FUDGE
Freeform, Universal, Do-it-yourself Gaming Engine
A Free Role-playing Game (RPG).
Copyright 1992, 1995 by Steffan O'Sullivan
Version: June, 1995

Table of Contents

i. Legal Notice

FUDGE - Freeform Universal Do-it-yourself Gaming Engine

(c) Copyright 1992-1995 Steffan O'Sullivan. All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means (including without limitation photocopying, recording, or information storage and retrieval), except under a limited, royalty-free license as follows:

  1. Copies of all or portions of FUDGE may be made for your own use and for distribution to others, provided that you do not charge any fee for such copies and further provided that each copy contains this Legal Notice in its entirety, whether distributed in print or electronically.
  2. You may create derivative works such as additional rules and game scenarios and supplements based on FUDGE, provided that (i) such derivative works are for your own use or for distribution without charge, or for publication in a magazine or other periodical, and (ii) you include at the beginning of each derivative work the following "ABOUT FUDGE" and "DISCLAIMER" paragraphs in their entirety: 
       ABOUT FUDGE
   FUDGE is a role-playing game written by Steffan O'Sullivan, with
   extensive input from the Usenet community of rec.games.design.  The
   basic rules of FUDGE are available on the internet via anonymous ftp
   at ftp.csua.berkeley.edu, and in book form or on disk from Grey
   Ghost Games, P.O. Box 838, Randolph, MA 02368.  They may be used
   with any gaming genre.  While an individual work derived from FUDGE
   may specify certain attributes and skills, many more are possible
   with FUDGE.  Every Game Master using FUDGE is encouraged to add or
   ignore any character traits.  Anyone who wishes to distribute such
   material for free may do so - merely include this ABOUT FUDGE notice
   and disclaimer (complete with FUDGE copyright notice).  If you wish
   to charge a fee for such material, other than as an article in a
   magazine or other periodical, you must first obtain a royalty-free
   license from the author of FUDGE, Steffan O'Sullivan, P.O. Box 465,
   Plymouth, NH 03264.

    You must include at the beginning of each derivative work the following disclaimer, completed with your name, in its entirety. 

       DISCLAIMER
   The following materials based on FUDGE, entitled [your title], are
   created by [your name] and made available by [name], and are not
   authorized or endorsed in any way by Steffan O'Sullivan or any
   publisher of other FUDGE materials.  Neither Steffan O'Sullivan or
   any publisher of other FUDGE material is in any way responsible for
   the content of these materials.  Original FUDGE materials (c)
   Copyright 1992-1995 Steffan O'Sullivan, All Rights Reserved.

    If you wish to distribute copies of all or portions of FUDGE or derivative works based on FUDGE for a fee or charge, other than in a magazine or other periodical, you must first obtain written permission from:

ii. Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank Andy Skinner for quality input above and beyond anyone else's. Andy's contributions over the years have been both major and profound.

Other valued contributors include Reimer Behrends, Martin Bergendahl, Peter Bonney, Thomas Brettinger, Robert Bridson, Travis Casey, Paul Jason Clegg, Peter F. Delaney, Jay Doane, Ann Dupuis, Paul Dupuis, Brian Edmonds, Shawn Garbett, Ed Heil, Richard Hough, Bernard Hsiung, John H. Kim, Pete Lindsay, Bruce Onder, Christian Otkjaer, Bill Seurer, Larry Smith, Stephan Szabo, John Troyer, Corran Webster, and others on rec.games.design on the Internet.

I would also like to thank, most warmly, Ann Dupuis of Grey Ghost Games for her strong support of FUDGE over the years. Not only has she urged me forward with the work when I got lazy, published FUDGE, promoted it, had FUDGE dice made, and paid my way to many conventions, she's managed to remain a good friend during this time. If you've ever tried to push a lazy, stubborn person into doing what they should be doing, you'll know this is a difficult and usually thankless task. I'd like to break precedent and actually thank her for it.

Groo the Wanderer (TM) is a trademark of Sergio Aragones, and use of the name in this product does not challenge the trademark status in any way.

iii. About the Author

Steffan O'Sullivan is the author of GURPS Bestiary, GURPS Swashbucklers, GURPS Fantasy Bestiary and GURPS Bunnies & Burrows. He lives in New Hampshire, U.S.A., and has wide-ranging interests. He has formally studied history, pre-med, theater and transpersonal psychology.

iv. Terminology and Format

To avoid confusion, "he, him," etc., are used to describe a player and PC, and "she, her," etc., are used to describe a Game Master and NPC.

FUDGE is divided into six Chapters, each of which is divided into Sections. The decimal point in Section numbers is a true decimal. For example, Section 1.35 comes between Section 1.3 and Section 1.4.

Section headers are denoted four different ways:

X Chapter

Chapter header (no decimal point).

X.1 Section

Major section header (one digit after decimal point).

X.12 Section

Minor subsection header (two digits after decimal point).

X.123 Section

Very minor subsection header (three digits after decimal point).
FUDGE is posted to the internet in Plain Vanilla ASCII, as defined by the Gutenberg project. While this may be a minor inconvenience when translating to certain word processors, it assures that FUDGE will be available to as wide an audience as possible, both now and twenty years from now when most other current formats will be obsolete.

Keep the following in mind when setting FUDGE in a proportional font: