Post by Midnight on Nov 21, 2016 8:48:47 GMT -5
FATE. I've played it a few times. I've run it a few times but it looks like I'll never get to run it again. I really like the system but it just isn't your typical game. For most of us brought up on D&D and other very "crunch" heavy games, FATE is a different and strange animal. I've run it 3 times now with 2 different groups and once at a convention and each time it is the same response. "Too rules light." Too much feeling that the GM hand waves everything. Too much demand on the players in getting involved in creating the story.
Players seem to want more structure. More situation / response type events and don't really want to spend time coming up with stuff of their own.
Sigh! It's too bad as FATE really is a neat system which can handle anything.
WhiteWolf
I'm finding that I'm having issues with a few of your statements above regarding Fate.
Let's start with you last assertion "Sigh! It's too bad as FATE really is a neat system which can handle anything."
No it really can't, even the authors have said there are things that Fate does not do well
Ryan Macklin Wrote: - To the people who say “It can do everything!” no, it can’t. Fate has a particular player dynamic and information economy that lends itself better to some types of play than others, much like how you can use a Leatherman multitool — which can cut things and screw in things and file things down — to bang a nail in, but that’s gonna take more effort and result in something less optimal than using a hammer.
Understand that when Leonard Balsera and I were sitting down to start the rewrite of Fate Core, we took this idea as a feature. We accepted that survival horror (where characters aren’t especially empowered), gritty combat (better executed by systems that give a damn about equipment), intense mysteries (where all the information creation is in the GM’s hands) are not strong suits in Fate. They can be done in Fate, so long as you also understand that Fate’s own sensibilities will twist them.
Understand that when Leonard Balsera and I were sitting down to start the rewrite of Fate Core, we took this idea as a feature. We accepted that survival horror (where characters aren’t especially empowered), gritty combat (better executed by systems that give a damn about equipment), intense mysteries (where all the information creation is in the GM’s hands) are not strong suits in Fate. They can be done in Fate, so long as you also understand that Fate’s own sensibilities will twist them.
As it say in the rules It is designed for games where Characters are : Proactive, Competent, and Dramatic.
So lets take those one at a time:
Proactive: Fate character's have a wide array of skills and abilities at their disposal and they're gonna find a way to use them to solve the problems / Issues that seem to plague their lives for some mysterious reason... Dag-nabbit
Competent: Character's In Fate are the right people for the Job ... They actually have enough skill and power to effect the world around them, in a significant way. They're not hapless rubes in way over their heads hoping to just eek out a pyrrhic victory or survive to see another day. They get stuff done!!
Dramatic: Fate Character's are victims of the infamous Chinese curse "May you live in interesting times". Their fictional lives are plagued with the amazing victories and crushing defeats. Heroic Virtues that set them apart from the hoi palloi and equally Tragic Flaws that can and will seriously complicate their lives. Thing do not always go smoothly for them, Murphy's Law seems to affect them more than most but they are equipped to rise above Good l'Murphy's Machinations. Most of all they are very Human.
All that being said these are EXACTALLY the kind of character I love to play, and play with !!!
Hence why Gritty Survival Horror would not really work cause the character in those types of tales tend to lack one of the essential elements required of fate characters. This However does leave the door open to a great deal of stories that Fate will do exceedingly well !!!
The second point I want to discuss is your statement that "FATE is a different and strange animal", after digesting the Fate Engine (in it's various incarnations. From Sotc to Fate Core ) I really don't see that much difference between it and some of the more traditional RPG's we've played. The base concepts remain the same it really just the labels and presentation of these concepts that have been "redecorated".
How does it feel like a different and Strange animal to you ?
Your third point about Fate is that Player's report that Fate is too rules lite and is built out of "Handwavium"(tm) for them. I personally have never found that to be true, In fact I put it in the rules medium camp, along with D&D 5th Edition and Savage worlds. What about fate do you think has lead your players tp these particular conclusion?
I invite everybody to weigh in on this discussion.
I'm not a fate Fan-boy by a long shot but I do really like the system.
I think the trapping and terminology is what scare's people away.
Midnight