FATE: Where to start?

[Relique du Madde]

I just really stumbled upon FATE and I have some ideas in mind*. However, I'm wondering which of the available FATE 3.0 SRDs is the best to peruse before making a decision on purchasing either Spirit of the Century or Dresden Files?


*IE. Pulpy, gun-slinging, crime fighting action, that may include supernatural elements or steam tech.

 

[Kralin Thornberry]

I've never personally played it, but I have started looking over it since I've already pre-ordered my Dresden Files RPG books (and have the pre-order pdfs of it).

I guess if you don't want to spend any money yet, the SRD is a good place to start though.

 

[Varianor Abroad]

What do you want to do? Dresden Files is modern. Spirit of the Century is more pulpy. The latter has supernatural elements in spades (Mysteries, Artifacts, etc - it's all how you define it) whereas the former is really supernatural through and through. I have not personally picked up Dresden Files RPG yet, but will within the next month. SotC is superb for pulpy goodness (and our group just doesn't use the Century Club stuff).

 

[darjr]

I'm waiting for ICONS to check it out. Granted that ICONS seems to be described by it's creator as a derivative of FATE, but I am very much liking the sound of the words 'simpler' and 'smaller' when it comes to the rule book itself.

I didn't think the SRD was quite finished yet? Still in Beta or Alpha or some such waiting for Dresden to come out first? Maybe? Someone care to enlighten me?

 

[Relique du Madde]

I guess if you don't want to spend any money yet, the SRD is a good place to start though.

This because of....

I'm waiting for ICONS to check it out. Granted that ICONS seems to be described by it's creator as a derivative of FATE, but I am very much liking the sound of the words 'simpler' and 'smaller' when it comes to the rule book itself.

I didn't think the SRD was quite finished yet? Still in Beta or Alpha or some such waiting for Dresden to come out first? Maybe? Someone care to enlighten me?

...this.

Basically part of what I was intending was to learn as much as the FATE system as possible because of how Steve Kenson has mentioned how ICONS was FATE derivative.

I'd like to see what version of FATE would work the best for what I want to do (note I'm already preordering ICONS so I don't want to also buy SotC and DF only to discover that one of those two books was totally wrong for the game I have in mind).

What do you want to do? Dresden Files is modern. Spirit of the Century is more pulpy. The latter has supernatural elements in spades (Mysteries, Artifacts, etc - it's all how you define it) whereas the former is really supernatural through and through. I have not personally picked up Dresden Files RPG yet, but will within the next month. SotC is superb for pulpy goodness (and our group just doesn't use the Century Club stuff).

The idea might fit somewhere along the lines of Dresden files. Basically a modern day group of monster/supernatural hunters. However, the tone wasn't going to be as gritty or really dark in nature, but instead sort of light hearted modern "fantasy".

 

[Victim]

I didn't think the SRD was quite finished yet? Still in Beta or Alpha or some such waiting for Dresden to come out first? Maybe? Someone care to enlighten me?

I don't know if it's completely finished, but you can definitely look at SotC.

SotC SRD

 

[ahammer]

if you want a good demo of fate running try these podcasts.


of steam steel and murder. (I'm in this one now so it shows I liked it)
Of Steam, Steel and Murder

the fate system is so rules light it is easy to change. the gm based it off the Dresden files previews with a few changes of his own.

or
THE GUTTER SKYPES(sotc and starblazer)
The Gutter Skypes ! -

there is a few fate based games others have missed
(hard sifi)
Diaspora

(pulpy sifi. gutter skypes has play thru of this. )
Starblazer from Cubicle 7 Entertainment Ltd

 

[Kralin Thornberry]

You could always look at any of the SotC versions here: Fate Rpg

Again, I can honestly save I've never played Fate, Fudge, SotC or any of those, but the Dresden Files license has me excited to try it out.

 

[Ashrem Bayle]

You may also want to keep and eye on Strands of Fate.

We took FATE as found in Spirit of the Century and Starblazer, ripped out the core of the rules, then rebuilt them to work as a generic game system capable of supporting just about any kind of campaign.

The goal of the product is to be the answer to: "How do I use FATE to play X?", and we're making sure "X" can be anything.

Another goal is to make sure as much of the work is done for you as possible. So when you say "let's play X using Strands of Fate", the GM doesn't have to prep for a week to figure out how character will work. You just drop the book on the table and start making them.

With no additional work on the part of the GM, in its current playtesting state, you can pick up Strands and run a Lord of the Rings game, an Eberron game, a Shadowrun game, RIFTS, Star Wars, Vampire: the Masquerade (or Requiem), Mage: the Awakening (or Ascension) or Call of Cthulhu. You can also play any of your favorite superheroes, ranging from Batman to Wolverine to the Hulk.

That means full support for magic, psionics, cybernetics, mutations, etc.

Strands also has rules for vehicles, ranging from motorcycles to 40 story mechs to planetoid sized star ships.

We'll be accepting another round of public playtesters in another month or so. You can sign up in the playtesting thread on our messageboard if you are interested.

 

[SethDrebitko]

Go figure I am a huge fan of minimalist games as a good starting point. That said I would suggest maybe checking out the microlite fate (fate# I think) which was posted on their mailing list. Getting a good look at the guts of a game is assure fire way to even see if you want to learn more.