Rolling for tasks in FATE, it's not just about creating tension.

This may be a bit of an odd interpretation, but it works for me fairly well in FATE. I never look at task rolls as a conflict resolution. I see actions as a way to incorporate Aspects into the story and therefore as part of creating the narrative. Task resolution in FATE rubs a lot of people the wrong way because we are used to tasks and conflicts as being the engine that drives drama and tension. When you look at it, FATE does not really work that way. In most cases, there is little to keep players from succeeding at any given thing they really want to do. It all depends on what price the player wants to pay to succeed. The meta is skewed in favor of the player.

The task resolution system in FATE does not exist solely to create tension. It can, of course be used to do so, but it’s not the sole reason for its existence. What the dice are really there to do is to give the players and GM a paintbrush to create a dynamic scene. Task resolution revolves around describing action adding a random effect and using that to see what lengths the character has to go through to create the desired effect. The player must then incorporate the characters Aspects to generate the desired outcome which in turn makes the description of every dramatic action an extension of who the character is and not her statistical makeup.

In FATE the GM uses Compels to drive tension and drama. Complications brought about by Compels are driven by the characters features and are therefore personalized to the characters narrative. This is not to say that task resolution cannot add drama. “Success at cost” situations are also intended to give consequences for heroic feats. The GM is provided with these mechanics that make up a dramatic toolkit. I find this more interesting than depending on the randomness of something like a critical failure or success or depending on finely tuned encounter balance which can go south quickly.

Addressing concerns about the upcoming Strateticon RPG Space.

To Strategicon RPG attendees,

My name is Jim Sandoval and I am the Supervisor of RPG's at the Strategicon series of events. I would like to take the opportunity to address some concerns from our RPG community regarding our new venue at the Hilton starting with OrcCon 2014 and for the foreseeable future.

For the past couple of years the Strategicon series of events have enjoyed a great deal of growth. This is  due to the fantastic outpouring of support from LA area gamers and the great lengths our 100% volunteer staff have gone to in order to provide the best gaming experience for our attendees.

Because of this growth we are all excited about moving to the larger and much better lit LAX Hilton starting this upcoming year. Although the Hilton provides us with some much  needed additional space to expand into, this space differs greatly from the Raddison and Sheraton. In this case, much of the additional space takes the form of large ballrooms. We are limited to very few smaller, “single room” type spaces like the cabanas we all enjoyed at the Raddison or the sectioned off areas on the second floor at the Sheraton. RPG's has been steadily expanding for the past few years. Even if I were to take ALL of the small conference room space for RPG's I would have no room to expand whatsoever and would simply leave the problem for someone else to solve. That is not how I roll.

For this reason and this reason alone, Our Event Coordinator Tim Keennon and I have decided to put RPG's in a 7000 Sq foot ballroom and allow the small allotment of conference room space to go to Pathfinder Soc, RPGA and LARPS.

This has nothing to do with how Strategicon views RPGs and RPG fans. Rest assured that I would shake the pillars of heaven and hell for my department.  RPGs are my passion and you will find no greater advocate for RPGs than myself. Please remember that Strategicon is not for profit and supports all forms of gaming equally.

I understand your concerns and would like to assure you that I have taken steps to make this as viable a choice as possible. I will be erecting a heavy duty rod and curtain system to parse out the room into smaller areas with tables. This space will divide 25 tables within the 7k sq foot ballroom to ensure the optimum level of sound absorption. This will be a large space for 25 tables with low acoustic tile ceilings and it is our hope that we will be able to minimize noise echo.

When I was approached with this plan, I have to admit I was skeptical at first and frankly still am. I am not going to sit here and promise you the moon, I am not a salesman.  Best I am is a CSR/CPA. But what I can tell you is that I am going to do my utmost to make this situation as viable as possible and before I agreed to taking the ballroom space, I was assured that if there was an outpouring of negative feedback after OrcCon that we would revisit this choice and come to a better decision.

In conclusion, I just want to leave you with this thought. There is nothing I want more than to have every single person walking into RPGs or the convention in general walk back out again with the joy and satisfaction of having had the best experience I can provide. For no other reason than the fact that I love gaming and want to share that passion with everyone I come in contact with. I know that many of us find it disturbingly easy to become cynical about everything and sometimes that is justifiably so, but I guarantee that the rest of the Strategicon staff and I are doing everything we can to make your experience a great one. If we fail to do so, that is only because we are human and will strive to make it better next time around.

