[Chronicles of Darkness] No Fate But What We Make: Fate & Destiny

Out of Character (OOC):
Game: Chronicles of Darkness

Chronicles of Darkness page 177 there is an Optional Rule called Fate. This special type of Aspiration is something we have already been using in a sense, but without solidification.

I'm a little annoyed still, the Chronicle of Darkness core book makes like three references to the Destiny Merit, but doesn't provide mechanics. At least, all the powers that use Fate they decided to ACTUALLY include guidance and mechanics for Fate... well here we go…

The Fate Mechanic (Optional):

Faced with the seemingly arbitrary cruelties of the Chronicles of Darkness, mortals who get a glimpse at what lurks in the shadows sometimes take comfort in the idea that everything has a reason. No matter how bad things get, there is a plan, even if it seems impossible to see. Those who look a little deeper, glimpsing the workings of the God-Machine, know better. There is a plan for everyone, but that isn’t a good thing for those concerned.

To represent this, The God-Machine Chronicle includes an option called Fate, a special type of Aspiration. Fate denotes an extra part of the character’s concept: what is the end of their story? The Fate doesn’t have to come to pass within play, but characters that come out the other side of a God-Machine adventure without having met their Fate haven’t escaped it, only postponed it.

Use the following guidelines to design a Fate:

• Fate leaves the character alive (or undead, in some circumstances) and suffering, or kills them in a suitably traumatic fashion. “Killed” is not a Fate, but “Murdered” is.

• Fate imposes a great change in the character’s circumstances, irrevocably changing her life for the worse.

• Fate describes the what of the character’s doom, not the how or the when. “Murdered” is a suitable Fate. “Murdered by my brother” is not, and neither is “Murdered at my moment of victory”.

Good examples include “Addicted,” “Betrayed,” “Imprisoned,” or “Transformed.”

Fulfilling a Fate is often a good time to start a new character – consider it the equivalent of writing a character out of a television series after her arc climaxes. That’s not mandatory, however. If a Fate is met before the chronicle ends, or a new chronicle is planned using the same characters after one has already met their doom, the player selects a new Fate.

In play, Fate works like other Aspirations, except that it provides a full Experience when fulfilled. (If the Fate removes the character from play, her player can spend this Experience on her next character.) Also, when a character’s action would lead her towards her Fate, her player gains only two dice from spending Willpower but gets the Willpower point back if the action fails.

I am also willing (of course) to allow a Character to declare a new Fate once they have achieved (or been victimized) by their Fate. This will not be done lightly. A good example would be once the Horsemen saved the world. Their Fate was fulfilled and they had to live with the consequences.