A blog by Nathan Hare about Fate Core and other roleplaying games. https://rpg.nathanhare.net Nov. 3, 2019, 6:43 p.m. I got the chance to run another game of Fate Core recently and I did it with very little prep. In the past, I've tried reducing prep time as my life gets busier, but the one thing that often takes more time than I expect is statting out NPCs. It led me to making up NPC stats as I go, to keep fr... ]]> https://rpg.nathanhare.net/2019/11/03/simple-npcs-fate fate accelerated fate core npc prep tips ttrpg Aug. 21, 2019, 7:52 p.m. I've have been out of the Tabletop RPG scene for the summer because I have been working on a writing project instead. I'm thinking of starting another campaign this fall/winter, but for the time being, _Sprig_ is the project I'm focusing on. I wanted to tell you about it because it might be som... ]]> https://rpg.nathanhare.net/2019/08/22/sprig-fantasy-web-serial-story fantasy setting idea the daegal legends ttrpg writing Jan. 27, 2019, 3:15 p.m. Have you ever wanted to play a tabletop RPG set in the 1980s? Maybe you enjoy excessive hairstyles, vigilantes fighting for a better America, punk rockers, or movies like Big Trouble in Little China, The Ghostbusters, and Back to the Future. Whatever it is that you like about the 80s, Evil Hat... ]]> https://rpg.nathanhare.net/2019/01/27/review-shadow-century-review fate core review ttrpg Nov. 25, 2018, 12:07 p.m. Previously, our band of adventurers left off just after walking through an active portal to catch the last of the Melonganites that attacked them. The group found themselves in the middle of a plain. Ahead of them, they could see Perion running toward a sea of shambling humanoid figures patrolling... ]]> https://rpg.nathanhare.net/2018/11/25/07-ruins-viltella daegal campaign fantasy fate core high fantasy magic play report the daegal legends ttrpg Nov. 18, 2018, 2 p.m. Hello all. Sorry for the radio silence for the past week. I have been working hard on adding an exciting new feature to the blog: a bestiary for Fate Core! I'm working on more features at the moment, but I already have the core functionality in place.The bestiary is designed as a tool to be use... ]]> https://rpg.nathanhare.net/2018/11/18/fate-bestiary fate core npc pregen tips tool ttrpg Nov. 4, 2018, 8:05 a.m. This post is part of a series of play reports about an ongoing campaign in _The Daegal Legends_. If you haven't yet read the introduction post, you can find it here. For a compiled list of all of the notes and resources used in this campaign, check out the campaign notes & resources post.---The... ]]> https://rpg.nathanhare.net/2018/11/04/06-forgotten-land daegal campaign fate core play report the daegal legends ttrpg Oct. 28, 2018, 1:26 p.m. Fear is an essential part of tabletop RPGs and storytelling in general. It's a part of life and can do a great deal to motivate or deter people from making decisions. So as storytellers, fear is a great tool to have and master.This week, I have taken a look at the _Fate Horror Toolkit_, a book ... ]]> https://rpg.nathanhare.net/2018/10/28/fate-horror-toolkit-review fate core horror review ttrpg Oct. 21, 2018, 1:34 p.m. The drive of most stories out there is the continuous clash between the protagonist and the antagonist. Whether it is Luke vs. Darth Vader, Aang vs. the Fire Nation, or Batman vs. the Joker, this interaction has proven to be essential to good story telling. Getting it right isn't always easy, b... ]]> https://rpg.nathanhare.net/2018/10/21/lets-make-some-villains-fate-adversary-toolkit-review fate core review ttrpg Oct. 6, 2018, 9:12 a.m. This post is part of a series of play reports about an ongoing campaign in _The Daegal Legends_. If you haven't yet read the introduction post, you can find it here. For a compiled list of all of the notes and resources used in this campaign, check out the campaign notes & resources post.---"Co... ]]> https://rpg.nathanhare.net/2018/10/06/05-return-colony daegal campaign fate core play report the daegal legends ttrpg Sept. 30, 2018, 2:56 p.m. Fate Core is my game of choice for many reasons, but below I have collected a list of my favorite parts about it. If you're thinking about using Fate, if you're interested in what it has to offer, or if you just want to be reminded of what makes Fate so great, read on!... ]]> https://rpg.nathanhare.net/2018/09/30/why-i-play-fate-core fate core review ttrpg Sept. 24, 2018, 6:24 p.m. This post is a growing list of all of the notes and resources I have written/used in my current campaign, The Daegal Legends. Here you'll find session prep notes, rule