Best regards on this holiday season,
Jim Sandoval.

Conan the Barbarian RPG. FAE/D&D 3.5 conversion.

CONAN Fate Accelerated Edition

Know, oh Fate lover, that between the years when the oceans drank Atlantis and the gleaming cities, and the years of the rise of the Sons of Aryas, there was an Age undreamed of, when shining kingdoms lay spread across the world like blue mantles beneath the stars. Conan FAE edition is designed for people who wish to adventure in the world of Hyboria. The land crafted by Robert E. Howard for his iconic sword and sorcery hero Conan of Cimmeria.

To properly use this hack there are three things players should have. First, a working knowledge of the Hyborian world as depicted by Howard, De Camp, Jordan, Thomas and the various others who brought Conan to life in novels, short stories and comics. For a PDF of this mod, you can find it HERE. And a bonus Character Sheet.  As another resource thanks to +James Forest here is a fantastic primer on the Hyborian world written by Rowan Walkingwolf.

Second, is a copy of the Mongoose Games Conan RPG (currently out of print). This game is in essence a blend of the 3.5 D&D version of Mongooses Conan setting, FAE and Fate. Concepts like Class and Race are described in the Mongoose RPG in great detail and are used as point of reference for several of the Aspects and Stunts in this game.

Third, is a copy of Evil Hats, Fate Accelerated Edition and Fate Core. This game uses some mechanics from both and players should have access to these rules in order to make sense of what is to follow.

Aspects

The High Concept and Trouble Aspects remain the same. The three remaining Aspects are specific to Conan FAE.

Race – The varied peoples of Howard’s Hyboria are very distinctive. The reactions of a civilized Aquilonian will vary widely from a citizen of dark and mysterious Stygia. The land from which a character hails will have a great deal of bearing as to who she is and how she interacts with other cultures. This Aspect can easily be Invoked or Compelled for various social reasons that are obvious if you are familiar with Howard’s work.

Class – Players have several classes to choose from. Barbarian, Soldier, Thief, etc. This aspect describes who the character is from a professional point of view. Exactly like classes in D&D and in extension the Conan RPG. Feel free to elaborate on the classes as you see fit. For example a Scholar could be a “Priest of Mitra” or a Barbarian could be a “Savage Warrior of the Frozen North” or a Soldier could be a “Stalwart Gunderman Mercenary.”

Reputation – A brief description of what the character is known for or stands for. While high concept is the way the character thinks of herself, the characters reputation represents what others think of her.

Approaches

Instead of the regular FAE approaches, Conan uses the standard statistic line from Dungeons and Dragons. Strength, Constitution, Dexterity, Wisdom, Intelligence and Charisma. Think of them as equivalents to Strength = Forceful, Dexterity = Quick/Sneaky, Wisdom = Careful, Intelligence = Clever and Charisma = Flashy. Constitution can be a form of Forceful but also works much like the Physique Skill in Fate Core, granting more stress and/or consequence boxes as described on page 118 of the Fate Core book. Wisdom also acts like the Will skill in Fate Core when it comes to Mental Stress boxes.

It is easy to simply transfer a characters Ability Modifier straight to the Approach bonus. For example a Strength stat of 18 in D&D has a bonus of +4 while a Charisma of 8 would be a -1. Those bonuses would carry over directly. If not converting from the Mongoose version of Conan follow the regular rules for Approaches in the Fate Accelerated rule book.

Stress and Consequences

Conan uses the Stress and Consequences found in Fate Core. There are two Tracks, Mental and Physical which can be boosted by the Wisdom (which acts exactly like Will) and Constitution (which acts exactly like Physique) respectively. The addition of the Mental track to the regular FAE system is done to accommodate the horror aspect in Howard’s world and should be used to track the consequences of being exposed to the myriad horrors of the outer dark that are part of the stories in Hyboria.

Stunts

Players get three Stunts for Conan FAE. Players are encouraged to use the Feats and Class Abilities from the Mongoose Conan RPG as templates for Stunts. Here are a few examples.

