I’ve come to Fate in
the last few years. I’d begun playing with the mechanics just before the Fate
Core Kickstarter launched. Now I’ve run it online and f2f, and I’ve adapted
several Fate elements into our long-running homebrew, Action Cards. Since Fate Core’s arrival, it has been well supported
by Evil Hat and third-party publishers. I’ve put this list together to help new
players figure out what’s available for the system and what they need to buy.
I’ve broken this
into several parts, beginning with the core rulebooks. I then look at other
Fate Core products from Evil Hat (and the Fate Core Kickstarter) and secondary
resources and products. After that I examine several third party settings in
detail, focusing on those available both in print & electronically. Finally
I look at pdf products (settings and rules) and potentially useful Fate
products from earlier editions. I’ve made some arbitrary distinctions here, so
some products might be under a different umbrella. I’ve undoubtedly missed some
as well; comments and suggestions appreciated. I’ll try to update this every
few months. Also, though I mention it later under Online Resources, I need to
give another shout-out to the Fate Roleplaying Game SRD site. It has the best
online support for Fate players new and old.
What Is Fate?
Fate is a universal
rpg, like GURPS, Savage Worlds, or Hero System. It offers a more abstract
approach to than those systems. Fate builds on the earlier Fudge System and has
had several editions/ evolutions. It uses a set of unique dice- six siders with
0, +, and – sides (2 each). Rolling a set of four yields a value from +4 to -4,
with most results in the middle. A 2d6 variant is possible, subtracting one die
from the other, but it offers more swingy results. Players generally roll dice
for actions, add a value (skill or approach), and compare it to the
opposition’s value. Fate gives players several ways to affect and modify
dice results after rolling.
That’s the basic
resolution mechanic, but what actually goes on in the game? Different players
will have different takeaways about that. Here’s what’s interesting and
important to me:
- Fate builds on simple concepts to define characters: Skills, Aspects, Stunts, Stress, and Extras. These can be easily tweaked and changed. Most operate with an elemental principle, making it easy for players and GM to tweak.
- A few skills can define a setting. Players usually add skill values to die rolls. The pool of skills for Fate can be tight: 18 for base Fate, 14 for Atomic Robo, and 6 for Fate Accelerated. These connect to the four actions: Overcome, Create an Advantage, Attack, and Defend. That mechanic makes it easy to figure out what a skill can do.
- Aspects are awesome. These are descriptors for a person, place, or thing. They have a quick and easy mechanical effect in play. When you “invoke” an aspect you can gain a +2, reroll dice results, or create an effect. Things like aspects on a scene (Stacks of Crates, Darkened Corners) encourage players to interact with the environment. Trouble Aspects operate like disadvantages or flaws in other systems, but offer more player control and actual utility at the table. Other games use aspects as well, but I appreciate how tightly they’re baked into Fate’s structure.
- Fate’s damage system makes for colorful results and hard choices. Damage is called Stress and has two tracks: physical and mental. The abstract nature of Fate means many different kinds of conflict can happen using the same base procedures. When players take stress, they have deal with it immediately through marking a box off their stress track and/or taking consequences. Consequences are essentially wound aspects which create problems as the fight drags on.
- You can easily craft different character roles and powers. Stunts are something like feats, talents or advantages in other systems. Fate has a simple set of options for defining these, making it simple to create new ones. Extras represent more potent or unusual special abilities. Fate’s abstraction means that these can be easily built from other parts of the system. If players want an effect for their character there’s a way to define these via collections or combinations of stunts, skills, or aspects.
- It doesn’t take me long to shift Fate to new campaigns. Like other Universal systems, you have to spend some time doing additional tooling to fit the game to the genre or setting you want to play. Fate makes that easy and builds in player collaboration to create campaigns from the start. That makes it easy to use out of the box, with just a few choices needed about how to handle niche elements like Magic, Powers, Cybernetics, and so on.
- Fate’s Bronze rule is that anything can be created and treated as a character: cities, plots, factions, obstacles, and so on. This means they can be defined with skills, aspects, stunts, and stress tracks. That’s a powerful tool for the GM in defining the world. It makes prep focused and simple, while allowing players to richly interact with these abstract ‘characters.’
Caveats: Fate
operates differently from many other games. Those accustomed to lighter rules
or more narrative games, might be unsure about how ‘present’ the mechanics are.
