descriptions of acts of sexual violence.

It seems to have caused a great deal of offence with the inhabitants of RPG.net none of whom seem to realise that it is a JOKE. No one who takes their game so seriously that they feel the need to cite historical references in support of it is then going to fill it with crude sexual jokes. The 10d100 rolls for dozens of different stats (amongst other things) are too impractical for anyone to have actually intended the game to be played.

Bears With Lasers
2007-02-23, 01:03 PM
Sorry, Anon. FATAL is very serious. "It's too complicated/stupid to play!" doesn't make something a joke; it just reflects the mindset of its creator.

Now roll for anal circumference.

Dark
2007-02-23, 01:03 PM
It's equally obvious that no-one goes through the effort of writing 977 pages of rules text (and commissioning artwork for it, no less) just to make a joke. It's clearly a labor of love.

When I read the review-rebuttal of it, the strongest vibe I got was "net.kook". You know, the ones who sound calm and reasonable until you actually pay attention to what they're saying, and then it's obvious that they walked off the sanity cliff long ago and the only reason they're not falling is that they're incapable of looking down.

Viscount Einstrauss
2007-02-23, 01:04 PM
Here I just thought it was Dr. Derek Smart's private RPG porn collection.

Sergeantbrother
2007-02-23, 01:07 PM
I am inclined to think that it is a joke as well. An extremely intricate and laboriously created joke, but a joke none-the-less.

That Lanky Bugger
2007-02-23, 01:09 PM
No, they actually mean for this to be played.

It's too well-rounded to be a joke. The flame wars, the website... Those I can understand being done for a joke. The thing which brings this all crashing down is the 900-page rulebook. I've read about half of it (though that was about two years ago) and it doesn't overly repeat itself or give any impression of just being copied and pasted over and over again... It's 900 pages of distinct material.

Jerthanis
2007-02-23, 01:17 PM
It's fortunate we can't discuss F.A.T.A.L. in any detail here, because the conversation would quickly turn my stomach, but it is very much not intended as a humorous endeavor. Perhaps I'd believe it if it wasn't so long, or that it didn't brag about the number of hours spent on "research". Maybe if it didn't call itself the most historically/mythically accurate RPG system/setting. Maybe if I could mention a single example of play given in the book without the swear word filter replacing half the verbs and almost all the proper nouns, I could believe it wasn't a sick and terrible joke.

Voleta
2007-02-23, 01:24 PM
As Bears said, FATAL is very serious business.

The comparison to Battlefield Earth was made. Both are too awesometastic for most to comprehend, so to try and cover up their own lack of understanding, they claim that the game (and that movie) are an abomination, when clearly they are the work of a greater mind.

Dark
2007-02-23, 01:27 PM
You know... I've read parts of it today, and I wouldn't agree that it has "frequent and extreme descriptions of acts of sexual violence". It has a few such descriptions, and a few more descriptions of sexual matters. It also has cooking recipes. It has rules for nipple length, but also for curly or wavy hair, and for eye color. It has randomly-rolled alignments, my favorite feature. But mostly it has pages and pages and pages (and pages) of information about occupations like Cook, Cowherd, Engineer, Gladiator, Inkmaker, Marbler, Miner, Musician, Potter, Sailor, Sorceror, and Tilemaker. Yes, and Whore. But the reviews I've seen of it do seem to pick out only the naughty bits, and leave a seriously skewed impression.

Not that an unskewed impression would be a good impression :) But it's not filled with perversions.

Bears With Lasers
2007-02-23, 01:49 PM
Dark, you may have seen the "revised" version, where FATAL stands for something like From Another Time, Another Land. The original was Fantasy Adventure To Adult Lechery, and it was significantly worse in that regard.

KoDT69
2007-02-23, 02:01 PM
Joke or not, it's funny that somebody made all those incumbant rule systems and a 900 page manual. Shakespear would be proud :smallyuk:

averagejoe
2007-02-23, 02:11 PM
Joke or not, it's funny that somebody made all those incumbant rule systems and a 900 page manual. Shakespear would be proud :smallyuk:

http://www.irregularwebcomic.net/comic.php?current=311&theme=14&dir=prev

I know some parts of it, like the random spell effects that would make random unnamable body parts grow to rediculous sizes/produce fruit/other wierd stuff, and the various armors of racial discrimination, were meant to be jokes, but I'm also pretty sure the creator takes his game seriously, just from the fact that he's bothered to try and contradict people who don't like it.

