The question came up at our table the other day. The language in Chapter 8 of the Core book for "Succeed at a Cost" - and to a lesser extent the description for the outcomes of an Overcome action - makes it sound like the option is only meant for the PCs. Is that intended? Is it a quirk of the player/PC centric language throughout much of the book? Is there something elsewhere that calls out NPCs being able to do it? How's it done at your table? Just looking for some insight.

I'm curious if anyone has any suggestions for some interesting Power Stunts for the Fate magical power.

The ones listed in the Players Guide are interesting and have a 'fortune teller bending fate to their desires vibe'. However, I'm interested in leaning more into the chance, risk, and recklessness aspects it uses as examples to describe Fate's practitioners.

Instead of planning ahead, drawing cards, flipping a coin, or what have you, I'm looking for a power that can be used in the moment to nudge chance in the PC(s)' favor. The base cantrip casting does something similar for one target, so is it enough to simply use that as a base and add the zone effect?

*When you get free invocations, can you use them as compells?

*Can get free invokes on non-siturational Aspects?

I am a new GM in fates and I was wondering how the game works and should work. I am running a classic fantasy game and in combat it feels like the players can too easily use their High aspect for any combat situation. A wizard can use "Student of so-and-so magic school" to cast spells better. The warrior can use "Wielder of the cursed blade so-and-so" to fight better.

This is all well and cool, it does cost the fate point after all, but what I'm feeling is that due to this, they never need to use aspects from the situation or from advantages their allies have made (except for the free one of course). Why use "broken shield" aspect of the enemy when you can use your own aspect from the cursed sword? Why use "Tavern on fire" aspect of the location if you can use your own aspect from the magic school? Sure you could use two fate points but rarely do you need/want to go that far to deal with the enemy.

Is this intended, is this not really a problem, am I missing something or what's the situation here?

Hey everyone!

I’ll start hosting a party where i’ll be the GM and i have a fantasy setting with some forgotten lands elements in my mind.

Originally i was planning to host a dnd 5e game but the players are very inexperienced in FRPs so i think fate would be a simpler entry level system for them. Yet i don’t know how can i incorporate such a theme/gameplay into fate accelerated system.

If anyone has been a part of such a setting, i’ll appreciate any advice/tips.

Thanks in advance!

You know how Baldur's Gate uses dnd? Is there a game out there that uses FATE?

Hi folks! It's been a while since I last posted here. I've been reading and playing FATE with my group and I've honestly gotten a much better hold on the system's rules and mechanics, and have even gotten into the habit of using things like extra dials and knobs to make things fit the setting/story just right.

Currently, my group is about to enter the final fight of the current story arc. To add some context, we're playing in an alternate timeline based on the action JRPG series Kingdom Hearts, known for bombastic, high-flying action and spell-slinging. Very similar to most Shounen battle series actually! I'm looking for some tips to make the fight feel dynamic and a real slugfest, since it's going to be one opponent versus four PCs using FATE Accelerated.

I've been looking at other posts and have some ideas, but I'd like to gather some other thoughts on people more experienced with the system than I. I've considered giving the BBEG two actions per turn, along with some Created Advantages already set up for him in advance, along with a stunt that allows him to Attack the entire group all at once. I'm a little confused on how to set up his approaches though. Should I also be using Fate Points more or offense or defense?

Thanks again in advance!

I've been considering trying out a game of Tianxia at my local store. While I understand the general concepts (I think!), I tend to find myself learning better from how things tend to actually run in play.

I found John Harper's Blades series fantastic at learning how to run it, especially with how he breaks down design decisions and how mechanically things work in games as part of the flow. Are there any APs with a similar vibe for Fate? I'd like to avoid ones which are mostly hands off or 'brush over' lots of the rules for the sake of play, as I'm really looking to get a good grasp of the basics before I begin trying to decide if leaving something out is appropriate in my games.

I'm running a FATE campaign that's kind of Delta Green/ Changeling the Lost inspired. I didn't want to use separate physical/mental tracks, because it seems so weird to me that stress, which is indicative of how "off your game" you are, separates them, and I want physical and mental attacks to be able to work in tandem. I also switched to single shift check boxes.

