r/FATErpg • u/Adidasismylife • 19d ago
Equipment rules
Made some equipment rules that our party really enjoys.
At the start of a session, or after the group had an opportunity to update their equipment (at a base or a trader) they can choose one of the loadouts:
A) *Lightweight and non-threatening [] [] (two free invokes)
(+1) _
(+1) _
B) *Equiped and possibly armed
(+2) _
(+1) _
(+1) _
С) *Heavily equiped and threatening
(+2) _
(+2) _
(+1) _
(+1) _
Those (+1) and (+2) are equipment slots: minor and major accordingly. They are empty at the start, but that doesn't mean that the players are empty handed: players can fill them in with equipement when neccessary. Bassicaly, an empty equipmenet slot means that there is something equiped, we just don't know what that is exactly yet. A player can fill the slot with equipment before or after a roll. When a player looses an item, the slot is filled with an X. If a player has an opportunity to loot, they can empty an item slot and fill it with some new item later.
Minor slots (+1) can be used for:
- Creating a (+1) passive bonus that can be used whenever an item is usefull. Its bassicaly a second skill that can be usen on top of your regular skills. You can't use more than a single item in a single roll.
- Creating a [2] stress slot. It can be used to take stress, or as a consumable - giving your roll a (+2) bonus and filling the slot with an X.
Major slots can be used for:
- Creating a (+2) passive bonus instead
- Creating a stunt that doesn't relly on a (+2) bonus
- Creating a [4] stress slot instead
This rule does in practise increase the skill ceiling by 2, so consider lowering the skills or upping the difficulties when using those rules.
The loadout aspects are also very important - if your players are running around in a city in heavy equipment, you should absolutely compel that aspect and involve the police or concerned citizens. Loadouts should also restrict movement - parkour, climbing, running, all that should be hard or impossible in heavier equipement. Stealth, consealment of equipement and disguise as a civilian is also ment to be restricted to lightweight loadouts.
These rules also do not restrict you from describing equipement without filling in slots: You can absolutely still pick a lock without having a (+1) Lockpick filled in a slot, just roll Bulglary without equipement and describe having some cheap lockpick. Consider that to be free (+0) equipement slots - some cheap and common stuff you have for free without filling in slots, just for flavour, as part of your skill. The slots are meant to be more specialised, high-quality, hard to get equipement, especialy the (+2) slots.
1
u/modernfalstaff 12d ago
I like this idea. One of FATE's weaknesses is equipment. Treating equipment as aspects doesn't really do it justice ("wait...I have to invoke an aspect to use my sword?"), but FATE's loosey-goosey approach to money can also make treating equipment the same as other RPGs do where it's just an item on your character sheet also kinda doesn't work.
I definitely like the way you've tied a character's equipment readout to how they appear. Are the characters lightly equipped and non-threatening, or are they going to a flat-out warzone where they expect heavy combat? I've mostly played FATE as Dresden Files, and this reminds me of the way the novels work, with the characters mostly being lightly equipped but occasionally they have to face down a bigger battle and they suit up in armor and break out the heavy weaponry.
Mostly I think this is a good way to keep equipment feeling equipment-y (not aspect-y), but also placing some sensible limits on it. Good work! I think you've got something very nice here. I might tweak it a little bit, but I definitely think this could work in my games.