Yahzi
2007-02-23, 02:19 PM
It's not a parody, anymore than Time Cube is a parody.

I agree it is terrifying to contemplate that people that brutish can type and have access to a computer...

Darrin
2007-02-23, 03:55 PM
Dark, you may have seen the "revised" version, where FATAL stands for something like From Another Time, Another Land. The original was Fantasy Adventure To Adult Lechery, and it was significantly worse in that regard.

Somewhere or other, I've got some PDFs from several years ago, when the chargen system used something like (5d20+127)/2 for generating basic stats. Last time I checked, maybe a year or so ago, someone had cleaned that up a bit so the basic stats were on a 1-100 scale. The klunk-factor was still way, way up above even AD&D 1st Ed. level. Although an attempt may have been to clean some things up other than mechanics, the essential problem with F.A.T.A.L. is this:

It's a Fantasy Heartbreaker (and yes, it helps if you're familiar with that Forge term). It's an extremely juvenile teenage/fratboy game, with some rather frightening depth as far as research (deeply flawed research, as it happens), and with a titillation factor off the charts that tends to distract people, but essentially at its heart it's a derivative D&D knockoff of someone's homebrew game. URL:

http://www.indie-rpgs.com/articles/9/

The rest of the problems with F.A.T.A.L. are mostly amusing to enumerate:

* There appear to be two distinct "authors" collaborating on most of the material.

* One is actually somewhat thorough as far as research and what he thinks is historical accuracy. He's not always overtly mysogynist, racist, or outright whacko, and likes to defend himself with lots of facts and evidence, but he does have biases and prejudices that get insinuated throughout the work.

* The other author is obsessed with stuff like "Hymen Penetration Tables", "blue-veined throbbers", "male prostitutes work for money, female prostitutes work for pleasure", and "the worst thing about getting a critical hit in the ****oris is the female will not want to have sex for 2d4 days".

* Lots and lots of mysogyny, at different levels throughout the book, from subtle (base attribute adjustments for gender) to outright attacks. The main author has attempted to defend this as "historical accuracy", but fer crissakes you've got elves, dwarves and demons in your world. While some of the subtle stuff might be forgivable, the really blatant crap is indefensible.

* Supposedly the only fantasy RPG with "historically accurate spells" but that's because only one extremely poor medieval-era spellbook was used as a reference, and those spells are either unplayable or worthless compared to the plethora of "cause genitalia to explode" spells.

* Supposedly a lot of effort was put into some kind of morality/ethics system, and while yes, there is a sizable chunk of text on Aristotelean ethics, the rest of the rules mechanics have absolutely nothing to do with it.

* The main author has attempted to use the principles of Logital Positivism to defend himself, and supposedly any critic who doesn't share the same philosophical views isn't capable of arguing with him. Not only is Logical Positivism somewhat questionable as a viable philosophy (it tends to trip itself up over verification of truth), it's also a pretty clear indication that the main author is an insufferable nincompoop.

tarbrush
2007-02-23, 04:00 PM
Not only is Logical Positivism somewhat questionable as a viable philosophy (it tends to trip itself up over verification of truth), it's also a pretty clear indication that the main author is an insufferable nincompoop.
I think that the whole '900 page porno rulebook' thang proved that a long time ago :)

Fhaolan
2007-02-23, 04:10 PM
Same kind of kooks that wrote Synnabar. Living in the Seattle area means that at least once you need to go to DragonCon and be subjected to a game of Synnabar with the designer Raven McCracken as game master. Dear lord, what a mess. Not so obviously sex-orientated, but a similar random nonsense game system with the 'It's more realistic!' excuse liberally used. Raven himself usually spends the first fifteen minutes of each convention game session explaining how his training as a ninja led him to create this highly accurate combat system, right down to the nuclear-powered nunchucks...

Bears With Lasers
2007-02-23, 04:11 PM
Man, FATAL is SO much worse than Synnabar.

Fhaolan
2007-02-23, 04:15 PM
Man, FATAL is SO much worse than Synnabar.

Oh, I can believe that. I just tend to use Synnabar as a first-glance criteria for RPGs. If a game has an even passing resemblance to Synnabar, I don't have to go any farther in reading the rules. I just say 'No', and walk away. :smallbiggrin:

PaleAngel
2007-02-23, 04:17 PM
his training as a ninja led him to create this highly accurate combat system, right down to the nuclear-powered nunchucks...

