Fate System Toolkit

by Robert Donoghue, Brian Engard, Brennan Taylor

Genres: Role Playing Games, Gaming, Fantasy, Games

184 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2013

Reviews

[Joac Castro · Rating 4 out of 5]

Como pieza de rompecabezas que falta, el Toolkit llega a hacerse cargo propositivamente de gran cantidad de ítems que Fate Core no desarrolla en demasía o que derechamente no menciona. Un compendio de buenas ideas, ejemplos a seguir y fuente profunda de ingeniería inversa rolera.

[Gustavo · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received this book in paper format as part of a kickstarter project I backed, This will give you an idea of how much I love the Fate Core and FAE systems. Some people may not realize it but in truth both are the same game system with the dials adjusted differently. This fact is one of a whole sets of insights you'll get as you read this toolkit.

Before starting this review, let's say that you can perfectly play Fate without this toolkit. Now, lets face it, once you'll start playing, you'll start tinkering with the system, because that's something GMs like to do, give their unique twist, find the unique flavor, provide the extra rule that will set their campaign apart from others. And that is why this book is for you. This toolkit will show you how modular the design is, how it can be tinkered with, where the dials are. And it will also expose you to a lot of thought provoking ideas, several variations one each theme and interesting possibilities everywhere.

You'll also noticed that most this ideas are not completely finished, and that's alright, because this is a toolkit, it gives you the tools to make your own reskining of the tools provided, to develop further upon them and to come up with greatness. And we love doing that.

It took me a lot of time to finish it, since there's a lot packed in the 200 pages of this book, discussions on Aspects, Skills, Magic variations, a whole set of subsystems for special types of adventures and much more. You'll start reading and before long start writing and planning. It's clearly written and explained, yet if you are like me, you'll find you have to read it in small bites, as each idea fires up a lot of other ideas and makes you connect a lot of the dots, or even firing whole campaigns based on a simple possibility. It's worth reading it entirely, yet it's perfectly fine to read only the parts you think you'll need for your adventure, and it's easy to do so, as ideas are clearly grouped and labeled.

Remember also that as much as this book is great and meant for you, this is a toolkit, not The toolkit. You can get this one now and get a feel of what it can provide, so that you'll know what a toolkit does There are other, meaner toolkits for Fate, but they are genre specific. This still remain the most comprehensive one.

[Keemanton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Necesario para darle más profundidad a Fate, te da las herramientas para hackearlo a tu conveniencia.

Ofrece profundidad para el equipamiento, la construcción de encuentros, enemigos, variables para el estrés y distribución de habilidades, sistemas "extra" como artes marciales y sistemas de magia diversos.

Personalmente lo usamos para adaptar una partida de Cultos como de dos años que dio bien de bien.
Brillante y genial.

[Diego Segura]

Una lectura maravillosa para quienes disfrutan con el aprendizaje de sistemas de juego. Independiente de que sea Fate, tiene buenos consejos de filosofía de diseño para generar mecánicas para otros juegos, el "porqué" de poner cierta regla. Fantástico.

[Caleb M. Powers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good options for the Fate tabletop role-playing game.

[Doc Ezra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fate Core is already one of the most flexible rule systems I've seen, but the System Toolkit goes a long way to extending that flexibility even further. Popping the hood of the system and poking around with its various mechanics is presented as not just an option, but encouraged behavior, with extensive discussion of what the various consequences (intended or unintended) might be for monkeying with different bits and pieces. Super powers, cinematic kung fu, horror games, magic systems, varying skill approaches and character creation...all with detailed examples, variant approaches, and cautions about what to expect any of these options to do to the game's default assumptions. While it's certainly simple enough to run Fate using only the core book, anybody whose curiosity is piqued by the game owes it to their campaigns to pick this one up as well.

[Jacob · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you run Fate, you need this book. One thing I always appreciated about the Fate system is how well it seemed to be play tested. I always felt like extensive research and feedback were really the backbones of the system. This book is kind of like the research report in all that research and feedback. I will agree that I would have tweaked the magic section a bit, I get the feeling that it got written and the rest of the book was written around it. However, it does have some good examples of how to introduce magic rules to your game, and I stole somewhat liberally for the magic system I'm working on. After reading this and Fate Core back to back, I feel like I have a much better understanding of the system and how to tweak it for a game.

[Paul · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book is a toolkit in the sense that it gives several options to modify the core rules to fit different types of campaigns. It should have better just been that but there are huge chunks of the book dedicated to diverse magic systems which I could have been spared. Interesting read, but nothing more. If you want to lean on a ready made system, then maybe you shouldn't be using Fate in the first place.

[Moe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid book. A mix of what I was expecting (the magic section that gives you detailed rules on a few different systems) and what I wasn't expecting at all (the rest of the book which is much more about how the system can be hacked and modified and suggestions on what dials you can change and why. I think it is a great book for anyone running Fate Core, pretty much a must have.

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not as easy to get through as the Core book, but I think that's because this is more about hacking the system which I don't really have a complete grasp on yet. That said, the magic section was really well done and probably my favorite part of the book.

[Adam Gutschenritter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great ideas, I am already looking at ways to use the large group combat to teach how battles work for a world history class. Plus Voidcallers.....awesome!

[Sophie Lagacé · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great addition to the shelf of any Fate game-master. I'm a big fan of the toolkit approach and this lived up to all my hopes for the game.

[Oliver · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's not the paragon of clarity that the core rules are, but this is a useful book with some fun ideas for GMs.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

It has some good information but only if you are very serious about the system. I'm still not sold on it so I just skimmed through the parts that could be useful for me.