FATE: Like it, Hate it, or in Between?

RPGPundit · May 17, 2017, 12:30:25 AM

I'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?

Dumarest · May 17, 2017, 12:37:52 AM

Honestly I can't even understand it. Maybe I'm old but it makes no sense to me. I need concrete definitions of what a character can do. For me, it utterly destroys any immersion if I have to think about "aspects" and I dislike mechanics like "fate points" except in very rare genres as they also suck me right out of the game world and back to the living room table. I just don't get it at all.

estar · May 17, 2017, 01:29:34 AM

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?

The 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.

DiscoSoup · May 17, 2017, 01:30:05 AM

For me it's not about understanding it or not. I get it, I just don't care much for it. As much as it claims to be less about mechanics and more about story, you have to spend a lot of time on your aspects. As far as "story games" go, I prefer PbtA instead. I also dig Cortex Prime/Cortex Plus. It's like Fate if Fate were fun.

TrippyHippy · May 17, 2017, 01:30:19 AM

I'm in between, insofar that it's not something I wouldn't play and appreciate that it has it's fans. I don't buy any notion that it's particularly revolutionary though, as it's fans keep pushing it as being. To me, it's more a case of good marketing. Amber Diceless is a revolutionary game, Fate is just a continuation of certain trends in gaming.

Beyond that, like GURPS or any other generic game system, I think it's good at doing certain things well but not as good as doing others. For the most part, it's pretty much a relatively light supers system.

Christopher Brady · May 17, 2017, 02:03:32 AM

I'm meh about it. It's too complex for what it wants to do, or gets used for, but it's nothing I can get angry about. Still, I like some of the settings it has, I definitely want to retool the Venture City super hero setting for another system.

Voros · May 17, 2017, 02:07:22 AM

It seems okay but I've never played it so hard to say how well it works at the table. PtbA works quite well when you settle into it so I prefer it from experience.

Brand55 · May 17, 2017, 02:40:18 AM

I'm very lukewarm toward it. While I like the speed of resolution it brings and the way non-combat-focused characters can still contribute quite well when a fight breaks out, 4dF doesn't give a wide enough range of outcomes and Aspects make me want to slam my head into a wall. While I don't have a lot of personal experience with Fate, I have found using alternate dice mechanics helps a lot. I know that's why Icons stayed away from 4dF and used d6 - d6.

Malleustein · May 17, 2017, 02:56:22 AM

Tried it, didn't like it. I don't hate it, probably because my whole group (bar one) didn't like it and we dumped it after a session. Had the campaign gone on longer, I'd probably have dropped out and have much more loathing for it.

I suppose I should add we all enjoyed character creation immensely, but not trying to use the system in play.

TrippyHippy · May 17, 2017, 02:58:49 AM

Around the table, it is probably worth noting that much of the dice rolling feels like you are rolling a zero sum '0' way too often. Sometimes, when you play, you wonder why you need to bother with dice at all - you could just go entirely diceless with minimal impact to the way the game is played.

Dave 2 · May 17, 2017, 04:16:33 AM

I enjoyed the single one-shot I played. Not enough to convert anything over or switch to it for my next game though, so I'd count myself as a positive in between. Aspects and tagging and stunting struck me as just a different kind of crunch, not any more pure or roleplay-driven than remembering your pluses in D&D.

It struck me as being a game in the same space as Savage Worlds, that really calls for a strong setting document rather than just throwing down the core rules and saying "go!", but I have no idea if that's how it's fans see it.

Kiero · May 17, 2017, 05:04:49 AM

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.

This was certainly my experience, what's worse anything opposed (effectively 8dF) was ridiculously swingy and unpredictable, making Skills kind of irrelevant over getting a lucky roll.

DFRPG kind of killed my interest in FATE 3.0, and the newer version is even less appealing to me. I understand it just fine, I just thing Aspects are the least interesting, and most over-used part of the system.

yojimbouk · May 17, 2017, 05:46:30 AM

FATE is the antithesis of what I want in an RPG. It's built on Fudge, a game I never liked. Added to that it uses freeform character descriptors (Aspects), a concept I fell out of love with as a result of Hero Wars/HeroQuest.

I know a lot of people dig it but I can't stand it.

LouGoncey · May 17, 2017, 08:28:44 AM

I like FUDGE ok, but I hate FATE.

But I understand why it is popular...

estar · May 17, 2017, 09:17:38 AM

Quote from: Kiero;962794I understand it just fine, I just thing Aspects are the least interesting, and most over-used part of the system.

I agree Aspects are overused but I think the basic concept is sounds. A good way to organize the mechanics that represent your setting without a lot of overhead.

This is a link to my stab at a writing a Fudge based RPG. The following is my take on Aspects.

QuoteAspects
An aspect is a word or phrase that describes something particular about the background of a character. Up to five aspects can be taken. Any background element can be used for an aspect.

Aspects are a mix of benefits and complications. If a character chooses to be wealthy as an aspect, the referee needs to go on to define how the character is wealthy as this will define the complications that will ensue during the course of the campaign.

The same with aspects that are mostly complications. For example a player decides he wants to play a character that was a sailor but left because he suffered permanent injury. The most serious of this is a pegleg that hampers his movement.

Rather than represent the pegleg with a specific mechanic the player would buy down his initiative and reflex. Use the extra points to buy more skills or raise his other attributes up.

Before I abandoned it the only aspecst that had any mechanic impact was allowing priests to have the Turn Undead ability and cast Divine Spells. Character that had a Mage aspect could cast arcane spells. My plan was to tie various supernatural and special abilities to specific aspects. Because I am not concerned with mechanical balance it worked out well for me.