System F.A.T.A.L. has a simulationist system with an unusual level of complexity, especially regarding sexual violence and bodily characteristics. Character creation involves twenty separate attributes, none of which correlate with one another even when they might be intuitively assumed to be related. For instance, Average Speech Rate and Maximum Speech Rate are unrelated, meaning the former can be higher than the latter. Attributes are determined by rolling 4d100/2-1 in the first edition, or 10d100/5-1 in the second edition. The majority of character traits are determined by random rolls at creation, including ones usually decided by players, such as eye colour, hairstyle, and sexual orientation. More prurient traits are also determined by rolling, such as breast size, genital size, and, notoriously, anal circumference. Twenty ten-sided dice, the amount needed to roll a single attribute Sex and sexuality is a heavy focus of the F.A.T.A.L. system, often in idiosyncratic ways. While extensive rules and mechanics for rape are established, consensual sex is not mentioned at any point in the game. The rules for rape are also incorporated into the section on combat more generally, a design decision that drew criticism for an apparent normalization of sexual violence. Extreme sexual content is frequently used for shock value, such as magical items which induce forced masturbation or bestiality. James Hausler, one of the co-creators of the game, later defended the rape content as a design decision by main writer Byron Hall; specifically, the list of mental illnesses characters could roll included multiple paraphilias related to rape and sexual violence, and Hall demanded mechanics be built to accommodate them. In the MacLennan and Sartin review, MacLennan referred to F.A.T.A.L. as "the date rape RPG". Hall, in his response, asked "Where is dating included?" F.A.T.A.L. has a broad variety of character skills and classes, including ones considered irrelevant by the majority of role-playing games. The "Urination" skill, for example, endeavours to measure what amount and at what speed a character can urinate . Character classes such as "Delouser", "Grocer", and "Claspmaker" were criticised for their irrelevance to a fantasy adventure game. The mechanics for other classes followed the game's overall pattern of high randomization. For instance, none of the spellcasting classes are guaranteed to gain new spells upon an increase in character level, but rather have to roll for how many spells—if any—they gain, and at what spell level. The available spells are also often eclectic, obscene, or peripheral in use, such as "Against Every Wild Animal, Aquatic Creature, and Robbers", "Force Fart", and "Bestow Ulcer". The spell "Have Her Cadaver"— a spell that makes a deceased woman appear alive but unconscious,  described by the rulebook as primarily used for necrophilic sexual intercourse—received a particularly strong negative reception, becoming one of the game's most infamous inclusions . After the MacLennan and Sartin review, Hall and co-creator John Terry (known pseudonymously as 'Burnout') wrote their own response to the review. The creators of F.A.T.A.L. considered the game to be "highbrow", and were frustrated by the negative and mocking reception it received. They were also upset by the degree to which negative reviews on the game focused on emotional and shocking content, when Hall believed in "remain[ing] calm and unemotional" in disputes. They also disagreed that the game was focused on rape and misogyny. However, Hall and Terry did agree with some of the criticisms, such as "brassiere" having been misspelled as "brazier" and that the ethnic stereotype armour should be removed; these were changed in the second edition.
System F.A.T.A.L. has a simulationist system with an unusual level of complexity, especially regarding sexual violence and bodily characteristics. Character creation involves twenty separate attributes, none of which correlate with one another even when they might be intuitively assumed to be related. For instance, Average Speech Rate and Maximum Speech Rate are unrelated, meaning the former can be higher than the latter. Attributes are determined by rolling 4d100/2-1 in the first edition, or 10d100/5-1 in the second edition. The majority of character traits are determined by random rolls at creation, including ones usually decided by players, such as eye colour, hairstyle, and sexual orientation. More prurient traits are also determined by rolling, such as breast size, genital size, and, notoriously, anal circumference. Twenty ten-sided dice, the amount needed to roll a single attribute Sex and sexuality is a heavy focus of the F.A.T.A.L. system, often in idiosyncratic ways. While extensive rules and mechanics for rape are established, consensual sex is not mentioned at any point in the game. The rules for rape are also incorporated into the section on combat more generally, a design decision that drew criticism for an apparent normalization of sexual violence. Extreme sexual content is frequently used for shock value, such as magical items which induce forced masturbation or bestiality. James Hausler, one of the co-creators of the game, later defended the rape content as a design decision by main writer Byron Hall; specifically, the list of mental illnesses characters could roll included multiple paraphilias related to rape and sexual violence, and Hall demanded mechanics be built to accommodate them. In the MacLennan / Sartin review, MacLennan referred to F.A.T.A.L. as "the date rape RPG". Hall, in his response, asked "Where is dating included?" F.A.T.A.L. has a broad variety of character skills and classes, including ones considered irrelevant by the majority of role-playing games. The "Urination" skill, for example, defines the amount of urine a character can produce, and at what speed . Character classes such as "Delouser", "Grocer", and "Claspmaker" were criticised for their irrelevance to a fantasy adventure game. The mechanics for other classes followed the game's overall pattern of high randomization. For instance, none of the spellcasting classes are guaranteed to gain new spells upon an increase in character level, but rather have to roll for how many spells—if any—they gain, and at what spell level. The available spells are also often eclectic, obscene, or peripheral in use, such as "Against Every Wild Animal, Aquatic Creature, and Robbers", "Force Fart", and "Bestow Ulcer". The spell "Have Her Cadaver"— which makes a deceased woman appear alive but unconscious, and which is described by the rulebook as primarily used for necrophilic sexual intercourse—received a particularly strong negative reception, becoming one of the game's most infamous features . After the MacLennan / Sartin review, Hall and co-creator John Terry (known pseudonymously as 'Burnout') wrote their own response to the review. The creators of F.A.T.A.L. considered the game to be "highbrow", and were frustrated by the negative and mocking reception it received. They were also upset by the degree to which negative reviews on the game focused on emotional and shocking content, when Hall believed in "remain[ing] calm and unemotional" in disputes. They also disagreed that the game was focused on rape and misogyny. However, Hall and Terry did agree with some of the criticisms, such as "brassiere" having been misspelled as "brazier" and that the ethnic stereotype armour should be removed; these were changed in the second edition.
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and
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endeavours to measure what amount
defines the amount of urine a character can produce,
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a character can urinate
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a spell that
which
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and which is
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inclusions
features
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and
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