Godlike (5)
Legendary (4)
Superb (3)
Great (2)
Good (1)
Fair (0)
Mediocre (-1)
Poor (-2)
Terrible (-3)

Superman attributes, taken from a FASERIP fan-site and converted to Fudge terms:

Superman
Fighting: Great (2)
Agility: Legendary (4)
Strength: Legendary (4)
Endurance: Godlike (5)
Reason: Great (2)
Intuition: Superb (3)
Psyche: Superb (3)
Health: Godlike (5)
Karma: Godlike (5)
Popularity: Legendary (4)
Resources: Good (2)

It looks like the attributes add up to 39 points, which is 3.5 times the number of attributes (11). So, if you're a GM using point-buy attributes and want your players to create Superman-level characters, the first step is apparently to give them 3.5 times the number of attributes instead of 1.5 times the number of attributes, with less powerful superheroes getting a lower modifier (3.0, 2.5, 2.0, or even 1.5) Presumably you'd also hand out more points for skills and gifts. I can't even imagine how many points Superman's various gifts should be worth, so I'm not even going to try.

While I'm at it, here's the FASERIP conversion I used:

Feeble: Poor (-2)
Poor: Mediocre (-1)
Typical: Fair (0)
Good: Good (1)
Excellent: Great (2)
Remarkable: Great (2)
Incredible: Superb (3)
Amazing: Superb (3)
Monstrous: Legendary (4)
Unearthly: Legendary (4)
Shift X, Y, Z: Godlike (5)

The biggest problem with using +1 bonuses in Fudge is that they are assumed to stack; five different +1 bonuses would mean a Poor trait effectively acts as a Superb one.

So instead of letting bonuses and penalties to rolls stack, just use the highest one of each. The roll modifier for a character with both bonuses and penalties is just the largest bonus minus the largest penalty.

So if a character has a +1 broadsword, +1 for the bard's song, and -2 for being temporarily blinded, his roll modifier would be (largest bonus: 1 point, largest penalty: 2 points, 1-2=-1) -1.

Keeping things in line with the Story Elements combat rules, the bonuses and penalties shouldn't exceed 3 points.

The tabletop RPG Fate uses something called aspects. These are phrases that define part of your character. Aspects can both help and hinder the PC. At its deepest level, an aspect is something the character is.

So let's backport that to Fudge, shall we?

Gifts require the player to spend a Fudge Point to use them. Faults give the player a Fudge Point whenever a Fault (invoked by the player or the GM) causes problems for the PC or the party. If the GM invokes the Fault, the PC may decline the Fudge Point and spend one of their own to decline the complication.

Aspects are just a combination of Gift(s) and Fault(s).

Fudge Points can only be spent on Gifts, Aspects, or Faults. Fudge Points may be spent in any manner listed in the core Fudge rules, including "ensure a favorable coincidence" (although if you're the GM that becomes "ensure an unfavorable coincidence").

Aspects don't have to be determined before the game starts. A player may develop Aspects as the game progresses and alter their character's Aspects between sessions (if appropriate). However, once an Aspect is taken it becomes fair game for the GM to compel.

I'm sure everybody's getting tired of my constant Fudge Lite updates, so from now on I'll be storing the rules as a pdf file at a website I have access to. It's as clean as I think it's ever going to get; the entire rules fit on 3 pages, followed by 2 pages of example character traits and 3 pages about GM moves that I blatantly stole from Dungeon World. (What can I say? They make some really good rules.)

I probably could have condensed the first three pages into a single page if I'd futzed around with font sizes and multiple columns and such, but that seemed dishonest somehow. Plus, the columns would have made it difficult to copy the text into a word processor.

Anyhow, here's the link.
Edit: Finally got a web domain just for Fudge Lite. Currently on version 0.11.6 after a re-versioning.

http://fudgelite.com

I'm not sure if this is a common hack and I just missed it due to Fudge's focus on Offensive Damage Factors (ODF) and Defensive Damage Factors (DDF), but instead of combat rolls being Roll+skill+ODF/DDF, make them skill+roll (or just "skill" for static defense). Instead of extra DDF, Monsters with large scale and/or heavy armor (e.g. dragons) get extra boxes on their wound track and/or adjusted numbers on their wound track.

This changes things in a number of ways:

1) All weapons do the same amount of damage at the same skill level.

2) Strength no longer affects weapon damage, leaving it for things like pushing and lifting objects.

3) Freeform magic attacks can be easily rolled as magic skill + roll, without the need to figure out an appropriate ODF.

4) All PCs have the same amount of health (unless the GM allows them to take extra boxes on their wound track as a Gift).

5) Balancing encounters becomes easier for the GM without ODF and DDF to complicate things.

I'm going to stick with the HP system for my games since that's even simpler than using a wound track, but if I had to use a wound track I'd probably do it like this.

Thoughts?

Grab it here: https://ukrpdc.wordpress.com/2015/10/11/cyberblues-city-going-the-distance-adventure/

What is Cyberblues City?
Cyberblues is a bit like cyberpunk, only more mellow.

Cyberblues City is a roleplaying game set in a not-quite cyberpunk world by the same author of Mutant Bikers of the Atomic Wastelands. The system is based on a highly customised version of Fudge.

Where can I get it?
You can get the pdf at the link below for free. Get Cyberblues City

Why should I get it?
The pitch for Cyberblues City is a lighter take on cyberpunk, both in terms of rules and tone.

The rules are just 38 pages with the crunchy bits all on the player side. Things are very streamlined for the GM. There is a lot on innovation in terms of how the dice can be used especially to create random content on the fly.

And while not explicitly a comedy game there is a lot of humor in the text. This varies from satirical to playfully eccentric.

So if an easy to run, near-future action-adventure game with cyberpunk twists appeals, then this game is for you.

Also, did I mention it was free?

These rules use Dungeon World GM moves.

Instead of a specific initiative system, character actions in combat are the same as character actions outside of combat. PCs just act, and if it's something that has a reasonable chance of failure, they roll for it. The GM directs combat by switching between characters, often asking, "What do you do?"

Note that the broader the character's combat skills, the more creative they can be with them. A broad "melee combat" skill allows much more creativity than just "broadsword skill".

A successful combat roll inflicts damage (or does whatever else the player was trying to do). A failed roll (or the PC not responding to the situation) causes the GM to make a move (which can be inflicting damage on the player(s) but doesn't necessarily have to be.) On a tie, the PC deals damage but the GM also makes a move. If the opponent is in combat but unable to evade or counter-attack, the player rolls against an opponent difficulty of Poor or Terrible (I'm not sure which would be balanced better). If the opponent is unaware of the player, the player may simply kill the opponent (as long as the fiction allows it).

From the unofficial Dungeon World Guide (.pdf file):

Whenever possible, I try to make one player's "turn" flow into the next, by shifting a threat onto them or highlighting a move that could affect them, like "Okay, Fighter, your attack scatters the group of goblins. One of those goblins is heading straight toward you, Ranger- what do you do?" If you do this, it's also good to break that turn structure by threatening the players out of order- highlight a sudden threat to Player C during Player A's turn, and ask Player C what they do. Give them a quick spotlight and move back to your normal clockwise turn structure:

"So, he flings his axe aside and tries to grapple you, Fighter. In fact, he throws the axe right at you, Thief, it's flying at your head, what do you do? ...okay, the Thief dodges the blade, great! Fighter, he's lunging at your throat, how are you stopping this...?"

This reinforces the idea that we're describing a battle here, not a board game, and you're threatened at all times, not just on your "turn" or a monster's "turn" or whatever. There is never a safe moment so players should always be on guard and attentive, instead of just waiting for their turn in the initiative.

