FATE Player's Guide

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FATE Player's Guide
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 for
your 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 take
responsibility 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 *adder
Players, some of the things you"ll o in a &ate game re'uire you
to 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.
O )o o!ercome an obstacle
C )o create or unlock an a!antage, in the form of an aspect
you can use
A )o attack someone in a conflict
D )o 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 ,-
+-00 5 .
+++- 5 ,2
-000 5 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 ice
results, a character"s skills an the result of a roll. 3ere"s the
laer4
,; <egenary
,= >pic
,? &antastic
,@ 8uperb
,1 :reat
,A :oo
,2 &air
,- 0!erage
,. Beiocre
$- Poor
$2 )errible
7t oesn"t really matter which sie of the laer you use#some
people remember the wors better, some people remember the
numbers better, an some people like using both. 8o you coul
say, 7 got a :reat, or 7 got a ,1, an it means the same
thing. 0s long as e!eryone unerstans what you"re
communicating, you"re fine.
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Cesults can go below an abo!e the laer. 7t is encourage that
you to come up with your own names for results abo!e
<egenary, such as DounsE an Ciiculously 0wesome.
Interpreting ,esults
*hen you roll the ice, you"re trying to get a high enough roll
to match or beat your opposition. )hat opposition is going to
come in one of two forms4 a!tie opposition, from someone
rolling ice against you, or passie opposition, from an
obstacle that just has a set rating on the laer for you to
o!ercome. (:Bs, you can also just ecie your %PCs gi!e
passi!e opposition when you on"t want to roll ice for them).
:enerally speaking, if you beat your opposition on the laer,
you succee at your action. 0 tie creates some effect, but not to
the eFtent your character was intening. 7f you win by a lot,
something eFtra happens (like oing more harm to your
opponent in a fight).
7f you on"t beat the opposition, either you on"t succee at
your action, you succee at a cost, or something else happens to
complicate the outcome. 8ome game actions ha!e special
results when you fail at the roll.
*hen you beat a roll or a set obstacle, the ifference between
your opposition an your result is what is calle shifts. *hen
you roll e'ual to the opposition, you ha!e Gero shifts. Coll one
o!er your opposition, an you ha!e one shift. )wo o!er means
two shifts, an so on.
<anon is trying to escape an ancient mechanical
eath trap he accientally set off uring a
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routine eFploration of the 0nthari Catacombs.
HoGens of tiny (an some not$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.
<enny sighs an says, *ell, 7"!e got 0thletics at
:oo (,A), so 7"ll try oging an wea!ing
through them to cross the hall.
3e takes up the ice an rolls, getting -+++,
for a result of ,2. )his steps up his result on the
laer by two, from :oo (,A) to 8uperb (,@).
)hat"s enough to beat the opposition by one shift
an succee.
0mana says, *ell, it takes e'ual parts acrobatics
an frantic stumbling, but you manage to make it
through to the other sie with only some cosmetic
tears in your tunic to show for it. )he mechanism
shows no sign of stopping, though#you"ll still
ha!e to eal with it on your way out.
<enny replies, Iust another ay at the office, an
<anon continues his trek through the catacombs.
Fate Points
You use tokens to represent how many fate points you ha!e at
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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%e an aspect, to eclare a story
etail, or to acti!ate certain powerful stunts.
You earn fate points by accepting a !ompel on 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 fate
point to in!oke it in orer to change the ice result. This allo&s
you to either reroll the di!e or add 1' 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).
<ily rolls. 8he breaks e!en, getting a .. )hat
lea!es her result at &air, not enough to get the
information she wants.
8he looks at her character sheet, then to 0mana,
an says, You know, long years of being )empte
by 8hiny )hings has taught me a thing or two
about what"s in a treasure hoar an what"s not.
7"m going to impress this merchant by talking
about the rarest, most priGe elements of his
collection.
0mana grins an nos. <ily hans o!er a fate
point to in!oke the aspect, an gets to a ,2 to
her staning roll. )his brings her result to a :reat
(,1), which eFcees the opposition. )he uly
impresse merchant starts to brag about his !ault,
an Cynere listens intently....
(e!laring a 4tory (etail
8ometimes, you want to a a etail that works to your
character"s a!antage in a scene. &or eFample, you might use
this to narrate a con!enient coincience, like retroacti!ely
ha!ing the right supplies for a certain job ((f course 7 brought
that alongE), showing up at a ramatically appropriate moment,
or suggesting that you an the %PC you just met ha!e mutual
clients in common.
)o o this, you"ll spen a fate point. You shoul try to justify
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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.
Cyan looks at his sheet an says, 3ey, 7 ha!e 7f 7
3a!en"t Jeen )here, 7"!e Cea 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 to
assume. Cyan 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.
Cyan has Dir look at his friens an say, Jooks.
)hey"re goo for you.
6ompels
8ometimes (in fact, probably often), you"ll fin yourself in a
situation where an aspect complicates your character"s life an
creates uneFpecte rama. *hen that happens, the :B will
suggest 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 a
compel 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 result
of play, but no fate points were aware.
<anon has the aspect )he Banners of a :oat. 3e
is attening the annual :ran Jall in 7ctherya with
his friens, courtesy of the royal court.
0mana tells the players, 0s you"re milling
about, a sharply resse young lay catches
<anon sticking out of the crow. 8he obser!es
him for a while, then goes to engage him in
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con!ersation, ob!iously intrigue by how ifferent
he looks among all the stuffy nobles. 8he turns to
<enny. *hat o you o9
<enny says, Kh... well, 7 guess 7"ll ask her to
ance an play along, see what 7 can fin out
about her.
0mana hols up a fate point an says, 0n is
that going to go wrong, gi!en <anon"s eFcellent
comman of courtly eti'uette9
<enny chuckles an replies, Yeah, 7 presume
<anon will offen her pretty 'uickly, an that"ll
get complicate. 7"ll take the fate point.
0mana an <enny play a bit to figure out just
how <anon puts his foot in his mouth, an then
0mana escribes some of the royal guar
showing up. (ne of them says, You might want
to watch how you speak to the 3igh Huchess of
7ctherya, outlaner.
<enny shakes his hea. 0mana grins the grin of
the e!il.
9A:I;G A G<<( A4PE6T
Jecause aspects are so important to the game, it"s important to
make the best aspects you can. 8o, how o you know what a
goo aspect is9
)he best aspects are dou#le=edged, say more than one thing,
and %eep the phrasing simple.
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(ou#le=Edged
Players, 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 more
compels 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.
<et"s look at an aspect like Computer :enius. )he
benefits of ha!ing this aspect are pretty ob!ious#
any time you"re hacking or working with
technology, you coul justify in!oking it. Jut it
oesn"t seem like there"s a lot of room for that
aspect to work against you. 8o, let"s think of a way
we can spice that up a bit.
*hat if we change that aspect to %ery
Bc%erson9 )hat still carries the connotations that
woul allow you to take a!antage of it while
working with computers, but it as a ownsie#
you"re awkwar aroun people. )his might mean
that you coul accept compels to mangle a social
situation, or someone might in!oke your aspect
when a fascinating piece of e'uipment istracts you.
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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 <ne Thing
>arlier, it was note se!eral things that a character aspect might
escribe4 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.
<et"s look at a simple aspect that a solier might
ha!e4 7 Bust Pro!e Byself. You can in!oke this
whene!er you"re trying to o something to gain the
appro!al of others or emonstrate your competence.
8omeone might compel it to bait you into getting
into a fight you want to a!oi, or to accept a
harship for the sake of reputation. 8o we know it
has a ouble ege, so far so goo.
)hat"ll work for a bit, but e!entually this aspect will
run out of steam. 7t says just one thing about the
character. >ither you"re trying to pro!e yourself, or
this aspect isn"t going to come up.
%ow tie that aspect in with a relationship to an
organiGation4 )he <egion Hemans 7 Pro!e Byself.
Your options open up a great eal. %ot only o you
get all the content from before, but you"!e
introuce that the <egion can make emans of
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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 <egion, or with anyone else
who might be affecte by the <egion"s reputation.
8uenly, that aspect has a lot more going on
aroun it.
:Bs, for your situation aspects, you on"t ha!e to worry about
this as much, because they"re only intene to stick aroun for a
scene. 7t"s much more important for game an character aspects
to suggest multiple conteFts for use.
L 7 Bust Pro!e Byself
L )he <egion Hemans 7 Pro!e Byself
6lear Phrasing
Jecause aspects are phrases, they come with all the ambiguities
of language. 7f no one knows what your aspect means, it won"t
get use enough.
)hat isn"t to say you ha!e to a!oi poetic or fanciful eFpression.
Iust a 8imple &armboy isn"t 'uite as fetching as Chil of
Pastoral Jliss. 7f that"s the tone your game is going for, feel free
to inulge your linguistic esires.
3owe!er, on"t o this at the eFpense of clarity. 0!oi
metaphors an implications, when you can get away with just
saying what you mean. )hat way, other people on"t ha!e to
stop an ask you uring play if a certain aspect woul apply, or
get bogge own in iscussions about what it means.
<et"s look at Bemories, *ishes, an Cegrets.
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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 it
8cars from the *ar. <ess poetic, maybe, but it
irectly references all the stuff you"re talking about,
an gi!es me ieas about people from your past 7
may be able to bring back into your life.
7f you"re wonering if your aspect is unclear, ask the people at
the table what they think it means.
L Bemories, *ishes, an Cegrets
L 8cars from the *ar
If +ou Get 4tu!%
%ow you know what makes for a goo aspect, but that oesn"t
narrow own your potential choices any#you still ha!e a
nearly infinite set of topics an ieas to choose from.
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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 6hoose
7f 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 >hy
7t 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 the phases shoul help you figure out what your
aspect shoul be. Hon"t try to summariGe the e!ents of the
phase 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 the
game 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. Cemember, 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"s phase three, <ily states that she
complicate Dir"s story by showing up at an
opportune moment an stealing the artifact that Dir
stole from his ri!als. >!entually the artifact returns
to Dir"s hans.
8he"s trying to tease out what the best aspect woul
be, an she oesn"t ha!e a whole lot of information
to go on. :oing through the 'uestions abo!e, we see
a lot of potential options#she showe off her
unerhaneness, she efinitely suggeste a
relationship with Dir of some kin, an Dir"s
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ri!als might now ha!e a beef with her as well.
<ily polls the rest of the group, an after some
talking, e!eryone seems to be pretty enthuse about
Cynere ha!ing some kin of aspecte connection to
Dir#they i all grow up in the same !illage, after
all. 8he ecies on 7"!e :ot Dir"s Jack, because
it"s specific enough to be in!oke an compelle,
but lea!es room for e!elopment later on in the
game.
?ary It @p
You on"t want all your aspects to escribe the same kin of
thing. &i!e relationships means that you can"t use your aspects
unless one of them is in play, but fi!e personality traits means
that you ha!e no connection to the game worl. 7f you"re stuck
on what to pick for an aspect, looking at what kins of things
your other aspects escribe may help you figure out which way
to go for the current phase.
<enny ens up with Hisciple of the 7!ory 8hrou
an )he Banners of a :oat as <anon"s high
concept an trouble. 8o far, this is a pretty
straightforwar character#a !iolent type whose
mouth an emeanor are always getting him into
trouble.
<enny oes his phase one an eFplains to us that
<anon was a miscreant an street rat that grew up
practically as an orphan#his parents were aroun,
but ne!er really pai too much attention to him or
spent effort reining him in. 3e e!entually ecie to
enlist in the town militia after someone sa!e him
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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 <enny poners a bit. <anon"s first two
aspects are hea!y on personal escription#he
oesn"t ha!e a lot of relationships yet. 8o <enny
focuses on that an ecies he wants a connection to
the guy who pulle him into the militia.
)hey en up naming that guy (l &inn, <anon
ens up with the aspect 7 (we (l &inn >!erything,
an 0mana now has a new %PC to play with.
*et +our Friends (e!ide
)he game works best if e!eryone is in!este in what e!eryone
else is oing#collaboration is at the heart of the game, an it+ll
probably be sai a lot more throughout this site.
