Fate Players Guide

8/12/2019 Fate Players Guide

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In any game of Fate, youre either a player or

gamemaster.

If youre a player, your primary job is to take responsibility for

portraying one of the protagonists of the game, which we call a

player character (or PC for short). You make ecisions foryour character an escribe to e!eryone else what your

character says an oes. You"ll also take care of the mechanical

sie of your character#rolling ice when it"s appropriate,

choosing what abilities to use in a certain situation, an keeping

track of fate points.

If youre a gamemaster, your primary job is to takeresponsibility for the worl the PCs inhabit. You make ecisions

an roll ice for e!ery character in the game worl who isn"t

portraye by a player#we call those non$player characters (or

%PCs). You escribe the en!ironments an places the PCs go

to uring the game, an you create the scenarios an situations

they interact with. You also act as a final arbiter of the rules,

etermining the outcome of the PCs" ecisions an how that

impacts the story as it unfols.

Both players and gamemasters also hae a se!ondary "o#$

ma%e eeryone around you loo% a&esome.&ate is best as a

collaborati!e enea!or, with e!eryone sharing ieas an looking

for opportunities to make the e!ents as entertaining as possible.


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Ta%ing A!tion, (i!e, ) The *adderPlayers, some of the things you"ll o in a &ate game re'uire youto roll di!e to see if your !hara!ter su!!eeds or not. +ou &ill

al&ays roll the di!e &hen youre opposing another !hara!ter

&ith your efforts, or &hen theres a signifi!ant o#sta!le in

the &ay of your effort.therwise, just say what your character

oes an assume it happens.

Oo o!ercome an obstacle

Co create or unlock an a!antage, in the form of an aspectyou can use

Ao attack someone in aconflict

Do efen yourself in a conflict

olling the (i!e*hen you nee to roll ice in &ate, pick up four &ate ice an

roll them. *hen you rea the ice, rea e!ery ++ as -, e!ery ++

as , an e!ery +$+ as /-. 0 them all together. You"ll get a

result from $1 to 1, most often between $2 an 2.

3ere are some sample ice totals4

-+0+5 -

+-005 +++-5 2-0005 6-

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he result on the ice isn"t your final total, howe!er. 7f your

character has a skill that"s appropriate to the action, you get to

a your character"s rating in that skill to whate!er you rolle.

8o, once you"!e rolle the ice, how o you etermine what a

particular result means9 :la you aske.

The *adder&ate uses a laer of ajecti!es an numbers to rate the iceresults, a character"s skills an the result of a roll. 3ere"s the

laer4

; pic

? &antastic

@ 8uperb

1 :reat

A :oo

2 &air

- 0!erage

Beiocre

$- Poor

$2 errible

7t oesn"t really matter which sie of the laer you use#some

people remember the wors better, some people remember the

numbers better, an some people like using both. 8o you coulsay, 7 got a :reat, or 7 got a 1, an it means the same

thing. 0s long as e!eryone unerstans what you"re

communicating, you"re fine.


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esults can go below an abo!e the laer. 7t is encourage that

you to come up with your own names for results abo!e


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routine eFploration of the 0nthari Catacombs.

HoGens of tiny (an some not$so$tiny) spears are

shooting out of the walls in a certain hallway, an

he nees to get past them to the other sie.

0mana, the :B, says, his is passi!e

opposition, because it"s just a trap in your way. 7t"s

opposing you at :reat (1). he 0nthari really

in"t want anyone getting to their temple

treasure.


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any gi!en time uring play. &ate points are one of your most

important resources in &ate#they"re a measure of how much

influence you ha!e to make the story go in your character"s

fa!or.

You can spen fate points to ino%ean aspect, to eclare a story

etail, or to acti!ate certain powerful stunts.

You earn fate points by accepting a !ompelon one of your

aspects.

0 wor of warning4 on"t use eible things as tokens, especially

if the foo hasn"t arri!e yet.

Ino%ing an Aspe!t*hene!er you"re making a skill roll, an you"re in a situation

where an aspect might be able to help you,you can spen a fatepoint to in!oke it in orer to change the ice result. This allo&s

you to either reroll the di!e or add to your roll, &hi!heer

is more helpful.(ypically, 2 is a goo choice if you rolle /2

or higher, but sometimes you want to risk a reroll to get that

1.) You o this after you"!e rolle the ice#if you aren"t

happy with your total.

+ou also hae to e2plain or "ustify ho& the aspe!t is helpful

in order to get the #onus#sometimes it"ll be self$e!ient, an

sometimes it might re'uire some creati!e narrating.

You can spen more than one fate point on a single roll, gaining

another reroll or an aitional 2, as long as each point you

spen in!okes a ifferent aspect.

Cynere is trying to co!ertly goa a merchant into

escribing the security features of his personal

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!ault by posing as a !isiting ignitary. he

merchant is gi!ing her passi!e opposition at :oo

(A), an her Hecei!e skill is &air (2).


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your story etails by relating them to your aspects. :Bs, you

ha!e the right to !eto any suggestions that seem out of scope or

ask the player to re!ise them, especially if the rest of the group

isn"t buying into it.

Dir the 0rcane gets capture with his friens by

some tribesfolk from the 8agroth *ils. he three

heroes are unceremoniously umpe before the

chieftain, an 0mana escribes the chieftain

aressing them in a strange, guttural tongue.

yan looks at his sheet an says, 3ey, 7 ha!e 7f 7

3a!en"t Jeen here, 7"!e ea 0bout 7t on my

sheet. Can 7 eclare that 7"!e stuie this language

at some point, so we can communicate9

0mana thinks that"s perfectly reasonable toassume. yan tosses o!er a fate point an

escribes Dir answering in the chieftain"s own

speech, which turns all eyes in the !illage

(incluing those of his friens) on him in a

moment of surprise.

yan has Dir look at his friens an say, Jooks.hey"re goo for you.

6ompels8ometimes (in fact, probably often), you"ll fin yourself in a

situation where an aspect complicatesyour character"s life an

creates uneFpecte rama. *hen that happens, the :B willsuggest a potential complication that might arise. his is calle

a compel.

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8ometimes, a compel means your character automatically fails

at some goal, or your character"s choices are restricte, or

simply that unintene conse'uences clou whate!er your

character oes. You might negotiate back an forth on the

etails a little, to arri!e at what woul be most appropriate an

ramatic in the moment.

nce you"!e agree to accept the complication, you get a fate

point for your troubles. 7f you want, you can pay a fate point to

pre!ent the complication from happening, but it is not

recommene that you o that !ery often#you"ll probably

nee that fate point later, an getting compelle brings rama

(an hence, fun) into your game"s story.

Players, you"re going to call for a compel when you want there

to be a complication in a ecision you"!e just mae, if it"s

relate to one of your aspects. :Bs, you"re going to call for acompel when you make the worl respon to the characters in a

complicate or ramatic way.

0nyone at the table is free to suggest when a compel might be

appropriate for any character (incluing their own). :Bs, you

ha!e the final wor on whether or not a compel is !ali. 0n

speak up if you see that a compel happene naturally as a resultof play, but no fate points were aware.


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con!ersation, ob!iously intrigue by how ifferent

he looks among all the stuffy nobles. 8he turns to


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(ou#le=EdgedPlayers, goo aspects offer a clear benefit to your character

while also pro!iing opportunities to complicate their li!es or

be use to their etriment.

0n aspect with a ouble$ege is going to come up in play more

often than a mostly positi!e or negati!e one. You can use them

fre'uently to be awesome, an you"ll be able to accept morecompels an gain more fate points.

ry this as a litmus test#list two ways you might in!oke the

aspect, an two ways someone else coul in!oke it or you coul

get a compel from it. 7f the eFamples come easily to min,

greatE 7f not, a more conteFt to make that aspect work or put

that iea to the sie an come up with a new aspect.


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:Bs, this is just as true of your game an situation aspects. 0ny

feature of a scene you call out shoul be something that either

the PCs or their foes coul use in a ramatic fashion. Your game

aspects o present problems, but they also shoul present ways

for the PCs to take a!antage of the status 'uo.

4ay 9ore Than arlier, it was note se!eral things that a character aspectmightescribe4 personality traits, backgrouns, relationships,

problems, possessions, an so forth. he best aspects o!erlap

across a few of those categories, because that means you ha!e

more ways to bring them into play.