The fact that I just read that sentence at work has made my day.

Bears With Lasers
2007-02-23, 04:17 PM
Fatal, RaHoWa, and Hybrid are pretty much the Unholy Trinity of Terrible RPGs. They're bad in mostly different ways, but there's no real way to make them worse except by crossing them with each other.

TheOtherMC
2007-02-23, 04:20 PM
Fatal, RaHoWa, and Hybrid are pretty much the Unholy Trinity of Terrible RPGs. They're bad in mostly different ways, but there's no real way to make them worse except by crossing them with each other.

And what would that make? (Besides some really, really bad porn)

MrNexx
2007-02-23, 04:24 PM
What is RaHoWa?

Bears With Lasers
2007-02-23, 04:24 PM
That would make the Worst Game Possible.

Edit: RaHoW is Racial Holy War (http://atrocities.primaryerror.net/rahowasucks.html): at last, an RPG for inbred white supremacists.

Dark
2007-02-23, 04:24 PM
Fatal, RaHoWa, and Hybrid are pretty much the Unholy Trinity of Terrible RPGs. They're bad in mostly different ways, but there's no real way to make them worse except by crossing them with each other.
I feel... an impending sense of purpose... a void that I must fill...

Jack Mann
2007-02-23, 04:30 PM
Do it and you will die. You will die so hard

MrNexx
2007-02-23, 04:35 PM
So... FATAL-RaHoWa-Hyrbid would be a massively-complex, mathematically-oriented game with a heavy emphasis on performing vile acts of sexual aggression on people of other fantasy species?

Druid
2007-02-23, 04:37 PM
I almost want to see that game. It sounds like it would be hilarious in a horrifying manner.

Darrin
2007-02-23, 04:37 PM
Fatal, RaHoWa, and Hybrid are pretty much the Unholy Trinity of Terrible RPGs. They're bad in mostly different ways, but there's no real way to make them worse except by crossing them with each other.

What, no love for SenZar...?

Haven't heard of Hybrid before. If it tops Synnibar and SenZar... sounds like I should take a look. At my own peril, I understand.

Bears With Lasers
2007-02-23, 04:38 PM
SenZar's bad, but it's just Munchkinny D&D Ripoff bad. It's nowhere NEAR FATAL or RaHoWa.

Hybrid... Hybrid isn't so much "bad", really, as "completely incomprehensible",

Cybren
2007-02-23, 04:39 PM
SOME real RPGs are a joke on purpose (http://www.kenzerco.com/index.php?cPath=25_26)

Darrin
2007-02-23, 04:46 PM
SOME real RPGs are a joke on purpose (http://www.kenzerco.com/index.php?cPath=25_26)

Tsk tsk. Kind of a bad example. I understand that one is still playable, both as a joke and as a serious homage to old-style AD&D. It's just not in the same league as the other games that have been mentioned.

Muz
2007-02-23, 05:06 PM
Same kind of kooks that wrote Synnabar. Living in the Seattle area means that at least once you need to go to DragonCon and be subjected to a game of Synnabar with the designer Raven McCracken as game master.

Synnabar? Isn't that the cinnamon roll chain store that's in all the malls around here?

"Will my Absorb Icing feat stack with the +2 stickiness I get for having a 15 in my Bunly Goodness stat?"
"You idiot. Bunly Goodness is your alignment!"
:smallwink:

(As usual, I have nothing constructive to add to the topic.)

Arceliar
2007-02-23, 05:07 PM
Seeing as fatalgames.com is and has been down for quite some time, I'm curious: Does anyone know where to find a download of the game these days? I'd like to show some players just how good they have it with the d20 system.

And it would give me something to work off of when they insist on doing things they shouldn't.

captainswift
2007-02-23, 05:52 PM
Hoo boy. I've never even heard of these games you guys are talking about, and now, my Absolute Curiosity (TM) will force me to look them all up.

I'm kind of afraid. I hope I survive.

Dareon
2007-02-23, 06:36 PM
I obtained a copy of FATAL last year sometime, mostly because it was marked "Not For The Sane." Having failed my SAN checks ages ago, I flipped through it. Got through the races, was vaguely disturbed by the Childguzzler Giant (Yes, you too can now eat babies as a racial ability! No more pesky levels of Paladin required!). Made my way through a large amount of the stat generation rules, wondered why they needed Manhood stats (Among others. Manhood is simply the safest to say). Got to game mechanics, found out why they needed Manhood stats. Skipped ahead to the random magic tables.