You always ha!e the option, especially with aspects, of simply
asking the :B an other players to come up with something on
your behalf. Pitch them the e!ents of the phase, an ask them
the same 'uestions they"re going to be asking of you. *hat
matters to them9 *hat are they eFcite about9 Ho they ha!e
suggestions about how to make the e!ents of the phase more
ramatic or intense9 *hat aspect o they think woul be most
interesting or appropriate9
You ha!e the final ecision as to what your character"s aspects
are, so on"t look at it as gi!ing up control. <ook at it as asking
your e!er$important fan club an auience what they want to
see, an using their suggestions to jumpstart your own train of
thought. 7f e!eryone has a bit of input on e!eryone else"s
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characters, the game will benefit from that sense of mutual
in!estment.
GA9E 6,EATI<;
>hat 9a%es a Good Fate GameA
You 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, which
best 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 are proactive, competent, an
dramatic.
Proa!tiity
Characters 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 librarians using forgotten knowledge to
save the world is.
6ompeten!e
Characters 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 in
the 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"t
prepare 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.
(rama
Characters in a game of &ate lea ramatic li!es. )he stakes are
always 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. <ike us, they ha!e
interpersonal troubles an struggle with their issues, an though
the eFternal circumstances of their li!es might be a lot bigger in
scope than what we go through, we can still relate to an
sympathiGe with them.
)his oesn"t mean they spen all their time wallowing in misery
an pain, or that e!erything in their li!es is always a worl$
shaking crisis. 7t just means that their li!es re'uire them to
make har choices an li!e with the conse'uences#in other
wors, that they"re essentially human.
0ny &ate game that you play shoul pro!ie the potential an
opportunity for rama among an between the characters, an
gi!e you a chance to relate to them as people. 0 game about
a!enturers minlessly punching increasing numbers of bigger,
baer ba guys is not &ate. 0 game about a!enturers
struggling to lead normal lives despite being destined to fight
ultimate evil is.
4etting @p +our Game
)he first step in setting up your &ate game is to ecie what sort
of people the protagonists are an what sort of worl surrouns
them. Your ecisions here will tell you !irtually e!erything you
nee to know to get the ball rolling4 what the protagonists are
goo at, what they may or may not care about, what problems
they"re likely to get into, what kin of impact these characters
ha!e on the worl, an so on. You on"t nee complete answers
(because that"s part of the point of playing the game), but you
shoul ha!e enough of an iea that answering those 'uestions
oesn"t raw a blank.
&irst, we"ll start by talking about your setting. *e"ll hanle the
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FATE Player's Guide
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 characters
want 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.org if 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, <enny, <ily, an Cyan sit own to talk
about the setting. )hey"re all jonesing for a low
fantasy game, as <enny an <ily ha!e recently
rea some of the &afhr an the :ray Bouser
stories. 8o they pitch two guys an a girl with
swors. )he worl is !aguely meie!al, >arth
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with the serial numbers file off.
Cyan 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 that
affect 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$running no!el series or tele!ision
shows).
0mana likes the !ibe of guy an girl with
swor, an thinks it"ll shine as a small$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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FATE Player's Guide
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 a game 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 of
martial law.
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FATE Player's Guide
: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 Issues
(f 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. Cyan
immeiately 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.
<ily wants the story to also be about something on
the !erge of happening, something Ceally Ja.
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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, <o!ecraft$inspire
things). <enny calls it )he Hoom that 7s to
Come, an Cyan really likes this iea because it
gi!es his bookish character a hook into things
going on in the worl.
Issues
-. )he 8car )ria
2. )he Hoom that is )o Come
9a%ing the Issues into Aspe!ts
0s sai earlier, issues are aspects. )urn the ieas you ha!e into
aspects that you coul concei!ably use at ifferent times in the
story (often as compels to the protagonists or as in!ocations for
foes, but cle!er players will always fin other uses for aspects).
*rite them own, an then if you nee to a a little bit to
remember the conteFt or some etails, write those own
alongsie the aspects.
0mana writes own )he 8car )ria an )he
Hoom that 7s to Come as two game aspects. 8he
notes own neFt to )he 8car )ria, )hey"re into
racketeering an other nasty stuff. 0n with )he
Hoom that 7s to Come, <e by the Cult of
)ran'uility.
BThe 4!ar Traid
)hey"re into racketeering an other nasty stuff.
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BThe (oom that Is to 6ome
<e by the Cult of )ran'uility.
7f you"re new to making aspects, hol off on this for now. You"ll
get 'uite a bit of practice making aspects for your characters.
(nce you"re one with character creation, turn these issue ieas
into aspects.
6hanging Issues In Play
)he <ong :ame section will talk about this in etail, but issues
can change as the game progresses. 8ometimes, the issue
e!ol!es into something new. 8ometimes, the characters will
successfully fight against it, an it"ll be gone. 0n sometimes,
new issues will emerge. 8o the ones you make are just what
you"re starting off with.
(rilling (o&n
You can also use issues to flesh out smaller, but nonetheless
important pieces of your setting. 0n important location (a major
city or nation, or e!en a memorable local restaurant) or
organiGation (a knightly orer, a king"s court, or a corporation)
can ha!e impening anNor current issues as well.
7t is recommene that you start by gi!ing only one issue to
each setting element, just to keep things from getting too
bogge own, but you can always a more as the campaign
progresses. <ikewise, you on"t ha!e to o this right now#if
you fin a setting element becoming more important later in the
game, you can gi!e it issues then.
)he Cult of )ran'uility keeps popping up in pre$
game iscussions, so the group ecies that it also
nees an issue. 0fter some iscussion, the group
ecies it" be interesting if there was some
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FATE Player's Guide
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.
BThe 6ult of TranCuility
7ssue#)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 when
they"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
L Hugo 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 the
setting 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 of
what"s going on at the !ery beginning of the story.
Dugo the 6harita#le
<ieutenant in the 8car )ria
>!eryone in Ci!erton &ears Be.
The Primar!h
<eaer of the Cult of )ran'uility.
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:ale >estal
8hop owner in Ci!erton.
8tubborn because 7+m right.
9a%e 6hara!ters
Ea!h player ma%es a protagonist.
You can make player characters after 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!ious
step. 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 shoul
be ae to your game creation notes, o so before pushing
forwar with playing the game.
4%ills and +our 4etting
0 big part of your setting is what people can o in it. )he
!arious skills in 8kills an 8tunts co!er many situations, but
you"ll want to look o!er them to see if any on"t apply or if
there"s a skill you nee to a.
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0ing a skill is co!ere in more etail in the >Ftras section.
6DA,A6TE, 6,EATI<;
6hara!ter 6reation Is Play
)he moment you sit own to make the game an characters,
you"re playing &ate. )his style of character creation oes three
things to reinforce that.
First, !hara!ter !reation tells part of the !hara!ters stories,
"ust li%e any other game session does. Characters that really
come ali!e ha!e histories of their own an with each other. )his
establishes where they"!e been, what they"!e one, an why
they continue to act against the issues they face, together or in
opposition. )here"s an ongoing story you"re now stepping into
#it"s just that the most interesting parts ha!en"t happene yet.
4e!ond, it sets the stage for the ne2t part of the story. >ach
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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FATE Player's Guide
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 &ateCP:.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!ter
L Aspe!ts$ Come up with your character+s high concept an
trouble aspects.
L ;ame$ %ame your character.
L Phase <ne$ Hescribe your character"s first a!enture.
L Phases T&o and Three$ Hescribe how you"!e crosse paths
with two other characters.
L Aspe!ts$ *rite own one aspect for each of these three
eFperiences.
L 4%ills$ Pick an rate your skills.
L 4tunts$ Pick or in!ent three to fi!e stunts.
L ,efresh$ Hetermine how many fate points you start play with.
L 4tress and 6onseCuen!es$ Hetermine how much of a beating
your character can take.
+our 6hara!ter Idea
6ome up &ith your !hara!ters high !on!ept and
trou#le aspe!ts.
Character creation starts with a concept for your character. 7t
coul be moele after a character from a fa!orite no!el or
mo!ie, or it coul be base aroun some specific thing that you
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FATE Player's Guide
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!ept an 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 4etting
0s 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 that
happens, 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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FATE Player's Guide
)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!ept
Your 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 the
first 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 literally4 .ead
/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$known)4
+lack Sheep of the Thompson "amil, .ow-level Thug for the
Sndicate, Scar Triad%s -ats in !iverton.
)hese aren"t the only ways to play with your high concept, but
they"ll get you starte. Jut on"t stress out o!er it#the worst
thing you can o is make it into too big of a eal. You"ll come
up with four other aspects after this one#you on"t ha!e to get
it all naile right now.
If +ou Get 4tumped <n Aspe!ts
)he golen rule of making aspects in character creation4 you
can always change it later. 7f you"re struggling to make an
aspect, write out the iea in as many wors as you nee to, in
orer to get it own on paper in the first place. 7f a specific
phrase pops up after you write it own, greatE 7f not, maybe
someone else at the table can help you come up with an aspect.
0n if you"re still stuck, lea!e it for now#you"ll ha!e plenty of
time uring play to refine it.
0n if you really nee to, it"s okay to lea!e some blank. <ook at
Ouick Character Creation for more on lea!ing parts of your
character sheet blank.
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3igh concepts can ha!e o!erlap among the characters, as long
as you ha!e something to istinguish how your character is
ifferent from the others. 7f high concepts must be similar
among all the characters, such as if the :B pitches an all$
sworsmen story, it"s crucial that the troubles iffer.
<enny an <ily settle on the guy an girl with
swor iea, an Cyan"s going with guy without
swor. Jut those are just starting ieas. %ow it"s
time to turn them into proper high concepts.
<enny latches onto the iea of tying his concept to
an organiGation, an starts with Hisciple ofP
something. 3e en!isions a character who has
traine in some mysterious martial art, an that
in!ol!es ri!al schools an foes that want to learn
those secrets. )he group helps him come up with a
suitably mysterious name4 Hisciple of the 7!ory
8hrou. (0n now we"!e mae a bit more setting4
there"s an 7!ory 8hrou, mysterious martial arts, an
all that implies).
<ily, on the other han, oesn"t really know where
to go from girl with swor. 8he"s not intereste in
the organiGation thing, so she"s thinking about
ajecti!es. >!entually, she settles on 7nfamous :irl
with 8wor. (Qeeping the girl with swor part
makes her giggle, so she wants to say it often uring
the game).
Cyan"s iea of bookish guy without swor woul
be a pretty ull aspect. 3e thinks about what"s been
eclare so far4 an e!il cult who can summon Ja
)hings an a mysterious martial arts school. 8o he
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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#le
7n 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 the
answer 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 struggles an 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 or
organiEations 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 <ea Hetecti!e, saying your trouble is )he
Criminal Knerworl 3ates Be is a ull trouble, because it is
alreay assume with your high concept. ((f course, you can
turn that up a notch to make it personal, like Hon :io!anni
Personally 3ates Be, to make it work).
Jefore you go any further, talk with the :B about your
character"s trouble. Bake sure you"re both on the same page in
terms of what it means. Joth of you may want to fin one way
this aspect might be in!oke or compelle to make sure you"re
both seeing the same things#or to gi!e each other ieas. )he
:B shoul come away from this con!ersation knowing what
you want out of your trouble.
<enny wants to contrast the whole 7 know an
ancient martial art !ibe. 3e"s not playing an ascetic
monk or anything like that. 8o he wants something
that will get him into social trouble, something that
has to o with him an not with any specific people
or organiGations. 8o he writes own )he Banners of
a :oat. 3is character will unconsciously make an
ass of himself.
<ily likes this iea of her character being her own
worst enemy, so she"s also going for a personal
struggle. 8he"s ha the iea for a while of playing
someone who can"t help but be )empte by 8hiny
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)hings, so she writes that own.
0fter seeing the other two go for personal struggles,
Cyan 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
Ci!als in the Collegia 0rcana (which also names a
group of people in the setting, that Cyan"s character
is a part of).
The Bright 4ide of Trou#les
8ince 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 troubles
they eal with. )hey especially learn how to maneu!er aroun
many of the smaller issues their troubles present.
