I think it is interesting and you can do some cool things with it potentially, but I loath Fred Hicks.  not as much as KS, but close.

Quote from: RPGPundit;962729I've noticed it tends to cause extreme reactions in people. So, do you love all things FATE, hate it, or like it within certain conditions?

I like it within certain conditions.

Everything I read about FATE makes me think it's JUST NOT MY THING. AT ALL.

Fred Hicks' online fight-picking and dick-wagging is particularly odious.

But... I'm intrigued enough that I would still at least give it a try if I knew the GM was good.

IF.

I must report another non-extreme reaction. My view on FATE is a resounding "meh."

I mean, I can see how it is meant to work in theory. And it's not the worst idea in the world. I just feel like the implementation always ends up muddled. You start off with the whole Aspect-Skill-Stunt outline, which is a bit too loosy-goosy for me but also seems broadly functional, but then every incarnation of FATE I've seen keeps adding a ton of fiddly rules. And that just crosses the wires in my head. Is it supposed to be a semi-freeform storytelling exercise, where I need to think about what would be dramatically appropriate, or a rigid reality simulator, where I need to think about what would make mechanical sense? It can't be both! ... or so it seems to me, and that's why I find it hard to get along with FATE. I've still been known to join the occasional game of it, though, so it's not like I violently despise it.

I do kind of hate the way its fans claim that it's the best thing since sliced bread and the perfect system for everything and anything, but that's not unusual - I feel the same way about everything that enough people like to an excessive degree.

Quote from: Baeraad;963239I do kind of hate the way its fans claim that it's the best thing since sliced bread and the perfect system for everything and anything, but that's not unusual - I feel the same way about everything that enough people like to an excessive degree.

As a fan, I would never claim this.  No system is perfect for everything and anything.

Quote from: robiswrong;963317As a fan, I would never claim this.  No system is perfect for everything and anything.

Except D&D.

Hey, first time poster and this seemed like a good place to start. In my experience Fate can be great for the things Fate is great for (getting a game off the ground with little to no prep, pulpy action with no regard for physics/simulation, trying out concepts before rewriting them in a proper system) but the 8dF swinginess for opposed actions is a nonsense, and the whole 'Fate Point Economy' is borked and the 'Fate Fractal' is...I want to say Emperor's New Clothes. And I just did.

I've not run FATE before but I have played in a handful of games (one fantasy the other sci-fi). As a player I enjoyed it well enough but it does require some lateral thinking and much more player buy-in and participation from the creation of the setting/game through character generation and even all throughout play.

The one thing I really liked was the collaborative world-building and setting creation as a player buy-in mechanic. Each of those sessions has been a lot of fun and is something I'd like to see explored in more standard RPGs.

A question comes to mind after reviewing previous answers though: As someone who is indifferent or even just a non-fan of FATE, what are some key changes you'd like to see to make it more playable to you?

When I started Fate Core the aspect thing was hard for me to grasp at first, I'm a old school gamer, so I was looking for ability scores and modifiers, you know mechanics for a character, then I began thinking about the aspect system, high concept is a description of what my character does in the World , basically a class with a little more description added on to make it detailed, then comes trouble aspect, what does your character do to get him into trouble, a flaw sentence, the other aspects tie your character to other characters playing the game, I began to see it as a creative process that allowed my imagination a little more room to grow, as for the story telling game mechanics, it grew on me, what seemed restricted by a over abundance of rules like D&D, was thrown out the window for a faster paced RPG system, I like the Fate system for it's simplicity, but I will never give up other complex RPG systems, it's just another fun system to add to my collection of games. I understand people not liking the system, it's a matter of taste, I just happen to like the new spice added to the dinner table of RPG's.

I've had a printout of the free FUDGE rules for decades, and I have Fate Core and Accelerated. Never played it or ran it. I like the rules as written, except for the "pay points to create details about the setting" thing.

I was on board pretty early in the 3.x phase with Spirit of the Century and had a lot of fun with Fate. It worked very well with my group and it even saved my Traveller game. We kicked the game off with Mongoose's Traveller and it just wasn't going anywhere. Rebooted with the prototype for Diaspora and it took off.

I moved away and haven't been able to find that dynamic again using the system. Too often, as GM, if felt like I was doing too much work to push the game forward. So, I totally get that the right conditions are conducive to excellent gameplay with Fate.

Since then I've drifted away, interestingly enough, more toward Fudge.

Quote from: estar;962736The 4dF dice mechanic is broken. Afflicts Fudge as well. A +1 or +2 bonus is basically a "I win". It because the because the bell curve of 4dF produces a steep peak so any shifts in the odds produces huge effects compared to 3d6, 2d6, and 1d20.

While I agree that a +1 shift is a big deal and that more than one at a time can throw things out of balance, I don't think that 4DF is necessarily broken. I'm thinking that a +1 should be a big deal. So, we've been using an advantage/disadvantage approach, to make things a bit finer grained, where an advantage allows you to ignore a single minus and a disadvantage forces you to ignore a plus. Advantages stack as do disadvantages. I'm still tweaking but so far it's feeling pretty good at the table. Our game has included Fudge Martial arts, where the roll and the differential are meaningful, so an advantage can soften a terrible roll but it doesn't necessarily translate into greater martial effect. As I mentioned, we're still tweaking - one idea that I've had is that n advantages translates into +1. Not sure what n should be yet, if anything. Anyways, Fudge is clicking at the table.

Quote from: Eisenmann;963701I was on board pretty early in the 3.x phase with Spirit of the Century and had a lot of fun with Fate. It worked very well with my group and it even saved my Traveller game. We kicked the game off with Mongoose's Traveller and it just wasn't going anywhere. Rebooted with the prototype for Diaspora and it took off.

It's the sort of thing I never quite understand in gaming groups - how the manner of rolling different types or combinations of dice manages to determine the entire success of gameplay. For me, the actual mechanics are often the least important thing.

Quote from: Eisenmann;963701I was on board pretty early in the 3.x phase with Spirit of the Century and had a lot of fun with Fate. It worked very well with my group and it even saved my Traveller game. We kicked the game off with Mongoose's Traveller and it just wasn't going anywhere. Rebooted with the prototype for Diaspora and it took off.

I moved away and haven't been able to find that dynamic again using the system. Too often, as GM, if felt like I was doing too much work to push the game forward. So, I totally get that the right conditions are conducive to excellent gameplay with Fate.

Since then I've drifted away, interestingly enough, more toward Fudge.

I've been through a similar journey. I like Fate well enough but sometimes it feels like a lot of effort, meta-rule overheard and ooc discussion to get the same style of play I would be getting anyway. And for that reason I too have dirfted back to Fudge, at least a the system to tinker with for home brews, borrowing ideas from Fate as appropriate.

Quote from: Eisenmann;963701While I agree that a +1 shift is a big deal and that more than one at a time can throw things out of balance, I don't think that 4DF is necessarily broken. I'm thinking that a +1 should be a big deal.

I agree with that too. The lack of granularity focuses the designer mind and helps keep down the sort if bonus inflation you get in some other systems.

I don't understand it. Its like something about it just doesn't click. I've had a few people try to patiently explain it to  me and I just can't grok it.

Quote from: Krimson;962924I like some of the rules and ideas which can be adapted to other RPGs but I don't really care for Fate itself. I backed the Fate Core Kickstarter, and I was reading it when I had my Eureka moment and figured out how to run Marvel Heroic. Basically, it's a reference for me. I don't understand why people freak out over it.

Speaking of games I don't quite get. But its more on a conceptual/play level than mechanical like FATE.