As many of you may know, I’m a huge fan of board games ranging from more the casual variety (Bang, Catan, Code Names, Pandemic) to the much more strategic time sinks (Legendary, Descent, Betrayal). That interest also led me to old school pen and paper systems as well.
However, the ONLY successful and consistent pen and paper experience I have ever had happened right here with you, @Severok, @Mew, @asad3ainjalout, @ashes987 and @AbrarSyed. It was an intriguing adventure into the RPG world, fighting creatures, hunting for clues, transforming into an epic werewolf and struggling to retain enough control to fixate on enemies rather than my own teammates.
The one thing that really bogged down the experience was the leveling and combat mechanics. The board game variety did much to streamline combat, but lost a lot of life and choice by way of the medium.
But I think I might’ve found it.
There’s an open and free to use system called Fate Core. It leverages minimal dice roles and abilities that are just specific enough to let the general mechanics give way to a theatre-of-the-mind-like storytelling experience.
There is no leveling required because characters are already considered to be at their maximum level. Instead, the characters have general role-centric abilities along with unique qualities that the system calls “aspects” ---- creative phrases which encompass a boon when it is invoked in a manner relevant to the story. These aspects can also be leveraged by the GM to “compel” characters into an action which creates tension, challenge or misfortune.
It’s a fantastic system—in theory.
And I say “in theory” because I have yet to test this system out. I’m still learning the ins and outs, but it’s a thrilling departure from the numbers heavy, mechanics-plagued alternatives we see out there today.
So will you do it?
Are you willing to venture forth and experiment with this system? Perhaps even re-imagining our past experience and exploring possibilities only caged by the boundaries of our creativity and imagination?
Also, it’s free.
Rulebook & Toolkit: https://fate-srd.com/fate-core/basics
Resources from the Devs: http://www.evilhat.com/home/fate-core-downloads/
Of course, this experiment is open to any that may be interested (@roketfiq, @Wulf, @BloodMoney, @Abdz, @everyone) . But for now, I’d like to spark some discussion among any that have heard of, played with or read about the system.
What do you think of it?