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you, can get you into trouble by oing things you

get blame for, or can sen %PC superiors to make

your life ifficult. You can also in!oke the aspect

when ealing with the


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here"s something e!ocati!e about the phrase. 7t

suggests a kin of melancholy about the past. Jut as

an aspect, 7 on"t really know what it"s suppose to

o. 3ow oes it help you9 *hat are the memories

of9 *hat i you wish for9 *ithout some concrete

iea of what the aspect"s referring to, in!oking an

compelling it is pretty much impossible.

8uppose we talk about this some, an you specify

that you were going for this iea that your character

was scarre from years spent in the setting"s last

great war. You kille people you in"t want to kill,

saw things you in"t want to see, an pretty much

ha all your hope of returning to a normal life taken

away.

7 think this is all fantastic, an 7 suggest we call it8cars from the *ar.


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7f you"re still stuck about what to choose, here are some tips to

make things a little easier on you.

4ometimes, Its Better ;ot to 6hoose7f you can"t think of an aspect that really grabs you an the

other people at the table, you"re better off lea!ing that space

blank, or just keeping whate!er ieas you ha scribble in the

margins. 8ometimes it"s much easier to wait for your character

to get into play before you figure out how you want to wor a

particular aspect.

8o when in oubt, lea!e it blank. Baybe you ha!e a general

iea of the aspect but on"t know how to phrase it, or maybe

you just ha!e no iea. Hon"t worry about it. here"s always

room uring the game to figure it out as you go.

he same thing is true if you ha!e more than one iea that

seems juicy, but they on"t work together an you on"t know

which one to pick. *rite them all own in the margins an see

which one seems to really sing in play. hen fill the space in

later, with the one that gets the most mileage.

Al&ays As% >hat 9atters and >hy7t was sai abo!e that aspects tell you why something matters in

the game an why someone shoul care about it. his is your

primary compass an guie to choosing the best possible aspect.

*hen in oubt, always ask4 what o we really care about here,

an why9

he e!ents of thephasesshoul help you figure out what your

aspect shoul be. Hon"t try to summariGe the e!ents of thephase or anything like that with your aspect#remember, the

point is to re!eal something important about the character.

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0gain, ask yourself what really matters about the phase4

*hat was the outcome9 7s that important9

Hi the character e!elop any important relationships or

connections uring this phase9

Hoes the phase help establish anything important about

the character"s personality or beliefs9

Hi the phase gi!e the character a reputation9

Hi the phase create a problem for the character in thegame worl9

0ssume that each 'uestion ens with for goo or ill#these

features, relationships, an reputations aren"t necessarily going

to be positi!e, after all. He!eloping a relationship with a

nemesis is as juicy as e!eloping one with your best frien.

7f there"s more than one option, poll the other players an :B

to see what they fin interesting. emember, you shoul all be

helping each other out#the game works best if e!eryone"s a fan

of what e!eryone else is oing.

Huring Cynere"sphase three,


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ri!als might now ha!e a beef with her as well.


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from a clobbering in a bar fight an suggeste he o

something worthwhile with his life.

0mana asks him what really matters about this

phase, an


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characters, the game will benefit from that sense of mutual

in!estment.

GA9E 6EATIhat 9a%es a Good Fate GameYou can use &ate to tell stories in many ifferent genres, with a

!ariety of premises. here is no efault settingM you an your

group will make that up yoursel!es. he !ery best &ate games,

howe!er, ha!e certain ieas in common with one another, whichbest showcases what the game is esigne to o.

*hether you"re talking about fantasy, science fiction,

superheroes, or gritty cop shows, &ate works best when you use

it to tell stories about people who areproactive, competent, an

dramatic.

Proa!tiityCharacters in a game of &ate shoul be proacti!e. hey ha!e a

!ariety of abilities that len themsel!es to acti!e problem

sol!ing, an they aren"t timi about using them. hey on"t sit

aroun waiting for the solution to a crisis to come to them#

they go out an apply their energies, taking risks an

o!ercoming obstacles to achie!e their goals.

his oesn"t mean that they on"t e!er plan or strategiGe, or that

they"re all careless to a fault. 7t just means that e!en the most

patient among them will e!entually rise an take action in a

tangible, emonstrable way.

0ny &ate game you play shoul gi!e a clear opportunity for the

characters to be proacti!e in sol!ing their problems, an ha!e a

!ariety of ways they might go about it. 0 game about librarians

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spening all their time among usty tomes an learning things

isn"t &ate. 0 game about librariansusing forgotten knowledge to

save the world is.

6ompeten!eCharacters in a game of &ate are goo at things. hey aren"t

bumbling fools who routinely look riiculous when they"re

trying to get things one#they"re highly skille, talente, or

traine ini!iuals who are capable of making !isible change inthe worl they inhabit. hey are the right people for the job, an

they get in!ol!e in a crisis because they ha!e a goo chance of

being able to resol!e it for the better.

his oesn"t mean they always succee, or that their actions are

without unintene conse'uence. 7t just means that when they

fail, it isn"t because they mae umb mistakes or weren"tprepare for the risks.

0ny &ate game that you play shoul treat the characters like

competent people, worthy of the risks an challenges that come

their way. 0 game about garbage men who are force to fight

super!illains an get their asses constantly hane to them isn"t

&ate. 0 game about garbage men who become an awesome anti-supervillain hit squad is.

(ramaCharacters in a game of &ate lea ramatic li!es. he stakes arealways high for them, both in terms of what they ha!e to eal

with in their worl, an what they"re ealing with in the siF

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inches of space between their ears.


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specifics on the protagonists later, in Character Creation.

9a%ing it >or% in Fate(e!ide &hat the &orld is li%e.You"re probably alreay familiar with the iea of a setting, but

in short, it"s e!erything that the characters interact with, such as

people, organiGations an institutions, technology, strange

phenomena, an mysteries (crime, intrigue, an cosmic or

historical legen). hese are the sort of things that characterswant to engage with, are force to engage with, look to for help,

or stan in their way.

7f you"re using a setting that alreay eFists, from a mo!ie,

no!el, or other game book, then many of these ieas are reay

for you to use. f course, you"ll also likely a your own spin

on things4 new organiGations or ifferent mysteries to unco!er.

7f you"re in!enting a setting, you ha!e more work cut out for

you. 7t"s beyon the scope of this chapter to tell you how to

make a setting. 7f you choose to o that it is assume that you

alreay know how to buil one. (Jesies, we li!e in a !ast

worl of meia. 8ee t!tropes.orgif you on"t belie!e us.) ne

wor of a!ice, though#on"t try to in!ent too much up front.0s you"ll see in the :ame Creation section, you"re going to be

generating a lot of ieas just through the process of game an

character creation, so the etails will come in time.

0mana,


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with the serial numbers file off.

yan suggests guy an girl with swors, an guy

without a swor so that there"s a ifference

between the two guys. 0lso, because he wants to

play someone who is more bookish (for contrast).

>!eryone"s on boar with this, an they mo!e on.

A Game's 4!ale(e!ide ho& epi! or personal your story &ill #e.he setting might be small or it might be !ast, but where your

stories take place etermines the scale of your game.

7n a small$scale game, characters eal with problems in a city or

region, they on"t tra!el a great eal, an the problems are

local. 0 large$scale game in!ol!es ealing with problems thataffect a worl, a ci!iliGation, or e!en a galaFy if the genre

you"re playing in can hanle that kin of thing. (8ometimes, a

small$scale game will turn into a large$scale one o!er time, as

you"!e probably seen in long$running no!el series or tele!ision

shows).

0mana likes the !ibe of guy an girl withswor, an thinks it"ll shine as a small$scale

game, where they might tra!el from town to town,

but the problems they ha!e to eal with are local

#like a thie!es+ guil or the regent"s !ile

machinations.


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The 4etting's Big Issues(e!ide &hat threats ) pressures inherent to the

setting &ill spur the protagonists.>!ery setting nees to ha!e something going on that the

characters care about, often a peril they want to fight or

unermine. hese are the setting"s issues.