Unfortunately, I haven't landed a single consequence in the sessions we've played. They're at +4 as top skill, and there are four of them. This past session they fought three magical trees (+4) at the same time as three dire wolves (+3) and I got one of them down to... Only having one empty stress box. I was hoping that encounter would leave them with some consequences.

Of course, I could just have them switch to classic stress boxes, but I do conceptually like the single boxes. Does anyone have any recommendations? Should I just keep adding mobs?

Anybody have a good suggestions for stunts that can specifically work if you are using the FATE deck. For example: the Evil Eye, search the deck for a -2 result and set that as the targets next card. Or Change Fate- you can discard a drawn card and draw a new card

Hey guys, I've never GM'd fate but i have played a fair share of the czech derivate of DnD. I was interested in trying to run a campaign that I wanna prepare for later after I dip my feet in the water with some introductory one shot or some such. I wanted to do a campaign set in the Fallout universe, except here in CZ, with all the 50s Czech iconography and fabulous retrofuturistic optimism and silly absurdist humour that's baked into Fallout.

The reason I'm making this post is to just gather some ideas and advice on how to actually run a successful game with interesting quests and stuff to do. I've been wondering how, for example, make encounters interesting, since combat in Fate seems a little too open ended and customisable for a first time GM, and it can get overwhelming. How do I decide on the stats of enemies? What should the consequence for failing be? How do I judge if it's too harsh, or not harsh enough? I don't wanna overwhelm and defeat my players, but I also want to provide them with a meaningful challenge that makes them feel like they have to actually come up with a clever solution for.

I was also thinking about how to set up a homebrew rule for radiation. I thought I could use mental stress, but items like radaway and rad-x in Fallout can prevent or entirely remove the effects of radiation. So I'd be very grateful for any interesting ideas on that.

I'm grateful for anything, really! Any tidbit of advice from an experienced Fate GM is greatly appreciated.

I really like FATE in the abstract, but in practice I've run into the following problems when running it:

1. PC aspects are on the players' character sheets, and therefore not visible to me (the GM) at a glance, so I don't remember what they are and miss opportunities for compels.
2. Conversely, there's nowhere convenient to put scene or NPC aspects so that they're visible to all players at once.
3. The process of physically writing down new aspects (when someone Creates an Advantage, or a new NPC is introduced, or so on) forces play to pause for 10-20 seconds, which absolutely kills the momentum.

I'm simultaneously annoyed and embarrassed to be asking about these, because they feel so irrelevant to the actual design of the system and the more interesting problems of running it, but they've been a huge drag.

How do you physically handle aspects at table to avoid these problems?

ETA: Thank you all, you've been a big help. For future readers, the best solutions so far (each suggested by more than one person) are:

1. Put (a copy of) all the PC aspects on a single piece of paper and keep it in front of the GM at all times. If the GM is using a GM screen, it's the kind of thing that goes there.
2. Index cards in the middle of the table, but write in big letters and use a felt-tip rather than a ball-point pen for better visibility.
3. Delegate the actual writing to a player so the GM can immediately turn their attention to the next player's turn.

Some people have also suggested the use of eraseable pads or tablet computers. I don't have the first and prefer not to use the second as I find them distracting, but they may suit other people.

Other than Shadowcraft and The Three Rocketeers, are there any games ditching Skills/Approaches and focusing on Aspects?

What are your experiences with those?

I am a GM interested in running a Dresden Files Campaign using Dresden Files Accelerated. I have the Paranet Papers or volume 3 of the original Dresden Files RPG. I want to use one of settings in that book (most likely Las Vegas). Is it possible to use the settings in the Paranet Papers with the DFA ruleset? What exactly should I change or convert?

I love the Chronicles of Darkness games but they are outside my crunch management skills a GM.

One of the things these games have that makes for interesting long term campaign play is "levels" of powers. For example, instead of just Mind Control (dominate), you gradually gain new or weird ways to use it.

What's the right way to get this effect? A bunch of stunts? Something else?

Stunts that go over bonuses or letting you use a Skill instead of other.

Some of my favourites are the Riposte (Make damage when succesfully defending) seen in the Fate SRD webpage, or the Charge! (Increase your damage is able to move two or more zones) In the Villains book.

What are yours?

I have recently started running Dresden Files Accelerated and I want to make sure I am running things correctly. Hoping for some advice from more experiences players with this type of system.

