tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-533573536330092840.post7676250889941668402..comments2024-03-07T16:20:50.007+00:00Comments on Librarians & Leviathans: Playing with Fate Accelerated Edition chargenShimmin Beghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10350037986748679919noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-533573536330092840.post-74416401027009404852013-11-21T13:33:56.358+00:002013-11-21T13:33:56.358+00:00I'll probably check it out, then, as it may ex...I'll probably check it out, then, as it may explain things better.<br /><br />I'm quite surprised to say I've really struggled to find any FATE actual plays, which nowadays is my preferred way to sound out games. I think I found possibly two, one of which was a lonely "first session" of a deceased podcast.Shimmin Beghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10350037986748679919noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-533573536330092840.post-7380248576572034032013-11-20T17:19:25.711+00:002013-11-20T17:19:25.711+00:00If it's any consolation, I believe FATE Core a...If it's any consolation, I believe FATE Core also comes with an £0 option.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-533573536330092840.post-68872957404760083002013-11-20T13:39:09.244+00:002013-11-20T13:39:09.244+00:00I can certainly say I'm glad I went for the £0...I can certainly say I'm glad I went for the £0 option, since I'd be a little miffed if I'd stumped up for this up front. I might well look into FATE more, though, since it looks like a potentially interesting and fun system.Shimmin Beghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10350037986748679919noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-533573536330092840.post-5927317075261387812013-11-20T10:31:00.668+00:002013-11-20T10:31:00.668+00:00I would be interested to know whether they did any...I would be interested to know whether they did any playtesting with this quickstart stuff with the sort of absolute beginners FAE purports to be aimed at. I suspect not. Ironically, I suspect it'd probably be easier to learn FATE from FATE Core because that has the space to actually unpack and explain concepts.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-533573536330092840.post-29421037276635185232013-11-20T08:34:21.157+00:002013-11-20T08:34:21.157+00:00I've now discovered there are in fact complete...I've now discovered there are in fact complete sample characters in the back, which seems to be where the Aspects in the examples come from. They didn't mention that. There still doesn't seem to be anything explaining how they were put together to make coherent characters that work well within the ruleset.<br /><br />Maybe I'll do a post on quickstart rules in general...Shimmin Beghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10350037986748679919noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-533573536330092840.post-41639101740153504162013-11-20T00:06:24.545+00:002013-11-20T00:06:24.545+00:00...the rules should have been ferociously shoving ...<i>...the rules should have been ferociously shoving you away from picking Aspects which don't have any downside to them...</i><br /><br />The closest they get in the chargen rules is one line:<br /><i>When you think about your high concept, try to think of two things: how this aspect could help you, and how it might make things harder for you. Good high concept aspects do both.</i><br /><br />It's only on page 30, after several pages of information on using Aspects, that they get any more detailed:<br /><i><b>Composing good aspects</b><br><br />When you need to think of a good aspect (we’re mainly talking about character and situation aspects here), think about two things: <br />• How the aspect might help you—when you’d invoke it.<br />• How it might hurt you—when it would be compelled against you. </i><br /><br />Even that is quite a long stretch from your much clearer and punchier explanation. I mean, most game rules talk about creating balanced characters, but it doesn't usually mean there'll be massive mechanical disadvantages.Shimmin Beghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10350037986748679919noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-533573536330092840.post-33844973554594809112013-11-19T23:59:52.423+00:002013-11-19T23:59:52.423+00:00I think it's fair enough to throw out that kin...I think it's fair enough to throw out that kind of recommendation without doing exhaustive research. I took it as more of a "this thing exists" than a personal endorsement, and it's a genuinely interesting thing.<br /><br />One impression I got is that FAE falls in a slightly awkward middle space, like the novella.<br /><br />It's not a full-blown manual, only 44 pages long for $5, and it doesn't have space for lots of explanations and detailed examples - although of course that's an editing decision. This may explain why the chargen is so sparse, but not why it's disjointed.<br /><br />On the other hand, it's well outside the range I'm used to for an actual quick start set. Those are typically only a handful of pages, something that you could reasonably give out in the first session (though ideally earlier) and expect people to read in some amount of detail. This ruleset is giving more description than I'm used to, to the point it includes its own quick versions of most of the rules! There's an actual index (useful, but significant). There's GMing advice. I think that it's aiming to be a more complete guide that both introduces and supports play, not just a stopgap. In this case, that was a problem because I wasn't up for reading 44 pages just now to try and work out how it works.<br /><br />I get the impression that a traditional quickstart <i>might</i> not work all that well with this ruleset, because it's somewhat reliant on fluffy mechanics (like aspects) that need more explanation than "when you lose Sanity, reduce this number". The <i>Deathwatch</i> quickstart rules (excluding scenario) are only 20 pages, including a basic wargear list and four sample characters, and it's a pretty wordy quickstart with explanations, pictures and all that.<br /><br />The FAE itself may well be pretty good, but its chargen is dodgy.Shimmin Beghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10350037986748679919noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-533573536330092840.post-41664965927102585092013-11-19T13:58:34.441+00:002013-11-19T13:58:34.441+00:00(In particular, the rules should have been ferocio...(In particular, the rules should have been ferociously shoving you away from picking Aspects which don't have any downside to them because those end up being FATE point sinks which don't open up opportunities for you to earn FATE points back in play - good Aspects in FATE are features of your character which you can exert to your benefit but also can bite you on the ass, so you can both spend and earn points with them. "Thinks with his fists" is a good Aspect because you can use it to get bonuses for punching stuff and also earn points by punching inappropriate stuff, for example.)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-533573536330092840.post-64070158678915295662013-11-19T13:50:07.095+00:002013-11-19T13:50:07.095+00:00Embarrassingly, I hadn't actually read FAE ver...Embarrassingly, I hadn't actually read FAE very closely before making the recommendation - I just threw it out there because I knew that FATE had a fairly quick and easy traditional RPG system with modern bits, and I knew that FAE was the quickstart version.<br /><br />In retrospect, it certainly looks like the examples given in the Quickstart leave a lot to be desired. Potentially FATE Core does a better job; certainly, I think an introduction to FATE which doesn't make damn sure that Aspects are fully explained before people start character gen is rather flawed. Possibly FAE is more useful as a stripped-down fast-play version of the rules for folk who are already conversant with the underlying ideas than it is as an introduction to FATE or RPGs in general - which rather means it fails at its stated goals. Ah well.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com