<enny"s )he Banners of a :oat coul be use to the group"s
benefit. Baybe he turns that up intentionally, to raw attention
away from <ily"s character sneaking aroun.
*ith <ily"s )empte by 8hiny )hings, it coul reasonably sai
that <ily"s character is well$ac'uainte with the !alue of !arious
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shiny things (an well$ac'uainte with getting caught an
locke in prison, so she knows a thing or two about escaping).
Cyan"s Ci!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!ts
0 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. )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 they
shoul ne!er be boring. )he best aspect suggests both ways to
use it an ways it can complicate your situation. 0spects that
cannot be use for either of those are likely to be ull inee.
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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 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"re
picking aspects you"re not in!este in, they"ll en up being
noticeable rags on your fun.
;ame
7f you ha!en"t alreay, it"s time to gi!e your character a nameE
<enny names his character <anon, a name that"s
been in his hea for years. 3e use it years ago for
another roleplaying game, an ecies to bring it
back for nostalgia"s sake.
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FATE Player's Guide
<ily names her character Cynere, which is :reek
for thistle. 8he sees Cynere as a beautiful plant,
but one that"ll prick you if you get too close. )hat
fits nicely.
Cyan names his character Dir, because it just hit
his min as an appropriately riiculous wiGarly
name. )hen he pauses for a moment before aing
Pthe 0rcane, because he sees Dir as the sort of
guy who woul eman to be known as Dir the
0rcane.
The Phase Trio
(es!ri#e your !hara!ters 1st adenture. (es!ri#e
ho& youe !rossed paths &ith ' other !hara!ters.
>rite do&n 1 aspe!t for ea!h of these -
e2perien!es.
Important$ Jefore mo!ing on to this step, you nee to ha!e
figure out your high concept, trouble, an name.
)he three remaining aspects on your character are mae in
phases, together calle the phase trio. )he first phase is about
recent backgroun4 something you i that"s interesting an
a!enturous. )he secon an thir are about how the other
player characters got in!ol!e in that a!enture, an how you
got in!ol!e in theirs.
)his is an opportunity to tell a story about your characters. >ach
phase will ask you to write own two things. Kse the character
creation worksheet (at the back of this book, or at
&ateCP:.com) to write own those etails.
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FATE Player's Guide
First, &rite a summary of &hat happened in that
phase. 0 couple of sentences to a paragraph shoul
suffice#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!ts
0 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. )he
aspects which push you into conflict#an help you eFcel once
you"re there#will be among your best an most$use.
0spects nee to be both useful an angerous#allowing you to
help shape the story an generating lots of fate points#an they
shoul ne!er be boring. )he best aspect suggests both ways to
use it an ways it can complicate your situation. 0spects that
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FATE Player's Guide
cannot be use for either of those are likely to be ull inee.
Jottom line4 if you want to maFimiGe the power of your
aspects, maFimiGe their interest.
*hen you"re tol you nee to come up with an aspect, you
might eFperience brain freeGe. 7f you feel stumpe for ecent
ieas for aspects, there"s a big section focusing on se!eral
methos for coming up with goo aspect ieas in 0spects an
&ate Points.
7f your character oesn"t ha!e many connections to the other
characters, talk with the group about aspects that might tie your
character in with theirs. )his is the eFplicit purpose of Phases
)wo an )hree#but that oesn"t mean you can"t o it
elsewhere as well.
7f you ultimately can"t break the block by any means, on"t
force it#lea!e it completely blank. You can always come back
an fill out that aspect later, or let it e!elop uring play#as
with the Ouick Character Creation rules.
Kltimately, it"s much better to lea!e an aspect slot blank than to
pick one that isn"t inspiring an e!ocati!e to play. 7f you"re
picking aspects you"re not in!este in, they"ll en up being
noticeable rags on your fun.
Phase <ne$ +our Adenture
)he first phase is your character"s first true a!enture#his first
book, episoe, case, mo!ie, whate!er#starring him.
You nee to think up an write own the basic etails of this
story for the phase"s summary. )he story oesn"t nee to ha!e a
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FATE Player's Guide
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
or complicate your life9
<anon gets into a bar fight with some of the 8car )ria. 3e is
robbe of his swor an beaten se!erely. 3is life is sa!e by a
!eteran solier name (l &inn. &inn helps to heal <anon,
clean him up, an enlist him in the town militia.
B I <&e <ld Finn Eerything
0sk yourself the following story 'uestions. 7f you ha!e trouble
answering them, talk to the other players an the :B for help.
8omething ba happene. *hat was it9 Hi it happen to
you, to someone you care about, or to someone that
you were coerce into helping9
*hat i you ecie to o about the problem9 *hat
goal i you pursue9
*ho stoo against you9 Hi you eFpect the opposition
you got9 Hi some of it come out of nowhere9
Hi you win9 Hi you lose9 >ither way, what
conse'uences arose from the outcome9
(nce you"!e come up with the a!enture, write an aspect that
relates to some part of what happene.
A note on timing$ Jecause two other characters will be
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FATE Player's Guide
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.
<enny goes through Phase (ne. 3e looks at the
story 'uestions to help him figure out the e!ents of
the phase, an ecies on the following4
)he ba thing was that <anon kept getting into
scrapes at his local ta!ern. 3e grew up with no
sense of iscipline or emeanor an constantly
picke fights with people larger an stronger than
him.
(ne thug <anon insulte at the ta!ern was
connecte to the 8car )ria, so some of the thug"s
banit buies showe up an beat <anon to
within an inch of his life.
3is bleeing boy was then foun by a !eteran
solier name &inn who heale <anon"s wouns
an encourage him to join the town militia where
he coul learn some iscipline an fight with honor.
%ow <enny has to write own an aspect relate to
this story. 3e ecies to take 7 (we (l &inn
>!erything as his aspect, because he wants to keep
the connection to &inn in his story an gi!e 0mana
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FATE Player's Guide
a cool %PC to play.
Phases ) Inde2 6ards
7n phase one, you each came up with your own a!enture. 7n
phases two an three, you"re going to trae those stories aroun
as other players" characters get in!ol!e. &iguring out how your
character fits into someone else"s story can be har to o if
you"!e hane your character phase worksheet to another
player, so we recommen that you use ineF cars (or whate!er
scraps of paper you ha!e).
Huring the first phase#when you"re writing your a!enture
own on your worksheet#take a car an write your
character"s name an a!enture escription. )hen you"ll pass
the car aroun uring the secon an thir phases so people
can contribute to your story. )hat way, you"ll still ha!e your
worksheet when you"re writing your contributions an aspects,
an other people will know what stories they"re suppose to
hook into.
0s with the high concept an trouble aspects, this (an the
following phases) are further opportunities to flesh out the
setting.
Phase T&o$ 6rossing Paths
7n the neFt two phases, you"ll tie the group together by ha!ing
other characters contribute a minor, supporting role in your
a!enture, an !ice !ersa.
(nce e!eryone has their a!enture written own (which is
where the ineF car suggestion comes in really hany), you"re
reay for phase two. You can pass to the left or right, or shuffle
the stack an han them out ranomly (traing with the person
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FATE Player's Guide
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 how
the situation is resol!e#lea!e that for someone else, or
lea!e it open. Hescriptions like <anon starts trouble
when Cynere nees him 'uiet or Dir gets capture by
mysterious brigans are enough to get some ieas
flowing.
4oling a situation$ Your character somehow sol!es a
complication that the main character in the a!enture
ha to eal with, or your character ais the main
character in the central conflict (which is an opportunity
to in!ol!e your high concept aspect). *hen escribing
this, you on"t ha!e to mention how the situation was
create, just how your character takes care of it.
Hescriptions like Cynere hols off foes to gi!e <anon
time to escape or Dir uses his arcane knowlege to
ask the ghosts for information are enough to gi!e us an
iea of what happens.
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FATE Player's Guide
6ompli!ating and soling$ 3ere, your character either
sol!es one situation but creates another, or creates a
situation but later sol!es a ifferent one. Bash up the
two ieas, using the wor later in between them, such
as4 <anon starts a fight with the 8car )ria while Dir
is trying to lay low. <ater, he helps Dir by fighting off
unea while Dir"s casting a spell .
)he efault phase trio prioritiGes connecting the characters
together in a share backstory. *e like this, because it"s
cooperati!e an gets you talking to one another. )hat"s not the
only way to o it, though. You coul make any significant
trifecta of backstory etails into a phase trio. Your past, your
present, an your hope for the future is another set of trio
elements.
)he iea is to be a bit self$ser!ing here. You want to put a little
spotlight on your character in orer to figure out a goo aspect
from it4 something you"re known for, something you can o,
something you own or ha!e, an someone you ha!e a
relationship with (for goo or ill).
&inally, write the a!enture iea an your character"s
contribution own on your phase worksheet. )his is important,
because your character gets an aspect from the supporting role
he playe. )he person whose a!enture it is shoul also write
own the contribution, if there"s room on his sheet.
<ily has <anon"s starting a!enture an nees to
ecie how she fits into it.
8he ecies that Cynere helpe sol!e the situation.
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0fter <anon ens up in the militia, he still has a
gruge against the )ria members who gange up
on him. 7n fact, they robbe him of his heirloom
swor in the process. 3earing <anon"s tale of woe,
Cynere agrees to help steal the swor back.
8he takes the aspect 0 8ucker for a 8ob 8tory, to
reflect the reason why she got in!ol!e.
<anon gets into a bar fight with some of the 8car )ria. 3e is
robbe of his swor an beaten se!erely. 3is life is sa!e by a
!eteran solier name (l &inn. &inn helps to heal <anon,
clean him up, an enlist him in the town militia.
B I <&e <ld Finn Eerything
*hen <anon tells Cynere his story, she takes pity on him an
ecies to help him reco!er his lost swor.
B A 4u!%er for a 4o# 4tory
Phase Three$ 6rossing Paths Again
(nce e!eryone"s one with phase two, you"ll trae a!entures
with whate!er metho you chose before, so long as e!eryone
has an a!enture that isn"t theirs or the one they just contribute
to. )hen you"re reay for phase three, where you"ll contribute to
this secon a!enture an etermine your neFt aspect. &ollow
the irections from phase two.
<ily gets Dir"s starting a!enture, a pretty
straightforwar romp where Dir battles his
Collegia ri!als to obtain a magical artifact an
return it to its rightful place.
8he ecies that she complicates that situation, by
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FATE Player's Guide
wanting the shiny artifact for herself. Cyan 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.
B Ie Got Firds Ba!%
0n with that, you ha!e your fi!e aspects an a goo chunk of
backgrounE
Fe&er Than Three PlayersA
)he 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$story together, an write
about how you each feature in that one.
3a!e the :B also make a character. )he :B won"t
actually play this character alongsie the PCs, though#
it shoul just be an %PC. 8uch an %PC can be a great
!ehicle for kicking off a campaign#if a frien they"re
tie to uring character creation mysteriously isappears
or e!en ies, that"s instant fuel for rama.
7f you only ha!e one player, skip phases two an three, lea!ing
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FATE Player's Guide
the aspects blank to be fille in uring play.
4%ills
Pi!% and rate your !hara!ters s%ills.
(nce you ha!e mappe out your character"s phases an chosen
aspects, it"s time to pick skills. You"ll fin escriptions an
etails for each skill in the 8kills an 8tunts section.
Your skills form a pyrami, with a single skill rate at :reat
(,1)#which is refere to as the peak skill#an more skills at
each lower rating on the laer going own to 0!erage (,-)4
(ne :reat (,1) skill
)wo :oo (,A) skills
)hree &air (,2) skills
&our 0!erage (,-) skills
The 4%ill 6ap
Jy efault, :reat (,1) is the highest rate skill PCs start with.
0s characters a!ance, they can impro!e beyon this cap, but
it"s more ifficult than impro!ing skills rate below the cap (see
Bajor Bilestones).
7f you"re making a game about superheroes, panimensional
creatures, mythic gos or other beyon$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 :reat
pyrami 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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FATE Player's Guide
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.
Cyan 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 <ore skill,
so he"s naturally going to focus on that.
