The FATE system lends itself nicely to the Dresdenverse, particularly allowing a very appropriate magic system. Mechanically, the rules are very good. Play balance is also good, allowing different sorts of characters to shine.

The rules are the final draft of a game (intended to be educational) written by some major characters, and include marginal notes. The rules are more fun to read than usual, due to this.

A really useful and clever conversion tool. It provides procedures on how to convert FAE characters to Fate Core and vice versa. Definitely smarter than what I would have come up with, and it provides some insight into the design logic of Fate.

Fate is one of my favorite RPG rulesets. It encourages player agency, and is really easy to pick up. And Condensed is a no-nonsense reference. If you're new to Fate, this is the only book you need, really.

I love this game. The mechanics are so tight and I don't think I've ever seen a PbtA game that so deftly encourages players to lean into their playbook tropes. Perfect for groups who love being emotional wrecks, and I appreciate the GM tools such as advice about giving clues as well as the ticking of the mystery clock. Could not recommend this game enough.

Good idea, bad in practice. Damage system and stunts are non intuitive and to complicated for a rules light system. Tried to play fate with 3 different groups (both as DM and Player), all disliked the system and prevered to play something different.

Fate is not the game I play the most, but is the game I think about at all times. The simplicity and flexibility of the system and the characters make for a roleplaying game that really plays the way you feel like an RPG should. Diving deep into the game in all of its forms will make you better roleplayer and GM in any system. From how to make your characters work well together, to how to structure a session of play, Fate is by far my favorite RPG.

I like this system. it's fun, easy, and quick. However, the book seems to think otherwise. This is probably one of the worst formatted TTRPG I've ever read. Why am I spending 10 to 15 minutes manually searching for important information? The table of context is totally useless, as many headlines repeat themselves. And when you actually do find what you're looking for, you're stuck reading the authors ramblings on what makes a good session. This books page count could easily be halved and it wouldn't make a single difference. Actually, I think it would improve. There's 0 reason for this system to have more than 150 pages.

A cool concept. I also like the included adventure and setting. But, Fate is just too light mechanically for me. You millage may vary.

Thank you ELSA SJUNNESON! This book should be on everybodies reading list. It gives such a valuable insight and definitely affects my approach on gaming and thinking when it comes to accessibility. It is helpful not only for gaming purposes, but also in every day situations. Well done!

I love these cards and use them for more than just FATE. These really make for easy organization and it is very tactile which I appreciate.

Such a good read. The clearest rules and GM suggestions I've ever read. There are links to easily navigate around the document and comes with an ereader file! Perfect! Even if you don't enjoy the genre, if you want to make games I'd suggest reading this. It really gives you the long and the short of it.

Venture City is, in some ways, exactly what you would look for when searching for an easy, roleplay heavy game about superheroes and the city they protect. It's got tons of powers, ways to mix and match, and ways that these powers manifest to make even one super with invisibility play differently than another (for instance, blending in with environments with camouflage vs. having the shadows coallesce around you and hide you).

However, I do have some of the same complaints that I've seen others list here: the math on some of these powers is pretty game breaking. To use the invisibility example from before, it's possible to get up to +8 Stealth just on your invisibility power stunt, to say nothing of your mundane stealth skill, making it nearly impossible for anyone to detect them (of course, this is the point of the major boost to the skill, but that means that even other modes of detection such as hearing, touch, infrared and so on are probably not going to roll high enough to detect the super ever). I would have leaned more heavily into advantages, aspects, and boosts for powers where applicable.

Do not get me wrong: I've played two campaigns using this game and I did enjoy them both, but I still think there's still areas that I would want to see improvement.

One of my favorite PbtA games and one that I consider a classic of the game engine and a paragon of the genre. My only gripe is that it was created just a bit early and you can feel it when comparing it to the newer PbtA games that have been put out.

Just another apocalypse? - a Mephisto review

Another timeline has been released for Fate of Cthulhu, this time focusing on the infamous Great Old One Hastur. As usual, the player characters have to save the world. The apocalypse that Hastur triggers starts harmlessly with an oil spill and mysterious suicides in the water – but then quickly leads to much more bizarre effects, which then escalate with a very extreme end of the world. As usual, there are several triggering events in this timeline that the player characters must stop accordingly. The characters have to stop the initial ritual, help a musician whose music can dampen the general depression, and or even find Cassilda who could stop Hastur.

Perhaps I was biased being focused on the classic King in Yellow scenario (which plays no role here), but this timeline for Fate of Cthulhu failed to convince me. Both the flow of this apocalypse is too bizarre for me (especially when four gigantic giant falcons appear), and the possibilities of how the players can avert the apocalypse do not really make sense to me. The approach of presenting Hastur as a mysterious concept and less as a physical entity certainly does justice to the mythos. But for me, both the threat and the way the characters can avert it were less concrete, threatening, and exciting than the previous timelines, so that for me The Rise of Hastur is one of the weaker titles of the series.

(Björn Lippold)

Epic start in a galaxy far away - a Mephisto review

The galactic civilization of the Milky Way has perished, and the remnants of humanity boarded hundreds of space arks on their way to bridge the millions of light-years between galaxies to start anew in Andromeda. However, when the space arks reach their destination after 500 years of flight, it becomes apparent that Andromeda is inhabited by many alien civilizations which do not welcome the newcomers. And even aboard the planet-sized ships, there is tension, intrigue, and conflict between four factions.

The Fate World of Adventure Andromeda offers a space opera setting with alien threats and internal tensions. On the space ark, there are four power groups: the ruling elite, the technicians and scientists, a mixture of church, educational institution and media, and the working population. The names of these groups and many other terms are derived from the artificial language Esperanto, to use a foreign and yet somewhat familiar language. Starting with this basic setting, however, some aspects remain to be defined by the gaming group - for example, whether the inhabitants of the space ark were in cold sleep, developed a centuries-old culture on board a generation ship, or were hatched as a new generation only arriving at their destination. It also matters whether the space ark is among the first ones to reach Andromeda, in the middle of the exodus or one of the stragglers.

Andromeda - like most representatives of the Fate Worlds of Adventure - uses its own approaches regarding several mechanisms. For example, this game consistently utilizes the Fate deck and its additional symbols and aspect phrases instead of the classical Fate dice. The aspect phrase on the cards describes the action as an Execution Aspect which can be used accordingly. The sun and moon symbols count as agenda points to advance the major goals of the characters and power groups. On the scale of this game, antagonists are defined as entire species right away and can be generated randomly or built from options.

More importantly, however, is the background of the space ark, its factions, and the characters associated with the factions. The central element is each character's agenda - a major goal to achieve, for which a complex rule system is presented. However, the game statistics of the characters are based on only four skills, which are rather basic attributes. In addition, there are extras such as allies and special abilities.

With agendas, the goal is to advance them, which is accomplished through successful tests and the collection of symbols on the Fate deck cards. How many symbols have to be collected depends on the size of the agenda - and lifetime agendas are the smallest size level here...

In general, Andromeda takes place on a level typical for space opera: the actions of a few individuals have effects on entire planets and civilizations.

Andromeda presents an exciting basic setting which requires some fine-tuning by the individual group, but encourages the game master to improvise heavily using tables and suggestions based on the characters' actions.

(Björn Lippold)