Michael Gentry created “Fudge: Buffy the Vampire Slayer” but it disappeared from his site some time ago. Luckily the rules were captured by the Way Back Machine on 2 Aug 2002; you can find it here. For my own convenience I’ve combined the eight pages into one. I hope the Fudge Community will also benefit. All words are Michael’s.
Fudge RPG
Fudge RPG is a rules-light role-playing game engine by Steffan O’Sullivan. As an engine it provides a common set of game mechanics that can be used to create any role-playing game the Game Master (GM) desires. Fudge uses a simple word-based system for handling action and combat resolution, which makes the game fast-paced and easy to play.
The Fudge game system is copyrighted ©2000, 2005 by Grey Ghost Press, Inc. and is available for use under the Open Game License. See the fudgerpg.com website for more information.
Gifts and Faults for Fudge Bunnies
You might want to have vampire bunnies, super hero bunnies or bunnies in space but I’m interested in Fudge Bunnies of a more garden variety. But even garden bunnies need gifts and faults. I’ve made up a list as a starting point, making sure to include those Gifts and Faults mentioned in VG Fudge Bunnies or at least variants of them.
Seers in Fudge Bunnies
Some bunnies are Seers – they have Psionic abilities. It isn’t realistic but it is cool. Fiver, one of the main characters in Watership Down, is a Seer. His terrifying vision of the warren’s destruction is the plot device that starts the story. Similarly, if you read the material on Bunnies & Burrows (B&B), Seers are often the vehicle to introduce new adventures. But as usual there is no one place to find how Seers work in Fudge Bunnies. So I have pieced together bits from VG Fudge Bunnies (specifically Sprig who is a Seer), Gurps B&B, Gurps 3rd Edition and some stuff I’ve made up.
Storytelling and Enthralment in Fudge Bunnies
Storytelling and Enthralment are two of the interesting features that distinguishes a Bunnies & Burrows (B&B) game from reality. My problem is there is no one place to find the Storytelling and Enthralment rules for Fudge Bunnies. So I have pieced together bits from VG Fudge Bunnies (specifically Raspberry who is a storyteller), Gurps B&B, and some stuff I’ve made up.
Fudge Bunnies – Evolution of Attributes, Skills and Languages
It isn’t always obvious from the published material what Fudge Bunnies – as a distinct rule set – is and how it is different from Gurps B&B. Steffan O’Sullivan, the author of both Fudge and Gurps Bunnies & Burrows (B&B), has been evolving his thinking on Fudge Bunnies since 1992. So in this post I attempt to reverse engineer Steffan’s thinking on Fudge Bunnies in 2014 and fill in a few gaps. At least for Attributes, skills and animal languages.
The big change is in the language to describe character traits. Gurps has fairly bland and generic names for character traits but Fudge is all about evocative language. So the trait names Fudge Bunnies are much more, well bunny-like.
History of Fudge Bunnies
My wife thinks I’m having a mid-life crisis. I’ve got into bunnies. Embarrassingly these are not Playboy Bunnies but RPG adventurers. You see my six year old daughter has just discovered Peter Rabbit on TV. She loves the bunny adventures. And by coincidence I’ve just discovered that Steffan O’Sullivan, my hero for creating the Fudge RPG, is also author of “Gurps: Bunnies & Burrows”. And Steffan has been running Fudge Bunnies games since 1992. I’d like to bring these threads together and use Fudge RPG to run a bunnies game for my daughter (maybe when she is seven).
So, for those interested, here is a bit of a history of Fudge Bunnies. Incidentally it also forms a bit of an annotated bibliography for the genre.
VG Fudge is “Very Good Fudge” by Steffan O’Sullivan
In 2011 Steffan O’Sullivan, the author of Fudge, introduced Very Good Fudge (VG Fudge). This is simply Fudge with a “Very Good” level inserted between Good and Great, and no Terrible rating.
Open Game License Version 1.0a
OPEN GAME LICENSE Version 1.0a
Comparison of Fate RPG and Fudge RPG
Fate RPG is a spin off from Fudge RPG. There are distinct similarities but Fate does add some interesting twists. Actually there are several versions of Fate and this comparison will concentrate on Free Fudge as this seems to embody the majority view on Fate 3.0. I’ll mention other variants if it seems relevant to the comparison.
My RPG Journey
I played Role Playing Games (RPG) solidly for about 15 years from my early teens.
Overview of Fudge RPG
Fudge RPG is a rules-light role-playing game engine. As an engine it provides a common set of game mechanics that can be used to create any role-playing game the Game Master (GM) desires. Fudge uses a simple word-based system for handling action and combat resolution, which makes the game fast-paced and easy to play.
Fudge Points Based on Fate Points
In Fudge RPG Fudge points are a formal mechanism to allow players to “just fudge it!”. Fudge RPG has some recommendations for how Fudge points are gained and how they can spent. Fate RPG takes the concept further with its Fate points. Here is my take on what a more Fudge would look like with some of the Fate point mechanisms used for Fudge points.