Closest Approach

A look at approaches in Fate Accelerated Edition by Paul Stefko!

Introduction
Fate Accelerated Edition (or FAE) does not rely on the familiar skill-based action
resolution from so many classic RPGs. Instead, characters have approaches that define
how they perform actions, not what they are capable of doing. The what is relegated to
the character's aspects.!
It's not a matter of looking for your highest approach and always acting that way.
Different situations call for different approaches. Your strongest may not always be your
best.!
In this article, we take a look at the approaches and discuss when each may be the best
choice. We also suggest complications if the player chooses to succeed at a cost.!

Careful
A Careful action is when you pay close attention to detail and take your
time to do the job right. Lining up a long-range arrow shot. Attentively
standing watch. Disarming a banks alarm system.
Careful actions focus on eliminating unexpected and unwanted outcomes. A character
with a high Careful approach may be a perfectionist, always taking extra time to make
sure she gets everything right.!

Legalese
Closest Approach is Paul Stefko. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons
Attribution 3.0 Unported License. !
This work is based on Fate Core System and Fate Accelerated Edition, products of Evil
Hat Productions, LLC, developed, authored, and edited by Leonard Balsera, Brian
Engard, Jeremy Keller, Ryan Macklin, Mike Olson, Clark Valentine, Amanda Valentine,
Fred Hicks, and Rob Donoghue, and licensed for our use under the Creative
Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license.!
Fate is a trademark of Evil Hat Productions, LLC. The Powered by Fate logo is
Evil Hat Productions, LLC and is used with permission.
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Careful is often the opposite of Quick. If you don't have much time, you shouldn't rely
on Careful, as even a successful action may come too late.!
Success with Minor Cost: You can avoid any unintended consequences, but you have
to give up some element of your original plan. What is it?!
Success with Serious Cost: Your plan is flawlessexcept for one critical oversight. The
GM can ask the player what that flaw is and how an enemy could exploit it. This
becomes an aspect on the appropriate scene that the opposition can invoke once for free. !

Clever
A Clever action requires that you think fast, solve problems, or account
for complex variables. Finding the weakness in an enemy swordsmans
style. Finding the weak point in a fortress wall. Fixing a computer.
A character with a high Clever approach will try to leverage advantages, getting the
most outcome for the least effort. It's all about conserving resources. Instead of battering
at the problem, you find its weakest point and attack that.!
Clever is the opposite of Forceful. It's an attack run on the Death Star trench. Some
problems can't be finessed, however, especially ones that adapt quickly. If you face an
overwhelming weight, you may not have a lever long enough to move it.!
Success with Minor Cost: You cleverly solve the current problem, but you notice
something that you weren't aware of before that will make things more difficult.!
Success with Serious Cost: Your effort falters, but you can recover if you push yourself
harder than you wanted. You succeed, but you take a mild consequence to reflect the
physical or mental strain. !

Flashy
A Flashy action draws attention to you; its full of style and panache.
Delivering an inspiring speech to your army. Embarrassing your
opponent in a duel. Producing a magical fireworks display.
With a Flashy action, all eyes are on you. Flashy can boost your reputation, make people
remember you, and provide an excellent distraction.!
Obviously, Flashy is the opposite of Sneaky. James Bond is Flashy at the card table, but
Sneaky when he's in tactical black and choking out guards. A Flashy action ruins any
hope of surprise.!

Success with Minor Cost: You draw unwanted attention as wellan old enemy,
perhaps, who is on to you now.!
Success with Serious Cost: The attention you draw is hostile. Enemies appear, arrive,
or otherwise become relevant in the scene, sparking a conflict.!

Forceful
A Forceful action isnt subtleits brute strength. Wrestling a bear.
Staring down a thug. Casting a big, powerful magic spell.
A Forceful action goes for the strongest, most direct solution possible. A character with a
high Forceful approach believes that everything has an amount of pressure under which
it will collapse.!
Forceful is the opposite of Clever. When you take a Forceful action, you don't care how
much effort you use, as long as you get the job done. Often, this means you use too
much, and there will be fallout.!
Success with Minor Cost: You overextend yourself and leave an opening an enemy can
exploit, giving them a boost.!
Success with Serious Cost: Your action has collateral effects, possibly damaging or even
destroying something valuable to youa piece of equipment, a relationship, or even a
life.!

Quick
A Quick action requires that you move quickly and with dexterity.
Dodging an arrow. Getting in the first punch. Disarming a bomb as it
ticks 3 2 1
A Quick action is all about now. Something is happening, and you have to move fast.
Whether this is reacting to a threat or capitalizing on a momentary advantage, it takes
speed of thought or action.!
Quick is the opposite of Careful. Quick gets things done now, and damn the
consequences. If there are many factors to consider, or if one false step could spell
disaster, you should avoid Quick.!
Success with Minor Cost: You realize at the last second that you missed something very
important that will soon come back to bite you.!

Success with Serious Cost: You acted with such haste that now you find yourself cut off
or otherwise without support. Add an appropriate situation aspect to the scene, which
the GM can invoke against you once for free.!

Sneaky
A Sneaky action is done with an emphasis on misdirection, stealth, or
deceit. Talking your way out of getting arrested. Picking a pocket.
Feinting in a sword fight.
After making a Sneaky action, you want it to be so no one else even knows you did
anything. A character with a high Sneaky approach does things others don't notice or
think much of, and witnesses don't connect the effects back to the character.!
Sneaky is the opposite of Flashy. If you need people to remember you, you should avoid
Sneaky. You can build a reputation on Sneaky actions, but it takes a lot of work.!
Success with Minor Cost: You must choose between going unnoticed yourself but your
allies being caught, or staying with them and risking detection.!
Success with Serious Cost: Your action seems to go off perfectly, but you leave some
evidence behind that can be used later to implicate you. Add an appropriate situation
aspect to the scene, which the GM can invoke against you once for free.!

Approach Relations
We've already said which approaches are opposite each other. It may be fruitful, in
some campaigns perhaps, to think about other relationships between the approaches.
Here is one system for relating the approaches.!
Each approach has an opposite, as laid out earlier. Each approach is also aligned with
two approaches, and unaligned with two others. When using the optional ApproachRelated Target Numbers rule (on p. 37 of FAE), the GM can set the base difficulty for a
default approach. For approaches aligned to the default, the target number is +1 higher.
For unaligned approached, it is +2 higher. The action cannot be attempted with the
default's opposite approach.!
The chart on the next page shows the relationships between the six approaches.
Approaches connected by blue lines are opposites, while those connected by orange
lines are aligned. Two approaches that are not connected are unaligned.!

"

!
Careful

Sneaky

Forceful

Clever

Flashy

Quick

Aligned
Opposite