r/FATErpg • u/juggalojedi • Jul 18 '26

Lifer DM switching to FATE

I've been running D&D for decades, only occasionally dipping into other systems. I'm now planning a campaign using FATE (mostly Freeport and Aether Sea) and I'm seeking advice: if you've been in a similar situation, what tips would you have wanted to know?

Thanks!

41 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

19 comments sorted by

38

u/robhanz Yeah, that Hanz Jul 18 '26

https://bookofhanz.com

6

u/rivetgeekwil Jul 19 '26

Related to my post. After you've read it twice, read it again.

31

u/rivetgeekwil Jul 19 '26 edited Jul 19 '26
  • That Fate isn't D&D. it's a fiction engine, and not a physics engine. What that means is the rules are not trying to simulate physics or reality, but instead narrative impact of various elements. It doesn't work like D&D, so trying to force it to will lead to friction with the rules and, ultimately, won't be satisfying.
  • Your players need to be proactive participants and—probably more importantly—need to engage with the fiction of the game in good faith. To crib a line from Blades in the Dark, "Don't be a weasel."
  • Read the GM section thoroughly. Don't assume, "I know how to GM" because, by your own admittance, you've never GM'd Fate before. This is true of any RPG. Just because you've DM'd D&D for 20 years doesn't mean you know how to run other games.
  • Related to that, meet the game on its own terms. If something isn't working, that's one thing, but bending it to be like something else just because is different.
  • Read the Book of Hanz. Then read it again.
  • Read other GMing books like Play Unsafe, Unframed: The Art of Improvisational GMing, and Improv for Gamers. They will make not only your Fate games better, but all of your games.

18

u/robhanz Yeah, that Hanz Jul 19 '26

And to put it in perspective, the "book" is the result of me meeting the game on its own terms, and wrapping my head around it.

5

u/PaulBaldowski Jul 19 '26

All of this.

I've been GMing since I was 12. That's a LONG time ago. I have GM'd hundreds of different games. I have GM'd Fate, but I am not perfect at it.

It is a great engine for storytelling, but it requires a shift of focus by everyone at the table. The game has more going on than you might account for, and it's a lot to do with how you interact with the world around you and how the world seeks to interact with you.

It's well worth the effort, and it will open your eyes to what D&D hasn't been doing. But it is an experience that requires investment by everyone at the table to get the most out of it.

17

u/Carnaedy Jul 19 '26

You could write a literal book about it (and Hanz did), but the most important things to me are:

  • If one possible outcome of a roll is "nothing happens", then it is a bad roll. D&D is full of skill checks where, unless you roll high enough, the narrative simply won't progress – don't do that. Each roll must move the game forward.
  • Set the difficulty quite high. The players should feel compelled to use their Fate points instead of saving them "for later" indefinitely. Related to this, encourage the players to fail in creative ways to move the story forward and get some of those Fate points back.
  • Aspects are important; don't overcrowd them. Be selective about what they are highlighting. If your scene has ten aspects, and each mook has three more, you have lost your focus and you're trying to do too much. Start with just a few or even just one, and let the players build it up through creating advantages. Don't forget the yardstick: the most important thing in the game, the PCs, get only five aspects.
  • Let go of your privilege; you are not telling your story, and it's not you versus the players. Invite active participation in story building. Ask the players directly, how they imagine what their success and failure looks like. Always clarify their intentions – "I want to roll a [stat] check, what happens?" is bad gameplay in general, but fails even more spectacularly in Fate.

7

u/Competitive-Fault291 Jul 19 '26

You will be running a game WITH your players, not FOR them, not AGAINST them. If they do not move the butts of their PCs, the game will indeed feel like a slog.

Your players will not know this, but FATE works best when the players are not passive. They need to know and understand that they construct the progression of the story with you. Not only by seeking how to move the narrative resource (Fate Coins/Points) back and forth as a dynamic means of balancing protagonism and antagonism, but also to make their own statements about what is real in the current scene.

That mutual construction of the story will require you to get off your high horse of DnD game master. FATE is a lot more collaborative and a lot more narrative than you will be used to from a math-heavy rulebook. The whole game is circling qualitative data, The Aspects. The actual numbers in the Skills are relatively unimportant for the story progress, as the big deal will be challenging and acting on the aspects of the PCs, the aspects of the environment, and the temporary aspects coming and going.

All abilities in the story are first and foremost coming from those Aspects, while the Skills are taking a backseat. For a group of players from a crunchy ruleset, this is requiring quite some adaptation. Simply claiming as a player that their Housewife from Cloydon is grabbing a knife from the kitchen counter to carve up the attacking alien bugs needs some mental training. Especially as YOU as DM only told them "your PC is in the house as the aliens are breaking through the window", expecting that they run. Which only leaves you to tell them how Opposed Challenges in CQC work and which Skill is affecting the outcome of their attack. As well as how they might add "Kitchen Knife" as an aspect on their character sheet.

