Fate – Do the Impossible

cinematic to me means slowing the game down because someone wants to play a different game than everyone else, this is precisely the reason Eric Hughes and I butted heads and why i was happy the do the impossible rule was gone

Sounds like you’ve had bad experiences, but the game itself is set up for this type of thing. You want to wrap your whip around the railing and swing across a balcony to knock someone out of the way? Spend a Fate Point. You want to put your shield up to block an attack against a nearby NPC you’re trying to save? Spend a Fate Point. You want to delve into your inner strength and find the words to a spell you’ve only read about to save your ally’s life? Spend a Fate Point.

There’s a difference between cinematic and “complete unrealism” and it sounds like you’ve dealt with the latter. Bringing in a long lost twin to take a hit is ridiculous. Throwing up your shield in the air to block the arrow shot? Cinematic and possible. Restricting the latter completely to avoid a few cases of the former is overkill and really smacks the RPer’s in the face.

Putting the final say in the GM’s hand explicitly will curtail the problem. If a GM would allow the ridiculousness mentioned by Pedro they will allow it even if the “Do the impossible” isn’t in the rules. It will only curtail those people who are playing the game and trying to shine as PC Heroes do.

John

You and I obviously (and not surprisingly) have different views, so I’m going to leave my opinions there and see what happens. Suffice to say I’m so tired of hearing “choices have consequences” banded about like some version of the bible as if it can end any debate. Guess the final choice is always whether to play this game or not in the end.

John

You want to wrap your whip around the railing and swing across a balcony to knock someone out of the way?
Use the Snatch Object Trick

You want to put your shield up to block an attack against a nearby NPC you’re trying to save?
Take Devoted defender, or the anshar spells

You want to delve into your inner strength and find the words to a spell you’ve only read about to save your ally’s life?
Take Leadership or Diminsh fatigue or Stablize

yeah I agree with you, this system is set up to do those things already, and choices have consequences, and having the right tools for the job or not being of the correct tier is a consequence

Josh

STORY actions have consequences…

nothing quite kills the “I’m an epic hero” like “you can’t do that because you don’t have the right talent”

there are moments that being a hero should be something beyond stats…

when you want to jump in front of that arrow/bullet

for the professional body guard it’s expected…

from the student of history, who sees greatness in a man who has a brighter future then himself… that’s heroic

When a man stands on a bridge to hold off raiders in the hopes of stopping the slaughter of innocents… and somehow stops the houses with a terrifying challenge

from the holy champion of Illiir.. expected

from the holy champion of Cadic.. heroic.

I think you may be looking at it as half empty…

those moments crafted by players, in a chance to become heroic.. come down to a die roll?… how anti-climatic is that

Arcanis is a shared story telling game with tactical elements, but still a story telling game

Remember the tagline “Tactical Combat, Story First Attitude”

except I think the

“Spend a Fate Chip to perform a desperate or cinematic act that has no associated rule but that is realistic for your character and the setting. The GM has final authority on what is and is not allowed.”

we now limited it to things that are done by the character (no twin popping up) and limited within the setting (a human with psionics for a round)

but still allows for the

“I swing across the room as I cut lose the chandelier”
“There is no chandelier in the box text”
“its a 60’x60′ there has to be one to light the place… fate point?”
“Ok.. the chandelier falls with a crash as you swing across the room”

coolness

sooo the fact that all of these things already exist in the rules , but would take multiple fate points to do otherwise?

hu?