Overall, the system is amusing until I have the horrible realization that, like the Book of Erotic Fantasy, someone, somewhere, perhaps even a group of someones, plays it completely seriously. Then I cry for a while.

TheOtherMC
2007-02-23, 07:44 PM
Synnabar? Isn't that the cinnamon roll chain store that's in all the malls around here?

"Will my Absorb Icing feat stack with the +2 stickiness I get for having a 15 in my Bunly Goodness stat?"
"You idiot. Bunly Goodness is your alignment!"
:smallwink:

(As usual, I have nothing constructive to add to the topic.)

ok

1) Its "Cinnabon"
and
2) THAT GAME WOULD ROCK SO HARD! Someone needs to make it.....now.....hehe "sticky justice"....

Thomas
2007-02-23, 07:46 PM
The Book of Erotic Fantasy is tasteful and morally upstanding compared to this. (Well, actually, I'd call the BoEF tasteful and morally upstanding compared to a lot of stuff, but then again, I've been on teh internets.)

Steward
2007-02-23, 08:08 PM
Well, yeah, but the Book of Erotic Fantasy was written by people who weren't criminally, child-eatingly insane. It's really not a fair comparison to F.A.T.A.L.

SpiderBrigade
2007-02-23, 08:17 PM
Case in point, the BoEF basically says, "look, rape is icky. We're not going to talk about it here, ok?" Contrast with FATAL. There we go.

EvilElitest
2007-02-23, 10:47 PM
I think it is a joke. i pray every day that it is a joke. It is a joke right?:smallfrown: Right? Guys? I feel so scared:smalleek:
From,
EE

Arceliar
2007-02-23, 11:02 PM
Disregard my last post, I found a copy. Not quite the final version, only 977 pages long. Even so...it should suffice at disturbing a few choice idiots.

Reading this again reminds me of why I lost my faith in humanity.

Fhaolan
2007-02-23, 11:20 PM
Synnabar? Isn't that the cinnamon roll chain store that's in all the malls around here?

"Will my Absorb Icing feat stack with the +2 stickiness I get for having a 15 in my Bunly Goodness stat?"
"You idiot. Bunly Goodness is your alignment!"
:smallwink:

(As usual, I have nothing constructive to add to the topic.)

Are you kidding? That's the most constructive thing I've seen in this thread yet. I would *so* play that game.

---

As an on topic note, however, I have now managed to read small sections of not only FATAL, but Hybrid and Racial Holy War.

MY BRAIN IS ON FIRE!!!!

I'm sorry for thinking these things were similar to Synnabar or SenZar. There is a superficial resemblance, but these pieces of excrement make Synnabar and SenZar look like award-winning examples of game design.

These people need to be exterminated, and all evidence of their existance eliminated from the gene pool. Dear god in heaven. If the Earth falls into the Sun it will be worth it to remove these games from the universe.

Viscount Einstrauss
2007-02-24, 12:01 AM
When I made my own roleplaying system (twice), I always looked back at it and said "No one will want to play this. There's some neat stuff, but the mechanics aren't built for the same heavy gameplay as some of the favorites on the market."

But now I'm reconsidering compiling it all, since I'm clearly a genius compared to a lot of these nutbags.

KoDT69
2007-02-24, 12:04 AM
Dude my friends will all think this is hilarious! I downloaded the full handbook, all 977 pages! Awesome!

Mattarias, King.
2007-02-24, 12:40 AM
Dude my friends will all think this is hilarious! I downloaded the full handbook, all 977 pages! Awesome!

egad, man! you do have anti-death software, do you not? :smalleek: i feel sad for your computer.

sorry, not too productive here. myself, but suffice it to say, i now feel much happier playing d20, and just d20. :smalleek:

Helgraf
2007-02-24, 01:51 AM
Hrm. Yes.

When games outstrip Spawn of F'shan ... whose only redeeming feature was the fun of character creation ... yeah.

