WANDERING INN FATE ENGINE

FATE ACCELERATED

This game is based on the FATE Accelerated engine, which is fully accessible under the FATE SRD. The
game plays using all the normal rules of FATE Accelerated with a few exceptions, mainly that things have
been renamed.

• FATE and this game both call descriptors about characters "Aspects", however this game has
changed what aspects your characters get and what you start with.
• FATE Approaches have been renamed, although the collective term for them remains
Approaches. You start with less points to spend over your 6 Approaches than in FATE.
• FATE has "Stunts" which this game calls "Skills". Skills work in the same way as Stunts but are
more expansive, if a Skill is overpowered or not is a discussion for the person running your game.
Generally they still have the same effects, giving +2 or providing narrative permission to do
something cool.
• The person running the game may be called a DM (Dungeon Master), and GM (Game Master),
Storyteller, or any number of other terms. This book uses the term GD or Grand Design - the
system that makes the Wandering Inn Levels work!
• This game requires more dice!! FATE uses either a custom set of dice or 4d6, where two sides
have a -, two are blank, and two have a +. You can simulate this on a normal d6 by making 1/2 a
-, 3/4 a blank, and 5/6 a +. This game also needs a standard set of TTRPG dice; a d4, 6, 8, 10,
12, and 20. More click clack math rocks!!

All other rules in FATE Accelerated apply unless there is a more specific rule in this document, in which
case this one applies instead. If in doubt discuss with the table, games should remain fun for all involved
so this might mean compromise if the rules aren't clear.

CHARACTER OPTIONS

CHARACTER SHEET COMPONENTS

• Name
• High-concept
• Class(s)
• Trouble
• 2x Personal Aspects
• FATE Refresh
• Approaches
• Skills

HIGH CONCEPT

This should be a description of who your character is as a person, not what their class is or what they do.
For example someone may have the classes [Rogue] and [Assassin] but their High Concept could be "A
dark trickster out to make gold any way they can".
A good rule of thumb is to look at what's important to your character and to you, the player, to explore. If
your character's race is important to them or you then you might want to include it, similarly their gender
or sexuality. A "Turnscale with a grudge" could encompass a lot of who they are by suggesting they're;

• A drake
• Some flavour of LGBTQ+
• Angry at someone/something/the world
• Out to do something about it

Your High Concept should be a way of indicating to your GD what you want to explore as well.
Remember that aspects can be Invoked by you to gain +2 on a roll, but they can also be Compelled by
your GD to give you a complication where appropriate. In the above example if you didn't want to explore
your Drake's sexuality as part of the game then you probably wouldn't want to include it in their high
concept. This isn't saying it's not important to them or you - just that you don't want it to be something
that's regularly the focus of the plot.

High Concepts will change over time as well. People become like their classes, [Kings] become more
noble, [Beserkers] more angry. Every time you hit a milestone you can change your High Concept to fit
who your character is now.

CLASS

Your classes are the second most defining point about your character. Classes are always written with a
pair of square braces around them, like [Miner].

When you start the game you'll probably be picking what class(s) you have based on your backstory.
There are three tiers for how to determine what levels you start with. These can be distributed over a
number of classes however you want. It's recommended when you make characters either everyone rolls,
or everyone takes the set value. The set value keeps things more even so you all start on a level playing
field, rolling adds more randomness.

• Bronze Rank Start - Roll 2d10 (or take 10)

• Silver Rank Start - Roll 2d20 (or take 20)
• Gold Rank Start - Roll 3d20 (or take 30)
• Named Rank Start - Roll 5d20 (or take 50)

As you continue it's not so easy to gain a new class though! You can only gain a class in something after
you've done a relevant action, the action will also determine how much you level up in that class. This is
determined by your GD declaring when you've hit a milestone.

For example working in a restaurant for a while might get you the [Baker], [Amateur Cook], [Cook], or a
host of other related classes. Taking part in a siege to defend your village against rampaging Wyverns
could push you 5 or even 10 levels into a [Warrior] class, or a derivative.

When you do hit a milestone you can pick any new classes and discuss with your GD what you've done
that was relevant enough to that class that you can unlock it.

