[Fate v3] Fate Generic Campaign Framework

MapTool campaign files that encapsulate properties, tokens, and macros for a particular ruleset or game world. "Framework" is often abbreviated "FW".

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DrVesuvius
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Re: Fate 3.0 generic campaign framework

Post by DrVesuvius »

FigureFour wrote:Hey.
I'm curious about running Diaspora online, so I thought I'd check out your framework. However, it crashes every time I launch it. Something with the splash screen.

When I tried with the latest build I got an error message, and when I tried going back to the build used in the framework (76 I think) I don't get the message, but it still gives me a blank splash screen and no way to close it.

I'm running Ubuntu 10.10, just in case that makes a difference.
Sorry I didn't see this sooner, FF. That sounds a bit like a Java problem. Are you using the Sun Java or the OpenJDK that Ubuntu defaults to. The latter has been known to not play well with MapTool, and I think there are instructions here on the forums somewhere for removing it and replacing it with the Sun version.

If not, can you tell me what the error message said? Oh and what are your MapTool memory settings? If it's hanging on the splash screen it could be that your stack size is too low. Anything above 2MB ought to be enough.

Dr V

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DrVesuvius
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Re: Fate 3.0 generic campaign framework

Post by DrVesuvius »

Xanex Caligula wrote:Haven't had the chance to use this yet (life keeps interfering with game time) but I like it just from setting up the campaign in it. One thing that maybe I'm just over looking - when making a skill check, is there a way to input a modifier?
Nope. The design philosophy was to keep things as simple and streamlined as possible. Having a modifier dialogue pop up with every skill use would slow things down more than having players occasionally shift a result up or down the ladder a step or two, which isn't too taxing given the low numbers. Personally I think any benefit would be outweighed by the reduction in speed of play.

I know the prevailing culture here is for frameworks to be all-singing, all-dancing and manage every element of the game mechanics, but I prefer a faster, lighter minimalist approach

Dr V

Tsunami
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Re: Fate 3.0 generic campaign framework

Post by Tsunami »

Hi there.

I just started looking into VT's in general, and found the Maptools and this Fate Framework.
I haven't tested it yet, but from what i have seen here in the Thread it looks quite nice.

Ok, hopefully i don't sound to pushy now, because i really don't want to be :-)

I'd like to cast my vote for bumping the sotc style damage to the the top of the todo list. With that i could see my group actually using this in the future.
We are playing Dresden Files at the moment, and our GM would probably kill the idea of using this just because of this stress issue... Well, we'll see :-)

So, now i'll go and really check this thing out. More feedback to come, i promise.

Tsu

jiberg1
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Re: Fate 3.0 generic campaign framework

Post by jiberg1 »

hey
I have just finished reading Legend of Anglerre, and was impressed by the uniqueness of the system. How different is the basic framework of Fate 3.0, from the presentation of the rules in "Anglerre"? I like the idea of a simple framework to speed up game play. My experiences with VT's has been slow, but steady with a lot of technical difficulties. I am reading "Dresden" but I thought "Anglerre" knocked it out of the park with the concept of collaborative game world creation being codified in the rules. I have never used Map tools, but have played d20 pro, extensively. What kind of learning curve am I going to need to go through? Thanks!

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De Ahr
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Re: [Fate v3] Fate Generic Campaign Framework

Post by De Ahr »

Did you ever come up with support for dresden/spirit of the century boxes?

gremlin1384
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Re: [Fate v3] Fate Generic Campaign Framework

Post by gremlin1384 »

It looks like DrVesuvius has abandoned this project. I don't suppose anyone else has modified his(?) framework to work with Dresden Files-style stress tracks at any point, or be able to give me pointers on how to do that?

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Vhex
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Re: [Fate v3] Fate Generic Campaign Framework

Post by Vhex »

Disclaimer: I haven't looked at this framework at all and I have never played Dresden Files. But I think I can answer the question "how would one do this?"

