Nyx!

The "Generic Universal Roleplaying System" is exactly what it says on the box. A chassis of skill-point based abilities that are broad enough to be reskinned or reflavored for whatever setting you long to play. Its versatility is both a strength and a weakness; nothing in the system is inherently built with the trappings of genre, and that onus falls entirely on the game master to facilitate and adapt the skeleton they're given. Great for crunchier folks looking for a starting point for a campaign they can't find quite the right system for. From there, I highly encourage you to kitbash and homebrew until you've made it your own.

J'adore! One of my favorite Adventure Paths Paizo has ever published, and one that I am always actively down to run again. Fists of the Ruby Phoenix is EXACTLY what it says on the box. Book 1 is a teeny bit slow to start the fighting tournament (according to player feedback) but once the tournament begins in full swing, it doesn't slow down. One of Paizo's most cohesive trilogies, threads from Book Three are present as early as Book One. I cannot say that about all of their work. Combat heavy, roleplay heavy (a cast of over 100 out the gates,) puzzle light. A wonderfully diverse cast of gender expansive, body size inclusive representation across the broad diaspora of Tian Xia cultures. Exactly what it says on the box, and in my personal top 3 APs. Highly, highly recommend.

Take my 4/5 with a grain of salt; I think Abomination Vaults is a contender for Top 3 Adventure Paths Paizo has published. Atmospherically, aesthetically, narratively, it checks all the boxes and is exactly what you sign up for. A grindy megadungeon with a bustling ecosystem, dappled with horrors beyond comprehension. It throws you right in to the adventure and gives you a villain you love to hate. Highly recommend this AP to anyone looking for a dungeon crawl. Less opportunities to roleplay than I'd like, but that's not the pitch or premise of this one, so I won't knock it for that. It's just the actual dungeon design that ticks a star away from me; it's cramped. It's incredibly cramped, so much that some people in the community call the AP "Abomination Closets." Commonly fixed by GMs, but worth the mention.

The premiere experience for Sword and Sorcery sandbox adventures. The most player agency driven Adventure Path for Pathfinder 2e, filled to the brim with mysteries and hooks for your players to discover and unravel. While I personally think the kingdom building rules need some work, there's plenty of fan supplements that are easy to find that uplift those elements of the campaign to the high standard the rest of it consistently hits.

TLDR; Fabula Ultima is a "TTJRPG" designed to emulate the feel and tone of nostalgic childhood classics like Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, and Star Ocean. With collaborative worldbuilding, a character-focused narrative, and flexible, accessible progression at its core, Fabula Ultima handily and summarily delivers on that promise. Easy to learn. Hard to put down. ------------------------------------------- Full Review Fabula Ultima is a JRPG inspired tabletop game that prioritizes player agency above all else in both worldbuilding and character building. It encourages and rewards leaning into the collaborative narrative and cleverly incentives failure with dramatic narrative progress. A system that allows players to steer the ship, and that asks Gamemasters to be ready for anything. Nails the aesthetic and gamefeel of it's source material in both the easy-to-learn combat system (that still holds depth for all the classic JRPG players) and the big, dramatic plot twists of the genre. My favorite system, hands down. Obviously, as part of the team bringing FabU to FoundryVTT, my bias (one of my only 5 star reviews...) is evident, but I believe the system is well deserving of said bias. I could write a thesis on this game. Some day I might. Below, find the highlights / bullet points. (Understand I write from a GM's perspective.) Mechanical Complexity – 2.5/5 - Easy to learn with a surprising amount of depth within its simple structures. - Each Class is a toolbox of thematically related skills for playing out the many shades that exist within the colors of that Class's fantasy - Multiclassing is the expected default of the game, but it's incredibly simple to do so. For every level you take in a class, you pick one of the skills mentioned above. There's a maximum on classes you can take, with a minimum of two to start. - Every roll is a combination of two Attributes, of which there are four. Sometimes, this means rolling two different Attributes. Sometimes this means rolling the same Attribute twice. How you describe your action will dictate which dice are necessary. Play to your strengths! Rewards creative descriptions and “in-character” decision making. Narrative Agency – 5/5 - The core mechanic of the game is Fabula Points, which grant players a (sometimes overwhelming) amount of agency in the story. - They allow players to reroll and increase the results of rolls that align with their character's “Traits” (Origin, Identity, Theme,) and “Bonds” (the connections they make with PCs and NPCs in the world,) further rewarding players for roleplay. - They also allow players to introduce narrative elements (with table/GM consent where necessary) to spice up the story. Gamemasters have to stay on their toes with this system! - Collaborative worldbuilding does not end at Session 0 (which is rather in depth on its own.) I regularly ask my players to add details to scenes and locations they helped me create. Game “Feel” - 5/5 - Turn based conflict with deceptive depth emulates JRPGs exceptionally well. - Flexible Class-Fantasy based character building allows you to truly create any character you could imagine. I mean this sincerely. No other game across my fifteen years in the hobby has felt as good at character creation as this one. - Dozens of optional rules for customizing the experience to party (and referential JRPG) preference. - Collaboration as a cornerstone fosters incredible relationships both in and out of game. Final Thoughts Overall, I think Fabula is an incredible system for exactly the kind of games and stories it sets out to tell. I don't think there's any one system that's “one size fits all,” but if you're looking to recreate the wonder of exploring Gaia with Cloud and friends, if you're looking to solve the mysteries of time and space with Chrono and crew, look no further. So kick off your shoes, boot up your console. Grab your favorite controller, dim the lights, and press start on a TTJRPG experience like no other. Batteries not included. ______ Updating my review strictly to see how many games I've run!