Interest Check: OSRS Skilling to the tune of Fabula Ultima

Looking for 3-5 players interested in trying something different, a little slice of life, a little cozy routine. I'll be honest; I don't have much planned at the moment, but I'm putting this out there to see if this is worth planning in more depth.

I am a long-time fan of video game mechanics that a lot of people view as mundane, repetitive, or even boring. I love skilling in Old School Runescape. I love blacksmithing in Fable 2. I love farming in Minecraft, and managing Gasha Trees in Oracle of Seasons. I've been thinking for a while of a better way to get at that vibe, and it just now struck me that Fabula Ultima might be the thing for it.

I have run a much more standard Fabula Ultima game in person, incorporating materials from all the books that are currently out, and I've enjoyed some people's campaigns on YouTube. This is to say that I am familiar enough with the system to use it as intended.

What I would do instead, speaking broadly, is set up the player characters with a fairly low-key fantasy world, with opportunities to do things like fishing, herbology, cooking, mining, blacksmithing, and so on. I would be writing some homebrew material to cover gaps in what the rules-as-written provide, aiming to simulate the fun that I feel in activities some people...don't. To be clear, this is not going to be a "highly accurate simulation of RPG skilling," but an impressionistic take on why I find skilling fun.

In terms of story, I'm leaning more slice of life with some action vignettes, rather than an epic tale. However, I do take some inspiration from things like Dungeon Meshi and Freiren, by which we may see our cozy story slowly evolve into something more complex, eventually.

I never played Fabula Ultima, but when I tried skimming it, it felt like a system primarily meant for a combat focus, rather than a slice-of-life/mundane-skills focus. Which makes me unsure what to expect from the combination of premise and system. Am I mistaken in my impression?

I've always enjoyed the MMO system overlayed onto fantasy games. I'd be interested in playing in a cozy, relaxed sort of setting.

I've been thinking of roleplaying a traveling rock band in FU for a while (K-On, Girls Band Cry). This system has some nice mechanics and classes for that. But I'm not sure if that's anywhere close to "skilling" or "growing trees" vibe you envision, and I don't like the idea of adding "homebrew material to cover gaps" in that particular system, because the rules Fabula Ultima has and avoids were curated specifically to invoke a feeling of playing JRPG — changing them will ruin that.
I think you are absolutely correct. However, FU has a funny way of defining what "combat" is. Specifically, it treats stage performance as a combat scene.

Most systems are primarily meant for a conflict focus, with a heavy bias in favor of physical combat. But many allow for other possibilities, and some even have lovely mechanics to help facilitate. Having run Fabula Ultima and studied it extensively, I can confirm there is a lot more there than combat, and that running it in a more social or slice-of-life format would not be a stretch. That being said, your concerns are definitely understandable. I fully intend to put forward a stronger showing if there is enough interest in the general vibe. But being in a position where I hadn't even started making material yet, I wanted to check if that was even needed before proceeding.
It does in fact have mechanics that would do well to facilitate what I have in mind. Classes like the Tinkerer, Wayfarer, Floralist, Gourmet, Invoker, and Merchant either directly support my idea, or could be repurposed mechanically to help construct the right mechanics beyond the scope of a class. I also want to clarify that I did say this would not be "Skilling gameplay", but gameplay that gives the vibe that I get when skilling; the good, strong, comfortable fun derived from living a "mundane" life. I intend to present tasks like fishing, gathering, and mining in a way that my players will find value in and wish to continue, creating a tiered reward structure that continues to pay out, in the vein of skills in WOW or OSRS, or the general gameplay of Cast n Chill. That being said, if you feel that my plans will ruin the system, you are welcome to simply join as an observer and confirm that position at your leisure; if you end up being mistaken, the offer to join will stand.

And as you said, yes, the combat system of Fabula Ultima is designed in a way where it simulates with equal granularity and efficacy a knockdown dragout brawl, a swordsman's duel, a wizard's duel, fending harpies away from your airship, fending merfolk away from your submarine, battling in mechs, or singing a musical number to convince the spiteful town to let young people dance. Are there systems that would do individual ones of those better? Perhaps; I am often of the persuasion that you should pick a system tailored to what you want. But I don't feel Fabula fails at any of them.

Open invitation to anyone responding: if you DO know of a TTRPG system that has a higher likelihood of doing what I'm describing, please let me know. I likely don't own a copy, but will look into it and if I find myself agreeing with your judgment, I will take down this Interest Check.

@WalkerofSorrow: Iron Valley.

Page says it's a solo game, but it can be played co-op or guided.

I've played plenty of Ironsworn/Starforged, but not this hack. Ironsworn is rules-lite, which is a pro or con, depending on your needs.

That is appreciated. I would love to join as an observer.
The first thing that comes to mind, of course, is FAE.
BlackBird's Pie is also a suitable option.

Both systems being narrative focused allow for any narrative and challenge types.

Also, have you looked at Godbound? It might be the thing that is exactly what you are looking for, but on an entirely different reward scale. The PCs are young gods, but the methods they use to advance their domains can be exactly the peaceful and methodical activities you are talking about. And the system encourages that.

I personally find Ironsworn impenetrable, and designed more as an "adventure oracle" structure than a proper game. Perhaps Iron Valley would be lighter, so I will give it a look.
I really don't care for FATE as a system. It touts itself as the "do anything" game, but it is really poorly equipped to simulate fun activities the way that I want, and offers so little structure for fun player character designs. Blackbird's Pie and Godbound I have not heard of, so I will give those a look. "Young gods" is a little alarming, for a scope that is supposed to be low-key and comfy. But I won't discount it off-hand. I'll let you know what I find.

If you don't like FATE, then skip on BBP as well. It's the same thing with different math.

Do check Godbound though. Because it is the anti-FATE according to what you've just mentioned.

The combat is less emphasized than you may think. When it comes to spells and about half of the abilities, the focus is on damage dealing in certain elemental types. The other half (roughly speaking) of the abilities, are more things like clock mechanic manip, investigation, healing, and creation.

From what I'm reading of Godbound, it's far too high-level and overpowered for what I'm wanting to do. If you are willing, I'd appreciate more from you about its perks relevant to my idea.

My reading has also led to some other suggestions. I feel like Ryuutama, Golden Sky Stories, and Forbidden Lands show some initial promise. On the other hand, Wanderhome, Stonetop, and Chuubo's Marvelous Wish-Granting Engine are not really looking promising. I know Chuubo's is notorious for its esoteric layout and design decisions, but I haven't read much into the actual book.

Maybe you wanna check Land of Eem. It is a lighthearted sandbox with some interesting crafting+exploration mechanics.

Land of Eem doesn't really speak to what I'm wanting out of a design. At the moment, I'm feeling most strongly about Ryuutama, Golden Sky Stories, or Legend in the Mist.

I think you're definitely on the right track with Ryuutama and Golden Sky Stories. Legends in the Mist might be interesting, as it's supposed to be a significantly improved engine vs. City in the Mist. (Much more Fate-like, though, which you might not like.)

I would also consider a lightweight engine and build the game you want around it...

Legends in the Mist is looking positive yes. I do own Ryuutama and Golden Sky Stories, whereas I'd have to buy LitM, but I am absolutely willing to, and probably will soon even if we don't end up playing it for this project.

To everyone who has been posting here, and anyone else lurking, place your votes: what is the system of the following that you'd most prefer I run for this specific project:

A. Fabula Ultima
B. Ryuutama
C. Golden Sky Stories
D. Legend in the Mist

Definitely A for me.

I'd love to do A or B