Legend in the Mist: Mist Engine may be Fate’s Forged in the Dark

It is in some ways perfect timing that only a month ago I was comparing Fate and Apocalypse World, and looking at their respective destinies. In 2013 the fourth edition of Fate, Fate Core, went from its Kickstarter to legitimately outstanding commercial success. Around the same time, Apocalypse World had just started on its inexorable upward trajectory not due to its own sales numbers but rather the adoption of its underpinnings, Powered by the Apocalypse. Fate would peak in the lead-up to D&D Fifth Edition while PbtA would continue to soar, eventually powering what was at the time the largest TTRPG Kickstarter ever. Both games were successful enough to spawn not only hacks but also derivatives, mechanical cousins of the original game which kept the underlying ideas but altered the core mechanics. Blades in the Dark is the notable one for Powered by the Apocalypse, but there were of course others. For Fate, the same thing happened, even if much of the hacking was further under the radar than what John Harper pulled off on the PbtA side. There is one Fate hack of note which is coming back into the limelight, the Mist Engine from Son of Oak Game Studio. […]

https://cannibalhalflinggaming.com/2025/12/24/legend-in-the-mist-mist-engine-may-be-fates-forged-in-the-dark/