Fantasy Heartbreaker

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Revision as of 09:52, 5 August 2015 by 109.132.142.53 (talk) (Expanded description. Removed list of examples, since by definition it'll mostly be shit that even the internet hasn't heard of (and FATAL isn't one).)
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A fantasy heartbreaker is what you get when an enthusiastic amateur who has only ever played D&D tries to design an RPG. Ask your GM, they probably have one.

Once upon a time, those might get self-published and spend the next few years drifting towards the back of the game store's shelf, then the bargain bin. These days you'll find them on home-made ungoogleable websites, as unrated pdfs in online stores, and on Kickstarter.

They unquestioningly copy D&D in most things, but add in a handful of original (or independently reinvented) mechanics and/or a very peculiar setting. It's seeing those nuggets of creativity buried in unsalvageable D&D-flavored shit that causes the heartbreak.

Term coined in 2002 by notorious Forgefag Ron Edwards.

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