If you’re accustomed to games with more defined rules for cases and exceptions,
Fate can be hard to grok. It took me some time to finally get how Aspects
worked. The abstract mechanics can take getting used to. For example, some
gamers are comfortable with superpowers handled purely as aspects, while others
want a more rigid list of choices. This potentially means GMs have to negotiate
with players and tweak rules to get what they want. But that’s a fact of any
universal system and Fate offers a host of tools and examples for that. Another
stopper can be the Skill Pyramid. In my experience players can get annoyed/lost
with that. Fate also has a restrained system for character advancement. Some
players prefer characters get something after every session (exp, development
points). Finally, some people hate Fate dice. I’ve had that reaction in my
group.
The base book for Fate Core. This contains all the rules
needed to play. For simplicity’s sake I’m going to refer to this as the Core
book for this entry. Note that there’s another complete, but highly simplified
version of the Fate Core system available, Fate
Accelerated (see below).
The Core book offers a universal version of the system, not
tied to a setting or genre. Many examples use a generic fantasy backdrop, but
you can easily see how to adapt the system. After basic concepts, the rules
move to campaign creation- showing how players and the GM can collaboratively
decide the genre, tone, and issues for a campaign. This leads into character
creation chapter which the Core book emphasizes as its own play. Players
generate aspects for characters using the “Phase Trio.” Each creates a story for
their character and then passes it to the next player. They then add their role
in that tale. This connects players at the start, show who the characters are,
and aids in developing aspects.
The rules then move into chapters covering elements of the
characters: Aspects, Skills, and Stunts. It presents a streamlined set of 18
skills and three stunts associated with each. It presents clear mechanics for
adding more. That connects to the next section, Actions and Outcomes, which
covers resolution. Fate Core offers four kinds of actions. Overcome is the
broadest. Players use this when trying to get past an obstacle: climbing a
wall, investigating a crime scene, running a race. Opposition can be passive
with a set difficultly or active with an opponent rolling. Players use Create
an Advantage to add an aspect to
someone or something: setting traps, creating a good mood, finding weak spots
in a castle’s defenses, tripping an opponent. Finally Attack and Defend inflict
or protect from harm in conflicts. Different skills have different access to
these four actions. Levels of success affect results. Ties offer a small
advantage, while beating a target by 3 or more means Success with Style which
confers extra benefits.
These mechanics come
into play in Contests, Challenges, and Conflicts. Conflicts add mechanics for
Stress (damage) and Initiative. For conflicts with a spatial or relational set
up, Fate uses abstract zones to define the battlefield. A neat element of Fate conflicts
is Concessions. Badly hurt character can, before the dice are rolled, concede a
conflict. They’re taken out, but have a say in what happens to them. They lose,
but avoid truly terrible fates.
The rest of the Core
book presents advice on GMing Fate, character advancement, and extras (with examples).
The short version of all that is the Core book provides all the basics to play
Fate Core. It presents the material well, with plenty of example and sidebars.
The page design makes getting through the book easy and the consistent art
style sells the universal feel. I’d recommend this as the starting point for
getting into Fate. It’s reasonably priced for a hardcover ($25, or less online)
and available Pay What You Want as a pdf on RPGNow.
A condensed version of the Fate Core rules. There's some debate
about whether Fate Accelerated (FAE) should
be considered its own system. While it maintains Fate Core’s basic concepts, it
feels distinct to me. Some supplements specifically serve FAE and it has a separate
community on G+.
Fate Accelerated aims for speeding through character creation.
Rather than Skills, characters have scores in six different ‘Approaches’: Careful,
Clever, Flashy, Forceful, Quick, and Sneaky. When facing a challenge players can
suggest what approach they're taking and how it works with the situation. Some approaches
more obviously fit (Forceful perhaps for kicking a door in). But others can be applied
by providing appropriate narration. Picking the highest score approach might seem
logical, but the player and GM negotiate about what fits. Approaches by their nature
may have additional effects. For example, a Careful approach might take longer,
eating up valuable time. The rest of the system- Aspects, Stress, Action Types,
Consequences- remains intact but stripped down. FAE presents stunts via two Mad-Lib formulas, defining a +2 bonus to
a specific action or a cool thing they can do once per session.
