Fate (RPG)

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Fate
Powered by the Fate logo
publication
Author (s)	Fred Hicks and Rob Donoghue
Original publisher	Evil Hat Productions
Original publication	2003, 2013
original language	English
German publisher	Uhrwerk Verlag
German publication	2015
World and system
genre	Universal
Game world	Universal
Basic system	FUDGE
Ascent	Narrative milestones
cube	FUDGE cube

Fate is a generic pen & paper RPG based on FUDGE and, like this one, is a universal RPG system , but with a strong narrative focus. It doesn't have a predefined setting or genre and is instead very flexible and customizable. The aim of the design is to put as few obstacles in the way of the role play as possible; it is assumed that the players want to roll the dice less often.

Fate was written by Fred Hicks and Rob Donoghue . The first edition appeared in 2003, the youngest, fourth version was financed and published in 2013 with the help of crowdfunding . The German translation was published by Uhrwerk Verlag in 2015. The rules of FATE are subject to the Open Gaming License and can therefore be freely distributed and modified. They are available free of charge in German and English.

Control elements

Many FATE RPGs use something called FUDGE dice.

Fate does not aim to realistically simulate an environment. Rather, it is the goal of Fate to enable a story-oriented ("narrative") game and get by with few dice actions. Compared to traditional role-playing games, players have more storytelling rights.

Since Fate is based on FUDGE and its specialty of describing basic character abilities using a scale of adjectives instead of numerical values, it dispenses with attributes typical of FUDGE such as intelligence or strength and uses a list of skills instead. That is why it makes a clear technical difference, for example, whether someone is “good”, “great” or “outstanding” in handling firearms. Skills can be used for one or more of four actions: attack, defend, overcome obstacles, or gain an advantage. Special features of a character are represented by stunts and aspects . FUDGE also used four FUDGE cubes (six-sided cubes, each with 2 × a plus, a minus and a free area). FUDGE dice have a very flat bell curve from −4 to +4 with a very high probability of rolling 0.

An aspect is a definable description of something significant about the character or scene. An aspect applicable to the situation can be used (to either get +2 on a roll or to be allowed to roll again); usually a fat point has to be paid for this. Alternatively, a relevant aspect can also be stimulated. This makes the situation less favorable for the character concerned, but the player receives one fat point. Alternatively, he can prevent the bidding by paying a fat point. As an example, a player aspect “stress with the mafia” could be stimulated by the game master in such a way that the players are asked by a mafia hitman when they visit the sauna (i.e. without equipment). Situational aspects can be determined by the game master or created by the players with the "gain advantage" action by rolling the dice for a suitable skill.

Stunts are special skills that give the character a narrow mechanical advantage that is usually granted without the use of fat points. Stunts can either be selected from a given list or constructed according to rules.

FATE or Fate? (Naming rule)

When it was first published, FATE was an abbreviation, initially for “Fudge Adventures in Tabletop Entertainment” (translated: “Fudge (this is a reference to the base system) adventure with table role-playing entertainment”) and then for “Fantastic Adventures in Tabletop Entertainment” (translated: "Fantastic adventures with table role play entertainment"). Fate is now a proper name and no longer an abbreviation, so it is no longer written in capital letters. Fate also stands for fate in English, which develops an ambiguity, especially with the fat points, as their presence (or absence) can decide the fate of the player characters.

Fate licensing

Since Fate is based on elements of the game FUDGE, it was unclear whether Fate could be placed under a free license. In 2005, however, FUDGE itself was placed under the Open Gaming License , so that now Fate as a descendant also falls under this license and can be used freely.

history

The first version of Fate was developed by Fred Hicks and Rob Donoghue and published as the FUDGE set of rules in 2002. While this got comparatively little attention, the second version ( FATE 2 ) was awarded at the Indie RPG Awards in 2003. Both sets of rules are designed generically and are not tied to any game world.

The significantly revised FATE 3 , on the other hand, was initially published in the form of the pulp role-playing game Spirit of the Century in 2006. That won several awards and produced a number of FATE 3 offshoots. Above all, the Dresden Files role-playing game (based on the novels by Jim Butcher ) should be mentioned. Also in the German-speaking area there were some first translations and own implementations such as FreeFATE or the German game Malmsturm .

The independent Fate Core set of rules was financed through a crowdfunding campaign at the beginning of 2013 and was able to raise almost half a million US $ with 10,103 supporters. The stripped-down version Fate Accelerated was also financed. After the appearance of Fate Core and Fate Accelerated in English, German translations were published by Uhrwerk Verlag in 2015 .

Versions and adaptations

The second version of FATE is only available as a pure set of rules with various options for the game round, but has no setting-specific information. FATE 2 won the 2003 Indie RPG Award for Best Free Game.

The third edition was initially only presented in connection with certain settings (starting with Spirit of the Century ). Several games based on Fate 3 have also won awards (see below).
Later on, the following two independent versions were published by Evil Hat Productions and translated into German by Uhrwerk Verlag. In a sense, they represent the fourth edition of the game.

• Basic rules Fate Core (EN 2013, DE 2015)
• Lean set of rules Fate Accelerated (EN 2013), distributed in German as Turbo-Fate (DE 2015)

There is also a System Reference Document (SRD) online in both English and German

Some of the games based on Fate in its various forms are:

• Spirit of the Century (Evil Hat Productions, 2006) is a pulp game set in the 1920s. Spirit of the Century was the first game based on the further developed Fate 3, it was chosen as Independent Game of the Year in 2006 at the Indie RPG Awards and in 2007 it came second in the category "Best Game Rules" at the ENnies.