You"ll come up with two issues as a group an write them own

on ineF cars or agame creation worksheet(ownloaable

from >!il 3at). hese issues are aspects an will be a!ailable to

in!oke or compel throughout the entirety of the game.

he issues shoul reflect the scale of your game an what the

characters will face. hey"re broa ieasM they on"t just affect

your characters, but many people in the worl. 7ssues take two

forms4

6urrent Issues$hese are problems or threats that eFist

in the worl alreay, possibly for a long time.

Protagonists tackling these issues are trying to change

the worl, to make it a better place. >Famples4 a corrupt

regime, organiGe crime, rampant po!erty an isease, a

generations$long war. Impending Issues$hese are things that ha!e begun to

rear their ugly heas, an threaten to make the worl

worse if they come to pass or achie!e a goal.

Protagonists tackling these issues are trying to keep the

worl from slipping into chaos or estruction.

>Famples4 an in!asion from a neighboring country, the

suen rising of a Gombie hore, the imposition ofmartial law.

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:ame an character creation in!ol!e making aspects.

he efault number of issues in a &ate game is two4 >ither two

current issues (for a story solely about trying to make the worl

a better place), two impening issues (for a story about stri!ing

to sa!e people from threats), or one of each. he latter option is

common in fiction4 think about the stalwart heroes who work

against some impening oom while alreay iscontent with the

worl aroun them.

6hanging the ;um#er of Issuesf course, you on"t ha!e to use the efault number of two

issues if you on"t want to#one or three also works, but it will

change the resulting game a bit. 0 game with one issue will

re!ol!e aroun just that issue#a 'uest to ri a city of e!il, or to

stop e!il from happening. 0 game with three will show off a

busy worl, one where the characters" resources are straine

against multiple fronts. 7f you think you nee to focus own or

eFpan the scope of your game, talk it o!er with the group an

start by tweaking the number of issues to best fit what you"re

after.

he group thinks about the sort of problems they

want to eal with in the worl. yanimmeiately says organiGe crime, an they

flesh that out a little. hey come up with the iea

of he 8car ria, a group of thugs who are

known for thie!ery, eFtortion, an other nasty

things that the worl coul o without. his is

clearly a current issue.


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hey come up with an impening issue4 a !ile cult

that seeks to summon something horrible into the

worl (which means they"re also saying that their

setting inclues horrible,


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tension in the cult"s ranks, an makes a current

issue calle wo Conflicting Prophecies#

ifferent branches of the cult ha!e ifferent ieas

of what the oom is going to be.

The 6ult of TranCuility7ssue#wo Conflicting Prophecies

Fa!es ) Pla!es(e!ide &ho the important people and lo!ations are.0t this point, you"!e probably got your issues figure out, an

you may ha!e thought of some organiGations or groups that

feature prominently in your game.

%ow you ha!e to put some faces on those issues an those

groups, so that your PCs ha!e people to interact with whenthey"re ealing with those elements. Ho they ha!e any

particular people who represent them, or stan out as eFemplars

of what the issue"s referring to9 7f you ha!e any ieas at this

point, write them own on an ineF car4 a name, a relationship

to the organiGation or issue, an an aspect etailing their

significance to the story.

Ho the same for any notable places in your setting. 0re there

any important places where things happen, either important to

the worl, important to an issue, or important to the

protagonists9 7f there"s a place where you en!ision multiple

scenes taking place, then talk about that. Knlike %PCs, they

on"t re'uire aspects.

he :B may flesh these characters an places out later,

epening on their role in the story. r one of these ieas might

be a great inspiration for a protagonistE 0n, of course, new

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ones will unfol as the story progresses.

7f there"s a piece of your setting that"s meant to be a mystery

which the protagonists unco!er, efine it only in loose terms.

he specifics can be etaile as they are re!eale in play.

0fter a few minutes of iscussion, the group writes own4

LHugo the Charitable, a lieutenant in the Scar Triad. His

aspect is Everone in !iverton "ears #e.

L $hich brings us to a place, the cit of !iverton. There

are two rivers here, so it%s a hub for trade.

L&manda comes up with a smpathetic character, 'ale

$estal, who owns a shop in !iverton. She isn%t cowed b

Hugo%s e(tortion, and will likel fall victim to an

)accident.* Her aspect is Stubborn +ecause %m !ight.

L The rimarch, the leader of the Cult of Tranquilit,

whose identit is a mster. +ecause that part of thesetting is a mster, the aren%t going to come up with an

aspect or otherwise go an further, leaving those details

to &manda to figure out in secret.

hey coul go on, but they know they"ll ha!e

more ieas after character creation an as they

play. hat"s just enough to paint a picture ofwhat"s going on at the !ery beginning of the story.

Dugo the 6harita#le!eryone in i!erton &ears Be.

The Primar!h


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:ale >estal

8hop owner in i!erton.8tubborn because 7+m right.

9a%e 6hara!tersEa!h player ma%es a protagonist.You can make player charactersafter finishing game creation,

or you can o it in the mile of this process#follow your

instincts here. 7f you fin yourself talking more about the

characters than the worl, go to character creation an then float

back aroun to whate!er parts of game creation you ha!en"t

one yet. therwise, go ahea an finish out all of game

creation first.

7t"s worth noting that the protagonists shoul ha!e some

connections to the faces an places you name in the pre!iousstep. 7f it"s ifficult to relate the characters to the setting, then

you may want to rethink your protagonists or re!ise your game

so it will make a better fit for the new characters.

*hen you"re making characters, you"ll also isco!er a bit more

about the setting as people talk about who their characters know

an what their characters o. 7f anything comes up that shoulbe ae to your game creation notes, o so before pushing

forwar with playing the game.

4%ills and +our 4etting0 big part of your setting is what people can o in it. he

!arious skills in 8kills an 8tuntsco!er many situations, but

you"ll want to look o!er them to see if any on"t apply or ifthere"s a skill you nee to a.

-1
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0ing a skill is co!ere in more etail in the >Ftrassection.

6DAA6TE 6EATIach

arc of a story sets up the neFt, so that they flow into one another

in a natural e!olution. Character creation nees to set up the

first story arc.

Third, !hara!ter !reation in Fate is !olla#oratie.0s with

game creation, character creation is best one as a group

acti!ity. Hoing all of this together buils a strong founation of

communication between the players an :B, an this process

has a number of ways to establish connections between the

characters an the setting.

Combine with game creation, character creation can take a full

session to o#this allows e!eryone to learn about the worl

an each other"s characters. You an the other players will talk

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about your characters, make suggestions to each other, iscuss

how they connect, an establish more of the setting.

You"ll want to keep goo notes on this process. You can use the

character sheet an character creation worksheet ownloaable

at &ateP:.com.

8tart by etermining your character"s high concept an trouble.

hen buil your character"s backstory, a process that takes place

o!er three phases. nce you ha!e that figure out, flesh out

your character"s skills an stunts. hen you"re reay to playE

>hen 6reating +our 6hara!terL Aspe!ts$Come up with your character+s high concept an

trouble aspects.

L ;ame$%ame your character.

L Phase


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want to be able to o (like break boars with your hea, turn

into a wolf, blow things up, etc.). Iust like you i with the

game"s issues earlier, you"re going to take your ieas an turn

them into the two central aspects for your character#high

!on!eptan trou#le.

Player characters shoul be eFceptional an interesting. hey

coul !ery easily fin success in less eFciting situations than

those that come their way in play. You must figure out why your

character is going to keep getting in!ol!e in these more

angerous things. 7f you on"t, the :B is uner no obligation to

go out of her way to make the game work for you#she"ll be too

busy with other players who mae characters that ha!e a reason

to participate.

:eep Building +our 4etting0s you"re making stuff up for your characters, you"ll also make

stuff up about the worl aroun them. You"ll en up talking

about %PCs, organiGations, places, things like that. hat"s

fantasticE

You might also come up with a character concept that as

something funamental to the worl, like saying 7 want to play

a wiGar when no one talke about magic yet. *hen thathappens, iscuss with the group if that"s a part of your setting

an make any necessary ajustments.

Jecause picking a high concept an trouble are linke, they"re

groupe together. You"ll likely ha!e more success coming up

with a compelling character iea if you think about them as one

big step rather than two separate steps. nly after you ha!e that(an a name, of courseE) can you mo!e on to the rest of

character creation.