FAE presents all of this in just 48 pages, including artwork,
reference sheets, GM advice, and sample characters. That's kind of amazing. The
simplicity stands out and it offers a great introduction for new gamers. The price
point and size means that it could be used to test the waters of the Fate with a
group. While it might be slim, FAE has proven robust. Players have hacked the mechanics
for many different settings and games. Approaches, for example, can reflect the
logic and dynamics of a setting, like classic D&D stats for a fantasy game.
Fate Accelerated's a solid game and lends
itself to on-the-fly adaptation. Most importantly there's a strong linkage between
Fate Core and FAE. That means supplements and materials for one can easily be ported
to the other.
This supplement, released in parallel with the Fate Core rules
offers tweaks, hacks, options, and examples for the system. Rather than feel like
a collection of things left out, The Toolkit comes across as kind of masterclass.
We have a gaggle of smart veteran GMs gathering to throw around variants & changes
and discuss the implications of those. The first several chapters look at the key
character elements: Aspects, Skills, and Stunts. These present new ways to handle
them and importantly discuss the impact of those changes on play. Other chapters
cover campaign design, niche events like chases & social conflict, playing out
combat, and beyond. A large section, 70+ pages, presents ideas for designing magic
systems. That includes five distinct examples. The final chapter lays out options for
many different sub-systems including Kung Fu, Cyberware, Gadgets, Monsters, Warfare,
Duels, Vehicles, Supers, and Horror.
Nothing in the Toolkit is essential to playing Fate
(Core or Accelerated). You don't get the sense that this material makes the base
rules feel unfinished. However GMs looking at how to reshape Fate to fit their style,
an existing property, or a particular genre will want to pick this up. It is a grab
bag and not everything will be useful for every GM. But the general models will
provide a great insight and inspiration.
Evil Hat has released two volumes of Fate Worlds- Volume One: Worlds
on Fire and Volume Two: Worlds in Shadow.
Each volume collects a half-dozen adventures, campaign settings, or genre frameworks.
How are these useful? First, they offer easy variant Fate settings GMs can use to
try out the system. Second, the authors have developed exciting and original universes,
worth playing in Fate or any other system. Third, they show how a GM can create
new and varied campaigns. Each plays with Fate's system for player interaction and
issues. GMs can pick up tricks from these slightly different approaches. Fourth,
several entries model new mechanical elements. We see new subsystems for mutations,
capers, superpowers, air combat, and a host of other concepts.
While all the entries are solid, each volume has some that hooked
me. Volume One's "White Picket Witches" offers a CW-esque supernatural
television drama. It hits the right beats and shows how to run a game of social
conflict with strong inter-group tension. "Fight Fire" presents a game
of Firefighters. That sounded unappealing to me (or at least difficult to model).
But this chapter gives a variety of mechanics and ideas on structuring these stories.
Now I'd love to run or play such a game. "Kriegzepplin Valkyrie" presents
a game of post-WW1 dramatic air-warfare. It has an great set of vehicle rules, as
well as ideas on how to tune Stunts to a particular setting.
Volume Two includes "Crimeworld" and you should
buy this. Written by a showrunner for Leverage, this offers advice for
running capers, heists, and con games at the table. While it's tuned to Fate, the
concepts could easily fit any rpg. If you're a GM who enjoys running these scenarios,
you ought to pick this up. "No Exit" takes on psychological horror. Some
(including myself) has suggest Fate's less useful for horror because of its focus
on player-empowerment. This set up works around that and shows how aspects can be
engines to explore and haunt the characters. "Camelot Trigger" has mecha
rules; nuff said.
A complete, stand-alone version of Fate Core covering the Atomic
Robo comic universe. It's a large, solid book with incredible layout and illustrations.
Most importantly it captures the feel of the original comics and the emphasis on
"Action Science." That's a modern pulp with high pseudo-science weirdness.
Atomic Robo takes a streamlined approach
to mechanics, rearranging and paring the skill system. It emphasizes on-the-fly
character creation in stunts, aspects, and skills. It also brings several new or
tweaked mechanics to the game: brainstorming, factions, organizations. Atomic Robo shows how Fate can simulate a
particular genre. As well, it offers some of the best examples of play. Recommended
if you're interested in the comic or the idea of modern pulp. You can see my review here. The One-Shot Podcast has some actual play here.
As of this writing, Evil Hat has released five “Worlds of Adventure,”
supported by a Patreon project. Each offers a unique campaign sourcebook. After
their release through Patreon, they're available Pay-What-You-Want through RPGNow.
