FATE/FUDGE RPGs?
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Anyone have much experience with these? I'd like to get your rundown of them. I was looking at their mechanics (the +/0/- in particular) and wondered if anyone had experience with using them with big bonuses of like, 6+? Or hugely different pools (IE: a +1 vs. a +7)?
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Having played Dresden in tabletop with a +8 in control for spellcasting before having any foci... it is gonzo, and I love it.
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From what i have noticed the results of rolls tend to bell curve nicely centering on the raw bonus.
So a +6 before the roll will tend strongly toward being in the +5 to + 7 range, just like a roll with a 0 bonus would tend strongly toward being in the -1 to +1 range.
For a difference as large as +1 vs +7, that is almost to the point I would not bother to roll. I do not know the actual math off hand but I would say the +1 side has under a one percent chance of winning with the standard four dice roll. the +1 side would need to get at least a +2 to even have a chance to tie and if the +7 side gets anything a -1 or better the +1 sides roll is completely irrelevant. -
Your curve.
Roll %
-4 1.23
-3 4.94
-2 12.35
-1 19.75
0 23.46
1 19.75
2 12.35
3 4.94
4 1.23If you have both sides roll their skill totals in a contest, here is what it looks like, before you add the difference in skill levels.
Roll %
-8 0.02
-7 0.12
-6 0.55
-5 1.71
-4 4.05
-3 7.68
-2 11.95
-1 15.49
0 16.87
1 15.49
2 11.95
3 7.68
4 4.05
5 1.71
6 0.55
7 0.12
8 0.02 -
Thanks for Putting that up @Misadventure
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Also remember to abuse every aspect you can. We got to... +32 on a thing once? It was stupid.
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@Jennkryst
Yeah, that's where I'm coming up flat. The concept of removing Aspects from it and using the raw mechanical bits. -
It's not even using your own aspects. You attack, but instead of dealing direct damage, you tag them for, say... 'bruised ribs'. And you get 6+, but they only got 2+. So now, you have a 4+ aspect you can tag, FOR FREE, at any point. Stack them on. Until you have a bunch. Tag them all. GG.
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... HRM. That's an intriguing way to handle status effects though.
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You don't even have to target them. You could spill water on the ground and add SLIPPERY as a possible aspect to tag for literally everyone in that specific zone. FATE is super flexible.
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I am pretty sure you don't keep the numeric value of the winning contest in a created aspect. That seems to govern how many times you can tag it for free, I assume for a +1.
I could be wrong, but thats my reading of the FATE SRD online.
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Dresden was proto-FATE, so it might have gotten changed.
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Er, Dresden is Post-Fate. My first FATE product was Spirit of the Century. Dresden really developed a mechanism to allow for peeps with unfair power differences, via taking away refresh rates for Fate points. Fate Accelerated Edition FAE is the next development that I know of, and both versions have many products now.
All that is not important.
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It's been a couple years, so I dunno anymore.
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The current version of FATE (FATE Core) is much smarter about these, but you can, with careful planning and a bit of luck, still stack a whopping humdinger of a bonus to an action.
Which is rather the point.
FATE isn't intended for drawing room drama. It's designed for high action, high octane, high concept RP. My notional "Dream of Red Mansions" MU* would be a seriously bad fit for FATE, but a Mad Max-style post-apocalyptic wrecking machine of a game where people jump cars in other cars over still other cars to crash into a wall to jump out and start beating on people on the other side? Perfect fit.
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@Bobotron said in FATE/FUDGE RPGs?:
@Jennkryst
Yeah, that's where I'm coming up flat. The concept of removing Aspects from it and using the raw mechanical bits.Aspects are the point of Fate. Without Aspects, Fate is a pretty standard and honestly bland kind of system. You might as well roll 1d6 - 1d6. Woo.
Aspects themselves rely on the Fate Point Economy, which is a (mostly) closed ability to invent or invest in things on the fly, and to invent them on the fly you have to suffer hardships or put yourself in danger.
You can engage an Aspect for free if you created it with an amazing success; Jenny's "bruised ribs" example, otherwise you need to spend one of those Fate Points. Usually.
The details of these, as @WTFE mentioned, depends on which version of FATE. There are essentially three: Fate (Spirit of the Century), Fate 2 (Dresden Files), and Fate Core (everything after). All of them are high action. They can be dialed to bloody, but in a Conan the Barbarian kind of way; bloody and heavy metal.
Evil Hat's stripped-down Fate Core is called "Fate Accelerated", and it's pretty much only Aspects.
I, er, may be a fan.
edit:
FUDGE, from which FATE was first derived, was not a game system as much as a framework to create game systems, much like @faraday's FS3. You can do a lot with the framework, but much like Risus, you must put in what you want to get out.
Fate was built to be a more traditional RPG setup, where you have systems telling you what you get out of it, a systematic gaming engine. You can twist this knob left to make that NPC bleed, but it's mostly set up for you. FUDGE demands that you build this engine yourself.
“If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe.”
― Carl Sagan, Cosmos -
@Thenomain said in FATE/FUDGE RPGs?:
Aspects are the point of Fate. Without Aspects, Fate is a pretty standard and honestly bland kind of system. You might as well roll 1d6 - 1d6. Woo.
This. If you're not using Fate's aspects using any of the rest of Fate is kind of quirky. There's other simple systems out there that are better suited to the mechanical style you're aiming for.
Evil Hat's stripped-down Fate Core is called "Fate Accelerated", and it's pretty much only Aspects.
I, er, may be a fan.
Me too. I'm a bit irritated that you need to read Fate Core to really understand the contents of FAE, but of the two I'd far rather play FAE in most cases.
