About The Fate Codex

by Mark Diaz Truman

Whew! The summer months are busy at Magpie HQ: Origins in June, followed by GenCon in late July/early August, and just a brief rest before the fall con season starts in September. Barely enough time for us to put together this issue of The Fate Codex!

This month’s issue features two articles that dig deep into some of the building blocks of Fate Core in ways that I think are unique to a publication like The Fate Codex. Travis Scott’s piece on skills in Fate Core—Under the Hood—takes a look at how skills actually work at the table, drawing on Travis’s lengthy experience running Fate for gamers at conventions and his home table; Mike Olson’s Stunts Are Cool explores stunts from a designer’s perspective, giving players and GMs new ways to think about how stunts can fit together to produce interesting results. I love both these pieces because they’ve emerged out of the longer-term ecosystem of Fate. Neither could have been written the day Fate Core came out!

At the same time, I’m also proud to present a few pieces from up-and-coming Fate Core designers who are taking Fate in brand new directions. Tara Zuber, claiming the “most frequent contributor” spot with her third piece forThe Fate Codex, has some tips on using flashbacks in Fate, while Jon Peacock has a new Quick Start that mixes Fate Core skills and Fate Accelerated approaches to create two different levels of characters fighting over the future of a haunted family. Neat stuff! Keep an eye on both these folks; I think they are both poised to do great Fate work in the future.

As for Magpie HQ, we’re halfway through the year and still marching forward. We’re shooting for three to four more issues this year, all packed with cool Fate stuff. Thank you for helping make The Fate Codex a reality!

Editor in Chief

Mark Diaz Truman