When I started working on this game back in 2017, one thing was already clear: in a time when tabletop roleplaying games seemed dominated by dark fantasy titles and gruesome, gritty tales of opportunistic characters steeped in nihilism, I felt the need for a refreshing alternative.
I wanted a game of magical worlds and optimistic stories, steeped in the wondrous aesthetics of the Japanese console RPGs that had left me speechless as a kid. There was an element of nostalgia, sure, but it was accompanied by a conscious need to write a game based on cooperation, hope, and mutual trust; both in the stories it was meant to tell and in its very ruleset.
For its working title I went with "Fabula Ultima" — a Latin phrase that could be translated as "Last Fable" or "Ultimate Story". Needless to say, this was a tongue-in-cheek homage to what is probably the most notorious JRPG saga in existence, and also my first encounter with the genre (Final Fantasy X, back in 2001).
During the spring of 2018, my health condition unfortunately plummeted, and the name "Fabula Ultima" took on a bit of an ominous ring. Luckily enough, this ended up being nothing too serious — but that title had accompanied me during those harsh months, so I decided to keep it for the final release. After all, the whole point of the game was to tell tales of heroes who achieve their goals by overcoming suffering and defeats, in the hopes of a better future.
Working on Fabula Ultima was neither easy nor quick, but dozens of people have given me the strength I needed over the years: some by supporting me via Patreon, others simply sharing the game and playing with me. Testing and experimenting, again and again, in a process of constant rebuild and transformation that ultimately resulted in the book you are reading today; speaking of which, my collaboration with Need Games was crucial. While the release was announced during 2020, our conversations about the game date back to 2018: Nicola has followed the project since its beginning, and sometimes I really think he's enamoured with it more than I am!
Anyway, I've definitely written too much already: now it's time for the game to speak on its own. All I ask of you is to let yourselves be swept into a heroic adventure rife with hope, adversities, rebellion and emotions — and to do so by trusting those who play with you, and being passionate about their ideas.
To fight for what you believe in, because this is your story.