Post/Author/DateTime	Post
RobertJ 02-11-06, 09:50 PM	Hey everyone, I have been playing around with an idea for some sort of Luck/Fate system for awhile now, but I have never been able to really pinpoint why/when/how such a system should function in the game. I'm of the opinion that it should be a fairly distinctive system, and not just a way to deliver more bonuses to PCs or Monsters. My group games every other week, but on one of the off-weeks I decided to do a small session with a PC who had missed a session. In terms of storyline this was kind of a "fill-in-the-gaps" session, where the PC worked out what happened during a week of downtime (in the regular session we glossed this over). I was thinking about this recently, and I realized that D&D storytelling tends to be rather linear -- Things from the past crop up, but the focus is almost always on the group progressing linearly through events. The session I was having with the PC was non-linear, though, as it was technically prior to some of the events that occurred in the previous session. (In the previous session, the PCs spent a week of downtime healing up. The filler-session covered events that occurred during that week.) One of the things that concerned me about such a session is that it was known that the PC would survive the session, and would not suffer any major negative effects during the session that might interrupt the continuity of the game timeline. What I envision with Fate points is a way to establish serious consequences for events that occur in a non-linear fashion. For example, one of my PCs has written a backstory that involves him being the heir of a small island city-state that has been usurped. With Fate points, I could do small sessions where the PC is able to actually act out those events, including engage in combat or otherwise have serious consequences. Rather than having the PC die if reduced below -10 HP, though, or suffer any other effect that would disrupt story continuity, the PC would accumulate negative "Fate" points (tentatively considering calling them Paradox points, because they represent a paradox between how the past events played out and the current timeline). What these would allow me, as the DM, to do, is to defer events or penalties until a later date. I haven't quite worked out the mechanics of this, but in essence, if a PC was damaged in an attack that reduced him to -10 HP during a flashback sequence, he would acquire negative Fate points, but would not die. What would probably end up happening is that the PC would black out, and would have been miraculously saved by a cohort. However, if a PC is playing a flashback sequence in such a reckless way as to actually end up in such a situation that requires DM intervention to explain, they need to suffer some sort of penalty. Fate points would accrue for such reckless behavior and provide a real, tangible negative to dissuade players from believing that just because an event is said to have occurred in the past that it won't be able to affect the current state of affairs. In essence, Fate points would be marked against a PC, and at certain trigger points (how they are triggered is something I have yet to determine), would be "redeemed." A PC who accrued Negative Fate / Paradox points might suffer a string of critical fumbles in combat, or take extra damage as his own bad luck turns into the opponents' good luck. Such a PC could also find his equipment break, or have the bank where his money is stored robbed. Anyway, I think it's a good idea, I just haven't worked out the mechanics for this yet. I think it would be cool, if possible, to try and handle Fate points with a deck of cards. That is, under whatever condition triggers the Fate points, the PC would draw a set number of cards from a deck -- A tangible prop like that would make it interesting, I think. However, coming up with negative effects that are serious even outside of combat is something I'm a bit concerned about (because if you make a deck of cards, the effects must all be determined beforehand). At the same time, I'm not comfortable with just purely ad-libbing penalties associated with triggering negative Fate points -- I like structured systems, and I think a PC would be more likely to think that any such penalties dished out on the spot were unfairly harsh if they were not defined beforehand. Any ideas on how to work this out?
Phoenix Knight 02-12-06, 12:00 PM	This is a really interesting idea. I have used Fate Point rules before, largely ported from Warhammer Fantasy, though other games, like Shadowrun, have similar ideas. But never used them in the way you proposed. Actually, your idea of paradox points gave me an idea for a whole new style of campaign, in which events unfold in an only semi-linear fashion, ala, The Butterfly Effect. Anyway, I wouldn't worry too much about assigning ad hoc out of combat penalties, on the theory that the PC knows something random and bad will happen if he is reckless in a flashback. However, if it bothers you, or your players can't handle you running the game, you could have a table (or several and have the card determine the table you roll on), that could have such things as having a bank robbed, his pocket picked, his sword rusts in his scabbard, he trips over a root and sprains an ankle, his pack tears and his rations fall out, a pidgeon dive bombs him, etc.