{{short description|1982 alternate reality role-playing game}} {{italic title}} {{Infobox RPG |title= Fringeworthy |image=File:Fringeworthy, role-playing game.jpg |caption=Cover of the first edition |designer= ''Richard Tucholka'' |publisher= Tri Tac Games |date= 1982 ''(1<small>st</small> edition)'' 1984 ''(2<small>nd</small> edition)''
1992 ''(3<small>rd</small> edition)'' 2009 ''(4<small>th</small> edition)'' |genre= Alternate history |system= Custom or D20 Modern |footnotes= }} '''''Fringeworthy''''' is an alternate history role-playing game published by Tri Tac Games in 1982 that involves playing characters who have the ability to travel to different versions of Earth. It was the first role-playing game to explore the genre of alternate worlds.
==Description== ''Fringeworthy'' posits that in 2013 — thirty years in the future when the game was first published — a Japanese research team in Antarctica discovers a dimensional gateway left behind by an ancient alien race. The ability to use the alien equipment to follow paths — called "fringes" — to alien and alternate Earths is very rare, and the people who have this ability become known as the "Fringeworthy".
One effect of using the equipment is that humanity comes in contact with a genocidal alien race of shapechangers and planet destroyers called the Mellor; these aliens become a constant nemesis.
==Rules== The first edition of the game uses Tri Tac's original rules system, which is highly detailed. The game system makes it possible to adapt the statistics of firearms not included in the game, as long as a source of those statistics such as an issue of ''Guns and Ammo'' or ''Jane's Defence Weekly'' can be used as a game supplement.
Character creation, like combat, in the Classic Edition, is complex, with 15 basic attribute scores and between 6 and 19 secondary abilities and skills, many of which may be moderated by an Education Type attribute
==Publication history== In 1975, Richard Tucholka, Kevin Dockery and Robert Sadler formed Timeline Games to create the post-apocalyptic role-playing game ''The Morrow Project'' based on a story that Dockery and Tucholka had started to write. Due to conflicts with Dockery, Tucholka and Sadler left Timeline to found Ticky-Tac Games, soon to become Tri-Tac Games. After publishing a microgame titled ''Geriatric War'', Tucholka created '' Fringeworthy''. Like ''The Morrow Project'', the game was based on a series of unpublished science fiction short stories Tucholka had written ten years before,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/fringeworthy|title=Media : Fringeworthy : SFE : Science Fiction Encyclopedia|publisher=}}</ref> and it was published in 1984. It was the first role-playing game to incorporate dimensional travel as its central tenet.<ref name=grog>{{cite web|url = https://www.legrog.org/biographies/richard-tucholka | date=2009-05-08|title= Richard Tucholka |website=Guide du Rôliste Galactique| access-date= 2023-10-27 |language=fr}}</ref>
Tri-Tac also released a number of supplements to the game, including ''Rogue 417'', ''Cloisters'', ''Invasion U.S.!'', ''Weirdzone'', and ''Hardwired Hinterland'', as well as the ''Tri-Tac Inc Systems Shield''.
In 1984, Tri-Tac produced a second edition with a print run of 4000. A third edition released in 1992 featured a revised and greatly expanded background, and the inclusion of alien races and other humanoids. A small sample adventure was also included.<ref name=shadis />
In 2009, Tri Tac Games released a ''d20 Modern'' edition.