3e takes <ore as Dir"s peak skill, followe by
Crafts an Capport#for a wiGar, Dir consiers
himself a fairly social sort. Cyan takes 0thletics,
*ill, an 7n!estigate because he figures Dir will
nee them in his line of work, an a smattering of
other skills either because neither of his friens ha!e
them, or because he wants a positi!e score in them
when e!eryone"s separate. )hat ens up being
&ight, Cesources, Contacts, an %otice.
;ote$ a few skills ha!e special benefits, notably those skills that
affect the number of stress boFes an conse'uences you ha!e
a!ailable. 7f you know you want a certain number of those, put
those skills on the pyrami first.
Athleti!s
)he 0thletics skill represents your character"s general le!el of
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FATE Player's Guide
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<er!ome$ 0thletics allows you to o!ercome any obstacle
that re'uires physical mo!ement#jumping, running, climbing,
swimming, etc. 7f it resembles something you" o in the
ecathlon, you roll 0thletics. You use o!ercome actions with
0thletics to mo!e between Gones in a conflict if there"s a
situation aspect or other obstacle in your way. You also roll
0thletics to chase or race in any contests or challenges that rely
on these types of acti!ities.
C6reate an Adantage$ *hen you"re creating an a!antage
with 0thletics, you"re jumping to high groun, running faster
than the opponent can keep up with, or performing aGGling
acrobatic maneu!ers in orer to confoun your foes.
D(efend$ 0thletics is a catch$all skill to roll for efense in a
physical conflict, against close$'uarters an range attacks. You
can also use it to efen against characters trying to mo!e past
you, if you"re in a position to physically interfere with
whoe!er"s making the attempt.
You might ecie that 0thletics is inappropriate for efense
against firearms or other high$tech range weapons in your
setting. )here really isn"t any other skill that efens against
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FATE Player's Guide
them, though. 7f you make this ecision, it will make those
weapons !ery, !ery angerous. (r ha!e another skill efen
against them.
Burglary
Jurglary co!ers your character"s aptitue for stealing things an
getting into places that are off$limits.
7n genres that rely on the use of a lot of technology, this skill
also inclues a proficiency in the relate tech, allowing the
character to hack security systems, isable alarm systems, an
whatnot.
O<er!ome4 0s state abo!e, Jurglary allows you to
o!ercome any obstacle relate to theft or infiltration. Jypassing
locks an traps, pickpocketing an filching, co!ering your
tracks, an other such acti!ities all fall uner the pur!iew of this
skill.
C6reate an Adantage4 You can case a location with
Jurglary, to etermine how har it will be to break into an
what kin of security you"re ealing with, as well as isco!er
any !ulnerabilities you might eFploit. You can also eFamine the
work of other burglars to etermine how a particular heist was
one, an create or isco!er aspects relate to whate!er
e!ience they may ha!e left behin.
6onta!ts
Contacts is the skill of knowing an making connections with
people. 7t presumes proficiency with all means of networking
a!ailable in the setting.
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FATE Player's Guide
O<er!ome4 You use Contacts to o!ercome any obstacle
relate to fining someone you nee to fin. *hether that"s ol$
fashione man on the street type of work, polling your
information network, or searching archi!es an computer
atabases, you"re able to hunt own people or somehow get
access to them.
C6reate an Adantage4 Contacts allows you to know who
the perfect person to talk to is for anything you might nee, or
to ecie that you know the perfect person alreay. 7t"s likely
that you"ll create story etails with this skill, represente by
aspects. (3ey, guys, my contacts tell me that Ioe 8teel is the
Jest Bechanic &or 0 )housan Biles#we shoul talk to
him.)
You can also create an a!antage that represents what the wor
on the street is about a particular ini!iual, object, or location,
base on what your contacts tell you. )hese aspects almost
always eal with reputation more than fact, such as Qnown as a
Bean :uy or %otorious 8winler. *hether that person li!es up
to their reputation is anyboy"s guess, though that oesn"t
in!aliate the aspect#people often ha!e misleaing reputations
that complicate their li!es.
Contacts coul also be use to create aspects that represent
using your information network to plant or ac'uire information.
D(efend4 Contacts can be use to efen against people
creating social a!antages against you, pro!ie your
information network can be brought to bear in the situation. You
might also use it to keep someone from using Hecei!e or
Contacts to go off the gri, or to interfere with 7n!estigate
attempts to fin you.
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FATE Player's Guide
6rafts
Crafts 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$fi setting, this might be >ngineering or
Bechanics instea.
O<er!ome4 Crafts allows you to buil, break, or fiF
machinery, presuming you ha!e the time an tools you nee.
(ften, actions with Crafts happen as one component of a more
compleF situation, making it a popular skill for challenges. &or
eFample, if you"re just fiFing a broken oor, neither success nor
failure is interestingM you shoul just succee an mo!e on.
%ow, if you"re trying to get your car to start while a pack of
werewol!es is hunting youP
C6reate an Adantage4 You can use Crafts to create aspects
representing features of a piece of machinery, pointing out
useful features or strengths you can use to your a!antage
(0rmor$Plate, Cugge Construction) or a !ulnerability for you
to eFploit (&law in the Cross$Jeam, 3asty *ork).
Creating Crafts a!antages can also take the form of 'uick an
irty sabotage or jury$rigging on mechanical objects in the
scene. &or eFample, you might create a Bakeshift Pulley to help
you get to the platform abo!e you, or throw something into the
ballista that"s firing on you to gi!e it a Iamme Pi!oting Ioint
an make it harer to hit you.
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AAtta!%4 You probably won"t use Crafts to attack in a
conflict, unless the conflict is specifically about using
machinery, 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, unless
you"re somehow using it as the skill to control a piece of
machinery that you block with.
(e!eie
Hecei!e is the skill about lying to an misirecting people.
O<er!ome4 Kse Hecei!e to bluff your way past someone,
or to get someone to belie!e a lie, or to get something out of
someone because they belie!e in one of your lies. &or nameless
%PCs, this is just an o!ercome roll, but for PCs or name
%PCs, it re'uires a contest, an the target opposes with
>mpathy. *inning this contest coul justify placing a situation
aspect on your target, if buying into your lie coul help you in a
future scene.
Hecei!e is the skill you use for etermining if a isguise works,
whether on yourself or others. You"ll nee to ha!e the time an
supplies to create the esire effect. (%ote4 )his is mainly a
3earts of 8teelthingM in some games, this may not be
appropriate for Hecei!e by efault an shoul re'uire a stunt.)
You can also use Hecei!e to o small tricks of sleight$of$han
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an misirection.
C6reate an Adantage4 Kse Hecei!e to create momentary
istractions, 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 one
of their aspects or other information.
AAtta!%4 Hecei!e is an inirect skill that creates a lot of
opportunities 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!estigation
attempts with false information an to efen against efforts
mae to iscern your true moti!es with the >mpathy skill.
Social Skills and Other Characters
Bany 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
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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 his
character 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 of
shutting them own.
(rie
)he Hri!e skill is all about operating !ehicles an things that go
fast.
<ike Crafts, how the Hri!e skill appears in your games is going
to epen a lot on how much action you inten to ha!e insie of
!ehicles or other forms of transportation, an what kin of
technology is a!ailable in your setting.
&or eFample, a low$tech setting (like 3earts of 8teel) might
ha!e Cie instea of Hri!e, because the main transportation is
animal$base. 0 futuristic setting re!ol!ing aroun people in a
space opera military might ha!e Hri!e (for cars), Pilot (for
starships), an (perate (for tanks or hea!y military !ehicles).
Different Vehicles, Different Skills
)he a!ice is the same as for Crafts#on"t go nuts with
reskinning this skill unless it makes a real, tangible ifference
in your game. >specially consier the option of ha!ing one
skill that"s moifie by stunts (see Juiling 8tunts).
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O<er!ome4 Hri!e is the e'ui!alent of 0thletics when
you"re in a !ehicle#you use it to successfully accomplish
mo!ement in the face of ifficult circumstances, like rough
terrain, small amounts of clearance, or stunt ri!ing. (b!iously,
Hri!e is also ripe for contests, especially chases an races.
C6reate an Adantage4 You can use Hri!e to etermine the
best way to get somewhere in a !ehicle, an a goo enough roll
might allow you to learn features of the route that get eFpresse
as aspects, or eclare that you know a Con!enient 8hortcut or
something similar.
You can also just rea the 0thletics escription, an then make
it about a !ehicle. 0!antages create using Hri!e often re!ol!e
aroun getting goo positioning, oing a fancy maneu!er (Hi a
Jarrel Coll, anyone9), or putting your opponent in a ba spot.
AAtta!%4 Hri!e isn"t usually use as an attack skill (though
stunts can certainly alter this). 7f you want to ram a !ehicle, you
can attack with Hri!e, but you take the same shifts of harm you
inflict.
D(efend4 0!oiing amage to a !ehicle in a physical conflict
is one of the most common uses of Hri!e. You can also use it to
efen against a!antages being create against you or
o!ercome actions of someone trying to mo!e past you in a
!ehicle.
Empathy
>mpathy in!ol!es knowing an being able to spot changes in a
person"s moo or bearing. 7t"s basically the emotional %otice
skill.
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O<er!ome4 You on"t really use >mpathy to o!ercome
obstacles irectly#normally, you fin out some information
with it, an then use another skill to act. 7n some cases, though,
you might use >mpathy like you woul %otice, to see if you
catch a change in someone"s attitue or intent.
C6reate an Adantage4 You can use >mpathy to rea a
person"s emotional state an get a general sense of who they
are, presuming you ha!e some kin of interpersonal contact
with them. Bost often, you"ll use this to assess the aspects on
another character"s sheet, but sometimes you"ll also be able to
create new aspects, especially on %PCs. 7f the target has some
reason to be aware that you"re trying to rea them, they can
efen with Hecei!e or Capport.
You can also use >mpathy to isco!er what circumstances will
allow you to make mental attacks on someone, figuring out their
breaking points.
AAtta!%4 >mpathy can"t really be use in this capacity.
D(efend4 )his is the skill to go to in orer to efen against
Hecei!e actions, allowing you to pierce through lies an see
through to someone"s true intent. You can also use it to efen
against those creating social a!antages against you in general.
4pe!ial4 >mpathy is the main skill you use to help others
reco!er from conse'uences that are mental in nature.
Fight
)he &ight skill co!ers all forms of close$'uarters combat (in
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other wors, within the same Gone), both unarme an using
weapons. &or the range weapons counterpart, see 8hoot.
O<er!ome4 8ince you on"t really use &ight outsie of a
conflict, it"s not often use to o!ercome obstacles. You might
use it to isplay your fighting prowess in a emonstration, or to
participate in some kin of regulate bout or sport fighting,
which woul allow you to use this skill in a contest.
C6reate an Adantage4 You"ll probably use &ight for most
of the a!antages you create in a physical conflict. 0ny number
of special mo!es can be co!ere with a!antages4 a targete
strike to stun, a irty mo!e, isarming, an so on. You coul
e!en use &ight to assess another fighter"s style, spotting
weaknesses in his or her form that you can eFploit.
AAtta!%4 )his is self$eFplanatory. You make physical attacks
with &ight. Cemember, this is for close$in work, so you ha!e to
be in the same Gone as your opponent
D(efend4 You use &ight to efen against any other attack or
create an a!antage attempt mae with &ight, as well as pretty
much any action where !iolently interposing yourself coul
pre!ent it from happening. You can"t use this skill to efen
against 8hoot attacks, unless the setting is fantastical enough
that you can catch missiles or swat them from the air or use
laser swors to eflect blasters.
The Art(s) of Fighting
7t"s a gi!en that most games that you play with &ate will
feature a ecent amount of action an physical conflict. )his is
another area of emphasis, like with the Crafts skill, where the
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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$hane are pretty much the same#
there"s no inherent a!antage in oing one o!er the other. 7t"s a
pretty common choice to further separate unarme an arme
melee#into &ists an *eapons, for eFample.
You coul specialiGe e!en further if you wante ifferent
classes of weapons to ha!e their own skills (8wors, Polearms,
0Fes, Plasma :uns, 8lugthrowers, etc.), but again, we
recommen you not go too craGy with this unless it"s really
important to your setting. 8pecialiGe weapon use can also be
moele by using eFtras.
