Playing Natural Fantasy Equipment

Playing Fabula Ultima in a natural fantasy setting is an excellent opportunity to express your creativity and design pieces of equipment tied to folklore, exploration and the protagonists’ personality.

This section contains tips to help you imagine and describe compelling natural fantasy equipment, followed by a list of new rare items you can include in your campaign or use as inspiration.

Ingenuity and Personality

In natural fantasy worlds, every item tells a story, highlighting the ingenuity and the craftsmanship of its creator, whether it’s a treasure from ages past or a trusty tool for adventurers.

• Past and Present. In natural fantasy campaigns, contemporary equipment often looks very down to earth and no-frills – not very memorable, perhaps, but solid and reliable. On the other hand, more elaborate and unusual pieces of equipment are often handed down from generation to generation, or retrieved from the depths of mysterious ruins and adapted to new uses. Firearms often fall in the last category and are a once-in-a-lifetime sight.
• Accessories of all kinds. Natural fantasy accessories can be divided into three main categories: precious jewelry created with highly refined craftsmanship and symbolic materials, like silver, iron, jade, bone, or the scales of a specific creature; lucky charms and other personal creations; and finally, practical tools that the characters carry for emergencies. This last category is of particular importance because of an underlying message: even the most humble tool can become powerful in the hands of a hero that deeply cares for it.
• Built with your own hands. One of the most distinctive design principles of natural fantasy is the ingenious combination of ancient technologies and recycled materials, such as repeating crossbows built with wood and bone, alchemical arquebuses, steam-powered devices, and blades forged with unknown alloys or components recovered from ancient constructs. These tools usually follow the standard profiles included in the Core Rulebook, but the most complex and unlikely weapons might require the custom weapon rules (see page 112).

In short, natural fantasy items should stand out for their practical appearance, handmade quality, the ability to merge ancient technologies and recycled materials, or reveal something about those who chose, created or gifted them.

Rare Items

(The following section indicates a listing of rare items is forthcoming.)