Evil Hat Productions Fate Freeport Companion

The  FATE  roleplaying system does a lot of things exceptionally well. The philosophy behind this system says that while roleplaying may have evolved from 1970s tabletop miniatures wargaming, roleplaying rules shouldn't always play like a Napoleonic battlegame with roleplaying elements grafted on. FATE's ethic eschews crunchy, one-hex-on-the-battle-mat-equals-five-feet wargaming rules in favor of a quick, easy system which focuses on how the players' actions impact overall story and plot. It's a radical departure from first- and second-generation roleplaying games, but it's an approach which holds a lot of appeal for me personally-- even if it might not be for everyone. Your mileage may vary.The  Fate Freeport Companion  takes this approach and re-skins it, appropriating many of the tropes of old-school roleplaying games while strictly adhering to FATE's indie gaming philosophy. The end result is a "Dungeons and Dragons with the serial numbers filed off" version of FATE set in Green Ronin's popular  Freeport  setting for D&D.I really like the way that FATE Freeport captures all of the essential cliches of the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying experience, while simultaneously shedding Dungeons & Dragons's crunchier rules system. If you're somebody who thinks of roleplaying as a shared storytelling experience-- instead of thinking of it purely as a game-- you'll probably enjoy Fate Freeport, too-- especially if you have the same fond memories of Dungeons and Dragons that I have without being particularly enamored of the Dungeons & Dragons rules system.FATE Freeport is definitely worth owning if you like story- and narrative-driven roleplaying games, but still have a fondness for the early days of old-school D&D. If you already enjoy FATE, Freeport is a must-have, because it's the most complete fantasy setting published for FATE so far.

The Fate Freeport Companion offers a great setting (who doesn't love a fantasy pirate theme?), however, the reworked skillset kind of limits the game somewhat. It seems like every other creature or NPC has a main stat that is great (+4 to rolls) or better for combat. This is countered by them not being able to take consequences like your character can, but it makes combat encounters pretty much a straight forward affair and the game is obviously based off a D20 type playstyle. D20 is great for what it is, a crunchy rule system for straight combat systems with little room for sway, however the Fate system is way more story focused and is about applying your characters strengths and weaknesses in unique ways. Combat and dice rolls are a very small part of the Fate Core experience and the Fate Freeport Companion seems to miss this concept. I still like the FFC because of the world, the characters, the ideas, and the overall concept and I can appreciate that Brian Engard and Clark Valentine were trying to combine these two systems in a way that made for a kind of 'common ground' feel, but it isn't freeform enough for one (Fate) and not rule specific enough for the other (D20).If a retread were attempted to remove the more crunchy elements and the system were to focus on the pure Fate aspects of the city and gaming sessions, I could easily recommend this as must have for a resource book for people wanting a fleshed out fantasy setting for Fate sessions. As it is right now though, I wouldn't recommend this book for Fate fans or D20 fans on the whole. If you are looking for settings for a Fate game, the Fate Worlds books are a better value in that they give you a setting, a general concept of what is going on, examples of characters, main players, etc. while leaving enough open for you to customize your gaming sessions and I feel they are much better values for your money and time. That said, I really do hope this setting is revisited and more refined for the Fate system because it is a very, very nice setting and I will still be pulling stuff out of it for my gaming sessions, but I would recommend newer players avoid this book because the skill change and combat heavy elements might turn you away from what Fate is all about.

i don't mind gritty settings, and this is most definitely that. not for younger kids, but adults, well, up to what you find exceptable. the only reason this is a 3 in rating, and almost a 2, is for one pic. a woman drawn, with her eyes missing, and evidently in severe trauma. not acceptable to me, for any reason. too reminiscent of 90's vampire: the masquerade module covers for me. i stress again, other than that one pic, it IS a gritty setting, you decide if its right for you and your groups. i tore that pic out, for my own feelings.

Been a gamer for many decades, and was looking for a good conversion between Fate Core and D&D, this product was the best I found , so if your looking to play D&D modules with the Fate Core system, I fully recommend this product, all skills run on the six standard abilities of D&D , so it is easy to convert monsters and NPCs as encounters for Fate Core . Magic is also easy to convert with this product, and Freeport has always been a favorite pirate fantasy city in my campaigns, the information on Freeport in the book is also very useful for the setting.

Fate is by far one of my favourite RPG systems.This version combined with my favourite RPG settings is fantastic. It captures Freeport the way I always wanted to play it.Used it to introduce a life long group of gaming buddies to Fate and it was a hit. Enough familiarity for them to recognise the tropes.This book along with the Pirate Guide to Freeport promises years of fun.

Fun fantasy setting for the Fate system cause who doesn't think pirate orcs are awesome. This is just the Fate conversion which is enough to play if you to make your own way through the setting. I recommend getting the Pirates Guide to Freeport which is a system neutral book which really fleshes out the setting.