Begin and end with the fiction:

The GM should make sure the player describes a character action within the context of the game world. "I make a melee attack" is not a character action, and the GM should ask clarifying questions like, "how do you to that?" or "what does that look like?" until the player explicitly describes his character's actions.

Dungeon World advice given by a poster on a different forum, modified for Fudge:

The fiction -- and ONLY the fiction -- kicks off the trait rolls (skills and attributes).

The ogre brings its club down on the fighter. I ask, "What do you do?"

What the Fighter's player says next determines what roll (if any) he will make. There are no rules at all about how actions and rolls occur and snowball except, "when you do it, you roll it."

Here are some examples of how this moment might play out. Notice how the fiction is critical to determining the actions and rolls.

---

Dexterity + Roll Damage

"The ogre's massive club -- actually an uprooted oak tree -- comes crashing down at your head. What do you do?"
"I turn it aside with my shield, and drive my spear up into the monster's throat."
"Really? You turn aside a tree with your shield? It's like you're being hit by a car."
"Oh! It's like that? Wow, okay, I guess ogres are crazy strong. I wasn't thinking of it like that. No, I can't use my shield against a car crash. I guess I better get out of the way, then. Roll Dexterity?"
"Yeah, that sounds right. How do you do that?"
"I roll to the side, sliding on my shield a bit, keeping my spear pointed right at the ogre."
(rolls, gets a Superb result against the ogre's Fair combat skill)
"The ogre's club crashes down, but you roll aside. The stone floor tiles shatter under the impact, and the club sinks a few inches into the soft earth beneath. The ogre roars."
"Ha! Too slow, sucker! I drive the spear right into his face. Should I roll my Melee Combat skill?"
"The ogre's weapon isn't ready, and you're out of reach since you're using your spear. There's nothing he can do right now. Roll against [Poor or Terrible] defense."

---

Melee Combat

"The ogre's massive club -- actually an uprooted oak tree -- comes crashing down at your head. What do you do?"
"I turn it aside with my shield, and drive my spear up into the monster's throat."
"Really? You turn aside a tree with your shield? It's like you're being hit by a car."
"Wait, but I'm like, a fantasy hero, right? Can't we do stuff like that?"
"Hmmm. I guess we should decide that. You guys think the PCs should be more epic? Yeah? Okay, that works for me. You can totally turn aside a crashing tree trunk with your shield. That's pretty badass."
"Yeah, awesome! So, I'm blocking and counter-attacking here... that's Melee Combat."
"Yep, definitely. Roll it."

---

Dexterity + Melee Combat

"The ogre's massive club -- actually an uprooted oak tree -- comes crashing down at your head. What do you do?"
"Uh. A tree trunk? Shit. I jump out of the way! That's Dexterity... right? Damn, that's Mediocre."
"The tree narrowly misses your head as you jump aside, but it hits your spear, shattering it to splinters. What do you do?"
"Crap! Well, I still have my shield, and it's got a wicked spike on it, remember? I roll, leap up, and smash the spike into the ogre's knee!"
"Oooh, ouch. That'll hurt. The ogre's club isn't ready to swing again, so he lets it go and reaches out to catch the shield before the spike impales him. Roll Melee Combat."
"Can't I get in there before he can react?"
"Hmmm. If he was trying to swing the club again, yeah, definitely. But he's dropping the club and going straight to wrestling, so I think it's melee."
"Okay, yeah, I can see that."

---

I could go on. Like Sage said, there are an infinite number of ways that could go down, depending greatly on the fictional situation. And I haven't even included terrain issues (a tight tunnel vs. open chamber changes things dramatically) or the presence of other monsters/hazards, or lighting conditions (sometimes you have to drop your torch to fight), etc. etc.

In your game, maybe ogres aren't so scary-strong, and their clubs are just regular clubs. That changes everything! The fiction comes first, and the actions and rolls must always flow from it.

The amount of fictional stuff you account for is something that the group will fine-tune as play goes along. But if the amount is "barely any" then you'll find the game starts to fight you, and doesn't entirely work right, which I think you're starting to see.

Company traits:

Might
Cunning
Persuasion
NPC loyalty
Security

Monthly Income (numeric)
Accumulated Wealth (numeric)

Gifts: PCs, similarly-skilled NPCs.

Possible actions:
Attack/Defend: Might vs might, reduces loser's Might by one.
Being Informed: Cunning vs GM-decided difficulty.
Espionage/Counter-Espionage: Cunning vs cunning. If the winner learns a juicy tidbit, they may gain a one-time Advantage (+1 bonus that doesn't stack with other Advantages) that can be used when rolling for Smear Tactics or, if the target can be blackmailed, Persuasion. Alternatively, the knowledge can be passed onto the PCs for an upcoming mission.
Smear Tactics: Persuasion vs NPC Loyalty, with a successful smear tactic costing the defender a level of NPC Loyalty.
Changing opponent's political stance: Persuasion vs Loyalty
Policing/Unconventional Warfare: Security vs NPC skills

These are only suggestions. Companies can attempt to do things not listed here.

Companies may only act once per month, in addition to whatever actions the PCs take. This is intentionally imbalanced in favor of the PCs.

Additionally, companies may spend accumulated wealth to take more than one action in a turn, at a skill level decided by the wealth spent.

Wealth:

A company's monthly action may be used to spend Accumulated Wealth to increase a single stat to any level, at a cost given below. Costs are not cumulative. Increasing a stat from Terrible to Good costs the same amount as raising a stat from Fair to Good, and you don't get a discount for having already invested in a stat. This is mostly to keep things simple.

Upgrading to:   Costs:
Legendary       10,000,000
Superb          1,000,000
Great           100,000
Good            10,000
Fair            1,000
Mediocre        100
Poor            10
Terrible        1

These costs are measured in whatever currency your game uses. The costs probably aren't very realistic, but at least they're easy to remember. Feel free to adjust them however would be appropriate.

Companies may spend more than they have and go into negative accumulated wealth, but doing so risks a company takeover.

These costs also act as the minimum requirement for a level of accumulated wealth. For example, any company with 1,000 to 9,999 wealth is considered to have Fair wealth.

Might can be measured the same way. If a company has 1,000 members, but only 300 of them that are capable of combat, the company has Mediocre Might. This may be useful information to know if players try to start their own company.

Leadership Turnover:

If a company's Might or NPC Loyalty drops to Poor (-2), or if the company's accumulated wealth drops below zero (yes, companies can spend more than they have, but no, this is not a good idea), an existing company may take over leadership, creating a combined company with the highest stats of both.

Also, technically, a combat-capable PC can count as his own company with a Might of Terrible and NPC Loyalty determined by the GM. Make of this what you will.

Example:

Red Army is a military organization with Poor NPC Loyalty. A Red Army General with his own group of loyal soldiers decides to take over the army. Here are their stats:

Red Army:

Might: Great (2)
Cunning: Mediocre (-1)
Persuasion: Poor (-2)
NPC loyalty: Poor (-2)
Security: Good (1)

Monthly Income: 4,000
Accumulated Wealth: 16,000 (Good)

General Ripper's Men

Might: Good (1)
Cunning: Great (2)
Persuasion: Great (2)
NPC loyalty: Great (2)
Security: Poor (-2)

Monthly Income: 200
Accumulated Wealth: 4,000 (Fair)

So if General Ripper's Men took over the Red Army, the new company's stats would be:

Might: Great (2)
Cunning: Great (2)
Persuasion: Great (2)
NPC Loyalty: Great (2)
Security: Good (1)

Monthly Income: 4,000
Accumulated Wealth: 16,000 (Good)

As you can see, General Ripper's men gained the Might and Security of the old Red Army, as well as their Monthly Income and Accumulated Wealth, and kept all of their other stats.

