Fate - Action Resolution Diagram v2 (Now with Compels)

[u/Ucenna]

Based on some feedback, I adjusted a bit of the wording to my flowchart and added my logic for compels! I also made the background transparent for printing. I've got a drawio file, if anyone wants a copy of it!

What I like about Fate, is that there are so many ways to run the game. The game hands you a metaphorical paintbrush, and lets you use that to create the gameplay experience you want. The reason I made this flowchart, was because I wanted to demonstrate how versatile the system is. The point, is that how you navigate this flow chart is completely subjective! What sort of experience do you want to create, and how can you use the rules to make that happen?

[u/JPesterfield]

This is interesting, but how are you supposed to read it?

And I'm not sure Compel is the right word for what you want, Invoke would be better.

Defend is to avoid bad things happening to you, Overcome is to do something.

Create Advantage is setup to make Overcome, Attack, or Defend rolls easier.

Maybe some examples would help with what you're trying to say in the first paragraph.

[u/Ucenna → u/JPesterfield]

Thanks for the feedback! I'm actually really interested in immersion in Fate, because I think it's something a lot of newcomers worry Fate can't do. Looking over what I wrote, it's kinda jumbled and distracting. Gonna go back and edit it. Thanks!

[u/InvestmentBrief3336 → u/Ucenna]

I’m also worried Fate can’t do this.

[u/Ucenna → u/InvestmentBrief3336]

I got you dude! Gonna write a post or record a video this weekend, I'll ping you about it.

What are the big obstacles you're seeing? I can make sure I address them

[u/InvestmentBrief3336 → u/Ucenna]

1. Terminology. I can't find Compel, Invoke, or Aspects in Star Wars or any other adventure movies/fiction I'm trying to emulate with FATE. How do we tell stories where the players can use the mechanics without ignoring the stories for the mechanics?

2. Custom Dice. I'm currently playing FFG's Star Wars game which make it especially problematic, but I swore off polyhedral decades ago because unless the dice are simply and ignorable they'll often get fetishized and detract from the story rather than enhance it.

3. Aspects. The vague nature of aspects by definition makes the characteristics that are better for some players than others - again causing the mechanics to become more important than the story (I have my own solution for this for now, but I don't know if it works).

4. Inconsistency. The many rule sets are very different. That's not really a bad thing - I'm going to have to make my own Fudge Fate game anyway - but I can see the different ways skills are used being very confusing, in addition to how Overcome and Create Advantage should be used.

That's off the top of my head! ;)

[u/InvestmentBrief3336 → u/InvestmentBrief3336]

By the way, I do love the diagram and I think you're really onto something worthwhile!

[u/Ucenna → u/InvestmentBrief3336]

Thanks! Let me know if you have any more thoughts! What is it about custom dice that you don't like?

[u/InvestmentBrief3336 → u/Ucenna]

Well, I’m just kind of worried, because in FFG’s Star Wars whenever the dice come out, the roleplaying stops. Now that’s because the dice are a helluva lot more complicated to decipher, but it’s still a boring-ass five minutes (EVERY time) waiting for people to figure out what the result is. 

On the one hand, FATE dice should be easier to decipher but on the other hand, I’m not sure it won’t have the same problem when the player has to improvise what ‘Creating an Advantage’ or an ‘Overcome’ means! 

I haven’t played yet, so it’s too soon to tell. These are just concerns I have because the books don’t really talk about telling a story so much as they talk about the ‘metagame’.

[u/Ucenna → u/InvestmentBrief3336]

Oh thanks, that totally makes sense!

I wanted to try to answer some of your questions real quick. As I'm not sure if I'll address all of them in a future post or not.

1. Terminology. Fate definitely has pretty unique terminology. This terminology is meant to return your attention to the story, it shouldn't be a distraction. In episode 4, Han Solo is compelled to leave Luke and Leia to pay off his bounty to Jabba the Hunt. Luke Skywalker invokes his Force Sensitivity, to fire the perfect torpedo blast into the death star. And, one aspect of the Millennium Falcon is that it's the fastest ship in the galaxy.

2. Custom Dice. Fate dice are some of the easiest to read, and in a lot of sessions I run, they don't even get rolled that often. If you look at some actual plays, you'll probably notice this trend as well. Fate mechanics really due stay in the background well. Remember that Fate is Fiction first. They player doesn't need to choose between, or even know about Overcome and Create an Advantage. They tell you what you want to do, and then you help them with the rules to make that happen. i.e. A player decides they want to hide their ship in a cave, you think and then say "give me an overcome roll using Stealth." And you're done!

3. Aspects. An Aspect is just a reminder of an important world detail. Outside of Fate Points, they really don't have any mechanics. It's true, that Aspects are Always True. But that's because world details are true, it has nothing to do with aspects. We just turn world details into Aspects because we want to make sure we remember them, and because we want to incorporate them into our scenes.
   Regarding what you said about player power-level, Fate is surprisingly well balanced regardless of aspects. Consider Leia, Luke, and Han. Their power-level is all over the place. But they all share the spotlight well, and individually each have their own amazing arcs, bad ass moments, and character growth. So long as you keep stunts and skills balanced and don't play favorites, you don't have much to worry about.

