To put it simply, FVLMINATA is a historical alternate universe role-playing game. As most alternate universe games go, there is one simple what-if that alters the game world from our own. In FVLMINATA, it is “what if the Roman Empire was armed with firearms?” In fact, fulminata is the name for gunpowder. The basic idea is simple: one addition, one change that alters the course of the future, and has wide-ranging effects.
To put it in detail, FVLMINATA is one of the most detailed historical RPGs I’ve ever read. The depth and scope of the game is amazing, and despite gunpowder being the main point different from the real world, the game lends itself to stories of intrigue, politics, subtlety and deceit.
Character Creation & Mechanics
The character (persona) creation system focuses largely on story, with the numbers of the character being secondary. Characters are of one of 6 social classes, ranging from Senator to Slave. They receive points to spend on attributes and skills They choose a patron god, who provides bonuses to a selected group of skills. They also choose their humours, the substances in the body that provide life, an imbalance of which can make their personality diverge from the Roman ideal. I enjoyed this touch, as it was a part of the game that was unique to the Roman worldview.
The mechanics of the game are simple and understandable, though not without their flaws. Dice are replaced, nominally, by tali, which are in actuality sheep knucklebones used for gambling in Rome, but are here 8-siders with stickers attached. This may seem odd, but it does tie in with the mechanics of the system.
Difficulties are determined by adding together an attribute and skill level, then rolling beneath that on the tali. The numbers on the tali, of which 4 are always rolled, are 6, 4, 3 and 1. After success or failure is determined, the tali are rolled again to determine effect. This is my first problem with the game system.
The effects are determined through the tali rolls, which correspond to certain combinations of dice, similar to a poker hand with cards. A good idea, and adds a bit of Romanesque flavor, but it isn’t immediately natural to someone who doesn’t know the different combinations. The fact that there are several exceptions that make certain combinations differently powerful or weaker doesn’t help. However, I do think this would quickly become non-existent, as people should get used to it. I simply think it could be confusing at the beginning of the game.
Another oddity is the apparent lack of use for some of the skills. For example, Wrestle and Box are both skills, and both are prerequisites for the skill Pankration (called by some a precursor to today’s so-called “Ultimate Fighting”). However, there doesn’t seem to be a description of how Pankration is used. An enterprising GM could create something for it, of course.
The final quirk in the game that makes me scratch my head is the initiative system. There are six social classes: Senator, Equestrian, Plebian, Freedman, Foreigner and Slave. All characters act in that order. Which means that the pudgy senator gets to act before the highly-trained gladiator. True, his first action will probably be to turn and flee, but it is still an odd game mechanic.
Other than those few quirks, it is a streamlined system, well-suited for stories of intrigue, treachery and scheming.
The Background
This was the part of the book that really dropped my jaw. I don’t claim to be an expert on Roman history. In fact, my knowledge of the time period is solely from the documentaries on the Gladiator DVD. However, from what I can remember from my history classes and reading, the background material of this book is spectacular.
Most of it focuses on the many day-to-day aspects one needs to accurately play a historical RPG. Childhood, weddings, food, territories, law, government, and many more interesting things are covered. One of my favorites is a sidebar on pets. Things like that allow you to make characters that seem real, not just ones that are enough to role-play with. The information is more than enough to flesh out a persona, and definitely enough to create many interesting adventures.
Lest people think the game is confined to Rome itself, there is much information on the Empire as a whole, each entry of province with adventure ideas. My favorite is Hibernia (Ireland), and it’s rebel leader Fionus Maculus (the Romanized version of Irish legend Finn Mac Cool). In fact, the first planned supplement to the game will detail the British Isles.
While the main idea of FVLMINATA relates to combat and war (the existence of gunpowder), the game itself does not. The existence of gunpowder merely serves to create a stable Rome as a place to campaign, and to expand the scope of the game into other areas of the world. This is why the aforementioned initiative oddity is not that large of a problem. Fighting is not the main focus of the game. As the book says, the system is not made to detail a blow-by-blow account of a gladiator bout. It is made to tell detailed stories of a Roman Empire at the height of its power.
Overall, FVLMINATA is a very good game. The few quirks of the system can be easily remedied with house rules, if you judge they even warrant changes. The world itself is incredibly detailed, and immediately brings images and adventure ideas to mind. If historical role-playing is your cup of tea, you really cannot do any better. And if you are simply looking to mine ideas on an ancient world, FVLMINATA has traditions and customs enough to make any fantasy culture fleshed-out.
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