Remember that low level classes tend to be vague, you might be a [Warrior] or an [Archer], whereas
higher level classes are more specific and important sounding like [Spear Master] or [Bowman of Loss].
You'll get fancier names when you hit a Major Milestone which will let you class consolidate and rename
your classes.
Your Class aspect should reflect any classes you have and their level, so it might look like this: ""[Warrior]
lvl 5, [Chef] lvl 15, [Singer] lvl 2". You might want to keep a little note to the side about your total level (all
your classes combined), which is used later, but this isn't required as you'll only need it at milestones.

TEMPORARY OR SPECIAL CLASSES

There are a number of special classes, some of which are temporary, and others less so.

• Red Classes - These are horror classes, either gained by doing something considered depraved
and taboo (eating a body, specific crimes like murder), or by it being forced onto a person by a
figure in power such as being enslaved. Red classes cannot be declined or removed on their
own, some have conditions for removal and others require powerful individuals to break or
remove the class.
• Temporary Classes - These might be bestowed as part of a Quest or mission. Your GD may
bestow or remove them from your character as needed, although they can be declined. A
Temporary Class may be offered as a Compel, in which case declining it would cost a FATE
point (and you would gain a FATE point if you accepted).

TROUBLE

The next aspect is a flaw, something about a character that makes their life a little complicated. This can
really be a good chance to create some story points or trouble for your character later on. If you want an
arch nemesis that's always getting in your way your Trouble aspect might be "My rival, Damien, always
beats me to the goal".

Your trouble should be something that can be relied on to make things go wrong at the worst moment,
remember the more it's Compelled by the GD the more FATE points you'll have to spend on your own
Invokes and the more interesting complications your stories will have.

PERSONAL ASPECTS

These are other aspects about the character, and you don't get them to start with. Personal Aspects are
discovered through play as you start to realise what sort of place this character fills in the world, what
their quirks are, what they're really like. They're not as central as your High Concept but they help shape
who this person is. They might be things like "Is on a quest for the Lunar Sword", or "Can't resist a good
bit of gossip". They're not inherently good or bad, but having aspects that are a good mix of both lets you
keep things interesting.

You can have two Personal Aspects, which means your total count of aspects is at 5; your High Concept,
Class, Trouble, Personal Aspect One, and Personal Aspect Two. You can't normally have more than 5
aspects.

You unlock Personal Aspects at your first Major (one of them) or Significant (both of them) Milestone, and
you can change them at any subsequent Major or Significant milestone. If you have a second Major
Milestone and you have only one Personal Aspect unlocked you can choose to unlock the second or
rework the first.

FATE REFRESH
The FATE refresh value is how many FATE points you start each game with, as a minimum. As you
spend and gain FATE points throughout the game you might find yourself finishing a session with more
than your Refresh value - if so congrats! You start next session with the same number.

If you finish a game with less than your Refresh value you start the next game with your Refresh value
instead.

Your Refresh value is always equal to the total of all your class levels divided by ten, rounded down. To
put it another way every time you pass a milestone of 10 total class levels your Refresh increases by one
(at level 10, 20, 30, etc.). If your total class levels are less than 10 for any reason your Refresh value is 0.
You can still gain and spend FATE points, but if you run out you don't start the next session with any
either.

You can't ever go into negative FATE points - you can only spend one if you've got one. If you're finding
you never have enough you may need to look at your aspects or work with your GD so they can Compel
you more. Never feel afraid to suggest a complication to your GD in return for a FATE point! If they say no
you don't lose anything.

APPROACHES

Approaches are the base numbers for how good a character is at something. They are the base number
you add to a roll when determining of you succeed a check. They describe the broad ways a character
might overcome problems and how good they are at that sort of thing.

There are 6 Approaches and a character has a total of 5 points to spend over them all. One or two
Approaches can be placed at - 1 to allow an extra one or two points to spend on another Approach. No
Approach can be above +3 at character creation or raise above +5 at all through level ups.

The Approaches are:

• Might
• Speed
• Smarts
• Savvy
• Moxy
• Poise

There's no right or wrong answer as to what skill is being used in a specific situation. Instead think about
what sort of approach you're taking to a problem and the skill will logically follow from there.

