Today, I was browsing through the FATE System Toolkit and discovered the section on scaling the stress tracks. Then it suddenly became clear what I need to do. Humans don't have stress tracks at all. If they are Supporting or Major NPCs, they take consequences right from the start. If they are mooks, they are taken out immediately. In FAE a mob of mooks would have a standard stress track. In FATE Core mooks would still get the supporting bonus. But if they take even a single point of stress, they are taken out.
Vampires on the other hand will have stress tracks, and probably complications acting as a blood supply, as suggested by one comment. Not sure how to go about this. The stress track of course represents the ability to shake of minor (and not so minor) damage. The complications will power the stunts and allow the vampires to get additional bonuses for physical feats.
Monday, July 22, 2013
Monday, July 8, 2013
Fate, Blood & Seven Sins: Continuing the Work
I am starting to itch for my go-to-game Vampire: The Requiem, when reading "Reap the Whirlwind", the FreeRPG Day starter kit for Vampire: The Requiem 1.5 called "Blood & Smoke: The Strix Chronicles". But I don't really care for the rules update in God Machine Chronicle. It seems to be a bit excessive compared to the leaner versions of Vampire: The Masquerade and Vampire: The Requiem. Also, I have a long-running chronicle (8.5 years) that shouldn't have a radical switch of rules after such a long time.
But then I remembered my first steps with Fate, Blood & Seven Sins. Back then it was based on White Picket Witches, but before my first playtest I switched to FAE. The first playtest was ho-hum. The player feedback was: you didn't notice that you were a vampire. The playtesters had a lot of experience playing vampire, and the said there should probably be some mechanic to remind you who you are. They said, there was no blood pool of any sorts, nothing to really get you to hunt for blood at all. Something they think is very elementary for the vampire experience. A bit disheartened, I put the design away to be pulled out later. Now I feel later has come around.
Today, I re-read Duncan Bain's blog post on The Thirst by accident. My game needs something similar as the Thirst. Maybe something called the Hunger, which would be nice since there is a vampire movie with Bowie, Sarandon and Deneuve by the same name.
Also this got me thinking. In his Shadowrun 2050 hack for FATE Core, Rob Wieland calls out stunts as spells or as cyberware. In my first attempt, I created the vampiric powers close to the spells from White Picket Witches. But since the stat I associated with these spell-like powers was Age, the players kept failing their activation rolls. Therefore, I am thinking of doing it differently this time. Maybe I'll call out certain stunts as "Powers" or "Dark Gifts" or something like that. These stunts emulate the supernatural powers, work like real stunts (i.e. no activation roll) and you get to have a maximum of Age+X of them. But because you are a vampire, you have to take at least two. Not sure about their power level though. If they work on the same level like regular stunts, they won't feel very vampiric. One way would be to rule that mortals do not get to take any stunts in this game, thus de-powering them compared to vampires. Another way would mean stronger stunts. Stunts that don't balance with other stunts. But I am not so sure I like this. Having only vampires (and maybe other supernaturals) with stunts creates an immediate divide between ordinary humans and vampires. Also, I can still keep the traditional stunt structure in place... hm... on the other hand, the Extras chapter in FATE Core nicely details how stunts can be double or triple-strength. Need to do some more thinking on that. Suggestions welcome.
The next thing to consider: standard vampiric powers as portrayed in popular TV series like Vampire Diaries or True Blood should be baked into the character from the beginning. Things like supernatural strength, speed and resilience (except towards sunlight) should be available to any vampire. Maybe relative strength based on Age, as this seems to be a common denominator when watching or reading about them in a modern context. Using those abilities might kindle the Hunger (much like described in The Thirst). Still need to decide how Age plays into this, how Hunger is handled (e.g. as separate stress track, as mental stress or something else, but stress seems to be a good way to do this).
The last item to consider is mythology and origin. With Vampire City there is already a game out there that allows you to custom build your vampires, their origins, the social structure and so on. Then, there is Vampire: The Masquerade. One of the strongest aspects of that setting was the involved and complex mythology surrounding the Kindred, as well as the easy to grasp war between two vampiric groups. When looking at Vampire Diaries and True Blood, then personally I found the stories involving the origins very fascinating. Same with reading "The Queen of the Damned". In the end I am torn between creating a toolbox that can be used to create a variety of vampire settings or creating a firm background on what it means to be a vampire in my game.
Expect to see some solutions to various quandaries I've pointed out in the not too far future.
