FATE:About

FATE is a project that seeks to archive the stories, statistics, encyclopedic data, and legacies of the table-top role-playing campaigns undertaken by an informal association of players originally based in upstate New York. This series of campaigns, first begun in December 2003, has continued more or less unbroken to the present day. The purpose of this archive is not only to preserve the memory of these campaigns for posterity, but to make their resources available for sequels, spinoffs, expansions, and adaptations in the future.

With some exceptions, most of these campaigns tell self-contained tales set in original mythopoeic worlds, following the lives of the player characters, whose actions, personalities and relationships are acted by the players in an improvisational manner. A campaign may take place over the course of several months, or even a year, comprised of weekly sessions, interspersed with supplemental one-on-one events and other media.

The majority of these rely on the ubiquitous Dungeons & Dragons game rules to provide a mechanical basis of gameplay. Over time, however, the characters, settings, tones, and overall styles of the campaigns have evolved an atmosphere, complexity and immersion far beyond the high fantasy stereotypes of D&D. In particular, the branch of campaigns which are played over the Internet via instant messaging now bear a closer resemblance to collaborative writing projects. It is because of both their unconventional literary quality and their personal significance to those involved that we have decided to gather the records of these experiences in a permanent reference.

FATE is named for the eponymous database in the Hex campaign, which stored the knowledge and memories of an entire civilization until their world could be rebuilt. We sincerely hope that this archive is less ill-fated.