systems, printable terrain and minis, etc.... ]]> https://rpg.nathanhare.net/2018/09/24/campaign-notes-resources daegal campaign fate core high fantasy magic prep terrain the daegal legends ttrpg Sept. 23, 2018, 7:58 a.m. Meth, Wiggiw, Olaf, and Eldar crashed into the forest floor from the treetop village where Wiggiw had just destroyed the artifact. They were all hurt by the fall, but Wiggiw took the worst hit, breaking his neck. Olaf, eager to earn Wiggiw's acceptance, quickly tied Wiggiw to his cannon as a makeshi... ]]> https://rpg.nathanhare.net/2018/09/23/04-wandering-wood daegal campaign fate core play report terrain the daegal legends ttrpg Sept. 14, 2018, 5:06 p.m. "So, ya got my records?" A voice came from the the scattered trees surrounding the cove where Wiggiw and Methuselah waited. The two turned to see Loufie, flanked by a burly, shirtless man with a bald head and an female Orchid Treek (a species of man known for it's connection with nature, pale green... ]]> https://rpg.nathanhare.net/2018/09/14/03-jungle-party daegal campaign fate core play report the daegal legends ttrpg Sept. 8, 2018, 7:16 a.m. The band of explorers fled deeper into the cavern as the giant spiders were held at bay by the flaming webs. When they stopped to catch their breath they looked around and saw a large empty room. As the looked around Methuselah found some mysterious mushrooms. When he turned around to show the... ]]> https://rpg.nathanhare.net/2018/09/08/02-empty-room daegal campaign fate core play report the daegal legends ttrpg Sept. 5, 2018, 6:37 p.m. Our story began in the only known colony on Daegal. It is a small town with a tall palisade surrounding it. Inside its walls, there are some wooden houses and buildings, but many of the colonists currently live in tents. The group started in a building at the town's center, a newly built tavern.... ]]> https://rpg.nathanhare.net/2018/09/05/01-search-party daegal campaign fate core play report terrain the daegal legends ttrpg Sept. 3, 2018, 8:46 a.m. The Daegal Legends is a setting that I have been working on almost since I started playing Fate three years ago. I have played games in this setting with multiple groups, including my current gaming group, and will be writing a series of play reports to document our adventures. It uses High Fan... ]]> https://rpg.nathanhare.net/2018/09/03/00-daegal-legends-setting-intro daegal campaign fate core high fantasy magic pregen setting idea the daegal legends ttrpg March 19, 2018, 8:10 a.m. I've been recently watching a lot of youtube channels about crafting terrain for D&D such as The DM's Craft, Black Magic Craft, Wyloch's Crafting Vids, The DMG Info, and especially Runehammer's Room Design Series. All of which are great channels with tons of ideas for making awesome terrain for... ]]> https://rpg.nathanhare.net/2018/03/19/using-terrain-fate fate core terrain tips ttrpg Feb. 26, 2018, 7:02 a.m. A character inspired by the Accelerated Core Purple dice available in Evil Hat's Fate Accessories Kickstarter that ends on March 2nd, 2018.... ]]> https://rpg.nathanhare.net/2018/02/26/dice-inspired-heroes-accelerated-core-purple dice dice inspired heroes fate core pregen ttrpg Feb. 16, 2018, 9:06 a.m. A character inspired by the Aquatic dice available in Evil Hat's Kickstarter that ends on March 2nd, 2018.... ]]> https://rpg.nathanhare.net/2018/02/16/dice-inspired-heroes-aquatic dice dice inspired heroes fate core pregen ttrpg Feb. 15, 2018, 4 a.m. A character inspired by the Accelerated Core Blue dice available in Evil Hat's Fate Accessories Kickstarter that ends on March 2nd, 2018.... ]]> https://rpg.nathanhare.net/2018/02/15/dice-inspired-heroes-accelerated-core-blue dice dice inspired heroes fate core pregen ttrpg Feb. 14, 2018, 1:01 p.m. A character inspired by the Infernal dice available in Evil Hat's Fate Accessories Kickstarter that ends on March 2nd, 2018.... ]]> https://rpg.nathanhare.net/2018/02/14/dice-inspired-heroes-infernal dice dice inspired heroes fate core pregen ttrpg Feb. 11, 2018, 7:16 a.m. To get back into RPGs again, the first game I ran was in the Mouse Guard universe. It's one of my favorites, due to the beautiful art that I can use in games and the unique fantasy setting with tons of lore. When planning this game, I knew I had one player who had read the comics, so playing th... ]]> https://rpg.nathanhare.net/2018/02/11/mouse-guard-1149-winter-war-oneshot fate core mouse guard oneshot play report prep ttrpg Feb. 8, 2018, 3:24 p.m. So I just put together a new product for Fate that I think will be very useful for Fate games. _Fate