How many fate points should a character be toting around in a given session

[Taran]

In our group, everyone has about 2 refresh.  I'm finding that each session, I spend my two.  It's hard work to get more and the one or two I manage to get are spent before the session is up  - and not by refusing compels.

I've read lots of threads with people "hoarding" fate points - which, of course, is not an issue with our group.

So I can see hoarding Fate points in anticipation of a big encounter, but sometimes you just need to spend the points doing grunt work and RP stuff.

Is the GM being stingy with the compels or am I being too quick to spend my points?

Should there be a build up of points and then a big throw down?

[fantazero]

depends.
Some people believe for example
You have a character that has a temper, a bad one. Someone goes into an Accord protected bar to piss off that character, your character knocks that guy out.
now
1. YOU know better but you character doesnt
2. YOU acted in a way you thought your character would.
So your GM SHOULD give you a point, but then again some say he shouldnt.
Of course in some Games, people will use points to place aspects on other characters like "Has bad breath" or "Looks angry" and those games tend to have more fate points.
In one of my games, we lost a player, because he and the GM had very different views on how the game should be run.
We as a group let it simmer for to long and it ended up with us losing that guy. So I say, before your next game, sit down with everyone, and go..."Hey, we need to talk about X Y and Z asap"

[TheMouse]

You can always compel yourself. It's right there in the rules, even.

Gah, "Compel yourself," kicked off a Madonna song in my head, because the cadence is so similar to "Express Yourself."

[Becq]

You should probably be getting at least a couple of Fate points through compels each session.  If you aren't, then one possibility is that your GM isn't paying attention to your aspects (in which case you should certainly offer self-compels when appropriate).  Another possibility is that you should look at your aspects and make sure that they are sufficiently interesting.  The section of the rules on aspects talks about how some or all of your aspects should have a possible downside so that you can recieve Fate points via compels.  It's an easy mistake to try to ensure that all of your aspects are entirely positive ... which leads to situations like what you're describing.

For example, you might have an aspect "Enormously strong", which is great until you run out of Fate and can't make use of it any more.  On the other hand, if you word it "They call me The Ox!", then there's the implication of enormous strength ... but perhaps also some commentary on your intellectual prowess, as well, which could get you Fate points.

[Taran]

You can always compel yourself. It's right there in the rules, even.

Gah, "Compel yourself," kicked off a Madonna song in my head, because the cadence is so similar to "Express Yourself."

That's how it works usually.  I'm partyly asking the question so that when I GM, I have an idea of how much to give out.

I also believe that my aspects are sufficiently compellable...and some of them can be compelled more than I can use for a bonus.

[Moriden]

When i run i make sure that at least one character gets compelled every scene. I've found that making fate points readily available makes players much more comfortable with spending them for declarations, and gives them a much stronger feeling of helping to tell the story.

[sinker]

Yeah, getting only one or two compels per session seems like not as many as I might like personally, however my first DFRPG game was a lot like that. The GM wasn't looking at our aspects and we were a little too timid to self compel.

In the end though it should be natural. If it doesn't seem appropriate to compel then don't try to invent a situation that winds up being clunky and awkward.

[Howl]

Hm, I compel my players a lot during sessions. We never had problems with the quantity of fate points.
You should try to self-compel yourself more ofthen. Perhaps try to change some aspects you have to something you can use more ofthen and something your GM can compel more easily.

[Taran]

Hm, I compel my players a lot during sessions. We never had problems with the quantity of fate points.
You should try to self-compel yourself more ofthen. Perhaps try to change some aspects you have to something you can use more ofthen and something your GM can compel more easily.

I'm not sure it's a matter of Aspects.  I see the other players in the same situation.

When i run i make sure that at least one character gets compelled every scene. I've found that making fate points readily available makes players much more comfortable with spending them for declarations, and gives them a much stronger feeling of helping to tell the story.

I'm not sure how many scenes we have on average per session.  I'll have to count to see if that's the range we're in.

