I’m reading through Fate Core right now, and I was like “hey they have a list of skills?” and was then put down a…

I’m reading through Fate Core right now, and I was like “hey they have a list of skills?” and was then put down a…

I’m reading through Fate Core right now, and I was like “hey they have a list of skills?” and was then put down a little because I generally think skill lists are restrictive

Then I saw Fate Accelerated Edition, in which the skills are replaced by the six stats Careful, Clever, Flashy, Forceful, Quick and Sneaky.

The core system only support four general types of actions; Create Advantage, Overcome, Attack and Defend. I can’t really see how this system would play much differently than any *World game, except for the system being more “generic”.

Thoughts?

32 thoughts on “I’m reading through Fate Core right now, and I was like “hey they have a list of skills?” and was then put down a…”

  1. The questions are to the characters and their experience and knowledge. It also means you have to actively do that as a GM. In fate you can just state something out of your characters knowledge or experience and make it true if you pay for it. That’s really different.

  2. To be honest I already know that. But I deem the difference is a rather philosophical one. If you play it “right” then your players create the gaming world in both games. I think the difference is that in Fate you need to “power” this with fatepoints whereas in Dungeonworld this stems from the GM principles and is something you are entitled to be capable of as a player.

  3. Next thing: Compels feel very differently then missed moves. Both drive the story into a “negative” direction but with compels there is a lot more tabletalk and meta discussion.

  4. I was reading FAE and making the same comparison. I think the real difference between the games is the tone and how the mechanics reinforce it in play.

    In AW you can fail, succeed with complications, or succeed. Other mechanics (putting NPCs in the crosshairs, etc) point those results in a grim direction.

    In Fate, you can fail, tie (which often seems like a mild success in context), succeed, or succeed with style- and then you can modify results with Fate points. The scale is shifted heavily toward winning, which fits the themes of the game.

  5. Tim Franzke There’s no rule that you cannot aim questions at the players in DW. A lot of the choices you have to make on a partial success are often directed at the player, not the character.

    When Discerning Realities for example, I have a hard time seeing how it is the character choosing the questions.

  6. Yes, of course, address the characters. But that doesn’t mean that everything is the character’s decision.

    The player makes the choice, we see the effects through the character. In the fiction, the character would not often face the choice.

  7. Really, do you? 😉 You are totally right here, for adressing the character not the player is one of the great storytelling-related assets of DW. But the creative power of world-building lies within the player not the character. The character is just a fictional inhabitant of the fictional world which the players and the GM create while playing the game (for real).

  8. Because it isn’t the character that decides whether or not he learns the answer to “what is about to happen” or “what here is valuable to me”. It is the player. The answer is then given to the player, as it is perceived by the character.

  9. Kasper Brohus it’s the difference between “i look through this stuff to see what is valuable” and “i will jump on this stone to be a lookout”. You can trigger DR with the intent to get a specific question.

  10. Kasper Brohus On a 10+ Discern, if the player is stuck, I usually say “okay, we know your top choice, what other two would your character be naturally inclined to notice? Is she always on the lookout for a gold and money? Or fearful and prepared?” etc.

    There are a few points in DW where the players get to make choices about the world, beyond their character, without the GM’s invitations (Cleric’s deity) but there aren’t many. Fate on the other hand has fate points that allow this on a pretty regular basis.

    My general impression is that Fate is more aimed at promoting the elements of a story, whereas DW/AW is more aimed at creating a totally loaded situation from which story may form.

  11. Kasper Brohus I ask the player about their character’s passive preferences. I guess that I kind of assume that some people are more likely to pick up on certain things. So I ask the player, if their character has already got all the information they actively pursued, what else might they pick up on?

  12. Sage LaTorra Gotcha. I still think it’s more of a “player choice” than a “character choice” though. It’s not like the character is presented with a list of questions and is asked to pick three. Unless your game is really, really weird 🙂

  13. Kasper Brohus as we note in the rules, those are the questions the GM will answer, but not the only ones the players can ask. A player can totally say “my guy would always be on the lookout for a way out” and I as the GM can think “that sounds like “what here is useful or valuable to me?”” and answer appropriately: “well, there’s no sneaky way out, but you do notice that some of the crates aren’t actually sealed. You could probably hide in them. It wouldn’t get you out, but it might buy some times while the patrol comes through.”

  14. I’ve played and run both Spirit of the Century (Fate powered) and Dungeon World. They certainly feel different in play.  (It’s possible Fate Core significantly changes things; I haven’t had a chance to read it yet.)

    Fate is really assuming the more traditional idea that the GM shows up with a completed world.  Sure, players can create or change parts of the world with mechanics, but the decision to do so falls on the players.  In practice it’s used for relatively small things and almost uniformly to provide the PCs with an advantage. There is also world creation during character creation, but it stops there. As a GM you take the world created during creation and build, largely on your own, from there.  This is the traditional “GM creates, players discover” model.

    Dungeon World wants me to “leave blanks” and “ask questions and use the answers.”  As the GM I’m pushing for player creation, forcing them into it.  Answers frequently, maybe even usually, lead to putting the PCs into a disadvantage. And while I create a fair amount as a GM, I’m frequently surprised by the elements added to the campaign.

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