I was wondering if anyone would be interested in playing a fledgling caped crusader/low-powered superhero game using Fate Accelerated. The basic pitch would be that you are new heroes starting out in a big city (think Gotham City or Starling City from Arrow circa Season 1). You've been contacted by the city's main hero who wants you to work with him so that you can take over if/when something happens to him. You'd start by tackling threats like street gangs, organized crime, corrupt politicians, and sinister businesses. As the game progresses, we can start introducing mutant/metahuman threats.

It would be heavily inspired by Batman: The Animated Series and Fox's Gotham, where organized crime and street gangs can be a threat, and the good guys can still be dropped by a goon with a well-timed vase to the head. I feel like it makes the regular world feel more dangerous, and there is plenty of room for players and threats to grow before having to throw interdimensional space demons at you.

I want to use Fate Accelerated because it's a simple system, and I like that it focuses more on how you explain doing something rather than if the mechanics let you do it.

Does this sound interesting to anyone?

I'm interested, because I've been thinking that Fate Core would be a good system for an Arrowverse-type game, and seeing it in Fate Accelerated might help me figure out how to do it.

I find combat in Fate to be extremely lacking, but that might just be my own experience with it. Fortunately, fights in Arrow and Gotham aren't usually about actually stressing out the other side, but about accomplishing some goal and then getting away. Heroes (and usually villains too) usually lose without dying, or even taking a scratch (and have been known to win - that is, accomplish their goal - despite being killed). So, my preference would be for the stakes to be something other than survival. I can explain more what I mean, if desired.

I'd be down.

Sounds interesting to me.

I would be interested in this. I want to learn FATE, and low-powered superheroes are the best kind of superheroes.

Cool, glad to see that there are some bites.

@ engine: Sure, I'd be interested in hearing what you mean. I'm guessing contests and creating aspects for combat?

@ flutsman: Just keep in mind that this game would be Fate Accelerated, not FATE. It has similar mechanics, but streamlines skills (how talented you are in one field) into approaches (how you act in general when trying to solve a problem).

If you haven't already, you might want to take a look at Four-Color FAE, which is all about running supers in FAE and is free.

@ White Cat: Thanks for the suggestion, I'll take a look. ^_^

Upon a casual glance at Four-Color FAE, I think I'll stick with base Fate Accelerated. I don't think the power level of the game would ever reach a point where you need a list of power facts. For example, metahuman players would probably be more on the level of Black Canary/Dinah Drake (you have a sonic scream that hurts people/breaks stuff) rather than The Flash/Barry Allen (I can shoot electricity, time-travel, make clones, heal from any wound, and phase through matter because I'm really, really, really fast). I also think the core rules give enough leeway with powers so that you don't have to have them perfectly defined (ex: if you are a gadgets-based hero, you might have a gizmo or tool that justifies channeling a Fate point to get the +2/reroll).

Would that still interest people?

Yeah, I'm down.

In reply to JxJxA (msg # 9):

Yes. In fact, I prefer vanilla Fate/FAE for now. I want to make sure I understand the basics before I change them up.

Color me interested as well. Street-level heroes are a lot of fun, and the limits of the power-level make the decision making and RP interesting.

Would metahumans/superpowers be allowed? At this level, of course, PCs would be looking at a major setback (backlash, inexperience, etc.). Still learning to control their abilities, which is a lot of fun.

Yeah, but they would be extremely low level with a limited power scope. Like I said a few posts above, you'd be on the level of Black Canary/Dinah Drake from Arrow (sonic scream), Clayface/Basil Karlo from Gotham (change features, but not shape), or Killer Croc from the early Batman: The Animated Series (very strong). You've got a power, but by itself would not be enough to keep you from having even a lowly street thug take you out with a lucky shot. Characters like Starfire, Raven, and Beast Boy from Teen Titans, or Superboy, Kid Flash and Miss Martian from Young Justice, or Spider-Man from Spider-Man: Homecoming wouldn't really fit the game I'm hoping to run.

I apologize if that sounds stifling, but I've learned from experience that it's better to be up front about the game I'm trying to run and avoid problems in the future. Would you still be interested?

Yes, I'm still in.

In reply to JxJxA (msg # 6):

What I mean is that whether characters in shows win or lose usually has very little to do with whether they are physically beaten or not, particularly when unquestionably lethal methods are being used. That is, arrows and bullets and even flame and explosions don't deliver real wounds to the characters, but really only serve as obstacles. Projectiles make them head for cover or keep their head down. Blasts of energy drive them back or knock them aside. It's not a setting of sucking chest wounds and third-degree burns, or even broken bones.

But the heroes often still lose, despite very low risk of serious physical harm. They get tossed around or blocked in various ways and have to watch helplessly as the villain gets what they came for run away, cackling, to prepare the next scene.

I don't know how much of that Fate/FAE can emulate that, and how much requires the players to play to the genre. It will be a good conversation for the prospective players to have.

@ engine: Okay, gotcha. I think that should work out well with Fate Accelerated and the "Giving In" mechanic. It lets players stack up Fate points to help with the final encounter.

In reply to JxJxA (msg # 16):

Yes, if the players are willing to "give in" instead of being "taken out." My experience with Fate is that players simply set up a stack of advantages with free invokes and then wind up with massive rolls that give them more free shifts for even more free invokes. So, there's no reason for them ever to feel like they're taking an exciting risk, let alone feel like they're blocked by an enemy obstacle. This is part of why I'm interested in playing: to see how it might go differently.

I was mainly thinking of fights being run more like challenges or contests. A challenge when there are several different things going on: one person fighting, one person hacking, one person sneaking. Everyone is involved in important parts of the scene, without having to shoehorn them into the conflict mechanics. Or a contest in which everyone is trying to get in more successes with Fight, or Shoot, or Drive or Athletics before the other side. Conflicts would hardly need to enter into it - which they basically don't in the shows and comics.

Edit: Either way, I'm interested. And we can talk more if the game gets set up.
This message was last edited by the user at 20:12, Sat 06 Jan 2018.

Thanks for the clarification! It's definitely good for everyone to know what to expect.

I'm still interested as well. :)

Cool, sounds like I've got enough interest. Here is a link to the game. ^_^

link to another game

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