I'm learning to play FATE (accelerated) in a solo RPG campaign right now (more about it here). It was kind of a surprise that I've found so few blog posts about this system in a solo variation. I've bought some material on Drivethru-RPG website, but I confess I felt frustrated because none of it answered some questions I had. I came from two years playing OSR games alone and it has been really interesting to play a game like FAE, specially in a solo context.
Fate is a very different game from the OSR ones I was used to play. It gives some GM power to the players so they can bring their own ideas into the diegesis of the narrative. It is the kind of game where it doesn't make too much sense to play it RAW, because that's near impossible once there is no RAW in a strict sense. The system works more like a toolbox in which you work on to create your own game with it. I know, basically every game tells us it does this, but FATE really does it. It's more a game design philosophy approach than a game system. Very interesting stuff.
That said, I had some doubts running it solo. This blog post has some solutions I designed and playtested during my FAE solo campaign. It is divided by issues and it will be updated as I progress in my campaign. Nothing here is definitive once I'm still discovering the best design solutions to solve the problems I have with it, ok?
1. Out-of-Action... now what?!
If I'm alone and my character gets out-of-action... what that means for the game session? How can I deal with it without a party of players to help my character in that moment? I've came up with two possible answers to that question.
Ask an abstract oracle for a plot twist
That means an oracle like a Tarot deck or some combination of random words with open-interpretation (like
Ask the Stars by Chris McDowall). It is an interesting solution if you keep in mind what would be a logical interpretation of the oracle based on the narrative context in which the oracle was asked. What was happening in the moment my character got out-of action? How that guides my imagination to a coherent interpretation of the oracle result? How's my character story can be affected (possibly in a negative way) by this?
Transforms a NPC into a playable character
That one is more like my thing cause it brings some TV series texture to the narrative. Again, it is not some random character, but one that makes sense with the story so far. The best part of this kind of solution is that you can apply it in any time and place inside your story. Maybe you want to make an intervention at spot and reveal the new PC in the same place and time that your previous character got out-of-action. Maybe not. You can easily say in a dramatic voice "Two hours ago" and focus the scene in another place. That bring us to the second complicated question.
2. Which and when NPCs should be stated?
The ones that would bring some interesting flavor to your story in the moment the out-of-action is triggered. Maybe a character that you thought were dead. Or some old forgotten NPC that would surprise you to show up again. In any case you shouldn't write a full sheet for the playable NPC at the first moment. You should write just enough to make it playable and as you feel the necessity for more info you fill it. Afterall this is not the protagonist of your story, but a side character with some agency and importance.
Okay, what is "just enough" then?
- Aspects
- Number of stress boxes
- One stunt
You must be asking how you'll know the skills of this new character. Basically you're Good at (+3) some things, Decent at (+1) other things and all the rest you're mediocre at (+0). This is decided by your aspects on the fly and should be clearer while playing this new character. It's kind of a FKR design philosophy of bringing details just when they make themselves necessary.
To help me and other players who want to try solo Fate, I've designed a simplified multiple-charater sheet so you can write down your playable NPCs and have your info at hand. Be my guest and download it for free here.
3. How to deal with the FATE point economy?
Here we need to stabilsh a principle:
The GM-emulator will always try to compell aspects
His job is to make things interesting and complicated in the story, so he doesn't have any commitment with your peace.You see a situation it would be terrible for your character if an aspect was compelled? Do it! On the other hand, you also must follow another principle:
The player will try to spend all his fate points in a game session
That way, you and the GM-emulator will always bring awesome and game-changing details to the story and you won't have to worry about becoming the Smaug of Fate Points or to compell against your own character.
Final words
One thing that is very different in my solo sessions is the duration time of it. While in most group sessions my normal time is two to three hours, my solo the game sessions are fractioned on several 30 minute sub-sessions before bed. I try to manage the Fate point economy taking in account that a sub-session is just part of a complete one. Usually the story makes it clear and I can say end of session x at some moment. Otherwise it would mean to summon all my Fate points every night of gaming, and that wouldn't make too much sense to me.
I hope my thoughts help you to have fun playing Fate solo. I couldn't finish this post without saying I was very grateful for a doc I've found on reddit called
No-GM Fate, by Nathan Hare. It focuses mostly on co-op stuff, but it helped me a lot to develop the ideas you've read in this post.
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