Review - Ordure Fantasy

One of the merits of simplicity is the opportunity it presents to explore something in depth. Without baggage, one is free to navigate the negative space of meaning and experience. Ordure Fantasy walks this line quite well, being a single d6 mechanic system nestled into 19 pages of mind-sparking generative material. These mechanical rules, all of which fit onto one page could have been the finality of this project, another One-Page RPG into the fray of systems beckoning for our ever-striated attentions, but Michael Raston chose to offer a generous product comprising of four included classes and pages of tables to populate and run adventures. Accompanied by appropriately sketchy but competent line drawings, Ordure Fantasy is a streamlined game that should allow players to explore a muddy fantasy setting with ease and diversity of play experience using any old d6 and the booklet at hand!

Rules

Tests are all done in Ordure Fantasy with a d6 roll against Attribute or Skill. Equal or under is a success. If the Referee deems the task quite difficult or easy, the PC will roll 2d6 and take the higher result for the former and lower for the latter.

Then there is the Ordure Test, a tool at the Referee’s disposal to create variance and tension in their world. If they want to do checks on wandering monsters, item usage, check for results of various world-based happenings, they roll their own d6: (1-3) nothing happens; (4-5) a sign or portent takes place; (6) the bad or good happens. The excellent part about this simple mechanic is that it ratchets up. For example, if exploring some ruins and there is a Monster Check with a result of 2, the party is safe. But in the next room if the Monster Check is made again, the result of 5 & 6 would yield the encounter, and so on, until there is indeed a Monster, at which point the Ordure Test starts anew. This simple solution is a great way to keep tension high, making the players always aware of potential danger vs. the 1 in 6 checks, that may yield no encounters for odd (or uninteresting) amounts of time.

Combat is relatively simple. Player and Referee roll opposing d6s, initiative going to the side of lowest result.

In Ordure Fantasy, characters may come with Combat Skills, which receive a number rank (done in character creation), and to strike an opponent, a PC tests these skills. If successful, it’s a hit and the foe receives 1 damage. All damage is 1, so weapon variety is not so significant mechanically, but allows room for narrative expansion, and besides, the various Combat Skills offer different effects on top of the damage caused. Personally, I am still figuring out where I stand on this. 1 damage per weapon systems like Ordure Fantasy or Ironsworn remove some of the cool “I’m a real badass now!” element of loot acquisition, but I think benefits play in that it can demand real investment in the role part of play. The impetus to create narrative behind such-and-such gear is up to you, and when increased damage is out of the way, the excitement has the potential to be more enhanced in telling the story. I think I like this more than specific stat-based weapons.

If your character is not skilled in combat, the test defaults to 1, a rather difficult chance in striking the foe.

It is in the Combat portion of the rules that I initially had some confusion on my part. In the “Attack” section, we read “attacks against PCs automatically hit” but in the following section of “Defend” it reads, “When a PC is attacked, they Test … to avoid being hit.” And if they fail that test (that of being hit), then they Test Health to see if they lose 1? This core piece of rules struck me as being a touch convoluted for an otherwise simple mechanic system. Are they automatically hit or not, and why does a hit not yield damage to the PC? So, I reached out to Mr. Raston with my befuddlement and in a very timely manner the creator himself kindly responded. Turns out, it is a case of interpretation. So, the auto-hit against PCs is a way of saying these are player facing rolls. The monsters are not rolled by the Referee, but the PC is always rolling to dodge. Easy! Saving against Health when hit is a way to mitigate early damage on the fairly fragile character (which starts at 5 Health), but then flips into a kind of slippery slope, where the lower your Health, the more likely you are to lose more Health.

These are simple rules with low impact numbers, but between various Skill effects, Attribute ranks, and items, this has the potential to offer some dynamic play and combat scenes.