They're well-done and offer GMs an easy campaign to bring to the table. All are
worth looking at for GMs interested in what they can do with Fate. Chronologically
these are:
- Venture City Stories: Presents superhero setting of ambiguous morality. Includes a new and useful approach to superpowers. My full review here. Significantly shorter than later entries in this series.
- The Secrets of Cats: A world where empowered cats secretly use their talents to protect helpless humans. Includes a setting, magic system, and unique stunts. Comes with a sample adventures.
- Save Game: A strikingly illustrated campaign where players take the roles of characters from forgotten video games. In a retro world of information they battle against an evil glitch. Includes cool mechanics modelling video game elements via skills and stunts. Adventure/campaign presented.
- The Aether Sea: For FAE. Fantasy sailing ships in space. Riffs on games like Spelljammer, but keeps a classic fantasy feeling. Includes a magic system and rules for building and handling ships in play. Sample adventure.
- Romance in the Air: Romance and drama meet skyships and turn of the century events. I especially like the description of it as Last Exile meets Downton Abbey. Offering cool twists on skills as well as a vehicle system. Includes an extensive grand tour adventure/campaign.
- Psychedemia: Future teen psychics live in a military academy and explore a mental overworld. Simplified and interesting skill system, with nice emphasis on 'school' social politics. Simple psychic rules. The game includes a well defined campaign frame/adventure with a distinct goal.
FATE ADD-ONS
There are several unique secondary products for Fate. Generally
each player will need a set of Fate Dice. Evil Hat and other manufacturers produce
these. They can also be found listed as “Fudge Dice.” The Deck of Fate is a set of cards to use as a Fate randomizer. This 96-card
deck includes cards covering the distribution of result across the dice, as well
as inspirational phrases. Two sub-sets can be used for generating random approach
values for Fate Accelerated or aspect
starting points for any character. Finally, Campaign Coins
has created a set of special Fate tokens in several styles and colors.
FATE SOURCEBOOKS
Three projects came out in conjunction with the Fate Core Kickstarter,
each tuned to a different campaign setting. The Fate edition of The Day After Ragnarok presents Kite Hite's post-apocalyptic mythic pulp-action
take on an alternate 1940's. It has examples of character archetype templates and
shows how an existing setting can be broken down via Fate, with campaign styles
and related issues. The setting's awesome. I've written about it before. The Fate Freeport Companion converts the classic Green Ronin fantasy setting to Fate. Beyond
offering a great fantasy city sourcebook, the Companion also shows one way to model
fantasy. In particular it uses a FAE-like system to model skills, breaking those
down into the classic D&D stats. It also has a magic system, example racial
packages, and ideas on how to model equipment. Strange Tales of the Century goes in another direction. It's a sourcebook for the Spirit of the Century
pulp setting. While SotC uses an earlier version of Fate, this sourcebook has Fate
Core mechanics throughout, in particular archetypes and new stunts. Mostly the book
offers a complete pulp history for the setting, using the lens of a fictional magazine
publisher. Jess Nevins knows his sources and brings them to bear. Recommended for
any GM planning on running a pulp game.
ONLINE RESOURCES
Even before the Fate Core Kickstarter, Fate had a strong online
community. That support has continued, with developers and players chatting and
blogging about ideas. I recommend checking out the personal blogs for any of the
Fate designers. I've gotten a ton from Rob Donohue and Ryan Macklin's work in particular.
Other useful online resources include:
Fate Roleplaying Game SRD: Randy
Oest put together an amazing and highly usable site. This takes all of the open
material from Fate Core, Fate Accelerated, and the Fate Toolkit and organizes it. I keep this
open to refer to whenever I'm working on Fate. Essential.
Community Fate Core Extensions: If you're looking for cheat pages, character sheets,
rules variants, or adaptations to any existing game or property, you should check
here. Some awesome tools available here. You can see links to various hacks
(like my ambitious failure, Scions of
Fate).
G+
Fate Community: G+ has vibrant community looking at play styles, rules implementations,
and setting hacks. A great place to post questions. There's a smaller but equally
rich community covering Fate
Accelerated.
Fate Points: While
it seems to have podfaded, Fate Points still has a set of interesting podcast episodes
available.
Fate Codex: Mark Diaz Truman has a Patreon campaign
developing a semi-monthly e-zine of dynamite Fate materials. Supporting the campaign
gets you access to the current issue. I believe previous issues can also be purchased.