Character Tents_ allow players to easily display their aspects to the rest of the table and provide a cheat sheet on the back side for quick reference.These little tents come in a form-fillable ... ]]> https://rpg.nathanhare.net/2018/02/08/fate-character-tents fate core tool ttrpg Feb. 4, 2018, 2:26 p.m. High Fantasy Magic is a simple, freeform magic system designed for Fate Core and Fate Accelerated. Its goal is to be a drop-in magic system with a high fantasy tone while sticking closely to Fate Core and providing the same amount of flexibility in character creation and progression.... ]]> https://rpg.nathanhare.net/2018/02/04/high-fantasy-magic-faq fantasy fate core high fantasy magic the daegal legends ttrpg writing Jan. 24, 2018, 3:10 p.m. An image was posted in a Fate Discord server I participate in, sparking a new setting idea. Teddy bears band together to protect children from the monsters of their nightmares.... ]]> https://rpg.nathanhare.net/2018/01/24/teddy-defenders-setting-idea fate core prep setting idea ttrpg Jan. 18, 2018, 1:33 p.m. Recently, I have been trying to create a web portfolio for myself and I've been hoping to learn a new web framework (Django) in the process. As a result I rebuilt this blog from the ground up, updated the Storygen rpg tool, and created a new character generator for Masters of Umdaar. So here's ... ]]> https://rpg.nathanhare.net/2018/01/18/blog-update fate core masters of umdaar tool ttrpg web April 21, 2017, 12:51 p.m. In light of the recent demise of the Google Hangouts API, I have moved to using Roll20 in my online Fate games and I have really enjoyed the experience. I was reluctant to use it at first because it is clearly made for more elaborate game systems than Fate, but I think I've figured out a good s... ]]> https://rpg.nathanhare.net/2017/04/21/fate-roll20 fate core roll20 tips ttrpg April 13, 2017, 11:20 a.m. A quick post about a recent Masters of Umdaar game where the players ran into a crazed dehydrated sharkman in the desert.... ]]> https://rpg.nathanhare.net/2017/04/13/rampaging-across-umdaar fate core masters of umdaar play report ttrpg March 27, 2017, 2:51 p.m. A summary of tweaks that I use to run Fate in the Mouse Guard universe.... ]]> https://rpg.nathanhare.net/2017/03/27/mouse-guard-fate fate core mouse guard tips ttrpg March 21, 2017, 1:04 p.m. -->Unfortunately, my previous game fell through. The players are unable to play for the time being, so I wasn't able to finish the series I was working on about scenario preparation. However, I have continued analyzing techniques for good game prep in other groups and wanted to throw out a thou... ]]> https://rpg.nathanhare.net/2017/03/21/story-questions fate core tips ttrpg Feb. 26, 2017, 4:16 p.m. Welcome to the second of three posts where I talk about planning and playing through a scenario for Fate. If you haven't already seen the previous post going over the setting and the characters, you should probably check that out before continuing. In this post I'll be talking about how I used ... ]]> https://rpg.nathanhare.net/2017/02/26/scenario-prep-plan fate core play report prep tips ttrpg Feb. 2, 2017, 1:28 p.m. I have long thought that a good example of scenario preparation for Fate, combined with a recap of how things panned out, would be a great way to help newcomers grok the game. I am finally at a point where I feel like I understand the system well enough that I can provide a decent example. So h... ]]> https://rpg.nathanhare.net/2017/02/02/scenario-prep-setup fate core prep tips ttrpg Jan. 4, 2017, 9:32 a.m. Last night, I ran my first game to playtest a new setting that I am writing for Fate Core. The setting is a high fantasy world at the brink of international conflict with a focus on exploration. For the first session though, I kept things light and simple so that I could teach a new player the ... ]]> https://rpg.nathanhare.net/2017/01/04/tweaking-contests fate core tips ttrpg Nov. 22, 2016, 11:38 a.m. Welcome back again for another post in my Dungeons in Fate series. If you haven't read the previous articles, I am going through various tips for adding dungeons into your Fate games while still maintaining the narrative philosophies of Fate. In this post I'll be expanding on a topic I touched ... ]]> https://rpg.nathanhare.net/2016/11/22/dungeons-fate-secrets dungeons fate core tips ttrpg Nov. 15, 2016, 4:07 p.m. I decided to take a quick side-quest from my current series on Dungeons in Fate to show how I handle aspects at the table. I've seen questions come up about this a few times on the Google Plus Community