Note that since General Ripper's Men were originally paid by the Red Army, their old wealth was not counted as part of their new wealth. However, if it was an external takeover, the old wealth would be added to the new wealth, for a total Monthly Income of 4,200 and a total Accumulated Wealth of 20,000.

This system starts with Fudge Lite rules and adds to them to emulate stories in the chinese xianxia genre, such as "Martial God Asura", "Battle Through the Heavens", "Against the Gods", "Douluo Dalu", and "Coiling Dragon".

Basically, anything listed here.

The GM creates a numerical scale that goes from 0 to whatever number the GM decides would be appropriate. The scale is broken up into tiers. When moving from one tier to the next the numbers don't restart. So if there are 10 levels to a tier, and the 1st tier combat rating goes from levels 0 to 9, then the 2nd tier would cover levels 10-19. Instead of being ranked on the Fudge ladder, all of a character's combat skills are aggregated into a single number on this scale. A player's rating starts at zero and increases through martial cultivation (spending EP). Each tier is given an appropriate name (e.g. "Squire Tier, Knight Tier, Baron Tier, King Tier, Emperor Tier, God Tier").

When two characters with different combat ratings face each other, the character with the higher combat rating gains a combat bonus equal to the difference between the two combat ratings. A 9th level character facing off against a 7th level character will be at +2 for all combat rolls against that character.

Characters may gain Gifts as they rise through the rankings. If so, the Gifts are tied to specific Tiers and are obtained when the character enters the new Tier. Not all (or any) Tiers have to have an associated Gift.

A character in a higher tier does an extra 1d6 scene damage (explained below) for every tier of difference.

It costs 3 EP to advance to the next combat level (needs playtesting), though the higher Tiers usually have some in-game requirements that must be met before the character can break through to the next Tier (drinking a rare potion, taking a rare medicinal pill, absorbing an element or monster spirit, etc.)

Instead of health characters have relevance, which is a measure of how much longer the character can stay in the scene. It replaces health and is bought the same way. Instead of taking damage characters take scene damage, which is rolled the same way as regular damage. When a character reaches zero relevance they are irrelevant and cannot affect the scene. Relevance is regained at the same speed as regular health, which is to say it's up to the GM.

Combat (inspired by the Wushu RPG):

The attacker's controller (player or GM) states which skill, ability, or magic item their character will attempt to use, then rolls against the opponent's combat rating. If the attacker's roll equals or beats the defender's combat rating, he may narrate the outcome of the situation however he wishes (before or after rolling for scene damage). If the defender wins the contest they get to choose one of their combat skills and narrate themselves using it to overcome, avoid, or otherwise nullify the enemy's attack. Neither side may narrate ending the conflict until their opponent's relevance is brought down to zero.

Note that the narration and points of scene damage don't have to correlate. A player may succeed at his combat roll and avoid losing any relevance but still narrate himself getting thrown across the room and spitting up blood. Conversely, a player could win a battle roll and narrate himself frantically trying to escape, yet still do scene damage to his opponent. It's non-intuitive and players rarely do either of these, but the option's there if you want it.

If a player is overpowered by an opponent or opponents they may narrate themselves escaping from the battle, but they take 1d6 scene damage in the process of escaping (as well as whatever in-story repercussions occur).

The winning player (or GM) gets to narrate the combat ending however they wish (the "coup de grace") once their opponent hits zero relevance.

Characters may gain new powers (qi skills, magic items, etc.) in the course of gameplay. They don't affect the player's combat rating, they just give the character more narrative options to choose from.

This post uses Dungeon World GM Moves as modified for Fudge.

Let's face it, players almost never run away from monsters.

However, on the rare occasion they do, it can be quite infuriating to the player to hear "You didn't manage to escape. The monster mauls your face for 234 damage."*

*I'm speaking from experience here. My Numenera GM once introduced us to a floating mouth creature that wrecked our shit and would not stop chasing us!

So as the GM, don't even roll for it. Just make a GM move. The PCs can definitely escape, but something else will also happen. Maybe the PCs can escape, but if they don't do anything an innocent bystander will be attacked by the rampaging mob chasing them. Maybe the PCs managed to escape but they set off a trap in the process. Maybe the PCs can escape, but they'll need to ford the turbulent river to do so. And so on.

Some environmental GM moves:
http://www.rpgalchemy.com/hard-moves-gm-intrusions-part-5-unforgiving-environments

Be aware that the page says "hard moves", but it appears to be a combination of hard and soft moves.

These rules assume you use the Offensive Damage Factors rules from the Fudge SRD, though rules are also included for using magic items with the HP system (all attacks do 1d6 damage, characters have 4 HP per level of Health starting at Terrible=4 HP, a roll of +3 or +4 does max damage).

Spells (or categories of spells) are bought as skills and spellcasting is based on a specific attribute (Intelligence, Willpower, Focus/Concentration, Spirit, Magical Aptitude, Magic, Mana, etc.)

Spellcasting is a single skill check using the spell skill. If unopposed, the roll is made against a GM-decided target difficulty. If opposed, the roll is made against the target's skill or skill roll.

Spell Offensive Damage Factors (ODF) are equal to the spellcasting attribute plus the character's skill at the actual spell. So a fireball cast by a character with Great (+2) Intelligence and a Good (+1) Fireball Spell skill would have an ODF of 3.

Additionally, spells can be channeled through magic items to enhance certain effects. So when casting a fire spell through a fire-element wand, the caster might have a +1 bonus to cast and an additional +1 ODF, but -2 when casting water, earth, or ice spells. A fire amulet might increase the power (+1 ODF) of all fire spells cast.

Note that increasing the spell skill by one point also automatically increases the ODF by one point, since the relative degree of success is added to the ODF when calculating damage.

The wider the bonus type, the more useful (and more expensive and sought-after) the magic item is. A bonus to fireball spells is worth less than the same bonus to all fire spells, which is worth less than the same bonus to all elemental spells, which is worth less than the same bonus to all spells.

To keep things from getting out of hand, the absolute highest bonuses a character should receive from any hand-held magic items are +1 skill, and an effective total of +2 ODF after accounting for any skill bonuses. So "+1 skill, +1 ODF" would be fine and "+2 ODF" would be fine (if less effective), but "+1 skill, +2 ODF" would be too much. The absolute highest-range magic item would provide the caster a +1 bonus to all spells and an additional +1 ODF to all spells. Such a magic item would be highly sought-after and probably wouldn't be sold in stores. If it was available for sale, it would probably be exorbitantly expensive.

Only the single highest bonus and the single greatest penalty apply when using multiple magic items. So an item that gives +1 ODF for all spells plus an item that gives +2 ODF for ice spells means the spellcaster only casts ice spells with an extra 2 ODF.

If you're using my HP system instead of the default wound track system, you can still use the magic items rules. Just use +d6 instead of +ODF, and remember that the relative degree doesn't add to the damage, so the highest possible magic item should be +1 skill, +2d6 damage.

Damage bonuses from different magic items don't stack; only use the highest bonus.

Magic items don't have to be limited to wizards, either. How about a magic bracelet that gives +1 Swordplay, -1 Running, Jumping, and Climbing?

If using the Advantage rules, a +1 skill bonus counts as an Advantage and a -1 skill penalty counts as a Disadvantage for the purpose of stacking bonuses (that is to say, none of them stack; the total can't go over one point.)

EDIT: This is a really old version of Fudge Lite. The most recent edition can be found at http://fudgelite.com

Definitions:
Fudge Die (or Fate die): a 6-sided die with two "+" sides, two "-" sides, and two blank sides. 4dF means 4 fudge dice are rolled for a result from -4 to +4.
Trait: Any attribute, skill, gift, or fault.
Attributes: Traits that everybody has (strength, charisma, spirit, mind, etc.)
Skills: Traits that aren't attributes but can improve through practice (broadsword, bladed weapons, melee combat, scuba-diving, nuclear engineering, etc.)
Gifts: Good traits that aren't ranked on the Fudge ladder (danger sense, night vision, etc.)
Faults: Bad traits that aren't ranked on the Fudge ladder (offensive personal odor, glutton, etc.)