Worth it.
THIRD-PARTY SETTINGS
AND GAMES
A complete fantasy setting built with Fate Core. It aims to break
away from Western-style fantasy. Instead Ehdrighor
crafts a world echoing tribal and indigenous cultures. The art and style is striking.
At a glance you could assume that the material simply borrows Native American elements.
But there's more going on. You can see host of different sources brought together
in background and history. That's both a strength and a weakness. On the one hand,
Ehdrighor has a unique setting. It aims
at new kinds of stories and social relationships in play. The bibliography cites
Lakota myths, Chinese wuxia films, and Japanese anime. On the other hand, the background
and setting can be dense. It lacks easy entry points for new players. That depth
could be off-putting for new players. GMs will have to put in the work to bring
this to the table as a whole.
Mechanics: Ehdrigohr
offers a complete game and has interesting tweaks to Fate Core. Success with Style
has variable effects called Power Cascades. That's combined with the concept of
power levels, which can be boosted via Fate Point. Character creation reflects the
setting elements by moving through a different set of steps for aspect creation.
There’s a mechanic for “burning” important past memories to boost actions. It uses
an expanded version of the skill list with new associated stunts. Ehdrigohr also includes several kinds of
powers and magics, including martial arts. GMs looking for new approaches to magic,
especially tied to cultural elements, might check this out. You can hear an example
session here at One-Shot Podcast AP.
Vikings vs. Dwarven Mecha (!!!). The duegrar have crafted metal
giants which stride across the land. Their conquests have driven the clans back
and into despair. Hope comes in the form of heroes, some armed with strange and
uncanny magics. The Bonebonded have chained themselves to the bones of ancient fallen
giants, moving them as uncanny warmachines. Others have been gifted with supernatural
gifts or ancient magics. Characters
belong to one of the distinct clans, shaping their personality and purpose. The
primary struggle is between the humans clan of Midgard and the encroaching duegrar.
But survival of the PCs’ community against tensions within and rivalries without
underscores this war. Iron Edda is not a complete game and requires Fate
Core for play. It includes two sample adventures.
Mechanics: Iron Edda opens with a large and interesting
section on collaborative "Holdfast" creation. Thus could easily be adapted
to the creation of communities for other games. The mecha and giant system remains
fairly abstract, but has an interesting discussion of scale. That includes how different
scale actors interact. Of the two magic system offered, Rune Magic presents the
coolest twist. Characters buy runes as a skill with a single approach, related to
the particular rune chosen. These can affect things at a larger scale. A Kickstarted
project, Iron Edda is currently only available
as a pdf. However print copies should be available in the next few months.
A wuxia-inspired setting built on steampunk, powered by magical
jade of various colors. It's a personal failing I'm not better acquainted with The
Legend of Korra. From what I've seen, Jadepunk's key setting of Kausao
City echoes many elements of the series. Kausao's a decadent crossroads, filled
with conspiracy and corruption. Plots and plans from nations of the wider world
come to fruition here, the one source of mysterious black jade. Jadepunk characters come from among the Jianghu,
the undercurrent of rebellion within the city. They're heroes, but not necessarily
bright and shining. They battle with rival factions, agents of the ruling Council,
and anyone who hopes for oppression and control. Players build characters empowered
by jadetech weapons, martial techniques, or sheer native skill. Jadepunk's a complete rpg in a single, light
volume. It presents an evocative and easy to grasp energetic setting.
Mechanics: At 128-pages, including a rich setting, Jadepunk
offers one of the best distillations of the Fate system. It builds on Fate Accelerated, with characters built on
values in six paths (Aristocrat, Engineer, Explorer, Fighter, Scholar, and Scoundrel).
It keeps things simple with a well-designed set of rules for players to build different
kinds of assets. These can include Allies, Devices, or Techniques. This last category
includes martial arts styles. Later small pdf supplements have added more example
devices and schools of fighting. Jadepunk also includes simple and elegant mechanics
for handling one-on-one duels. Complete and highly recommended.