*would dip brain in acid, but makes more sense to dip fatal's designers brains in acid - excepting it would be a waste of good acid*

BabbageCliolog
2007-02-24, 02:25 AM
Same kind of kooks that wrote Synnabar. Living in the Seattle area means that at least once you need to go to DragonCon and be subjected to a game of Synnabar with the designer Raven McCracken as game master. Dear lord, what a mess. Not so obviously sex-orientated, but a similar random nonsense game system with the 'It's more realistic!' excuse liberally used. Raven himself usually spends the first fifteen minutes of each convention game session explaining how his training as a ninja led him to create this highly accurate combat system, right down to the nuclear-powered nunchucks...

Yep, I've been to DragonFlight and met Raven c.s. McCracken. I think I even played in a Synnibarr game as a Giant Demi-God Cyber-Warrior or some such. For those of you who haven't met him, if you look at the cover of the second Synnibarr book, The World of Synnibarr: Ultimate Adventurer's Guide (http://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Adventurers-Guide-Raven-McCracken/dp/1881171019/sr=1-1/qid=1172302180/ref=sr_1_1/104-4371341-3582353?ie=UTF8&s=books) you can see a picture of him (black bearded guy).

Amazon has this product reviewed at 5 stars! AMAZING! Also, the main book World of Synnibarr got over 4 stars for 5 reviews! Again, AMAZING!

I think it would be cool to play a My Life with Master game where the Master is the Writer of FATAL and the minions are poor game testers.

/BC

Demented
2007-02-24, 03:25 AM
It doesn't have to be a joke to be tongue-in-cheek.

That's still no excuse!

Awetugiw
2007-02-24, 06:29 AM
I don't know, really.

As much as I would like to believe that FATAL is like
"Violence: The Roleplaying Game of Egregious and Repulsive Bloodshed (http://www.costik.com/Violence%20RPG1.pdf)"

The fact that the rulebook is like... 900+ pages makes me fear it isn't.

Though I must admit that having d10,000 rolls make up for a lot.

Edit: Though I still very much hope FATAL is a joke, I must admit that if the review Bears with Lasers linked to is anywhere near correct, I'd prefer Racial Holy War being a joke to FATAL being a joke.

YPU
2007-02-24, 06:46 AM
Sounds like the theory with the monkeys, typewriters and hamlet is coming together. If you grant enough sexually frustrated geeks with really to much time on their hands on the internet in the end one will actually get his system published. But really, what kind of person has written this game? Rage at the world, make violence, rage at not getting enough treasure type-0 and make a system with a lot of sexual violence. Stereotypical geek gone bad?

Amphimir Míriel
2007-02-24, 10:19 AM
These games remind me of Moderatto (http://www.moderatto.com/), a mexican band that plays heavy metal versions of 80's cheesy pop hits...

They use "metal makeup", poodle hairdo's, and fireworks coming out of their guitar, while they play old Timbiriche songs, heavy metal style. (Timbiriche was a early 80's kid band, kinda like S Club 7)

It is obviously a joke, but a lot of people seem take them seriously.

sapphail
2007-02-24, 10:48 AM
I think my brain just melted. As was pointed out before, one does not make a 'joke' text nearly a thousand pages long. The authors have quite clearly spent a long time working out the twisted mechanics of this horrendously juvenile, misogynistic and racist piece of garbage. I didn't have much faith in humanity to begin with; this just destroyed what was left. Anyone who actually enjoys playing this richly deserves the eternity they will spend in Hell with FATAL's creators. :smallfurious:

KoDT69
2007-02-24, 11:07 AM
I did check it out, just for the sake of seeing it for myself. I will never play the horrid thing, but it is solid evidence that the gates of hell are starting to open on us all :smallfrown: It was just for a laugh at the pathetic creators. I don't suffer from lackanookie or any social mockery, so I will never make my own game system like this :smallyuk: I stay strictly D&D in my gaming. Some of my friends game on another night with d20 Modern, but I dislike the whole Modern concept, so I just spend more time with the wife and kids :smallbiggrin:

Piedmon_Sama
2007-02-24, 05:34 PM
I don't know, really.

