Fate Core review

Reviewing Fate Core is an interesting thing as I know the system very well. I have been a fan of this system since I ran across it in a small convention in NYC back in 2007. Then I was lucky enough to playtest the Dresden Files RPG. So, as I said, I am fairly versed in the system.

I am going to assume that most people that are reading this at least have some knowledge of the system, so I am not going to go into great detail about mechanics.

The good

First of all the book is small. I say this, because at the same time I also got Star Wars Edge of the Empire AND Numenera…and both of those books are HUGE. So, it is nice that the book can be carried easily. The artwork is also very good. A lot of different genres are in display and it looks very good indeed.

I am not going to go into EVERY change they made to the system. But, the best thing I can honestly say about Fate Core is that everything is more fluid as the system was streamlined quite a bit. The reason I say this is as much as I have always loved the system, it could get bogged down at times. Especially in combat. Now when you are trying to overcome someone, either with a skill, or in combat…you have four outcomes. Which was a much needed and simpler way to do this. Awesome.

Fail

This means what it sounds like. You can still obviously fail a roll. But now you have the option of succeeding at a serious cost. This is awesome as it allows you to succeed, but then something will be made more difficult for you. Narratively, this is gold.

Tie

Again, you can succeed, but this time at a minor cost. Or if in battle, you can get a boost (an aspect that you get to invoke once for free). This right here speeds combat up SO much.

Succeed

You get what you want with no cost.

Succeed with style

If you succeed by 3 or more shifts you do it with style. This means you get an added benefit beyond just succeeding.

The reason why I talk about this, is because of the above mentioned, it just speeds the game up in so many ways. Gone are the battles that just took forever because of really high health tracks and back and forth turns.

You also have less skills, and a smaller health and mental track (which DFRPG actually started). This makes the game much more dangerous. I remember the first time I played this and we played a Star Wars Fate game and one of the players almost died in the first fight against a rancor. Death is much, much, more a chance in this version of Fate.

Which I love.

I also like that they gave stunt suggestions for each skill. I have seen people get a bit intimated in trying to come up with them on their own. Three is better than none.

Again, they do a great job of giving people that run the game tips. They do this better than anyone I have ever seen. Plenty of examples throughout and just a tone that doesn’t feel condescending and makes the person reading really feel like they can take this system on. Even if they have not played/run it before. This is a great thing indeed.

Lastly, it is just such a versatile system. You can honestly play just about any genre you want. High fantasy, steampunk, Cthulhu, pulp, sci-fi, or anything else you really want. I love that and beyond the settings they have already published, it is the most hackable game I have ever encountered. I have personally played a Star Wars, Thundercats, GI Joe, and Transformers Fate Core game.

It doesn’t get better than that.

The bad

About the only thing bad I can say is that this game is not for everyone. Power gamers and people that just love combat can get frustrated with Fate mechanics. I have seen enough of this to know it is true, and I have even converted some of these people. But that is just a fact and that is why there are hundreds of other games out there for those gamers.

Rating 10 out of 10

New blog

In my attempts to get back into the flow for this blog (and my life in general) I have started a new blog to talk about just geeky things.

http://thechancellorofgeekdom.blogspot.com/2013/09/video-games-i-have-played-recently.html

That is all. :)

There is much happening in my corner of the interwebs.

So, there is a lot going on in the next few months from my little spot on the internet.

So, let’s get into it.

Fate Points

So, the Fate Points hangout is going strong. There is a new post on our blog where I talk about how it is going and who are next guests are. Check it out here. http://fatepoints.blogspot.com/2013/06/fate-pointsan-update.html

Designosaurs Hangout

So, Brianna and I are starting a new hangout called The Designosaurs. It will be every 3 weeks and it will focus on the trials, tribulations, and victories of game design.

The idea is to have someone on the show and have all of us talk game design.  Hopefully we can get some questions from the awesome people of G+ and then have a good discussion. We also want to then spotlight someone in the community that is creating something. Whether it is game, novel, art, etc. It doesn’t matter. We just want people to know about all of the amazing people that create things on G+.

More information soon as I am confirming our first guest which could happen as soon as NEXT WEDNESDAY!

NerdPitt

Last and the thing I am MOST excited about.  I want to announce the official launching of #Nerdpitt. An indie gaming day that will take place on September 7^th here in Pittsburgh. We are hoping to make a weekend of it to attempt to get more people from outside of our city to come.

Possible itinerary: 

Friday night-We are considering having a Larp.

Saturday-Gaming from 12PM to 10PM

Sunday-A brunch to discuss game design.

So, as you can see we are hoping to have something going on all three days.