Inestigate
7n!estigate is the skill you use to fin things out. 7t"s a
counterpart to %otice#whereas %otice re!ol!es aroun
situational alertness an surface obser!ation, 7n!estigate
re!ol!es aroun concentrate effort an in$epth scrutiny.
O<er!ome4 7n!estigate obstacles are all about information
that"s har to unco!er for some reason. 0nalyGing a crime scene
for clues, searching a cluttere room for the item you nee, e!en
poring o!er a musty ol tome to try an fin the passage that
makes e!erything make sense.
Cacing against the clock to collect e!ience before the cops
show up or isaster occurs is a classic way to use 7n!estigate in
a challenge.
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FATE Player's Guide
C6reate an Adantage4 7n!estigate is probably one of the
most !ersatile skills you can use to create an a!antage. 0s long
as 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 the
possibilities 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
)he <ore skill is about knowlege an eucation. 0s with some
other skills, we calle it <ore because that fits the particular
fla!or of our eFamples#other games might call it 8cholarship,
or 0caemics, or something like that.
7f your game has a reason to prioritiGe ifferent fiels of
knowlege as being separate from one another, you might ha!e
se!eral skills that follow the same basic template. &or eFample,
you might ha!e a <ore skill that"s reser!e for supernatural an
arcane knowlege, an a 8cholar skill for more traitional
eucation.
O<er!ome4 You can use <ore to o!ercome any obstacle that
re'uires applying your character"s knowlege to achie!e a goal.
&or eFample, you might roll <ore to ecipher some ancient
language on a tomb wall, uner the presumption that your
character might ha!e researche it at some point.
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&rankly, you can use <ore as a go$to skill any time you nee to
know if your character can answer a ifficult 'uestion, where
some tension eFists in not knowing the answer.
C6reate an Adantage4 <ike 7n!estigate, <ore pro!ies a lot
of !ery fleFible opportunities to create a!antages, pro!ie
you can research the subject in 'uestion. Bore often than not,
you"ll be using <ore to get a story etail, some obscure bit of
information that you unco!er or know alreay, but if that
information gi!es you an ege in a future scene, it might take
the form of an aspect. <ikewise, you can use <ore to create
a!antages base on any subject matter your character might
ha!e stuie, which gi!es you a fun way to a etails to the
setting.
AAtta!%4 <ore isn"t use in conflicts.
(7n our eFamples, the magic that Dir the 0rcane uses is base
on <ore, so that"s a uni'ue eFception to this#he coul
concei!ably use <ore for magical attacks an efenses. 8ee the
>Ftras section for more etails about ways to o magic an
powers).
;oti!e
)he %otice skill in!ol!es just that#noticing things. 7t"s a
counterpart to 7n!estigate, representing a character"s o!erall
perception, ability to pick out etails at a glance, an other
powers of obser!ation. Ksually, when you use %otice, it"s !ery
'uick compare to 7n!estigate, so the kins of etails you get
from it are more superficial, but you also on"t ha!e to eFpen
as much effort to fin them.
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FATE Player's Guide
O<er!ome$ You on"t really use %otice to o!ercome
obstacles too often but when you o it"s use in a reacti!e way4
noticing something in a scene, hearing a faint soun, spotting
the conceale gun in that guy"s waistban.
%ote that this isn"t license for :Bs to call for %otice rolls left
an right to see how generally obser!ant the players" characters
areM that"s boring. 7nstea, call for %otice rolls when succeeing
woul result in something interesting happening an failing
woul result in something just as interesting.
C6reate an Adantage4 You use %otice to create aspects
base on irect obser!ation#looking o!er a room for etails
that stan out, fining an escape route in a ebris$fille
builing, noticing someone sticking out in a crow, etc. *hen
you"re watching people, %otice can tell you what"s going on
with them eFternallyM for internal changes, see >mpathy. You
might also use %otice to eclare that your character spots
something you can use to your a!antage in a situation, such as
a con!enient >scape Coute when you"re trying to get out of a
builing, or a 8ubtle *eakness in the enemy"s line of efense.
&or eFample, if you"re in a barroom brawl you coul make a
%otice roll to say that you spot a pule on the floor, right neFt
to your opponent"s feet that coul cause him to slip.
D(efend4 You can use %otice to efen against any uses of
8tealth to get the rop on you or ambush you, or to isco!er that
you"re being obser!e.
PhysiCue
)he Physi'ue skill is a counterpart to 0thletics, representing the
character"s natural physical aptitues, such as raw strength an
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FATE Player's Guide
enurance. 7n our eFample game, we ha!e this skill broken out
as something separate in orer to create two istinct types of
physical characters#the nimble guy (represente by 0thletics)
an the strongman (represente by Physi'ue).
7n your game, you might not fin this istinction necessary to
make with separate skills#though you might still let players
make that istinction with stunts an aspects.
O<er!ome4 You can use Physi'ue to o!ercome any
obstacles that re'uire the application of brute force#most often
to o!ercome a situation aspect on a Gone#or any other physical
impeance, like prison bars or locke gates. (f course,
Physi'ue is the classic skill for arm$wrestling matches an other
contests of applie strength, as well as marathons or other
enurance$base challenges.
C6reate an Adantage4 Physi'ue has a lot of potential for
a!antages in physical conflict, usually relate to grappling an
holing someone in place, making them Pinne or <ocke
Hown. You might also use it as a way of isco!ering physical
impairments possesse by the target#grappling the ol
mercenary tells you that he has a Jum <eg or some such.
D(efend4 )hough you on"t generally use Physi'ue to
efen against attacks, you can use it to pro!ie acti!e
opposition to someone else"s mo!ement, pro!ie you"re in a
small enough space that you can effecti!ely use your boy to
block access. You might also interpose something hea!y an
brace it to stop someone from getting through.
4pe!ial4 )he Physi'ue skill gi!es you aitional physical stress
or conse'uence slots. 0!erage (,-) or &air (,2) gi!es you a A$
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FATE Player's Guide
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%e
Pro!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 Capport 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.
O<er!ome4 You can Pro!oke someone into oing what you
want in a fit of emotional pi'ue. You might intimiate them for
information, piss them off so baly that they act out, or scare
them into running away. )his will often happen when you"re
going up against nameless %PCs or it isn"t worthwhile to play
out the particulars. 0gainst PCs or important %PCs, you"ll nee
to win a contest. )hey oppose with *ill.
C6reate an Adantage4 You can create a!antages
representing momentary emotional states, like >nrage,
8hocke, or 3esitant. Your target opposes with *ill.
AAtta!%4 You can make mental attacks with Pro!oke, to o
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FATE Player's Guide
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.
,apport
)he Capport skill is all about making positi!e connections to
people an eliciting positi!e emotion. 7t"s the skill of being
like an truste.
O<er!ome4 Kse Capport to charm or inspire people to o
what you want, or to establish a goo connection with them.
Charm your way past the guar, con!ince someone to take you
into their confience, or become the man of the hour at the local
ta!ern. &or nameless %PCs, this is just an o!ercome action, but
you may ha!e to enter a contest to sufficiently ingratiate
yourself to a name %PC or PC.
C6reate an Adantage4 Kse Capport to establish a positi!e
moo on a target or in a scene or to get someone to confie in
you out of a genuine sense of trust. You coul pep talk someone
into ha!ing >le!ate Confience, or stir a crow into a Ioyful
&er!or, or simply make someone )alkati!e or 3elpful.
D(efend4 Capport efens against any skill use to amage
your 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!es
Cesources escribes your character"s general le!el of material
wealth 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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FATE Player's Guide
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.
O<er!ome4 You can use Cesources to get yourself out of or
past any situation where throwing money at the problem will
help, such as committing bribery or ac'uiring rare an
eFpensi!e things. Challenges or contests might in!ol!e auctions
or biing wars.
C6reate an Adantage4 You might use Cesources to grease
the wheels an make people more frienly, whether that
represents an actual bribe (7 8cratch Your Jack...) or simply
buying rinks for people (7n Rino Reritas). You can also use
Cesources to eclare that you ha!e something you nee on
han, or can 'uickly ac'uire it, which coul gi!e you an aspect
representing the object.
Limiting Resources
7f someone is using the Cesources skill a bit too often, or you
just want to represent how continually tapping into your source
of wealth pro!ies iminishing returns, you can try one of the
following ieas4
0ny time a character succees at a Cesources roll, but
oesn"t succee with style, gi!e them a situation aspect
that reflects their temporary loss of wealth, like )hin
*allet or 8trappe for Cash. 7f it happens again, just
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FATE Player's Guide
rename the aspect as something worse#8trappe for
Cash becomes Hea Jroke, Hea Jroke becomes Hebt
to 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 Cesources roll,
ecrease the skill by one le!el for the remainer of that
session. 7f they succee at a Cesources roll at Beiocre
(,.), they can no longer make any Cesources 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
Cesources, 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 Skill
)he Cesources skill is a one that some folks may want to
tweak or moify. Cyan Backlin has poste an article with this
thoughts4
7"ll let you in on a non$secret4 7"m not satisfie with the
Cesources skill in &ate Core. 7 get what it"s there for, an 7 get
out to use it, but it"s one of those things that 7"m probably
going to tinker with until the en of ays.
By current tinkering re!ol!es aroun the aage of &ast, goo,
cheap4 pick two. ()his post will be rough, as it"s a shell of an
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FATE Player's Guide
iea an 7 ha!en"t much time to write blog posts this week).
*hen rolling for Cesources to getS-T something, the :B sets
the target (base on whate!er # that rubric is out of scope for
the moment). )hen, epening on the result4
4u!!ess &ith style4 you get fast, goo, an cheap.
%iceE
4u!!essGtie4 you get two of those.
Failure4 you get one of those, which means it may be
more of a liability than you" like # effecti!ely it"s
success at a cost as efault.
Failure #y - or moreH2T4 it"s totally una!ailable.
)he :B"s job is to suggest which aren"t true, for anything less
than success with style, though maybe there"s an interplay
in!ol!e. 7"ll get to that in a moment, but firstP
hat Fast, !ood, and Chea" #ean
Fast means that in terms of story, the time to get something
isn"t much of a complication. You"ll get it as fast as fictionally
plausible. ;ot fast means something relating to getting
whate!er it is becomes an issue, an you won"t ha!e it as fast
as you might like. You will get it, but there is some hassle.
(&ast coul also be interprete as easy or hassle$free.)
Good means 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 good means 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.
6heap means that it oesn"t strain your resources. ;ot !heap
means that it oes, which can be moele in !arious ways #
Cesource rain is the ob!ious one right from the &ate Core
teFt.
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FATE Player's Guide
$egotiation
)he Cesources roll tells you what"s a!ailable, but you can turn
the eal own. (7t"s possible that turning own a eal after a
roll coul ha!e fictional conse'uences, like snubbing someone,
but that"s for the story to play with).
"or a slight bit of stor-oriented fiddliness4 7f the :B says that
the problem is with fast or goo, but you"re able to get it
cheap, you can put forwar swapping cheap for fast or goo.
Kp to story logic to see if effecti!ely throwing money at
something is !ali in that circumstance, but it"s an option
o!erall. Hepening on how the mechanics work, you coul
ouble$pay the not$cheap cost to get both fast an goo on a
faile roll.
)hat"s a rough rethinking of it. 7 coul see this methoology
being use not just for Cesources, but possibly also Contacts,
or e!en for skill$eFclusi!e access like something base on
<ore (though what cheap means in those cases has to be
efine).
0n yes, it has some 0pocalypse *orl H%0 in the iea. 0s
we"!e sai before, this iteration of &ate alreay oes, but to me
this seems a natural eFtension of the concept.
$ Cyan
S-T Hefinitions of get !arying with setting an circumstance,
of course.
S2T 7 wish we came up for shorthan for failure with style.
4hoot
)he counterpart to &ight, 8hoot is the skill of using range
weaponry, either in a conflict or on targets that on"t acti!ely
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FATE Player's Guide
resist your attempts to shoot them (like a bull"s$eye or the broa
sie of a barn).