• Diaspora (Evil Hat / VSCA Publishing, 2009) is an RPG for "hard" science fiction . In 2010, Diaspora won first prize for the “best rules” at the ENnies.

• Starblazer Adventures (Cubicle 7, 2009) Space Opera in the world of Starblazer Comics

• Legends of Anglerre (Cubicle 7, 2010) Fantasy RPG based on the world of Starblazer Fantasy Comics. The system is now out of stock and will not be reissued because the license has expired. Replacement can be found in the SF setting Mindjammer by the same author, Sarah Newton.

• The Dresden Files (Evil Hat Productions, 2010): Contemporary fantasy based on the series of novels by Jim Butcher . Winner of the “Golden Geek” 2010 as the best RPG of the year, in 2011 both an Origins Award and an ENnie for the best RPG.

• Malmsturm (Uhrwerk Verlag, 2011) is a German set of rules for generic fantasy, but also offers an elaborate game world that is more geared towards low fantasy . The second edition, Malmsturm - Die Fundamente (Uhrwerk Verlag, 2016), on the other hand, is a setting essay for Fate Core.

• FreeFATE (English 2009 German 2nd ed. 2012) is a universal version of the Fate rules that is not designed for specific genres.

Other games based on Fate are z. B. Strands of Fate, Awesome Adventures and Kerberos Club (Fate Edition) . Other games have been inspired by Fate, such as Chronica Feudalis, ICONS and Houses of the Blooded .

Awards

• Nominated for the shortlist of the German RPG Award 2016 in the category of basic rules with Turbo Fate

Web links

• Official homepage of FATE (German)
• Official homepage of FATE
• Entry on RPG Geek

Individual evidence

1. ^ German Fate SRD. Retrieved June 15, 2016 . 
2. ^ English Fate SRD. Accessed June 15, 2016 . 
3. ↑ Interview with Fred Hicks and Rob Donoghue from 2005 with a lot of information about the development of the game
4. ^ German Fate Core SRD. Retrieved June 17, 2016 . 
5. ^ German Fate Core SRD. Retrieved June 17, 2016 . 
6. ^ Fate not FATE »Fate . Retrieved December 20, 2015.
7. ↑ Steffan O'Sullivan: Fudge 10th Anniversary Rpg . Gray Ghost Games, ISBN 978-1-887154-12-3 .
8. ↑ Leonard Balsera, Brian Engard, Jeremy Keller, Ryan Macklin, Mike Olson: Fate Core System: German edition . Ed .: Fred Hicks. 1st edition. Uhrwerk Verlag, Cologne 2015, ISBN 978-3-95867-005-1 .
9. ↑ Free Game of the Year (1st place), Indie Roleplaying Game of the Year (3rd place), Best Support (1st place); Indie RPG Awards 2003
10. ^ Robert Donoghue, Fred Hicks, Leonard Balsera: Spirit of the Century . Evil Hat Productions, LLC, 2006, ISBN 978-0-9771534-0-4 , pp. 416 .
11. ^ Stefan Frink, Werner Hartmann, Andreas Melhorn: Malmsturm - The rules . Uhrwerk Verlag, Cologne 2011, ISBN 978-3-942012-17-1 , p. 240 .
12. ↑ Fate 2 in German and in English , a review in German and another review in English
13. ↑ http://rpg-awards.com/2003/bestfreegame.shtml
14. ↑ http://www.evilhat.com/
15. ↑ http://www.uhrwerk-verlag.de/
16. ↑ http://www.evilhat.com/home/wp-content/uploads/FateCore.zip
17. ↑ http://www.faterpg.com/
18. ↑ http://www.faterpg.de/download/fate_core_%5Bde&  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. # 93; /Fate-Core_Downloadversion.pdf/  
19. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from October 5, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
20. ↑ http://www.evilhat.com/home/wp-content/uploads/FAE.zip
21. ↑ http://www.evilhat.com/home/fae/
22. ↑ http://www.faterpg.de/download/fate_core_%5Bde&  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. # 93; /Turbo-Fate_Downloadversion.pdf/  
23. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from October 5, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
24. ↑ http://fate-srd.com/
25. ↑ http://srd.faterpg.de/
26. ^ The Indie RPG Awards (2006) . Retrieved September 30, 2007.
27. ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from July 12, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
28. ↑ Archive link ( Memento from June 11, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
29. ↑ Review
30. ↑ Review
31. ↑ http://cubicle7.co.uk/starblazer-adventures-and-legends-of-anglerre-goodbye-sale/
32. ↑ http://rpggeek.com/rpghonor/8488/2010-golden-geek-rpg-of-the-year-winner ; Archive link ( Memento from December 27, 2013 in the Internet Archive ); Archive link ( Memento from November 9, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
33. ↑ http://malmsturm.de/
34. ↑ Free Fate, Open Game Content collated, modified and augmented by R Grant Erswell, Version 0.6 Archived copy ( Memento of the original from May 2, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
35. ↑ http://freefate.de/
36. ↑ http://www.faterpg.de/2012/03/05/die-spielarten-von-fate/
37. ^ The winners of the German Role Playing Award 2016. June 12, 2016, accessed on June 19, 2017 .