BESM 3e(tri-stat) vs. Strands of Fate

[Chris StarShade]

Greetings and salutations. I do not frequently post here, but I though I might return to get input on a conundrum that has lately afflicted me.

I have, at long last, taken a sudden dislike to ye olde d20 system. (le gasp, I know!) so I am investigating alternatives.

The two alternatives I am presently liking best are BESM 3rd edition, the last hurrah of the tri-stat system before its founding company went under... and Strands of Fate another any-genre game system that seems very open ended and seems somewhat ad hoc in playform compared to what I am used to.

Therefore, I ask for any advice you may have in deciding between these systems. Stories of games you have run with either system are especially sought, since I am having a little bit of trouble understanding how you play Fate.

Thanks in advance!

[Tengu_temp]

I offer you a third option: Mutants and Masterminds, 2e or 3e. It's d20 only in that it uses the d20 die for everything, it has not much in common with DND apart from that - there are no classes or hit points, or anything like that, especially in 3e which tries to get away from its roots as much as possible. And it's an extremely versatile system - you can pretty much play any kind of game in it, as long as it's cinematic rather than gritty and down-to-earth. Just a few games I played or ran in it:
- magical girls working for a paramilitary organization
- transforming Kamen Rider-esque heroes fighting horrible and mysterious monsters
- urban fantasy in a world where some people develop psychic powers
- lawyer-friendly version of Megaman
- crime investigation in a steampunk world
- more giant mecha games than I can remember

Overall: if BESM can do it, M&M can do it too, but better.

[Chris StarShade]

Thanks for the feedback. I am surprised no one else has offered any feedback. Is Fate too new for anyone to give me their opinions?

And on what basis do you say that M&M is necessarily better than BESM? Can you give me some examples of things M&M does definitively better than BESM does?
I'm not saying M&M isn't a better system, I'd just like to be informed of what advantages I can hope to glean if I use it over BESM.
Bear in mind I am speaking of the 3rd edition of BESM, I have heard all sorts of interesting complaints against earlier renditions of the tri-stat system.


At the moment I am leaning toward Fate for the simple reason that most of my prospective players are more used to freeform roleplay and Fate seems relatively easy to use in that sense.

[tensai_oni]

Can you give me some examples of things M&M does definitively better than BESM does?

I'll respond to this if you don't mind.

M&M's selection of powers is better at simulating exotic powers of various characters, you can also Link them together to make a two powers in one kind of thing. This is also possible in BESM but seems more complicated and overall less balanced.
That's another thing - balance. Both games are easy to break if you want to (as is the case with most point buy RPGs) but in M&M you have a better benchmark of your character's usefulness because of power level-centric mechanics. In BESM you have no idea if your power is any good or not. It may well turn out that your armor makes you invulnerable to all damage and that's not because of you trying to break the game, but rather because enemy damage ratings are too low. On the other hand, you only have to push it slightly to the other side and we have everyone one-shotting each other.
Hero Points are very cool from a narrative and cinematic point of view. I don't think BESM has anything like that.

On the other hand, I like how BESM prices skills differently according to genre. On the other other hand I dislike how you can squeeze in a few extra points by buying useless disadvantages.

I didn't play Strands of Fate, but I know FATE. How different are the two? Comparing M&M to FATE, the former is better when you want characters with super powers (not just superheroes, but espers, mages, etc), the latter is better for "badass normal" type of heroes.

[Tengu_temp]

In addition to what was said already, M&M has much faster gameplay than BESM. And it's more cinematic gameplay, while the battle mechanics of BESM feel like a video game in some aspects, and are horribly unclear in some others. I'm talking about BESM 3e here too. Also, two characters built on the same amount of points can have completely different power levels in BESM - one will be a total badass, the other will be totally useless. In M&M, they should be at least be more or less equally competent.



At the moment I am leaning toward Fate for the simple reason that most of my prospective players are more used to freeform roleplay and Fate seems relatively easy to use in that sense.

Yeah, both BESM and M&M are very rules-heavy games. If you want something more rules-light, go for Fate.

[Delwugor]

Late to the conversation. I have not played BESM so can't comment on that but I have ran Strands of Fate a couple of times.

For me it is the best Fate system for Fantasy. I converted an old D&D 3.x fantasy horror campaign to SoF fairly easily and play became much more character centric, which went well with that group.

The other campaign I ran SoF with was a mystical Conquistador game, where players where using Aspects and Invoke for Effect to completely go places I never expected. You do need to be very flexible when GMing any form of Fate.

I would recommend also getting Strands of Power for fantasy. It has some nice Packages which really help building characters with the archtype, or lite class feel.

Use the character creation grid from SoP, there is also an erranta running around with it. Use 5-7 Aspects instead of 10 as that is more manageable and they are more useful in play.

Another alternative that I've turned to for non-fantasy games is Fate Core. It is liter than SoF, quicker to get going and has a Pay What You Want fee with the downloads on EvilHat's site. Good game, especially for one shots and short adventures, and the players can access the downloads without forking over their hard earned dough.