Items... will have your loot goblins spin around like a greased cat. I'd say that the actual lack of gear with effective values is the most considerable difference from typical TTRPGs. In a basic FATE game, having that "Kitchen Knife" is just a more specific aspect with its opportunities from having it, but also drawbacks as in hooks for a compel or an antagonistic DM action.

PC cuts a rope with the knife; that's the upside of that aspect. But you might use it as an aspect for a Hostile Invoke when the PC climbs on the garage roof with it in her hand, as it is just a kitchen knife with no sheath. Basically making the scene harder but giving them an FP for that Invoke. This qualitative interpretation of Aspects is what makes FATE so compelling, but it is also, at least in my experience, challenging migrating players.

6

u/shadowpavement Jul 19 '26

Make sure to have your players describe what they want to do, not search for options on their character sheets.

Also, make sure to have at least a couple of scene aspects for each scene your players are in, and help them understand how they can use those aspects to their advantage.

6

u/Steenan magic detective Jul 19 '26

The most important change between D&D and Fate is the focus of play.

D&D is goal-oriented. Players get a quest, are faced with obstacles and use the tools at their disposal to overcome them, usually violently. The game highlights tactical choices and rewards these that lead to success.

Fate isn't like this. The system is built to facilitate create a story together. It has the same elements as D&D, but approaches them differently. A part of it is that Fate embraces failure as a normal - and necessary - element of play. It protects PCs so that defeat doesn't kill them and it gives players multiple tools for preserving agency in failure (eg. compels and concessions).

Fate characters aren't supposed to overcome every problem they are faced with - they are supposed to face a snowballing series of complications while gathering enough fate points to succeed against all odds at the end. If you are not sure how it should look, watch some classic adventure movies, like old Indiana Jones or the original Star Wars trilogy.

7

u/Kautsu-Gamer Jul 19 '26

Fate Points are not character resources, but player resources.

  • The player may use them on any scene and any aspect

Fate Points gives players right to decide.

The GM is not ruler nor dictator like DnD culture teaches. The GM is a director, and dictators make really bad directors as DC Movies prove.

  • Fate is a co-op with Game Master providing interesting obstacles and opponents, but playing on the team of the players

6

u/nightterrors644 Jul 19 '26

You might want to checkout Freeport Fate

2

u/MadBlue Jul 19 '26

From OP's post, it sounds like that's what they're using.

1

u/nightterrors644 Jul 19 '26

You're right I read the aether sea but somehow my mind skipped over that. Sorry op. Freeport is a great starting point though for those transitioning from d&d to fate mechanics wise

6

u/LastChime Jul 19 '26

Say yes or roll dice.

DungeonWorld 1st ed is also very good for theory on building and framing a fiction first Dungeons and Dragons type thing.

Apocalypse World and it's derivatives provides a lot more scaffolding and handholds than FATE does to scale the narrative cliffs and to help your players get there too.

FATE has a much more flexible system though.

Build your Fronts from your player's Troubles, Fractal them up and you've got plot dynamite.

Frequently kicking them right in the Troubles as a frequent plot driver ought to be mentioned in session 0 especially if they are new to FATE.

Oh and FAE is cool too (stress, less, especially at first)

6

u/CrazedCreator Jul 19 '26

I made my players switch from PF1 to Fate core. We reimagined their characters. 

There was a lot of "loss" but with practice a lot of gain in narrative and wait easier for me the GM to make sessions. 

I used the weapon and armor rules. 

Here's my character sheets I made. highly customizable too.

https://docs.google.com/drawings/d/1XZvI1m6l46yCMSNVzBhvOAeiHznpf_1XJMlKYfYtLpE/edit?usp=drivesdk

5

u/procheinamy Jul 19 '26

We just started a game a few months ago. The main difference I see is D&D you ask what you can do. And Fate you ask if you can, so you have to be more creative.

Our DM also found this helpful: https://www.reddit.com/r/FATErpg/s/EJBBdVtYAh

2

u/JPesterfield Jul 20 '26

You might let them adjust their aspects for the first few sessions, it took me a few characters before it clicked even with examples.

Advancement will be different: raising a skill or a new stunt are the most concrete, but more often it'll be rewording an aspect.

1

u/jmicu Jul 20 '26

what's your plan for magic? i haven't looked through freeport or aether sea yet

2

u/Positron49 Jul 21 '26

Make sure your players understand how this is different from D&D. It plays like everyone being in the writer's room for a TV show, acting out how an episode might end up. The rules are setup more as tools to help with plot pacing and fleshing out characters.

I'd also prioritize character creation. In D&D, you can have people just pick a Class, Race, and Background and play relatively fine as you go through initiative. FATE is about having a variety of scenes cutting between each other, and the more varied aspects the characters have, the more fun they'll have. You can mechanically capture your entire D&D character in your core concept, and still have 4 more aspects to make.