But then I remembered my first steps with Fate, Blood & Seven Sins. Back then it was based on White Picket Witches, but before my first playtest I switched to FAE. The first playtest was ho-hum. The player feedback was: you didn't notice that you were a vampire. The playtesters had a lot of experience playing vampire, and the said there should probably be some mechanic to remind you who you are. They said, there was no blood pool of any sorts, nothing to really get you to hunt for blood at all. Something they think is very elementary for the vampire experience. A bit disheartened, I put the design away to be pulled out later. Now I feel later has come around.
Today, I re-read Duncan Bain's blog post on The Thirst by accident. My game needs something similar as the Thirst. Maybe something called the Hunger, which would be nice since there is a vampire movie with Bowie, Sarandon and Deneuve by the same name.
Also this got me thinking. In his Shadowrun 2050 hack for FATE Core, Rob Wieland calls out stunts as spells or as cyberware. In my first attempt, I created the vampiric powers close to the spells from White Picket Witches. But since the stat I associated with these spell-like powers was Age, the players kept failing their activation rolls. Therefore, I am thinking of doing it differently this time. Maybe I'll call out certain stunts as "Powers" or "Dark Gifts" or something like that. These stunts emulate the supernatural powers, work like real stunts (i.e. no activation roll) and you get to have a maximum of Age+X of them. But because you are a vampire, you have to take at least two. Not sure about their power level though. If they work on the same level like regular stunts, they won't feel very vampiric. One way would be to rule that mortals do not get to take any stunts in this game, thus de-powering them compared to vampires. Another way would mean stronger stunts. Stunts that don't balance with other stunts. But I am not so sure I like this. Having only vampires (and maybe other supernaturals) with stunts creates an immediate divide between ordinary humans and vampires. Also, I can still keep the traditional stunt structure in place... hm... on the other hand, the Extras chapter in FATE Core nicely details how stunts can be double or triple-strength. Need to do some more thinking on that. Suggestions welcome.
The next thing to consider: standard vampiric powers as portrayed in popular TV series like Vampire Diaries or True Blood should be baked into the character from the beginning. Things like supernatural strength, speed and resilience (except towards sunlight) should be available to any vampire. Maybe relative strength based on Age, as this seems to be a common denominator when watching or reading about them in a modern context. Using those abilities might kindle the Hunger (much like described in The Thirst). Still need to decide how Age plays into this, how Hunger is handled (e.g. as separate stress track, as mental stress or something else, but stress seems to be a good way to do this).
The last item to consider is mythology and origin. With Vampire City there is already a game out there that allows you to custom build your vampires, their origins, the social structure and so on. Then, there is Vampire: The Masquerade. One of the strongest aspects of that setting was the involved and complex mythology surrounding the Kindred, as well as the easy to grasp war between two vampiric groups. When looking at Vampire Diaries and True Blood, then personally I found the stories involving the origins very fascinating. Same with reading "The Queen of the Damned". In the end I am torn between creating a toolbox that can be used to create a variety of vampire settings or creating a firm background on what it means to be a vampire in my game.
Expect to see some solutions to various quandaries I've pointed out in the not too far future.
Saturday, June 22, 2013
FAE with Aspects and No Approaches
Just a short article today on using FAE without approaches. The idea of FATE with just aspects and stunts has been floating around the internet for some time. Taking FAE as a basis this could be accomplished quite easily, by removing approaches from the game. Instead, each character aspect gains a rating:
When you are asked to roll, you select the appropriate aspect and roll with its rating. If your trouble applies, you have to roll at terrible (-2). FATE points can be used as usual to invoke and compel aspects. So, if you are rolling your " Sole Mage-Priest of the Moon Goddess" aspect at good (+3), you can still invoke the same aspect to get an additional +2 to the roll. You can even invoke your trouble aspect, in case you think it'll help.
Stunts templates will drop the approach from their wording and it is probably a good idea to limit the circumstances in which it applies some more, as without approaches stunts become more broadly applicable. Thus the stunt template for the +2 bonus would look like this:
Milestones will also change a bit:
In FAEntasy I could see this hack working. The high concept aspect and some other aspects are based in your classes. Thus, getting rid of approaches will tie your character concept to a rating, kind of like the approaches as classes that I initially proposed.
- High Concept: Good (+3)
- Trouble: Terrible (-2)
- All other aspects: Average (+1)
When you are asked to roll, you select the appropriate aspect and roll with its rating. If your trouble applies, you have to roll at terrible (-2). FATE points can be used as usual to invoke and compel aspects. So, if you are rolling your " Sole Mage-Priest of the Moon Goddess" aspect at good (+3), you can still invoke the same aspect to get an additional +2 to the roll. You can even invoke your trouble aspect, in case you think it'll help.
