Set up to fund the art and get feedback, the FATE Core Kickstarter is a low amount (3K) and as soon as you get in on it you get a demo version of the system (with no art obviously) at any level. If you’re interested in what they are doing with the system, you can throw a buck at it and get the goods. The image shown as a teaser (a Robotic Gorilla, a KILLER-esque dude with pistols and a chick with a sword) screams Shadowfist/FENG SHUI to me, which is not a bad thing at all. Since the core rules are likely to be quite generic, it’s going to be up to other systems designers to apply it to the worlds of fantasy and science fiction where needed. Will this blow away some of the older versions of FATE? For sure Dresden Files and Spirit of the Century will be dinosaurs BUT I think Kerberos Club (Strange FATE) and Bulldogs are still completely viable builds off the older versions. Bulldogs because of it’s simplicity and clarity and Strange FATE because it totally hits ALL the numbers for a high-powered/super hero game with both the way powers are built and the tier levels (which let you replace a fate die with a D6 based on your tier compared to the opposition). That said, the new FATE Core will probably push the developers of both of those games further into RPG bliss land.
I’ve had a good times with FATE the too few times I’ve run it–Dresden Files as well as the Atomic Robo beta. The FATE system makes more complicated systems look WAY too complicated in comparison because FATE strips down everything to the minimum of what you need to run an RPG game without turning it into freeform madness or diceless chaos. When I look at WFRP 3rd edition and the Marvel CORTEX system– I just see complexity over the top of what is essentially FATE. Granted WFRP has all the neat stuff in the box and some really awesome ideas to it with the stances, action cards and party card, but CORTEX seems a bit too complicated for what it needs to be. Exalted– well that’s a different beast entire…