So I'm running FATE Core. Help me out, TVTropes!

So, hey, a few people I know are getting together for a campaign I'm running with FATE Core. To be honest, right now I'm finding myself wondering if I've made the wrong choice, for a few reasons. Part of it is that so much about the characters, which could be problematic.

I mean, for example, should I ASSUME they always have a weapon or such? If so, what kind of weapon, melee or ranged? What I really don't like about FATE is that it leaves so much up in the air, and I'm not sure if that's something I should get used to, or what. Should I have it so the players have to actually keep track of their equipment, or is that too much detail?

Generally, what I'm asking is if anybody has any advice in general. Have any of you ever ran FATE, and how did you handle things? Any tips, things I should do or not do?

FATE isn't for everyone. If you like keeping track of small details, it's not your game.

Generally, if you find a character unarmed, treat it like a temporary scene aspect. Enemies can exploit it like any other aspect. Likewise, the character might use it to appear less threatening.

I treat everyone trained in a combat skill as being armed. Someone might use Create an Advantage to disarm them for the fight. Likewise, I've had a character with an Aspect of Armed to the Teeth, who invoked this to great effect both in terms of positive invocations and compels.

It's all about thinking narratively. Don't focus on the system unless it's needed- that is why it's so rules-light after all. Use FATE as a way to tell a story, not a crunchy board game.

edited 10th Apr '13 7:21:54 AM by Exelixi

Well, it's not that I WANT to be super-crunchy on it. All I would really do is say "If you get a laser gun, write "Laser Gun" on your sheet. It has "Accurate" and "Low on Ammo" as Aspects." I guess it'd just feel weird if one of the players just pulled out a gun when they never gave any indication they HAD a gun, for example.

Like, there's nothing wrong with your idea, and I might end up going with it. I don't have the book with me right now, so remind me, how long does a created advantage last on a success? If it were just a boost, I'd say that'd be less LOSING your weapon and more it slipped from your grip for a brief moment.

edited 10th Apr '13 7:59:58 AM by Bobinator

In FATE, if you have points in a skill, you're assumed to have the requisite equipment. Someone has Fair(+2) Shoot? They totally have a gun handy unless they're in a place it wouldn't be appropriate. e.g. The player claimed to to have any weapons when searched in the previous scene; the characters are at a fancy dinner party with no prior indication that there would be hostilities. In the latter case, having a gun is plausible (unlike in the first case), so the expenditure of a Fate Point should be enough for the player to say that their character happened to have a small pistol in a chest holster. If they have an aspect that would indicate that they always have a gun around, I wouldn't even make them spend the fate point.

In short, it's not weird when a character with points in Shoot pulls a gun when there was no indication of them having a gun; it's weird when having that gun would have caused trouble before, and it didn't come up.

Indeed; the big issue is making sure it isn't contradictory. Don't necessarily let the characters pull a Bat Shark Repellent and have a thing which conveniently solves every situation, but a trained marksman, a mob enforcer, a vigilante, or a redneck should be assumed to be able to pull a pistol, just like a con man should be able to pull a false I.D. If it makes logical sense for them to have a gun, whether by the situation or just the nature of the character, they have a gun.

Kind of diverging, but kind of not- one of my favourite Aspects I've ever seen was called Paranoid Son of a Bitch. Things like "my character was facing the door when the gunner came in- he always faces the most accessible opening in case such happens" can lead to lots of advantageous stuff, but they also make perfect sense for someone paranoid. Likewise, that same Aspect got tossed against the character- the GM led him to believe that someone was untrustworthy by a few tics that only a Paranoid Son of a Bitch would notice... That turned out to be completely harmless and in fact would have been a good ally for the protagonists to have.

The way I think of it, it's like how in The Empire Strikes Back, the movie doesn't make a big deal about keeping track of whether Luke's lightsaber and Han's blaster are handy.

The lightsaber doesn't get any attention in the Hoth scenes until Luke gets captured by the wampa and needs it to cut himself down. Did he have his lightsaber on him when he got captured? Of course he did: he's an apprentice Jedi, so there's no need to establish that he had the lightsaber handy on that specific trip.

