FATE Condensed

Here is an interesting one. Evil Hat condensed FATE Core into a 50-page book to make the game easier to learn and play. The final version was released over on DriveThruRPG and I picked it up since FATE was a favorite around here. They made a couple changes under the hood too to speed play, as follows:

Interesting stuff, and I can see why they did this. FATE Accelerated was a great little game, but ultimately limited to six ability scores and a soft interpretation about "what covered what." A lot of my games saw "high flashy" characters glam-ing their way through adventures in a flashy-fest of trying to justify every action with one or two high ability scores. It was fun, but it didn't really have staying power.

FATE Core was where our games were and our thinking about the game, but the book itself was long winded and very hard to reference. For such a simple game, the book was huge, and what isn't said can sometimes be more impactful than what is.

This is a good development I feel. It keeps the game in my mind, shrinks the rules needed to play, and improves readability while maintaining builds and options. Your character's abilities and skills still matter. The game is for the most part the same. I need to read more on this and share thoughts.