|
Post by Probie Tim on Oct 8, 2015 6:14:08 GMT -8
Let's picture Jar-Jar Binks, from the Star Wars prequels. He's amazingly clumsy, but something good usually comes out of his clumsiness; think of the fight between the Gungans and the Trade Federation droids on the surface of Naboo, where he wound up tripping and accidentally throwing a bomb directly into a group of droids, or where he fell off the back of a wagon which triggered a cornucopia of large bombs rolling directly into squads of droids.
How would you model that clumsy luck in FATE? Would that be a trick? "Jar-Jar gets +2 on combat attacks when he trips or falls over as part of the attack"? Or would that be a trouble or aspect that he could self-compel? "Awkward and clumsy," something like that.
Or would it be something else that I'm missing entirely?
|
|
|
Post by shadrack on Oct 8, 2015 6:31:42 GMT -8
Oh Jar-jar...
Anyway, I think you could tackle this in a few different ways, I think an Aspect would work well.
Something that references being clumsy and lucky as well. Perhaps along the lines of "tripped on a four-leafed clover"
I'm stretching a bit for a quick answer, but I'll think on it some more.
|
|
|
Post by Probie Tim on Oct 8, 2015 7:02:06 GMT -8
I think an Aspect would work well. I follow. As an Aspect, though, wouldn't the player have to spend a FATE point to invoke it? What if it was the character's Trouble? Would the player need to spend the FATE point to compel it? Or would that only be for the GM? I'll think on it some more. Thanks, I appreciate it.
|
|
|
Post by jazzisblues on Oct 8, 2015 7:24:16 GMT -8
Let me reiterate, there are 5 aspects of a character, and they all go together and each actually has a specific purpose which I will paraphrase here.
1) the High Concept - One sentence elevator pitch of who the character is 2) the Trouble - Something that causes difficulty for or makes life interesting for the character (or those around him) 3) the First Adventure - Something from the first adventure the character experienced upon leaving home. 4 & 5) Crossing Paths 1&2 - Something from another character's first adventure.
This could be done any number of ways to make a Jar-Jar Binks character
Perhaps something like this:
1) Lovable fool with a heart of gold 2) Cluelessly insightful
3-5 would depend a lot on the other characters.
Now that we have that part we'd do skills and come up with stunts
Here's one way to express Jar-Jar's lucky foolery in a stunt
Stunt (How'd that happen?) - The player may elect to fail on a skill check before rolling, and spend a Fate point to create a scene aspect. The character may not use this aspect but it can benefit his companions.
This is just one example, and kind of off the top of my head, so I would probably refine it if I was actually going to use it.
Cheers,
JiB
|
|
fredrix
Master Douchebag
Posts: 2,142
Preferred Game Systems: Fate, L5R, Pendragon, Gumshoe, Feng Shui
Currently Playing: Pendragon, Song of Ice and Fire, L5R, Feng Shui, Traveller
Currently Running: Fate, Coriolis, Nights Black Agents
Favorite Species of Monkey: 1970's NTV, dubbed by the BBC (though The Water Margin beats it)
|
Post by fredrix on Oct 8, 2015 7:27:32 GMT -8
I was thinking a Trouble aspect like "Always falling into the thick of the action"
|
|
|
Post by jazzisblues on Oct 8, 2015 7:28:40 GMT -8
I was thinking a Trouble aspect like "Always falling into the thick of the action" Which would also work just fine. One of the great things about Fate is that there are many different ways to arrive at the same idea. JiB
|
|
|
Post by shadrack on Oct 8, 2015 7:32:20 GMT -8
Even if the title of the aspect is "trouble", it is still there for the player to invoke if desired. So yes, if the player wants to tap it, he/she must spend a FATE point.
An aspect like this however, just begs for self-compels. So the way I see it playing out would go something like =>
Player: I grab onto the back of the nearest transport during the retreat! GM: it's pretty bumpy, and this is a stressful situation... (waves FATE point at player) I think you stumble or trip Player: maybe I get drug along? GM: sure. (passes over FATE point) Player: Jar-Jar leaps onto the back of the ... ordinance cart, but falls off, unlatching the gate on the back of the cart as he falls, but keeps hanging onto the gate? (offers the FATE chip back to the GM) GM: (silently ponders: ordinance cart... sure, it could've been an ordinance cart, unlatching the gate... well...) Sure it was an ordinance cart, and you unlatched the gate, and the bombs start rolling out of the transport. You can keep the FATE point, I like where this is going. (because this is somewhat narrative on the players part, I think it would be fair to require a FATE point for those declarations, however, I also believe in the rule of cool, so I as a GM wouldn't do that.)