As of today, we already have a location chosen and secured.  So, now we just have to get the planning out of the way and find a way to get you to come to Pittsburgh. J

More on this soon.

Communities and why I miss NerdNYC

So, I was in a discussion today about a gaming day project a few of us are making, and it got me thinking about my days at NerdNYC and communities in general.

Now, when I moved to NYC in 2002, I did not really know many people. I cannot remember how I stumbled across their website, but I joined their community in 2004 looking for some gaming.

What I found was a lot more. I found a community that really was passionate about all things nerdish. From gaming, to board games, movies, comics, etc. It was also a community that welcomed new people into the fold and that isn’t always the case in our world. As sad as that is.

I was a part of that group for 7 years and I cannot deny that I miss them quite a bit. They are still going strong and if you are in NYC and looking for gaming, you should go to www.nerdnyc.com at once! It has also been a pleasure to see the group come together and see how much better the gaming days have been organized. They do a damn good job of it there.

But back to why communities can be very important. Flash forward to December of 2011 and me moving to Pittsburgh.

I came across the Gasp gaming day and it has been really cool. It is a bit smaller than Nerdnyc and isn’t quite as organized, but you get to play games and that is what matter at the end of the day. I have been lucky in both regards. Meeting quality people in both cities.  People that are passionate about roleplaying and for that I am damn thankful. 

Yesterday was awesome.

So, yesterday was the best day I have had in quite a while. 

I had plans to be at the gasp game day here in Pittsburgh, but had to work overtime yesterday morning and at the last second, my friends Henry and Dawn came to Pittsburgh to look at neighborhoods. It was a worthwhile exchange. 

Yes, my friends from New York are considering moving here soon. This fills me with much joy. Especially since I have come to realize over the lat few months that trying so hard to get back to NYC was putting my life on hold. 

Anyways. So, yesterday after work, I met up with them and we went around the city a bit to look at a few neighborhoods (they really like Squirrel Hill) and it was just amazing. I have not seen them but three times since I moved here from NYC in Dec of 11...and one of those was their wedding. 

It was just a great day. We laughed, we looked around, we had lunch and then laughed some more. By about 5 we headed to Chris's house as he was going to make pork. So in the meant time we pulled out a list villains that someone at my job made.

Yes, a list of villains.

We had a discussion about who the biggest villain was and then he decided that he wanted to make a bracket for it, like the NCAA tournament. So we spent most of Friday talking about who should be on it. A list was made up, printed and I brought it out with my friends so we could go over it.

Exciting!

It was fun to go over some of the ridiculous things that was on the list. Bluto from Popeye, Wile E. Coyote, angelica from rugrats…and even an evil care bare.

We also added some of our own. Moriarty, Pinhead, Saruman, Maleficent to name a few. It was just silly.

Then, we all started drinking and man I have to admit I got a little drunk. We started playing Cards against humanity, which is a more adult version of Apples to Apples. We had more fun playing this game, than I think we have ever anything before. It is equal 50% awesome and 50% really disturbing and awkward. Wow, there was some crazy stuff.

The point I am making is this. Sometimes in life you are lucky enough to meet awesome people and have them in your life. Relationships change and people move away. And well, sometimes people are just immature and don’t always know how to deal with that kind of change. That has always been my issue. But seeing them reminded me how much I love my friends when we are all together. It was the happiest I have been since all the mess started three years ago.

If you are lucky enough to have people like this in your life. Fight for them. Remember why they are important to you and don’t ever let them forget how much they mean to you.

So, this small shout out goes to +Amy Welch +Chris Whissen +Dawn Antoline and +Honwe Zi . You are the most important people in my life and yesterday was phenomenal. ;)

My day at Nunchcon 2.5

Nunchcon 2.5

So, yesterday I went to a small convention type thing here in Pittsburgh. It was run by +Jeff Johnston and +Melanie Johnston Apparently they do this about every six months or so. Opening up their huge house and having games all day (and night). They are awesome.

So, I got there at 11 yesterday and the first thing they did was give me a t-shirt. SWAG! I then sat down and started talking to people about gaming related stuff and waited for the first game I wanted to play.

Game one started around 2 and it was Tabletop Blockbuster by +John Sheldon and +Brianna Sheldon. I have played play-tested this game a few times now, but am always willing to do so again. If you have not heard of this game by them (or me), the game takes like the 80’s blockbuster action movies and brings them to life.

The fun part of this game is that you get to create the setting and each time the game is played, it seems the setting is more awesome than the previous one. We have played a fantasy setting as dwarves and fairies, super soldiers in ww2, operatives fighting the supernatural in the Korean War, and yesterday? The old west with a bit of magic and taking place in New Orleans. It never fails to be awesome.

