Fabula Ultima vs Mage: The Ascension
Compare Fabula Ultima and Mage: The Ascension side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Fabula Ultima | Mage: The Ascension | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Fantasy | Fantasy, Modern, Horror |
| Tags | JRPG, Narrative, Tactical, Beginner-Friendly, Character-Driven, Collaborative, Freeform Magic | Freeform Magic, Character Building, Crunchy, High-Power, Roll to Cast, Skill-Based, Lore-Heavy, Fear & Stress Mechanics |
| Core Mechanic | Roll two attribute dice (d6/d8/d10/d12) paired from different attributes, sum them vs. a difficulty number. 15 mix-and-match classes (Arcanist, Elementalist, Fury, Guardian, etc.) let players multiclass freely. Fabula Points let players add story details. Bonds between characters unlock powerful combo effects. Villains have their own Ultima Points to fuel dramatic abilities. Clocks track escalating threats. | Build a d10 pool from an Attribute plus an Ability and count each die that meets or exceeds the difficulty, usually 6. Each rolled 1 cancels a success, and a roll with no successes and at least one 1 botches. Magick uses Arete instead: the highest Sphere plus coincidence or vulgarity and witnesses establishes the base difficulty, with situational modifiers applied afterward. Successes determine the Effect, and vulgar casting risks Paradox. |
| Dice | d6–d12 | d10 dice pool |
| Complexity | Medium | Very High |
| Accessibility | High | High |
| Runnability | Very High | Very High |
| License | All Rights Reserved | All Rights Reserved |
| Third-Party Publishing | Not yet researched | Commercial publishing allowed — Storytellers Vault |
| Summary only, not legal advice. Check current terms before publishing. | ||
| Cost | $$ | $$ |
| Publisher | Need Games / Rooster Games | Onyx Path Publishing |
| Year | 2023 | 2015 |
| Languages | Italian, English, Spanish | English, French, German, Italian, Russian, Spanish |
| Best For | Groups who want to play a Final Fantasy-style adventure with dramatic boss fights, multiclass heroes, and collaborative worldbuilding: ENnies 2023 Best Game winner. | Groups who want long-form modern occult campaigns about reality-shaping power, ideological conflict, and the consequences of imposing belief on the world. |
| Highlights | Flexible multiclass system with 15 classes, collaborative worldbuilding via Eight Pillars, Fabula Points give players narrative agency, boss fights emulate JRPG encounters, ENnies 2023 Best Game winner | Nine Spheres combine to build open-ended Effects, allowing the same capability to emerge through different paradigms, practices, and instruments. Coincidental and vulgar classifications make subtlety a tactical choice because conspicuous magick raises difficulty and accumulates Paradox. Focus ties belief to procedure, so a mage's worldview determines the tools and rituals used to alter reality. |
| Considerations | Collaborative worldbuilding via the Eight Pillars requires full group buy-in. Fabula Points can create pacing issues if spent unevenly. Villain design relies heavily on GM improvisation. | Improvised Effects place frequent adjudication on the Storyteller, who must apply Sphere permissions, focus, required successes, and consequences consistently. Vulgar magick generates Paradox even on success, so overt power can punish a mage through injury or metaphysical breakdown. Faction choices can make a cabal internally hostile, so character concepts need shared motives before play. |