Over the next nine days, we’re going to be putting the finishing touches on our next Kickstarter project: Fate Core!
With this project, we’re trying something new with Kickstarter. With an intentionally long project run-time, we’ll be working with you — our fans and (hopefully) backers — to ensure that the version of Fate that we release at the far end is polished and tested to the highest possible standard: your standard.
Once the project launches in early December, on the first day, backers will get access to download an early, full-content, no-art, laid out preview copy of Fate Core. Over the course of the project’s 60 days, we’ll be listening to backers’ reading and playtesting feedback to refine Fate Core even further.
In the interest of seeking your feedback, we’re giving you an early look at what the Kickstarter page will look like. This is a work in progress! The video is not 100% complete, and we may tweak the price points, goal amounts, reward structure, and more prior to our early December launch. But we’d love you to take a look and let us know what you think — especially if it seems like something important is missing.
You may want to know what will happen with Fate Core after the campaign. Here’s the short version: Once all the art is done, the layout, index, and table of contents finalized, the PDF will be released to the general public on a pay-what-you-like pricing scheme (including free), and a softcover print edition will be made available for sale through our usual distribution and direct sale channels as well. Upon that publication, we will release 100% of its text content under the Open Gaming License as well, in SRD form. At the latest, we expect all of that to happen by the beginning of Spring 2013. (There’s nothing preventing third party publishers from starting their design efforts based on Fate Core prior to that release date, it just won’t be legal to publish that work incorporating the Fate Core text until we’ve published Fate Core ourselves.)
If you’d like to stay abreast of our projects on kickstarter, check out our profile page as well.
Looking forward to hearing from you about our plans — and thanks!
Target’s December 4th. (I may have been too subtle with the implicit math in the original post!)
Aha! Good to know. (I think you were!
)
I like your setup for this kickstarter. It’s got a very clean set of reward levels. I’ve seen too many kickstarters that have 20+ levels and it gets confusing (or at least annoying) to try to sort out what each one provides.
I’m definitely looking forward to this starting.
Yeah, we’re trying to keep this simple. The big question is: too simple? Without much in the way of upgrade paths, we’re going to have to rely heavily on getting large numbers of backers rather than a mix of many backers + high-rollers.
SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY!
However, I hope you’ll change the cover image. Ok, it’s quite pulp, but a Core system shouldn’t be pulp-standardized.
Something more “plain” could be nice. Like the old True20:
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XLhwwRt51Fo/T-CA9pWLRZI/AAAAAAAAG04/l053aEPRNEU/s1600/true20zf.jpg
Finally, that cyber-gorilla-with-pink-karategi is so ugly that it cannot be looked at… XD
I’m sorry about the difference of opinion we have here. A character from an urban fantasy/hong kong actioner, a post-apocalyptic kung fu cyber-ape, and a low-fantasy queen-of-the-sword type don’t strike me as relentlessly pulp at all. The old True20 kinda bores me.
I like the cover, especially the gorilla – it almost wouldn’t be an Evil Hat product without one.
Seriously, though, I’m a lot more excited about this than I thought I was going to be – it helps that the revealed stretch goals all sound amazing!
I’m really looking forward to this! FATE has become one of my favorite game systems of all time. It’s easy to pick up and play but allows so much depth in characters and storytelling – rather than wrapping itself around the axle with rules for everything and a million exceptions to those rules.
Will rules be included for super powers? I would actually like to see MORE characters on the cover.
Fate Core’s “Extras” chapter will talk about how to extend the base system for a variety of things. Superpowers won’t come pre-built, but you likely won’t have to wait long for those: one of the planned but not yet announced stretch goals will include a supers-ish setting, and then of course there’s the upcoming Atomic Robo RPG.
I know your up to your literal and proverbial eyeballs in fate core and Atomic Robo rpgs. I was wondering though if there are plans to make any supplementary material for the DFRPG? Also, I just watched a Q&A that Priscilla uploaded to youtube(if you see her please hug her for me for the upload) wherein Jim gave some tidbits about his steampunk series that he is working on and have you already spoken with him about an adaptation of that?
Justin, read the “State of the Hat” post on this site that came a bit before this one — it’ll answer at least some of your questions.
Thanks Fred
. Personally answering questions and the qaulity products Evil Hat puts out is what makes this company my favorite game company.
I very much look forward to this.
Would you perhaps elucidate on any differences in Core Fate from the Dresden version? I am interested to know if there are any dissimilarities or any new ways of doing things such as magic or super strength & such.
Robert, the differences are longer than a short blog comment. There are a bunch of dissimilarities. Dresden is essentially apex Fate 3.0; Fate Core is a new overhaul. Come December 4th, you’ll see what we mean.
I am in.
My hope is that what is being offered will enable a player to play ANY genre with rules to back up any genre including supers, cybernetics, fantasy races, and a few magic systems as well. These won’t, of course, be at the exclusion of all OTHER ways of doing this but the core book should be the one stop shop for the basics and then future supplements should expand and offer variants on these.