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hat sai, on"t worry too much#if your character iea e!ol!es

later on, that"s greatE You can always go back an tinker with

the early ecisions.

(ials, (ials Eery&here&ate Core isn"t the be$all an en$all of &ate. 7t"s just a starting

point#a set of efault ecisions that will work if you use it as$

is.

0s you get more familiar with the system, you"ll be tempte to

change things in orer to suit your ini!iual game or play style

a little bit better. That%s totall oka. hese efaults aren"t

sacrosanct. 7t is eFpecte that you will change them. 7n fact,

throughout this system, the ials will be pointe out. 0nother

book, the"ate Sstem Toolkit, is all about how to change an

configure the &ate system to meet your nees.

8o, tweak away.

Digh 6on!eptYour high concept is a phrase that sums up what your character

is about#who he is an what he oes. 7t"s an aspect, one of thefirst an most important ones for your character.

hink of this aspect like your job, your role in life, or your

calling#it"s what you"re goo at, but it"s also a uty you ha!e

to eal with, an it"s constantly fille with problems of its own.

hat is to say, it comes with some goo an some ba. here

are a few ifferent irections you can take this4

L You coul take the iea of like your job literally4ead

/etective, 'night of the !ound, ow-level Thug.

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L You coul throw on an ajecti!e or other escriptor to further

efine the iea4/espicable !egent of !iverton, !eluctant ead

/etective, &mbitious ow-level Thug.

L You coul mash two jobs or roles together that most people

woul fin o4 $i0ard rivate Ee, Singing 'night of the

!ound Table, #onster-slaing &ccountant.

L You coul play off of an important relationship to your family

or an organiGation you"re eeply in!ol!e with (especially if the

family or organiGation are well$connecte or well$known)4

+lack Sheep of the Thompson "amil, ow-level Thug for the

Sndicate, Scar Triad%s ats in !iverton.

hese aren"t the only ways to play with your high concept, but

they"ll get you starte. Jut on"t stress out o!er it#the worst

thing you can o is make it into too big of a eal. You"ll come

up with four other aspects after this one#you on"t ha!e to get

it all naile right now.

If +ou Get 4tumped


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3igh concepts can ha!e o!erlap among the characters, as long

as you ha!e something to istinguish how your character is

ifferent from the others. 7f high concepts must be similar

among all the characters, such as if the :B pitches an all$

sworsmen story, it"s crucial that the troubles iffer.


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asks hey, can 7 be a wiGar9 hey talk a bit about

what that means, so that being a wiGar oesn"t

o!ershaow the sworsmen an isn"t a weak iea.

0fter that, he writes own *iGar for 3ire.

Trou#le7n aition to a high concept, e!ery character has some sort of

trouble aspect that"s a part of his life an story. 7f your high

concept is what or who your character is, your trouble is theanswer to a simple 'uestion4 what complicates your character"s

eFistence9

rouble brings chaos into a character"s life an ri!es him into

interesting situations. rouble aspects are broken up into two

types4 personal strugglesan pro#lemati! relationships.

Personal struggles are a#out your dar%er side or

impulses that are hard to !ontrol.7f it"s something that

your character might be tempte to o or unconsciously

o at the worst possible moment, it"s this sort of trouble.

>Famples4 0nger Banagement 7ssues, 8ucker for a

Pretty &ace,he Jottle Calls to Be.

Pro#lemati! relationships are a#out people ororganiations that ma%e your life hard.7t coul be a

group of people who hate your guts an want you to

suffer, folks you work for that on"t make your job easy,

or e!en your family or friens that too often get caught

in the crossfire. >Famples4 &amily Ban, Hebt to the

Bob, he 8car ria *ants Be Hea.

Your trouble shouln"t be easy to sol!e. 7f it was, your character

woul ha!e one that alreay, an that"s not interesting. Jut nor

shoul it paralyGe the character completely. 7f the trouble is

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constantly interfering with the character"s ay$to$ay life, he"s

going to spen all his time ealing with it rather than other

matters at han. You shouln"t ha!e to eal with your trouble at

e!ery turn#unless that"s the core of one particular a!enture in

the story (an e!en then, that"s just one a!enture).

roubles also shouln"t be irectly relate to your high concept

#if you ha!e


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hings, so she writes that own.

0fter seeing the other two go for personal struggles,

yan wants to a a bit to the setting by ha!ing a

problematic relationship trouble. 3e wants

something that"s in!ol!e with his high concept,

someone he can"t just fight openly against#he

wants to see intrigue in his story. 8o he writes own

i!als in the Collegia 0rcana (which also names a

group of people in the setting, that yan"s character

is a part of).

The Bright 4ide of Trou#les8ince your trouble is an aspect, it"s something you shoul also

be able to in!oke, right9 Jecause you+!e been so focuse on

how this complicates your character"s life, it"s easy to miss how

a trouble also helps your character.

7n short, your eFperience with your trouble makes you a

stronger person in that regar. Healing with personal struggles

lea!es you !ulnerable to being tempte or cajole, but it can

also gi!e you a sense of inner strength, because you know the

sort of person you want to be. Problematic relationships often

cause trouble, but people o learn har lessons from the troublesthey eal with. hey especially learn how to maneu!er aroun

many of the smaller issues their troubles present.


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shiny things (an well$ac'uainte with getting caught an

locke in prison, so she knows a thing or two about escaping).

yan"s i!als in the Collegia 0rcana can come in hany when

ealing with ri!als he knows well#he knows what to eFpect

from their tactics. 3e coul also use this aspect to gain ai from

people who share his ri!als.

Intro to 6hoosing Aspe!ts0 lot of character creation focuses on coming up with aspects#

some are calle high concepts, some are calle troubles, but

they basically all work the same way. 0spects are one of the

most important parts of your character, since they efine who

she is, an they pro!ie ways for you to generate fate points an

to spen those fate points on bonuses. 7f you ha!e time, you

really might want to rea the whole section eicate to aspects

before you go through the process of character creation.

7n case you"re presse for time, here are some guielines for

choosing aspects.

0spects which on"t help you tell a goo story (by gi!ing you

success when you nee it an by rawing you into anger an

action when the story nees it) aren"t oing their job. heaspects which push you into conflict#an help you eFcel once

you"re there#will be among your best an most$use.

0spects nee to be both useful an angerous#allowing you to

help shape the story an generating lots of fate points#an they

shoul ne!er be boring. he best aspect suggests both ways to

use it an ways it can complicate your situation. 0spects thatcannot be use for either of those are likely to be ull inee.

1


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Jottom line4 if you want to maFimiGe the power of your

aspects, maFimiGe their interest.

*hen you"re tol you nee to come up with an aspect, you

might eFperience brain freeGe. 7f you feel stumpe for ecent

ieas for aspects, there"s a big section focusing on se!eral

methos for coming up with goo aspect ieas in0spects an

&ate Points.

7f your character oesn"t ha!e many connections to the other

characters, talk with the group about aspects that might tie your

character in with theirs. his is the eFplicit purpose of Phases

wo an hree#but that oesn"t mean you can"t o it

elsewhere as well.

7f you ultimately can"t break the block by any means, on"t

force it#lea!e it completely blank. You can always come backan fill out that aspect later, or let it e!elop uring play#as

with the Ouick Character Creationrules.

Kltimately, it"s much better to lea!e an aspect slot blank than to

pick one that isn"t inspiring an e!ocati!e to play. 7f you"re

picking aspects you"re not in!este in, they"ll en up being

noticeable rags on your fun.

;ame7f you ha!en"t alreay, it"s time to gi!e your character a nameE


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ach

phase will ask you to write own two things. Kse the character

creation worksheet (at the back of this book, or at&ateP:.com) to write own those etails.

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First, &rite a summary of &hat happened in that

phase.0 couple of sentences to a paragraph shoulsuffice#you on"t want to establish too much etail up

front, because you might ha!e to ajust etails in later

phases.

4e!ond, &rite an aspe!t that refle!ts some part of

that phase.he aspect can co!er the general !ibe from

the summary, or it can focus on some piece of it that still

resonates with your character in the present ay.