Similarly, when the rest of the main characters are on Cloud City and get surprised by Vader, there's no shock to the audience when Han draws his blaster. Yes, they thought they were going to dinner, but Han's characterization draws from the sort of character types that never go out unarmed. The director and editor didn't feel the need to use a second or two to establish that yes, he has a gun right now. Of course he has a gun—he's a smuggler on the run from both the Empire and Jabba, so he's always ready for trouble.

So it is with Fate. These are character types who would reasonably have particular equipment, so there's no need to keep track of it from scene.

@Bobinator: Perhaps it would help to explain the sort of game you are planning on running. Is it the sort of game where no PC reasonably has access to weapons?

It's basically supposed to be a 90's cartoon. The players are basically part of this small squad of agents for an organization out to combat a crime syndicate. Stuff like laser pistols are reasonably common, but I'd like the P Cs to get their hands on more advanced stuff as well.

The examples are actually helping me a lot, so thank you. Here's how I'm starting to figure it. If a character has the skills or Aspects that would make it reasonable they have certain small items on their person, like a laser pistol or smoke grenades, I can say, sure, why not. Maybe I can just apply Aspects like "Low Ammo" or "Out of Smoke Grenades" as a conflict continues, until they can restock.

I think the major exception is going to be things that CAN'T fit into somebody's hand. Like, a laser pistol, that's assumed. A transforming car with lasers on it? Yeah, that's getting the full Extra treatment. Is that a good way to handle it?

Short answer will be: yes, that can work.

Long answer is: that still is within the thinking that the GM and the players are working against each other, which is counter-productive for a system like FATE. As GM you need to think more "make the P Cs look like the main characters of a story" for FATE as opposed to stopping at "how am I screw the players over". By all means, screw the players over if that makes the P Cs look cool when they fix whatever the problem it is they are facing. But "making the P Cs look cool/like the main characters of a story" should be first priority.

edited 10th Apr '13 9:10:55 PM by IraTheSquire

I'm going to be running Fate Core next campaign as well. The one thing I noticed that bugs me is boost you get from succeeding with style. They seem really overpowered, but I haven't playtested them yet. Do they make it too easy for the PC's to overpower the NPC's?

NP Cs can also get boosts for success with style.

Overall, you can burn lots of resources to make sure you succeed with style, then use the boost next turn and succeed with style again, but that necessitates burning lots of Fate Points in the process, giving it a pretty steep cost to force.

Do P Cs usually triumph? Of course, that's the entire concept. FATE isn't about level one fighters who get their asses handed to them in the first mission. There should be a good reason for them to lose (have to concede) a given encounter, narratively.

Well the way it seemed when I read it was that whoever attacked first had an overwhelming advantage. That is my main concern. I like my fights with a little back and forth. My question is does one side just stomp the other in 1 or 2 exchanges?

No, not at all.

It is VITALLY important when considering the mechanics of FATE to remember that numbers really are not very swingy. You have something like a 2% chance to roll a +4, a bit more to roll a +3, etc.; most rolls are 0.

I get that the dice are not so random, but what about PC's that make their highest skill +4 or +5?

Rolling in a +4 or a -4 is actually smaller then that. Just over 1%. The odds with 4DF is is exactly the same as 4d3-8.

Here is the actual table of odds if you're interested.

• -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 1.23%

edited 12th Jul '17 6:43:04 AM by joeyjojo

Ok, that makes me feel a bit better about the balance. So far, Fate Core looks like everything I want in a system, this is really the only part I'm shaky about. I guess I'll just play-test it and see if I need to tweak it any.

I get that the dice are not so random, but what about PC's that make their highest skill +4 or +5?

By default, a player character's highest score is a +4. And for their highest score, well, it's their highest score. They deserve to shine in that category. If that is a combat skill, well, that character is a badass deathmachine. If it's a combat-heavy game, let everyone know this, and everyone should have a +3 or so in a combat-oriented skill- and so will competent enemies. You shouldn't be tossing enemies at your party whose highest skills top at +2 or whatever.

Yeah, right now I'm am playing Dresden Files, which is basically a prototype for Fate Core. I have a little trouble challenging my players without throwing enemies at them that don't give them sever, and extreme consequences. They seem to want me to ramp up the difficulty, and I'm going to try next session. I don't really have to worry about boost in this game, but Dresden Files has something called overflow which is a bit harder to quantify.