FATE style Aspects and Action Points - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 dnddan Oct 01, 2011 14:38:11	So, I love D&D. It has a special place in my heart and always will, but I have also gotten the FATE bug. With this in mind, I've been wondering about adding Aspects to D&D 4e. First you expand the uses of an Action Point (AP) slightly: Take an other turn. Tag an aspect on yourself or others. For those of you not familiar with Aspects in FATE, each Aspect is a short phrase that is a narrative truth about the character, item, or location. Some examples, "The Jim Darkmagic Magic!", A girl in every inn, "You wouldn't like me if I was mad!", Elven superiority, "What did you say? WHAT DID YOU SAY!", I owe a debt to the Baron, I never miss with my bow, They didn't find this lock pick..., etc. Tag - Tagging and aspect means bringing it into play. You spend an Action Point (AP) to invoke an aspect. This means that the aspect is relivent to the situation and, after spending your AP, you can do one of the following: +5 to your current roll, counting the result as a natural roll, even if above 20. reroll twice, keeping the best result of the three rolls. make a minor decloration that does not contradict what has already been established. Compel - Compelling means using an aspect for a negetive use. Aspects can be taged by the GM or the player, and the player or NPC effected gets an extra AP. This is how you can earn extra AP. If this is used in the context of a skill challenge, it counts as an automatic failure. The player can spend an AP to refuse the compel. For example, if your character has an aspect "A girl in every inn", and he is searching for information on the local thieves guild. The player could say, because he has "A girl in every inn", he gets a bonus to his rooll and it turns out one of the barmaids is sweet on him and will spill what she knows about the guild. In a different adventure, the same character is chatting to a possible (female) patron. Oops, turns out the server is a woman he skipped out on and she dumps a mug of beer on his head, making him look like a fool and the new parton is less than impressed. They'll have to look for an other job. So, this is a rough sketch, what do you think?
#2 rampant Oct 01, 2011 16:29:27	I think this would make an awesomee feat chain.
#3 dnddan Oct 01, 2011 17:06:02	I'm thinking something like every PC gets three aspects at 1st level, 1 action point as usual. At each tier end (10th, 20th, 30th) they get an other aspect. Maybe a feat gives you an extra aspect. The first three aspects would be something like this: Growing Up - This aspect is related to your early life, your values, your family, etc. Examples: My dad taught me all kinds of stuff, Grew up on the mean streets of Winterfall, I was always talking to old Ben, etc. Early Days - This is when you learned your adventuring skills, your time at the acadamy, learning the ropes from an old warrior, etc. Your First Adventure - How did you get into a bad situation? Did you meet any of the other characters? Examples: I hate spiders!, Me an Oakenshield go way back, I hope Mr. Smith stopped looking for me, etc.

Post/Author/DateTime

Post

dnddan

Oct 01, 2011 14:38:11

So, I love D&D. It has a special place in my heart and always will, but I have also gotten the FATE bug. With this in mind, I've been wondering about adding Aspects to D&D 4e.

First you expand the uses of an Action Point (AP) slightly:

Take an other turn.

Tag an aspect on yourself or others.

For those of you not familiar with Aspects in FATE, each Aspect is a short phrase that is a narrative truth about the character, item, or location. Some examples, "The Jim Darkmagic Magic!", A girl in every inn, "You wouldn't like me if I was mad!", Elven superiority, "What did you say? WHAT DID YOU SAY!", I owe a debt to the Baron, I never miss with my bow, They didn't find this lock pick..., etc.

Tag - Tagging and aspect means bringing it into play. You spend an Action Point (AP) to invoke an aspect. This means that the aspect is relivent to the situation and, after spending your AP, you can do one of the following:

+5 to your current roll, counting the result as a natural roll, even if above 20.

reroll twice, keeping the best result of the three rolls.

make a minor decloration that does not contradict what has already been established.

Compel - Compelling means using an aspect for a negetive use. Aspects can be taged by the GM or the player, and the player or NPC effected gets an extra AP. This is how you can earn extra AP. If this is used in the context of a skill challenge, it counts as an automatic failure. The player can spend an AP to refuse the compel.

For example, if your character has an aspect "A girl in every inn", and he is searching for information on the local thieves guild. The player could say, because he has "A girl in every inn", he gets a bonus to his rooll and it turns out one of the barmaids is sweet on him and will spill what she knows about the guild.

In a different adventure, the same character is chatting to a possible (female) patron. Oops, turns out the server is a woman he skipped out on and she dumps a mug of beer on his head, making him look like a fool and the new parton is less than impressed. They'll have to look for an other job.

So, this is a rough sketch, what do you think?

rampant

Oct 01, 2011 16:29:27

I think this would make an awesomee feat chain.

dnddan

Oct 01, 2011 17:06:02

I'm thinking something like every PC gets three aspects at 1st level, 1 action point as usual. At each tier end (10th, 20th, 30th) they get an other aspect. Maybe a feat gives you an extra aspect. The first three aspects would be something like this:

Growing Up - This aspect is related to your early life, your values, your family, etc. Examples: My dad taught me all kinds of stuff, Grew up on the mean streets of Winterfall, I was always talking to old Ben, etc.

Early Days - This is when you learned your adventuring skills, your time at the acadamy, learning the ropes from an old warrior, etc.

Your First Adventure - How did you get into a bad situation? Did you meet any of the other characters? Examples: I hate spiders!, Me an Oakenshield go way back, I hope Mr. Smith stopped looking for me, etc.