Tactical Aspects: An Actual Play Example
In a recent playtest session, the PCs were in a conflict with an anarchist bomb maker and a dozen hired thugs, broken into three mobs of 4 thugs each. The map was divided into a few zones, with the enemies two or three zones from the PCs to start.
Several PCs rushed to close with the bomber to start. The bomber, fearing the heroes ganging up on him, ran to the next zone. The thugs' primary job was to keep the heroes off of him, so on their turn, the mobs each made a create an advantage action to place a Wall of Meat aspect on the border between the two zones with a total of three free invokes.
This aspect became a barrier to the PCs if they tried to cross into the next zone. They would have to roll an overcome action to move, and the thugs could provide active opposition. One PC tried to pass the wall, and the thugs put up considerable resistance, thanks to the ability to stack multiple free invokes (p. 70 of Fate Core). She managed to succeed through an invoke of her own and pushed past the thugs to engage the bomber.
The remaining heroes realized how much the Wall of Meat would hold them back. They decided the easiest thing to do would be to remove the aspect, and the easiest way to do that would be to take out the thugs. Normally, you need to make an overcome action to remove a situation aspect, but situation aspects only stay in play as long as they make sense. If the thugs run off, they can't present organized resistance and the aspect would disappear. A few well-placed attacks later, and no more Wall of Meat.
Meanwhile, the bomber had readied a massive pipe bomb. I represented this as a create an advantage action that resulted in The Big One with two free invokes. A PC, fearing the massive damage this bomb could do, smacked the bomb out of his hand (an overcome action to remove the aspect). She beat the bomber's opposition, and the bomb went sailing end over end and fizzled out in a snow bank.
This was one of the more tactical conflicts I've run in Fate, all thanks to a few aspects and some clever thinking by the players.
Several PCs rushed to close with the bomber to start. The bomber, fearing the heroes ganging up on him, ran to the next zone. The thugs' primary job was to keep the heroes off of him, so on their turn, the mobs each made a create an advantage action to place a Wall of Meat aspect on the border between the two zones with a total of three free invokes.
This aspect became a barrier to the PCs if they tried to cross into the next zone. They would have to roll an overcome action to move, and the thugs could provide active opposition. One PC tried to pass the wall, and the thugs put up considerable resistance, thanks to the ability to stack multiple free invokes (p. 70 of Fate Core). She managed to succeed through an invoke of her own and pushed past the thugs to engage the bomber.
The remaining heroes realized how much the Wall of Meat would hold them back. They decided the easiest thing to do would be to remove the aspect, and the easiest way to do that would be to take out the thugs. Normally, you need to make an overcome action to remove a situation aspect, but situation aspects only stay in play as long as they make sense. If the thugs run off, they can't present organized resistance and the aspect would disappear. A few well-placed attacks later, and no more Wall of Meat.
Meanwhile, the bomber had readied a massive pipe bomb. I represented this as a create an advantage action that resulted in The Big One with two free invokes. A PC, fearing the massive damage this bomb could do, smacked the bomb out of his hand (an overcome action to remove the aspect). She beat the bomber's opposition, and the bomb went sailing end over end and fizzled out in a snow bank.
This was one of the more tactical conflicts I've run in Fate, all thanks to a few aspects and some clever thinking by the players.
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