OK, I like FATE. It's got some great ideas in there, and it's amorphous enought to easily change it in whatever direction you want. I don't like compels, for example, but it's easy enough to just not use them and have the players refresh FATE points voluntarily. Works a treat!
There is one thing about FATE that just rubs me the wrong way, though, and it's pretty much central to the game. That's the Skill Pyramid. In FATE, a character has to structure her skills pyramidally, so that she has one skill at the highest rank - the apex skill - two at the next rank down, three at the third rank down, etc.
Why does this bother me? It's too freaking neat and artificial. It's a BUILD. It is so obviously not natural that it jars me. It is there for the same reason D&D has classes - to make everyone in the party the best at something - enforced niche specialization. It is also, curiously, a bit of Anti-Munchkin Engineering, which means it's a limitation on the good guys too. I trust my players! They are awesome! Why do I need these stupid training wheels?
The next time I run a FATE game - which will be Diaspora - I will try ditching the Pyramid in favor of something less rigid and artificial. Maybe a rule saying no skill rank can be higher than ((total skill ranks)/X). Maybe just leave it open. I'll let you know the results!
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Funny enough that's not what bothers me. Stunts do. Why not make the stunts just another aspect?
ReplyDeleteI'm cool with stunts, but I get where you are coming from, Tim. I would have set up a few example stunts and let the group free-form it, but I do like the concept.
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Also, "Skill Pyramid" is just too close to "Skull Pyramid", which would only be appropriate for Tamerlane-based games. :D
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