Is it normal/expected for players to never use anything but their highest approach in combat for everything? Sometimes we can't justify a specific approach and use the second highest but it seems like everyone will always have a minimum role of +2 for every possible combat interaction, sometimes going to up to +4 or +5 depending on stunts.

Comparing this to the recommended +2 for shooting/opposition for minor npcs how are the players ever expected to fail? Or are minor NPCs just meant for cannon fodder?

Question 1.5 How is it possible to discourage our wizard from tanking every possible attack with his very high focus and force? He has magic and is nearby so he could conceivably so it within the fiction. I know I can talk to him but want to know if there are mechanical reasons he shouldn't be able to or would add risk.

Second question How do you determine the difficulty of the create an advantage action? I usually set it around a threshold of 2-3.

Third question.

Mechanically my party's favorite strategy is an alpha strike against the biggest opposition. Just 4 turns of create advantage, then 1 guy invoke all the aspects using the free invokes and gets something like plus 12 to the roll.

Any tips would be great. Thanks!

So I have since forever wanted to run a Pokemon style game (people who tame magical creatures and go on adventures but like not Pokemon specifically). I have been having trouble hammering out how I want these characters to work. Initially I wanted to do a potentially quite complex system where you had seperate character sheets for your human player and companion and your starting skills and stunts would be divided up between the two characters.

I have since moved away from that idea and I think having the human be a full character sheet and the monsters being aspects and feats probably fits better

This does muddy up skills somewhat as you being smart doesn't mean your beastie is smart, and just because your jacked and go to the gym doesn't mean your monster is good at power lifting. So skills don't feel like the right thing to use here, I am looking for something broader where your choices could more describe the style of how you interact with the world. In tv shows and comic books for these kinds of worlds creatures that you bond with and how you employ them is a means of personal expression as it is anything else.

So enter approaches, now I will say I don't like approaches. I can see how they would be useful but the given list is pretty small and they feel overly broad. This can lead to a lot of getting bogged down in what approach fits while potentially having a number of characters feel samey.

So I am looking for something else, I know that some people forgo skills altogether and give a +1 to the check for every relavent aspect which could be pretty neat, it would certainly mean that the things you are good at would be linked to who you are as a person.

But it also feels like it could be a bit of a pain with people arguing over what things apply where so I figured I would poll you guys for some ideas

Until now I had considered approaches to be the "streamlined and simpler" version of the game that was intended to introduce players to the system but eventually to be replaced with skills.

But when I ran a slice-of-life magic college RP server (now on haitus), I noticed that approaches just worked. I purchased Masters of Umdaar this week and as I'm reading it, I see that they also use approaches for what is a deep system. (Not like shadowrun deep, but deep enough that I'd normally consider skills to be used here instead of approaches.)

So now I'm reevaluating whether approaches are just introductory mechanics.

My question to you all - for what types of games do you prefer approaches, and for what types of games do you prefer skills? And why?

Edit: I've received a lot of insightful responses so far. Where I'm landing is -

• If it's a game where multiple people are likely to favour the same skill ("magic" or "shoot" in a wand-focused magic game), then approaches are better.
• If it's a game where multiple people are likely to favour the same approach ("careful" or "sneaky" in a heist one-shot), then skills can work.
• 2-column approach (use both) is a legit option.
• And I should make sure that in an Approaches-based game, there are ways to encourage people to not just pick their best Approach all the time.

Hello FATE players and GMs! I have been watching some "Learn to play FATE" videos on the FATE SRD youtube channel. I'm enjoying them and feel like I'm beginning to grasp the system.

I have an observation. Compared to other TTRPG's I've played, these games have a "writer's room" vibe. Players and the GM talk about how they want things to work, reach an agreement, and that's what happens. What I don't see in those videos specifically is much first-person roleplay. I can imagine that has a lot to do with these being one-shots with newer players that are also made to be instructional for the viewers.

But I'm just curious if this reflects your own experience with FATE. I really like what I've seen out of the system, but I'm hoping that in longer games, players would begin to get a feel for what works for the rest of the table and how to use the rules without needing as much "negotiation" or "approval" from the GM.

