Forgotten Realms Unlimited Adventures

Forgotten Realms Unlimited Adventures, usually known simply as Unlimited Adventures or FRUA/UA, is a RPG Game Maker released in 1993 by SSI Inc., which allows to create RPG games in the "Gold Box" style, much like Pool of Radiance or Secret of the Silver Blades. The game's system is based on Dungeons and Dragons (and is apparently a mixture of the first and the second edition). The basic world given to the player is based on the Forgotten Realms role-playing game setting, but this is in no way binding.

A small but vivid community quickly was born; despite FRUA's age and the fact that SSI doesn't exist anymore, the community still exists, albeit smaller than before. Over seven hundred designs (FRUA games) have been created so far, and the development of 'hacks' allowed to remove most limits and modify many things which were so far unchangeable; apart from classic fantasy designs, games have been made in Sci-Fi, oriental or even contemporary settings.

The Magic Mirror is THE repository of FRUA designs, resources and knowledge. There's also a forum.


 * Art Evolution: Comparing the oldest designs to the newest ones shows how much the community has progressed. (It also helped that computers themselves developed during all these years, allowing easier graphics editing and the like.)
 * Artificial Stupidity: Computer-controlled NPCs (party members that join throughout the game).
 * Divine Intervention: The "in-universe" explanation for the test mode's "instant victory" button in battles.
 * Faux First Person 3D
 * Final Death: A couple of ways to do that.
 * Game Breaking Bugs: There are quite a lot, unfortunately, and part of becoming a FRUA expert is learning how to work around them.
 * Game Mod: Creating these is the whole point, but the hacked designs go a step further. There are even entire "worldhacks" which change the game extensively, moving it from Medieval European Fantasy to a Wuxia or Superhero setting.
 * Locked Door: You can use doors locked with keys, but there are also "locked" doors (that need to be bashed or picked by means of a skill roll) or "locked wizard" ones (can only be opened with the Knock spell).
 * Old Save Bonus: You can import the characters from one design to another (if you know how). Designers are expected to always give the player an opportunity to save the game (and thus, the characters) just before the design ends.
 * Sturgeon's Law: Not so prevalent nowadays. Though mostly because the fanbase has shrinked to a few devoted fans who have experience with the engine.
 * Unusable Enemy Equipment: Averted - you can pick up enemy equipment after every battle, unless the designer specifically turned it off for this battle. Not that it's very fun to pick up tons of useless flimsy helmets and maces off these goblins' corpses...