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Quick Start
Fate's Edge Player's Guide — Chapter 1
What You Need to Play
Fate's Edge is a game where you tell stories together. You need:
- A Game Master (GM): The person who runs the world and plays everyone else.
- Players: Each of you plays one main character.
- Dice: A handful of ten-sided dice (d10s).
- Character sheets: To track your hero.
- This book: For reference.
The Core Loop in 60 Seconds
Every important action follows this simple loop:
- Declare what you do. Say what you want to achieve and how.
- The GM sets the stakes. They tell you the Difficulty (DV) and Position.
- Roll dice. Your dice pool is Attribute + Skill d10s.
- Count successes. Each 6+ is a success. Each 10 counts as 2 successes.
- The GM tells you what happens. Based on your result.
Your Character
Your character has:
- Four Attributes: Body, Wits, Spirit, Presence (rated 1-5).
- Twelve Core Skills: Things you're trained in (rated 0-5).
- Talents: Special abilities that make you unique.
Your dice pool is always Attribute + Skill.
The Core Skills
You have twelve core skills to choose from:
- Melee
- Ranged
- Athletics
- Stealth
- Endurance
- Craft
- Sway
- Deception
- Performance
- Insight
- Lore
- Arcana
These skills cover broad areas of training. See the skill descriptions in Advancement. Psionics is an optional expansion skill, not a thirteenth core skill.
The Dice
Roll your dice pool. Each die that shows:
| Die Result | What It Means |
|---|---|
| 6-9 | 1 Success |
| 10 | 2 Successes (critical!) |
| 1 | 1 Story Beat (SB) for the GM |
| 2-5 | Nothing |
Difficulty (DV)
The GM sets a target number you need to hit:
| DV | What It Means |
|---|---|
| 2 | Routine — almost guaranteed |
| 3 | Default — a real challenge |
| 4 | Hard — serious resistance |
| 5+ | Extreme — a dramatic gamble |
Position
Position is not how likely you are to succeed — that is the DV. Position is how much it costs you if you don't. It has three rungs, and things move up and down them constantly:
| Position | How You Act | Mechanical Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Dominant | You have the advantage | Re-roll one failure |
| Controlled | Normal risk | No re-rolls |
| Desperate | You're in serious danger | Re-roll one success |
Good description, a smart approach, an ally's help, and your heritage all move you up the ladder; danger, haste, and your heritage's Limit move you down. Nothing goes above Dominant or below Desperate — the ladder simply ends. (Heritage is Chapter 2, Step 1.)
The Outcome
Compare your successes to the DV:
| Result | Outcome | What Happens |
|---|---|---|
| S ≥ DV, SB=0 | Clean Success | You get what you want, no cost |
| S ≥ DV, SB>0 | Success with SB | You get what you want, but the world pushes back |
| 0 < S < DV | Partial | You make progress, but not all the way |
| S = 0 | Miss | You fail, and things get worse |
Boons and Story Beats
Boons (Your Resource)
- You earn Boons on a Partial (1 Boon) or Miss (2 Boons).
- Spend Boons to: re-roll a die, improve your Position, or activate an Asset.
- You can hold up to 5 Boons.
Story Beats (GM's Resource)
- Every time you roll a 1, the GM gains a Story Beat (SB).
- The GM spends SB to add complications, escalate threats, or advance timers.
- This keeps the story interesting — 1s are not punishments; they're fuel for drama.
Quick Start Example
Lyra tries to pick a lock while guards patrol.
GM: "Controlled, DV 3. On a Miss, the guard hears you."
Lyra rolls (Wits 3 + Deception 2 = 5 dice): 9, 6, 4, 2, 1
- Successes: 9 and 6 = 2 successes vs DV 3
- Result: Partial — the lock clicks, but Lyra gains 1 Boon
- The 1 gives the GM 1 SB
GM: "Three pins give. The fourth is stiff and you are still holding it — you'll get it, but not this heartbeat. And I'll spend that Story Beat: the guard's footsteps stop. He's listening. What do you do?"
Note what a Partial is and is not. Lyra did not fail — the lock is three-quarters open. She did not succeed either; the door is still shut and the situation just got worse. She has a Boon in hand and a choice to make, which is the point.
What's Next?
This is the core loop. Everything else — magic, combat, advancement, assets — is built on this foundation.
Now you're ready to:
- Create a character (Chapter 2).
- Learn the full rules (Chapter 3).
- Pick a magical path (Chapter 4), and learn what it costs to put yourself back together afterwards (Chapter 5).
"The road remembers. Every broken wheel leaves a mark and every lit lamp had someone behind it. The only question is which of those you mean to be."