0gain, as with &ight, if it"s important to your setting to make a
istinction between ifferent types of range weaponry, you
might separate this out into skills like Jows, :uns, >nergy
*eapons, etc. Hon"t go nuts with this unless it"s key to your
game.
O<er!ome4 Knless, for some reason, you nee to
emonstrate your 8hoot ability in a non$conflict situation, you
probably won"t be using this skill for normal obstacles much.
(b!iously, contests in!ol!ing 8hoot are a popular staple of
a!enture fiction, an we recommen you look for the
opportunity to ha!e them if you ha!e a character who
specialiGes in this.
C6reate an Adantage4 7n physical conflicts, 8hoot can be
use to perform a wie !ariety of mo!es, like trick shots,
keeping someone uner hea!y fire, an the like. 7n cinematic
games, you might e!en be able to isarm people an pin their
slee!es to walls#pretty much anything you"!e seen in an action
mo!ie. You coul also make the argument for creating aspects
base on your knowlege of guns (like placing a Prone to Iams
aspect on an opponent"s gun).
AAtta!%4 )his skill makes physical attacks. You can make
them from up to two Gones away, unlike with &ight. (8ometimes
the range will change with the weapon).
D(efend4 8hoot is uni'ue in that it oesn"t really ha!e a
efense component to it#you" use 0thletics for that. You
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FATE Player's Guide
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).
4tealth
)he 8tealth skill allows you to a!oi etection, both when
hiing in place an trying to mo!e about unseen. 7t pairs well
with the Jurglary skill.
O<er!ome4 You can use 8tealth to get past any situation
that primarily epens on you not being seen. 8neaking past
sentries an security, hiing from a pursuer, a!oiing lea!ing
e!ience as you pass through a place, an any other such uses
all fall uner the pur!iew of 8tealth.
C6reate an Adantage4 You"ll mainly use 8tealth to create
aspects on yourself, setting yourself in an ieal position for an
attack or ambush in a conflict. )hat way, you can be *ell$
3ien when the guars pass by an take a!antage of that, or
3ar to Pin Hown if you"re fighting in the ark.
D(efend4 You can use this to foil %otice attempts to pinpoint
you or seek you out, as well as to try to throw off the scent of an
7n!estigate attempt from someone trying to track you.
>ill
)he *ill skill represents your character"s general le!el of
mental fortitue, the same way that Physi'ue represents your
physical fortitue.
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FATE Player's Guide
O<er!ome4 You can use *ill to pit yourself against
obstacles that re'uire mental effort. PuGGles an riles can fall
uner this category, as well as any mentally absorbing task, like
eciphering a coe. Kse *ill when it"s only a matter of time
before you o!ercome the mental challenge, an <ore if it takes
something more than brute mental force to get past it. Bany of
the obstacles that you go up against with *ill might be mae
part of challenges, to reflect the effort in!ol!e.
Contests of *ill might reflect particularly challenging games,
like chess, or competing in a har set of eFams. 7n settings
where magic or psychic abilities are common, contests of *ill
are popular occurrences.
C6reate an Adantage4 You can use *ill to place aspects on
yourself, representing a state of eep concentration or focus.
AAtta!%4 *ill isn"t really use for attacks. )hat sai, in
settings where you allow psychic abilities, full$on psychic
conflict might be something you can o with this skill. )hat"s
the sort of thing that woul be ae to *ill by taking a stunt or
eFtra.
D(efend4 *ill is the main skill you use to efen against
mental attacks from Pro!oke, representing your control o!er
your reactions.
4pe!ial4 )he *ill skill gi!es you aitional mental stress boFes
or conse'uence slots. 0!erage (,-) or &air (,2) gi!es you a A$
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 mental harm.
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FATE Player's Guide
4tunts ) ,efresh
Pi!%Ginent - 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 8tunts section.
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 to
accept compels to get fate points.) &iguring out stunts can take a
while, so you may want to pick one for now an etermine the
rest of them uring play.
<ily ecies to take the *armaster stunt as one of
her freebies4 ,2 to &ight rolls mae to create an
a!antage against an opponent, pro!ie the
opponent has a fighting style or weakness she can
eFploit.
&or her remaining free stunts, she picks 8econ$
8tory :irl an Hanger 8ense. You can see the write$
ups for these on her character sheet.
Ad"usting ,efresh
0 player character in &ate starts with a refresh of A. )hat means
he"ll start each session off with at least A fate points.
7f you pick four stunts, your refresh is 2. 7f you pick fi!e stunts,
your refresh is -.
;ote$ some &ate games will change this setup. Cegarless of
how stunts work in your game, you can ne!er ha!e a refresh
lower than -.
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FATE Player's Guide
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 stress an !onseCuen!es.
)he Conflicts section 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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FATE Player's Guide
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 4lots
Certain skills an some stunts can a to these efaults. 8ee the
8kills an 8tunts section for more on that. &or the sake of 'uick
reference, these are the skills in Hearts of Steel that alter stress
an conse'uences4
Physi'ue helps with physical stress, an *ill helps 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. 0t
8uperb (,@) 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 as wealth stress in a !ery political
game. Changing the number of boFes will slow own an raw
out conflicts, which may be more appropriate for high$octane,
pulpy genres where characters are eFpecte to take a lot of hits.
<anon has :oo (,A) Physi'ue, which nets him
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FATE Player's Guide
two more physical stress boFes. 3is *ill, howe!er,
is only 0!erage (,-), but that"s still goo enough for
one more mental stress boF.
Cynere"s Physi'ue is &air (,2), so she gets a thir
physical stress boF. Jut her mental stress track
remains at two boFes, thanks to her Beiocre (,.)
*ill.
Dir the 0rcane, being a rather bookish type, has
Beiocre (,.) Physi'ue, so he has only the efault
physical stress track of two boFes. 3is &air (,2)
*ill, though, is goo for one bonus mental stress
boF.
Jecause none of these characters has Physi'ue or
*ill rate at 8uperb (,@) or abo!e, each has the
efault number of conse'uences4 one mil, one
moerate, an one se!ere.
EIT,A4
(efining E2tras
0n eFtra in &ate is a pretty broa term. 7t is use to escribe
anything that"s technically part of a character or controlle by a
character, but gets special treatment in the rules. 7f your &ate
game were a mo!ie, this is where the special effects buget
woul go.
8ome eFamples of eFtras inclue4
Bagic an supernatural powers
8pecialiGe gear or e'uipment, like enchante arms an
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FATE Player's Guide
armor in a fantasy game or hyper$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 a permission or cost to own.
The BronEe ,ule, a%a The Fate Fra!tal
Jefore 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 Cule, but you may also ha!e hear
of 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 haGars attack as
if they ha skills.
>Ftras eFten the JronGe rule e!en further.
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FATE Player's Guide
6,EATI;G A; EIT,A
Baking an eFtra starts with a con!ersation. )his shoul happen
uring 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 Elements
Chances 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.
5.
FATE Player's Guide
Dir"s magic (an the magic of the Collegia 0rcana)
comes up as an ob!ious first choice, as o <anon"s
martial arts. <enny an Cyan both note that they"re
not intereste in lengthy lists of spells or combat
mo!es. 0lso, because it"s a fantasy game an magic
eFists, they agree that enchante items nee
consieration.
:oing o!er the game"s issues an locations, they
ecie not to worry about making any of those into
eFtras#they"re suppose to be tra!eling from place
to place anyway, an the characters on"t ha!e
enough of a stake in any of the organiGations to
make it worthwhile.
>hat E2tras (o
7n 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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FATE Player's Guide
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$key an abstract#it"s just
another metho of sol!ing problems, like <anon"s
martial arts or Cynere"s sworthiefery (which <ily
insists is a technical term)#a highly traine wiGar
is to be feare as much as a highly traine
sworsman, but no more.
)hey agree that it influences the story for se!eral
reasons. )hey imagine !istas full of unknowable
magical effects an plot e!ices for Dir to stick his
nose in, as well as the Collegia"s territorial esire
o!er the lore.
)hey ecie that Dir"s magic will let someone
interact with the supernatural in a way that other
people simply can"t o, an can affect an harm
people, but again, they stress that it shouln"t be
more powerful than other skills. Jasic effects woul
just use the normal four actions, an rituals will use
challenges, contests, or conflicts as appropriate.
8pecifically, they rule out the presence of worl$
altering high magic, creating things out of thin air,
firebombing whole cities, an so forth. 7f those
things eFist, it"s a threa for a scenario, an the
prouct of se!eral people making huge sacrifices.
)he group oesn"t see magic influencing other skills
much, which helps it keep its compartmentaliGe
nature.
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FATE Player's Guide
Ksing Dir"s magic is all about the weir. Cyan
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 Elements
(nce 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 it
shoul 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 a permission#re'uiring a
certain 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 be
a 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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FATE Player's Guide
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 like builing 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 story
influence, 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 6osts
0 permission is the narrati!e justification that allows you to
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FATE Player's Guide
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 !ost is 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$base, she"s just going to make him
take the magic$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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FATE Player's Guide
<ore, an suggests that anyone with the appropriate
training an a high <ore skill coul call on magic,
rather than it being an issue of genetics or birthright.
Cyan likes this, because it"s simple an own to
earth, an agrees.
The >riteup
(nce you"!e got all the elements together, you can make a
writeup for your eFtra. CongratsE
E2tra$ 6ollegia Ar!ana 9agi!
Permissions4 (ne aspect reflecting that you"!e been traine by
the Collegia
6osts4 8kill ranks, specifically those in!este in the <ore skill
(%ormally, you" probably also charge points of refresh,
because you"re aing new actions to a skill, but 0mana"s
group is laGy an is hanwa!ing it in fa!or of group consensus.)
People who are traine in Collegia magic are able to use their
knowlege to perform supernatural effects, aing the
following actions to the <ore skill4
O<er!ome4 Kse <ore to prepare an perform magical
rituals successfully, or to answer 'uestions about arcane
phenomena.
C6reate an Adantage4 Kse <ore to alter the en!ironment
with magic or place mental an physical impeiments on a
target, such as 8lowe Bo!ement or 0 &oggy 3ea. Characters
can efen against this with *ill.
AAtta!%4 Kse <ore to irectly harm someone with magic,
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FATE Player's Guide
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 <ore if the target also has magical
training.
D(efend4 Kse <ore to efen against hostile magics or other
supernatural effects.
E2tras and Adan!ement
>Ftras a!ance a lot like their base elements o, accoring to
the milestones in )he <ong :ame. )hat gi!es us a set of base
guielines4
0n eFtra"s aspect can change at any minor milestone, or
at a major milestone if it"s tie into your high concept.
0n eFtra"s skill may a!ance at any significant or major
milestone, pro!ie the mo!e is legal, an you can get
new ones at those milestones as well. You can also swap
skill ranks between another skill an your eFtra at a
minor milestone, like any other skill.
0n eFtra"s stunt may a!ance at a major milestone when
you get a refresh point. )his might mean you a a new
stunt effect to an eFisting eFtra or buy a new stunt$base
eFtra. You can also change out a stunt$base eFtra at a
minor milestone, like you can with any other stunt.
(f course many eFtras use more than one element. 7t is
recommene that you allow the players in your game to
e!elop the separate pieces of such an eFtra at ifferent
milestones, in orer to minimiGe confusion uring play.
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FATE Player's Guide
9<,E EIA9P*E4
3ere are some more pre$configure eFtras, at ifferent le!els of
etail, to aress some of the most common CP: tropes.
>eapon and Armor ,atings
8e!eral of the entries in this section refer to *eapon an 0rmor
ratings. You can use them in grittier games as a blanket
assumption rather than relegating them to eFtras, if it"s
appropriate#getting hit by a weapon will amage you more,
an ha!ing armor keeps that from happening.
0 *eapon !alue as to the shift !alue of a successful hit. 8o, if
you ha!e *eapon42, it means that any hit is worth 2 more shifts
than it woul normally be. )his counts for ties, so when you"re
using a weapon, you inflict stress on a tie instea of getting a
boost. )hat makes weapons !ery angerous.
