A Rock & Roll Fable.

Fight To Survive is a TTRPG, at first glance. But once you peel back the first layer you'll soon uncover that it's something decidedly more.

We begin at the premise; Fight. No, nothing so barbaric as just 'fight'. We're talking about Fight. Capitalisation matters. Fight is the premise. Not combat. The setting is but a means to an end, and the end is Fight. This is a game about ~Fight~. Fighting for justice. For glory. For honour. For respect. For your ex-girlfriend, cruelly kidnapped by a young Willem Dafoe wearing glossy leather dungarees. For your city, for your town, under siege by the Mad Gear gang. For small sums of money, in which the principle of the matter has made that capital worth far, far more.

If Rocky IV is the 3rd sequel to Rocky, then Fight To Survive is the second sequel to Rocky II.

The combat system is designed to demand a few form of play, because previous forms of play were not suitable. Most other systems rely on some kind of dice roll, and the tension therein is 'will I get a high enough number'. Ryo Sakazaki and Robert Garcia, in their quest to save Ryo's sister Yuri from the foul clutches of Mr. Big, were not concerned with numerology. They were preoccupied with making high-risk high-reward decisions in the moment-to-moment, regarding whether they should kick, punch, grapple, block or dodge. Also, they were worried about Mr. Karate, but that was just an extension of the thoughts throbbing through their ganglions vis-a-vis violence.

Fight To Survive is to Rock-Paper-Scissors what Chopin's Nocturne op.9 No.2 is to Mary-Had-A-Little-Lamb.

Feel the rush of risking it all on a risky Punch-Punch-Punch. Feel the agony of risking it all on Punch-Punch-Punch, and your opponent blocking everything.

The setting is The Setting. Lord Pepperpash's madness lead to the fall of his empire. Fighting Schoolgirl Judy Herrera's immaculate jib has her inspire her community. Moxie Wellingston, of the ferocious fighting flappers, stands strong and defends her realm. Heroes rise, villains strive, and all sides will clash in the eternal Fight.

The comforts system is a fascinating way of combining flavour, personalisation and skills. If you choose to have your character's grandfather's frying pan as a comfort, you can use your comfort skill to cook. Cook To Survive. Create a stir-fry that humilates Gordon Ramsey. Make him hurt. Give him hardship. Then, when he goes for the congratulatory handshake, throw him through a table.

If Dungeons and Dragons was trying to emulate Tolkien, Fight To Survive is trying to emulate Jack Dempsey vs Georges Carpentier at the Boyles Thirty Acres Arena in 1921.

If you're still reading this, buy Fight To Survive. Do it. They'll never catch you. They can't. If Interpol try to stop you, challenge them to 100 Years Of Punches.

I've been following this game since the kickstarter, and have had a chance to try out both the preview and full rules. I genuinely have nothing but good things to say about Fight to Survive. The system perfectly recreates the tone of the movies and games that inspire it in a way I've seen very few systems pull off.

The combat system is one of the most unique, innovative combat systems I've tried in a long time. Rather than rely on probability for resolution, the combat system focuses on the ability to read your opponent and guess what moves they will pick, keeping in mind your own character's strengths. It provides a great mechanism for storytelling through conflict, the mechanics weaving the fight into the overall story in a very seemless way. I can't offer a greater example of this than after finishing a playtest session of the combat rules, my group and I continued to play individual one on one fights because of how fun it was. It felt as though we were playing a fighting game, but in TTRPG form.

Outside of the combat, the mechanics encourage amazing roleplay and storytelling. The focus on telling a long story of a martial legacy over 100 years creates fantastic dynamics of mentor/successor. The mechanics encourage roleplay focused storytelling over character optimizing, while still providing enough mechanics to separate characters into their roles in the story.

Overall, get this game. Play it. You won't regret it.