Party and Organization Aspects

[bibliophile20]

An idea that I've been fiddling with, sort of an organic outgrowth of the Location, Scene, Scenario, Session and Campaign Aspects idea.  So, straight up, what do people think of the idea of an organization having it's own Aspect(s)?  Or, in the case that originally inspired this concept, the PC party having its own overarching Aspects? 

In my PCs case, its becoming a running gag, "Time to split the party again!" which is what I'd use as the aspect; a compel would be against the entire party to have them split up and do their individual things that they're each good with, while an invoke from them would be a fortuitous arrival from other party members and such. 

But that and other group aspects wouldn't take up an aspect "slot", as it were, on their character sheets; its just something that has been recognized as, well, an aspect of their play style that I want to encourage.

So, thoughts on the concept and associated viability?

[devonapple]

The example Baltimore setting in "Your Story" features a player group with the characters united with the same aspect ("Hey, Ho, The Gang's All Here").

That said, the "FATE Fractal" means that things can be built like characters at multiple scales, so Organizations, Vehicles, Governments, Worlds can all be - from the generalized precedent of the FATE setting - built with their own Aspects, traits, etc.

"Strands of Fate" set out to codify that to some extent, but even without that supplement, you can logically extend the FATE system farther outward than just the characters and NPCs. If it helps to group together the players, as well as members of other organizations, then you can absolutely justify building them as their own "characters" and use their Aspects and Traits to guide how they interact with other groups, resolve conflicts, etc.

Here is one mention of the "FATE Fractal," but there are many other resources out there, I reckon:
http://whirlmeister.blogspot.com/2008/04/great-fate-fractal-experiment.html

[bibliophile20]

The example Baltimore setting in "Your Story" features a player group with the characters united with the same aspect ("Hey, Ho, The Gang's All Here").

That was partly an inspiration, but that aspect takes up a "slot," as it were, for the characters in question.  I'm asking about the viability of having aspects that describe no one single person or assigned as such, but describe the behavior of the party as a whole.

That said, the "FATE Fractal" means that things can be built like characters at multiple scales, so Organizations, Vehicles, Governments, Worlds can all be - from the generalized precedent of the FATE setting - built with their own Aspects, traits, etc.

"Strands of Fate" set out to codify that to some extent, but even without that supplement, you can logically extend the FATE system farther outward than just the characters and NPCs. If it helps to group together the players, as well as members of other organizations, then you can absolutely justify building them as their own "characters" and use their Aspects and Traits to guide how they interact with other groups, resolve conflicts, etc.

Here is one mention of the "FATE Fractal," but there are many other resources out there, I reckon:
http://whirlmeister.blogspot.com/2008/04/great-fate-fractal-experiment.html

Interesting.  I'll have to check that out!

[sjksprocket]

I don't see why not. I like this idea and might have to incorporate it into my campaign. It makes sense in context with the game and system as well as setting.

[Ren]

I plan on doing something like that myself as I have a few organizations planned to make appearances in the future part of the campaign.
Curious to see what develops here; how would the Aspects and Compels affect the organizations and their impact on society?

[newtinmpls]

It looks like in original FATE (or at least 2.0) player aspects can be used without paying FATE points, and then they refresh. I've toyed with the idea of allowing players their first use of their High Concept aspect as a free tag. I could see doing that first tag free with one group or campaign aspect.