Dodge – Receive a +1 to all Defense Actions using the Dexterity Approach.

Two Weapon Fighting – Receive a +2 to any use of the Dexterity Approach in an Attack action while wielding a light weapon in each hand.

Uncanny Dodge – Spend a Fate Point to roll a Defense Action even when the character is unaware of an attack.

Web of Death – When using a Defend Action that is successful, spend a Fate Point to apply the shift difference as an attack immediately against the attacker.

Refresh

All players start with a refresh of 3. Extra Stunts can be purchased at a cost of one Refresh per stunt, maximum of two.

Equipment

Great Weapons get a +2 shift for damage but grant the Aspect “Unwieldy”.

Armor gives you a -1 shift for damage. Heavy armor gives a -2 but adds the Aspect “Cumbersome”. A shield gives a +1 to any Defend action.

Akbitanan weapons have Akbitanan as an Aspect to represent their superior make.

That’s it. It’s that simple.

Star Frontiers Fate Core Hack. Skills Pt. 2

The skill list remains the same except for the addition of Engineering, Exploration, Mechanics, Medicine and Navigation.

These skills were added for two basic reasons. First, to better represent the technology level more technical skills were added. Thematically, it is important to represent the role of technology in a SciFi game. Second, one of the main activities for PC’s in Star Frontiers is that of exploration. Skills were added to expand upon the themes of exploration.

Craft, Mechanics and Engineering.

Because of the importance of technology in a science fiction setting the ability to create and repair objects requires a somewhat more detailed approach. In Fate Core, actions involving the creation and repair of objects, machines and structures are handled by the Crafts Skill. In Star Frontiers the Crafts Skill is split into three Skills that better capture differing levels of tech. “Crafts” covers the lower levels of technology. Mundane things like constructing a simple shelter to creating a makeshift block and tackle would involve the use of Crafts. “Mechanics” involves more complex machines and tools. Things like repairing an internal combustion engine, the leg actuators on a robot or repairing a broken radio would fall under mechanics. “Engineering” involves the design and repair of large and very high tech equipment, like a space ship or a complex artificial brain.

Engineering deals with the design and construction of complex machines, electronics and spacecraft.

Overcome: Engineering can be used to overcome challenges that involve the design of complex machines or structures especially in terms of making them exceed their original design. For example, coaxing more power from an engine or boosting the signal of a subspace transceiver.

Create Advantage: Engineering can be used to create Aspects on a design. For example, creating a hovercraft the can “Turn on a Dime” or making a Gyrojet rifle that is “Incredibly accurate”.

Attack: N/A
Defend: N/A

Engineering Stunts

Miracle Worker. The character can spend a Fate Point to automatically remove one box of Stress from any machine.

I’m Giving Her All She’s Got! Get a free boost whenever pushing a machine beyond its design limitations.


Exploration involves the ability to seek out new life and civilizations and boldly go where no one else has gone before. Mapping new planets, collecting soil water, fauna and flora samples and determining their compatibility with other forms of life is that the core of this skill. Exploration can also be used as a survival skill in alien environments.

Overcome: Exploration can be used to overcome just about any environmental obstacle in an otherwise unknown location. Exploration can be used to overcome contests requiring environmental hazards like extreme heat or cold or simply avoiding dangerous fauna and flora.

Create Advantage: Exploration can be used to create advantages by understanding the basic makeup of alien creatures and their environment. For instance realizing that an animal has a natural immunity to a plant poison can create an advantage for a medicine roll to cure said poison. It can also be used to create advantages in a strange alien environment, like knowing where natural obstacles would impede pursuit for a chase contest.

Attack: N/A
Defend: N/A

Exploration Stunts

I can live off the land. The character can spend a Fate Point to automatically find food and water in an inhospitable environment.

Wilderness survivor. The character can reduce the shift of any damage caused to himself or others by an environmental Aspect by 2 with a Great Exploration roll.


Mechanics deals with the repair and assembly of complex machines and electronics like robots and small vehicles.

Overcome: The most common use of an Overcome action in Mechanics is to repair machines, but can also be used to activate, deactivate or re-program functioning machines.

