Playing with FATE

After Dexcon, Shoshana gave me one task when it came to working with Phoenix Outlaw:

"Read the Fate Corebook. Read It, Learn It, Love It."

And, I did just that.

So let's get real for a second, my table top gaming experience is pretty shallow. Aside from White Wolf's New World of Darkness and three games (individual games, not campaigns) of D&D, I have no experience with tabletop games. I'm the kind of larper who looks at the system last, rather wishing to explore the world, themes and character types that can be played. I'm a Narrativist, surprise! Talking about systems and mechanics, which invariably leads to the talk about numbers, bores me to no end. When I want to hear about your character, I don't want to hear about the math, I want to hear about your character.

As someone who is desperately trying to develop his own psychotic Larp Project, the most difficult thing I've discovered is trying to build a system that works for the world. Game mechanics exist as an interface for the world we're playing in, more often than not as a means of doing in the game what we cannot physically do in reality. Some games eschew this and favor a "what you see is what you get" style of play, which I rather prefer. But in some games, especially Salon/Theater style games, you need a means of interfacing with a world that you cannot readily duplicate.

I'm of the mind that in a Tabletop game, which is all narration and discussion, you need a system to interact with the world in some way. But it's far too easy to get focused on the math, and soon you're forgetting about the Role Play and focusing about the Game, how to get the best results and how to get the best gear to get the best results. For those of you just tuning in, I do not like Min Maxing and Munchkining on general principles unless the game is literally just a smash and grab game.

So for me to get giddy about a game system means something pretty significant to me.

The Fate system is a narrative driven game system. Where most games are slavishly focused on the system of the game and emphasize rules, exceptions to the rules and the enforcement of the rules, Fate outright states it's Golden Rule as: Figure what you want to do, then consult the rules to help you do it. This is enforced further by the system's Silver Rule: Never let the rules get in the way of what makes narrative sense. These statements sort of go in the opposite direction of the way I've seen most larps be handled, where the rules are meant to keep everyone, both the players and the gamerunners, honest with one another. This makes it clear that, under no circumstances, that the story trumps the rules, and that this is a collaborative effort between the players and gamerunners.

The character creation for the game is set in primarily Four different sections: Aspects, Skills, Stunts and Stress. Aspects make up the Core of a Character, what makes them matter. These are in the form of specific phrases that are broken down in to subjects: High Concept, which denotes who they are and what they do; Their Trouble Aspect is what complicates their life. This may be seen as a negative thing, and it does stand the chance to bite the character in the ass, but there is a benefit to it; Then there are minor Aspects that can describe character relations, background events, and other things that add depth of character, often put into the context of a one sentence phrase. White Wolf does this on their sheets under Character Concept, except the Aspects are mechanically beneficial as they can potentially help aid characters in relevant actions. Importantly, most of those Aspects are developed by players building ties with one another and the ST, creating past events and ties that connect them and add bonds.

The games Skill system believes in broad strokes. Where most games rely on numbers to describe a quantitative aspects, Fate relies more on the Qualitative. Skill ratings tell how good you are in something and action pulls/rolls (if you're using cards or die) tell just how well you did a thing. The Fate System assumes that every PC is a competent individual. At the very least, PCs are mediocre and don't get bonus' to their pulls, whereas in other systems they get minuses for not paying in to a skill. They leave it mostly to chance in Fate, which is something of a point. It is blind towards equipment modifiers, someone with a gun can do just as well with a sword or even with their fists. We'll get to why in a bit. While there is a set placement of skills like Notice, Deceive, Shoot, Fight, Physique and Crafts, the system allows for customization and additions. The Dresden Files Larp has Discipline for most Supernatural actions.

Now, in most systems, certain purchases of skills means you're able to take specific actions. With Fate, that is up to Narration. In the Dresden Larp I ran, someone used Fire Magic to absorb an attacking creature made of Flame. There was nothing on his sheet specifying that he could do that, but there was a logical reason that he could, conceivably do that action. So we did the appropriate pull and, low and behold, absorbed said infernal beastie like a Ghost in a Trap.