For example if you're opening a locked door:

• Kicking it down could be Might

• Grabbing it as it closes to prevent it locking could be Speed
• Casting a spell to open it could be Smarts
• Finding the backup key under the mat could be Savvy
• Convincing someone to open it for you could be Moxy
• Picking the lock could be Poise

Equally you could make an argument that using [Fireball] is Might, or intimidating someone into opening it
is Might!
Some actions will be obvious fits, some might need a little discussion at the table. As always the GDs
decision is final, but feel free to explain why you think it's the Approach you want to use.

MIGHT

Might is for when you want to do something by physical force. It might be hit a wall, or block a blow with
your shield, or just take an arrow to the gut and keep going. Anything that requires physical strength or
fortitude falls under Might. Might often forgoes the questions in favour of hitting things until they do what
you want.

SPEED

Speed is for doing things quick. This isn't just running fast but also dodging a blow or doing anything at
pace even if you might sacrifice the finer detail of it.

SMARTS

Smarts are all about what you know from learning or reasoning. This isn't your implicit knowledge or
street smarts, this is your book learning. Anything to do with [Mage] magic is Smarts, as is solving a
puzzle or riddle. Smarts are often the enemy of Speed, doing things in the time they take to get done.

SAVVY

Savvy is your streets smarts, your local knowledge, your lived experiences. Savvy is knowing which
streets to avoid, where the best hunting grounds are, anything to do with [Shaman] or [Druid] magic.
Savvy is often gained after the fact, so people high in savvy will have a lot of lived experience to back up
their actions.

MOXY

Moxy is the charisma and guts to stand up and say what needs to be said. It might be persuading
someone to your way of thinking, shouting down an angry crowd, or just putting the right word in the right
place to make a connection. Moxy usually isn't so good with brute force, preferring to approach the
problem for a more personable angle.

POISE

Poise is the skill of the careful, methodical, and sneaky. Poise might be used to stealthily pick a lock with
nobody noticing, or to stand quite and unremarked in a busy room. Poise might also be used to withstand
an attack against your being, like a fear effect. Poise isn't usually fast or strong, preferring to be careful
and considered.

SKILLS

Skills are a representation how you do things a little better because of your class than someone without a
class. They come in a few varieties of varying power level.

All skills get more powerful as their owner levels, someone who has [Minor Repair] at level 5 might only
be able to repair a plate or cup. By the time they hit level 30 they'll be able to repair tables and walls, and
by the time they hit level 50 if that skill hasn't evolved into something different they might be able to repair
whole buildings.

Skills are mostly used by spending a FATE point to activate them and cause an effect. This might be
activating [Greater Strength] to gain a +2 on your Might roll. Some skills might be activated to give you the
narrative permission to do something, i.e. you could spend a FATE point to activate [Sending] to be able
to speak with someone on another continent.

Sometimes the use of a skill might not warrant a FATE point. Generally a FATE point will be required
when either something is narratively significant or it's opposed. If you're trying to break open a door and
you've got [Superior Strength] that probably doesn't need a FATE point. If, however, someone is
reenforcing the door with magic and you've got to beat their Smarts roll you would.

As with anything in FATE you should only roll dice or spend FATE points if the chance of failure or the
outcome of failure is interesting, don't roll for every little thing that a character of your level/class should
be able to do.

MINOR SKILL

This is something that just makes life a little easier, a little trick rather than something big. Skills vary
between classes. A lot of skills are shared between classes, [Farmers] and [Warriors] both benefit from
[Lesser Strength]. Skills are also, usually, bestowed after you needed them. For example someone shot
with an arrow who survives the experience might have a skill from their next level up called [Lesser Arrow
Immunity].

MAJOR SKILLS

A major skill is something that is a key feature of your class, something that sets you out as good at what
you do. People can train specifically to get a skill, and they're always useful in a pinch. Major skills may
come with a cooldown and not be able to be used too quickly in succession.

CAPSTONE SKILL

Capstone Skills are the pinnacle of a class. They're usually only gained every 10 levels and are potent
enough that they can change the tide of events. A level 50 capstone skill used in a battle can be enough
to claim victory. A capstone skill is likely going to be unique among other members of your character's
class.

SPECIAL SKILLS

Some skills are just a little more special. That might be because they're unique to one person at a time, or
gained under certain circumstances, or because they're gained by amassing loyalty or faith. Whatever
their reason they're just a little better than a capstone skill, and stand a person out as someone special.

