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Fate System Toolkit Pay What You Want
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Fate System Toolkit
Publisher: Evil Hat Productions, LLC
by John L. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 12/08/2020 15:47:37

Great supplement for anyone looking to hack or design their own game. The magic rules alone are worth the price of admission, even if you don't play Fate.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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Fate System Toolkit
Publisher: Evil Hat Productions, LLC
by Björn L. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 07/07/2019 14:13:29

The following review was originally published in Mephisto 67 and translated from German (find original German review below).

Fate System Toolkit

The title Fate System Toolkit describes the book quite well: The compact book is a toolbox that has everything you need to finetune the system's various concepts and mechanics. Thus, the book is dedicated to the aspects, skills, and stunts for which it presents various alternative rules. After that, it goes even further and introduces significant changes and other rule modifications such as chases. A large part of the book is made up of the rules for magic. These are presented using three different examples, which function as an inspiration for how to design such rules. Additional rules for Kung Fu, Cyberware or mass fights are also presented. Further rules cover even more specific factors such as very large monsters or psychic powers.

As an addition to the Fate Core rules, the Fate System Toolkit is a very useful expansion, above all for game masters, who want to adapt the system to their personal needs. Of course, you won't need all the suggested rules, but the examples are well structured so that you can learn how to customize Fate yourself. The magic rules alone, with their three completely different approaches, are very inspirational and offer enough material that you almost want to build a game world or at least a campaign on them. Fate game masters, who don't want to limit themselves to prefabricated game worlds, but see Fate as their personal construction kit, get the perfect tools and manual with the Fate Systems Toolkit - and they should not miss this book!

(Deutsche Version)

Fate Handbuch

Eigentlich beschreibt der englische Originaltitel das Buch viel besser: System Toolkit. Der kompakte Hardcoverband ist buchstäblich ein Werkzeugkasten, der alles mitbringt, um an den Stellschrauben des Systems zu drehen. So widmet sich das Buch den Aspekten, den Fertigkeiten und den Stunts, für die verschiedene Alternativregeln präsentiert werden. Danach wird noch großflächiger vorgegangen und große Veränderungen und weitere Regelmodifikationen wie Verfolgungsjagden vorgestellt. Einen großen Teil des Buchs machen die Magieregeln aus, die anhand von drei Beispielen vorgestellt werden, die jedoch eher als Inspiration gesehen werden, wie man solche Regeln designen kann. In den Subsystemen werden dann Regeln für beispielsweise Kung Fu, Cyberware oder Massenkämpfe vorgestellt. Die abschließenden Zusatzregeln decken noch einmal speziellere Faktoren wie sehr große Monster oder beispielsweise psychische Mächte ab.

Zum Fate Core Regelwerk ist das Fate Handbuch eine sehr gelungene Ergänzung, vor allem für Spielleiter, die das System an ihre persönlichen Bedürfnisse anpassen wollen. Sicherlich wird man nicht alle Regelvorschläge benötigen, doch die Beispiele sind so aufgebaut, dass man daraus lernen kann, wie man Fate selbst anpassen kann. Allein die Magieregeln mit ihren drei komplett unterschiedlichen Ansätzen sind sehr gut gelungen und bieten Material, das man fast darauf eine Spielwelt oder zumindest eine Kampagne aufbauen möchte. Fate-Spielleiter, die sich nicht auf vorgefertigte Spielwelten begrenzen wollen, sondern Fate als ihren persönlichen Baukasten sehen, erhalten mit dem Fate Handbuch die perfekte Bastelanleitung, auf die man nicht verzichten sollte!

(Björn Lippold)



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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Fate System Toolkit
Publisher: Evil Hat Productions, LLC
by Gustavo C. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 07/24/2016 18:22:02

I recently received this book in paper format as part of a kickstarter. This will give you an idea of how much I love the Fate Core and FAE systems. Some people may not realize it but in truth both are the same game system with the dials adjusted differently. This fact is one of a whole sets of insights you'll get as you read this toolkit.

