Like many open source gaming systems, Fate has a lot of different options within a given type of setting genre. When considering a “space game,” it’s important to know what the group wants; do they prefer space opera to hard science fiction, how lighthearted do they want the setting to be, how much control should they have over the development of the settings universe, etc. Today, I’ll be going through five Fate space-based books and providing a brief overview and my thoughts.
Diaspora
When my Fate urban horror/fantasy campaign ended, my group decided that it was time for change of scenery and they wanted the potential freedom that space had to offer. Even in early 2012, my initial searches for a Fate-based space system led me to Diaspora. Originally published in 2009, Diaspora is a hard sci-fi system, that adds a bit more “crunch” to the normally more fluid Fate 3 engine.
Like most Fate adaptations, character creation is expected to be a collaborative pre-game effort that also includes discussion and shaping of the base game play area. Because this is a space game, the game play environment built is a cluster of star systems, each interconnected with various travel routes, known as slipstreams that connect to slipknots to from one specific system to another (these can also be thought of a wormholes or specific hyperspace lanes). Each player works to develop at least one star system (and its sapient race[s]) within the overall cluster (usually around six to ten systems total). This allows for interstellar politics/drama/adventures at a manageable level than if trying to map out a galaxy.
In addition to the standard conflict resolution rules of Fate, Diaspora also includes separate rule systems for starship creation, crew creation (ships are expected to have a large crew, beyond the PCs), starship combat, ranged combat, social combat, and platoon combat. It’s a game where players may have their individual characters, but they also play the roles of squads, ships, and sometimes even planetary governments. There’s a lot to do and a lot to take in, but what the book lacks in artwork it makes up for in organized and relatively easy (if sometimes dry) reading.
Diaspora is not well-suited for Fate beginners. It takes a lot of what Fate has to offer and adds more rules and systems to it. This works well for a hard science fiction setting, but can be overwhelming when moving to a more storytelling system like Fate. Diaspora’s strength really lies in its star cluster creation, though, which can be a handy mechanic for any space game.
Diaspora + Mass Effect
Even though the rules are geared towards harder science than the Mass Effect video game (and novel, comic, and anime) universe, the world generation and overall travel system are well-suited to some tweaks to fit the galaxy and relays (essentially the slipstreams of Diaspora) of the video game trilogy. For fans of Mass Effect, Reaganstorme, has put together a pretty good overlay of the space opera into the harder sci-fi rules with their Hacking Diaspora to Mass Effect write-up.
Bulldogs! (Fate Classic Edition)
Originally published in 2011 by Galileo Game, Bulldogs! is billed as a high action space adventure setting in which players take the role of contracted space freighters, hauling volatile cargo to the most dangerous planets in the system. The focus of Bulldogs! is less on the science and societies as it is on the weird environments/creatures and the occasional blasters.
Bulldogs! is far more science-light than Diaspora and, unlike Diaspora, the galaxy and many of its core alien races are already pre-generated. Players, of course, are welcome to create their home planet and new races that live in one of two empire-controlled regions of space or within the “frontier zone” between the two empires. The setting seems to favor more light-hearted play, given some of the alien races (like the sentient teddybear-like creatures with a foul mouth) and overall “pew pew” spirit of the text.
Within Bulldogs! the PCs make up not only the primary crew aboard their freighter ships, but sometimes the only crew members on those ships. Adventure focus is typically more team challenge than epic or operatic. A typical scenario usually involves getting from point A to point B while dealing with troubles along the way, be they bureaucratic dock handlers, pirates, or dangerous cargo that seeks to get out. Less Star Wars or Star Trek, more Farscape (in its lighter or filler episodes) or Firefly (with aliens).
There are now two versions of Bulldogs!, with the newer version having been updated for the Fate Core rules. The premise and universe remains intact, but the system has become more streamlined for easier integration with the concepts introduced in the newer version of Fate. Bulldogs! (Fate Classic Edition) is still pretty solid, but uses the Fate 3 engine. I’ve not had a chance to read the new Fate Core Edition, but my understanding is the galaxy and its inhabitants weren’t changed much, just rule tweaks and refinements.
