Compelling Aspects

Compelling Aspects

 * An aspect  can also allow you to gain more fate points by bringing complications and troubling circumstances into your character’s life. When this occurs, it is referred to as compelling the aspect. Usually, a compel focuses on only one aspect, but, in certain rare situations, more than one might be compelled for a larger payout. The GM often initiates compels. When she compels one of your aspects, she’s indicating that your character is in a position where the aspect could create a problem or a difficult choice. However, you can also cause the GM to compel another character’s aspects with a similar rationale and results


 * Sometimes, compels even happen by “accident” when a player plays his character’s aspects to the hilt and gets into complicated circumstances without any nudging. When you are the target of a compel, you may negotiate the terms of the compel a bit, just to make sure that the outcome doesn’t violate your character concept or create a similarly undesirable effect. Once the terms are set, you have a choice: spend a fate point and ignore the aspect, or accept the complications and limitations on your character’s choices and receive a fate point. When you accept the fate point, the aspect is officially compelled.


 * There are a few ways an aspect can complicate a character’s life via compels: it limits the responses available to a character in a certain situation, it introduces unintended complications into a scene, or it provides the inspiration for a plot development or a scene hook for that character.







Limitations

 * An aspect may limit actions and choices. If your character would normally have a number of choices in a particular situation and acting in accordance with his aspect is going to make more trouble for the character and limit those choices, that’s grounds to compel the aspect. It’s important to note that an aspect may dictate the type of action when compelled this way, but it usually won’t dictate the precise action, which is always the player’s decision. In this way, compelling the aspect highlights the difficulty of the choices at hand by placing limits on those choices, using the idea of the aspect to define (or at least suggest) those limits.



Complications

 * An aspect may also complicate a situation, rather than directly limiting your character’s choices. If everything would be going along normally and the aspect makes things more difficult or introduces an unexpected twist, that’s grounds for a compel. In some cases, complications may suggest that certain consequences are mandated, such as failing at a particular action without a skill roll—perhaps your character would succeed at a defense roll against a Deceit action, but his Gullible aspect is compelled, forcing a failure if you accept.



GM-Driven Compels

 * Some compels are used to directly drive the story in one way or another and, as such, are really the province of the GM. A good GM will want to use the aspects of the PCs to create adventures and provide the basis for scenes.


 * This means that sometimes an aspect may add a complication “off screen,” such as when the GM decides to use a character’s personal nemesis as the villain for a session or to give the character an unpleasant responsibility or assignment. She might also use a character’s aspect to justify a particular “hook” for a future scene. When this happens, it counts as a compel. GMs should not rely on a player’s particular response to this kind of compel to drive a plot— remember, the purpose of a compel is to create drama, not force people into things. Keep in mind that a player can always negotiate the terms of a compel—he might have an even better idea for a dramatic way to start a scene or move the story along.


 * Sometimes, it may seem as though there is no practical way to buy out of a “scene starter” compel. Suppose you have the aspect My Dear Brother, and the GM proposes a compel with, “Hey, so you find your brother beaten to a pulp and left on your doorstep, with a note that says ‘Now we know where you live’ on it.” It would be pretty lame to spend a fate point and suggest that it doesn’t even happen. Keep in mind, though, that when you buy out of a compel, what you’re really buying out of is the potential complication that could arise from what’s proposed. You’re giving yourself the option of a response that’s not as dramatic. So you don’t have to say, “No, my brother doesn’t show up on my doorstep.” You might say, “Man, I’ve got a lot going on right now in this story…look, here’s a fate point, and let’s sayI call an ambulance and just get him to the hospital.”


 * (What about just delaying the arrival of the wounded brother for a scene or two? Either you buy out of the complication or you don’t. If the complication’s going to happen and you want to do another scene first, that’s a thing for the group to negotiate  over—see below—but it doesn’t get into the actual mechanics of refusing a compel.)