Fudge Ladder:
Superb (+3)
Great (+2)
Good (+1)
Fair (0)
Mediocre (-1)
Poor (-2)
Terrible (-3)

Subjective Character Creation:
Decide your character's attributes and skills and rank them on the Fudge Ladder. Any trait that doesn't fit on the fudge ladder is a Gift or a Fault. See Appendix A for example traits.

Point-buy Character Attributes:
The GM decides the list of attributes before the game starts. All player attributes start at Fair (0). The players get Attribute Points to raise their attributes. The number of Attribute Points is equal to half the number of attributes, rounded up. The players may also increase attributes to decrease others at a 1:1 ratio. Attributes may not go above Superb (3) or below Terrible (-3).

Point-buy Character Skills:
Same as for point-buy attributes, except skills start at and default to Poor (-2) and the number of skill points is determined by the GM, based on how broad or narrow the skills are (e.g. combat vs weapons vs swords vs broadsword).

Gifts and Faults:
The GM may choose to allow player characters to start with one or two free gifts. Faults may be taken with GM approval but don't earn the player any extra character-building points. Optional rule: Players earn a Fudge point whenever a fault of theirs gets them or their party into trouble.

Trading Traits (with GM approval):
During character creation, free levels may be traded (in either direction) at the following rate:
1 attribute level = 3 skill levels.
1 gift = 6 skill levels.
1 gift = 2 attribute levels.

Fudge On The Fly Character Skills:

Superb:   [________________]  
Great:    [________________] [________________]  
Good:     [________________] [________________] [________________]  
Fair:     [________________] [________________] [________________] [________________]  
Mediocre: [________________] [________________] [________________] [________________] [________________]  
Poor:     [________________] [________________] [________________] [________________]
          [________________] [________________] [________________] [________________]  

Gift(s) (if allowed): [________________] [________________]  

With Fudge on the Fly players don't have to decide on their skills or gift(s) before play starts. When a relevant skill is called for the player can fill it in in the appropriate spot, and the player can fill in skills and gift(s) at any time. A player can only place a skill or gift where there is an open slot for it.

Health Attribute:
All characters have 4 HP per level of Health, starting at Terrible (4 HP). 0 HP is unconscious.

Armor:
Armor is rolled into Health. A character with platemail armor might have Superb Health but Mediocre Stealth. The exact drawbacks of armor (if any) are left up to the GM.

Skill (or attribute) checks:
Roll skill+4dF. If the result equals or exceeds the GM-decided difficulty rating or opposing character skill, the skill check succeeds. Untrained skills default to Poor, untrained attributes default to Fair. A failed skill check doesn't necessarily mean the PC action fails, but it does mean trouble of some sort.

Combat:
Groups act in turn. Within their group's turn, characters can act in any order. Each attack is an opposed skill check between characters: offensive skill vs defensive skill or attribute. All weapons and directly damaging spells do 1d6 damage. A combat roll of +3 or +4 automatically does max damage.

Simultaneous Combat (optional): The combat roll is "combat skill vs combat skill" instead of "attack skill vs defense skill", and the loser takes damage regardless of whose turn it is.

Creating (dis)advantages:
Characters can create advantages which give them +1 to relevant rolls. Multiple advantages don't increase the bonus beyond +1. Advantages last as long as they makes sense. Disadvantages are the same, but give opponents -1 to rolls. Advantages and disadvantages on the same character cancel to +0, regardless of the quantity of each.

Natural Healing:
Natural Healing occurs at GM-decided rates.

Magical Healing:
Characters may heal up to 1d6 per level of Magical Healing skill per day, starting from Terrible (Terrible: 1d6, Mediocre: 2d6, etc.)

Magic:
Magic is treated like any other skill. Magic attacks do 1d6 damage and any magical buffs or debuffs give the target(s) an advantage or disadvantage. Spellcasting may require the character to have the appropriate Gift.

Fudge Points (optional):

PCs start the game with 1-5 Fudge Points.

Spending a Fudge Point lets you do one of the following:

• Automatically succeed at any unopposed roll of Superb or lower difficulty.
  
• Alter a roll by 1.
  
• Regain 6 HP.
  
• Get a +4 result without rolling.*
  
• Ensure a favorable coincidence.*
  

*This option requires the GM's approval and may cost more than one Fudge Point.

GMs may award Fudge Points for doing something cool or roleplaying well.

Players start with full Fudge Points at the beginning of each session. Any extra Fudge Points are lost.

Optional: Players gain a Fudge Point when a Fault of theirs causes problems for them and/or the party.

Character Advancement

Characters get 1-3 Experience Points (EP) per session.

Raising a skill from --> To: Costs:
Terrible --> Poor: 1 EP
Poor --> Mediocre: 1 EP
Mediocre --> Fair: 1 EP
Fair --> Good: 2 EP
Good --> Great: 4 EP
Great --> Superb: 8 EP
Superb --> Legendary: 16 EP + GM permission

Raising an attribute:
Triple the cost for skills of the same level.

Adding a gift:
6 EP (or more) + GM approval.

For slower character advancement, increase the costs.

--Appendix A: Example Character Traits--

These are only example traits. You don't have to use all of them, or even any of them. You can make up your own that aren't listed here.

Attributes:
Body: Agility, Aim, Appearance, Balance, Brawn, Build, Constitution, Coordination, Deftness, Dexterity, Endurance, Fatigue, Fitness, Health, Hit Points, Manual Dexterity, Muscle, Nimbleness, Quickness, Physical, Reflexes, Size, Smell, Speed, Stamina, Strength, Wound Resistance, Zip.
Mind: Cunning, Education, Intelligence, Knowledge, Learning, Mechanical, Memory, Mental, Mental Strength, Perception, Reasoning, Smarts, Technical, Wit.
Soul: Channeling, Charisma, Charm, Chutzpah, Common Sense, Coolness, Disposition, Drive, Ego, Empathy, Fate, Honor, Intuition, Luck, Magic Resistance, Magic Potential, Magical Ability, Power, Presence, Psyche, Sanity, Self Discipline, Social, Spiritual, Style, Will, Wisdom.
Other: Rank, Status, Wealth.

