Re: The Resettlement of Chief Colymar

From: aureclepius <cruzmorales_at_l27TULp1ALXJSW6hbPLCPwWLuIB_JDEDPYXCyDhgccNeP2PDQvbb9bjoMgWzsOvC>
Date: Mon, 01 Oct 2012 23:08:47 -0000

>> Likewise, I'm very curious to hear more about how
>> you adapted FATE to Glorantha; some of my friends
>> were interested in the setting but had some trouble
>> adjusting to Heroquest - they already know FATE
>> though, so that could be very handy.
>
> --- In WorldofGlorantha_at_yahoogroups.com, David Dunham <david@> wrote:

>> I ran the adventure using the FATE ruleset, what
>> I find really fits the setting (not so different
>> from HeroQuest 2 in a sense).
>
> I've been very tempted to use FATE for Glorantha,
> but I haven't quite come up with a way to do magic.
> (Especially heroquests.) I was very much trying to
> avoid a huge list of stunts, and stick with the
> flexibility of HQ.

>> What everybody loved was the way every character
>> could use their "Rune of [Storm/Yinkin/Earth/
>> Death]" to create magical effects [...]
>
> How did this work? Was it a skill/ability? An aspect?

I hope a discussion about using FATE to run Gloranthan games is on-topic for the list. If it isn't, we could talk about it by private e-mail.

I've used the FATE ruleset to play plenty of different games and campaigns in the last few years. As the much promised third edition of the rules has not been published (yet), I've used a slightly house-ruled version. In my version of the rules, every character has five aspects, a pyramid of 10 skills and no stunts. We also use three stress tracks (physical, mental and social) and a maximum of three Consequences (Minor, Mayor, Severe). Some examples of characters used in the game:

Name: Vanstamal the Strong.
Aspects: "Strongest man in the clan", "Susceptible to insults and compliments", "Initiate of Barntar the Farmer", "I'll resettle the ancestral lands!", "The Clan is foremost". Skills: +4 Might; +3 Fists, Endurance; +2 Rune of Storms, Leadership, [slot not used]; +1 Survival, Alertness, [slot not used], [slot not used]

Name: Kultar the Grim.
Aspects: "Devotee of the War God", "Violence is always an option", "Initiate of Humakt", "Bow for nobody", "Best fighter in the clan". Skills: +4 Weapons; +3 Rune of Death, Intimidation; +2 Endurance, Athletics, Resolve; +1 Alertness, [slot not used], [slot not used], [slot not used]

That's all we need to begin the adventure. I bet even if you don't know how the FATE engine works, you can understand what every character stands for.

Indeed, when the adventure began, each character had only defined a pair of Aspects, and the three top Skills (Kultar had only Weapons, Rune of Death and Intimidation, for example). Other Aspects and Skills where chosen in gameplay, once the players came to know more about their own characters. Some "slots" for Skills where even not decided at the end of the adventure, as they had not been needed in play.

Concerning runes, we use a Skill (Rune of Storm, Rune of Yinkin) and one related Aspect (Initiate of Barntar, Devotee of Yinkin, Priest of Ernalda the Queen). Whenever one player want to make a magical effect, I just stablish a difficulty based in his/her Rune and Aspect. So, if an initiate of Orlanth wants to create a wind to blind his opponents, I just said something like "You need a Fair roll (+2). Throw dice!". If he wants to fly to flee his enemies, he would need a Great (+4) roll, except if he is a Vangarth the Flyer initiate; in that case, the difficult could just be an Average (+1) roll. If they succeed, they just obtain what they want; a "Blinded" Aspect put on their enemies or an escape from the scene, in the stated examples. A roll could be used as an attack also, damaging the physical, mental or social stress tracks, as appropriate for the conflict.

We used even a kind of Augment rule. A player could use one of his Skills to augment another (for example, using "Rune of Storm" to augment "Might"). The player had to roll for the "augmentary Skill" and try to reach the "augmented Skill". If he succeeds, the augmented Skill gets a +1. So, in the example, if Vanstamal wants to use "Rune of Storms (+2)" to augment "Might (+4)" he has a difficulty of +4. If he reach his objective, then he could use Might +5 for a scene.

As always, players can invoke his Aspects to gain bonifications to their Skills for a roll.

The adventure was very successful, as every player said they have had a good time playing. I was concerned Runes could be overused in the game, making the rest of the Skills less useful, but players used mainly their best Skills to win conflicts, whether they were mundane or magical Skills. It seemed pretty balanced to me.

If you can read Spanish or trust Google Translator, you have an article about the adventure in my blog: http://frikoteca.blogspot.com.es/2012/09/partida-de-glorantha-en-las-ludo-ergo.html

Best regards,
Carlos

My blog: http://frikoteca.blogspot.com.es            

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