and on reddit, so I figured I could show my setup so that others could see if it fits their ... ]]> https://rpg.nathanhare.net/2016/11/15/tracking-aspects-table fate core tips ttrpg Oct. 28, 2016, 3:33 p.m. To continue the Dungeons in Fate series, today I'll be talking about traps and how to use them in your Fate games. Traps are often used in more traditional RPGs for several reasons. They can convey the danger of a location, provide information about the location's inhabitants,weaken the heroes ... ]]> https://rpg.nathanhare.net/2016/10/28/dungeons-fate-traps dungeons fate core tips ttrpg Oct. 22, 2016, 4:34 p.m. I have recently been thinking a lot about how to do fantasy well in Fate. I just rewatched The Fellowship of the Ring and played in a five-session gameof Dungeons and Dragons 5e that my friend ran, both of which fueled my thoughts onthe subject. One thing in particular that Ihave focused my tho... ]]> https://rpg.nathanhare.net/2016/10/22/dungeons-fate-scenes-and-scenarios dungeons fate core tips ttrpg Oct. 7, 2016, 2:37 p.m. The heroes left off in the Temple of Divinity. They overcame all of the temple's various traps and puzzles and reached the final room where the Relic of Divinity was said to be. However, the relic was missing and the room was flooded with a thick black smoke...... ]]> https://rpg.nathanhare.net/2016/10/07/11-battle-shadow-knight fate core major milestone play report relics of acyrus tips ttrpg Sept. 6, 2016, 12:40 p.m. Over Labor Day weekend, I had the privilege of running Masters of Umdaar for the firsttime. I ran the game at the Gamers of Summer conference in Harrisburg, PA. We only had two players since I didn't schedule it ahead of time, but we still had a lot of fun. One player was Andy, who plays Filius... ]]> https://rpg.nathanhare.net/2016/09/06/masters-umdaar-con-oneshot convention fate core masters of umdaar oneshot play report review ttrpg Aug. 17, 2016, 11:43 a.m. The Story Diving DeeperThe group left off being attacked by powerful Giant Cave Spiders. The spiders proved toostrong for the party, and so they chose to run. Leaving behind their rations to distractthe spiders, they ran and disguised themselves as part of the cavern wall thanks to Filius's ma... ]]> https://rpg.nathanhare.net/2016/08/17/10-temple-divinity fate core play report relics of acyrus ttrpg July 23, 2016, 2:44 p.m. I've been thinking recently about traditional, simulation-based RPGs like Dungeons & Dragons, Pathfinder, and Savage Worlds in comparison to storytelling based games like Fate. More specifically, I have been trying to figure out why the transition from traditional RPGs to Fate is so difficult. ... ]]> https://rpg.nathanhare.net/2016/07/23/storytelling-vs-simulation-rpgs fate core ttrpg July 6, 2016, 1:04 p.m. Over the weekend, I was itching to play since my normal RPG group has been all overthe place for the summer. I ended up running a game for people who had never played Fate before on Tabletop Simulator by Berserk Games using the Fate Workshop Item that I created. So I decided to write up a revie... ]]> https://rpg.nathanhare.net/2016/07/06/tabletop-simulator-fate-review fate core review tabletop simulator ttrpg June 23, 2016, 3:48 p.m. The PCs, still traveling in the tunnels under Gilgax mountain, had been walking for about half a day. That is the roughly the same amount of time it takes to walk from Beowood to Fort Greyspire, so they figured they must be close. Suddenly up ahead, they saw a faint light...... ]]> https://rpg.nathanhare.net/2016/06/23/09-forgotten-tunnels fate core play report relics of acyrus ttrpg June 20, 2016, 5:53 p.m. I recently played in a game where we did not have a GM. You can find the play report here. I wrote up some rules hacked together from other GMless systems I have read, and it went surprisingly well. The other two players and I really enjoyed the game, so I thought I would post them online for ... ]]> https://rpg.nathanhare.net/2016/06/20/fate-without-gm fate core no gm ttrpg June 16, 2016, 6:55 p.m. About a week ago, the regular RPG group and I got together, but James (who plays Eb), couldn't make it due to his new job. Instead of trying to play the game without Eb, we decided to try a one shot and we tried doing it without a GM. I'll leave the specifics about how we played without a GM fo... ]]> https://rpg.nathanhare.net/2016/06/16/gmless-goblin-oneshot fate core no gm oneshot play report ttrpg we be goblins June 14, 2016, 4:19 a.m. Last time, the group finally got a chance to talk to the real Tobias Bender. After hearing the truth about everything, they decided