As much as I would like to believe that FATAL is like
"Violence: The Roleplaying Game of Egregious and Repulsive Bloodshed (http://www.costik.com/Violence%20RPG1.pdf)"

Dude, I am so down for this. Here's my PC:

Joe Teh Suckrpunch King!1
Violence RPG Thug

Current XP: 0

Attributes:
Strength - 10
Pain Threshold - 7
Constitution - 7
Intimidation - 17
Other Stuff - 12
(Reroll #: 50 - +3 squeaky voice, +3 severe cocain addiction, +1 crabs, +3 warrants outstanding for violent crime)

HitPoints: 2
PainPoints: 4

Gear

Weapons:
-Police Revolver (.38), Hide Factor: 3
-Brass Knuckles, Hide Factor: 1

Clothing
-Poor Sneakers, Hide Factor: 0
-Jeans, Hide Factor: -1
-T Shirt (blank), Hide Factor: 0
-Leather Jacket (cheap), Hide Factor: -2
-Belt, Hide Factor: 0
-Underwear, Hide Factor: 0
-Argyle Dress Socks, Hide Factor: -1

Other
-Cocaine, 1 hit, Hide Factor: 1
-Plastic Bag (contains cocaine), Hide Factor: -1
-Piercings Along Both Ears, Hide Factor: 0
-Bolt Through Nose, Hide Factor: 0
-Snake Tattoo on Right Arm, Hide Factor: 0
-Devil Tattoo on Chest, Hide Factor: 0
-Skull & Shotguns "Jolly Roger" Tattoo on Back, Hide Factor: 0
-Purple-Dyed Mowhawk, Hide Factor: 1

Total Hide Factor: 2
Current Cash: $1

Weapons
-Brass Knuckles: Damage 1d5, Pain 1d3
-Revolver (.38): Damage 1d8, Pain 1d4
-Fists: Damage 1d3, Pain 1d3
-Feet: Damage 1d5, Pain 1d4
Armor:
-Leather Jacket: D/P Reduction -1 Hand to Hand, -0 Firearms

Skills:

Combat Skills
-The Cosh (sucker-punch-fu): 15
-Unarmed Combat: 6
-Handguns: 4
Basic Skills
-Reading: 5
-Writing: 5
-Arithmatic: 3
-Driving: 6
-Lie to Save His Sorry Ass: 15
-Wheedle and Bitch for Another Score: 15
Street Knowledge
-Underworld Lore: 15
-Drug Lore: 14
-Torture: 10
-Cheating at Gambling: 12
Physical Skills
-Run For His Life: 15
-Hiding: 15

I couldn't find the part in the rules where it said how many skill points I get, but it seemed to imply it's basically whatever the player can wheedle out of the GM so I tried to be fair.... now who wants to GM my first armed robbery? ^.^

Arang
2007-02-24, 05:42 PM
It basically goes from bad taste to repulsive via "this can't be true", then back to bad taste, then all the way down to "my eyes are bleeding!" then back up to just mindnumbingly stupid.

I want to wash my hands.

J_Muller
2007-02-24, 06:23 PM
I would fully understand people thinking all RPG players are sadistic, satanist freaks if the only RPG they had exposure to was FATAL. And I haven't even read the rulebook.

clarkvalentine
2007-02-24, 06:26 PM
I almost want to see that game. It sounds like it would be hilarious in a horrifying manner.

I thought that too. Then I looked at FATAL. It stopped being funny and started being physically revolting after it went into misogyny and homophobia territory.

Just my own experience.

Dark
2007-02-24, 06:36 PM
I couldn't find the part in the rules where it said how many skill points I get, but it seemed to imply it's basically whatever the player can wheedle out of the GM so I tried to be fair.... now who wants to GM my first armed robbery? ^.^
You get 100 skill points, and skills start at 3 for free. So you're 2 points over :)

Are you sure you want to have that low of a handgun skill? There's no point in even carrying one if you're just going to shoot your toes off.

Piedmon_Sama
2007-02-24, 06:41 PM
Oh, no, no the handgun is completely for show. Or possibly needlessly incriminating myself. He is maxed out towards the ancient tactic of "punching them in the back of the head and running away if they don't drop."

Also, skillz fixt lolr.

Thomas
2007-02-24, 07:30 PM
satanist freaks

This would make a great sidetrack into the misconceptions around the concepts of "satanist" and Satanism (or the Church of Satan) ...

J_Muller
2007-02-24, 07:33 PM
This would make a great sidetrack into the misconceptions around the concepts of "satanist" and Satanism (or the Church of Satan) ...

I meant real Satanists, not people like Marylin Manson.

Bears With Lasers
2007-02-24, 07:35 PM
You mean the kind that don't exist?

Piedmon_Sama
2007-02-24, 08:22 PM
Yeah, haha, I can't believe you buy that urban legend bunk!

*Stuffs ram-headed dagger back under coat*

J_Muller
2007-02-24, 08:25 PM
You mean the kind that don't exist?