A sweeping sci-fi universe of transhuman technology, zero point
energy, and an explosive variety of peoples and cultures. Uplifted animals, sentient
starships, constant collective information interfaces, and beyond. A galactic far-future
take on SJG's Transhuman Space or a less horrifically bent version of Eclipse
Phase, Mindjammer offers bleeding
edge sci-fi where identity and self have become liquid and uncertain. I think of
Traveller, Fading Suns, and even Diaspora as old-school classic
sci-fi settings. This setting is less about 'hard sci-fi' and more about their physical
view of humanity's future. Mindjammer's
a mammoth stand-alone rpg. It presents a coherent and vast background built on key
ideas about technology. Groups will find plenty of room for their adventures, carving
out their stories in their own corner of the galaxy. If you're looking to do wide-screen,
posthuman science fiction, Mindjammer's amazing.
Mechanics: Mindjammer
should be the go-to sourcebook for GMs considering a sci-fi Fate game. It has extensive
systems for starship building, genoforms, mechanical & biological PC enhancements,
technology levels, cultural interactions and activities, artificial beings, star
systems building, and a host of other facets. It offers a massive toolbox for presenting
sci-fi elements in a Fate game. But Mindjammer
is not a generic sci-fi rpg. It has a rich backstory and posthuman tech approach.
GMs aiming for something else, say closer to Firefly or Ashen Stars,
will have to carefully examine the rules. Some systems fit well, while others require
extensive retooling. Mindjammer's an awesome
complete game offering inspiration for handling other sci-fi tropes in Fate games.
A classic wuxia setting, along the lines of Swords of the
Middle Kingdom or Qin. It presents a fantasized version of ancient China,
called Shenzhou. That's more a playground than a historical analog. It opens by
presenting easily accessible elements of the setting: a little bit of history, snapshots
of the people and places of the campaign province, and an overview of the main city
of Bao Jiang. This focuses on flavor and hooks, building a sense of the setting
rather than burying the reader in history and minutiae. I appreciate that because
other games love their background so much they make it almost impenetrable for new
players. Tianxia feels like a great and
fun romp, with evocative characters and breezy GM advice. Think Storm Riders, Bride with White Hair, or wuxia TV Shows like The Handsome Siblings
or Condor Hero. Great art pushes it over the top.
Mechanics: Tianxia sticks closely to Fate Core. It modifies
a few skills and offers some optional rules. Tianxia makes the greatest shift in handling martial arts. Players advance
in ranks of Jianghu. Combatants of superior ranks gain an advantage. More importantly
characters learn distinct styles made up of two parts: Element and Body. One character
might know Iron Tiger while another could know Lightning Crane. Each half gives three
techniques, essentially stunt-like effects or maneuvers. Once a character has learned
all six techniques, they have access to a secret seventh technique. The 36 unique
combinations all have a special power. The system's quite cool and interesting.
It manages to offer some complexity and crunch without bogging players down. Tianxia presents other interesting sub-systems
and does a great job looking at the impact of campaign aspects. It doesn't offer
anything in the way of wuxia magic (Alchemy or Daoist mysticism), focusing instead
on the fighting styles. But that's a minor quibble.
OTHER CAMPAIGN
SETTINGS
Several publishers have produced primarily electronic campaign
settings games for Fate. Some offer new properties, while others present a conversion
of an existing concept.
- Achtung! Cthulhu: World War II battles against Cthulhu. Includes rules and ideas for wartime events and the mythos. (adaptation, requires Fate Core)
- Age of Arthur: Arthurian fantasy in Dark Age Britannia (new, complete game)
- Amethyst: Destiny: Science Fiction clashes with Fantasy in this kitchen-sink setting. A battle between tech and magic, rail-guns vs. fireball wands, splinters the world. (adaptation, complete)
- Apotheosis Drive X: A mecha game with a distinct setting and a humanist bent. (new, complete game)
- Inverse World Accelerated: A dynamic and fantastic setting. Weird fantasy and a spectacular background. Uses Fate Accelerated. (adaptation, complete)
- Kaiju Patrol: Inspired by classic Japanese serials and movies. Players battle against fearsome monsters controlled by alien forces. (new, requires Fate Core)
- Magarchy: Described as "a historical fantasy cyberpunk setting in the England of Henry VIII." So there you go. (new, requires Fate Core)
- Mecha vs. Kaiju: As you can imagine, mecha vs. Kaiju. Echoes Pacific Rim, but has its own extensive, unique and detailed backstory. (adaptation, requires Fate Core)
- The Ministry Initiative: A steampunk Victorian rpg based on the novels by Pip Ballantine and Tee Morris. (adaptation, complete game).
- Modernity: A modern "secret world" horror game, with players having rent the veil and seen behind the curtain. (adaptation, complete game).