Any experience, feedback, or war stories would be appreciated! TIA

About one year ago I listened to a Fate actual play podcast (on Spotify) about three witch sisters running a bed & breakfast in contemporary US. A friend is asking me about it but I can’t remember its name or find it. Can you guys help me?

Thank you! :)

Im creating a small hack to play Pokémon with Fate, looking for a story about "making true bonds", where Pokémon are friends and not weapons. The only new mechanic i want to add to base Fate is, well... Bonds/Firendship, in a meaningfull way.

For some context, Pokemon have their own sheet pretty much like in "How to train your mutant fire dog". Using your Pokemon is adding their Approach to your characters Approach, as in two-column Fate. (Therefore individual's Approaches have been "nerfed" to more or less half their regular values.) (This benefits picking Pokémon with the same highest Approach as your character for maximum results, this is esentially "Pokémon similar to you". (You can also go for the opposite, picking Pokemon with really different Approach distribution to compensate your character's, which is basiclly "Pokémon that complete you." ) You can invoke your Pokemon aspects and stunts as if they were yours, too.

My first idea to mimic "Bond/friendship" mechanically is to use a "Stress" track that measures the human-Pokémon bond, located at the Pokémon sheet.
The track has 9 boxes, 4 of them initially checked right before befriending the Pokémon .
New boxes are checked when the relationship strengthens, they are erased when it weakens.

I would love that track to have a mechanical effect, and a powerfull one. I thought of...
0 to 3 boxes checked: -2 when using that Pokémon. If at 0 and something bad happens between you two, your Pokémon leaves you.
4 to 6: Nothing happens.
7 to 9: +2 when using that Pokémon

However, i feel this is kinda boring (and easy to forget for me and the players), acting just as a passive bonus. And i hope you guys can enlighten me with your ideas and feedback. (And new mechanics if you want too.)

Is it possible to create a stunt that essentially fuses two skills together like stealth and burglary? Or would that be like worth two or three stunt slots?

I am playing tonight a oneshot named "the bunker". I am no foreign to DMing nor Fate, but it's my first time directing.

My players are new to the system, so I have little to no support. When I played for the first time I had some experienced players showing me the way and helping me to switch the mental model of other TTRPGs, but they don't have anyone to drive the experience. They played mostly dnd and are kind of affraid of the heavy roleplay side.

What can I do to easen the onboarding on the system?

As a GM, I do not like rolling dice. I'm fine with setting difficulties and challenges for players, but the act of rolling dice myself takes me out of my train of thought and doesn't really do anything for me. As such, if I were to set up a game of Fate, I'd make it that only the players roll and active opposition is repesented by a static number based on the opponent's skill values (as if I would always roll 0, basically).

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This (naturally) brings an 8dF spread of dice outcomes back to 4dF. That's generally fine by me but I do feel it might create an imbalance when looking at the players' Stress and Consequences. If you'd use a Stress track with values 1-2-3 and Consequences with 2-4-6, the chances of actually needing those higher values seem low.

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For example: the players face off against a boss-like opponent whose apex skill is at +6. In a player-facing game, this means that even using a +2 skill to defend against that opponent would require an unlikely -2 or lower roll (18.5%) to fill up that Severe Consequence slot. As soon as a player uses a +3 or +4 skill to defend (which is generally quite likely), the chances of that happening become negligible (6.2% and 1.2% respectively). In a game with opposed rolls, these odds would be 26%, 14% and 6.5%. (This is not taking into account hostile invokes, but those can be offset by player invokes as well.)

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Considering the reduced risk of 'real danger' with a 4dF spread vs. an 8dF spread, would you change the values of Stress tracks and Consequences to correct for this? Or would it be fine to keep the same values? My gut reaction was to reduce Stress values to 1-1-2 and Consequence values to 2-3-4, but while writing this I wonder if the difference in probability is big enough to warrant this change.

​

What would you do?

Also, please let me know if I fudged my probabilities.

Evil Hat has just released the Fate of Cthulhu Darkest Timelines Bundle on DriveThruRPG. Complete your set of timelines and save humanity from the Great Old Ones, zombies and aliens!