Say Yes, Roll the Dice, or Compel

 * You may have gathered this already, but just to be clear, there’s a chance that a compel could happen any time you might otherwise pick up the dice. Usually, when you as a player want to try to do something, the GM will have you roll dice if she has an interesting idea of what might happen if you fail. If she doesn’t, there’s really no reason to roll at all. But, if there’s a good opportunity for your action to complicate things, she might “trade in” the dice roll in favor of making up something that’s interesting and engaging. This is great stuff to make dramatic moments with, and it’s definitely something you can use as well—as long as you’re willing to deal with the potential complications, you might be able to succeed at an immediate task in exchange for future problems. For example, Harry’s aspect of The Building Was on Fire and It Wasn’t My Fault is something he could point at and say “How about I blast through this wall and escape my attackers, but the place catches on fire and starts to collapse?” The GM might say, “Okay, but you’re going to get picked up by the cops because someone spots you leaving the scene,” and accept that as a worthy compel, handing Harry a fate point without the dice ever getting involved. There’s no need to roll and see how the spellcasting went since its success and nasty fallout has already been stipulated as a consequence of the compel. Situations like this can really help inspire players to get involved in the evolving story.



Negotiating a Compel

 * In play, players and the GM can both initiate compels. When the GM initiates a compel, the process is very simple. The GM remarks that the aspect might be appropriate here and offers you a fate point. Of course, in a perfect world, the GM would always be aware of all aspects and always know when they should be compelled and rewarded. In practice, the GM is keeping track of a lot of stuff and may not realize that you have an aspect that is appropriate to the situation.


 * When this happens, you should feel free to capture the GM’s attention and point to the appropriate aspect, holding up a fate point and raising your eyebrows or giving some other signal to indicate you thinks it’s time for a compel.


 * When you call attention to one of your character’s aspects, it may be as formal as “I think my Green Eyes of Jealousy aspect applies here,” or it may be conversational, like, “Boy, that guy talking to my girl is pretty suave, as I watch them with my Green Eyes of Jealousy” (brandishing a fate point). There’s no one way to do it and groups are encouraged to fall into whatever pattern is most comfortable for them. After a player or the GM suggests a compel, the immediate next step is to negotiate over the terms. Usually, the person who suggests the compel has an idea in mind already, but that doesn’t mean things are set in stone. Remember: compels are supposed to make things more dramatic and interesting, not force people into boxes. So, you should feel free to offer a suitably dramatic counter-proposal if you feel it’d be more in keeping with your character, suggest alternate details, and so on. Likewise, GMs should feel free to turn up the heat on a player who’s proposing a weak compel.



What's a Weak Compel?

 * When judging whether or not a compel is“worthy,” the primary thing to look for is whether the outcome provides a palpable sense of consequence to the character and/or the story. If the outcome isn’t going to create something that’s going to matter much in the grand scheme of things, then it probably isn’t enough to work as a compel. Making a compel more worthy might mean that the GM changes the circumstances of a conflict to be less advantageous to a character; it might mean that the session suddenly takes a stunning new direction plotwise; or it might mean that the character has an additional problem to deal with that he didn’t before. As long as it’s an effect you can feel in play, it’s probably good enough.



Compelling Multiple Aspects

 * Occasionally, a situation will come up in play that seems to be relevant to more than one of your character’s aspects. This should not be seen as a problem—rather, it’s an opportunity for high drama.


 * When a situation is complicated enough to involve more than one aspect, then all the aspects are subject to a compel. You must decide how to deal with this—after negotiating, you can take every compel for a large payout, or take only a certain number and then buy out of the rest. This might mean that you ultimately break even on fate point gain, but that’s okay—it still shows your character’s priorities in a dramatic moment, which is a successful compel. Keep in mind that there should be a clear complication or limitation offered by each aspect; one complication that references two aspects shouldn’t give you two fate points unless it’s a really, really big deal. And if that’s the case, you might want to consider the optional escalation rule instead.