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Author Topic: Any love for Fate?  (Read 2391 times)

robiswrong

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Any love for Fate?
« Reply #30 on: July 16, 2014, 12:55:52 PM »
Just want to respond to a few points here - I'm not saying your experiences are "wrong" in any way.

Quote from: Kiero;769499

The vagaries of the Fate Point economy just didn't work for us. Maybe we're broadly too traditional in our collective tastes, but it felt too often like you had to trawl for Compels to ensure you had FPs to use later on, rather than them "driving the story" or some such.


In my games, we end up with *maybe* 1-3 compels/session.  I think the desire to always have "enough" Fate Points is often driven by the assumption that you should win every encounter.

Fate's not really like that so much.  I tell my new Fate players that they should expect to lose frequently.

And Compels *should* "drive" the "story".  A Compel should incur a significant enough cost that it *changes what happens*.

Quote from: Kiero;769499
Furthermore, it seemed most tasks came down to whether or not you were willing to throw a load of FPs at them in order to guarantee a win.


This is absolutely correct.  Moreover, it's *by design*.  Fate isn't about "challenges" so much as it is about "dilemmas" and cost.  The primary thing when encountering something isn't "is my build/skill enough to overcome this?" so much as it is "how much do I want this, and am I willing to pay the cost?"  Sometimes that cost is Fate Points.  Sometimes it's Consequences.

Quote from: Kiero;769499
Refresh didn't work as a balancing mechanic. I remain completely unconvinced by it to this day. Far too often the powers were more useful than the FPs, or having them meant you needed them less.


Stunts/powers vs. Refresh is all about specialization vs. flexibility.  I don't know your game, but if you're running a mostly-combat game, stunts/powers *will* vastly outshine refresh.  The advantage of refresh and having high Fate Points is that you can use them outside of your "specialty".

Quote from: Kiero;769499
The Skill pyramid/column just seemed arbitrary and neither realistic nor well-balanced as a means of allocating competence.


It's not realistic.  I do find it reasonably effective as a balancing mechanism, especially if you're playing a game where all of the skills matter (that's one of the explicit guidelines in Fate Core, actually, that the skill list for a game should be a good indicator of what the game will be "about").

If you have a reasonably diverse table, it works.  It also works better with players that have really grasped how much can be done with Create Advantage/Maneuver/Make an Assessment/etc.  If all the players think they should Attack every turn, they're not really using their characters' skills effectively.

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Any love for Fate?
« Reply #31 on: July 25, 2014, 03:41:29 PM »
I love Fate. Especially ICONS.
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Werekoala

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Any love for Fate?
« Reply #32 on: July 25, 2014, 08:22:56 PM »
The best thing about FATE (though to be honest can't remember if it's part of the core FATE mechanics or from Starblazer Adventures)to me and my group the couple of times we tried it was the co-operative setting construction aspect of it. We really had a ball with it, let everyone have a creative say in things and ensured that there'd be some aspect of the city (in the case of the game we worked on) that interested and/or could be a draw for their specific character, and as the GM the whole process actually helped me come up with ideas and run with them in fairly short order.

Really neat.
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Kiero

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Any love for Fate?
« Reply #33 on: July 25, 2014, 08:30:46 PM »
Quote from: Werekoala;772424
The best thing about FATE (though to be honest can't remember if it's part of the core FATE mechanics or from Starblazer Adventures)to me and my group the couple of times we tried it was the co-operative setting construction aspect of it. We really had a ball with it, let everyone have a creative say in things and ensured that there'd be some aspect of the city (in the case of the game we worked on) that interested and/or could be a draw for their specific character, and as the GM the whole process actually helped me come up with ideas and run with them in fairly short order.

Really neat.


Yeah, I must admit that part of DFRPG, City Creation, was lots of fun. We ended up spending two sessions on it and really getting into it.
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Will

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Any love for Fate?
« Reply #34 on: July 25, 2014, 08:32:31 PM »
Most of the variants I've seen seem to encourage it, and I think the core rules at least suggest campaign building.

Given the fluid, self-correcting nature of Aspects, it's easy to apply them at so many different levels.
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Matt

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Any love for Fate?
« Reply #35 on: August 05, 2014, 10:01:26 PM »
Quote from: Will;768956
Being cheap and a fan of system light games, I've been really into Fate (and FAE) lately.

Any fans here? Board seems heavily dominated by D&D...

(I like D&D, though currently pretty happy with PF)



I tried to read Fate but my eyes glazed over...couldn't get into "aspects" in lieu of defined attributes...and the examples of play I read didn't seem very appealing. But I don't really like D&D either. What did you like about Fate? Maybe if someone showed me why it's good and not just amateur drama while rolling dice I could get into it.

Will

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Any love for Fate?
« Reply #36 on: August 05, 2014, 10:12:58 PM »
There's a problem with presentation, because the best arrangement for what to describe first or do first, really, depends highly on the reader's interests and approach.

At base, the game isn't that complex:
Skills somewhat fold together 'abilities' and skills. So if you are shooting at someone, it's roll Shoot vs. Athletics (they are dodging).
Damage is soaked -- if you can't soak, you can either end your part in the fight or take a Consequence (which is basically long-term damage).

There are a lot of other options for things to do with skills, fixed target numbers (I'm trying to break open the door) and so on.

Aspects add a meta-game economy to give bonuses. 'Pushing' the scene in various ways (adding Aspects) entitles you to a free Aspect use -- essentially, you are performing one action to swing around and give you a bonus the next round with another action (toss sand in his face, pop him in the jaw).

That's... really it. People have aspects that give them flavorful excuses to spend Fate points, or to make bad things happen to give them Fate points.

Unfortunately I think a lot of explanations focus so much on Aspects that they sound like almost the entire game.


(Note that FAE and some other variants are more Aspect-focused, but regular Fate Core...)
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robiswrong

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Any love for Fate?
« Reply #37 on: August 05, 2014, 10:35:26 PM »
Quote from: Matt;776402
I tried to read Fate but my eyes glazed over...couldn't get into "aspects" in lieu of defined attributes...and the examples of play I read didn't seem very appealing. But I don't really like D&D either. What did you like about Fate? Maybe if someone showed me why it's good and not just amateur drama while rolling dice I could get into it.


If I run an online game, I'll be sure to invite you.  I've offered to run an "intro" game for curious folks here.

Matt

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Any love for Fate?
« Reply #38 on: August 05, 2014, 11:45:40 PM »
Quote from: robiswrong;776416
If I run an online game, I'll be sure to invite you.  I've offered to run an "intro" game for curious folks here.


Let me know...I'll try any game on for size at least once.

How does Fate compare to Cortex? I played a couple of Cortex games but didn't care much for the dice pools and plot points. Is one an imitation of the other? They seem similar when described to me.

Critias

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« Reply #39 on: August 06, 2014, 12:37:52 AM »
I'm a big fan, just did my Fate Accelerated-using game Kickstarter, we're currently playing a Fate-Fantasy game for our regular weekly campaign, and we've started to use Fate for quick pick-up games, too (on nights not everyone can show up, that sort of thing).  We've gotten pretty hooked.

I wasn't able to get into any official events at GenCon, but I'm hoping to sneak into a pick-up game or squat at a table thanks to some generi-tickets or something, next week.
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Will

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Any love for Fate?
« Reply #40 on: August 06, 2014, 01:07:32 AM »
An idea I had that I think is insufferably clever for fantasy games is to have Armor as a skill -- purely defensive, and usable even if mobility is impaired (which would normally rule out Athletics).

(This is assuming you don't use weapon/armor ratings, which I'm not fond of)
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