Nobody Asked Me, But...

An occassional installment musing on miniatures, reading, and whatnot.

• Gave BattleTech: Alpha Strike a thorough reading and I am immensely pleased and excited!  My review on Play Unplugged has been posted! I predict a lot of old BT players will be dusting off their 'Mechs and other units for Alpha Strike.
• Re-reading Dune--I do this every two years or so.  I keep threatening to produce a community theater version of the book and casting my various friends in the main roles.  Sometimes I think I am only half-joking! 
• I was bummed out when Fate Core arrived at my FLGS and we proceeded to sell one of the five copies we ordered.  Then I realized that a lot of the customers who would have bought it supported the Kickstarter.  We'll sell all of our copies, I am certain of this, but it will just take a while longer.  It's an interesting dynamic. Such a fine book would not exist without KS, but KS siphons some of the natural customer base for it in the shops.  
• Painting BattleMechs again is great, and the campaign system in Alpha Strike means you can play meaningful games with some story elements attached to them. I plan to add a pair of Exterminators and an Atlas to round out my company.  Best part about it was my FLGS was able to order them via distribution, and that has not always been the case with Iron Wind's stuff. 
• JoAnn and I watched African Queen over the weekend, and while it's not Humphrey Bogart at the height of his powers, it still ranks as an all-time classic in my eyes.  Makes me want to bust out the pulp miniatures!
• My copy of 13th Age from Pelgrane Press should be arriving this week, and I am excited!  It's an RPG that mixes D&D 4E mechanics with indie game design principles to create something truly new and weirdly cool.  And knowing Pelgrane, the hardcover will be a thing of beauty.  

That's all for this installment, but I should have some more painted 'Mechs to show off this week.

Thanks for visiting!

--Scott

Fate Core: Arcane and Divine Magic

I've decided to do an occasional series on Fate Core and the many ways it can be adapted to various RPG settings and genres.  Today's installment: Arcane and Divine magic for a D&D-like setting.

Here goes!

Extra: Arcane and Divine Magic

Permissions: One aspect reflecting training, magical nature, or birthright (i.e., Troubled Initiate of the Sapphire Order)

Cost: Skill ranks in a separate [Magic] skill: Arcane Magic, Divine Magic, Dragon Magic, etc.

Beings trained in Magic automatically may use it for 2 of the four types of actions. Additional Stunts may be spent to add further allowable actions.

Overcome: Use magic for divination, healing, and enhanced movement (levitation, flight, extra speed).

Create an Advantage: Use magic to alter the environment with magic or place mental and physical impediments on a target, such as Dazed and Confused or Elemental Wall.

Attack: Use Magic to directly harm someone with your power. This works in close or up to two zones away. Targets defend with either Athletics or Will, depending upon the nature of the magic used against them. Targeted magicians may use their own Magic skill to defend against these attacks.

Defend: Use Magic to defend against hostile magics or other supernatural effects. If defend is selected as an allowable action, it may also be used to defend against Fight and Shoot attacks as well (i.e., Mage Armor, Shield, Mirror Image, etc.).

Note: Any effect that targets multiple foes, or is deemed to be extremely powerful by the GM and players, should cost a Fate point in addition to the skill roll.

So when you make a spell-casting character you write up an appropriate aspect, take a Magic skill, place it in your skill pyramid (likely at +4 or +3, but not necessarily), and then pick two of the four actions it can do. Then if you want, spend 1 or 2 of your 3 starting stunts to add other actions to it.

I could also see using one or two more other Aspects to further define your specialty. For example, if I came up with an aspect called Diviner of Terrible Truths, I could spend a Fate point to invoke that when using Magic to Overcome some mystery or hidden element.

If you give these mechanics a try, let me know how it goes! 

Thanks for visiting!  

--Scott

Fate Core Character Building

I've been reading a lot of Fate Core lately, and so I built a D&D style monk to try some character generation out.

Name: Tharkesh, Half-Orc Monk
Description: Tall, rangy Half-Orc, light brown skin, bald, wears green robes and tan pants
Refresh: 3

Aspects
Renegade Half-Orc Fighting Monk (high concept)
Hunted by the Dynasty (trouble)
________________________________________

________________________________________

________________________________________

Skills
Great (+4) Fight
Good (+3) Athletics, Physique
Fair (+2) Empathy, Stealth, Will
Average (+1) Lore, Notice, Rapport, Shoot

Stunts
Dazing Counter (Athletics)
Sprinter (Athletics)
Deflect Arrows (Fight: Use Fight in defense against Shoot attacks)

Physical Stress
[1] [2] [3] [4]

Mental Stress
[1] [2] [3]

Those three empty lines above represent 3 additional aspects that need to be filled in via a group character generation session--chargen in Fate Core is best accomplished in the company of your fellow players. 

I'd like to try running a few Fate Core games at some point soon.  The rules remain loose enough to allow for tremendous creativity, but also provide sufficient structure to build solid characters and stories around.  I also feel like the zone rules for movement and position facilitate the use of miniatures to show relative position.

You can now order Fate Core right here!   Or order it from your FLGS!

Thanks for visiting!

--Scott

Fate Core At My Door!

  My copy of Fate Core just arrived yesterday, both reaffirming my faith in Kickstarter and jump-starting my creative juices.  The question becomes, what to run with it?

With a bit of tweaking, anything seems possible.  Mage comes to mind, or some combo of Mage and Feng Shui, another of my old favorite RPGs.  I'm also tempted to get really daring and do some kind of Dark Sun conversion for that post-apoc fantasy vibe.  Perhaps painting another Bugman Warrior has got me thinking in this direction?  Not sure. 

Now I also await my cool new Fate/Fudge dice to use with the game.  Who doesn't love new dice?

Thanks for visiting!

--Scott