to head into the tunnels in search of the artifact that the Gilgax Goblins and the Doppelganger seem to have been after...... ]]> https://rpg.nathanhare.net/2016/06/14/08-real-tobias-bender fate core play report relics of acyrus ttrpg June 13, 2016, 4:21 a.m. The group arrived at Tobias's house at dusk in hopes of finding some answers. The house was heavily guarded after Aurora's break in earlier that day, but Tobias seemed rather friendly. They talked with Tobias asking about the food shortage, the sigils in the mountain, the tunnels below it, and...... ]]> https://rpg.nathanhare.net/2016/06/13/07-meeting-tobias fate core play report relics of acyrus ttrpg June 10, 2016, 4:25 a.m. After defeating the Hook Horror and gaining a little more information from Old Man Berkle in Stonehollow, the group headed to Beowood to seek an audience with Tobias Bender, who is believed to know the most information about the colonization of the region and its secrets...... ]]> https://rpg.nathanhare.net/2016/06/10/06-beowood fate core play report relics of acyrus ttrpg June 7, 2016, 4:27 a.m. While in Stonehollow seeking information on the mysterious artifact supposed to have been the cause of the goblin attack, a large monster with the head of a vulture, a body like a beetle, and hooks for arms showed up with several squid like Darkmantles...... ]]> https://rpg.nathanhare.net/2016/06/07/05-visiting-stonehollow fate core play report relics of acyrus ttrpg June 4, 2016, 4:28 a.m. The party, weary from battle, took some time to rest and then spoke with Gerald Greymore, leader of the Greyspire Rangers. Gerald asked some questions of the group to see if he could trust them. When he decided that he could, Gerald showed them the drawing that was found on the battlefield...... ]]> https://rpg.nathanhare.net/2016/06/04/04-aftermath fate core play report relics of acyrus ttrpg June 3, 2016, 4:30 a.m. Fillius, Desmond, Aurora, and Eb arrived to Fort Greyspire just in time to warn the rangers of the coming threat. The goblins of Gilgax Mountain joined forces with the goblins of Echo Cave and attacked the fort using bombs presumably made by Mazul, Kyrie's father...... ]]> https://rpg.nathanhare.net/2016/06/03/03-battle-fort-greyspire fate core play report relics of acyrus ttrpg June 1, 2016, 4:32 a.m. The group, unsure of where they were first looked for a trail of the goblins that had recently left. They followed the trail until they reached a section that Aurora could easily find her way. She led them to her house built atop a tree in the whispering woods...... ]]> https://rpg.nathanhare.net/2016/06/01/02-pathfinding fate core play report relics of acyrus ttrpg May 29, 2016, 4:37 a.m. The players found themselves tied up. Desmond was the first to break free. He used magic to make some fire and burn the rope. Unsure of whether he could trust Eb and Filius, he untied Aurora first and tried using his magic to shape shift a sharp edge onto a couple of rocks...... ]]> https://rpg.nathanhare.net/2016/05/29/01-escaping-echo-cave fate core play report relics of acyrus ttrpg May 27, 2016, 4:44 a.m. Eb and Filius traveled to the small town of Haven for a gig at the very small tavern in town. Filius had arranged the gig 3 weeks before, but hadn't heard anything since...... ]]> https://rpg.nathanhare.net/2016/05/27/00-tainted-spring fate core play report relics of acyrus ttrpg May 27, 2016, 4:42 a.m. So this is the first of my actual play reports and this campaign is the only campaign I have ever run (as of writing this). So there are definitely some things I have done wrong and things that I will improve on over the course of it. I am looking to point out those flaws though so that others ... ]]> https://rpg.nathanhare.net/2016/05/27/setup fate core play report relics of acyrus ttrpg May 27, 2016, 4:39 a.m. So I wanted to talk about the random story generator that I have on this site. If you are interested in seeing the code or improving it, check it out on GitHub. InspirationThis project is meant to be something like an online version of Rory's Story Cubes. The story cubes are dice that are used... ]]> https://rpg.nathanhare.net/2016/05/27/storygen tool ttrpg web May 27, 2016, 4 a.m. Fate Core Character Sheet is another project that I have made. It is basically just aform-based version of the actual character sheet. InspirationI enjoy playing games on Tabletop Simulator every once ina while. So much so that I made this mod so that youcan play Fate games on it. The mod is s... ]]> https://rpg.nathanhare.net/2016/05/27/fate-core-character-sheet fate core tool ttrpg web