FATAL - the date rape RPG (only there are no rules for dating)

[Cain]

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FATAL

Imagine a game where everything, from nipple size to "how sexily you move" is determined by random dice roll.  Imagine such a game is then embellished by basement dwelling misogynists who, due to reasons best not thought about for too long, decide to go to great length to allow you, in game, to act in the most depraved way possible.  Imagine then, they decide the unfortunate implications of this should be cranked up to 11 by rules where women's breast size and intelligence are (negatively) correlated and there are cursed pieces of armour which make you act like something out of Joseph Goebbel's least inspired efforts (named "the armor of Jewwy Jewbacca).  Oh, and many, MANY examples of scatological humour.

And then you go online to defend this as the most historically accurate and detailed RPGing experience EVAR.

That's a rough idea of how bad this game is.  Actual research (the above link links to a few reviews) will show it is in fact much, much worse.

[Doktor Howl]

I've read a review of this game.  It got a zero on a scale of 1-100.

You have to make a skill check to take a shit.   

[Cain]

I guess the DC is set by your sphincter size which, IIRC, you have to roll for in character creation.

So it's not just offensive as a concept, it's useless and clunky to play as well.

[Doktor Howl]

I guess the DC is set by your sphincter size which, IIRC, you have to roll for in character creation.

So it's not just offensive as a concept, it's useless and clunky to play as well.

What happens if you fail a check?  Do you have to roll on the impacted bowel chart?   

[Cain]

You know, I'm not actually sure.  I suspect whatever the result, it only has a loose connection to biology or common sense, since going by other tables, being stabbed in the small intestine is a minor flesh wound and a woman can be raped so hard the muscle between her vagina and spinchter is destroyed, leaving her with a single hole.

In fact, the only thing which isn't determined randomly is your gender, presumably on the basis that making anyone play FATAL as a female PC would be entirely cruel.  Even your class is determined randomly, so you may end up as a maid/prostitute, spy/prostitute, farmer/prostitute or prostitute/prostitute as a woman, or a civil servant or barber as a man.

[Doktor Howl]

Well, it seems DK has found gainful employment, anyway.   

[Cain]

He probably knows about this, which is slightly worrying.  He was on TV Tropes while a review of it was being liveblogged (he got banned soon after, unsurprisingly), so no doubt he's right now masturbating over the rape fantasies and accurate depiction of Aristotle's philosophy the game uses for some of its metaphysical mechanics.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

I reel between laughter and helpless gibbering. 

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

THE THEME SONG. 

[LMNO]

That's... simply amazing.

[Zyzyx]

The first time I read it, I lol'd hard. The second time it was sad, when the full implications behind this game became clear.

[President Television]

I would totally play this with my friends if my computer could handle the 900-page pdf.

[Timothy Tebulot Tower]

I actually heard about this a while ago, on a podcast by a bloke named Steve Sumner. He does this little segment where he randomly generates an item, or person based on the rules of some sort of RPG rulebook. Anyway, in this episode, he decides to generate a weapon using the rules of FATAL.

I present to you: A Rending Garotte of Ravishing.

http://www.somethingawful.com/d/steve-sumner/barbarians-dojo-4.php

Skip to 14:10

[BadBeast]

This game is clearly sending out mixed messages to "The Kids" who play it.

Using genuine Historical references, to validate the dynamics of the game, then slipping a indefensible concept like the objectification of women, well, that's just perpetuating the negative stereotype that has plunged western society into it's present moral decline. And to add insult to injury, the gameplay seems to be "Clunky" too!  Never got this level of outrage with San Andreas!
And why? Because all through the whole GTA Series, there was the possibilty of getting caught by the Police, or Shot by the Police, or even the Military. There were always consequences to your crimes, and I think this went a long way to instill a positive morality to it's players, that can only be applauded.
Games aren't what they used to be.

[Golden Applesauce]

This game is clearly sending out mixed messages to "The Kids" who play it.

Using genuine Historical references, to validate the dynamics of the game, then slipping a indefensible concept like the objectification of women, well, that's just perpetuating the negative stereotype that has plunged western society into it's present moral decline. And to add insult to injury, the gameplay seems to be "Clunky" too!  Never got this level of outrage with San Andreas!
And why? Because all through the whole GTA Series, there was the possibilty of getting caught by the Police, or Shot by the Police, or even the Military. There were always consequences to your crimes, and I think this went a long way to instill a positive morality to it's players, that can only be applauded.
Games aren't what they used to be.

I would agree with you, except no one actually plays this game.