FATE (role-playing Game System) - Differences Between FUDGE and FATE

Differences Between FUDGE and FATE

While FATE uses FUDGE's verbal scale and Fudge dice, it does not use the standard FUDGE experience point mechanic, and has some more explicit character design conventions.

FATE breaks from many other role-playing games by eschewing the use of mandatory traits such as Strength and Intelligence. Instead, uses a long list of skills and assumes that every character is "average" in all skills except those that the character is explicitly defined as being good at. Exceptional abilities are defined through the use of Stunts and Aspects.

Stunts are exceptional abilities that grant the character a specific mechanical benefit; these may be drawn from a pre-defined list of stunts included in the rules, or created following guidelines provided by the authors. Aspects, on the other hand, are always defined by the player. For example, a player may choose to give their character an aspect of "Brawny" (or "Muscle Man" or "Wiry Strength"); during play, the player may invoke those aspects to gain a temporary bonus in a relevant situation. Aspects may also relate to a character's possessions, e.g. the character Indiana Jones for example, might have the Aspect "Whip and Fedora".

Aspects are an important and original concept in FATE. They are not intrinsically good or bad; they are simply descriptive, up to the level of detail the player requires. In addition to the obvious direct character help in most cases, the FATE system also provides a mechanism to reward the characters when one of their aspects has restricted their choices or landed them in some trouble.