Nova Praxis
Published in 2010 by Void Star Studios, Nova Praxis is based on toolkit Strands of Fate, also created by Void Star Studios. This toolkit used the Fate 3 engine and gave specific rules and modifiers for magic, psionics, races, vehicles, etc. as well as options to play as squads or organizations. Like Diaspora, the Nova Praxis is intended to play as a harder sci-fi setting with the additional mechanics giving it a slightly more complex tone than some Fate Core settings might have, but it’s not quite as dense with subsystems like Diaspora. Unlike Diaspora, Nova Praxis already contains a written planetary system, with defined cultures and technologies.
The game takes place in the far future of our own galaxy (along with some exoplanets) as well as virtual environments in which players explore facets of transhumanism that followed a “short lived technological singularity.” In this setting FTL travel (using space-time folding “jump gates), clean energy, and nano-machines that can create nearly anything all exist, but the scientific and engineering understanding of how these technological marvels work was lost. With the following wars and aftermath, a rise of system-spanning mega-corporations, or Houses, took over. Now the houses vie for control in a secret “Shadow War” where human life outside of one of the Houses is deemed expendable.
The PCs are intended to be a crew of like-minded individuals who are somehow involved in the Shadow War, possibly fighting for or against a House or Houses. Nova Praxis presents no shortage of possible conflicts for the player characters, from the political machinations of secretly warring Houses, to dealing with the complexities meeting in virtual reality, or just fighting monsters created from accelerated evolution. The post-cyberpunk feel, role of the player characters, and overall description blurb made me think of Shadowrun, minus the magic and races, but plus starships and power armor.
Mindjammer
2012 debuted another Fate game in transhumanist space, Mindjammer. This game makes use of the Fate Core engine, but adds additional creation rules for planets, cultures, organizations, and “constructs” (which can be any sort of tech available to the player, such as vehicles, starships, space stations, etc.). These rules typically establish aspects of the thing being created for easier reference, rather than adding additional weight to play. While the overall use stays closer to the storytelling and character-focus of the Fate Core system, the dense and unique terminology within the book adds complexity to the game play. More on that in a bit.
Mindjammer takes place in the far-flung future and over multiple star systems in the galaxy. Alien life exists in the game, but is far more, well, alien. There are no rubber-forehead aliens or even humanoid aliens, giving the game a harder sci-fi feel, while its tech is so far advanced it can feel almost like magic. And, as large as the galaxy is, the game also takes place in the even larger virtual reality known as the Mindscape. Because the game often discusses its technology, worlds, and virtual reality with custom (though realistic) terminology, involving oneself in the game can often be a challenge of language. While other game universes can share a similar problem of a large and unique lexicon, many of these allow the player characters to be in a “fish out of water” situation, having to learn the universe in the context of play.
Unlike Bulldogs! or Nova Praxis, Mindjammer does not present a default role for the player characters to take. It offers a well-defined space to play in and expects the GM and players to establish what kind of game they want to play in that universe. This is not necessarily a strike against the game; the game world is well defined and offers large amounts of potential.
Andromeda
This is the most recent space game for Fate that I’ve found. Published in January 2017, Andromeda is a 52-page Fate Core supplement (meaning it needs the Fate Core ruleset purchased separately to play). Instead of Fate/Fudge dice, the rules are aligned for players to use the Deck of Fate cards or app for action resolution. The Deck of Fate offers cards with 4 dice rolls as well as providing players with specific roleplaying aspects to use in the context of those “rolls.” In addition, the Deck of Fate has moon phase icons on the cards used to accumulate “agenda points,” which are used separately from the standard story-influencing Fate points and towards the overall player character’s faction.
The game premise of Andromeda is fairly simple. The player characters have come from the dying Milky Way Galaxy on large planetoid arks into the galaxy of Andromeda to find a home. However, Andromeda is already inhabited and has its share of intergalactic problems. To complicate matters further, the player characters can be part of different factions that have organized themselves on the arks, each with their own goals and vision for their people in the “new” galaxy.
Like Bulldogs! Andromeda emphasizes character role-play and storytelling instead of a hard science universe. Here, the GM can invoke an “always more aliens” aspect in the game to increase the conflicts occurring in the game. In this high drama setting and player characters are often pitted against entire alien species while they vie for political gain amongst fellow PCs and their factions.
Recent Comments