Jump to content

Fate (role-playing game system)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 69.2.54.228 (talk) at 21:13, 4 March 2013 (→‎RPGs based on Fate). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

FATE
File:FATE 2e pdf cover page.jpg
FATE v2.0 cover page
DesignersFred Hicks, Rob Donoghue
PublishersEvil Hat Productions
Publication2003
GenresUniversal

FATE, Fantastic Adventures in Tabletop Entertainment, is a generic role-playing game system based on the FUDGE gaming system. It has no fixed setting, traits, or genre and is almost entirely customizable. It is designed to offer the least possible obstruction to role-playing by assuming that players do not want to make large amounts of dice rolls.

FATE was written by Fred Hicks and Rob Donoghue. FATE gained a large number of adherents both for its high level of support, which is unusual for a free game, and for the numerous innovative gaming mechanics.

Differences between FUDGE and FATE

Probability of results in the FATE system

While FATE uses FUDGE's verbal scale and Fudge dice, it does not use the standard FUDGE experience point mechanic, and has some more explicit character design conventions.

FATE breaks from many other role-playing games by eschewing the use of mandatory traits such as Strength and Intelligence. Instead, it uses a long list of skills and assumes that every character is "average" in all skills except those that the character is explicitly defined as being good at. Exceptional abilities are defined through the use of Stunts and Aspects.[1]

Stunts are exceptional abilities that grant the character a specific mechanical benefit; these may be drawn from a pre-defined list of stunts included in the rules, or created following guidelines provided by the authors.[2] Aspects, on the other hand, are always defined by the player. For example, a player may choose to give their character an aspect of "Brawny" (or "Muscle Man" or "Wiry Strength"); during play, the player may invoke those aspects to gain a temporary bonus in a relevant situation. Aspects may also relate to a character's possessions, e.g. the character Indiana Jones for example, might have the Aspect "Whip and Fedora".

Aspects are an important and original concept in FATE. They are not intrinsically good or bad; they are simply descriptive, up to the level of detail the player requires. In addition to the obvious direct character help in most cases, the FATE system also provides a mechanism to reward the characters when one of their aspects has restricted their choices or landed them in some trouble.

FATE OGL resources

While there has been concern that FUDGE would restrict its "open" license and thus force FATE to change to a different underlying mechanic, such fears have subsided once FUDGE itself was released under the Open Gaming License. FATE has an associated Yahoo! Group to discuss the gaming system and share settings and conversions of other role-playing games.

Fate 3rd Edition

A 3rd edition of FATE is currently in development, and is the basis for Evil Hat's Spirit of the Century, which was nominated in 2007 for an ENnie award for Best Rules.[3] The 3rd edition rules also are used for the Dresden Files role-playing game.[4] Evil Hat has stated that a free PDF of FATE 3rd Edition will be released after The Dresden Files RPG is completed. The System Reference Documents for Spirit of the Century[5] and Diaspora[6] are currently available.

RPGs based on Fate

This list includes implementations of the FATE system as well as RPGs explicitly inspired by it.[7]

Awards

In the 2003 Indie RPG Awards, FATE won a number of awards:[8]

  • First Place - Best Free Game of the Year
  • First Place - Best Support
  • Third Place - Indie RPG of the Year
  • Recipient - Andy's Choice Award

References

  1. ^ "RPGnet : Review of FATE: Fantastic Adventures in Tabletop Entertainment. Fudge Edition". Retrieved 2007-10-25.
  2. ^ Donoghue, Rob; Hicks, Fred; Balsera, Leonard (2006). Spirit of the Century. Evil Hat Productions. p. 115. ISBN 978-0-9771534-0-4. What follows is not a comprehensive list of stunts. GMs (and players under GM supervision) are encouraged to create their own to fit their game. {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); line feed character in |quote= at position 75 (help)
  3. ^ "The ENnie Awards- 2007". Archived from the original on 2007-10-16. Retrieved 2007-10-25.
  4. ^ "The Dresden Files RPG: System". Retrieved 2009-05-29.
  5. ^ SotC SRD
  6. ^ Diaspora SRD
  7. ^ Fate and Its Branches » Fate
  8. ^ "Indie RPG Awards". Retrieved 2007-09-06.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fate_(role-playing_game_system)&oldid=542102521"