Aspects & Fate Points

ASPECTS are phrases that describe some significant detail about something or someone. Your character's aspects are WHY YOUR CHARACTER MATTERS and why we're interested in them. Aspects cover anything that helps you invest in the character as a person, like personality or descriptive traits, beliefs, relationships, issues. Aspects can describe things that are beneficial or detrimental, and the best aspects are both at once - DOUBLE-EDGED SWORDS.

FATE POINTS are a meta-resource that players and the GM can use to influence the game. You SPEND THEM to force the narrative to go in your favor, and you EARN THEM by allowing it to turn against you. You start each scenario with a pool of fate points equal to your character's REFRESH, and reset to that number if you end a mid-scenario session with fewer points than your refresh. You will spend or gain fate points when your aspects come into play, which should happen very frequently.

Types of Aspects

Character Aspects

Most of what's on your character sheet: critical information about a character's personality traits, past, relationships with others, items or titles they possess, problems they're dealing with, goals they're working toward, reputation, obligations they carry, or nearly any other conceivable detail that's important to understanding a character. EXAMPLES "Leader Of My Band Of Survivors," "Mad Dog On A Leash," "My Country Right Or Wrong," "Haunted By Voices Of The Dead."

Consequences & Breakdown

Temporary aspects that cover lasting physical, psychological, or social harm. EXAMPLES "Damaged Sensor Suite", "Sprained Ankle", "Debilitating Self-Doubt", "Humiliated At Prom"

Situation Aspects

Aspects describing the surroundings or scenario where the action takes place. Usually vanishes at the end of the scene it's part of, or when someone does something that would change or get rid of it. EXAMPLES "On Fire," "Heavy Traffic," "Dense Debris Field," "Heavy Police Presence."

Boosts

An extremely temporary or minor situation. You CANNOT COMPEL a boost - you may INVOKE IT ONCE FOR FREE, after which it vanishes. An unused boost vanishes when the advantage it represents no longer exists, which may be a few seconds or the duration of a single scene. Boosts never persist beyond the end of a scene, and you can hold off naming one until you’re using it. If you’re in control of a boost, you may pass it to an ally if there’s rationale for it.

Using Aspects

Aspects come into play in conjunction with fate points. When an aspect benefits you, you can spend fate points to INVOKE that aspect for a bonus. When your aspects complicate your character's life, you gain points back - this is called accepting a COMPEL.

Invoking an Aspect

When you make an action roll, and you're in a situation where an aspect might help you, you can spend a fate point to invoke it and change the dice result. This allows you to either REROLL the dice or ADD 1 HIT to your roll, whichever is more helpful. YOU MUST EXPLAIN OR JUSTIFY how the aspect is helpful in order to get the bonus. Sometimes it's self-evident, sometimes you'll have to get creative.

You may decide to invoke an aspect before or after the roll. You can spend more than one fate point on a single roll, gaining another reroll or an additional +1 with each, as long as each point you spend invokes a different aspect.

You can invoke ANY ASPECT that's relevant and helpful to you, not just your own. Invoking an enemy's aspect against them is called a HOSTILE INVOCATION, and when you spend a fate point to do it, you give that point to that enemy instead of spending it normally - though they can't use it until AFTER THE SCENE you give it to them in.

Declaring a Story Detail

You can spend a fate point to INTRODUCE NEW INFORMATION about the world that works to your character's advantage. As long as it relates to an aspect in play, this detail can be nearly anything, but some common examples include:

• Adding IMPORTANT OR UNLIKELY objects or details to the scene (e.g. "Actually, I've had a few sticks of dynamite on me this whole time" or "There's a very fast car parked nearby, and its owner conveniently left the doors unlocked and the keys inside.")
• FLASHING BACK to declare that you already prepared for something in the past (e.g. "Good thing we bribed the night guard last week!")
• Introducing NEW MINOR NPCS into the fiction (e.g. "there's a janitor with keycard access to the CEO's office and gambling debts we could leverage.")
• Declaring NEW FACTS that build on established information (e.g. "We already know the sheriff's corrupt, and now he's also working with the infamous Shaw Gang.")