They are actually almost done with this game and it has been great to see the game grow over the last several months.

Game 2 was World of Cyberpunk, a hack of World of Dungeons. Being a huge fan of Dungeon World (and the World’s game in general, I was excited to see how this game plays out. It was run by +Stras Acimovic whom I have to admit is one of the more engaging people I have ever played games with. He is just so enthusiastic and it is always awesome to see.

So, Cyberpunk was one of the first games I ever played and enjoyed. This game had that feel, but also had that feeling of the world’s game that I love. But since it was a hack of World of Dungeons, there were a few differences, like rolling for stats/gear/cyberware. You rolled 2d6 and if you got a 7-9 you got gear that gave you a +1, a 10-11 a +2, and if you rolled a 12 you got gear at +3. You could then buy that gear for whatever type of character you played. For example, I played an infiltrator so I got a suit that allowed me to blend in the shadows, which added a +1 to my stealth roll.

Now if you are lucky enough to get a 12, it can help you quite a bit since a +3 is a huge bonus in this game.  But the game itself was probably the most fun I have had playing a “world” game. Stras does such a good job of hitting you with the soft/hard moves and moving the story along.

So our job was to kill a high level board member from the GenTec Corp and take his head (which had data in it that was important. Man did us over think this, it was going to be a train job and we just spent far too much time planning. Eventually we killed the person, but lost our doctor along the way. It was a grand time.

Game 3 was Little Fears, also ran by Stras. 

Wow, that game was a bit creepy…which we were warned it would be. Horror rpg’s are not an easy thing to play. First it is harder to be scared as we get older, and second you have to buy into it and really go for it. Not to mention that since we played children ages 6-10, you have to be ok with children dying.

This isn’t easy for everyone which is why this game probably isn’t for everyone. We were told up front it was going to be scary as hell and that most of us would die. Sweet, bring it on!

You made characters by answering questions like what you are afraid of, who your best friend is, what items do you have that you believe are powerful. That last part I had a hard time with (of course it was also 2 in the morning). Imagine those things you knew to be true as a child, but as an adult you know aren’t. Belief is such a huge part of this game. Do you have a pair of shoes that you believe make you faster? Guess what, they do. Do you believe that Purple Heart of your fathers gives you protection against the monsters? Guess, what, it does. Things like that.

So playing children can be a lot of fun and Stras did a great job of painting a picture of horror. The game truly was a bit scary and the tension involved was high as we fought and ran our way from really disturbing monsters trying to kill us. One of us died, and was ripped apart right of in front of us.

It was awesome!

I would so play that game again.

Overall, a damn good day with great people. Oh, and did I mention they fed up pulled pork! Holy hell that was amazing. Not to mention the jello with cream cheese and pretzel. No, you did not read that wrong.

An update on creative things...

So, I have been working on both the game and the book that took place in the world quite a bit lately, and I feel excited about that.

Shadows over Kushara
I mean last night for the novel, I actually wrote 1500 words. I cannot remember the last time I have written that much in one setting. It was an amazing feeling and I really just want to keep the momentum going each day.

To help with that, I bought a few binders and the clear thingies that go with them. I then printed out everything I have written for the novel and put them in them. The reason why this is important is that I work best when I have chapters printed. I then can go over them, and take notes in my notebook. It seems to be the only way I can do this consistently, but you do what you can to get stuff done.

Oh, and I named the main protagonist. Her name is Kira. Yes, I stole it from someone in my circles, cuz I freaking love the name.

Kushara's Fate
The nice thing about working on the novel, is it is helping shape the world as well. After reading +Deborah Teramis Christian's book on world building, it gave me ideas about how I want to start the world building process.

I have thought about the names of the two opposite factions. The ones in power were originally called the Devout, but I really don't like how everyone seems to think it is religious in nature, and for the most part I am avoiding religion in my world. Yes, it is possible my dislike of religion is rearing its ugly head.

But I had a conversation on here a while back with a lot of people and I think it was +Brad Murray that suggested the Doctrine. If it wasn't Brad, then I apologize. :) But the name ha really grown on m over time and I am leaning towards it now.

As for the resistance type group, I am liking the name the Resolute. Which is defined as:

Admirably purposeful, determined, and unwavering. It just feels right and is something I have been trying to figure out for a while. I am still wavering on how much of the Fate mechanics I want to use. I am definitely using the aspect and some form of the skill pyramid, but am not sure about the dice. I am not sure it fits in the game. Or I could just be wanting to do something else. I am still trying to figure that out.