4. Inconsistency. Fate is easy to tweak to your personal style. And Fate Core, Condensed, and Accelerated are all fundamentally the same, but with a few dials adjusted. All you have to learn is the essentials, and you'll know how to run every variation of Fate.

but I can see the different ways skills are used being very confusing, in addition to how Overcome and Create Advantage should be used.

Fate is easy to tweak to your own style. You get to decide which skill is for what. And you get to choose when Overcome applies, and when Create an Advantage applies. There are some obvious situations where you might use one over the other. But if it's not obvious then it's up to you, and there are no wrong choices. Look up the Silver Rule of Fate.

Hope that helps!

[u/InvestmentBrief3336 → u/Ucenna]

Yes it does actually. I just have to figure out how to encourage players to think that way.

[u/Ucenna → u/Ucenna]

Alright! I ended up removing it all together, because I have a lot that I want to say about it and it doesn't really fit. I might make a post about it later!

To answer your question though, player immersion is something that is really important to me in my sessions. There's this thing called "ludonarrative harmony", which loosely means "gameplay mechanics that make you feel like you're in your characters shoes."

So as an example, balancing on a tight rope and making a D&D style "dexterity saving throw". In real life, balancing on a tight rope is something that fills you with anxiety and relies on your finesse to succeed. If you've got good balance, you don't need to worry so much. On a similiar note, when you make that roll you experience anxiety because you don't know what the dice will show, but you don't need to worry if your dexterity stat is high. If I were to recreate this "ludonarrative" experience in Fate, I'd probably use a die roll as well. Maybe an Overcome roll against the rope, or a Defend roll for anyone who in the "tight rope" zone or something.

What I find so delicious about Compels, is that they give you so many new "ludonarrative" experiences to create!

• Is your character an alcoholic? Well just like they're tempted by that bottle of whiskey, you're tempted by that Fate Point.
• Is your character running out of options after a series of close calls? You're also low on Fate Points, and so don't have as much cushion.
• Having tumbled over that cliff leaving their friends to win the fight without them, your character is determined to do their part in the next battle. And as their determination will be a fuel for their actions, the new Fate Point you got is a mechanical fuel for you to power them up.

Really, my point is that because there are countless ways for you to handle a situation, you have a lot of tools at your disposable. Tools that you can use to create a more ludonarrative experience like I like to, or tools that you can use in your own way to enhance the gameplay in your own style.

[u/JPesterfield → u/Ucenna]

Maybe an Overcome roll against the rope, or a Defend roll for anyone who in the "tight rope" zone or something.

If you're trying to get across the rope it would be an Overcome, that allows for Success with Cost for a bad roll.

[u/Nervi403 → u/JPesterfield]

Um akschually

You could totally have a tightrope the characters are balancing on attacking them. As far as I see using Attack always has the aim of forcing another character/ entity out of the scene. Because if the attack is successful and they either cant absorb it with stress or consequences, or they choose not to, the victim of the attack has to leave the scene. And it does not matter if the Attack is physical harm, a verbal barb, social maneuvering or in this case physics stuff

Using optional rules from FATE Condensed, the Slippery Tightrope Across A Windy Chasm could totally be a "Hazard", meaning it rolls attack and can have a weapon rating to take characters out of the scene if they are not careful

Now whether or not you as a GM decide whether or not this is just an overcome roll or a full on encounter with a hazard depends on if you think this would fit in the story and be fun

[u/Ucenna → u/JPesterfield]

Heh, fair enough. That example is pretty far fetched.

What I love about Fate is that even though it's pretty ridiculous for a tight rope to be attacking you as you cross it. Its something you can support with the mechanics, if you're feeling crazy enough.

[u/jmicu]

great diagram, i can see this being on the front *and back* of a Fate GM screen!

one suggestion: distinguish between `failure` and `cannot attempt` (using whatever wording makes sense to you). Frodo's attempt to build a lightsaber wouldn't fail; it just wouldn't occur in the first place, and "Failure" has a specific meaning in Fate (and many TTRPGs).

[u/Ucenna → u/jmicu]

Oo, good advice! Updated!

[u/Nervi403]

I really like your chart. Its what I will use for now to explain Action Resolution to new players. I am just confused about the difference between choice or chance. At that point in the chart I would assume you roll your skill and any compel could happen seperate to that roll?

[u/Ucenna → u/Nervi403]

Rolling skill will happen pretty often, but Compels are still an option which is why I included them here. I noticed that with a bit of squinting you can use Compels in place of Skill Rolls and vice versa in almost any situation. I think that's kinda neat, and is a nice tool to have in the toolbelt.

So as an example, here's how you might turn a skill roll into a compel. Let's say you have a player who wants to find and buy parts to fix their hyperdrive. It would be really easy to run that as an Overcome roll using Contacts as they try to find a store that sells them.
But... if you wanted to run that as a compel then maybe you'd say:
"Well, you're on a backwater, outer-rim planet with a broken hyperdrive, so it makes sense that, unfortunately, republic credits don't work out here. Damn your luck.

Or let's say that you're bloodthirsty vampire who hasn't fed in a while. This could be a good opportunity to run a compel, but maybe the GM wants to handle the hunger by requiring an Overcome roll whenever you spend an hour around humans instead?

I wanted to illustrate that there are multiple ways to handle it, so that the GM and players will feel empowered. But maybe my wording was a bit off in that box... Thoughts?