Intro to 6hoosing Aspe!ts0 lot of character creation focuses on coming up with aspects#

some are calle high concepts, some are calle troubles, but

they basically all work the same way. 0spects are one of the

most important parts of your character, since they efine who

she is, an they pro!ie ways for you to generate fate points anto spen those fate points on bonuses. 7f you ha!e time, you

really might want to rea thewhole section eicate to aspects

before you go through the process of character creation.

7n case you"re presse for time, here are some guielines for

choosing aspects.

0spects which on"t help you tell a goo story (by gi!ing you

success when you nee it an by rawing you into anger an

action when the story nees it) aren"t oing their job. he

aspects which push you into conflict#an help you eFcel once

you"re there#will be among your best an most$use.

0spects nee to be both useful an angerous#allowing you to

help shape the story an generating lots of fate points#an theyshoul ne!er be boring. he best aspect suggests both ways to

use it an ways it can complicate your situation. 0spects that
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cannot be use for either of those are likely to be ull inee.

Jottom line4 if you want to maFimiGe the power of your

aspects, maFimiGe their interest.

*hen you"re tol you nee to come up with an aspect, you

might eFperience brain freeGe. 7f you feel stumpe for ecent

ieas for aspects, there"s a big section focusing on se!eral

methos for coming up with goo aspect ieas in 0spects an

&ate Points.

7f your character oesn"t ha!e many connections to the other

characters, talk with the group about aspects that might tie your

character in with theirs. his is the eFplicit purpose of Phases

wo an hree#but that oesn"t mean you can"t o it

elsewhere as well.

7f you ultimately can"t break the block by any means, on"t

force it#lea!e it completely blank. You can always come back

an fill out that aspect later, or let it e!elop uring play#as

with the Ouick Character Creation rules.

Kltimately, it"s much better to lea!e an aspect slot blank than to

pick one that isn"t inspiring an e!ocati!e to play. 7f you"repicking aspects you"re not in!este in, they"ll en up being

noticeable rags on your fun.

Phase


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lot of etail#in fact, a pair of sentences works pretty well#

because your fellow players will a in their own etails to this

past a!enture in the neFt two phases (as you will to theirs).

7f you fin yourself stuck, look to your character"s high concept

an trouble. &in a ilemma that has a chance of throwing those

ieas into focus. *hat problem o you get rope into because

of your high concept or trouble9 3ow oes the other aspect help

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in!ol!e in the following phases, this a!enture nees to be

something that isn"t so early in your character"s life that he

hasn"t met the other protagonists yet. 7f one of you has ecie

that you recently showe up in the story, then the a!entures

in!ol!ing that person happene recently. 7f some of you ha!e

been friens (or ol ri!alsE) for a long time, then those

a!entures can take place further in the past. Your best bet is to

not make these a!entures specific in timeM you can figure out

that part once you know who"s in!ol!e in your story.


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to your right until you each ha!e one that isn"t yours). 3owe!er

you ecie to o it, e!ery player shoul now be holing

someone else"s a!enture.

Your character has a supporting role in the story you"re holing,

which you get to come up with right now. Jriefly iscuss it with

the player whose a!enture it is an a a sentence or phrase to

the summary to reflect your character"s supporting role.

8upporting roles come in three forms4 they complicate the

a!enture, sol!e a situation, or both.

6ompli!ating the adenture$Your character manage

to make some part of the a!enture uncertain (possibly

because of an issue or trouble aspect). f course, since

that happene in the past, it is known that you got out of

it all right (or mostly all right, as inicate by the aspect

you take). *hen escribing this, on"t worry about howthe situation is resol!e#lea!e that for someone else, or

lea!e it open. Hescriptions like


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6ompli!ating and soling$3ere, your character either

sol!es one situation but creates another, or creates asituation but later sol!es a ifferent one. Bash up the

two ieas, using the wor later in between them, such

as4


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0fter


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wanting the shiny artifact for herself. yan alreay

establishe that Dir gets the artifact back to where

it belongs, so she only hols it temporarily.

8he ecies to take 7"!e :ot Dir"s Jack, as a way

of reflecting her willingness to stick her neck out for

Dir#the group oesn"t know what he i to earn

such loyalty, but they figure they"ll fin out

e!entually.

Cynere steals Dir"s artifact. >!entually it returns to Dir"s

hans an the two gain a mutual respect for each other.

Ie Got irds Ba!%0n with that, you ha!e your fi!e aspects an a goo chunk of

backgrounE

Fe&er Than Three Playershe phase trio assumes that you"ll ha!e at least three players. 7f

you ha!e only two, consier the following ieas4

8kip phase three an just make up another aspect, either

now or in play.

Come up with a thir, joint$story together, an write

about how you each feature in that one.

3a!e the :B also make a character. he :B won"t

actually play this character alongsie the PCs, though#

it shoul just be an %PC. 8uch an %PC can be a great

!ehicle for kicking off a campaign#if a frien they"re

tie to uring character creation mysteriously isappears

or e!en ies, that"s instant fuel for rama.

7f you only ha!e one player, skip phases two an three, lea!ing

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the aspects blank to be fille in uring play.

4%illsPi!% and rate your !hara!ters s%ills.nce you ha!e mappe out your character"s phases an chosen

aspects, it"s time to pick skills. You"ll fin escriptions an

etails for each skill in the 8kills an 8tuntssection.

Your skills form a pyrami, with a single skill rate at :reat(1)#which is refere to as the peak skill#an more skills at

each lower rating on the laer going own to 0!erage (-)4

ne :reat (1) skill

wo :oo (A) skills

hree &air (2) skills

&our 0!erage (-) skills

The 4%ill 6apJy efault, :reat (1) is the highest rate skill PCs start with.

0s characters a!ance, they can impro!e beyon this cap, but

it"s more ifficult than impro!ing skills rate below the cap (see

Bajor Bilestones).

7f you"re making a game about superheroes, panimensional

creatures, mythic gos or other beyon$human characters, feel

free to set the tip of the skill pyrami#an thus the cap#at

8uperb (@) or &antastic (?).

he number of skills you get shoul be relati!e to the siGe of the

skill list. ur efault skill list has -; skills, an the :reatpyrami gi!es you a rating in - of them, which means e!ery

character has some capability in o!er half of the total number of

/-
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things you can o, an there"s room for siF PCs to peak (as in,

to choose their three top skills) without o!erlap. You can tweak

this for ini!iual games, especially if you ajust the skill cap.

Iust keep in min that bigger pyramis mean more o!erlap

between characters, unless your game has a longer skill list.

Beiocre () is the efault for any skill you o not take.

8ometimes, a skill will state that it"s una!ailable if a character

in"t take itM in those cases, it"s not e!en at Beiocre.

yan knows that Dir"s not like the other PCs in

terms of skills, so he looks to istance Dir from

them as much as possible. he group has ecie

that Dir"s magic is going to work off his


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physical fitness, whether through training, natural gifts, or

genre$specific means (like magic or genetic alteration). 7t"s how

goo you are at mo!ing your boy. 0s such, it is a popular

choice for nearly any action$y character.

0thletics is all but ubi'uitous among e!ery genre appropriate

for &ate#it woul only be unnecessary in a game that focuse

eFclusi!ely on interpersonal interaction an ha no physical

conflict.

O


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them, though. 7f you make this ecision, it will make those

weapons !ery, !ery angerous. r ha!e another skill efen

against them.

BurglaryJurglary co!ers your character"s aptitue for stealing things an

getting into places that are off$limits.

7n genres that rely on the use of a lot of technology, this skillalso inclues a proficiency in the relate tech, allowing the

character to hack security systems, isable alarm systems, an

whatnot.

O


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O


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6raftsCrafts is the skill of working with machinery, for goo or ill.

he efault skill is calle Crafts because it"s what we use in the

eFamples, but this skill might !ary a great eal epening on

the setting an what kin of technology is a!ailable. 7n a

moern or sci$fi setting, this might be >ngineering or

Bechanics instea.

O


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AAtta!%4 You probably won"t use Crafts to attack in a

conflict, unless the conflict is specifically about usingmachinery, like with siege weaponry. :Bs an players, talk

o!er the likelihoo of this happening in your game if you ha!e

someone who is really intereste in taking this skill. Ksually,

weapons you craft are likely to be use with other skills to

attack#a guy who makes a swor still nees &ight to wiel it

wellE

D(efend4 0s with attacking, Crafts oesn"t efen, unlessyou"re somehow using it as the skill to control a piece of

machinery that you block with.