Specific Skills come in the form of Stunts. Stunts are special actions that the players can use sparingly throughout games. Need a quick boost of a skill? Or are you capable of performing the functions of one skill with another? Do you have something that, in normal circumstances, just wouldn't be possible? Those are Stunts. They aren't always on, but they are spectacular. The Key thing to keep in mind about Stunts is that they are made entirely by the player with the Storyteller's help and approval. The books give examples of stunts, but they are only meant to give an understanding of what can be done.

Finally, we have Stress. Stress replaces the concept of health damage. First off, there are two forms of Stress: Physical and Mental. Stress alone doesn't mark how much damage you've taken, but how prone you are to take damage. When your Stress bars fill up, you go into Stress Out, which removes you from the combat completely. The only way to get back in is to take a Consequence. Consequence is where the real damage is, where Stress goes away after every combat scene. Consequences are like Aspects, in that they are small phrases, but those that denote the damage you've taken. From a gash over the eyes, induced into paranoia, to Blinded or I can't feel my legs. Gaining Consequences keeps you in the fight, but gain enough of them and your character dies.

At the Heart of this entire system are Fate Points. Fate Points are granted to the players depending on their stunt spread, more with lesser stunts and less with more. They form a sort of economy as Fate Points allow you to invoke your Aspects to aid in pulls or roleplay, to activate Stunts and to add something to the story being told. You get Fate back by accepting the ST compelling your Aspects, creating drama and story to happen to you, or by conceding a conflict. It's an entirely Meta-level economy, having relatively no basis in the game, and it's telling that the only way to gain back points is by allowing potentially bad things to happen to your character.

So the pros for the Fate System is that it focuses on and rewards a Narrative based game. A lot of my tabletop friends have made several comments though about some of it's cons. It doesn't take into account the use of weapons (the newest edition of the core book addresses this, but it also notes that focusing on better Armor/Better Weapons is the path towards Loot Hunts). This makes a little less sense when you consider that the Stress isn't actual damage, and Merely the measuring stick for what gets you the Consequences, which is the real damage, has their own negative and long lasting effects. Even then, it's still all primarily for the benefit of telling a Story over playing a game.

I think a lot of the hang ups seem based on the fact that this is a system that isn't based on the standard D&D model of thinking. It's an entirely different Operating System that relies on  This means that the concepts of class and stats are put to the back. In a fight, a social character can potentially do more damage than a combat character if they use their aspects right or if the cards are fortunate. It puts it more firmly in the hands of chance...or Fate, to be honest.

A friend of mine, who is a veteran table top player. Said that as a table top system he didn't like Fate, but after having played it in a Larp, he felt it was more appropriate. This comment reminded me of my usual rant about Role Playing Games and Live Action Role Play, and how the "G" isn't present in LARP for damn good reason. I think that people focus on the Game aspect, and assume that that means the need to win and avoidance of losing. I tend to focus more on the Role Play, and emphasize the Play. It's make believe, and the rules are there to give us the frame of the sandbox, they aren't the game entirely.

I think the Fate System agrees with this.

The comment also brings about a good point about translating systems to meet different requirements for different forms of play. The White Wolf systems are still primarily used for the Larps, pared down a bit to make some adjustments for the focus on role play...but it's still very clearly based on a tabletop. This comes out all the more when combat or a scene that requires mechanics to function need to be done. All of the roleplay and action stops and it literally becomes a table top game again. The Fate system lends itself and it's emphasis on the RP side of RPG that it works as a tool for Larps.

This is especially true since, through many of it's guides and directions, it evokes the notion that Larps are communal projects and require cross cultivation between each other. In table tops, you can rely on your sheet at the least. In a larp, where you are physically playing your character, you require the players around you to fill in the blanks in the world and with each others ties. Fate runs heavily on that concept.

Fate is, to me, a system that I as someone who looks more to character factors and background than dots and points as system I can get behind and utilize for some of my projects. This has actually gotten me interested in making a Tabletop game for friends, and possibly a theater larp. This system is NOT for everyone, but I welcome it as a system that lends itself to what I look for in a game and that can be customized to suit the needs of the game and translated into various formats of Play. If you prefer the traditional methods, then this simply isn't the system for you.

Later


If you like this blog, and wish to make a donation, consider supporting me on my Patreon Account. It allows me to continue doing games and conventions and you'll get special prizes. Thanks