The GM has VETO POWER over declared details, and should exercise it if any of the following apply:

• The detail being declared would CONTRADICT OR REDEFINE information already established in the fiction, including secondhand information. You can't change things your characters have already experienced or declare "actually, that NPC was lying to us!"
• The detail would serve as a DEUS EX MACHINA and instantly resolve a major problem or dramatic question, without also introducing a more interesting replacement problem or complication to deal with. Declared details can give you the necessary tools or get you into position to deal with your problems yourself; they cannot solve your problems for you.
• The detail is TOO FAR-REACHING to reasonably cost only one fate point. You can't create, destroy, or redefine major campaign elements.
• The detail would change the game in a way that's no longer consistent with the agreed-upon premise, tone, or content restrictions.
• The rest of the table isn't on board with the idea

For further GM guidance on this option, see 5 Running The Game#Story Details.

Compelling an Aspect

Aspects can be COMPELLED to complicate the situation and EARN FATE POINTS. To compel an aspect, the GM or a player offers a fate point to the player whose character is being compelled, and tells them why an aspect is making things more difficult or complicated.

Compels generally fall into two categories: EVENTS and DECISIONS. Events look something like "You have X aspect and are in Y situation, so unfortunately, it makes sense for Z to happen to you. Damn your luck." If you REFUSE the event compel, you must spend a fate point from your own supply and describe how your character avoids the complication. If you don’t have any fate points, you can’t refuse.

Decisions are choices your character makes based on an aspect that end up causing problems, something like "You have X aspect and are in Y situation, so it makes sense that you'd decide to Z. This goes wrong when N happens." Usually, the interesting part of a decision compel is in the complication that comes from it, rather than the choice itself. Decisions are OFFERED, not imposed, and it does not cost a fate point to refuse them - barring exceptional circumstances like mind control, you have the final say over the choices your character makes.

The general rule: If the compel causes something to happen to your character, it's an event. If it causes your character to do something, it's a decision.

ANY ASPECT can be compelled—whether it’s a character aspect, situation aspect, or consequence—but it must be something that affects the character being compelled. ANYONE CAN OFFER A COMPEL. The player proposing the compel must spend one of their own fate points. The GM then takes over running the compel for the affected target. The GM does not lose a fate point by offering a compel—they have a limited pool of fate points for invoking aspects, but can compel as much as they’d like.

Compels can be retroactive. If a player finds they have roleplayed themself into a complication related to one of their aspects or a situation aspect that concerns them, they can ask the GM if that counts as a self-compel. If the group agrees, the GM slides the player a fate point.

It’s okay to recognize a compel as off-the-mark and withdraw it. If the group agrees that a proposed compel wasn’t appropriate, it should be withdrawn at no cost to the compelled character.

The Most Important Thing on This Page

ASPECTS ARE ALWAYS TRUE - an aspect isn't just a cool ability you have, it's a declaration of fact. Aspects DEFINE THE POSSIBILITY SPACE of what's open to your character and what's closed to them. If you have the aspect "precog sniper," that means you're always a crack shot who can glimpse the future. You don't need to Invoke that aspect to line up an impossible shot; having it at all means that's something your character gets to attempt at will. Invoking it just means you're digging deep and drawing on something fundamental to push through an obstacle and succeed when it really matters. Compelling them is just a way to incentivize letting them make your life difficult when they would naturally do so anyway, rewarding you, the player, for making the story more interesting.

IN ACTUAL PLAY: Putting the mechanics front-and-center in the conversation at the table can affect the flow in ways some people find deeply off-putting and take you out of the experience - "using Fate-speak for everything" is the one of the most common dealbreakers players and GMs report when they bounce off the system. Don't say "Can I spend a Fate point to invoke 'hair-trigger teenage fury' to let my emotions take over and hit harder for a reroll?" Instead, JUST DO THE THING - "I give in to my rage and start slashing wildly; I'll reroll" as you pass a fate point token across the table. Compelling works the same way; for the same example aspect, don't say "I'd like to compel 'hair-trigger teenage fury' to blow that little dig at me way out of proportion and derail this negotiation," just say "I'm going to absolutely flip out over this" or go straight to acting out the resulting tirade in character, and the GM should pass you a fate point (if they don't, then you can remind them).