(e!eieHecei!e is the skill about lying to an misirecting people.

O


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an misirection.

C6reate an Adantage4 Kse Hecei!e to create momentaryistractions, co!er stories, or false impressions. You coul feint

in a sworfight, putting an opponent ff$Jalance an setting

you up for an attack. You coul o the whole, *hat"s that o!er

thereE trick to gi!e you a 3ea 8tart when you run away. You

coul establish a *ealthy %oble Co!er 8tory for when you

atten a royal ball. You coul trick someone into re!ealing oneof their aspects or other information.

AAtta!%4 Hecei!e is an inirect skill that creates a lot ofopportunities you can capitaliGe on, but it oesn"t o irect

harm to an ini!iual.

D(efend4 You can use Hecei!e to throw off 7n!estigationattempts with false information an to efen against efforts

mae to iscern your true moti!es with the >mpathy skill.

Social Skills and Other CharactersBany of the social skills ha!e actions that let you change the

emotional state of another character or make them accept some

fact in the story (like belie!ing one of your lies).

0 successful use of a social skill oes not confer the authority

to force another character to act contrary to their nature or how

the person controlling the character sees them. 7f another PC

gets affecte by one of your skills, the player gets input on

how their character respons. hey can"t negate your !ictory,

but they can choose what it looks like.

8o, you may successfully Pro!oke by getting in their face an

08


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screaming at them, intening to scare them into hesitation an

create an a!antage. Jut if the other player oesn"t imagine hischaracter reacting that way, you shoul work out an alternati!e

#maybe you make him so angry that he"s unbalance by his

rage, or you embarrass him by making a spectacle aroun him

in public.

0s long as you get your a!antage, you"re fine. Kse it as an

opportunity to create story with other people, instea ofshutting them own.

(riehe Hri!e skill is all about operating !ehicles an things that go

fast.


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other wors, within the same Gone), both unarme an using

weapons. &or the range weapons counterpart, see 8hoot.

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skills you choose to ha!e for combat speak !olumes on what

your game"s about.

7n the eFamples, we"!e got &ight an 8hoot as separate skills,

to gi!e us a basic i!ision without getting too much into

minutiae. %otably, though, this suggests that fighting with a

weapon an fighting bare$hane are pretty much the same#

there"s no inherent a!antage in oing one o!er the other. 7t"s a

pretty common choice to further separate unarme an armemelee#into &ists an *eapons, for eFample.

You coul specialiGe e!en further if you wante ifferent

classes of weapons to ha!e their own skills (8wors, Polearms,

0Fes, Plasma :uns, 8lugthrowers, etc.), but again, we

recommen you not go too craGy with this unless it"s really

important to your setting. 8pecialiGe weapon use can also be

moele by using eFtras.

Inestigate7n!estigate is the skill you use to fin things out. 7t"s a

counterpart to %otice#whereas%oticere!ol!es aroun

situational alertness an surface obser!ation, 7n!estigate

re!ol!es aroun concentrate effort an in$epth scrutiny.

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C6reate an Adantage4 7n!estigate is probably one of themost !ersatile skills you can use to create an a!antage. 0s longas you"re willing to take the time, you can fin out just about

anything about anyone, isco!er nearly any etail about a place

or object, or otherwise make up aspects about nearly anything in

the game worl that your character coul reasonably unearth.

7f that souns broa, consier the following as just a few of thepossibilities for using 7n!estigate4 ea!esropping on a

con!ersation, looking for clues at a crime scene, eFamining

recors, !erifying the truth of a piece of information,

conucting sur!eillance, an researching a co!er story.

*ore

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Ompathy. You

might also use %otice to eclare that your character spots

something you can use to your a!antage in a situation, such as

a con!enient >scape oute when you"re trying to get out of a

builing, or a 8ubtle *eakness in the enemy"s line of efense.

&or eFample, if you"re in a barroom brawl you coul make a

%otice roll to say that you spot a pule on the floor, right neFtto your opponent"s feet that coul cause him to slip.

D(efend4 You can use %otice to efen against any uses of8tealth to get the rop on you or ambush you, or to isco!er that

you"re being obser!e.

PhysiCuehe Physi'ue skill is a counterpart to 0thletics, representing the

character"s natural physical aptitues, such as raw strength an

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enurance. 7n our eFample game, we ha!e this skill broken out

as something separate in orer to create two istinct types of

physical characters#the nimble guy (represente by 0thletics)

an the strongman (represente by Physi'ue).

7n your game, you might not fin this istinction necessary to

make with separate skills#though you might still let players

make that istinction with stunts an aspects.

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point stress boF. :oo (A) or :reat (1) gi!es you a A$point

an a 1$point stress boF. 8uperb (@)an abo!e gi!e you an

aitional mil conse'uence slot along with the aitional

stress boFes. his slot can only be use for physical harm.

Proo%ePro!oke is the skill about getting someone"s aner up an

eliciting negati!e emotional response from them#fear, anger,

shame, etc. 7t"s the being a jerk skill.

o use Pro!oke, you nee some kin of justification. hat coul

come entirely from situation, or because you ha!e an aspect

that"s appropriate, or because you"!e create an a!antage with

another skill (like apport or Hecei!e), or because you"!e

assesse your target"s aspects (see >mpathy).

his skill re'uires that your target can feel emotions#robots

an Gombies typically can"t be pro!oke.

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emotional harm to an opponent. Your relationship with the

target an the circumstances you"re in figure a great eal into

whether or not you can use this action.

apporthe apport skill is all about making positi!e connections to

people an eliciting positi!e emotion. 7t"s the skill of being

like an truste.

Ole!ate Confience, or stir a crow into a Ioyful

&er!or, or simply make someone alkati!e or 3elpful.

D(efend4 apport efens against any skill use to amageyour reputation, sour a moo you"!e create, or make you look

ba in front of other people. 7t oes not, howe!er, efen

against mental attacks. hat re'uires*ill.

esour!esesources escribes your character"s general le!el of materialwealth in the game worl an ability to apply it. his might not

always reflect cash on han, gi!en the ifferent ways you can

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represent wealth in a particular setting#in a meie!al game, it

might be tie to lan or !assals as much as golM in the moern

ay, it might mean a number of goo lines of creit.

his skill is in the efault list to gi!e you a basic, easy way to

hanle wealth as an abstraction without getting into minutiae or

bookkeeping. 8ome people might consier it o to gi!e a static

skill rating for something that we"re use to seeing as a finite

resource.

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rename the aspect as something worse#8trappe for

Cash becomes Hea Jroke, Hea Jroke becomes Hebtto Creitors. he aspect is not a conse'uence, but it

shoul make goo compel foer for characters who

are shopping until they rop. 7t can go away if the

character takes a break from spening cash, or at the

en of the session.

>!ery time the character succees at a esources roll,

ecrease the skill by one le!el for the remainer of thatsession. 7f they succee at a esources roll at Beiocre

(), they can no longer make any esources rolls that

session.

7f you really want to get craGy, you can make finances a

category of conflict an gi!e each character a wealth stress

track, gi!ing them eFtra stress boFes for ha!ing a high

esources, but we on"t recommen going that far unless you

plan on making material wealth a major part of your game.

One Rethinking of the Resources Skillhe esources skill is a one that some folks may want to

tweak or moify. yan Backlin has poste an article with thisthoughts4

7"ll let you in on a non$secret4 7"m not satisfie with the

esources skill in &ate Core. 7 get what it"s there for, an 7 get

out to use it, but it"s one of those things that 7"m probably

going to tinker with until the en of ays.

By current tinkering re!ol!es aroun the aage of &ast, goo,

cheap4 pick two. (his post will be rough, as it"s a shell of an

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iea an 7 ha!en"t much time to write blog posts this week).

*hen rolling for esources to getS-T something, the :B sets

the target (base on whate!er # that rubric is out of scope for

the moment). hen, epening on the result4

4u!!ess &ith style4 you get fast, goo, an cheap.

%iceE

4u!!esstie4 you get two of those.

Failure4 you get one of those, which means it may bemore of a liability than you" like # effecti!ely it"s

success at a cost as efault.

