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Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Thoughts on Using Fate Core For One on One Play With a Novice Gamer

My wife has shown some interest in my RPG hobby, but I'm damn well sure she's not interested in dungeon raiding and the like that the OSR entails (I know there is much, much more to the OSR, but I'm using my wife's perspective, so bare with me)

She's enjoyed watching both The Game of Thrones and The Walking Dead, so I have at least two genres I could use.

Here's the question - I have little experience with Fate other than reading Spirit of the Century and my current perusal of Fate Core. Does the system hold up for one on one play? Are there any house rules / tweaks you would suggest for one on one play? I think Fate is light enough for my wife to enjoy while not being so light that it will frustrate me ;)

I figure the setting itself can be painted with broad strokes and detailed as needed. I'm hoping to kick this off sometime after the New Year. We'll see how well I hit that target ;)


6 comments:

  1. I haven't played fate solo yet, but the few times I did run anything for a solo player I found that a rotating cast of allies both trusted and distrusted greatly improve the potential for role-playing. Only having enemies to curse at really doesn't showcase that part of the hobby well. Quester pre and post combat scenes don't have that the stress that combat has. But when their one character is standing back to back with somebody they know they don't trust, both bleeding and surrounded by enemies those are the moments for actual good role-play that will stick.

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  2. I am wondering the same thing. I picked up SotC this past weekend while on a weekend trip to Manhattan with my wife. She and I were part of a gaming group that got as far as character creation for Dresden (her character was an Amish baker) but we never actually played it. SotC appears to be much more streamlined.

    I am really interested in the Fate system but I am not sure my current gaming group would be willing to try it.

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  3. FATE actually works really well for one-on-one play in a few key ways.

    It's so adaptable, that not only can you fit it to whatever story/game you and your wife want to tell, if you change gears mid-stream--if you of you isn't feeling it, or if a character dies, etc.--you can switch settings in a heartbeat and not have to start back at square one.

    Aspects/Stunts do a great job of fleshing out the campaign world, which gives you a GM a lot of NPCs/Plot threads to work with. And since everything is handled with a universal mechanic, it makes it easy for the two of you to follow the story wherever it goes without having to make up subsystems on the fly.

    I use it with my wife for one-on-one play, and we love it. It works really well, even with RAW.

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  4. @JS: Thanks!! You answered my unasked question, which is how well aspects would work in a 1-on-1 game.

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  5. Erik: Tim at Gothridge Manor told me that Compleat Strategist is in your neck of the words. That is where I picked up Spirit of the Century.

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