==Reception== In ''Space Gamer'' No. 65, William A. Barton liked the novel premise, commenting, "''Fringeworthy'' I view as the most innovative of the recent new RP systems for its first-of-its-kind alternate worlds theme. I believe it to be deserving of an award of some sort for creativity and innovation."<ref name="SG">{{cite magazine|last=Barton |first=William A. |date=September–October 1983 |title=Featured Review: FTL:2448 and Fringeworthy|magazine=Space Gamer|issue=65|pages=2, 4–7}}</ref>
In Issue 29 of ''Abyss'', Eric Olson liked the skills system, calling it one of the game's "best aspects." Olson also liked the variety of possible player characters, noting "As the number of Fringeworthy are limited, many of them are old or very young, and they come from all areas of society, so any type of character can be played. Another good buy."<ref name=abyss>{{cite magazine|last= Olson|first=Eric|date= April 1984 |title=In the Speculum |magazine=Abyss| issue=29 |pages=20}}</ref>
In his 1990 book ''The Complete Guide to Role-Playing Games'', game critic Rick Swan thought this game "tackles the concepts of alternate realities and interdimensional travel with originality and style." However Swan found the game mechanics "adequate, but [they don't] match the invention of the premise. Character creation is an uninspired blend of random attributes and skill selection is far too time consuming ... The combat rules produce satisfactory results but require a lot of number juggling." And Swan was hesitant about the experience system, finding that "it tends to push abilities to unrealistically high levels, producing characters who are theoretically capable of walking away from a plane crash." Swan concluded by giving the game a rating of 2.5 out of 4, saying, ""All the systems are playable, though their virtues remain modest. Where ''Fringeworthy'' really shines is in its fresh approach to an underexplored topic; no other game covers the ramifications of interdimensional travel as thoroughly as this one."<ref name=swan>{{cite book | last =Swan | first =Rick | author-link=Rick Swan |title =The Complete Guide to Role-Playing Games | publisher =St. Martin's Press | date =1990 | location =New York | pages =86–87}}</ref>
William Hale reviewed ''Fringeworthy'' in ''White Wolf'' #35 (March/April, 1993), rating it a 4 out of 5 and stated that "As ''Fringeworthy'' is a game of exploration in a hundred million other earths, it will require a bit of work on the part of the gamemaster in order to keep the players sated, but this should be nothing short of pure joy with an imaginative and insightful game such as this. I would recommend this game to any who enjoy their roleplaying clean and swift, without unnecessary clutter, and set in a background of absolutely limitless scope and variety."<ref name="WW35">{{Cite magazine |last=Hale |first=William |date=March–April 1993|title=Capsule Reviews |magazine= White Wolf Magazine |number=35 |page=68 |url=https://imgur.com/a/ZO7xBER}}</ref>
In the January 1995 issue of ''Shadis'', Dirk Dejong reviewed the third edition, writing, "This is a relatively untouched genre, done with wit and intelligence." Dejong also liked the new material, commenting, "The 90 pages added to this version were used to good effect, with the addition of aliens and other humans, new equipment, and new information on the Fringes." Dejong concluded, "While ''Fringeworthy'' leans to complexity, I feel that it has been well enough designed to handle almost anything that you, or your players, could wish for."<ref name=shadis>{{cite magazine|last=Dejong|first=Dirk | date=January 1990 |title= Closer Look |magazine=Shadis| issue=17|pages=74}}</ref>
James Davis Nicoll in 2020 for ''Black Gate'' said "Tri Tac's ''Fringeworthy'' was an SF RPG in which player characters explore a variety of alternate universes, courtesy of a network of alien portals. What I remember about this was the excessively detailed combat system."<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.blackgate.com/2020/06/10/stormbringer-stargates-and-fighting-sail-ten-classic-unplayed-rpgs/ | title=Stormbringer, Stargates, and Fighting Sail: Ten Classic Unplayed RPGS – Black Gate | date=10 June 2020 }}</ref>
==Other reviews and commentary== *''Challenge'' #67 (December 1992)
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *[https://tritacsystems.podbean.com ''Fringeworthy'' podcast (now called Gaming on the Frontier)] *[http://www.tritacgames.com/Fringeworthy.htm ''Fringeworthy'' homepage] *[http://tritacgamers.com ''Fringeworthy'' forums] *[http://www.rpg.net/sites/sprite/fringeworth.html ''Fringeworthy''] on RPG.net *[https://www.panix.com/~sos/rpg/fringe.html ''Fringeworthy'' fansite]
Category:Fringeworthy Category:Alternate history role-playing games Category:Role-playing games introduced in 1982 Category:Science fiction role-playing games Category:Tri Tac Games games