• Green Skills - These are new to the world, which means the skill has been created for the owner.
Other people may unlock this skill in the future now that it exists, but you were the first.
• Orange Skills - These are skills that are tied to an owners fame or reputation. They're skills that
might be gained for being a well known person or place.
 • Golden Skills - These are faith skills, gained from a class that deals in faith and having enough
people believe in your cause. Faith skills get more powerful the more you or the people around
you believe.
• Purple Skills - These are skills that are based on being in a position of power such as being a
king or empress.
• Comma Skills - These are named in a slightly tongue in cheek way as they're skills that are
longer, more poetic, and sometimes have a comma in their name. A regular strategist skill may
read [Optimal Move] but a more powerful version may be called [I see the way forward, I strike at
their heart]. Some skill even work in tandem forming a verse of poetry, getting exponentially more
powerful the more that are used at a time.

RED SKILLS

These are curse skills. They're mostly gained from temporary red classes. They may be particularly
strong skills with a drawback, or a skill that limits a character in some way. They can also be gained by
doing particularly brutal or evil actions.

Red skills can't be refused by the character.

LEVELLING

As you gain experience and level up, your classes and skills may change. Levels only occur when the
character sleeps, unless they are a species which doesn't sleep in which case they occur instantly.
Passing out counts as sleeping, meaning characters can level up mid-fight if they're knocked out (a
process called "Counter Levelling" when fighting a significantly superior foe).

Levels become harder the more you have, and this applies over all your classes. Someone with 20 levels
in [Alchemist] will find it easier to level than someone with 10 levels in each of [Princess], [Barmaid], and
[Brawler].

A good time to level up will be at the end of major story beats, but it's always up to the GD if enough has
been done to cause a level up. Level ups come in a few flavours, depending on the level of risk the
characters have been through. Remember that the system rewards exertion and effort, so if something
was important but easy you won't level as much as something less important but very hard. This means
it's easier for lower levelled characters to level up anyway, lower stakes challenges will push them more
than a higher level character.

MINOR MILESTONE

You might gain a minor milestone at the end of a small adventure arc or for doing a particularly important
job for someone. A minor milestone is relatively common at low levels, but much less common at higher
levels.

A minor milestone lets you do a few things:

• Change your High Concept

• Gain 1d4 levels across all your active classes
• Gain a new class if you've met the requirements for it, you must use 1 or more of the levels from
your d4
• Gain a minor skill OR convert a minor skill to a major skill
SIGNIFICANT MILESTONE

A major milestone might be reached after a feat of heroism. A daring battle or dungeon raid, a close race,
a baking competition, or a breakthrough in research. Whatever the method a major milestone has to be
earned. Particularly at higher levels these become difficult to reach.

For a significant milestone you can:

• Change your High Concept

• Add or change one of your personal aspects (you may not have more than 5 aspects total)
• Gain 1d8 in levels to spread over any exiting classes OR advance one class to the next capstone
immediately
• Either:
– Gain a major skill AND convert a different major skill to a capstone skill
– Gain a major skill AND convert a capstone skill to a special skill
– Gain a capstone skill
• Gain a new class if you've met the requirements for it AND gain 1d8 levels in this class

MAJOR MILESTONE

A significant milestone is something really special, and only gained through staggeringly hard work or
great loss. The sort of events you might have experienced are a deadly dungeon encounter that leaves
peers dead or dying, and characters recovering from injuries for a week. It might be a siege against a city
narrowly fought off, or a war between armies. It might be writing the greatest play of your time, or
performing for thousands, or creating a new spell entirely. Whatever the reason a lot of time, energy, and
effort, must go into it.

For a major milestone you can:

• Class consolidate - merge one or more classes together into a more powerful form, this may be a
Special Class
– The level of your new class is the combination of all the classes that merge into it. In the
Wandering Inn class consolidation usually always results in a lower level combined class,
which makes it easier to level in the future. To fit with the mechanics of this game (FATE
Refresh) you add all the levels together.
– If you want to include level reduction roll 1d20, and subtract that % from the total levels
(rounded down). For example I have a level 10 class and a level 10 class merged into a
level 20 class, I roll a 10 on the d20 so I subtract 10% of the total levels which is 2, so the
new level is 18.
• Change your High Concept
• Gain 1d12 in levels to spend over your existing classes
• Add or change both of your personal aspects (you may not have more than 5 aspects total)
• Gain a major skill
• Convert a different major skill to a capstone skill OR convert a capstone skill to a special skill
• Gain +1 to one of your Approaches (you cannot have more than +5 in an Approach)
• Gain a new class if you've met the requirements for it AND gain 1d12 levels in this class

NO KILLING GOBLINS
It's possible to play the Wandering Inn as an all Goblin party. There's a few rules you might want to
change to make it more fitting.