- OmegaZone: Two products, the first is the OmegaZone Instant Setting Deck, 56 cards which can be dealt to create a randomized post-apocalyptic setting. The Setting Guide plays off of that and provides guidelines for use with Fate. (new, requires FAE).
- @ctiv8 2.0: Technothriller anarchist conspiracy (adaptation, requires Fate Core)
- Starship Tyche: A sci-fi setting with more than a little wiff of Star Trek to it. Built on Fate Accelerated. (adapted?, complete).
OTHER FATE
SUPPLEMENTS
These are third-party supplements covering genres or meta-concepts.
- The Accelerated Book of Approaches: A short book examining each of the six basic FAE approaches. It includes several new approach structures based on other games and genres.
- Aeon Wave: A science fiction one-shot scenario for Fate Core.
- Crush! Kill! Destroy!: A stand-alone adventure for Fate Accelerated, complete with pre-gens. Atomic war and alien invasion force a 1950's family to learn survival tactics and discover way to battle the invaders.
- Fateful Concepts: Character Aspects: Designer Ryan Macklin looks at the thinking and economy behind character aspects.
- Five Elements: A magic system for Fate Core.
- Grim World: A supplement for Fate and Dungeon World providing elements for a dark fantasy game, including monsters, classes, and items.
- A Spark in Fate Core: An expansion of the collaborative world building mechanics for Fate, based on the concepts developed by Jason Pitre for his Spark RPG.
- Starbright Publications: This company has put out many Fate supplements, some covering particular genres (Cyberpunk, Steampunk, Zombies) and others adapting the company's previous settings. Reviews generally have not been kind, with the aspect 'shovelware' invoked. They have many products, but I encourage you to check reviews and online assessments before investing.
STRIKING RPGS FROM
PREVIOUS FATE EDITIONS
Before Fate Core, Fate had several different editions. Designers
created unique based on different system concepts. Fate’s abstract nature means
that many offer interesting ideas, settings, or variant toolkits which GMs
could bring into Fate Core. Here are only a few of those worth looking at; many
more exist.
- Strands of Fate feels like Fate meets GURPS to me. It takes a constructed and detailed approach to the mechanics, shifting from skills to characteristics and linked stunts. Worth looking at for those interested in a point-based approach. Supported by Strands of Power. A streamlined version of SoF powers the cyberpunk rpg, Nova Praxis.
- Legends of Anglerre is a massive and complete fantasy game. While it has a distinct setting, the material here can be easily repurposed for many kids of fantasy. Offers excellent ideas on building constructs, handling armies, 'plot' stress, and a host of other issues. Sadly OOP but highly recommended for anyone wanting to do fantasy with Fate, despite using an earlier version.
- The Dresden Files is a two-volume adaptation of Jim Butcher's urban fantasy setting. Rich, comprehensive, and amazingly presented, The Dresden Files raised the bar for licensed games. Has interesting magic systems adaptable to Fate Core. Evil Hat has promised a new edition, but has warned that it’s significantly down the road.
- Diaspora offers a hard sci-fi frame using Fate. Originally designed to emulate Traveller with more flexible mechanics, Diaspora is a smartly engineered product. In particular the Cluster design system shows an interesting approach to collaborative campaign building.
- Bulldogs! presents a goofy, high action space opera. It aims for somewhat comedic action in a galaxy filled with aliens.
- The Kerberos Club has appeared in several system flavors. The Fate version uses an approach called "Strange Fate." Powers are built as hyper-skills with scale ranks and constructed trappings. Strange Fate uses d6 substitution to model relative power levels. The system for constructing powers, while opaque at times, offer an interesting model for supers in Fate Core. You can see my review here.
- Base Raiders: Superpowered Dungeon Crawling also uses a version of "Strange Fate" but for a world in chaos. Most superbeings have vanished overnight leaving behind abandoned tech, lost bases, and unfinished master plans. Now low-powered explorers have gone to seek fame, fortune, and secret origins among these ruins. Really awesome. You can see my review here.
- ICONS is a superhero rpg loosely based on Fate's mechanics. The new Assembled Edition nicely cleans up and refines the system. It aims to be light and fast with random character generation ala Marvel Super Heroes. ICONS changes the terminology but keeps some of the system's approach. That actually made it harder for me as I tried to disentangle the two and kept referring to the ICONS concepts by their Fate names.
Other System Guides
