Sunday, July 14, 2013

FATEsy Heartbreaker: Men and Magic Part 1



In my Sharn hack I was fairly happy with how it turned out, but the more I thought about it the more funny little ideas I started having on how to do a true D&D hack for FATE Core. This may be a couple posts in length as I would like to talk about more than character creation. I would like to discuss how to do a dungeon in FATE and perhaps go into some world building with races and monsters. I love world building!

Originally I saw this as a simple hack that would not be all that different from my Sharn hack. As I went along, though I kept getting these funny little ideas. So I decided to make far more than a simple hack. I am making a FATE Heart Beaker. Basically I am going to do all the things that I normally hate doing in FATE. It will be fiddly and complicated and filled with strange offshoot rules. I have no idea if this beast is even playable, but it was interesting to do, so I hope you enjoy it.

Character Creation
When you first make your character you must decide what scale the game will be set to at the beginning: Just off the farm, Survived your first Crawl, Heroic, Paragon, and Epic

Just Off the Farm: Start with High Concept and You All Meet Up In a Tavern. You get two Refresh. You get no free proficiencies or special abilities, and you get 8 points to spread among your six attributes(they max at +3).
Survived your first Crawl: Start With High Concept, You All Meet Up In a Tavern, and Your First Dungeon. You get two refresh. You can pick one free Proficiency or Special Power. You get 10 points to spend on your Attributes(they max at +3).
Heroic: Start with High Concept, You All Meet Up At a Tavern, Your First Dungeon, and Back Story. You start with three refresh. You get two free proficiencies or special powers. You get 12 points to spend on Attributes(max at +4).
Paragon: Start with all the aspects from Heroic. You refresh starts at four. You get three proficiencies or special powers. you get 14 points to spend on Attributes(max +4 or +5 game masters discretion).
Epic: Start with all the aspects from Heroic, you then get your Epic Destiny Aspect. Your refresh is at six. You get four proficiencies or special powers. You get 14 points(or more at GMs discretion) to spend on attributes(max +6).

Aspect Descriptions
High Concept: This should include your Alignment, Race, And Class or you are assumed to be a Neutral Human Commoner. I think we can all agree that is a less than desirable outcome.
You all meet up in a tavern: When you first met the rest of the party you were all in a tavern and someone, be a crazy old man or a mysterious robed figure, gave you the first clues to finding hidden treasure. Was it a map? Was it a prophesy? Whatever it was, this set you on the path to your first dungeon and high adventure. Discuss with the rest of the group what happened in the tavern that fateful day. How did you react? Write an aspect down that suits your character in this situation.
Your first dungeon: Talk with the rest of the group. Figure out what happened in the depths of your first dungeon. How did you react to your first monster sighting? How well did you acquit yourself in battle? What funny or horrendous things happened down their that were your fault? Write an aspect about the first dungeon.
Back story: This is your deep and meaningful back story of how everyone you know is dead so you are a katana wielding loner in a trench coat. Write an aspect about it. No really, we all want to hear about your character.
Epic Destiny: When you hit a certain point in adventuring, crawling through fetid dungeons just doesn't cut it any more. You have transcended mundane issues like food, clothing, money, and other such stuff. You are about to ascend. You will become a god, a legend, or some other form of immortal. Whether it is through magical might, transcendent skill, an ancient prophesy, or just being lucky you have a destiny that you will fulfill. Write an aspect about that destiny.

Attributes
Strength: Strength is a measure of muscle, endurance and stamina combined. Strength affects the ability of characters to lift and carry weights, melee attack rolls, Jumping, Climbing, Swimming, and general checks involving moving or breaking stubborn objects.
Dexterity: Dexterity encompasses a number of physical attributes including eye–hand coordination, agility, reflexes, fine motor skills, balance and speed of movement; a high dexterity score indicates superiority in all these attributes. Dexterity affects characters with regard to initiative in combat, ranged attack rolls, Balancing, Escape Artistry, Hiding, Opening Locks, Riding, Sleight of Hand,  Tumbling, and Dodging.
Constitution: Constitution is a term which encompasses the character's physique, toughness, health and resistance to disease and poison. Constitution also is important for saving throws, Concentrating, Focusing, and resisting pain and fatigue.
Intelligence: Intelligence is similar to IQ, but also includes mnemonic ability, reasoning and learning ability outside those measured by the written word. Intelligence dictates the number of spells a preparation-based arcane spellcaster (like a Wizard) may cast per day. Intelligence is rolled when you wish toAppraise Objects, Craft Items, Decipher Script, Disable Traps, Forge Items and Documents, for General Knowledge, and to Investigate an area in detail.
Wisdom: Wisdom is a composite term for the character's enlightenment, judgment, wile, willpower and intuitiveness. Wisdom influences the number of spells a divine spellcaster (like clerics and druids) can cast per day. It also affects your ability to  Heal, Perceive the World Around You, Sense Hidden Motives, and Survive in the Wilderness.
Charisma: Charisma is the measure of the character's combined physical attractiveness, persuasiveness, and force of personality. A generally non-beautiful character can have a very high charisma due to strong measures of the other two aspects of charisma. Charisma influences how many spells spontaneous arcane spellcasters (like sorcerers) can cast per day. It also affects Bluffing people, Diplomacy, Disguise, Gathering Information, Handling Animals, Intimidation, and Performance.

Ok so that is it for today's post. Tomorrow I will go into Proficiencies and the first four classes. Let me know what you think so far. I started doing this on a lark, but it has rapidly become far greater than the one post I originally saw it as.

Additional posts in this series:
Men and Magic 2
Men and Magic 3
Gnomes and Dwaves
Elves
Halflings
Humans
Goblins
Giants
Gnolls
Minotaurs
Magic Items and Treasure
Orcs
Kobolds
Ogres
Yuan-ti
Dark Elves and Exiles
Tarrasque, Hydra, Gouls
Dragons
Trolls
Dungeon Crawls
Exploration and Travel
Thoughts on Gods
Rethinking the Magic System





No comments:

Post a Comment