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[RPG Theory] Accumulating Aspects in FATE
Jun. 5th, 2008 12:57 pmOne concept discussed over our Thrilling Tales of the Midnight Society Game last night was that of using the addition of aspects as a means of “advancement” for FATE characters. It often seems like players come up with better aspects during the course of the game (an oft-heard comment is “Hey, that should so be one of your aspects!”).
Seems like one way to make a “pick-up” FATE game like Spirit of the Century more suited for long-term play might be to limit a character’s starting number of aspects to half (or even less) and have the character acquire or accumulate aspects, much as RPG characters tend to acquire (or accrete) history, personality, and depth as they are played. The acquired aspects might be more “rooted” (the other players were “there” when it “happened”) and their addition more organic, growing out of “actual” events.
The extreme example would be to start a character out with just one or two aspects (say, “elf” and “wizard” for example...) and add others on like “the legendary bow of Brindenwood” and “Goblinslayer” as the character adventures and improves. It could be as many as one aspect per adventure or just one per “significant” moment in the overall series arc. It’s a method of character advancement that its widely free-form but does actually add “abilities” to the character sheet, since it widens options for Fate Point usage (and even “stunts” if you’re using some sort of stunt system based on what aspects a character has).
Edit: One additional idea would be the potential of shedding or losing aspects as well. A "use it or lose it" rule that says any aspect that isn't activated or tagged for X number of sessions is scratched off the character sheet would be an interesting way of ensuring the removal of "dead wood," possibly freeing up space for newer, more interesting aspects (assuming characters have a reasonable limit of how many permanent aspects they can have at once). As it is, I'm allowing players to drop aspects they started with but have found less interesting or useful in play to acquire newer ones.
Seems like one way to make a “pick-up” FATE game like Spirit of the Century more suited for long-term play might be to limit a character’s starting number of aspects to half (or even less) and have the character acquire or accumulate aspects, much as RPG characters tend to acquire (or accrete) history, personality, and depth as they are played. The acquired aspects might be more “rooted” (the other players were “there” when it “happened”) and their addition more organic, growing out of “actual” events.
The extreme example would be to start a character out with just one or two aspects (say, “elf” and “wizard” for example...) and add others on like “the legendary bow of Brindenwood” and “Goblinslayer” as the character adventures and improves. It could be as many as one aspect per adventure or just one per “significant” moment in the overall series arc. It’s a method of character advancement that its widely free-form but does actually add “abilities” to the character sheet, since it widens options for Fate Point usage (and even “stunts” if you’re using some sort of stunt system based on what aspects a character has).
Edit: One additional idea would be the potential of shedding or losing aspects as well. A "use it or lose it" rule that says any aspect that isn't activated or tagged for X number of sessions is scratched off the character sheet would be an interesting way of ensuring the removal of "dead wood," possibly freeing up space for newer, more interesting aspects (assuming characters have a reasonable limit of how many permanent aspects they can have at once). As it is, I'm allowing players to drop aspects they started with but have found less interesting or useful in play to acquire newer ones.
