Fudge Usagi Yojimbo

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In case you don't know, Usagi Yojimbo is my favorite serious comic book, and I consider its creator, Stan Sakai, an artistic genius and true craftsman. Therefore, when I heard Gold Rush Games had a license to publish the official Usagi Yojimbo Roleplaying Game, I hastened to ask Mark Arsenault (president of Gold Rush and Good Guy) if he would consider including Fudge stats in the book.

He replied that he would if he had space - and he did! At least, space for the conversion itself, and some of the characters. I told him to cut whatever he needed to fit it in, so don't blame Mark that all the characters I translated didn't make it - he was very generous with space as it was, putting the conversion notes in at all.

At any rate, for those who want the updated and full article I submitted to Gold Rush Games, here it is - enjoy!

[Note: As it turns out, my translation in the first printing is inadequate. This is totally my fault, no one else's. Fortunately, it's not really very harmful - just a note that you need to think a little differently in Fudge than in Fuzion.

The problem is that I did not take the additive nature of attributes and skills in Fuzion into consideration - this system does not work well in Fudge, alas - see my article on this subject for details. The effects of this are fortunately not serious at all - but should be noted. Therefore, the following replaces Appendix D in the Usagi Yojimbo RPG first printing. It should be the same as what appears in the second printing.]

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First, the important part: "Usagi Yojimbo is a trademark of Usagi Studios. Used under license by Gold Rush Games. The Usagi Yojimbo Role-playing Game and game statistics are copyright 1997 by Gold Rush Games."

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Conversion from Fuzion to Fudge is remarkably easy, though (as with all translations) it requires some, er, fudging on the part of the GM, of course.

In general, Fuzion Values range from 1-10, and can be roughly translated to Fudge as follows:

                  Fuzion                  Fudge
          Value           Label           Term
          ---------------------------------------------
          Less Than 1     Challenged      Terrible to Poor
          1-2             Everyday        Mediocre to Fair
          3-4             Competent       Fair to Good
          5-6             Heroic          Good to Great
          7-8             Incredible      Great to Superb
          9-10            Legendary       Superb to Legendary
          More Than 10    Superheroic     Legendary + Levels

Sometimes you'll translate a 3 as Fair, sometimes as Good, for example, depending on your perception of the character in question.

Do not add Attribute + Skill level in Fudge - simply use the Skill, or occasionally the Attribute.

Creating Your Character

Use Chapter Three: Your Character as written, with the following modifications:

• Begin with each of the four basic attributes at Fair. Add four levels to these as desired, but you shouldn't start with any attribute higher than Great without the GM's permission.
• Combat: I translate this as Agility since you don't add attributes and skills in Fudge.
• Hits: these aren't used in Fudge. Instead, your Damage Capacity is based on your Physical stat.
• Defense: reduce Stun damage by as many levels of Physical the character bought, +1.
• You also begin with the following skills, all at Mediocre:
  • Climbing,
  • Evade,
  • Perception,
  • Stealth,
  • Throw.
• You then pick a species and job, as per the Fuzion rules. The only thing to convert in these sections are bonuses and penalties:
  • Divide any Fuzion bonus by two and round up when converting to Fudge. For example, a Fuzion bonus of +1 or +2 both become +1 in Fudge. Bonuses of +3 and +4 both become +2, etc.
  • For any penalties, divide by two and round down. So a -1 and -2 in Fuzion both become -1 in Fudge, for example. This is true for all bonus and penalty conversions from Fuzion to Fudge.
• Special abilities are handled in Fudge just as they are in Fuzion. The GM may have to fudge some distances and times, however, but all Fudge GMs are used to that ...
• You then have TEN free levels to spend on skills as you please - you can get new ones or raise existing ones. One level spent on a new skill gets it at Mediocre, since Poor is the default for most skills in Fudge. You may not start with a skill higher than Superb.

Sample Characters in Fudge

Usagi Yojimbo: Rabbit Shugyosha/Bodyguard

• Attributes:
  • Physical: Good
  • Mental: Good
  • Agility: Superb
  • Movement: Great
• Skills:
  • Acrobatics: Great
  • Archery: Good
  • Etiquette: Good
  • Evade: Superb
  • Flute: Mediocre
  • Jujutsu: Good
  • Kenjutsu: Legendary
  • Painting: Fair
  • Perception: Great
  • Riding: Great
  • Stealth: Good
  • Throw: Great
• Special abilities:
  • Spectacular Leap
  • Claiming the Blow
  • Specialized Tactics

Rabbit Bodyguard (PC version)

• Attributes:
  • Physical: Good
  • Mental: Fair (or reverse Physical/Mental)
  • Agility: Great
  • Movement: Great
• Skills:
  • Acrobatics: Fair
  • Archery: Fair
  • Etiquette: Mediocre
  • Evade: Great
  • Jujutsu: Fair
  • Kenjutsu: Great
  • Perception: Good
  • Riding: Fair
  • Stealth: Fair
  • Throw: Mediocre
• Special abilities:
  • Spectacular Leap
  • Claiming the Blow

[ADDED - The following were cut from the book for space reasons)

Tomoe Ame, Cat Retainer

• Attributes:
  • Physical: Good
  • Mental: Good
  • Agility: Great
  • Movement: Good
• Skills:
  • Acrobatics: Great
  • Archery: Great
  • Climbing: Good
  • Etiquette: Great
  • Evade: Good
  • Jujutsu: Good
  • Kenjutsu: Superb
  • Perception: Good
  • Riding: Superb
  • Stealth: Good
  • Throw: Mediocre
• Special abilities:
  • Nine Lives (three remain);
  • Loyal Intensity (Due to her extreme loyalty, Tomoe can use this ability twice per session if necessary.)