Classes

The game has four built in approximation of the classics: Mercenary, Conjuror, Scoundrel, Curate. They each have 4 Skills, three of which are chosen at creation; the 4th skill is earned at level three. Each also has a specific Boon, a once per session special ability. They are pretty standard skills and what you would expect from these classes. The creation rules are universal, and the classes are simple enough, it would be easy to write up new classes to incorporate into your Ordure Fantasy game.

The game states that level six is the maximum, but notes that Referees may increase advancement difficulty, which would serve to stretch a campaign if a group chose to do so.

Items & Gear

This section runs pretty low to the ground. As discussed before, weapons all do 1 damage. Armor grants benefits to Body when defending, though the book notes it is expensive and hard to come by. Also, in keeping with this gritty tone, there is a note about special items and their granted bonuses; these too should be hard to find, rare, and not available for purchase. The text even takes a moment to discuss the various tiers of bonus granting items. This is a sparse and deadly world, and adventure is not for the light-hearted.

Tables & Tables 

The second half of the book is just tables. But not tables of loot and gear. Nor is it weather or terrain. These are excellent, adventure generating tables! The first one is a “What are the Adventurers Doing When the Session Starts” 4d6 multi-tiered table. Roll four times to get a compound result, meaning the variable results should allow for numerous scenarios, meaning reusability! Next, a 3d6 “Danger in the Realm” table. Next, a 3d6 “The Realm Has Need of Adventurers to” table. Next, 3d6 “The Town Here is.” Next, a 3d6 “Minor Quest in the Town.” You get the point. These are useful tools for any GM, but I should think solitaire players would find this material a gold mine. And there are more tables that follow. Combine this with your favorite Oracle and one other resource like Tome of Adventure Design, and it should run you for quite some time! There is a small Bestiary included, but yet again, on page 17, a 4d6 Monster Generating table. An NPC table, a Dungeon table. This is useful material and as a printable pdf for $5…

Final Thoughts

Before I state these, I also want to point out that Raston has published the first supplement already. A Pay-What-You-Want 17-page product with rules for a new class and city tables. Infinigrad Freelancer even includes the core rules of Ordure Fantasy.

I admit that I have some issue regarding the lack of clarity with a few rules, particularly in such an otherwise stripped-down system. I think some things could have been presented a little differently, and yet, when I reached out to the author, he was generous with his time in explaining his intentions. This is good enough for me. Perhaps in later editions he will reconsider the wording, but the fact that in the same day of my inquiry I received lengthy explanations means this is a creator who cares about their efforts and their customers. As for the system, it’s cool, simple, d6, sparse without being boring. There is so much material included in this slim booklet that I just don’t see how somebody who wants to quickly sit at the table and play could not flip through this continually, rolling up multiple adventures to feed their play. What weird monster will I get? Where will I be traveling? Why the hell am I here in the first place? Also, I personally enjoy Raston’s art, it is refreshing, evocative.  

I think Ordure Fantasy (I refuse to chuckle at the title because it is perhaps the only fantasy game that best refers to medieval shit-and-mud-and-lice filled life without saying “grim,” though I am glad I do not have to say I play Excrement Fantasy, do you? But I don’t care for it as a joke… too old for that.  Though it also feels rather Beckettian, yes? Fellows fantasizing on the side of the muddy, smelly road? Perhaps considering our world, it is one of the best titles of 2020! [read surprise]) is good. I think it will grow on me and facilitate deep play. It is generous and clearly a project of passion. It stimulates curiosity, wonder, and most importantly, motivation to play. I appreciate the clear layout, the striking cover, and I particularly enjoy how on its surface this is a simple game, yet as a package it offers a lot. Yes, I wonder if there will be more material sprung from this because it seems like simple easy stat modules are likely beckoning to line up next to this? We shall see.

Find Ordure Fantasy at: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/324369/Ordure-Fantasy?src=newest

Find Infinigrad Freelancer at: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/333042/Infinigrad-Freelancer?src=also_purchased 

Find Michael Raston at: http://lizardmandiaries.blogspot.com/