Before starting this review, let's say that you can perfectly play Fate without this toolkit. Now, lets face it, once you'll start playing, you'll start tinkering with the system, because that's something GMs like to do, give their unique twist, find the unique flavor, provide the extra rule that will set their campaign appart from others. And that is why this book is for you. This toolkit will show you how modular the design is, how it can be tinkered with, where the dials are. And it will also expose you to a lot of thought provoking ideas, several variations one each theme and interesting possibilities everywhere.

You'll also noticed that most this ideas are not completely finished, and that's allright, because this is a toolkit, it gives you the tools to make your own reskining of the tools provided, to develop further upon them and to come up with greatness. And whe love doing that.

There's a lot packed in the 200 pages of this book, discusions on Aspects, Skills, Magic variations, a whole set of subsystems for special types of adventures and much more. You'll start reading and before long start writing and planning. It's clearly written and explained, yet if you are like me, you'll find you have to read it in small bites, as each idea fires up a lot of other ideas and makes you connect a lot of the dots, or even firing whole campaigns based on a simple possibility. It's worth reading it entirely, yet it's perfectly fine to read only the parts you think you'll need for your adventure, and it's easy to do so, as ideas are clearly grouped and labeled.

Remember also that as much as this book is great and meant for you, this is a toolkit, not The toolkit. You can get this one now and get a feel of what it can provide, so that you'll know what a toolkit does when the new Evil Hat kicstarter for bigger and meaner specific toolkits appear. This is the initial step. yes, but at the same time it's a must have book for all game tinkerers. Because while being the first step, it's a really tall one.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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Fate System Toolkit
Publisher: Evil Hat Productions, LLC
by Jeremey C. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 07/18/2016 17:23:52

This is a great supplement to adding to your FATE games once you are familiar with the system. It also includes a lot of insight into why the designers made the choices they did for different FATE games.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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Fate System Toolkit
Publisher: Evil Hat Productions, LLC
by Michael J. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 05/29/2015 12:58:01

As with all optional rules set, they are add-ons. Not really needed for the game. Some are good, some I can ignore and never miss. Some may like more than I did, but I wasn't impressed by 2/3. The other third I will incorporate.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
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Fate System Toolkit
Publisher: Evil Hat Productions, LLC
by Jon L. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 04/17/2015 21:20:32

I have never used FATE Core rules yet but I am playing a game that will be utilizing those rules this weekend. They are easy and simple to learn, its a great system to use when trying to engulf your players in the story of your game. The system tool kit is very useful when trying to build your own game when in the back they give you some nice game scenerios like horror and resources to create a good game and campaign.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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Fate System Toolkit
Publisher: Evil Hat Productions, LLC
by Alexander P. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 01/18/2015 02:15:20

It's no secret that I'm desperately in love with the FATE system; I think it's elegant as hell, and use it for everything under the sun. How? That's where the Toolkit comes in.

With this book, you're looking at just shy of 200 pages worth of optional rules and game advice. Want to shake up the default skill list, or change the expected power level of the player characters? That's in here. Want a magic system in FATE? You'll get five different ones, plus cybernetics, superpowers, and advice for building your own subsystems. Need help turning FATE into a horror game? That's in the book, too. Class systems, squad combat, kung fu, social combat, swashbuckling, vehicles, mass warfare, help for setting design and character creation... if you can think of a topic, this book deals with it in an informative and easy-to-grasp manner.

The layout is clean, the art's functional (not great, not bad, but often unique; for every dwarf or wizard, there's a cybernetic gorilla or a six-armed alien swordsman), and the meat of the book is stellar. If you're playing FATE, you'll find something worth using between the covers. It comes with my highest praise.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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Fate System Toolkit
Publisher: Evil Hat Productions, LLC
by Sean W. M. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 12/11/2014 03:25:43

After I read Fate Core, and caught up with the Kickstarter Campaign, I was kicking myself that I didn't back the campaign.

The Toolkit is a really well done set of options for your Fate campaign, but more importantly the toolkit talks about why Fate Core was built the way it was, and what changing certain parts of the system will do to the overall experience.