Cat Retainer (PC version)

• Attributes:
  • Physical: Good
  • Mental: Fair (or reverse Physical/Mental)
  • Agility: Great
  • Movement: Fair
• Skills:
  • Acrobatics: Good
  • Archery: Mediocre
  • Climbing: Fair
  • Etiquette: Mediocre
  • Evade: Fair
  • Jujutsu: Mediocre
  • Kenjutsu: Good
  • Perception: Good
  • Riding: Good
  • Stealth: Fair
  • Throw: Mediocre
• Special abilities:
  • Nine Lives
  • Loyal Intensity

Zato Ino: Pig Shugyosha

• Attributes
  • Physical: Great
  • Mental: Fair
  • Agility: Superb
  • Movement: Good
• Skills:
  • Climb: Mediocre
  • Evade: Great
  • Jujutsu: Mediocre
  • Kenjutsu: Legendary
  • Massage: Good
  • Perception: Superb
  • Stealth: Mediocre
  • Throw: Mediocre
• Special abilities:
  • Scent
  • Special Tactics
  • Blindfighting (Ino takes no penalties to perception or fighting in complete darkness.)
• Special Fault:
  • Blind (Ino cannot read, use missile weapons or find his way around as well as a sighted person; however, he takes no penalty when fighting due to his superb training.)

Pig Shugyosha (PC version)

• Attributes
  • Physical: Good
  • Mental: Fair
  • Agility: Great
  • Movement: Fair
• Skills:
  • Climb: Mediocre
  • Evade: Good
  • Kenjutsu: Great
  • Perception: Fair
  • Stealth: Mediocre
  • Throw: Mediocre
• Special Abilities:
  • Scent
  • Special Tactics

Gennosuke: Rhino Bounty Hunter

• Attributes
  • Physical: Great
  • Mental: Good
  • Agility: Great
  • Movement: Good
• Skills:
  • Climb: Mediocre
  • Evade: Good
  • Kenjutsu: Superb
  • Perception: Good
  • Riding: Fair
  • Stealth: Mediocre
  • Throw: Mediocre
  • Tracking: Great
• Special Abilities:
  • Withstanding
  • Evaluate Enemies

Rhino Bounty Hunter (PC version)

• Attributes
  • Physical: Great
  • Mental: Fair
  • Agility: Great
  • Movement: Good
• Skills:
  • Climb: Mediocre
  • Evade: Good
  • Kenjutsu: Great
  • Perception: Fair
  • Riding: Poor
  • Stealth: Mediocre
  • Throw: Mediocre
  • Tracking: Good
• Special Abilities:
  • Withstanding
  • Evaluate Enemies

Kitsune: Fox Gambler

• Attributes
  • Physical: Good
  • Mental: Great
  • Agility: Good
  • Movement: Great
• Skills:
  • Acrobatics: Fair
  • Climb: Mediocre
  • Evade: Mediocre
  • Games: Great
  • Kenjutsu: Good
  • Perception: Good
  • Persuasion: Fair
  • Pick Pocket: Superb
  • Riding: Fair
  • Stealth: Great
  • Throw: Good
• Special Abilities:
  • Fast talking
  • Lucky

Fox Gambler (PC version)

• Attributes
  • Physical: Good
  • Mental: Great
  • Agility: Good
  • Movement: Great
• Skills:
  • Acrobatics: Fair
  • Climb: Mediocre
  • Evade: Mediocre
  • Games: Good
  • Kenjutsu: Mediocre
  • Perception: Fair
  • Persuasion: Fair
  • Pick Pocket: Fair
  • Riding: Poor
  • Stealth: Good
  • Throw: Fair
• Special Abilities:
  • Fast talking
  • Lucky

Shingen: Cat Ninja

• Attributes
  • Physical: Good
  • Mental: Good
  • Agility: Great
  • Movement: Great
• Skills:
  • Acrobatics: Great
  • Climbing: Great
  • Evade: Great
  • Kenjutsu: Great
  • Kusarigama: Superb
  • Ninjutsu: Superb
  • Perception: Great
  • Riding: Fair
  • Stealth: Great
  • Throw: Great
• Special Abilities:
  • None (he's run out of lives)

Cat Ninja (PC version)

• Attributes
  • Physical: Good
  • Mental: Fair
  • Agility: Good
  • Movement: Great
• Skills:
  • Acrobatics: Fair
  • Climbing: Good
  • Evade: Fair
  • Kenjutsu: Good
  • Kusarigama: Fair
  • Ninjutsu: Good
  • Riding: Fair
  • Perception: Fair
  • Stealth: Good
  • Throw: Mediocre
• Special Abilities:
  • Nine Lives

Average Tokage

• Attributes:
  • Physical: Fair
  • Mental: Mediocre
  • Agility: Fair
  • Movement: Great
• Skills:
  • Bite: Good
  • Claw: Good
  • Perception, Scent: Great
  • Perception, Other: Good
  • Strangle with Tail: Good
• Special Ability:
  • Swarm (use the Swarm rules from GATECRASHER, 2nd Edition, pp.195-196.) Basically, the more of them there are, the higher their fighting skill and the harder it is to kill them all.

And there's more!

I've made up some other Fudge Usagi Yojimbo characters to use at conventions or other occasions when you don't have time to make up characters - enjoy!

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