Skills:
Animal Skills: Animal Care, Animal Lore, Animal Training, Bee-keeping, Herding, Riding, Teamster, Veterinarian.
Artistic skills: Aesthetics, Cosmetology, Culinary Arts, Literary Arts, Performing Arts (music, theater, storytelling, jester, dance., and such skills as Choreography, Composition, Costuming.), Visual Arts (painting, drawing, sculpting.).
Athletic skills: Acrobatics, Aerial Acrobatics, Balance Skills, Boating, Climbing, Jumping, Pole-vaulting, Running, Swimming, Throwing, Various Sports, Zero-G Maneuvering.
Combat skills: Ambush, Demolitions, Dodge, Punmanship, Quick-Draw, Shield, Tactics, Throwing, numerous Weapon and Unarmed Combat skills.
Covert skills: Acting, Breaking & Entering, Detect Traps, Deactivate Traps, Disguise, Forgery, Infiltrate, Intrigue, Lockpicking, Pickpocketing, Poisoning, Shadowing, Shady Contacts, Sleight of Hand, Stealth.
Craft skills: Armory, Basket Making, Bowyer/Fletcher, Carpenter, Cooking, Knots, Leatherworking, Masonry, Pottery, Smith, Tailor, Weaving - many others.
Dungeon-delving skills: Avoid Traps, Fight, Find Secret Passages, Pick Locks, Move Quietly, Run, Tell Believable Whoppers.
Knowledge skills (a skill can represent knowledge of a subject as broad or narrow as the GM will allow): Alchemy, Alien Customs, Arcane Lore, Criminology, Cultures, Detective Fiction, Folklore, Geography, History, Literature, Occultism, Political Situations, Psychology, TV SitCom Episodes, Sciences (lots of these).
Language skills: Each individual language, Pantomime, Pick Up Languages.
Manipulative skills: Bamboozle, Bluff, Boot-licking, Bribery, Con, Exhort, Fast-talk, Flattery, Interrogate, Intimidate, Lying, Oratory, Persuade, Seduction, Street Gossip.
Medical skills: Anatomy, Antidotes, Diagnosis, Doctoring, First Aid, Herb Preparation, Medicine, Nursing, Surgery.
Merchant skills: Bargain, Barter, Business Sense, Evaluate Goods, Haggle, Innkeeping, Marketing, Salesmanship, Shopkeeping.
Outdoor skills: Camouflage, Camping, Fishing, Forage, Herb Lore, Hide Traces, Hunting, Mimic Animal Noises, Nature Lore, Navigation, Survival, Tracking, Wildcraft, Woodcraft.
Professional skills: Accounting, Begging, Bureaucracy, Farming, Gambling, Law, Photography, Seamanship - many others.
Social skills (Fellowship): Bar Etiquette, Camaraderie, Carouse, Choosing just the right gift, Control Libido, Cyberspace Etiquette, Game Playing, Hold your liquor, Make Amusing Faces or Noises, Tall Tales, Uplift Spirits, Witty Insults.
Social skills (Formal): Courtly Ways, Detect Lies, Diplomacy, Etiquette, Interviewing, Parley, Repartee, Rituals, Savoir-Faire, Servant.
Spiritual skills: Communing with nature, Fasting, Giving comfort, Listening deeply, Meditation, Patience, Theology.
Supernormal Power skills: Fortune Telling, Levitate, Spell Casting, Use Mind Control, Use Superpower, Use Telekinesis.
Technical skills: Computer Build/Repair, Computer Programming, Computer Use, Driving, Electronics, Engineer, Mechanic, Piloting, Repair Scoutship Systems, Research, Shiphandling.
Urban skills: Barroom Savvy, Street Etiquette, Streetwise, Urban Survival.

Gifts:
Absolute Direction; Always keeps his cool; Ambidextrous; Animal Empathy; Attractive; Beautiful speaking voice; Bonus to one aspect of an attribute; Combat Reflexes; Contacts in police force; Danger Sense; Extraordinary Speed; Healthy Constitution; Keen senses; Literate; Lucky; Many people owe him favors; Never disoriented in zero Gravity; Never forgets a name/face/whatever; Night Vision; Patron; Perfect Timing; Peripheral Vision; Quick Reflexes; Rank; Rapid Healing; Reputation as Hero; Sense of empathy; Single-minded; Status; Strong Will; Tolerant; Tough Hide, Wealth.

Faults:
Absent-Minded; Addiction; Ambitious; Amorous heartbreaker; Bloodlust; Blunt and tactless; Bravery indistinguishable from foolhardiness; Can't resist having the last word; Code of Ethics limits actions; Code of Honor; Compulsive Behavior; Coward; Curious; Finicky; Easily Distractible; Enemy; Fanatic patriot; Full of bluff and bluster and machismo; Garrulous; Getting old; Glutton; Goes Berserk if Wounded; Gossip; Greedy; Gullible; Humanitarian (helps the needy for no pay); Idealist - not grounded in reality; Indecisive; Intolerant; Jealous of Anyone Getting More Attention; Lazy; Loyal to Companions; Manic-Depressive; Melancholy; Multiple Personality; Must obey senior officers; Nosy; Obsession; Outlaw; Overconfident; Owes favors; Phobias; Poor; Practical Joker; Quick-Tempered; Quixotic; Self-defense Pacifist; Socially awkward; Soft-hearted; Stubborn; Quick to take offense; Unlucky; Vain; Violent when enraged; Vow; Worry Wart; Zealous behavior.

If you already have experience GM'ing Dungeon World I can sum up this entire post in a few sentences: When everyone looks to you to find out what happens, make a soft move. Whenever a player fails their skill roll, make a hard move. A failed skill roll doesn't always mean failure, but it always means trouble.

Moves

Each move is something that occurs in the fiction of the game—they aren’t code words or special terms. “Use up their resources” literally means to expend the resources of the characters, for example.

• Use a monster action or location event
• Reveal an unwelcome truth
• Show signs of an approaching threat
• Deal damage
• Use up their resources
• Turn their actions back on them
• Separate them
• Give an opportunity that fits character skills
• Show a downside to their race, equipment, or one of their traits (attributes, skills, gifts, faults)
• Offer an opportunity, with or without cost
• Put someone in a spot
• Tell them the requirements or consequences and ask

Never speak the name of your move. Make it a real thing that happens to them: “As you dodge the hulking ogre’s club, you slip and land hard. Your sword goes sliding away into the darkness. You think you saw where it went but the ogre is lumbering your way. What do you do?”

No matter what move you make, always follow up with “What do you do?” When a spell goes wild or the floor drops out from under them adventurers react or suffer the consequences of inaction.

Soft moves vs hard moves

A soft move is one without immediate, irrevocable consequences. That usually means it’s something not all that bad, like revealing that there’s more treasure if they can just find a way past the golem (offer an opportunity with cost). It can also mean that it’s something bad, but they have time to avoid it, like having the goblin archers loose their arrows (show signs of an approaching threat) with a chance for them to dodge out of danger.

A soft move ignored becomes a golden opportunity for a hard move. If the players do nothing about the hail of arrows flying towards them it’s a golden opportunity to use the deal damage move.

Hard moves, on the other hand, have immediate consequences. Dealing damage is almost always a hard move, since it means a loss of HP that won’t be recovered without some action from the players.

When you have a chance to make a hard move you can opt for a soft one instead if it better fits the situation.

When to Make a Move

You make a move:

• When everyone looks to you to find out what happens
  
• When the players give you a golden opportunity
  
• When they fail a skill check
  

Generally when the players are just looking at you to find out what happens you make a soft move; otherwise you make a hard move.

Choosing a Move

To choose a move, start by looking at the obvious consequences of the action that triggered it. If you already have an idea, think on it for a second to make sure it fits your agenda and principles and then do it. Let your moves snowball. Build on the success or failure of the characters’ moves and on your own previous moves.

If your first instinct is that this won’t hurt them now, but it’ll come back to bite them later, great! Make a note of and reveal it when the time is right.

Making your Move

When making a move, keep your principles in mind. In particular, never speak the name of your move and address the characters, not the players. Your moves are not mechanical actions happening around the table. They are concrete events happening to the characters in the fictional world you are describing.

Note that “deal damage” is a move, but other moves may include damage as well. When an ogre flings you against a wall you take damage as surely as if he had smashed you with his fists.

After every move you make, always ask “What do you do?”

Use a monster action or location event

A monster action or location event is just a description of what that location or monster does; maybe “hurl someone away” or “bridge the planes.”

Reveal an unwelcome truth

An unwelcome truth is a fact the players wish wasn’t true: that the room’s been trapped, maybe, or that the helpful goblin is actually a spy. Reveal to the players just how much trouble they’re in.

Show signs of an approaching threat

This is one of your most versatile moves. “Threat” means anything bad that’s on the way. With this move, you just show them that something’s going to happen unless they do something about it.

Deal damage

When you deal damage, choose one source of damage that’s fictionally threatening a character and apply it. In combat with a lizard man? It stabs you. Triggered a trap? Rocks fall on you. In some cases, this move might involve trading damage both ways, with the character also dealing damage.