I am hopeful and want to tank you for undertaking such a herculean task, sir!
Thank you again for all your hard work!
The tools to extrapolate and build those things should be there, but in the interests of making sure that Fate Core is *core* stuff (and not hundreds more pages of genre specific prebuilds), most “prebuilt” stuff will live in the various expansions and such that you’ll see play out through the stretch goal expansions. There’s a reason that a Magic System Toolkit is one of the first ones.
The Extras chapter is there to provide folks guidelines for how to build.
Yep. The Extras chapter is very broad-ranging, and provides a lot of genre-crossing examples.
A friend was just asking me last night if the was a generic FATE book.
Essentially yes, tho “generic” sometimes implies things that might not apply here.
Any projection on how many pages there will be?
Word target was around 80,000, I think. It’s looking like in the 6×9 format that’ll produce around a 300 page book.
Mr Hicks, I am very much looking forward to this. I have great expectations and hopes regarding the FATE core and I am sure, judging from previous excursions in FATE, that I will be richly rewarded. Thank you so much and I look forward to 12/4/2012.
I’m looking forward to this! It’s long overdue. Though I will concur with Lord Lance about the ape. I’m all good with apes, but that colouring is just horrid. Put him in a less god awful colour!
I just wanted to let the Evil Hat folks know that I appreciate the work y’all are putting forth on a product that will (in one version) be available free. Not a lot of companies would do that.
I due time, I’ll appreciate it with cash. But, I didn’t want to wait to say something.
Fred, looking forward to the kickstarter launch this week. Quick question, will it be possible to get some of the Expansions in print? Or possibly a hardcover of the Core book? When buying print copies, I’m usually willing to go for a bit more to get the sturdier version of a book.
We’re looking into our options for all those questions. They won’t be resolved prior to launch, but since we’ve got a long run time on this Kickstarter, I think we’ll have some answers for backers during the campaign.
I saw the new graphic for downloading the game and thought you started a day early. I was all set to jump on it.
Still am, if you wanted to launch early.
It’ll at least be Tuesday on the East Coast before this thing launches. Just making sure the ducks are lined up.
It is a beautiful looking Kickstarter. Something to be emulated for the future projects of others, for sure.
Forget east coast! It is Monday, 10 pm here in Europe!
BTW: The day when you wrote that “Fate Core is done – as far as editing the text goes”, I was thinking exactly how you should forget graphics and layout and how great it would be if I can use it for my next RPG campaign. And now I only think that mind reading should be banned or something
.
Thanks for your great work!
Will you have an option for epub or kindle e-reader support like ? I have some trouble reading a long time with any tablet, so a e-reader file would be much appreciated.
Likely not during the kickstarter campaign, but it’s a possibility (might be a stretch goal since conversion isn’t a no-cost effort, or might just decide to do it).
I would have liked to see a review option for the rewards aimed at Fate developers. Maybe as an alternative to the $500 reward, you guys will read over and give a private review of a Fate implementation based on Fate Core. Not doing any actual work on it, just giving your opinion and letting the developer know where something might be broken.
Oh, reading most certainly is “actual work”. Believe me. Time investments are a big deal, regardless of whether there’s an actual end product.
Interesting idea, though. I’ll ponder.
It seemed like a natural extension, since reading through some of the Fate developer’s blogs suggests that they read the other implementations anyway.
Don’t ponder too long, though, I’m itching to take a look at what you guys have done.
Hey Fred,
Have you considered offering the dice you have as $15 perks? Like if you by a book, you can add $15 to any order for an extra set of disc or such?
Robert, that wouldn’t work with the limited inventory I have — an ad-hoc upgrade option on every tier as opposed to just the limited-supply tiers would run the risk of more people pledging for dice than I can actually supply … and I wouldn’t be wise to it until after the Kickstarter wrapped and the payments lock in (b/c it’s the sort of thing that would be revealed only through the post-campaign surveys).
I don’t think I’ve ever been as eager to give upcoming MMOs my money as I am with Fate Core. I just discovered Fate earlier this year and since I have I’ve seen how it has inspired many other games I’ve played, and loved, in recent years.
Looking forward to this like I was looking forward to SWTOR (hopefully Fate Core will be much, much less of a disappointment).
by the way, it’s Dec. 4th in half the world now.
Much less of a disappointment? So still a disappointment?
Stay tuned. If I get the downloadable draft handed over to me before I go to sleep, and it’s past midnight here, y’never know…
I certainly hope it’s not a disappointment.
Shut up and take my money!
^ I wish I could “Like” posts here.
So, so very sad…
I found out about the kickstarter about an hour after it finished. Had never heard of the FATE system till reading a posting on Twitter about the FATE Core kickstarter. Checked it out after I got to work and it was over.
Sorry to hear it. :-/ We ran it through nearly all of December and nearly all of January — 57 days — so folks would have plenty of time to discover it.