Editing Unwritten: System Reference Document/Game Basics (section)

==Aspects==
Aspects are a key tool that Unwritten provides. Aspects are short phrases that signify important details about a character, a place, a thing, or even an action. They can cover a lot of ground and help paint a complete picture. For example, a character could have an aspect of Hotshot Big Game Hunter. That immediately indicates several things about that character: they are a hunter and probably pretty good at it, they have a tendency to take risks, they are pretty confident in their ability, etc.

Aspect can represent anything that is distinctive or noteworthy. But more than being a description, the GM or players can use an aspect to affect play. A character aspect of Shy can be used to the character’s advantage (a shy person might be harder to pick out in a crowd) or to their disadvantage (a shy person is going to have a hard time in social situations).

===Invoke an Aspect===

An aspect can be invoked by a player in appropriate situations to improve a character’s chances. For example, Hotshot Big Game Hunter could be invoked when when doing something really dangerous, because you are used to taking big risks.

Whenever you’re making a roll, and you’re in a situation where an aspect might be able to help you, you can invoke it in order to shift the dice result. This allows you to either reroll the dice or shift the roll by +2, whichever is more helpful. You do this after you’ve rolled the dice and you aren’t happy with your total. You also have to explain or justify how the aspect is helpful in order to get the bonus—sometimes it’ll be self-evident, and other times it might require some creative description.

You spend fate points to invoke an aspect. You can spend more than one fate point on a single roll, gaining another reroll or an additional +2, as long as each point you spend invokes a different aspect. You can also roll to gain ‘free invocations’, which allow you to invoke an aspect without a fate point.

When stopped at a gas station near the deserts above the D’ni caverns, Naomi discovers that someone has stolen a Linking Book from her car. She sees a figure run off behind the dunes and follows. When she rolls to see if she can track the thief, she spends a fate point to invoke her Desert Rat aspect, which gives her a +2 bonus.

===Compels===
Sometimes (in fact, probably often), you’ll find yourself in a situation where an aspect complicates your character’s life and creates unexpected drama. When that happens, the GM will suggest a potential complication that might arise. This is called a compel.

Sometimes, a compel means your character automatically fails at some goal, your character’s choices are restricted, or simply that unintended consequences cloud whatever your character does. You might negotiate back and forth on the details a little to arrive at what would be most appropriate in the moment. In our hunter example, if the character was challenged to a bet, the GM could compel Hotshot Big Game Hunter to decide that the bet ends up being more risky than the character expected, and the results stir up all sorts of trouble.

Once you’ve agreed to accept the complication, you get a fate point for your troubles. Alternatively, you can pay a fate point to prevent the complication from affecting your character, but we don’t recommend you do that very often—you’ll probably need that fate point later, and getting compelled brings drama (and hence, fun) into your game’s story.

Players, you may also call for a compel when you want there to be a complication in a decision you’ve just made, if it’s related to one of your aspects. GMs, you call for a compel when you make the world respond to the characters in a complicated or dramatic way.

Anyone at the table is free to suggest when a compel might be appropriate for any character (including their own). GMs, you have the final word on whether or not a compel is valid. Speak up if you see that a compel happened naturally as a result of play, but no fate points were awarded.