Create Advantage: Mechanics can be used in several ways to create advantage. It can be used to modify equipment, temporarily enhance effectiveness or jury rig improvised functions.

Attack: N/A
Defend: N/A

Mechanics Stunts:

Hear me baby? Hold together. A character can spend a Fate Point to add another 1 Stress Box to a machine for the duration of a scene.

Cannibalize! The character gains a +2 bonus to repair any machine as long as there are other machines around to cannibalize for parts.


Medicine is the skill that ranges from first aid and preventive medicine all the way to complex surgery. Knowledge of basic biology, xenobiology, administration of drugs and the use of high tech medical devices is governed by this skill.

Overcome: Diseases and Poisons can be overcome through Medicine. Medicine can also be used to overcome physical consequences with proper equipment and time.

Create Advantage: Medicine could be called upon to create advantage by applying drugs or medical equipment. For example if you are in a low oxygen atmosphere and are fighting your alien best friend for the affection of a woman in ritual combat you could give the poor captain an injection of tri-ox compound to give him an advantage or fake his death.

Attack: N/A
Defend: N/A

Medicine Stunts
This Will Ease the Pain. By making a Great Medicine roll a character can ignore a Mild Consequence Aspect for a scene.

The Cure for What Ails Ya. A character never has to spend a Fate Point to have medicines and tools on hand for regular medical treatment.


Navigation is the art of getting from point A to point B. The ability to find the party’s bearings in an unknown planet or mapping out jumps through the void to previously unexplored sections of the Frontier requires the Navigation skill.

Overcome: Navigation can be used to overcome being lost or disoriented.

Create Advantage: Navigation can create advantages for characters by giving them high ground or zones with good cover. Navigation can be easily used to create favorable terrain Aspects.

Attack: N/A
Defend: N/A

Navigation Stunts
Safe Harbor. A character can always find their way back to home base.

At Home Amongst the Stars. If a character has already made a jump on an interstellar route no roll is necessary to repeat the same jump in the future.

Star Frontiers Fate Core Hack! - Skills



Skills

I have been working on this hack for a while now and have had the idea in my head since I was introduced to Fate. This is one of my nostalgic favorites. I often look back on it and remember the good times, but when I pick it up again I can't help but be repulsed by the horridly primitive game system. Yet, I loved the game world and the space opera feel of the setting. Perfect fodder for a Fate Core hack right? Here is how I am going to work out Skills. I am trying to approach this in a way that keeps the general feel of the original game while still maintaining the consistency of Fate.

The handling of Skills in Star Frontiers Fate Core is perhaps the greatest departure from the basic Fate Core system. The original Alpha Dawn system ran off of PSAs or Primary Skill Areas. Players could choose from four PSAs, Military, Biosocial, Spacer and Technical. (Spacer representing the skill sets laid out in Knight Hawks.)

In Star Frontiers - Fate Core, the PSA is represented as an Approach, similar to those found in Fate Accelerated Edition. The PSA not only provides a bonus, but it also provides a contextual approach that represents how a character was trained.

With the use of the PSA Approaches, there is a distinct difference between a Biosocial Character using the Navigation skill to move through an alien jungle and a Spacer character using the same skill to navigate a Void Jump.

Mechanically this works by providing a +1 bonus to a roll with any skill that can be justified as being part of a PSA. For example, if a player wishes to use the Fight skill to attack someone and has the Military PSA Approach the skill would be rolled with its skill value +1. As characters attain milestones they can change PSA’s, have two PSA’s at a +1 or add a +1 to their existing PSA value (Max +2).


PSAs can also be used on their own to perform actions like Create Advantage or Overcome at a bonus equal to their PSA rating. Rarely will they be used to Attack or Defend outside of special circumstances which may occur.

Because of the PSA overlay Skills will be capped at 4 making the maximum Skill bonus 6.

Military PSA – Means your character picks up militant skills quickly and easily. Military skills include use of weaponry and setting and removing demolitions charges (Crafts Skill).

Biosocial PSA – Means your character is good with people and their environments. People with the biosocial primary skill area are good with biology, medicine, and how such biological beings interact with their environments around them.

Technological PSA – Means your character is good with technology in all of its forms, from computers to robots to vehicles.

