Has anyone played both Strands of Fate & Dresden Files? It seems like there are a lot of FATE systems out there, & I got the newest one, but something about Dresden looks cool. What does it do differently from Strands of Fate? DO you prefer one or the other, & if so, which one & why?
THanks. Please help me decide whether to just buy them both or stick with SoF!
Personally, I like having the ability to use one system for any setting (not always possible though, which is alright). But Dresden's pretty pages.. & cool magics, as far as I can tell (& the character sheets look pretty amazing) look great. However, I am an outsider to the Dresden world & likely always will be; I just want an awesome system.
Let me know what you think. I have SoF but am curious about its brother, DF. haha
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Strands of FATE is certainly popular at the momemt, but it is actually quite a different off shoot of regular FATE as seen in products like Dresden Files, Spirit of the Century, Starblazer Adventures, Legends of Anglerre, Diaspora and Bulldogs!
I have a copy of SoF but haven't fully read it - despite me absolutely loving FATE, SoF just doesn't grab me, it seems to get rid of some of the stuff like about FATE and add back some of the stuff I am glad FATE ditched (the Ability vs Skill split for example).
IMHO SoF is as different to regular FATE as Icons is, and the developers of Icons don't consider it a FATE game, just FATE inspired.
If you want to check out how regular FATE works in games like SotC and Dresden you can check out Free FATE that I put together (Dresden changes some things but it more similar than DResden is to SoF):
http://www.ukroleplayers.com/downloads/free-fate/
If you are looking for an interesting and flavourful magic system, then Dresden Files might offer you more than SoF. I own both, and have yet to play either. SoF seems much more like a traditional rpg because of its use of ability scores. Other FATE games like Dresden Files do away with those, although there are certain skills that can stand in somewhat for traditional attributes (like Might, Endurance, Discipline, Academics etc.).
Thank you both so much for your responses.
Would the Dresden Files system work if the setting was changed from an urban modern day fantasy type, to say a medieval one. Or a bronze age one. etc etc.. I find Strands of Fate (though it will take me a week or so to actually read the entire rulebook) feels like you can use it any setting & I like that. But what you said about the magic system in Dresden - since I haven noticed some differences now after reading many reviews - sounds appealing.
Is it very setting specific?
I had personally been in a dilemma where I basically wanted to use FATE to run a D&D style game, so I picked up the pdfs for Dresden Files, Strands of FATE and Legends of Anglerre. Personally, I find the magic system from Dresden Files to be most evocative and interesting, and I think that it could be transferred easily enough to a more traditional fantasy setting. Strands of Fate is a lot more like mutants and masterminds, in that it gives you a bunch of broad powers and add ons for those powers, which you can use as a toolkit to build more specific spells and powers for your character. However, it requires some effort and a gm to montior so that they don't unbalance the game too much.
Thank you that helps tons!
I noticed the feeling when I was going through SoF. I like how its done (though I've already homebrewed a few things - like Resources. In my games, it's factored on a character by character basis, having nothing to detract from the points they spend on their actual character.)
But it looks like I'll also be purchasing Dresden. The character sheets look much better also. (Not from a design standpoint, purely, but what is ON them)
Now if only Grey Ghost or.. ANYONE .. was making purple Fudge dice! or pink haha
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Now if only Grey Ghost or.. ANYONE .. was making purple Fudge dice!
That'd certainly make my fiance's day, heh - there's no dice like purple dice, as far as she's concerned. ;-)
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I bet Mateusz and the gang at Q-Workshop would make you some pink or purple fudge dice! Though...you'd have to fork out the cash pretty hard. But it IS possible...just sayin :-)