Conversation started Jul 24, 2013 at 7:43.
user61230
Jul 24, 2013 07:43
Hmm. What kind of game is Fate?
BESW
BESW
@EmrakultheAeonsTorn ...in what sense?
Magician
Magician
@BESW One of the best things about 4e for me as GM was its cavalier attitude to monster building. "Here are the expected stats for this level, go nuts with abilities". Because following those requirements in 3.5 when you use character creation rules to fulfill them, each time? Gods no.
BESW
BESW
@Magician [shudder]
Yes, 4e's monster building was a bit daunting at first, but rather freeing.
user61230
From both a high-level mechanics and a functional gameplay usage perspective.
Magician
Magician
That's why my "epic" (level 17-ish) 3.5 campaign died: I've literally spent a day statting up an NPC wizard, only to have him die in the first round without going once.
BESW
BESW
Jul 24, 2013 07:46
@EmrakultheAeonsTorn Let me think about how to answer that usefully while I finish up this thing I'm doing.
If anyone else wants to talk about it, please do.
I'm just not sure how to answer it simply, without just talking about the game until you feel you have an answer.
doppelgreener
doppelgreener
I'm not sure how to answer that either really. It's an RPG where you play characters and roll dice and engage in conflict and tell stories.
user61230
True. It's a pretty broad question.
doppelgreener
doppelgreener
Which is pretty much just describing RPGs!
trogdor
trogdor
yeah
there are many small differentiating details
BESW
BESW
High-level mechanics: instead of ability stats, a character is defined by a set of short, pithy phrases that describe something about his nature, ability, gear, or relationships. These are called "aspects," and can be used to justify actions and make his life easier or harder.
trogdor
trogdor
Jul 24, 2013 07:51
I wouldn't know where to begin
user61230
Alright, bad question. I'll renege on this, and think again when I have more info and more sleep xD
user61230
Interesting...
BESW
BESW
Characters also have "skills," which are added to a roll of four Fudge dice in order to determine the result of actions they take.
Each character also has at least one "stunt," which either provides a bonus to a skill roll in a specific circumstance or in some way alters the rules for that character (like letting you block Shoot attacks with Fists, or automatically succeeding on one Lore check each session).
The only other primary mechanic (and Fate has no real subsystems at all except what stunts provide) is a game currency called "Fate points."
doppelgreener
doppelgreener
Dice rolls in Fate are also on a tight bell curve. The highest roll is +4, the lowest is -4, and both are extremely uncommon. +0 is the most likely roll, with most rolls likely to be between +2 and -2. This makes the fact you have +3 in a particular skill very significant, compared to how swingy and random a d20 roll can be (until you start having modifiers of 30 points or so).
BESW
BESW
You gain Fate points when something complicates your life or makes things harder for you, and you spend them for advantages--it can be as simple as a bonus to a roll, or you can use Fate points to declare things to be true which will help your character.
Between the use of Fate points and some interesting applications of skills, players in Fate have a level of game-building agency which is unusual in most traditional RPGs; the GM is more like "first among equals" than the absolute creator of the game world and plot.
user61230
Jul 24, 2013 07:56
Interesting.
BESW
BESW
Fate is designed to tell collaborative stories about people who are dramatic, competent, and proactive. It aims for narrative authenticity rather than realism, and assumes that the group wants to work together to tell interesting stories.
user61230
Hmm. It sounds like something I'd have to play once or twice to get the feel of.
user61230
Seems straightforward, though
BESW
BESW
It is setting-agnostic, and the Fate Core manual has indepth discussions about how to represent worlds and the things in them at a level appropriate to the story you're trying to tell.
Fate has been used as a basal engine for other games, probably most notably the Dresden Files RPG.
The Fate Core manual is available here for Pay-What-You-Like, including free.
There's a casual Fate Accelerated game room here:

 Fate chat and game room

Good questions raised here should hit the main site too! Fudge...
user61230
Huh. Thank you so much!
BESW
BESW
Jul 24, 2013 08:00
Its conversation tab has the Actual Play of the games we've run there.
user61230
The system is intriguing. I'm definitely looking into this!
BESW
BESW
We'd be happy to talk to you about it.
Although the engine has been around for about a decade, Fate Core is very recent and we're pretty excited.
The game room was put together for us to learn more about the system.
user61230
Sweet! I'm going to learn the system first.
BESW
BESW
That seems reasonable.
user61230
Sorry again for such a broad question, but thank you all for such a fantastic answer!
 
Conversation ended Jul 24, 2013 at 8:05.