Spacer PSA – Means your character is particularly adept at space travel and the use of all the equipment found on board a starship. They are also particularly adept at maneuvering in zero and low gravity environments.

Otherwise, players choose skills using the Skill Pyramid listed on page 46 of the Fate Core book.

Extras - Adding complexity but for all the right reasons

It would almost seem to me that FATE Core has nearly ruined my life. Ok, that is a bit of an exaggeration, but if I start calculating the amount of time I have spent tooling around with FATE once I got my hands on it, I can truthfully say that it has become somewhat of an obsession. When I got my hands on the Toolkit, the problem became worse. What can I say, I love playing with this game system because it gets my creative juices flowing and it stimulates my puzzle solving brain meat centers.

+Wil Hutton‘s post about +Jacob Poss‘ post on a Blue Planet hack along with some other Google+ posts with +Craig Hatler  about equipment conversions to FATE have brought a question to the forefront of my mind. How much is too much when it comes to Extras? In other words, how many layers of complexity can we add to a game in the name of “feel” or “flavor” before we muddle the fractal too much and detract from game play?

FATE is designed to be minimalist and transparent. You can see from +Mike Olson ‘s posts about his upcoming Thrilling FATE that if you break the system down to its very bones, you have Aspects, Consequences/Troubles and Stunts. FATE can simply run off those three things with little difficulty, even with the omission of Stunts. At times, going this route actually opens things up more than creating individual rules for things. It is simply up to the players and GM to construct stories around the narrative “aspects” they bring to play, but it’s also up to them to create a consensus on what those elements represent.

This made me ask myself, “to what extent do rules fuel feel?” My gaming background is filled with games like Shadowrun, Mechwarrior, Dungeons and Dragons and Mekton Zeta. These games are not rules light. In fact some of them are at their core, tactical simulations as much as they are role playing games if not more so. To a certain extent I kind of like rules crunchy games. Not so much because it gives me clear boundaries to work within, but because it created a firm idea of the impact certain things had on the setting. It created a contextual uniformity to the world which gave it a very specific feel. A general consensus on the feel of a game became inherent in the rules set and required little investment on the part of the players to determine.

That is why world building in FATE is so critical. When the group is involved in creating the setting for the story, that consensus is generated up front. But what happens when you are dealing with a conversion of an already fully realized setting like Blue Planet? It’s up to the “hacker” to decide to use rules to create context and consensus or rely on the players’ knowledge and creativity to drive that feel.

Extras can provide some form of context to elements in your story. To me, that’s the best way to view them. Transhumanism is a big part of Blue Planet. Having Extras that bring Transhumanism to the forefront provide players with built in options to explore that theme within the game. The inherent value to creating these Extras is fairly clear. That’s what it’s all about, understanding that Extras are only necessary if they provide value to your story in some way. They provide pre-packaged Aspects or Stunts that establish story elements that bring your characters into the context of established game themes. If an Extra does not provide that, it should simply be represented as a standalone Aspect of a character, scene or story.

Musings on Stunts for FAE and FATE Core. Plus a bonus guest appearance by Dr. Byron Orpheus

I really enjoyed working up the FAE version of Brock Samson. It was super fun, but I got the feeling that some people thought that his Stunts were a little too powerful. I am inclined to disagree. For example on page 31 of the FAE book:

"Because I [describe some way that you are exceptional, have a cool bit of gear, or are otherwise awesome], I get a +2 when I [pick one: Carefully, Cleverly, Flashily, Forcefully, Quickly, Sneakily] [pick one: attack, defend, create advantages, overcome] when [describe a circumstance]."

or

Because Brock's skill with a knife borders on the supernatural, he gets a +2 when he uses Forceful to attack with a knife.

That one is straight out of the book.

The second Stunt I admitted was a bit powerful. I omitted the "once per game session" portion of the formula. Instead I provided two limitations. This Stunt only works on Contests. Not Challenges or Conflicts. I also set the limitation that it only works on Henchmen. Otherwise Brock is pretty much always going to show up a Henchman. Which really isn't that big a deal. To me it just omits some book keeping.