Failure #y - or moreH2T4 it"s totally una!ailable.

he :B"s job is to suggest which aren"t true, for anything less

than success with style, though maybe there"s an interplay

in!ol!e. 7"ll get to that in a moment, but first

hat Fast, !ood, and Chea" #eanFastmeans that in terms of story, the time to get something

isn"t much of a complication. You"ll get it as fast as fictionally

plausible. ;ot fastmeans something relating to getting

whate!er it is becomes an issue, an you won"t ha!e it as fast

as you might like. You willget it, but there is some hassle.(&ast coul also be interprete as easy or hassle$free.)

Goodmeans that what you"re getting is of 'uality. 7n game

terms, it is or has a situational aspect with a free in!oke on it.

;ot goodmeans the other way, where there"s some potential

flaw or issue with it, which is incorporate as a situational

aspect for the :B to compel or aggro$in!oke.

6heapmeans that it oesn"t strain your resources. ;ot !heapmeans that it oes, which can be moele in !arious ways #

esource rain is the ob!ious one right from the &ate Core

teFt.

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$egotiationhe esources roll tells you what"s a!ailable, but you can turn

the eal own. (7t"s possible that turning own a eal after a

roll coul ha!e fictional conse'uences, like snubbing someone,

but that"s for the story to play with).

"or a slight bit of stor-oriented fiddliness4 7f the :B says that

the problem is with fast or goo, but you"re able to get itcheap, you can put forwar swapping cheap for fast or goo.

Kp to story logic to see if effecti!ely throwing money at

something is !ali in that circumstance, but it"s an option

o!erall. Hepening on how the mechanics work, you coul

ouble$pay the not$cheap cost to get both fast an goo on a

faile roll.

hat"s a rough rethinking of it. 7 coul see this methoology

being use not just for esources, but possibly also Contacts,

or e!en for skill$eFclusi!e access like something base on


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resist your attempts to shoot them (like a bull"s$eye or the broa

sie of a barn).

0gain, as with &ight, if it"s important to your setting to make a

istinction between ifferent types of range weaponry, you

might separate this out into skills like Jows, :uns, >nergy

*eapons, etc. Hon"t go nuts with this unless it"s key to your

game.

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coul use it to lay own some co!ering fire#which might act

as a efense for your allies or pro!ie opposition to someone

else"s mo!ement#though it coul just as easily be represente

by creating an a!antage (Co!ering &ire or 3ail of Jullets, for

eFample).

4tealthhe 8tealth skill allows you to a!oi etection, both when

hiing in place an trying to mo!e about unseen. 7t pairs wellwith the Jurglaryskill.

Oillhe *ill skill represents your character"s general le!el of

mental fortitue, the same way thatPhysi'uerepresents yourphysical fortitue.

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4tunts ) efreshPi!%inent - to / stunts. (etermine your efresh.8tunts change how skills work for your character. Picking an

in!enting stunts are co!ere in the 8kills an 8tuntssection.

You get three stunts for free, an you can take up to two more

stunts at the cost of lowering your refresh by one each. (he gist

is this4 the more cool tricks you can o, the more you"ll nee toaccept compels to get fate points.) &iguring out stunts can take a

while, so you may want to pick one for now an etermine the

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You can ajust these efaults if you want to, an gi!e out more

free stunts if you want the PCs to ha!e a lot of cool tricks an

special bonuses. You can also change the efault refresh rate#

higher refresh means that the PCs won"t nee to take compels as

often (think 1$color superhero comics), an lower refresh means

they"ll nee to take se!eral early in e!ery session in orer to

ha!e a ecent supply (think/ie Hard). 0lso, the higher your

refresh, the more likely it is that players will buy stunts.

4tress ) 6onseCuen!es(etermine ho& mu!h of a #eating your !hara!ter !an ta%e.

*hen &ate characters fin themsel!es in harm"s way#a fairly

common occurrence when you"re highly competent, proacti!e,

an facing rama at e!ery turn#they ha!e two ways to stan

their groun an stay on their feet4 stressan !onseCuen!es.

he Conflictssection of the Challenges, Contests, an Conflicts

section fully eFplains what these mean an how they"re use. 7n

brief, stress represents the ephemeral toll of participating in a

conflict, whereas conse'uences are the lingering effects, an

sometimes 'uite traumatic ones, of taking harm.

4tress Tra!%s>!ery PC has two ifferent stress tracks. he physical stress

track eals with physical harm, an the mental stress track

mitigates mental harm. he more boFes in a stress track, the

more resilient the character is in that regar. Jy efault, a

character has two boFes in each stress track.

6onseCuen!e 4lots>!ery PC also has three conse'uence slots.ne is mil, one is

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moerate, an the last one is se!ere. Knlike stress, these aren"t

classifie as either physical or mental#any of them can apply

to any type of harm. 0s mentione abo!e, conse'uences are the

injuries an traumas you can"t just shake off after the ust

settles.

Adding Tra!%s and 4lotsCertain skills an some stunts can a to these efaults. 8ee the

8kills an 8tuntssection for more on that. &or the sake of 'uickreference, these are the skills inHearts of Steelthat alter stress

an conse'uences4

Physi'uehelps with physical stress, an*illhelps with mental

stress. >ither skill grants one more stress boF of the respecti!e

type (physical or mental) if rate at 0!erage (-) or &air (2),

or two more stress boFes if rate at :oo (A) or higher. 0t8uperb (@) or higher, they also grant an aitional mil

conse'uence slot. Knlike the stanar three, this conse'uence

slot is specifically restricte to either physical harm (Physi'ue)

or mental harm (*ill).

;ote$if you"re playing in a setting with ifferent skills, the

skills that affect stress boFes an conse'uences may change.

ake a note of those skill benefits when you"re making your

character.

You can a stress tracks if the characters in your game suffer

uni'ue kins of harm, such aswealth stressin a !ery political

game. Changing the number of boFes will slow own an raw

out conflicts, which may be more appropriate for high$octane,

pulpy genres where characters are eFpecte to take a lot of hits.


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two more physical stress boFes. 3is *ill, howe!er,

is only 0!erage (-), but that"s still goo enough for

one more mental stress boF.

Cynere"s Physi'ue is &air (2), so she gets a thir

physical stress boF. Jut her mental stress track

remains at two boFes, thanks to her Beiocre ()

*ill.

Dir the 0rcane, being a rather bookish type, has

Beiocre () Physi'ue, so he has only the efault

physical stress track of two boFes. 3is &air (2)

*ill, though, is goo for one bonus mental stress

boF.

Jecause none of these characters has Physi'ue or

*ill rate at 8uperb (@) or abo!e, each has theefault number of conse'uences4 one mil, one

moerate, an one se!ere.

ETA4

(efining E2tras0n eFtra in &ate is a pretty broa term. 7t is use to escribe

anything that"s technically part of a character or controlle by a

character, but gets special treatment in the rules. 7f your &ate

game were a mo!ie, this is where the special effects buget

woul go.

8ome eFamples of eFtras inclue4 Bagic an supernatural powers

8pecialiGe gear or e'uipment, like enchante arms an

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armor in a fantasy game or hyper$tech in a sci$fi game

Rehicles owne by the characters rganiGations or locations that the characters rule or

ha!e a lot of influence o!er

he tools in here will let you tailor eFtras to fit your game or

pro!ie material to steal right off the page. 7t"s okay, steal away.

>Ftras are consiere to be an eFtension of the character sheet,

so whoe!er controls the character to whom the eFtra belongs

also controls that eFtra. Bost of the time, that"ll be the players,

but %PCs may also ha!e eFtras controlle by the :B.

>Ftras re'uire apermission or costto own.

The Brone ule, a%a The Fate Fra!talJefore going any further, here"s something important4

In Fate, you !an treat anything in the game &orld li%e its a

!hara!ter. Anything !an hae aspe!ts, s%ills, stunts, stress

tra!%s, and !onseCuen!es if you need it to.

his is calle this the JronGe ule, but you may also ha!e hearof it as the &ate &ractal if you pay attention to the 7nternet.

You"!e alreay seen some eFamples of this in other places on

the siteM you gi!e your game its own aspects uring creation,

you place situation aspects on the en!ironment as well as on

characters, an the :B can let en!ironmental haGarsattack as

if they ha skills.

>Ftras eFten the JronGe rule e!en further.