In the same vein, nobody should ever be saying "the building has the 'On Fire' situation aspect" - the GM just says "the building is on fire," and because EVERYTHING IS AN ASPECT the building being on fire is now a situation aspect that can be invoked or compelled like any other.

Writing Aspects

Aspects can describe anything and everything about your character, including but not limited to:

• Significant personality traits or beliefs ("Sucker for a Pretty Face", "Never Leave a Man Behind," "The Only Good Tsyntavian Is a Dead Tsyntavian").
• The character’s background or profession ("Educated at the Academy of Blades", "Born a Spacer", "Cybernetic Street Thief").
• An important possession or noticeable feature ("My Father’s Bloodstained Sword", "Dressed to the Nines," "Sharp Eyed Veteran").
• Relationships to people and organizations ("In League with the Twisting Hand", "The King’s Favor", "Proud Member of the Company of Lords").
• Problems, goals, or issues the character is dealing with (A Price on My Head, The King Must Die, Fear of Heights).
• Titles, reputations, or obligations the character may have ("Self-Important Merchant Guildmaster", "Silver-Tongued Scoundrel", "Honor-Bound to Avenge My Brother").

The best aspects overlap across a few of these categories, which gives you more ways to bring you into play.

Good aspects are DOUBLE-EDGED SWORDS. They can be invoked to help you, but can also be compelled against you - and that's important, because your aspects working against you is how you earn the fate points that can force things to go your way when it counts. Put another way, aspects should pull you into dramatic and high-stakes situations, then help you through them once you're there.

If you're struggling to come up with a good aspect, ask yourself: WHAT'S IMPORTANT, AND WHY? What elements of the truth the aspect represents do you actually care about? Why are they most interesting to you?

TALK WITH THE GM about your aspects as you work through them. Make sure you're both on the same page about what they mean, and what you want out of them. Both of you may want to find one way each aspect might be invoked or compelled to make sure you're both seeing the same things, or give each other ideas. This mutual understanding has a much stronger impact on how your character plays at the table than perfectly precise aspect wording. That being said, do prioritize directness and clarity over flowery metaphors or implications; the less everyone has to remember about any gaps between a phrase on your sheet and what that phrase means, the better.

Choose To Care

AT LEAST ONE of your character's aspects must relate to a strong belief they hold about the world your character lives in (as in the belief is strongly held, an extreme position in some way, or both). This could be a political stance, a philosophical viewpoint, a religious conviction, an idea of what a perfect world should look like, or any number of other ways a person's opinions could manifest.

High Concept & Trouble

First, choose a HIGH CONCEPT, a phrase that sums up the main thing your character is about - how you'd open the pitch for the character when telling a friend about them (e.g. "Wizard Private Detective," "Hotheaded Martial Arts Prodigy," "Peace Envoy From The Moon," "Small Girl With A Big Gun). These can have overlap among the characters, as long as you have something to distinguish how your character is different from the others (e.g. "Alliance Soldier" by itself isn't specific enough to work as a high concept in a campaign soldiers fighting for the Alliance; "Gifted Rookie Alliance Soldier," "Vengeful Maverick Alliance Soldier," "Grizzled Veteran Alliance Soldier," or "Conscientious Defector Alliance Soldier" are all better).

Next, choose your TROUBLE, the biggest thing complicating your character's existence - a PERSONAL STRUGGLE or a PROBLEMATIC RELATIONSHIP. This shouldn't be anything easy to solve - if it was, your character would've done so already - but also shouldn't be so omnipresent that it completely paralyzes your character (e.g. something like "attacked by ninjas every hour on the hour" would force the story to be about nothing but fending off constant ninja attacks; "hunted by enemy ninjas" gets at something similar without dominating the narrative). It also shouldn't be directly related to your high concept. For example, if your high concept is "dogged detective," the trouble "the criminal underworld hates me" is dull, because we can already assume it's true based on the high concept. Something more specific, like "Don Giovanni personally hates me," would distinguish and improve it.