Basically, in a given BIG ENCOUNTER, my character sets up piles of maneuvers, that are usually sticky so that the other players can tag them.  They always use the free tags, of course, but these maneuvers almost never get used again with the use of a fate point.  Is that common to most peoples games?  Or is that a symptom of a lack of fate points.

[DFJunkie]

I run a game and was having trouble compelling my PCs myself.  I found that, for two of my players anyway, I was leaning really hard on a couple of their aspects and ignoring the others. 

The solution was to sit down and go over their aspects again after our third session.  Most of their aspects stayed the same, but instead of just writing down the name of the aspect I also kept bulleted notes about what they thought each one meant.  That made it a lot easier for me to compel them in the future.  Now I tend to be able to get everyone at least once per scene, usually more.  Even though they're all 1 refresh monsters they usually end up with a pile of fate points by the time they start really spending them.

I don't know if your GM is having the same problem, but your group might want to try that.

[sjksprocket]

One thought might be that your aspects might be compel-able, but are they compel-able for the campaign? The party's aspects just might  not fit for the adventures. Either that or try to self compel more. IMO it should not fall entirely on the gm to give you fate points. there is a lot of this game that says that narration and the story falls on both sides of the GM screen. So if you're aspects fit the campaign and you want more fate points, you might have to work on getting them yourself if the GM is unwilling to give them to you. And if the entire party is having the same problem then maybe if they see you do it they will hopefully follow suit. I know this is always the easiest thing to do but will hopefully get better with time.

[luminos]

About two compels per session seems about right, but an average of 4 might be more reasonable if you were particularly active about getting into trouble.  Personally, I find that if I haven't spent my fate points by the end of the night, I feel like I didn't get enough done.

[sinker]

Basically, in a given BIG ENCOUNTER, my character sets up piles of maneuvers, that are usually sticky so that the other players can tag them.  They always use the free tags, of course, but these maneuvers almost never get used again with the use of a fate point.  Is that common to most peoples games?  Or is that a symptom of a lack of fate points.

Yes and yes. This does happen a lot, and it does seem to be a symptom of a lack of fate points.

[AlexFallad]

I just hold to the philosophy that self-compelling is rewarding yourself for good rping of your char.  If nothing else, remember the GM may be managing literally dozens of aspects in an encounter...heck 5 players is 35 aspects.  So take the burden off them and self-compel.  I'm playing a Pure Mortal bodyguard (High Concept:Ancient Order Sworn Protector)  When it was time to knowingly go into a warehouse full of Black Court vamps to rescue my charge, I self-compelled that aspect because my char was going in waaaay over his head.

But of course he was going in!

[Taran]

One thought might be that your aspects might be compel-able, but are they compel-able for the campaign? The party's aspects just might  not fit for the adventures. Either that or try to self compel more. IMO it should not fall entirely on the gm to give you fate points. there is a lot of this game that says that narration and the story falls on both sides of the GM screen. So if you're aspects fit the campaign and you want more fate points, you might have to work on getting them yourself if the GM is unwilling to give them to you. And if the entire party is having the same problem then maybe if they see you do it they will hopefully follow suit. I know this is always the easiest thing to do but will hopefully get better with time.

I wonder if this might be the case.  I do self-compel more than most players and it's a bit of a general agreement in our group that we should just self-compel instead of the DM doing it.  It sometimes feels a bit forced, though, so maybe my aspects don't fit with the current story line.

That said, I seem to be getting the sense from the comments that more compels/fate points, in our game at least, would be better.  I'll keep a tally in our the next session to get a better idea of how many points are being thrown around...maybe pipe in again earlier in the week after the game.

Mostly, I just want to get a handle on things for when I run a game, and if I can find ways to make a good game even better, that's a bonus - we're all newbies to FATE.

Thanks to all for the input.  I think my question has been answered, but feel free to add anything more if you think it'll help!