I would think that if you wanted to add stress tracks, the easiest way to do it would be to add two properties to the character for each stress track. Dresden Files has 3 stress tracks: Physical, Mental, Social. Each of these would be add properties on the character like so:
StressPhysicalMax
StressPhysicalCur
StressMentalMax
StressMentalCur
StressSocialMax
StressSocialCur

Once you have those, then you would use a number from 1-8 when setting up your character's "Max" stress track. The example given in the book is that everyone starts with 2, so when setting up a character, you would default those to 2. Endurance adds to Physical Stress capability, so you would add 1 to that character. Going by the stat sheet on page 202 of Your Story, at the start of play Evan Montrose would look like this:
StressPhysicalMax 3
StressPhysicalCur 0
StressMentalMax 4
StressMentalCur 0
StressSocialMax 3
StressSocialCur 0

So, that shows that he has 3 bubbles available in the Physical Stress track, 4 in the Mental, and 3 in the Social. The 0s just mean "has not taken a hit to those." The math in Dresden files is interesting in that you mark off one bubble for the number you hit and then "roll up" to the next one. So, when you roll a hit vs Evan's fudge dice and come up with a positive number (Evan takes a hit) then you need to add that to his current stress level. Assume you're in combat and you apply a Physical hit of "3" (still using the example in the book) then you add "+3" to "StressPhysicalCur" so that it looks like:
StressPhysicalMax 3
StressPhysicalCur 3
StressMentalMax 4
StressMentalCur 0
StressSocialMax 3
StressSocialCur 0

Each time you receive a hit you add it to the appropriate StressXCur box. So if he got hit again it would be StressPhysicalCur + Y where Y is the hit amount. (If he got hit for 1 that box would look like "4"). The evaluation of this box would be done in your display and any other place where you want to. You could also probably change your Max numbers to be the sum of the amount that you have (3 would actually be 6 because you have 1+2+3) but I prefer to do that in the math so that the properties keep in looking like the character sheet.

On the display you would display it just similar the book since what matters is when the items "roll off" the edge. What that means in math terms is you have a box of hitpoints and you go away from those hitpoints. It is my understanding that, mechanically speaking, a hit for 2 and another hit for 2 is the same as a hit for 1 and then a hit for 3. However, they do LOOK different on the character sheet (the first would have boxes 2 & 3 filled, while the second would have boxes 1 & 3 filled). If this matters to you then the StressPhysicalCur becomes a listing of which hits have been taken in comma format ("0,2,2" or "0,1,3") and to display, you'll evaluate that as an array.

The rest is done in the math for display and any time that you want to handle an evaluation. For that you would just follow the rules in the book.

Mizpah
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Re: [Fate v3] Fate Generic Campaign Framework

Post by Mizpah »

Hi Folks,

I am going to be running (first time as a Gm! eek) a Dresden RPG game using maptools this coming Saturday - I have already created the city, the characters etc -and am now looking at how to translate all of this into maptools (I have used rumbles framework before for DnD).

Has anyone here used this fate framework for dresden ? I can see that I need to add some tracks, and that the damage is currently an issue (i.e. just tick the third box, not 1,2 and 3) - Is the campaign attached in the opening post b76-095 the latest one before I start trying to work out what I need to do with it ?

Has anyone already made any Dresden related changes ?

Mizpah
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Re: [Fate v3] Fate Generic Campaign Framework

Post by Mizpah »

Well I am now trying to create an update - however to do so I am going to need to teach myself some new things about maptools. Lets see how much I can get done in one night - I am posting here both to see if I can get any pointers, to frame my thoughts, and to create a reference for anyone else after I have managed any changes.
Here are the things I think I need to do:

  • Change the way the stress tracks work.

    Record a hit to (example) physical) by value - so if you take a hit of +2, tick the +2 box.
    If you then take a hit of +3, tick the +3 box. If you then take *another* hit of +3, go to the box, see that its full, so roll up to and mark the +4. If you deduct a point of stress, always deduct the highest one.


    This display is important, as you need to know which consequences are available to be taken.

    Given the logic expressed in a previous post, I should be able to use these values as they are expressed on the token:

    Code: Select all

    [{"Name":"Physical","Boxes":8,"Filled":7},{"Name":"Mental","Boxes":8,"Filled":5},{"Name":"Social","Boxes":8,"Filled":1}]
    In other words the values for Boxes and Filled for each track (Physical, Mental, Social).
  • Make the first aspect on a Player/NPC token a 'High Aspect', and the second a 'Trouble Aspect'. Display that on the token and character sheet, but otherwise function as a normal aspect. Display remaining aspects as 'phase' aspects.