There are six billion people on this planet. Chances are, there are real Satanists somewhere.

The Great Skenardo
2007-02-24, 08:34 PM
There are six billion people on this planet. Chances are, there are real Satanists somewhere.

Not in itself a terribly persuasive argument, in my opinion.

But yes, just perusing some of the entries, one wonders what might have come about if someone more of a glutton and less obsessed with depravity had sat down after over a thousand hours of research:

I'm imagining rolls for being able to fry eggs to specification (over-easy, etc).
paprika would add a +2 robust bonus to any warm dish with any of the following descriptors: Savoury, Stew, fried vegetable...
however, you need to make the proper roll to add just the right amount, otherwise the flavors from the paprika interact with oils and specific ethers (as laid out in table 22-412) to produce a blend of flavor with an adverse delicious rating on the savoury scale for specific consumers in the mood for lighter fare (one's culinary preference [rolled upon character generation] is modified by the given time of day and the experiences (not limited to food) for the day so far.).

The point is, to an eye discerning enough, a handful of gravel has as much intricacy as any symphony.

Gravel-fanciers are just somewhat more rare than people obsessed with other things.

Thomas
2007-02-24, 09:10 PM
I meant real Satanists, not people like Marylin Manson.

I have no clue what that means. What I was referring to was the nonsense idea of satanists as the Medieval "witches" (the folkloric sort, that is - flying on broomsticks, having Sabbaths that involved summoning evil spirits and eating babies, mating with the Devil, etc.) surviving in modern times (or even an all-pervasive conspiracy cult; see episodes Geraldo or any other American talk show, esp. in the late 80s and 90s; also see the "satanic ritual abuse" hoaxes, or even BADD), contrasted to actual satanists (i.e. people who self-identify with the Church of Satan and LaVey's philosophy).

Technically, I guess Marilyn Manson would, indeed, be a "real" satanist, since he's met LaVey and has some sort of honorary title in the Church of Satan.

Steward
2007-02-24, 09:18 PM
Please don't talk about religion here. This thread will get locked and we won't be able to finish skewering F.A.T.A.L. And boy, does it deserve it! As the Sartin review famously said of its creators: "I can't think of anything worse [to happen to them] than being who they are."

Talanic
2007-02-24, 10:49 PM
Agreed. Please, let's not go there.

MandoFTR
2007-02-24, 11:11 PM
I think this one book would scare off even the Daleks.

EDIT:
On second thought, they'd invent hands for their shells.
And then proceed to claw their eyes out.

Piedmon_Sama
2007-02-24, 11:21 PM
Yeah, let's get back to Joe!

Who's GMing me?

Turcano
2007-02-24, 11:43 PM
I don't know, really.

As much as I would like to believe that FATAL is like
"Violence: The Roleplaying Game of Egregious and Repulsive Bloodshed (http://www.costik.com/Violence%20RPG1.pdf)"

I honestly see Violence less as a joke than as "A Modest Proposal" for the gaming community. The "Innocent Bystanders," "Decent, Law-Abiding Citizens," and especially the "Orcs" section really drive that point home.


Edit: Though I still very much hope FATAL is a joke, I must admit that if the review Bears with Lasers linked to is anywhere near correct, I'd prefer Racial Holy War being a joke to FATAL being a joke.

Racial Holy War is a joke, although probably an unintentional one. The funniest thing about it is that, for an RPG written by white supremacists, white people come off as pretty retarded. I mean, who's the bigger group of idiots: the race who offers bribes in the middle of combat or the race who takes them?

Anyway, F.A.T.A.L. is without a doubt the worst RPG that has ever been and ever will be written. I mean, just reading the excerpts in the MacLennan/Sartin review made my skin crawl.

Oh, by the way, if the "ever will be" clause is broken by somebody, I will kill myself. I refuse to live in a world that contains an RPG worse than F.A.T.A.L.

Yahzi
2007-02-24, 11:45 PM
Spawn of F'shan
I remember that one! It was the one with "speak to mackles" as a character ability. And the hilarious sample game at the end with cling-to-life rolls.

But it was a joke on purpose. :D

Yahzi
2007-02-25, 12:27 AM
"Violence: The Roleplaying Game of Egregious and Repulsive Bloodshed (http://www.costik.com/Violence%20RPG1.pdf)"

I just read that - it's hilarious!

bosssmiley
2007-02-25, 12:13 PM
FATAL; the Timecube of the RPG world.

