FUDGE: FALKENSTEIN 1.5

Introduction

This article is about the conversion of the rule system of Castle Falkenstein to FUDGE: what I denominate Falkenstein by FUDGE.

Attributes and skills

Falkenstein measures attributes and skills equally, using the same scale, like FUDGE. The conversion of the values of Falkenstein to FUDGE will use the following table:

And why the scale in FUDGE translates Average to Mediocre instead of to Fair? Simple enough. Because an starting character in Falkenstein can have skills at Extraordinary level. If the base scale in FUDGE started in Fair the corresponding level would be Legendary...

In fact, if you want the Extraordinary label translated as Legendary, it would be a good idea to forbid the characters having from the beginning skills that high.

Lets see now the list of attributes and skills. In the case of skills, great part of them are the same than in Falkenstein. Others are modifications of standard skills and others are new additions. We'll mark the attributes in boldface to differentiate them of the skills, although this diferenciación is only semantic, it doesn't have any effect in the game.

We'll also underline the new skills and those that have been split in several, to differentiate them clearly of the standard skills of the game.

1. Emotional and romantic activities:
   • Comeliness
   • Charisma
   • Courage
   • Glamour (only faeries)
   • Performance
   • Leadership
   • Mesmerism (I would limit the possession of this skill)
2. Mental and intellectual activities:
   • Craftsmanship
   • Natural sciences
   • Education
   • Sorcery
   • Invention
   • Gambling
   • Differential machines (Babbage's machines)
   • Tinkering
   • Physician
   • Perception
   • Helmsmanship (aquatic vehicles)
   • Helmsmanship (aerial vehicles)
   • Helmsmanship (land vehicles)
3. Physical activities:
   • Artillery (cannons, infernal weapons, etc)
   • Fencing (close combat: daggers, knives)
   • Fencing (1 handed weapons; swords, sabers)
   • Fencing (2 handed weapons; well, somebody might use one!)
   • Physique
   • Athletics (includes Dodge)
   • Riding
   • Fisticuffs
   • Kindred powers (only faeries)
   • Marksmanship (light weapon: guns, revolvers, etc)
   • Marksmanship (large weapon: shotguns, blunderbluss, rifles, reciprocators, etc)
   • Marksmanship (heavy weapon: Gatling guns, Mitrailleuses, etc)
   • Stealth
4. Social and class activities:
   • Connections
   • Social graces
   • Etherealness (only faeries)
   • Exchequer

Let see now the initial levels that a character has in the new system. I may come up with a few optional rules, and if I find them useful, I'll add them as an extra couple of approaches to this topic.

• Both attributes and skills use the same scale and the levels to distribute among them are equivalent.
• All the skills and attributes have a Mediocre initial value.
• A skill or attribute will be at Good level.
• Four another skills or attributes will be at Fair level.
• Another skill or attribute will be at Poor level.
• Any additional Good skill or attribute makes another one be at Poor level.
• Any additional Great skill or attribute makes two other ones be at Poor level.
• Any additional Superb skill or attribute makes three other ones be at Poor level.

There is a problem regarding this conversion: there are 3 skills they have been divided in 3 each one (adding 6 skills thus to the total). The problem with these new 6 skills is that in the original system when we allocated a value to the original ability, it affected the whole range of current subtypes (for example, in Marksmanship). Right now we lose "points" with this system. For that, my proposal is to distribute 4 free skill levels that may be used to increase any skill or attribute, with a maximum score of Good.

For example: a character generated with this system adds a level to his Exchequer skill that was at his base level of Mediocre, making it Fair; then he adds a level more to Fencing (1 handed weapons) which improves it from Fair to Good (the maximum allowed) and finally he improves his Mediocre Physique to Good spending the two levels that he had left.

Gifts and faults

In the original game of Falkenstein there isn't such a thing as Gifts and Faults. But then again, this is Falkenstein by FUDGE. Gifts and faults give a lot of depth to the game and also lots of variability to the same, and they make the characters much more believable and dramatic.

My proposal about this is the following:

• A character can acquire a Gift, to the price of a Fault that compensates it.
• A character can acquire a Gift, to the price of a Good skill or attribute level (maximum one in this case).
• A character can acquire a Fault that provides him a Good skill or attribute level (also maximum one in this case). In this case, we could allow the possibility to increase this skill using free points with a maximum of Great level. Or instead of getting a Good skill or attribute, we can instead get two Fair ones.

Everything with the approval of the Gamemaster, of course.