Approaches are renamed, as below. The effects are exactly the same.

• Might > Testicles

• Speed > Zoomies
• Smarts > Brains
• Savvy > Street-smarts
• Moxy > Chatter
• Poise > Sneaky

Goblin classes work differently too. Goblins start off smaller and weaker than most other races and don't
grow up just by aging. Instead a goblin, when they reach a certain level (different for each goblin), can
become a Hobgoblin, also called Hobs. Hobs are much bigger, stronger, and are the leaders of tribes.

A normal goblin class is a "weaker" version of the equivalent another race might enjoy. Instead of getting
the [Cook] class a goblin might get [Stirrer] or [Chopper] or [Forager]. Instead of the [Warrior] class they
might get [Scrapper].

Hob classes more closely resemble other species' classes, however they're usually more powerful
because of the struggles a goblin has to go through to get to be a hob. A hob class might be roughly
equivalent to a level 20 class for another species.

GD TIPS

CLASSES

Classes are going to take up a lot of a character's progression so they're pretty important. The name and
types of classes characters can have is completely open, partly because the Wandering Inn world has so
many already it would be impossible to categorise them all accurately.

Instead get an idea what your players are aiming for and make it a negotiation. They want to be be an
[Axe Warlord]? That's probably a bit much at level 10. But if they class consolidate [Axe Master Level 20]
and [Lord Level 10]? That sounds like a great level 30 class consolidation.

Don't be afraid to tell a player "yes but" and make them jump through hoops to get a class. Often a
character benefits from training, or finding a teacher, or even a particular artifact that will kick off their
levelling.

SKILLS

Skills are the other massively open area, intentionally so. Even in the story Pirate highlights that Lesser
Strength is incredibly powerful for a [Warrior] and they might get that in their teen or twenty levels. A
[Farmer] might get it at level 8!

Again don't be afraid to "yes but" and push a big skill back to a major or capstone level instead.

That said players can only activate skills as often as they have FATE points so there is always going to
be the negotiation of holding enough they can do something important, and spending them to do
something cool. Encourage this; the more FATE points flow between players and you the more
interesting the game gets.

THE LEVEL CURVE

In the Wandering Inn it's well known (now) that your combined level slows your levelling progress. There's
a theoretical cap of level 100, but consider the level curve of major characters we know. You can check
Erin's meteoric levelling to see the sort of things that are appropriate power levels for each level bracket
but in general:

Total levels:

• 0s - A child
• 10s - Minor local work, a guard in a village or town, an apprentice or student
• 20s - A grown worker, owner of a shop, silver rank adventurer
• 30s - An expert, skilled mage or worker, well sought-after, potentially a gold rank adventurer
• 40s - Rare in a continent, very skilled, sought after for work, potentially naked rank
• 50s - Named rank, renowned for what they do, setting the bar for what's possible in their class
• 60s - World changing, owner of a faction, known across the world, stories told about them
• 70s - Once in a generation, potentially highest level person in the Waning Age
• 80s - Era defining, the mage who broke magic was in the 80s
• 90s - Godly? We don't know, no known characters have been above level 90

This also, coincidentally, fits nicely with the FATE ladder, something you can use to help pitch your
difficulty curve. Be aware, thought, that FATE tends to run more on the overpowered side than not. It's not
a stretch for characters to share three or four FATE points on a single big roll and get +10 in total.
Remember all rolls are relative so a +10 at level 10 isn't the same as a +10 at level 50.

RESOURCES FOR INSPIRATION

List of all known classes

 List of all known skills

Information on the Wandering Inn Grand

Design

The FATE Accelerated Rulebook

DESIGN NOTES

Wow designing an RPG around Wandering Inn is both really hard and really easy. I started looking at
things like 5e and realised quickly it's a no-go, you can't design