Phase One: Inciting Incident

Where did your character's story begin? What was the first thing that marked them as someone worth paying special attention to?

Write down up to two sentences on an index card describing your character's most relevant backstory event. This should be what kickstarted the chain of cause and effect that led to their being here, now, where the campaign will actually start. Then, write down an aspect that in some way relates to what happened.

Phase Two & Three: Crossing Paths

Now, you'll tie the group together by having other characters contribute a supporting role in your story, and vice-versa. Once everyone's inciting incident is written down, pass each card to another player (pass left, pass right, shuffle and redistribute - doesn't matter how, as long as everyone's holding someone else's card).

Give your character a supporting role in the backstory you've been handed. Briefly discuss your idea with the player whose card you have, then add one sentence or phrase to the card summing up how your character either complicated the scenario, solved a situation, or both solved one problem and created another (not necessarily in that order).

Then, write the backstory idea and your character's contribution to it down on your own phase worksheet, and write an aspect from the supporting role your character played. The person whose backstory it is should also write down your contribution, if there's room on their sheet.

Repeat this process for Phase 3.

Free Space

This last aspect is completely up to you. Fill it in with anything else you think is key to your character, or leave it blank for now and discover the aspect through play.

Mech Aspects

When creating your MECH ASPECTS, you'll start with a high concept and a trouble, just like your pilot. For your third mech aspect, describe your RELATIONSHIP to your mech. Is it your loyal companion? An extension of your body? A replaceable tool like any other? An armored coffin? All of the above, or something else entirely? Think about how you feel about this machine and what makes it yours - or what it means to you if it's not yours. This Relationship aspect is the only one that may be freely rewritten at a #Milestone; your mech's high concept and trouble both require a #Breakthrough to rewrite.

Gear Aspects

Mechs have two gear aspects, representing the equipment loadout you carry into battle. These aspects can shape the tactical options available to you and define how your mech actually fights. They can be invoked or compelled like any other aspect, but they also have a few special rules.

Mech equipment is proportionate to the mech using it, meaning it is enormous, intricate, and requires some lead time to change out. Your gear aspects are not available to rewrite during a #Milestone; instead, they may be freely changed when any of the following conditions apply:

• You are about to deploy in a battle for which you had time to prepare (so if you're dealing with a surprise attack or other scenario that requires emergency rapid response, you'll have to make the best of what you're already equipped with).
• A session begins or ends while you are in a position that would reasonably allow access to the facilities and time needed to reequip your mech (meaning you're not currently in your mech, you're not under immediate time pressure, and you're not in a situation or location that naturally prevents access to replacement gear like the middle of an empty desert).

Additionally, the GM may DESTROY a piece of gear as a special type of compel when your mech suffers a breakdown other than Dented. If this happens, write the breakdown aspect in a way that reflects the loss of the equipment (e.g. "Disabled Shoulder Cannons"). Unless you've established the gear aspect as something irreplaceable, like a bleeding-edge prototype, you'll get it back when the breakdown clears at the next Breakthrough advance. This is still a compel, so you will earn a fate point if it happens and you may spend one to refuse it. See 4 Challenges, Conflicts, & Contests#Harm and Mechs for the full rules on suffering and clearing breakdown.

Unless you use a stunt to get an additional, more mechanically detailed permanent capability built into your mech's design (e.g. a transformation, prototype defense technology, advanced neural link, or other complex feature), these aspects are assumed to be the only equipment your mech deploys with above whatever baseline your table agrees on in session 0.

There is no set equipment list, so you're free to outfit your mech with whatever gear you can dream up, but you must still work with the GM to make sure you're both on the same page about what a gear aspect can actually do.

EXAMPLES Beam Saber, Heat Axe, Shoulder Shield, Twin Head-Mounted Vulcans, Mega Bazooka Launcher, Enhanced Booster Binder, Atmospheric Re-Entry Balloon, Psi-Controlled Drone Swarm