RPM:Rules/Game Rules

Fate is a game with many dials and preferences. This page will track ours.

Characters & Advancement

Rules that relate directly to creating or updating characters is on the Character Creation page.

Popcorn Initiative

We will be using Popcorn initiative, aka Elective Action Order, Balsera Initiative, etc. When a scene calls for an initiative order the most logical person goes first as determined by the GM. This is more often than not a player, though not always. After that character's (or group of opponents such as goblins or thugs) turn, that player then chooses who goes after them, either another player or an opponent. Everyone gets a turn before moving on to another round.

Further reading: http://www.deadlyfredly.com/2012/02/marvel/

Quick Conflicts

Sometimes a conflict is called for that either doesn't warrant the full scale of a conflict or one side has an edge over the other in such a way as to make the conflict quick. For these situations we will use Quick Conflicts.

The aggressor makes an Attack action with an attack skill, e.g. Fight, Shoot, Provoke, which sets the difficulty for the defending player. The defending player takes an Overcome action with an appropriate skill to defend (and yes, you may succeed at a cost). If the defending player fails they are taken out.

Source: Modified from the Physique rules in Romance is in the Air, p22.

Scale

When two entities enter into a conflict with one another and the narrative calls for it, the differences in their scale come into play. For every step that separates them, apply one or both of the following effects to the larger of the two:

• +1 to the attack roll or +1 to the defense roll
• Deal +2 shifts of harm on a successful attack or reduce incoming harm by 2

How to apply these effects depends on what makes sense in context.

If the Hatchet Gang (scale: Local) stages a daring raid against the Benevolent Association of Celestial Wanderers (scale: Regional), the Hatchet Gang will have a harder time of it, in terms of resources and personnel, against the better funded Association. It’s reasonable to give the Association a +1 bonus to its defensive Fighting roll.

Of course, if the conflict is between two entities of roughly equivalent size or scale, then none of these effects applies. They only come into play when the scale is unequal.

Source: Fate System Toolkit, Scale.

Weapon and Armor Ratings

Several of the entries in this section refer to Weapon and Armor ratings. You can use them in grittier games as a blanket assumption rather than relegating them to extras, if it’s appropriate—getting hit by a weapon will damage you more, and having armor keeps that from happening.

A Weapon value adds to the shift value of a successful hit. So, if you have Weapon:2, it means that any hit is worth 2 more shifts than it would normally be. This counts for ties, so when you’re using a weapon, you inflict stress on a tie instead of getting a boost. That makes weapons very dangerous.

An Armor value reduces the shifts of a successful hit. So, Armor:2 makes any hit worth 2 less than usual. If you hit, but the target’s Armor reduces the shift value to 0 or below, you get a boost to use on your target but don’t do any harm.

It is recommended setting a scale for Weapon damage from 1 to 4, keeping in mind that on a tie, a Weapon:4 hit will take out four Average nameless NPCs. Then set your Armor ratings based on what you think you’d need to fully protect against the weapons on each level.

Source: Fate Core, Weapons and Armor Ratings.