In FAE and FATE Core, stunts are intended to be very open ended in their construction. The game gives you some basic structure on how to create them, but I believe that the vagueries that are left are intentional. Building Stunts in FATE Core is more complex with a lot more options than FAE, which leaves even more of this aspect of character creation up to you.

In FATE the creation of Stunts is perhaps the most labor intensive part of character creation. Why? Because it has the highest likelihood of being game breaking. This is why it takes some careful cooperation between the players and the GM. What has to be kept in mind is that the Stunts themselves should not be limited by what it says in a book but should be molded to fit the creative style of the stories you want to tell. A superhero story is going to have RADICALLY different stunt limitations than a hard boiled detective tale. Context is everything when dealing with stunts and they should be judged more by the setting and character they are designed to portray than some judgment of mechanical utility or balance.

That being said, on with the show! (I am not doing these characters in any particular order. Brock and the good Doctor O happen to be my favorite characters in the show.)

Name: Dr. Byron Orpheus

Description: Tall and slender wearing black and white striped pants and a red coat with a long dark purple cloak held closed by a gold and ruby pendant. Grey  haired with a grey goatee.

Aspects

High Concept

Master of Mysticism. A self prescribed moniker used by Dr. Orpheus as he describes himself before entering battle along side the members of the Order of the Triad. Although is PhD is in communications with a minor in women's studies, Dr. Orpheus is a powerful sorcerer and necromancer with a broad range of abilities including creating fireballs, teleportation, astral projection, lethal energy blasts, telekinesis, lightning projection, mind control, mind reading, flight, shrinking, making his opponent's body parts vanish, and of course, raising the dead (duh, necromancer),

Trouble

Cuckold husband and single father.  Dr. Orpheus is dedicated to his work maintaining the unknowable safety net keeps your soft pink insignificance from plunging eternally towards oblivion. His job sir, is to repair that net. It's a pretty big job and it has cost Byron just about everything. Formerly married to the sorceress known as Tatiana, and father to a young daughter named Triana, Dr. Orpheus lost it all to the persistent advances of a younger Necromancer named The Outrider. Burdened by the loss of a woman he still loves and left to raise his daughter on his own, Dr. Orpheus struggles to cope with his own inadequacies and deep resentment of the choices and sacrifices he has made.

My Pumpkin's maiden head is not a PRIZE! Dr. O is very protective of his young daughter Triana, who seems to have him pretty much wrapped around her little finger. She is "Wicked Hot" and extremely precocious. She manages to sometimes attract the inappropriate attention of older men like Peter White. More than anything he wants his daughter to lead a safe and normal life, free from the freakish and bizarre lifestyle that his lead Dr. Orpheus through a road of loneliness and misery. Despite this, Triana will eventually chose to move away with her mom and begin her studies as a Sorceress.

To perceive and control the delicate arrangements of the cosmos. Dr. Orpheus has worked his entire life to be able to perceive the second world. He holds incredible power and the ability to manipulate forces with the power of his own mind. With the guidance of his Master, a shape shifting spiritual entity from the "Necropolis" whose portal exists in Triana's closet, Dr. Orpheus could very well be one of the most powerful sorcerers on earth.

Founding member of the Order of the Triad. When Dr. Orpheus got approved by the Guild of Calamitous Intent for an official Arching, he was approved for a team membership. Quickly, Dr. Orpheus put together his old team, the Order of the Triad. Consisting of himself, The Alchemist, seeker of truth and Jefferson Twilight, Blackula Hunter, the Triad was matched with the arch villain Torrid. Together they fight to gaze upon the impenetrable, behold to the impossible and smooth the wrinkles in the fabric of the very reality we exist upon!

Approaches

• Careful 2
• Clever 2
• Flashy 3
• Forceful 0
• Quick 1
• Sneaky 1

Stunts

If I reach behind your ear, it will not be a nickel I pull out, but your very soul!

Because Dr. Orpheus is a Master Sorcerer, he gets a +2 when using Flashy to Create and Advantage using a magic spell.

Tricks! How dare you. With just a thought I could rise into the air. I could incinerate this entire lab, make you believe you are a very special episode of BLOSSOM, and shoot lighting from my hands!

Dr. Orpheus can choose to Flashy for Conflicts and Challenges instead of Forceful when using his sorcery.