I was listening to the Walking Eye Podcast review of Marvel Heroic Roleplaying and they brought up a mechanic I love when playing that game. The idea is that you can use a distinction as either a good thing(D8) or a negative thing(D4). If you use it as a bad thing then you get a plot point. on the podcast they mention that this is basically how Aspect in Fate are Supposed to work. now I think, overall, that Aspects work mostly fine in play. I think what they were talking about(at least this is the idea I riffed off of, so go with me on this) is the Self Compel.
I have played a bit of Fate, and I have listened to a great many actual play recordings. Throughout all of this I have heard the same complaint. People(I think it is a certain type of player, but that is neither here nor there) are conflicted on the idea of a Self Compel. They are of the mind that they were just doing what they would normally do anyway,so they feel it is to meta to ask for a fate Point afterward.
As I was processing all of this while walking home from Mcdonalds(I loves me some Big Mac...drool) and I thought that I could introduce a solution to the self compel similar to that of Marvel Super Heroic Roleplaying.
Basically here is how my idea works. In Fate you roll 4dF and add numbers to it based on Skills and Aspects. Another way to roll in Fate is the d6 - d6. this ends up a little more swingy than 4dF, but it works. so my first thought was to use the Self Compel to alter the roll to 1d4 - 1d6 and then gain a fate point, but then I wasn't sure if that was good enough, so I thought that d8 - d8 as the standard and d4 - d8 for the self compel.
I am uncertain which will work better, also how to adjust the rest of the game to suit the new die rolling bit. This is a major change to the game, and doing it this late in the process(halfway through) is really making me nervous. Right now my game is just an eight page framework, and I have a lot of writing to do.
Well I have made myself hungry for a Big Mac, so i am going to go eat one-I mean contemplate this situation.
While I know some people have an issue with self compels, in my experience it is more often because they forget to take the fate point at the time, because they were "just acting in character". I think most people just award it when it is remembered. Most of the newer fate rules cover this pretty explicitly, reminding the GM to be vigilant for self compels and awarding them as needed. I like the "bowl" method where players just grab a fate point from a pool in the middle of the table whenever they think they have self compelled. It's quick and smooth and most people get it without abusing it.
ReplyDeleteIn regards to your change to dice mechanics, the d4-d6 might work, giving a real swing toward a negative result. You say the d6-d6 method is "swingy", and I am worried the d8-d8 might just make that even more wild! It could be fun, but very unpredictable. You would also have to extend the "ladder" of results.
The other thing to remember is that while aspects are often *invoked* for a mechanical advantage (+2 or re-roll), compels are just as often "story" based or circumvent the die roll completely - If I have the "Bravest man in the world" aspect I might invoke to improve a die roll, but if I have the "Scared of the dark" aspect the GM is likely to offer a Fate point if I choose to just run away (without rolling dice). The other way aspects are used to disadvantage your character is when others "tag" them, basically using your aspect to get a bonus to their die roll.
What if you offer a -2 modifier when an aspect is compelled to make a die roll harder? It mirrors the +2 bonus for invoking and is more predictable than changing the die.
Just my two-cents.
Cheers, Nathan
The more I think about it, the more convinced I am that you are right. I should just go with a -2. I was over complicating it. I got so focused on my shiny new idea that I was blind to the obvious conclusion. thanks.
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