Embracing Your Inner Villain Highlights the Ambitious Scope of Fable

In Fable, you have the freedom to eliminate every NPC in the game. If you’re feeling particularly ruthless, you can turn the vibrant world into a desolate wasteland. While characters will eventually respawn, for a time, it’ll feel like a ghost town. Unlike many games that shield characters from harm or trigger a game-over screen for straying off the beaten path, Fable embraces this chaos.

“Absolutely, you can wipe out the entire population,” says Ralph Fulton, co-founder of Playground Games and game director for the upcoming open-world fantasy RPG, during a discussion at Gamescom 2026.

However, some areas are trickier to clear out completely. Fulton points to Bowerstone, the game’s largest town, as a prime example.

“In theory, yes, but in practice, it would be incredibly challenging. If we move to a smaller village, though? That’s more doable.”

The real challenge begins when you start your rampage. First, NPCs will flee in terror. Then, the guards will arrive. Albion’s finest will be on your tail, and they won’t relent. “They serve as the game’s defense against you going full psychopath,” Fulton explains.

If you can handle the relentless onslaught of respawning guards, there’s nothing stopping you from taking out every last inhabitant. But, as is typical in Fable, your actions will have consequences.

For instance, if you eliminate a shopkeeper, you’ll lose access to their goods. It’s a logical outcome—after all, the shopkeeper is dead. The world is populated with NPCs who have their own routines, from tailors to bakers, and disrupting that order means you’ll have to face the fallout, as Fulton puts it, “it’s kind of on you.”

Your reputation will take a significant hit, but there’s a twist. This negative reputation only applies to the specific settlement where you committed your crimes. In Albion, word doesn’t travel far. If you venture to a different town, the locals might view you in a completely different light based on their own experiences. This allows you to be a hero in one place and a villain in another, giving you the chance to experiment with your moral choices without being universally branded as a monster.

The morality system is a hallmark of Fable, but the new installment introduces changes that have sparked debate among fans. Previously, actions were universally categorized as either good or evil. Now, while some NPCs may revile you for certain deeds, others might admire you for them. Your moral standing is visually represented as a word cloud floating next to your character, showcasing adjectives like “charismatic,” “friendly,” or, if you’re on a killing spree, “violent.” So, what prompted this shift?

“We approached it by examining the world around us—not just in games, but in reality. We realized that morality isn’t black and white. Two people can witness the same event and draw entirely different conclusions about it.”

This subjectivity is a key element Playground Games wanted to incorporate. In Fable, morality is truly in the eye of the beholder. The game even allows for contradictions, enabling players to mix and match opposing traits to create a unique moral identity.

“I could be a charismatic thief, right? You can blend morally ambiguous traits and see how others react.”

Some players might opt for more devious tactics to impact the populace, such as making people homeless. Fulton mentions playtesters who would buy properties and raise rents, forcing NPCs onto the streets.

Just like with mass murder, you can evict entire towns, a scenario Playground Games had to prepare for. Each settlement is designed with designated spots for every NPC in case their housing is compromised.

“It’s surprising, but people seem really fixated on that. Every settlement has to be structured to accommodate the entire population living rough.” If you’re particularly cruel, you can force hundreds of townsfolk into squalor while you parade around like royalty.

But what’s the ultimate goal? What can you actually acquire with the wealth from your property empire?

Sure, there are flashy weapons and stylish armor, but the real status symbol is owning a mansion. There are several available, each costing millions of gold, complete with grand bedrooms, expansive gardens, and even hedge mazes. “There’s a wide variety of properties,” Fulton notes. The most desirable are in Manner Fields, a posh area on the outskirts of Bowerstone. Owning a property here, he says, “offers a long-term investment opportunity.”

You could also choose to take a more benevolent path. A struggling area like Copperbottom, also in Bowerstone, can be transformed. By investing in the neighborhood, you can elevate it from a rundown slum to a thriving community. However, these changes happen behind the scenes.

You can’t physically renovate an area with cash injections, but you can improve its economy by investing in local businesses and adjusting rents to help citizens prosper. Fable features a simulated economy, but only to a certain extent.

In other words, Fulton explains, “We decided early on to model only up to second-degree ripple effects, as anything beyond that would be increasingly difficult for players to track.”

In terms of both finances and morality, “you’re manipulating a set of levers.” Thankfully, players can’t completely gentrify Copperbottom’s unique character, even if, behind the scenes, that’s essentially what’s happening.

While wiping out the entire population is likely the worst choice you could make, both economically and morally, it showcases Fable’s ambitious design. Playground Games has built intricate systems to accommodate players who might choose the most depraved paths, like mass murder, skyrocketing rent prices, and then moving to the next town as if nothing ever happened.