Stunts templates will drop the approach from their wording and it is probably a good idea to limit the circumstances in which it applies some more, as without approaches stunts become more broadly applicable. Thus the stunt template for the +2 bonus would look like this:
"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: attack, defend, create advantages, overcome], when [describe a circumstance]."
Milestones will also change a bit:
- Minor milestones allow you to switch the ratings between two aspects as long as it is not your high concept or or trouble aspect instead of allowing you to switch ratings between two approaches.
- Significant milestones allow you to raise the rating of an aspect by one, as long as it is not your trouble aspect. No aspect may be raised to a higher rating than the high concept aspect. The high concept aspect may be raised as high as superb (+5).
- Major milestones will remain unchanged.
In FAEntasy I could see this hack working. The high concept aspect and some other aspects are based in your classes. Thus, getting rid of approaches will tie your character concept to a rating, kind of like the approaches as classes that I initially proposed.
Thursday, June 20, 2013
FAEntasy: Magic
Finally, we are getting to another interesting bit of the rules. As a means of diving into the mechancis, I am going to tackle the five questions that the magic toolkit tells us to ask of magic. As source material, I'll consider the original game and include some comments on Old School+ games.
Note: FAEntasy assumes you are using the red dice and blue dice rules for weapons and armor from the FATE Toolkit. Why? Because I think it is cool.
1. Tone: In the original source material, magic is neutral force that can be used for good and evil. Usually this is reinforced by having a neutral goddess (or rarely, god) present in the setting. Magic is also usually divided into divine magic available to clerics and arcane magic available to wizards and their like. In some Old School+ games, arcane magic is portrayed as a source of chaos, while divine magic is seen as a force of order or law. In FAEntasy the tone will determine how you cast your magic. Are doing it carefully like a cleric (or druid), flashy like a bard, forcefully like a sorcerer or clever like a wizard?
2. Costs: Magic is tiresome, slowly wearing the wizard out, until he can't cast anymore spells. At least the associated fiction talked about magic in those terms. In game terms, the wizard or cleric ran out of spells sooner or later. For FAEntasy, this means that casting spells and using magic causes stress (and maybe consequences). For now lets say: each spell causes the caster exactly one stress. This may not seem like much, but remember: there is oly one level-1 stress box.
3. Limits: Arcane magic usually cannot heal people, but is devastating when attacking. Divine magic on the other hand is quite handy for healing people, damaging and destroying the undead or protecting someone from harm, but not as powerful on the attack. These limits translate into a number of rules for FAEntasy magic:
4. Availability: Magic is usually not part of everyday live. But there are temples around and wizards for hire. So you can expect at least a couple of spellcasters to be part of an adventuring party, but hiring one is still not cheap, depending on services requested. I'd suggest at least a Great (+4) difficulty when seeking help at a temple or tower. The more difficult the magic sought, the higher the difficulty goes.
5. Source: Here some campaigns diverge wildly. It could be planes of negative and positive energy, an invisible web of power stretching over the land, growing things, pure chaos, the gods & deities or your own inner conviction.
This is it. These are the basic rules for FAEntasy magic. In the coming posts I am going to elaborate further on divine and arcane magic.
Note: FAEntasy assumes you are using the red dice and blue dice rules for weapons and armor from the FATE Toolkit. Why? Because I think it is cool.
1. Tone: In the original source material, magic is neutral force that can be used for good and evil. Usually this is reinforced by having a neutral goddess (or rarely, god) present in the setting. Magic is also usually divided into divine magic available to clerics and arcane magic available to wizards and their like. In some Old School+ games, arcane magic is portrayed as a source of chaos, while divine magic is seen as a force of order or law. In FAEntasy the tone will determine how you cast your magic. Are doing it carefully like a cleric (or druid), flashy like a bard, forcefully like a sorcerer or clever like a wizard?
2. Costs: Magic is tiresome, slowly wearing the wizard out, until he can't cast anymore spells. At least the associated fiction talked about magic in those terms. In game terms, the wizard or cleric ran out of spells sooner or later. For FAEntasy, this means that casting spells and using magic causes stress (and maybe consequences). For now lets say: each spell causes the caster exactly one stress. This may not seem like much, but remember: there is oly one level-1 stress box.
