On Fri, 07 Feb 2003, Jonathan Moyer wrote:

> Are there any plans to include modern weaponry (firearms
> and such) in the Fate rules?

I suppose we always could, but in the end, with the
"dramatic weapons" option, using a gun in a knife fight
means "superior weaponry +1". Or if that doesn't sit right
you could add a stackable extra category of "superior
technology +1".

Going for the "simple weapons" option, guns would tend to
be a 3 or a 4. Getting into higher-level tech (sci fi) and
so on might expand the options beyond a 3 or a 4, but for
me, at least, it's not to my taste to boost the numbers
too much -- since "Taken Out" remains a MOS of only 7, you
just don't need the kinds of damage modifiers you may see
elsewhere to drop someone.

Once you go to the "advanced" stuff, yeah, you can design
whatever you want -- but I think, at least at the get-go,
our intention with that set of options was to provide
something a bit more palatable to the crunch types, even
if it wasn't entirely our bag. I think it'd be pretty easy
to model the effects of modern weaponry with the listed or
one or two new weapon 'abilities', if truly desired.

In the end, though, the driving question -- for me -- is
"what kind of effect on the dramatic telling of a fight
will the use of this weapon have?" -- and choose rules to
apply to it that make the most sense. Sure, modelling
reality to an extent is desirable, but Fudge (and Fate)
shines best, IMO, when being used to emulate a genre, a
particular kind of story telling, and as such, the "right"
way to address questions of representing new weaponry,
etc, is to start with the story and work your way back to
the weapon.

> I still think the damage system is neat :) . I'd like to
> apply it to things that it may not have been intended for.
> For example, if you were playing a swashbuckling game, you
> could unleash some witty insult.

Actually, the damage system is meant to be freely
adaptable to all sorts of things -- that's why it's not
really a damage system so much as a "degrees of success"
system, and you find us saying people can use it to do
disarming, maneuvering, and anything else that seems to
fit.

A duel of wits is definitely in keeping! So is a "presence
attack" of sorts, using Intimidation to shake your
opponent's confidence, or Seduction to distract, or... you
get the idea. Not all "wounds" are physical, but they can
have the same for-the-moment or for-the-scene effects as a
'Clipped' or 'Hurt' result might entail.

--
Fred Hicks <iago AT iago DOT net>