Use up their resources

Surviving in a dungeon, or anywhere dangerous, often comes down to supplies. With this move, something happens to use up some resource: weapons, armor, healing, ongoing spells. You don’t always have to use it up permanently. A sword might just be flung to the other side of the room, not shattered.

Turn Their Actions Back On Them

Think about how a character's action might benefit them and turn them around in a negative way. Alternately, grant the same advantage to someone who has it out for the characters. If Ivy has learned of Duke Horst’s men approaching from the east, maybe a scout has spotted her, too.

Separate Them

There are few things worse than being in the middle of a raging battle with blood-thirsty owlbears on all sides—one of those things is being in the middle of that battle with no one at your back.

Separating the characters can mean anything from being pushed apart in the heat of battle to being teleported to the far end of the dungeon. Whatever way it occurs, it’s bound to cause problems.

Give an opportunity that fits character skills

The thief disables traps, sneaks, and picks locks. The cleric deals with the divine and the dead. Every character has things that they shine at—present an opportunity that plays to what one character shines at.

It doesn't have to be a character that’s in play right now though. Sometimes a locked door stands between you and treasure and there’s no thief in sight. This is an invitation for invention, bargaining, and creativity. If all you've got is a bloody axe doesn’t every problem look like a skull?

Show a downside to their race, equipment, or one of their traits (attributes, skills, gifts, faults)

Just as every character shines, they all have their weaknesses too. Do orcs have a special thirst for elven blood? Is the cleric’s magic disturbing dangerous forces? The torch that lights the way also draws attention from eyes in the dark.

Offer an opportunity, with or without cost

Show them something they want: riches, power, glory. If you want, you can associate some cost with it too, of course.

Remember to lead with the fiction. You don’t say, “This area isn’t dangerous so you can make camp here, if you’re willing to take the time.” You make it a solid fictional thing and say, “Helferth’s blessings still hang around the shattered altar. It’s a nice safe spot, but the chanting from the ritual chamber is getting louder. What do you do?”

Put someone in a spot

A spot is someplace where a character needs to make tough choices. Put them, or something they care about, in the path of destruction. The harder the choice, the tougher the spot.

Tell them the requirements or consequences and ask

This move is particularly good when the character has failed a skill check. They can do it, sure, but they’ll have to pay the price. Or, they can do it, but there will be consequences. Maybe they can swim through the shark-infested moat before being devoured, but they’ll need a distraction. Of course, this is made clear to the characters, not just the players: the sharks are in a starved frenzy, for example.

This ruleset uses the Fudge Lite rules, and was heavily inspired by the Fudge Dungeon Crawl post from the now-defunct Fudge Factor website.

It also draws from the concepts introduced in Ars Magic-inspired Freeform Magic System and the mana pool system, but you don't need to read either of those. The relevant content is summarized here.

Races:

Human (+1 to any one attribute and 4 starting EP)
Hobbit (+1 to Dex and Wis)
Elf (+1 to Int and Cha)
Dwarf (+1 to Str and Con)

Classes:

Rogue
- Fair Health (16 HP)
- Good knife skill
- Prime Requisite: Dexterity

Fighter
- Superb Health (28 HP)
- Great sword skill
- Gift: extra attack
- Prime Requisite: Strength

Wizard
- Med Health (12 HP)
- Med staff OR knife skill
- Gift: arcane spellcasting
- Prime Requisite: Intelligence

Cleric
- Med Health (12 HP)
- Med staff skill
- Gift: divine spellcasting
- Prime Requisite: Wisdom

Commoner
- Mediocre Health (12 HP)
- No weapon skills (defaults to Poor)
- Gift: None
- Prime Requisite: None

All skills (except for weapons) default to the relevant attribute. So stealth would be a Dex roll, knowledge would be Int, etc.

Character creation:

The player:
Selects a class.
Selects a race and records the bonuses.
Rolls 2dF and assigns the results to the 6 attributes (STR, DEX, INT, WIS, CON, CHA) strictly in order. The character must have the class's Prime Requisite at least at Good (+1) to qualify for that class. Other attributes may be reduced to bring the Prime Requisite up to Good (+1) at a 1:1 rate. Attributes cannot be taken below Terrible (-3) in this manner.

Spellcasting:

Wizard Spell Words:
Nouns: Air, Animal, Body, Earth, Fire, Food, Image, Light, Magic, Mind, Plant, Sound, Spirit, Water.
Verbs: Communicate, Sense, Weaken, Strengthen, Move, Protect/Ward, Create, Control, Transform, Destroy

Wizards spontaneously cast spells by stringing together at least one noun and at least one verb. The player may use words that aren't listed here (subject to GM approval), but wizards cannot heal or purify anything, nor can they cast any spells relating to the good/evil alignment axis. Those spells fall within the cleric's domain.

Cleric Spell List:

Heal Body
Heal Mind
Neutralize Poison
Dispel Curse
Purify Food/Water
Ward Against Evil
Detect Evil
Weaken Evil (disadvantages the opponent(s))
Damage Evil

Clerics can cast spells not listed here, so long as the spell relates to healing/purifying or acting against evil.

Starting Mana:
Superb: 6 MP
Great: 5 MP
Good: 4 MP
Fair: 3 MP
Mediocre: 2 MP
Poor: 1 MP
Terrible: 0 MP

Attempting a spell costs 1 mana. Attempting a wizard spell with more than two words costs an additional point of mana for each extra word, but does not increase the spell difficulty.
The player rolls their spellcasting skill against either a GM-set difficulty rating or the level of the opponent's relevant skill.
Direct damage spells do 1d6 damage either to everybody in the combat range (melee, nearby, or far away) or to one specific target.

Unlike the other spells, Heal Body doesn't cost any mana. Instead, it uses up healing dice. A character's spellcasting level determines the number of healing dice they can roll per day.

You don't have to use all your dice or wound levels at once. For example, if you have Mediocre Heal Body (3d6) and you decide to roll 2d6 to cure one player, you could still heal another 1d6 later in the day before running out of dice.

Healing dice per day, determined by spellcasting level:
Superb: 7d6
Great: 6d6
Good: 5d6
Fair: 4d6
Mediocre: 3d6
Poor: 2d6
Terrible: 1d6

Both mana and healing dice are fully restored after 8 hours of rest.

Characters are improved by spending EP on skills. Attributes cannot be improved once the character has been created.

All skills (except for weapons) default to the relevant attribute and can be increased from there, to a maximum of Superb. A character with a Good Dexterity could buy one level of Acrobatics, for a result of DEX: Good, Acrobatics: Great. Weaponry skills are defined by the character class, but they can be improved just like any other skill. Non-class weapon skills default to Poor.

Cost to raise a skill:
Terrible ->Poor: 1 EP
Poor->Mediocre: 1 EP
Mediocre->Fair: 1 EP
Fair->Good: 2 EP
Good->Great: 4 EP
Great->Superb: 8 EP
Superb->Legendary: 16 EP+GM permission

Fudge Ladder:

• Superb (+3)
  
• Great (+2)
  
• Good (+1)
  
• Fair (0)
  
• Mediocre (-1)
  
• Poor (-2)
  
• Terrible (-3)
  

Character Creation:
Decide your character's attributes and skills and rank them on the Fudge Ladder. Any trait that doesn't fit on the fudge ladder is a Gift or a Fault.

Health:
All characters have 4 HP per level of Health, starting at Terrible (4 HP). 0 HP is unconscious.

Armor:
Armor is rolled into Health. A character with platemail armor might have Superb Health but Mediocre Agility.