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6EATI;G A; ETABaking an eFtra starts with a con!ersation. his shoul happenuring game creation or character creation.

Your group nees to ecie on the following4

*hat elements of your setting are appropriate for eFtras9

*hat o you want the eFtra to o9

*hat character elements o you nee to fully eFpress

the eFtra"s capabilities9

*hat are the costs or permissions to ha!e eFtras9

nce you"!e figure all that out, look to the eFamples in this

book to help you nail own the specifics an create a write up

similar to what can be foun here. hen you"re oneE

4etting ElementsChances are that you alreay ha!e some ieas for eFtras in min

after your work in game creationM pretty much e!ery fantasy

game has some kin of magic system in it while a game about

superheroes nees powers. 7f the action re!ol!es aroun some

important location#like the characters" starship, a home base,

or a fa!orite ta!ern#consier efining that as an eFtra.

Jy nature, eFtras ten to steal a lot of focus when they"re

introuce#gamers ha!e an in!eterate attraction to whiG$bang

cool options, so you shoul eFpect them to get a lot of attention

by efault. *hen you"re talking out options for eFtras, make

sure you"re prepare for the elements you choose to become a

major focus in your game.

0mana an company talk about eFtras for 3earts

of 8teel.

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Dir"s magic (an the magic of the Collegia 0rcana)

comes up as an ob!ious first choice, as o hat E2tras (o7n broa terms, sketch out what you want the eFtras to be able

to o, compare to what your skills, stunts, an aspects can

alreay o by efault. 0lso, think about what the eFtra looks

like on camera. *hat o people see when you use it9 *hat"s

the look an feel of it9

7n particular, consier these points4

Hoes the eFtra influence the story, an if so, how9

Hoes the eFtra let you o things that no other skill lets

you o9

Hoes the eFtra make your eFisting skills more useful or

powerful9

3ow woul you escribe the use of the eFtra9

his is an important step because it may re!eal that the

propose eFtra oesn"t actually contribute as much as you

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thought, which allows you to either a more stuff or remo!e it

from consieration.

&or Dir"s magic, the group ecies that they want

to keep things pretty low$key an abstract#it"s just

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Ksing Dir"s magic is all about the weir. yan

imagines making up o lists of re'uirements an

ingreients that on"t really follow a consistent

pattern#some things he can o 'uickly, others he

can"t, an it"s all about ramatic interest in the

moment to etermine which is when. he group is

comfortable with this looseness, so they assent.

Assigning 6hara!ter Elementsnce you ha!e the general iea own, figure out what parts of a

character you nee to make up the eFtra.

7f the eFtra influences the story, then it shoul use

aspects.

7f the eFtra creates a new conteFt for action, then itshoul use skills.

7f the eFtra makes skills more awesome, then it shoul

use stunts.

7f the eFtra can suffer harm or be use up somehow, then

it shoul take stress an conse'uences.

0n eFtra might use an aspect as apermission#re'uiring acertain character aspect in orer to use the other abilities of the

aspect. Your character might nee to be born with some trait or

ha!e obtaine some le!el of status to make use of the aspect. r

the eFtra might pro!ie a new aspect that the character has

access to, if it"s the eFtra itself that is important to the story.

here are a few ways an eFtra can use skills. he eFtra might bea new skill, not on the efault skill list. 7t coul re$write an

eFisting skill, aing new functions to the skill"s four actions.

he eFtra might cost a skill slot uring character creation or

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a!ancement in orer to be obtaine. 7t"s possible that an eFtra

might inclue one or more eFisting skills that the character has

access to while controlling the eFtra.

*riting up an eFtra as a stunt works just likebuiling a new

stunt. ne eFtra coul ha!e a few stunts attache to it#it may

e!en inclue the skills those stunts moify. >Ftras that inclue

stunts often cost refresh points, just as stunts o.

0n eFtra that escribes some integral ability of a character

might grant a new stress track#beyon physical an mental

stress#irectly to that character. 0n eFtra that is a separate

entity from the character#such as a location or a !ehicle#

might ha!e a physical stress track of its own. You might also

esignate a skill that influences that stress track#just as

Physi'ue pro!ies eFtra stress boFes an conse'uence slots for

physical stress.

*ith a firm grasp of what the eFtra oes, you"ll choose which

character elements best reinforce those ieas in play an how

you"ll use them.

&or Dir"s magic, the group ecies that it shoul

use aspects an skills for sure#there"s a clear storyinfluence, an magic creates a new a!enue of

ealing with problems. hey on"t want it to

enhance other skills, but rather stan alone, so it

oesn"t use stunts. hey on"t en!ision any kin of

mana pool or other resource associate with it, so

it oesn"t use stress or conse'uences.

Permissions and 6osts0 permissionis the narrati!e justification that allows you to

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take an eFtra in the first place. &or the most part, you establish

permission to take an eFtra with one of your character"s aspects,

which escribes what makes your character 'ualifie or able to

ha!e it. You can also just agree it makes sense for someone to

ha!e an eFtra an call it goo.

0 !ostis how you pay for the eFtra, an it comes out of the

resources a!ailable on your character sheet, whether that"s a

skill point, a refresh point, a stunt slot, or an aspect slot.

&ortunately, because eFtras use character elements that are

alreay familiar to you, ealing with costs is fairly simple#you

just pay what you" normally pay from the slots a!ailable to

you at character creation. 7f the eFtra is a new skill, you just put

it into your pyrami like normal. 7f it"s an aspect, you choose

one of your fi!e aspects as the one you nee. 7f it"s a stunt, you

pay a refresh point (or more) to ha!e it.

:Bs, if you on"t want players to choose between ha!ing eFtras

an ha!ing the normal stuff a!ailable to a starting character, feel

free to raise the number of slots all PCs get at character creation

to accommoate eFtras#just make sure that each PC gets the

same amount of aitional slots.

0mana establishes that Dir shoul ha!e an aspect

reflecting that he"s been traine in the Collegia"s

magic, as a permission. Dir alreay oes, so that"s

a non$issue.

0s for cost, because his magic is going to be

primarily skill$base, she"s just going to make himtake the magic$using skill an put it in his skill

pyrami. &urther, in orer to sa!e effort, she ecies

that the skill in 'uestion is going to be just plain ol

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whether through conjuring of elements or mental assault.

argets can efen against this with 0thletics or *ill epening

on the nature of the attack, or


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9eapon and Armor atings8e!eral of the entries in this section refer to *eapon an 0rmor

ratings. You can use them in grittier games as a blanket

assumption rather than relegating them to eFtras, if it"s

appropriate#getting hit by a weapon will amage you more,

an ha!ing armor keeps that from happening.

0 *eapon !alue as to the shift !alue of a successful hit. 8o, if

you ha!e *eapon42, it means that any hit is worth 2 more shifts

than it woul normally be. his counts for ties, so when you"re

using a weapon, you inflict stress on a tie instea of getting a

boost. hat makes weapons !ery angerous.

0n 0rmor !alue reuces the shifts of a successful hit. 8o,

0rmor42 makes any hit worth 2 less than usual. If you hit, #ut

the targets Armor redu!es the shift alue to 8 or #elo&, you

get a #oost to use on your target #ut dont do any harm.

7t is recommene setting a scale for *eapon amage from - to1, keeping in min that on a tie, a *eapon41 hit will take out

four 0!erage nameless %PCs. hen set your 0rmor ratings

base on what you think you" nee to fully protect against the

weapons on each le!el.

0mana talks to the group about aing *eapon

an 0rmor ratings. hey agree, so now she"ll set upeFamples of weapons an their corresponing

ratings. 7t"s a fantasy worl, an fairly gritty, so she

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FATE Player's Guide

thinks about the *eapon41 guieline abo!e an

ecies that any large, two$hane weapon (like a

polearm or claymore$like swor) woul spell oom

for a nameless %PC group, e!en on a clumsy hit.

>Ftrapolating from there, she ens up with the

following4

>eapon$1correspons to items like brass knuckles

an small saps, or most impro!ise weapons.

0rmor4- is pae clothes.

>eapon$correspons to short blaes or clubs,

such as a agger or a truncheon. 0rmor42 is paing

an mail.

>eapon$-co!ers most swors, maces, ananything you use on

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