Our most recent episode of Tabletop is a narrative RPG, powered by FATE, which is one of my very favorite systems for storytelling in gaming. In fact, if you’re a writer or storyteller, it has some tools and design philosophies in it that are extremely useful, whether you play RPGs or not.
Tabletop fans will likely be as excited as I am to have John Rogers (FIASCO, Season One) back, and some lady who I think was on Buffy once or whatever. We also have Ryan Macklin, who is not just one of the Fate designers, but is one of the most amazing GMs I’ve ever had the privilege to play with.
We had no idea what we were going to play when we came together, and that was be design. One of the strengths and joys of FATE is how easy it makes it for the players and the GM to build a satisfying and narratively complex experience by asking questions, collaborating to find the answers, and working together within a simple set of guidelines to define the world and their characters. Every time I’ve played FATE, I’ve had as much fun during the design phase of the adventure as I did when we were actually playing in it.
We ended up building a world that takes place after Event Zero, which is when all the rules of reality fell apart for reasons that were never completely explained or understood. Horrible monsters tore into our universe, psychic powers became real, and now there is unrest everywhere. We then designed characters who are in a Supernatural Containment Unit. They go where they are needed, to keep things under control, handle people who see things they shouldn’t see, and confront Things Man Was Not Meant To Know.
I am delighted by the way this episode came together. The art is wonderful and the storytelling is just delicious. I hope you like this as much as I do, and I hope it inspires you to play more games!
Discover more from WIL WHEATON dot NET
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
I finally got to watch this yesterday and it was such a good episode. I loved the system, the way you guys all worked together and fed off each other’s suggestions, and the world you managed to build. I was actually sad when it was over because I wanted more.
I love Fate in theory, but I haven’t gotten a chance to actually play it yet. So it was great to at least watch people play it, especially when it’s you, Felicia, and John. Great, great episode. #Peaceface
Not sure that it would be my cup of tea, but it was fun seeing how all involved were able to be so creative on the fly.
By far, one of my favourite Tabletop episodes to date. I loved how inventive everyone was, and it was awesome to see things one doesn’t usually see: Felicia playing a confident badass, rather than a nervous and awkward character; and Wil having good dice rolls on camera! 😉
That looks like a blast! So of course I’m checking prices online… and I have to wonder… do I really need “paralyzed dice” to play? https://www.amazon.com/Fate-Core-Dice-Eldritch/dp/1613170610/ref=sr_1_1?rps=1&ie=UTF8&qid=1494881813&sr=8-1&keywords=fate+dice&refinements=p_85%3A2470955011
Blank D6s inked the same way, or I think regular d6s offer a similar balance (1-2 as -, 3-4 as blank, and 5-6 as +).
In the Fate System Toolkit, it mentions you can take ordinary white six-sided dice and convert them to Fate Dice (Fudge Dice) with a black marker. Draw a square over the pips on the 4’s and 6’s, those are your blank faces. Draw a (diagonal) line between the pips on the 2’s and 3’s, those are your minus faces. Finally, draw a (diagonal) cross on the 5 between the pips, and do the same shape on the 1. Those are your plus faces.
Helpfully, no! Unlike a certain other company’s “funny dice” games which shall remain nameless, but whose name rhymes with “Bantasy Blight Bames,” Fate dice do NOT require a chart to convert them to “game dice” results – they’re simple +1, 0, -1 values, so for each die, if you have regular D6s, you can interpret a roll of 1 or 2 as a minus, 3 or 4 as a blank, and 5 or 6 as a plus.
(seriously, love FFG games but those dice, man, they’re EXPENSIVE)
“Bantasy Blight Bames:–I AM DEAD FROM LAUGHING.
You can also calculate the Fate Dice numerically as 4d3-8 on a dice-rolling app, it works out to exactly the same distribution.
Would like a whole season on rpgs! How bout more Titansgrave? Or something else if that won’t work.
Really felt like you guys had so much fun developing and playing the game! Definitely going to try this out with my kids.
heart eyes John used this to help create The Librarians. hugs it close
WHAT A GAME WHAT A STORY! Holy speedballs, I loved watching this episode!
I remember him saying something about that one Twitter a while back. I think he might have also said he used the relationship map rules from the Smallville RPG.
I think the Fate campaign creation rules would be good for working out the set-up for a novel/movie/TV series/whatever. 🙂
Excellent episode! I’ve been a fan of FATE and derivitaves for a while, and it’s so easy and fun to play. It is so easy to customize, as well!
I really wished for a double episode on this one, but I’ll take all the Wheaton/TableTop content I can get.
Easily one of my favorite episodes, I’ve been running a Numenera (Cypher system) game for friends but it inspired me to go buy the Fate Core book from my FLGS and start reading through it. Fantastic!!!!
My first look at Fate told me that I had found something amazing. Amazing, but not a thing I could make work just from reading the rules. It took a few games with experienced GMs to really get a sense of how to really grok the awesomeness of it all. So, for anyone else out there in the same position I was, thank you for doing this episode.
The system is novel, they knew it was going to be novel which is why they cross-reference everything. They go into a lot of “philosophy” of what makes a good Aspect versus a stale one that is clunky to use, for example. Stunts fall into some broad types that should find frequent but not too frequent use. An ongoing campaign will have issues change, and characters may get more powerful and graduate to a whole new class of enemies, where the old foes are reduced or maybe even shifted allegiances. In some Fate games they heavily encourage any player to drop a Fate Point to influence a story detail, as long as the whole “table” of players goes along with it.
I suspect a lot of stuff was edited from the video because the world concept and the players’ choice of Aspects was too quick, too perfect. In a real game, some fussing and crafting of the wordings of these things to work properly is needed. I could stand to see the unedited video of this game.
All the stuff you mention being cut is in the Episode Zero.
Awesome episode. Didn’t know much about Fate, but now I’m definately going to run it someday. Precious time watching you guys on this one. I almost wanted to jump in, forgetting that my screen is not a teletransportation device.
This was one of my most favorite episodes of tabletop and a major reason why I’m greatly anticipating the return of Titansgrave! The only thing that was missing was awarding the Tabletop trophy of awesome to the entire team for having a great time 😀
Sometimes a phrase just strikes me as perfectly phrased for the funny, and “some lady who I think was on Buffy once or whatever” kindled that glow of laughter and I was immediately grateful that the attack of the giggles I was about to have wasn’t in the middle of a scene. Oh, and I enjoyed the episode.
Ryan Macklin is a joy to play games with, and that clearly translates here. He’s a great GM, and this was a very entertaining session to watch.
Wil, that was a great episode. I have often used Tabletop to see if I’m interested in a game and this episode blew me away. I am curious, how long did the session take to get the 54 minute episode?
If I recall the shoot correctly I think it was around 4 hours of actual gameplay, once you take out the breaks and before/after shooting. That’s very approximated.
Nice! Four hours is about how much story gaming like this I can do before I’m creatively and emotionally spent. Yay, Fate!
Thank you very much for the information. Based on that game I saw on Table Top I had to get a copy. Keep up the great work. That sounds like a perfect time for adventuring.
Any word on a Table Top season 5?
This episode inspired me to by the Fate Core system. And I can think of no higher praise than inspiring new storytelling. Well done, Wil and guests!