And about possible lists of Gifts and Faults, my advice is to take a look to Five Point FUDGE which is quite a good idea anyway :)

Magic

The most important factors of the original system of Falkenstein, which we'll try to conserve, are the following:

• Each round we gather between 2 and 14 points of magical energy in a linear way.
• That energy is aligned (appropriate to the spell), one fourth of the rounds (in fact when we use cards that doesn't have to happen)
• The maximum amount of magical energy that can be gathered depends on the area and the moment (in the practice, the maximum of aligned power is 91, and the maximum of aligned and non-aligned it is 130). And the dragons can only gather magical energy during five consecutive rounds...
• Each spell has a basic cost of normal magical energy, and there are positive modifiers to this cost (range, duration, target, etc).
• The sorcerer's skill or the value of relics are negative factors that reduce the cost of magical energy.
• The spell turns wild initially with a probability of 2 on 54 (approximately 4%), increasing with each new card we draw.

Having these ideas in mind we'll try to make a simpler enough conversion.

We maintain the cost and the modifiers of the spells the same as in Falkenstein, and we subtract the sorcerer's ability in FUDGE adding 4 to it and multiplying the result by 2 (which gives us a result between 2 and 14).

Each concentration round we also roll 3DF, we add 4 to the result and then we multiply it by 2. This gives us a result between 2 and 14, the same as the range in Falkenstein, but it is not linear (the most probable result is 8) neither we can obtain odd values (3, 5, 7,..., 13). This value represents the quantity of magical energy that the sorcerer is able to gather for each 2 minutes round.

If the roll of magical energy was a -3, we will roll an additional 1DF to see if the spell turns Wild. If we roll a +1, the spell is normal. If we roll 0 or -1, the spell turns Wild and it takes place right in that moment. This way to check the occurrence of Wild magic is not the same as that of Falkenstein, which has a smaller probability of happening (at least while there are still around 30 cards) and it also varies according to the number of cards there are left.

It will be also necessary to roll to see the magic Realm that grants us that magical energy. To continue using the FUDGE system we can limit ourselves to roll 4DF (grouped more or less in intervals with 25% each one):

If we roll the same Realm than the Realm associated to the spell, perfect. We accumulate the complete rolled value; if not, we can opt to add 1 and introduce non-aligned magic (in this case it is convenient to write down the rolled maximum actual value of the non-aligned magical energy we use, to use it later to measure the collateral effects it causes), or ignore it and wait.

Note: since in a pack of cards there is a maximum of 54 cards (52 normal cards and two jokers), the maximum value we can obtain using only aligned power is 91 points of magical energy, and using non-aligned power a maximum of 130. Anyway, we'll only be able to roll during 52 consecutive rounds to accumulate energy (whenever the spell being cast requires those costs of power). Moreover so, when rolling dice we can be lucky and obtain enormous quantities of magical energy in a moment, since the results can repeat. It is necessary to keep in mind the maximum that I have mentioned as an absolute maximum.

Another form of accumulating magical energy is carried out at the price of weakening ourselves or a victim (in Falkenstein, 2 points of magical energy obtained this way cause a wound). I propose to count that wound cost in FUDGE the same way, as a life level (starting from the lowest free life level, getting higher levels while the mage hurts himself spending his life levels as magical energy).

Weapon and combat notes

Now we're going to add the conversion of Castle Falkenstein typical weapons to FUDGE. In some cases, I've extrapolated the damage that the different weapons do, in other I've just used the classic examples of FUDGE about generic weapons.

We'll also cover some specific data about dragons and their characteristics, about iron and iron alloys against faeries, and finally some details about constitutional shock "attacks".

Iron, steel or cold iron weapons do a considerable amount of extra damage to faeries. In the case of iron or steel a weapon has an extra damage bonus of +1. Cold iron has an extra bonus of +3. It's obvious that a good hit with any weapon with a respectable damage bonus can be fatal to almost any faerie...

Dragon characters, depending on their physique, have a natural armor (only on their dragon forms) that is able to soak some damage. Besides, the damage a dragon inflicts with its natural weapons (claws and fire breath) depends also on their physique (of course, also on their dragon form). We'll use the following table for all that information:

Also, the superb health of dragons grants them an extra "Scratch" life level and a "Hurt" life level as well, in all their forms.

Note: using its fire breath causes wounds (1 life levels) to a dragon in the same way a wizard hurts himself using its own life force to empower spells. For example, the first use of its fire breath to an unhurt dragon would cause it one level of "Scratch". The second use would cause it another "Scratch", and so on.