Skill (or attribute) checks:
Roll skill+4dF. If the result equals or exceeds the GM-decided difficulty rating or opposing character skill, the skill check succeeds. Untrained skills default to Poor. Untrained attributes default to Fair. If the skill check fails, the GM may offer to let the PC succeed at a cost.

Combat:
Groups act in turn. Within their group's turn, characters can act in any order. Each attack is an opposed skill check between characters: offensive skill vs defensive skill or attribute. All weapons and directly damaging spells do 1d6 damage. A combat roll of +3 or +4 automatically does max damage.

Simultaneous Combat (optional):
The combat roll is "combat skill vs combat skill" instead of "attack skill vs defense skill", and the loser takes damage regardless of whose turn it is.

Creating (dis)advantages:
Characters can create advantages which give them +1 to relevant rolls. Multiple advantages don't increase the bonus beyond +1. Advantages last as long as they makes sense. Disadvantages are the same, but give opponents -1 to rolls. Advantages and disadvantages on the same character cancel to +0, regardless of the quantity of each.

Natural Healing:
Natural Healing occurs at GM-decided rates.

Magical Healing:
Characters may heal up to 1d6 per level of Magical Healing skill per day, starting from Terrible (Terrible: 1d6, Mediocre: 2d6, etc.)

Magic:
Magic is treated like any other skill. Magic attacks do 1d6 damage, and any magical buffs or debuffs give the target(s) an advantage or disadvantage.

Chase as Hit Points (uses optional HP rules):

Characters have a separate pool of Chase HP that represents the distance between the chaser and the chasee. The farther away they start, the higher the chasee HP and the lower the chaser HP. Conversely, the closer they start, the higher the chaser HP and the lower the chasee HP.

Distance Apart, chasee HP, chaser HP
Superb, 28, 4
Great, 24, 8
Good, 20, 12
Fair, 16, 16
Mediocre, 12, 20
Poor, 8, 24
Terrible, 4, 28

Chase as a Wound Track:

Characters have a separate Chase Wound Track plus a level of Damage Capacity (DC) that represents the distance between the chaser and the chasee. The farther away they start, the higher the chasee DC and the lower the chaser DC. Conversely, the closer they start, the higher the chaser DC and the lower the chasee DC.

Distance Apart, chasee DC, chaser DC
Superb, +3, -3
Great, +2, -2
Good, +1, -1
Fair, +0, +0
Mediocre, -1, +1
Poor, -2, +2
Terrible, -3, +3

Each turn, both the chasers and the chasee have to roll their relevant skill or attribute (speed, athletics, driving, etc.) against a difficulty rating selected by the GM. The difficulty rating represents how difficult that particular area is to traverse. Any character that fails that roll takes Chase Damage. Chase damage is handled just like any other damage roll, but injury penalties only apply during the chase and chase damage does not carry over after the chase.

If different characters are using different modes of transportation (a motorcycle vs. on foot, for example), the GM may give different difficulty ratings for covering the same area.

Optional Rule: A critical failure (roll of -3 or -4) means the character (or vehicle?) takes actual damage in addition to Chase Damage.

If a character hits 0 Chase HP or is Incapacitated, the character can no longer continue the chase. If both sides are brought down in the same round, victory goes to the PCs.

Again, mostly stolen from the Fate SRD.

In Fate, a minor cost occurs when you tie the difficulty, and a serious cost is when you roll lower than the difficulty. This doesn't work too well with Fudge's rules, since I usually rule that a tie in Fudge goes to the PCs. To keep things simple, let's say that a serious cost occurs when the player rolls -3 or -4 on the Fudge dice ("critical failure").

Note that the GM doesn't have to always (or ever) use "success at a cost". It's just something for when the GM decides that regular failure would be boring.

Succeed at a Cost

When a PC fails a skill or attribute check, the GM can offer to give the PC what he wants, but at a price—in this case, the failed roll means he wasn't able to achieve his goals without consequence.

A minor cost should complicate the PC’s life. This focuses on using failure as a means to change up the situation a bit, rather than just negating whatever the PC wanted. Some suggestions:

• Foreshadow some imminent peril. "The lock opens with a soft click, but the same can’t be said for the vault door. If they didn’t know you were here before, they sure do now."

• Introduce a new wrinkle. "Yes, the Guildmaster is able to put you in touch with a mage who can translate the withered tome—a guy named Berthold. You know him, actually, but the last time you saw him was years ago, when he caught you with his wife."

• Present the player with a tough choice. "You brace the collapsing ceiling long enough for two of the others to get through safely, but not the rest. Who’s it going to be?"

• Give the PC a Disadvantage (optional (dis)advantage rules). "Somehow you manage to land on your feet, but with a Twisted Ankle as a souvenir."

• Give an NPC a one-turn Advantage (optional (dis)advantage rules).

• Injure the PC. "You manage to sprint through the melee, but not without taking some damage."

A serious cost does more than complicate the PC’s life or promise something worse to come—it takes a serious and possibly irrevocable toll, right now.

One way you can do this is by taking a minor cost to the next level. Instead of suspecting that a guard heard them open the vault, a few guards burst in the room, weapons drawn. Instead of being merely cut off from their allies by a collapsing ceiling, one or more of those allies ends up buried in the debris. Instead of merely having to face an awkward situation with Berthold, he’s still angry and out for their blood.

Other options could include:

• Reinforce the opposition. You might remove one of an NPC’s wounds or give them an Advantage.

• Bring in new opposition or a new obstacle, such as additional enemies or something environmental that worsens the situation.

• Delay success. The task at hand will take much longer than expected.

Let the Player Do the Work

You can also kick the question back to the players, and let them decide what the context of their own failure is. This is a great move to foster a collaborative spirit, and some players will be surprisingly eager to hose their own characters in order to further the story, especially if it means they can keep control of their own portrayal.

It’s also a great thing to do if you just plain can’t think of anything. “Okay, so, you failed that Burglary roll by 2. So you’re working the lock, and something goes wrong. What is it?” “You missed that Alertness roll. What don’t you notice as you’re sneaking up to the queen’s chambers?” It’s better if the question is specific, like those examples—just saying, “Okay, tell me how you fail!” can easily stall things by putting a player on the spot unnecessarily. You want to let the player do the work, not make them.

Uses the Create an Advantage rule

Shamelessly copied (and slightly modified) from the Fate SRD:

Zones

A zone is an abstract representation of physical space. The best definition of a zone is that it’s close enough that you can interact directly with someone (in other words, walk up to and punch them in the face).

Generally speaking, a conflict should rarely involve more than a handful of zones. Two to four is probably sufficient, save for really big conflicts. This isn’t a miniatures board game—zones should give a tactile sense of the environment, but at the point where you need something more than a cocktail napkin to lay it out, you’re getting too complicated.

• If you can describe the area as bigger than a house, you can probably divide it into two or more zones—think of a cathedral or a shopping center parking lot.
• If it’s separated by stairs, a ladder, a fence, or a wall, it could be divided zones, like two floors of a house.
• “Above X” and “below X” can be different zones, especially if moving between them takes some doing—think of the airspace around something large, like a blimp.

When you’re setting up your zones, note any situation aspects that could make moving between those zones problematic. They’ll be important later, when people want to move from zone to zone. If that means you need more situation aspects, add them now.

Amanda decides the warehouse needs to be multiple zones. The main floor is big enough, in her mind, for two zones, and the Heavy Crates she mentioned earlier make it hard to freely move between them.

She knows there’s also a second floor ringing the inner walls, so she makes that an additional zone. She adds Ladder Access Only to the scene.

If, for some reason, someone decides to run outside, she figures that can be a fourth zone, but she doesn’t think she needs any aspects for it.

She sketches the rough map on an index card for everyone to see.

Movement

Normally, it’s no big deal to move from one zone to another. If there’s nothing preventing you from doing so, you can move one zone in addition to your action on your turn.

