It acquired a strongly negative reputation in the tabletop roleplaying community, being universally panned [ 3 ] and described as one of the most controversial games ever released. 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, in the first edition, Average Speech Rate and Maximum Speech Rate are unrelated, meaning the former can be higher than the latter.
More prurient traits are also determined by rolling, such as breast size, genital size, and, notoriously, potential anal circumference. Sex and sexuality is a heavy focus of the F. While extensive rules and mechanics for rape are established, consensual sex is not mentioned at any point in the game.
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. Hall, in his response, asked "Where is dating included?
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.
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 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.
