Spotlight On: Jeff Freels and his Fabled Worlds RPG System
Part 1 of 4: Introduction
Fabled Worlds Role Playing Game System by Jeff Freels of Jeffwerx is a generic RPG system that Jeff uses to create and release ‘all-in-one’ game books based in various settings. Although the core system for Fabled Worlds has not been released on its own to date, there are three fantastic stand-alone titles available from FW: Z-Town, ¡Lucha Libre!, and BEAN! They are all short on rules and big on fun and playability.
Each title has its own setting and variation of the FW rules: Z-Town is a classic zombie apocalypse romp complete with two deadly solo adventures set in a town overtaken by a zombie horde; ¡Lucha Libre! is a quick, fast-paced dice game based on Mexican Wrestling, capable of a quick diversion or extended play, solo or multi-player; and the crown jewel of the FW line is the newly released BEAN!, a fantasy rpg that is simple and flexible, great for beginning gamers, and best of all: you get to toss your beans!
Who better to tell you about Fabled Worlds than the game creator, Jeff Freels, so lucky for us he agreed to an interview!
Interview Part 1
Q: Hi Jeff! How about an introduction, tell us all about yourself and your work.
A: Hello Paul! Well, I'm just the average blind cartoonist who spends his time drawing monsters, designing games, and playing uke.
Q: Tell us about the Fabled Worlds RPG System in general.
A: I wanted a rules-lite gaming system that put most of the emphasis on role-playing and storytelling. It was important that the mechanics be consistent, and that they work in any genre. The Fabled Worlds core rules have been tweaked slightly for each of the stand-alone releases as I've experimented with different kinds of games (modern zombie horror survival, Mexican Wrestling non RPG, and my favorite, BEAN!), but it's still essentially the same easy system. I think that's the coolest thing about the Fabled Worlds system, that with very little adjustment it can be the basis for any kind of game genre.
Q: Do you have plans to release the Fabled Worlds core rules?
A: I have a draft that's mostly done, and I would like to polish it up a bit before releasing it. The stand-alone games have also done quite a lot to help solidify and streamline various points of the core mechanics along the way. It's mostly a question of finding the time when I'm not illustrating Tunnels & Trolls stuff and working on BEAN!
Q: What future plans do you have for the Fabled Worlds games line?
A: BEAN! The D2 RPG is getting a lot of great attention lately, and I want to keep developing this. Several people, including Ken St. Andre and Mike Holcomb, have contributed adventures that I want to offer as cool little freebies on the BEANpage while I work on the next "Official Release".
Next: Fabled Worlds Part 2: Z-Town
~~~
Other P&P RPGs covers current RPGs, generally small, independent releases, all-in-one rules sets, and/or freely available pdf copies. Do you have a rules set you would like to see discussed here? Submit a pdf copy to troll_hammer_press@yahoo.com
Copyright © 2010, Paul Ingrassia
More power to you Jeff,
ReplyDeleteBEAN is simply fantastic. I plan to teach my young son the rules during the Christmas holidays and introduce him to roleplaying. I know he'll love it and we'll have a really fun time too.
Sid
If there had been a Bean World game back in 1976, the world would never have had to put up with Tunnels and Trolls.
ReplyDelete--Ken