"Stop being educated stupid, switch from D&D to FATAL now!"

Turcano
2007-02-25, 03:07 PM
FATAL; the Timecube of the RPG world.

"Stop being educated stupid, switch from D&D to FATAL now!"

No, Hybrid is the Timecube of the RPG world. F.A.T.A.L. is more like a snuff film.

TheOtherMC
2007-02-25, 03:11 PM
No, Hybrid is the Timecube of the RPG world. F.A.T.A.L. is more like a snuff film.

An incredibly detailed snuff film....

Arceliar
2007-02-25, 03:32 PM
Anyway, F.A.T.A.L. is without a doubt the worst RPG that has ever been and ever will be written. I mean, just reading the excerpts in the MacLennan/Sartin review made my skin crawl.

Oh, by the way, if the "ever will be" clause is broken by somebody, I will kill myself. I refuse to live in a world that contains an RPG worse than F.A.T.A.L.

Don't tempt me.

Drraagh
2007-02-25, 04:24 PM
I remember reading the demo version they had on their website, but that was a few years ago. If anyone has a site that I can find the full/or somewhat near full, please let me know. I have been looking for it for months to show to some friends.

Also, I think every game has an adult side to it. Remember 2nd Edition D&D Book of Unlawful Carnal Knowledge, which was then made into an actual book for 3E. Well, not completely, but it featured in the Vile Deeds I believe.Someone did up a whole thing for Shadowrun, going from Seduction all the way to pregnancy and then contraceptives and what happens if you miscarriage and how.

Piedmon_Sama
2007-02-25, 04:30 PM
lol, "adult."

Matthew
2007-02-25, 04:42 PM
I remember reading the demo version they had on their website, but that was a few years ago. If anyone has a site that I can find the full/or somewhat near full, please let me know. I have been looking for it for months to show to some friends.

Also, I think every game has an adult side to it. Remember 2nd Edition D&D Book of Unlawful Carnal Knowledge, which was then made into an actual book for 3E. Well, not completely, but it featured in the Vile Deeds I believe.Someone did up a whole thing for Shadowrun, going from Seduction all the way to pregnancy and then contraceptives and what happens if you miscarriage and how.

Here you go: FATAL (http://www.donatebytes.com/fatal.pdf)

I don't recall there being a 2.x Book of Unlawful Carnal Knowledge. Are you sure that wasn't a Web or Net Book?

[Edit] It was a Net Book.

Clementx
2007-02-25, 06:35 PM
FATAL is not a joke, but I believe its creation is overall a good thing. It serves to reveal the true potential of humanity- mad, raving, unspeakable perverts and sociopaths. It is a true warning about what lurks in your neighbor's basement apartment.

But moralistic issues aside, I have received more enjoyment explaining aspects of FATAL to unaware gamers/using its terminology as interjections and commentary than I have gotten out of playable RPGs. And anything that inspires http://atrocities.primaryerror.net/fatal.html has to have some redeeming feature to it.

Steward
2007-02-25, 06:39 PM
Also, I think every game has an adult side to it. Remember 2nd Edition D&D Book of Unlawful Carnal Knowledge, which was then made into an actual book for 3E. Well, not completely, but it featured in the Vile Deeds I believe.Someone did up a whole thing for Shadowrun, going from Seduction all the way to pregnancy and then contraceptives and what happens if you miscarriage and how.

By "adult", you mean rape-worshipping, virulently racist, poorly-written garbage with no redeeming (and I mean no redeeming factors)whatsoever, right?

Thomas
2007-02-25, 07:46 PM
I don't recall there being a 2.x Book of Unlawful Carnal Knowledge. Are you sure that wasn't a Web or Net Book?

[Edit] It was a Net Book.

Yep, I've seen it. Netbook.

The 3rd-ed BoEF isn't even nearly comparable to FATAL; it's actual, tasteful adult material. I can't imagine needing all those rules and so on in my games, but to each their own.

The BoEF is an OGL publication by Valar Project, Inc.; they've just made some effort to make it look like a real D&D book.

Edit:

No, Hybrid is the Timecube of the RPG world. F.A.T.A.L. is more like a snuff film.

Those don't exist either (going by the actual definition and implications of the term)...

Roland St. Jude
2007-02-25, 08:00 PM
Sheriff of Moddingham: This is being locked for discussions of explicit sexuality and religion.