(Further actions could involve trying to direct the bombs toward tanks or groups of droids as he climbs up - that footage clearly hit the cutting room floor)
|
|
|
Post by shadrack on Oct 8, 2015 7:32:41 GMT -8
I also like JiBs stunt.
|
|
|
Post by Probie Tim on Oct 8, 2015 9:01:00 GMT -8
3) the First Adventure - Something from the first adventure the character experienced upon leaving home. 4 & 5) Crossing Paths 1&2 - Something from another character's first adventure. I read somewhere the other day that the third, fourth, and fifth aspects don't have to be related to the other characters or "phased" in any way. And in FATE Accelerated, they're expressly not; it's just, "pick a high concept, pick a trouble, pick a few more aspects if you want". See? I'm learning! Stunt (How'd that happen?) - The player may elect to fail on a skill check before rolling, and spend a Fate point to create a scene aspect. The character may not use this aspect but it can benefit his companions. That sounds cool, but in the movies (and in my head, for what I'm looking for, for which Jar-Jar is a great example) it would benefit the character. Imagine Jar-Jar getting spun around and tripping, only to lose control of the bomb he's carrying and accidentally pitch it right at the droid taking aim at him. I don't remember, jazzisblues, are you a Prequel Denier?
|
|
|
Post by Probie Tim on Oct 8, 2015 9:02:47 GMT -8
So the way I see it playing out would go something like... Yeah, that's exactly what I'm going for. So it sounds like it would be an aspect - not a trick - and most likely a trouble aspect. That makes sense.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Oct 8, 2015 9:27:39 GMT -8
You could also do a stunt along the lines of "Once per session I may invert the signs on the dice before generating my total" so negative dice become positive and vice versa. That would be a very literal success from failure approach as you'd probably want to keep it for when you roll a -3 or -4 on the dice.
|
|
|
Post by jazzisblues on Oct 8, 2015 12:10:02 GMT -8
3) the First Adventure - Something from the first adventure the character experienced upon leaving home. 4 & 5) Crossing Paths 1&2 - Something from another character's first adventure. I read somewhere the other day that the third, fourth, and fifth aspects don't have to be related to the other characters or "phased" in any way. And in FATE Accelerated, they're expressly not; it's just, "pick a high concept, pick a trouble, pick a few more aspects if you want". See? I'm learning! Stunt (How'd that happen?) - The player may elect to fail on a skill check before rolling, and spend a Fate point to create a scene aspect. The character may not use this aspect but it can benefit his companions. That sounds cool, but in the movies (and in my head, for what I'm looking for, for which Jar-Jar is a great example) it would benefit the character. Imagine Jar-Jar getting spun around and tripping, only to lose control of the bomb he's carrying and accidentally pitch it right at the droid taking aim at him. I don't remember, jazzisblues, are you a Prequel Denier? They don't have to be, but generally are, at least that's the way the process is set up. The example stunt is just one of many ways it could be done. There are things that don't really work for me about the prequels but I'm not a hater. JiB
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Oct 12, 2015 2:52:51 GMT -8
If you want to turn failure into whacky fun then you want an aspect. My reasoning is simple. Stunts are binary for the most part. They are in effect or not based on the action, skill being used, and narrative. An Aspect is always true, but only has narrative weight when called on. What you are doing is giving yourself a way to turn that miss into a hit by spending a fate point to invoke your aspect. Say you are a Swashbuckling Musketeer who is also a Clumbsy Drunk. You are having a drunken argument with Frenchy Frenchman. Things get heated a with you gesturing expressively to your argument when you see a fate point slid your way. "Any chance you spill that wine you are waving about on the Frenchman, you are a Clumbsy Drunk after all?", the GM asks you. And BAM, it got you into trouble.
Now it has come to swords in the drinking hall. Both of you have your blades drawn and you roll to attack! ... And fail by 3. "Well that just won't do!" You proclaim to your group, "As I am a Swashbuckling Musketeer, my swordsmanship could not be so sloppy. Further, as I am quite the Clumbsy Drunk, my sword work is quite unpredictable with all the stumbling, you see." You slide a cool two fate points over to the GM while descriptions of your stumbling lunge and the damage it inflicts upon your foe are given.
If this were a stunt it wouldn't be a "whoops, I was so drunk things went my way!" It would be "I am a drunken sword fighter and I fight better while drunk." Both methods would get you a +2 to what you were doing if they applied and were used, but they say different things about your character.
That is of course if both apply. Stunts are narrow in scope, usually calling out a skill and an action type such as "When Creating An Advantage with Fight…". If you want to be the benefit from your bad luck or zany antics in more situations an Aspect will get you farther.
|
|
|
Post by joecrak on Oct 12, 2015 5:47:37 GMT -8
You could also do a stunt along the lines of "Once per session I may invert the signs on the dice before generating my total" so negative dice become positive and vice versa. That would be a very literal success from failure approach as you'd probably want to keep it for when you roll a -3 or -4 on the dice. That's a strange stunt, mostly because the phrasing makes me think you are literally inverting the die itself, which for many fate dice, wohld net the same result. It would also need to have a cost of a fate point, or be a once per scene/session thing.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Oct 12, 2015 9:30:51 GMT -8
You could also do a stunt along the lines of "Once per session I may invert the signs on the dice before generating my total" so negative dice become positive and vice versa. That would be a very literal success from failure approach as you'd probably want to keep it for when you roll a -3 or -4 on the dice. That's a strange stunt, mostly because the phrasing makes me think you are literally inverting the die itself, which for many fate dice, wohld net the same result. It would also need to have a cost of a fate point, or be a once per scene/session thing. Which would be why I put once per session and invert the sign rather than invert the dice.
|
|