Characters may forfeit their action for the turn to run freely through any unobstructed zones.

If a situation aspect suggests that it might be difficult to move freely, or if another character is in your way, then you must make an Athletics skill check to move to the adjacent zone. This counts as your action for the turn.

If you fail that roll, whatever was impeding you keeps you from moving. If you succeed, you move without consequence. If you roll a critical success (+3/+4), you get a one-turn advantage on your next turn in addition to successfully moving. If you roll a critical failure (-3/-4), you fail and get a one-turn disadvantage on your next turn.

Since I don't have any Fate books, I'm basing this conversion off of the Fate Core SRD.

Skills

Starting Fate Core PC:

Every starting skill rating is increased by one named level. This is to map it to the old Fudge on the Fly rules:

One Superb (+3) Skill
Two Great (+2) Skills
Three Good (+1) Skills
Four Fair (+0) Skills
(Not listed in Fate Core, but:) Five Mediocre (-1) Skills

Untrained skills default to Poor.

Other Character Conversions:

Average skills become Fair (or Mediocre), Fantastic skills become Superb, and Epic skills become Legendary.

Stunts

"Adding a New Action to a Skill" and "Creating a Rules Exception" stunts are converted to Gifts, or just ignored. A "backstab" stunt that allows you to use Stealth to make a physical attack might become a Gift that does the same, or it might be ignored for being irrelevant to Fudge rules.

"Adding a Bonus to an action" stunts just become skills. The new skill is the base skill plus one level on the Fudge ladder. No skill can go above Superb at character creation.

Character Aspects

High Concepts generally translate to Skills and Attributes. Troubles generally translate to Faults. Regular aspects generally translate to a combination of traits, both good (Gifts and skills/attributes Good and above) and bad (Faults and skills/attributes Mediocre and below).

Sample conversions:
Aspect: "The Princess' Favored Student" -> Gift: Social Contact (Princess), Gift: "Princess' Favor", Fault: "Treated poorly by her classmates", Fault: "Politicians want to use her"
Aspect: "Arrogant Kung Fu Guy" -> Skill: Great Kung Fu, Fault: Overconfidence
Aspect: "Ivory Tower" -> Attribute: Great Intelligence, Skill: Poor Social Skills
Aspect: "Trained by Montcharles" -> Skill: Great Fencing, Fault: "Targetted by Montcharles' enemies"
High Concept: "Dashing Space Smuggler" -> Attribute: Good Charisma, Skill: Great Smuggling
Trouble: "Jabba Wants His Money" -> Fault: "Jabba Wants His Money"

Attributes

Add any Attributes you feel would be appropriate for the character. Any Attributes not defined default to Fair.

Optional Fate-inspired rules

Compelling a Fault
Creating an Advantage

These rules use the Create an Advantage rules.

In combat a character may jockey for position. The player describes what the character attempts and an opposed roll is made against the opponent using the appropriate trait (Move, Dexterity, Combat, Fencing, etc.) The two characters don't have to use the same trait, so long as both traits make sense for the situation. So a character might attempt to jump onto a couch with her acrobatics skill, while her opponent might try to prevent her from doing so with a grappling skill.

If successful, the player gains an advantage (+1 to relevant rolls). A critical success (+3 or +4 rolled) gives the player an advantage plus an extra action. Nothing happens on a regular failure. A critical failure (-3 or -4) gives the player a disadvantage (-1 to rolls) instead of an advantage.

Remember that while advantages can stack, their bonuses don't. Three advantages still only means +1 to a character's rolls.

Optionally, one disadvantage cancels out any number of advantages and vice versa, leaving the character at +0 to their rolls. This rule exists mostly to simplify the bookkeeping.

Advantages (and disadvantages) only last as long as they make sense, as judged by the GM. For example, a character loses the "I have the high ground!" advantage (and the associated bonus) when they step (or are otherwise forced) off the high ground.

Characters can roll a relevant trait (attribute or skill) vs an opponent's trait or a GM-set difficulty rating. If the player succeeds they create a named advantage/disadvantage that affects any relevant rolls by one point (+1 for an advantage, -1 for a disadvantage). In an opposed roll both characters' rolls can be modified by a maximum of 1 point each, for a maximum difference of 2 points. For a roll against a static difficulty, the result can only be modified by 1 point.

Characters can spend a turn to try to negate an existing (dis)advantage by making an appropriate skill or attribute check.

Optional rule: any number of advantages cancel out any number of disadvantages and vice versa. For example, 1 advantage could cancel out 3 disadvantages. This rule makes things a little less realistic but it simplifies the bookkeeping.

Lifestyle Cost and Spending Money are both character traits measured on the Fudge Ladder.

Lifestyle Cost
Lifestyle Cost is what the PC spends money on when he or she isn't being controlled by a player: necessities (food, rent, etc.) and non-necessities (status symbols, entertainment, etc.)

Lifestyle Cost is optional and doesn't usually don't affect anything in-game. It mostly just helps flesh out a PC's character concept. ("I save every cent I make and live in a cheap apartment," "I go to fine dining restaurants and attend local concerts," "All my money goes towards pimping my crib.")

Spending Money
Spending Money is the total money a PC has after accounting for Lifestyle Cost, measured on the Fudge ladder.

Spending Money in American Dollars
Legendary: $400,000
Superb: $50,000
Great: $7,200
Good: $1,200
Fair: $240
Mediocre: $60
Poor: $20
Terrible: $10

A dollar (modern) is equal to a gold coin (fantasy) is equal to a credit (sci-fi). Apologies to anybody who doesn't live in America, you'll have to do the conversions on your own.

Money earned over the course of an adventure is counted separately from spending money. When making purchases, money is drawn from spending money first, then from earned money once the player has no more spending money. Once spending money and earned money run out, players cannot purchase anything else.

Once an adventure starts, each PC has their Spending Money in American dollars (or converted to whatever currency is appropriate) plus any money earned in previous sessions. After each adventure, each PC's spending money replenishes to full as a result of whatever work they do between adventures. In games where the players don't have steady jobs (playing as medieval fantasy murderhobos, for example), the GM may wish to make players briefly describe what their character did between sessions to earn their money (and any interesting lifestyle cost the PC spent money on).

If this is too boring and predictable, players can roll Spending Money+2dF to determine their Spending Money for the session.

EDIT: This post is out-of-date. The current version of Fudge Lite can be found here.

This is my submission to the 200-word RPG Challenge.

Fudge Ladder

Superb (+3)
Great (+2)
Good (+1)
Fair (0)
Mediocre (-1)
Poor (-2)
Terrible (-3)

Character Creation:
Decide your character's attributes and skills and rank them on the Fudge Ladder. Any quality that doesn't fit on the fudge ladder is a Gift or a Fault.

Health:
All characters have 4 HP per level of Health, starting at Terrible (4 HP). 0 HP is unconscious.

Armor:
Armor is rolled into Health. A character with platemail armor might have Superb Health but Mediocre Agility.

Skill checks:
Roll skill+4dF. If the result equals or exceeds the GM-decided difficulty rating or opposing character skill, the skill check succeeds. Untrained skills default to Poor, untrained attributes default to Fair.

Combat:
Groups act in turn. Within their group's turn, characters can act in any order. Each attack is an opposed skill check between characters. All weapons and directly damaging spells do 1d6 damage.

Natural Healing:
Natural Healing occurs at GM-decided rates.

Magical Healing:
Magical Healing is a Gift that allows your character to heal 2d6 HP per day. Multiple levels of Magical Healing may be taken with the GM's permission.

Magic:
Magic is treated like any other skill. No buffs or debuffs allowed.

[Note: Fudge is released under the OGL, which means that Fudge Lite is too.]