    Change the character sheet so they are all prefixed - Where 'High' is one, 'Trouble' is two.
    Work out how to show the 1st value of the Aspects array on the character sheet (same for second).
    Create some display values to hold these items on the token.


    Done -

    I have used this to display the aspects prefixed on the token:

    Code: Select all

    [R: json.get(Aspects, 0)]
    I don't know how well the arrays will stay in order, I want to look into changing the key of the array to read
    High / Trouble / 1,2,3 etc and then calling by the key.


    As to also needing to showing the high/trouble/phase aspetrs differently on the sheet, I have done this:

    Code: Select all

    H: len = json.length(Aspects)]
          <table width ="100%">
            <tr>
              <td>
                <big>[R: macroLink("Aspects",  "EditAspects@Lib:FATE","none","", currentToken())]</big>
             </td>
            </tr>
    <!-- HIgh Concept -->
    <tr><td><b>High Concept: </b> [R: if(Current > 0, macroLink(json.get(Aspects, 0), "InvokeAspect@Lib:FATE", "all", json.get(Aspects, 0), currentToken()), json.get(Aspects, 0))]</td></tr>
    
    <!-- Trouble -->
    <tr><td><b>Trouble: </b> [R: if(Current > 0, macroLink(json.get(Aspects, 1), "InvokeAspect@Lib:FATE", "all", json.get(Aspects, 1), currentToken()), json.get(Aspects, 1))]</td></tr>
    
    <!-- Phases -->
         <tr><td>
         [for(i, 2, len, 1,"<br>"), CODE:{
                  <b>Phase: </b>[R: if(Current > 0, macroLink(json.get(Aspects, i), "InvokeAspect@Lib:FATE", "all", json.get(Aspects, i), currentToken()), json.get(Aspects, i))]
                } ]
         </td></tr>
    
    This seems to work fine although it looks a little messy - and I dont know if repeating the jsonm.get(var) so much will have an issue!
  • Put a toggle on aspect visibility - High and Trouble as 'on', and phase 'off' - by default

    Not seeing any ideas yet on how to set aspect visibility (per aspect)from the character sheet
  • Add powers (Supernatural Abilities) to the Character Sheet.

    Done! I have have set the sheet up to record power <b>effects</b> - and played with the html to try and make it cleaner. These run with an edit box, a chat output, and appear on the character sheet.

    Theres a lot of variation here - I am thinking (hoping) I can duplicate the way skills work!
  • Create an example token for a scene, with aspects on (that can be tagged), that have toggle states for visible/invisible for players

    I am thinking this would need to be a simple version of a PC Token - just aspects and visibility
  • Create a blank 'roll' macro for players to make there own macros (largely for powers).

    Done -

    Code: Select all

    [R: dice()]
    [H: Result = macro.return]
    [H: Result = if(Result > 8, 8, if(Result < -3, -3, Result))]
    This simply lets you roll, sets boundaries on the output, and gives you a variable to play with for if statements etc
  • Create a blank macro as a template for spellcasting

    need to check mechanics for best variant
  • Create 'refresh' macro for the GM - refresh all tokens up to the refresh level.
No idea yet how to do this!

The stress tracks looks like both the biggest, and the hardest thing I would need to do.

Mizpah
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Re: [Fate v3] Fate Generic Campaign Framework

Post by Mizpah »

Lets try to tidy this up a little. These are done:

Done:
  • Allow for explicit high, trouble and phase aspects
  • Always show high and trouble aspects on the token publically
  • Add powers (Supernatural Abilities) to the Character Sheet.
  • Create a blank 'roll' macro for players to make there own macros from (largely for powers and spellcasting).

ToDo:
  • Change the way the stress tracks work.
  • Put a toggle on aspect visibility - High and Trouble as 'on', and phase 'off' - by default
  • Create an example token for a scene, with aspects on (that can be tagged), that have toggle states for visible/invisible for players
  • Create 'refresh' macro for the GM - refresh all tokens up to the refresh level.

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