I don't often use the modifications suggested, but reading the toolkit helped me understand Fate itself and how tight the design is.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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Fate System Toolkit
Publisher: Evil Hat Productions, LLC
by Matt P. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 11/07/2014 12:15:41

Loving it so far! Provides great ideas for making your game your own and fitting your chosen setting.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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Fate System Toolkit
Publisher: Evil Hat Productions, LLC
by Drew N. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 09/24/2014 09:25:05

Loads of good ideas for creating custom FATE mechanics and settings.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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Fate System Toolkit
Publisher: Evil Hat Productions, LLC
by Paul M. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 01/18/2014 19:19:07

If you use Fate Core, get this book. It has enough information on different ways to hack the system that even if you weren't looking for additional ideas, once reading it you will want to use something out of the book. Since I didn't get my original copy of the Fate Core system book from DriveThruRPG, I'm unable to review it here, but needless to say after getting the core book, Strands of Fate, Powers of Fate, and the System Toolkit I believe there isn't any genre I couldn't emulate using Fate. Two things that really caught my eye in the Toolkit were the rules for dueling and the chapter on portraying horror using Fate. I had been looking for a way to bring Cthulhu-like horror to my Fate games, and with the above-mentioned chapter and one of the magic systems described, I had exactly what I needed. And the chapter on playing out one-on-one duels was one of those things I didn't know I needed until I read it. Seriously, with pay-what-you-want, how could you go wrong?



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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Fate System Toolkit
Publisher: Evil Hat Productions, LLC
by Travis D. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 12/02/2013 00:00:00

Even though these are "optional" rules, I think the FST is essential reading for anyone who wants to GM Fate. It gives great guidelines and shows just how flexible the system is. There is a large section on magic systems that could be hacked into almost any game as well as ideas for using classic fantasy races and classes in a game of Fate. I particularly liked the mass combat rules and am looking for a chance to try them out.

The one thing I would have liked a little more attention to is super powers: handling some of the more outlandish ideas players come up with can be difficult mechanics-wise, even though narrative is the focus of Fate.

Overall, this book is a great addition to the other recent Core books.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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Fate System Toolkit
Publisher: Evil Hat Productions, LLC
by Jaime s. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 11/15/2013 03:21:51

The toolkit is everything I hoped it would be. Having troubles coming up with ways to make the Core system fit your dream setting? Look no further than this. The explanations are clear and the examples are fantastic places to start building your own system - heck, some of the examples can be used 'right out of the box' even. My only complaint is that having the PDF makes me want to have the physical copy all the more! Completely worth it!



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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Fate System Toolkit
Publisher: Evil Hat Productions, LLC
by Eon F. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 11/05/2013 16:36:18

If you're going to get Fate Core (and you should, because it's great), then the System Toolkit is a total must-have. It's an extended version of the "Extras" chapter from Core, which means it's a big guide to hacking the game and getting what you want out of it. If it's just new rules you're after, there are rules in here for superpowers, mass combat, multiple magic systems and more. If you need guidance on writing up your own changes, this book will guide you through it. It thoroughly explains how to write up Skills and Stunts, and how to modify everything from Stress Tracks to Aspects to Zones in combat- not just how to do it, but what effect your changes will have, so you can aim for a genre or style and hit the target. There's combat advice and new combat rules, like dueling and kung fu styles... the list just goes on and on. It's a slim volume but it's just packed with really inspiring stuff.

Bottom line: the Fate System Toolkit is absolutely a core book for this system, in my opinion. After reading it, you'll feel comfortable building whatever your campaign needs with confidence.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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Fate System Toolkit
Publisher: Evil Hat Productions, LLC
by Anders S. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 10/29/2013 09:50:09

One of the neatest trends in gaming at the moment, in my opinion, is the trend for open systems and the sharing of the tools and best practices for using those systems to do just what you want. Within that genre, the Fate Systems Toolkit is one of the pinnacles of the form. The amount of well thought-out useful content, ranging from an assortment of magic systems to discussions of just what dials are there in Fate to tune to produce just the experience you want, would be worth a $10 PDF price tag, but they've gone above and beyond and given it to us at 'pay what you want'.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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