I'm excited to share that both The Ascellan Conspiracy and The Rise of Tsathoggua timelines are included in this bundle. Get it now while the stars are right!

https://preview.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/476363/Fate-of-Cthulhu-Darkest-Timelines-Bundle-BUNDLE?affiliate_id=1059651

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https://preview.redd.it/vtoq0ino1dsc1.jpg?width=889&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c578171f4700dae31ff392634cf80cb4a0e6064e

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So, this post made me go find June Shores' Poke/Digimon-inspired supplement, and being lazy I went through Bing . What popped up first was not her DriveThru page, or the Fate Codex article, but an article on a simple, rather innocuous website that was obviously populated by AI articles (I checked, and it doesn't pop up on Google).

It doesn't actually seem to take any text from the supplement other than the title. I assume it found the text and autogenerated an article based on the fact that it's listed on several sites, so it's passed some sort of AI sniff test.

I've included an Imgur Link for anyone wanting to look at it without going to a sketchy website, but here are some highlights.

• Fire dogs need to learn how to control their powers, as well as how to behave around humans and other animals. Training these creatures requires patience, consistency, and respect for their abilities while also ensuring their safety during the process.
• First and foremost, be sure to research different breeds of mutant fire dogs and determine which one fits best with your lifestyle—if you’re looking for a low-energy companion for lazy weekends or an active pal for hiking trips, these considerations will play an important role in bringing home the perfect pup.
• Make sure that any small things that can be caught on fire are removed from reach and child locks are installed on any drawers or cabinets with matches or lighters.
• Crate training for a mutant fire dog can be especially important for their safety and the safety of those around them. This can help prevent destructive behaviors, as well as unexpected bursts of flame from occurring around your home.
• There are several resources available to support your training efforts and help ensure both your safety as well as that of your Mutant Fire Dog. Firey-specific blogs, books on Mutant Husbandry, behavioral training seminars at local fire centers or universities specializing in mutant studies, and websites devoted entirely to caring for fire breeds can be excellent sources of information when it comes to mutant behavior and training techniques.

I'm sure there are thousands of similarly weird AI articles that make no sense outside of some niche hobby, but it was fun and horrifying to come across this one.

In the first place I want to remark that the original idea for this powered by fate setting IS NOT MINE. It's from Lynx Reviewer, an spanish youtuber, that couldn't take this project further. However, I'm now creating this setting of realistic pokemons in the ancient Rome and I need some help balancing It. The main points are:

1. How to balance the number of points for abilities.
2. How to make attacks limited

I will give my temporary answers but I'll pretty much appreciate any help or tips that you can give me.

1. I have created an Excell table that will be used for taming and also Pokémon creation which will affect to the main points of its "power scale". Some examples are size, type, evolution phase, friendliness, etc.
2. For Pokémons, I changed the Shoot ability for especial attack, but, this does not only mean ranged attacks, It takes in account every attack that creates energy out of nowhere. So, I created a new type of stress called "energetic" which is linked to especial attack and it's consumed every time that a Pokémon use a "special" move (example: If a houndoom wanted to burn his fangs while biting, he would use Fight for the bite and damage but would have to roll Sp.Atk to calculate his energetic stress).

Thank you beforehand, every help is useful and I'm open to any kind of ideas!!!

I have this idea kind of like the one posted for FAE corruption (only in this case for Fate Core, skills and all), where the following are true:

• Corruption changes you in a fundamental way.
• Accepting corruption should grant you an overwhelming immediate advantage.
• Corruption should allow you occasional advantage without taking on more corruption.
• Corruption sometimes causes you to act against your own interests and better judgment.
• Redemption is impossible.

Note that last one because it's important. Thematically this equates to reaching out to an eldritch power which hungers for time and then using their hunger to bend/shift time in the moment. The character then "fades" in some manner, forever changed by the experience. Onlookers experience a powerful premonition of what could have been. Using it more often outside of little things, like taking advantage of being "faded" for instance (a minor benefit, maybe), causes further damage until the character is essentially unplayable.

Within the game I can imagine a rotating cast of sorts, who might take advantage of one evil to fight others. The problem really comes in the incentive to wreck a character by doing morally dubious things or to save their skin in the moment only to eventually fade away anyway, or players riding an edge as much as possible and only using it to save their own skin, and whether it's a good idea to make corruption permanent.

Anyway, I'm also open to checking out any other corruption mechanics and am wondering if there are good rules to lift or check out for Fate Core from any hacks or world books out there?