0n 0rmor !alue reuces the shifts of a successful hit. 8o,
0rmor42 makes any hit worth 2 less than usual. If you hit, #ut
the targets Armor redu!es the shift alue to 8 or #elo&, you
get a #oost to use on your target #ut dont do any harm.
7t is recommene setting a scale for *eapon amage from - to
1, keeping in min that on a tie, a *eapon41 hit will take out
four 0!erage nameless %PCs. )hen set your 0rmor ratings
base on what you think you" nee to fully protect against the
weapons on each le!el.
0mana talks to the group about aing *eapon
an 0rmor ratings. )hey agree, so now she"ll set up
eFamples of weapons an their corresponing
ratings. 7t"s a fantasy worl, an fairly gritty, so she
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FATE Player's Guide
thinks about the *eapon41 guieline abo!e an
ecies that any large, two$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$1 correspons to items like brass knuckles
an small saps, or most impro!ise weapons.
0rmor4- is pae clothes.
>eapon$' correspons to short blaes or clubs,
such as a agger or a truncheon. 0rmor42 is paing
an mail.
>eapon$- co!ers most swors, maces, an
anything you use one$hane. 0rmor4A is mail an
plate.
>eapon$. is reser!e for large, two$hane melee
weapons. 0rmor41 is full$plate.
%ero&Sum 's (oring
Jefore you go craGy making weapons an armor charts for your
campaign, you shoul stop an think about whether their
inclusion is really going to make that much of a ifference in
your conflict scenes.
)he reason this is sai is because the first thing your players
will want to o is eliminate the effecti!eness of whate!er their
opponents ha!e by armoring up. 0n unless you want your
%PCs to get slaughtere, e!entually you"re going to ha!e to o
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FATE Player's Guide
the same. 7f e!eryone tens to be the e'ual of e!eryone else in
terms of weapons an armor, you ha!e a Gero$sum game, an
you might as well just go back to making e!eryone roll their
efault skills.
(ne way to hanle this is to create a eliberate isparity
between *eapon an 0rmor ratings, allowing one to go higher
than the other. 3istory is on your sie here#most armor
couln"t completely protect against the weapons they went up
against. Chain mail might keep a blae slash away, but it"s not
going to o much about the blunt force trauma of a mace hit.
<ikewise, a set of plate might eflect a mace away, but a spear
or a thrust swor that can slip between the plates ruins its ay.
0nother one is to make really goo armor unusually scarce, the
pro!ince of the eFtremely pri!ilege, rich, or otherwise elite. 8o
while it might be really easy to fin a *eapon4A swor, only the
Coyal :uar of Carmelion has the master blacksmiths
necessary to make armor that"s its e'ual. Players might spen a
lot of time trying to buy, cheat, con'uer, or steal their way into
such a set of armor, but at least you"!e s'ueeGe some rama
out of the attempt.
Iust keep in min that if you"re going to set armor an weapons
up to be complete e'uals, you run the risk of waste effort when
their presence oesn"t actually matter.
4uperpo&ers
Bost game settings that ha!e superpowers ha!e the following in
common4 the purpose of a superpower is to make the stuff you
o (your skills) more awesome, an the fact that e!eryone has
superpowers is accepte as a conceit of the game.
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FATE Player's Guide
)hat makes a buil that"s appropriate for multiple settings really
easy to o. %o permissions, because e!eryone can ha!e them
(or maybe one origin story aspect). )ake whate!er power you
want an make it into a stunt. 7f you nee to go o!er the usual
limits of a stunt to fully encompass the power, a one more
point of refresh for e!ery two shifts (or one ae action, or one
rule breakage) of effect you a. 7f you want multiple le!els
of a power, make the number of refresh you can spen on it
!ariable.
)hen gi!e e!ery PC a number of aitional refresh to buy
powers with.
3ere are a bunch of powersE ()his also works if you want a
setting with magic where e!eryone knows a small selection of
rigi spells, or !ery simple cybernetic enhancements).
These are all taken from a game called Chrome City, home of
Simon the Cber-&pe. ,t%s basicall four-color supers with a
cberpunk veneer thrown on it, and he comes from a societ of
intelligent, cberneticall enhanced apes who practice kung-fu.
E2tra$ Energy Blast
6osts4 2 points of refresh
You can use 8hoot to blast other people with energy, without
neeing a gun or other implement. You ha!e free rein to ecie
what your blast is like, whether it"s some elemental force or just
unefine bolts of light. ()his oesn"t cost refresh, because you
can alreay use 8hoot for attacks.)
You get ,2 when using your energy blasts to make attacks or
create a!antages, an they hit for *eapon42. 7f your setting has
munane weapons, this power has a *eapon !alue that"s 2
higher than the strongest munane weapons a!ailable.
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FATE Player's Guide
E2tra$ 4uper=4trength
6osts4 2/? points of refresh
Your &ight attacks are *eapon42, an nearly all raw strength
applications of Physi'ue are at ,2. >!ery aitional 2 points of
refresh you spen as a ,2 to all bonuses.
E2tra$ 4uper=4peed
6osts4 A points of refresh
You always go first in a conflict eFchange. 7f someone else in
the conflict has 8uper$8pee, compare skills as normal.
You take a ,2 on all efense rolls with 0thletics, or in contests
relying purely on spee.
>Fcept for absolute barriers like soli walls, you ignore all
situation aspects that impee mo!ement, an can place yourself
in any Gone you want at the start of e!ery conflict eFchange,
because you ha enough time to get there.
E2tra$ 4uper=,esilien!e
6osts4 -/A refresh
You ha!e 0rmor42 on any efense roll against physical amage.
>ach aitional point of refresh as 2 to that total.
E2tra$ I=,ay ?ision
6osts4 2 refresh
You on"t roll %otice or 7n!estigate actions if the object of your
search is hien behin an opa'ue object#just assume you
automatically succee.
)his also helps you stay hien, because you can see when
people are looking for you an where they are. ,2 to 8tealth to
a!oi etection.
)o*ers + Scaling
0s you can see, balancing powers in &ate is more a matter of
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art than science. )here are some rough e'ui!alencies you can
rely on, like - fate point 5 - in!oke$e'ui!alent or - stunt$
e'ui!alent, but when you get into writing rules eFceptions like
the one for U$Cay Rision, there"s no har or fast rule for what"s
too powerful. >!erything is relati!e to your tastes, an &ate is
har to break.
8o on"t sweat it too much when you"re making these up#go
with what souns cool, an if you break something, just change
it later. Players, on"t be jerks about this if one of your powers
gets a little nerfe.
Bore precise guiance is in the "ate Sstem Toolkit.
4pe!ial Gear
0s with powers, gear usually enhances what your character
oes, so a stunt$base approach seems the most reasonable at
first blush (Spirit of the Centur !ets will remember the
Personal :aget stunt).
3owe!er, gear can also ha!e a lot of story !alue. 0n enchante
swor may ha!e its own legen an personality, or a curse
heirloom might reflect the family that"s been force to keep it
for centuries. Kse aspects to escribe these, an remember that
the aspects shoul pro!ie opportunities for in!ocations an
compels. 7f you want, you can gi!e the in!ocations themsel!es
some special fla!or, gi!ing them a one$time, stunt$like bonus.
0n aspect on gear might also suggest the best situation in which
to use it or elineate what makes it ifferent from others of its
kin (like a sniper rifle being ieally suite &or <ong$Cange
*ork or a particular moel that %e!er, >!er Iams).
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FATE Player's Guide
7t is recommene against going o!erboar with this an gi!ing
e!ery single item your PC owns an aspect or stunt. )his is a
game about your character, not about his or her stuff. &or the
most part, you shoul assume that if your character has a
particular skill, that inclues the appropriate stuff to use that
skill effecti!ely. Ceser!e eFtras for items that ha!e uni'ue or
personal !alue, something that you"re not going to be changing
constantly through the course of the campaign.
,uick and Dirt- Stor-&.ased !ear
7f you on"t want to eal with eFtras, there"s a way to o gear
that oesn"t re'uire too much rigmarole4 think of them as auto$
create a!antages that you bring into a scene. :Bs, you
alreay get to put stuff like%arrow 0lleys an Cough )errain
out there#you can also apply this to escribe the situational
a!antages that characters get from gear.
8o, if your PC has a full$auto rifle an is taking on someone
with a pistol, a a Jetter &irepower aspect to your character
with a free in!oke at the start of a scene, just like you woul if
you" create that a!antage with a roll. )hat way, you can tune
the benefits to narrati!e circumstances#if you"re fighting in a
really narrow alley, your swor might be a poorer tool than your
opponent"s knife, so they" get a free in!oke on a Poor Choice
of *eapon aspect attache to you.
7n those rare situations where you ha!e the absolutely ieal tool
for a job, the aspect you get might count as being with style,
an come with two free in!okes.
E2tra$ (emon#ane, The En!hanted 4&ord
Permissions4 &ining the swor uring the game
6osts4 %one
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)he swor Hemonbane has an aspect calle 8layer of Hemon$
Qin. 7f you are the swor"s bearer, you can in!oke this aspect
when fighting or opposing emons. You may also be subject to
a compel ue to the swor"s enchantmentM it continually pushes
its bearers to estroy emons with total abanon, an may cause
you to lose sight of other objecti!es, pre!ent you from escaping
a emon"s notice, or other complications.
7n aition, in!oking the swor"s aspect has another pair of
special effects4 it can banish any nameless %PC emon
instantly, with no conflict or contest, an it can re!eal the
presence of a conceale emon uner any circumstances.
E2tra$ Bra!e Joanni!hs (ueling Pistol
Permissions4 Possessing the aspect )he <egacy of Jrace
6osts4 (ne aspect slot (for the permission aspect) an one point
of refresh
Jrace Io!annich is the most feare, most respecte gunfighter
the worl of 0eeann has e!er known. 3is gun, known
worlwie for the slaying an maiming of hunres, is yours
now. (nly you know why you on"t just throw it in a canal an
sa!e yourself the trouble of its reputation.
Prepare for compels on that aspect when people recogniGe the
gun an re'uire proof that you"re worthy of it, !engeance for
the wrongs it"s been a part of, or other kins of unwante
attention. (n the other han, besies the ob!ious combat
benefits, you can in!oke the aspect when you"re using Jrace"s
fearsome reputation to your a!antage.
)he pistol gi!es you a ,2 bonus to any 8hoot attack mae in a
one$on$one uel. )his is formal uels, not just singling someone
out in a normal gunfight#you challenge or get challenge by
someone, there are secons, etc., etc. 7f you"re using *eapon
!alues in your game, it also has a rating similar to other pistols.
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FATE Player's Guide
6y#erte!h and 4uper=4%ills
&or the most part, you can run cyberwear a lot like our
superpowers eFample abo!e4 mega$stunts with multiple
refresh !alues base on how much cool stuff they o.
7n some settings, though, there"s another role for cybertech that
borers on the magical4 it allows people to o things in
cyberspace, creating a new conteFt for action relate to tech
itself.
&or that, you nee a custom skill, escribing the new arena for
oing stuff an what happens in it.
0nother potential use for custom skills is to set up really
specific niches for characters in your game, so that you only
ha!e one person who gets calle upon in a specific situation.
7nstea of ha!ing a &ight skill that e!eryone can take, for
instance, you may ha!e a *arrior skill, an only the *arrior PC
gets it. Caper stories work well for this, because the niches are
alreay efine in the fiction (the planner, the wheelman, the
con artist). Iust make sure e!eryone unerstans that in a setup
like this, trying to act outsie your niche will probably go really
ba for you.
E2tra$ Interfa!e
Permissions4 Possession of an interface package (assume if
you take the skill)
6osts4 8kill ranks
)he 7nterface skill allows you interact with computers an
teche$up objects in a way that most people can"t. You can get
insie the machine"s hea, talk to it like most people woul chat
to a frien, an fight it like you"re in a bar brawl. (f course, that
means the machine can also o that stuff to you.
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FATE Player's Guide
O<er!ome4 Kse 7nterface to fiF a malfunctioning computer
system, bypass security lockowns an other obstacles by
hacking your way through, force a piece of tech to trigger a
programme response, an keep a piece of tech from triggering
a response.