3. Limits: Arcane magic usually cannot heal people, but is devastating when attacking. Divine magic on the other hand is quite handy for healing people, damaging and destroying the undead or protecting someone from harm, but not as powerful on the attack. These limits translate into a number of rules for FAEntasy magic:
- Arcane magic cannot restore consequences.
- Divine magic can restore consequences or rather speed-up healing. With a Fair (+2) result, a cleric can completely heal a mild consequence. With a Great (+4) result, she can turn a moderate consequence into a mild consequence. With a Fantastic (+6) result, a severe consequence can be turned into a moderate consequence. Successive castings can heal grievious consequences.
- Divine magic can resurrect people, but it is Legendary (+8) difficulty and the cleric will take an extreme consequence twisting one of his aspects, except the hight concept aspect.
- By taking additional stress, an arcane mage can turn normal fate dice into red dice when directly attacking with his magic. The maximum number of dice he can swap is equal to his casting approach.
- Clerics can only do that, when attacking the undead.
- By taking additional stress, any spellcaster can turn normal fate dice into blue dice, when directly defending against an attack that causes stress. The maximum number of dice he can swap is equal to his casting approach.
- Apart from these rules, magic can be used to either create an advantage, overcome an obstacle, attack or defend according to the normal rules for the four actions in FAE.
4. Availability: Magic is usually not part of everyday live. But there are temples around and wizards for hire. So you can expect at least a couple of spellcasters to be part of an adventuring party, but hiring one is still not cheap, depending on services requested. I'd suggest at least a Great (+4) difficulty when seeking help at a temple or tower. The more difficult the magic sought, the higher the difficulty goes.
5. Source: Here some campaigns diverge wildly. It could be planes of negative and positive energy, an invisible web of power stretching over the land, growing things, pure chaos, the gods & deities or your own inner conviction.
This is it. These are the basic rules for FAEntasy magic. In the coming posts I am going to elaborate further on divine and arcane magic.
Wednesday, June 19, 2013
FAEntasy: Races as Aspects & Stunts
The fantastic races will be done mainly as aspects. Below you'll find some quick and handy description of the races. Each race contains some ideas on invoking the race for a bonus or reroll. Those ideas can easily be turned into stunts to make them available more often and more reliably, but they don't have to. In terms of FATE Core Extras, each race is an extra with an aspect as permission. Usually, this aspect should be part of your high concept. Yes, that means that for some invokes you'll have to decide, if you want to lean on your class or your race. Remember that each aspect may only be invoked once per roll.
Hint: You might want to have other aspects relating to your race and/or class, so you can gain a bigger benefit out of them.
Note: These are just examples to get you started.
Hint: You might want to have other aspects relating to your race and/or class, so you can gain a bigger benefit out of them.
Note: These are just examples to get you started.
Dwarven Aspects
- Invoke to defend against poison or magic, to detect odd and unusual things about stonework, to attack or defend with axes, to attack or defend against orcs, goblinoids or giants, when appraising or crafting objects.
- Compel when confronted with orcs, goblinoids or giants, to argue with an elf, when outdoors, to covet gold and other riches.
Elven Aspects
- Invoke to see in the dark, to attack or defend with swords, to attack with bows, to defend against enchantments, to notice things, to remember events from a hundred years ago.
- Compel to defend the forest, to feel and behave superior to humans, to get into an argument with dwarves, to take the long view on things.
Gnome Aspects
- Invoke to see in the dark, to defend against illusions, when small size is a benefit, to attack and defend against kobolds and goblinoids, to listen well, to defend against giants, to craft illusions, to brew potions.
- Compel when small size is a disadvantage (and other gnomish stuff, never cared much about them).
Half-elven Aspects
- Invoke to see in the dark, to defend against enchantments, to notice things, to get along with others, when being an elf or human is an advantage.
- Compel for feeling as an outcast from humans and elves, to be subject to prejudice from humans and elves, to react badly to those prejudices, when being an elf or human is a disadvantage.
Half-orc Aspects
- Invoke to rage against your enemies, to be a hulking brute, when being an orc is an advantage.
- Compel when in polite society, when confronted with prejudice, when being an orc is a disadvantage.
Halfling Aspects
- Invoke to to see in the dark, when small size is an advantage, to be fearless, to do sneaky stuff and thievery (it took only one halfling to ruin the reputation of a whole race), to remain hidden and unseen.
- Compel when leaving the characters comfort zone, for breakfast, when small size is a disadvantage.