C6reate an Adantage4 Kse 7nterface to learn about the
properties of a particular piece of tech (i.e. learn its aspects), to
iagnose malfunctions in a computer system, to plant fake
signals or false information in a computer system, an to create
isruptions.
AAtta!%4 Kse 7nterface to break own a computer system
irectly.
D(efend4 Kse 7nterface to efen against attacks from
computer systems. &aile efense rolls will result in physical
stress an conse'uences#a cyber$interface means your actual,
physical brain is at stake.
E2tra$ 9edia
Permissions4 Choosing )he Beia archetype at character
creation
6osts4 8kill ranks an refresh, for associate stunts
(thers can sprea gossip an rumors, but you ha!e your finger
on the pulse of broacast meia. 0t your wor, the e!ents of the
ay become news, whether it"s on tele!ision, raio, or the
7nternet.
O<er!ome4 Kse Beia to isseminate information to the
public, with whate!er spin you want to put on it. Bore obscure
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or local incients will be harer to sprea, an it"ll be harer to
make your own spin pre!alent if the story"s alreay been picke
up by other outlets. 8uccess means that generally, the public
belie!es what you want them to belie!e about the incient,
though name %PCs may ha!e more compleF opinions.
C6reate an Adantage4 Kse Beia to place aspects on an
e!ent or an ini!iual reflecting the reputation they gain from
your stories.
AAtta!%4 7f you ha!e sufficient le!erage to psychologically
harm someone through a smear campaign anNor meia
bullying, use this for attacks.
D(efend4 Kse Beia to pre!ent amage to your own
reputation or peace of min from someone else using the Beia
skill.
4tunts4 >ant Ads. You may use Beia for the same kin of
(!ercome rolls you" use Contacts for, by summoning ser!ices
you nee through classifies.
9o# Justi!e. You can incite people in public to physical
!iolence with Beia, an gain the use of two 0!erage (,-)
nameless %PCs for that scene, who will attack people at your
irection.
>ealth
7n some games, it"s important to track how much wealth your
character has#feual lors in competition for power, C>(s
using their money to strike at their foes, or e!en gamblers in
:angsterlan. &ate is pretty hanwa!ey with numbers in
general, an we generally recommen against keeping precise
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FATE Player's Guide
track of how many gol pieces are in your character"s pocket.
*hen you want a character resource to be finite like wealth is, a
goo option is to use a custom stress track to represent the
eFhaustion of that resource. You"re creating a new conteFt for
conflict when you o this, allowing the new stress track to be
attacke an harme like mental an physical stress.
You can also use something like this to moel honor or
reputation in a setting where that matters, like feual Iapan.
E2tra$ ,esour!es, ,eisited
Permissions4 %one, anyone can take the skill
6osts4 8kill ranks
0t creation, all characters get a special mil (0 2.$spot &rom a
&rien), moerate (Payay <oan), an se!ere ()hey *ant )o
Jreak By Qneecaps) conse'uence that they can take in wealth$
relate conflicts.
0 the following actions to the Cesources skill4
AAtta!%4 You can make financial mo!es to estroy someone
else"s resources or force them to o!erspen to eal with you,
an thus inflict wealth stress an conse'uences. 7f you take
someone out this way, it means some kin of permanent shift in
their finances for the worse.
D(efend4 Kse Cesources to maintain your status in the face
of attempts to estroy your capital.
0s an interesting a!ancement option, you might consier
allowing permanent owngraes of the Cesources skill as a
traeoff for upgraing certain eFtras, if that eFtra is something
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FATE Player's Guide
money can buy.
?ehi!les, *o!ations, and <rganiEations
)hese are all lumpe together in one category because if you
want them to be important, their impact is usually significant
enough to justify gi!ing them their own character sheet.
7t oesn"t always ha!e to be that complicate, especially if
you"re going for something more subtle#for eFample, if you
want to tie up some cool stunts into a !ehicle an use the
superpower or special gear rules abo!e, that"s perfectly !ali.
)his is for when you want a !ehicle to be a real personality an
cornerstone of your game, as iconic as the >nterprise or the
Billennium &alcon.
7f you assign an eFtra its own skills, you"re suggesting that the
eFtra has the capability to act inepenently of you, an you
nee to justify why that is. Hepening on the eFtra, you may
also nee to reconteFtualiGe what the skills mean or make up a
new list more appropriate for the ways in which the eFtra acts.
7n this game, the characters are gi!en a hanful of eFtra refresh,
skill ranks, an aspect slots to in!est into sailing ships. )he
group ecie to in!est collecti!ely in one awesome ship.
E2tra$ The Galerider
Permissions4 %oneM unerstoo as part of the game"s conceit
6osts4 8kill ranks, refresh, an aspect slots, in!este by se!eral
characters
Aspe!ts4 &astest 8hip in the &leet, 3ien Cargo
Compartments, <or )amarin *ants )o 8ink 3er
4%ills4 (representing the ship"s crewM PCs can use their own
skills if higher)
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FATE Player's Guide
:oo (,A) %otice
&air (,2) 8hoot, 8ail (e'ui!alent to Hri!e)
4tunts4 Pour <n The 4peed. )he :alerier gi!es ,2 on any
8ail rolls to win a contest of spee.
Boo#ytrapped4 &or a fate point, any PC can ha!e *eapon42 on
an attack or a 2 to the *eapon !alue of any &ight attack that
happens on boar, by triggering any of the nasty traps scattere
across the eck an interiors as part of their action.
)his is for a game where e!ery PC is the ruler of a separate
nation state on a fantasy worl, an the action eals a lot with
international politics. )he PCs get to buil a separate character
sheet for their nation state.
E2tra$ The Plenary of Ghiraul
Permissions4 %oneM assume as part of the game"s premise
6osts4 0 special pool of aspects, skill ranks, an stunts
)his small nation$state is known for its !ast spy network an
laws which protect the rich an powerful, usually at the eFpense
of the peasantry. You rule itM congrats. *hen acting against
other nations, use the skills here rather than the ones on your
character sheet. 7n this case, your skills represent the efforts of
your spies, nobles, artisans, an armies, respecti!ely.
Aspe!ts4 *e"re *atching YouM )he Cich >at the PoorM 8harp
Bins, Hull Jlaes
4%ills4 :reat (,1) 7n!estigate
:oo (,A) Cesources
&air (,2) Crafts
0!erage (,-) &ight
4tunts4 6ounter=Intelligen!e. )he Plenary can use 7n!estigate
to efen against other nations" attempts to learn its aspects.
8ucceeing with style on this efense allows the Plenary to fee
the nation an aspect that contains false information instea.
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9agi!
*hen you"re making a magic system, the preliminary
iscussion is eFtremely important, because you nee to establish
some firm eFpectations for what is an isn"t possible, an how
far$reaching the effects can be. %o two fantasy worls in
popular meia ha!e similar properties for their magic, an
often, efining the arcane also efines a !ital facet of how the
worl operates. )herefore, these eFamples are pretty etaile,
using the full range of character elements.
.ucas the #agic Cop is a -C in the "ate game 0ncestral
0ffairs, inspired b Hong 'ong gunpla movies, where the
characters are a special supernatural crimes task force
operating in the fictional cit of San 1ian, California. ,n the
setting, ou have to channel magical power from ancestral,
semi-divine spirits. -owers are specific and portfolio-based, so
a spirit of water will confer different benefits than a spirit of
luck. &lso, people have karmic stress tracks, reflecting the
resilience of their soul.
E2tra$ *u!ass Arts
Permissions4 %one, anyone can commune with a spirit for
power
6osts4 0spect slots, skill ranks, stressNconse'uences
0t creation, characters get an eFtra three slots for aspects that
they can assign to escribe their relationship with an ancestor
spirit. )he aspect shoul inclue conteFt, so something like
8ujan 3as 7t 7n &or Be or Hammar an 7 8hare Cespect is
appropriate.
)o use ancestral powers, you must take a new skill calle
Commune.
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FATE Player's Guide
6ommune
)his is the skill for becoming one with an manipulating the
energy of ancestral spirits.
O<er!ome4 Kse Commune to negate the energy of
unforme, minor spirits (rea4 unname %PCs) or to impose
your will on an ancestral spirit with whom you are not currently
boun. &ailing one of these rolls is likely to cause you karmic
stress or conse'uences.
C6reate an Adantage4 Kse Commune to stack free in!okes
on your spirit aspects, or to retune the spiritual energy in an area
to your fa!or.
AAtta!%4 Kse Commune to temporarily ispel hostile spirits
an emons (%ote4 You cannot attack humans or other corporeal
entities irectly with this action).
D(efend4 Kse Commune to efen against hostile
supernatural influences. &ailing to efen from these attacks
eals karmic stress. (%ote4 You cannot efen against
supernaturally enhance attacks from humans or other corporeal
entities irectly with this action).
4pe!ial4 Commune as stress an conse'uence slots to your
karmic stress track, using the same rules for Physi'ue an *ill.
Conse'uences from a karmic attack literally retune the uni!erse
aroun your character, so things like Poor <uck or 8urroune
by 8aness are goo caniates.
>ach of the ancestral spirits also gets a writeup, which escribes
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their portfolio, general philosophy, an the benefits they can
confer. You gain these benefits by eFpening a free in!oke
gaine with the Commune skill (as in, only the Commune skill),
or by spening two of your fate points. (ne benefit shoul
always allow you to simply say that something happens in the
story without a roll.
4u"an, the 4pirit of >arding
Portfolio4 Hefense an protection
Philosophy4 0ll life is worth guaring an preser!ing, e!en in
the face of great a!ersity
Benefits4
You may pre!ent any munane calamity of fate once per
scene#a!ert that car accient, stop someone just short
of going o!er the cliff, or put someone just out of the
reach of that eFplosion. )here is no roll for thisM it just
happens. You can"t use this to retcon an action, only
change its outcome.
You can raise a :reat (,1) shiel of energy to protect
you an anyone you name. )his can stack with any other
acti!e opposition you or your chosen target can bring
forth. 0s soon as someone bypasses the opposition, your
shiel goes away an you must re$establish it. (Yes, you
can stack your free in!okes for this an make titanic
shiels. Presumably, there are other spirits whose powers
can rip your shiel own).
Here%s a build for a fantas game with rigid schools of magic.
E2tra$ 4!hools of Po&er
Permissions4 (ne aspect that names which orer you belong to
6osts4 0spect slot (for the permission), skill ranks (kin of),
refresh
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FATE Player's Guide
Your aspect allows you to take membership in one of se!eral
arcane orers. )hose orers ha!e a mini$sheet of their own, with
aspects, skills, an stunts. 3a!ing a membership in an orer lets
you aopt part of the orer"s character sheet as your own.
You can only belong to one orer at a time, an lea!ing an orer
to join another is practically unhear of (rea4 interesting option
for PCs to pursue o!er the course of a campaign).
The Bla!% *eague
Aspe!ts4 Heception 7s )he (nly )ruth, )he Hea 3ee Ks, Qill
Your Jetters Jefore )hey Qill You
4%ills4 :reat (,1) <earn
:oo (,A) Create
&air (,2) Hestroy
0!erage (,-) Change
4tunts4 ;e!roman!y. ,2 to any use of the Jlack <eague"s skills
to affect corpses.
:eeping 4e!rets. (nce per scene, you may reroll any Hecei!e
skill roll an keep the best result.
4hado& Play. *hen using the Create skill, a an aitional
free in!oke to any situation aspects you make in!ol!ing
arkness.
)he magical skills are Create, Hestroy, <earn, an Change.
>ach orer prioritiGes them from :reat to 0!erage. Kse the
lower of the orer"s skill rank or your <ore skill rank when
you"re performing magical actions.
You get one free stunt from among those possesse by your
orer, an you can get more by spening refresh. You can
in!oke or be compelle by the orer"s aspects as though they
were your own.
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You call on your magical skills when something makes the use
of your munane skills impossible. &or eFample, if you can no
longer interrogate a suspect because the torture has kille him,
you" make an o!ercome roll with <earn to isco!er what you
nee to know through magic. 7f someone is suffering a eep,
ark epression that no normal care can aress, create an
a!antage with Change to alter their moo.
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