Here is the thread for proposing  and dicussing game ideas that you have for FATE Games.

While i was working on this character (http://toonstore.net/Atmo/myst/) for a random solo with a friend, some ideas flushed into my mind.

Earth, 1990~1999. Mage schools exist and are sponsored by rich families who send their children to learn magic for various purposes; war between entire countries that are controlled by those families aren't uncommon and neither unknown to the public.
Fairies are real and inhabit forests all over the globe, they hate magic users because reasons and will always go out of their way to inflict pain or mischief on magic users if they find them, but will always ignore normal humans if contacted.
Magic users can summon and bind familiars to them: creatures that range from inteligent beasts to evil or egoistic humanoid beings. Magic users can also bind normal humans lives to them after stealing their souls through a cruel ritual; maids and buttlers are common victims, with "heroic adventurers" being the most uncommon of this list.
World armies, diplomatic relationships and economy stay the same as our history books says, as magic users influence is limited to their own desires and pacts with gods.
I'm still working on gods: why they exist, what they do, who they are.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:48, Tue 24 June 2014.

I always have games I wonder the best system for. To many to worry about right now. I might propose a couple later.

Actualy why not?

One of my longest campaigns' last chapter is in a future world where some disease has changed most of humanity into weird monsters. "Levels" are sealed and everyone's abilities are determined by charms on the bracelets they wear. The game starts survival horror, then leads into rebuild mode and culminated in standard rpg fanfare of going up against the big bad.

The only reason I have not posted the game is working out enemy stats and choosing a rule system. Any idea if fate would work?
This message was last edited by the player at 03:40, Tue 24 June 2014.

What those abilities can do? Just help them to run or anything else?
And i think is, yes, very easy to do monsters on Fate if you considerate Mooks rule for them (FAE, Core or a mix of both).

Well the game is more story based then anything. When encounters do happen for nearly the first half of the game it is the same exact enemy(same stats just multiple of em) later in the game they are shown to evolve, via eating survivors. Things get weird when a leader is already around and another grunt eats a survivor. At one point even the mobs will have charm bracelets on.
So maybe a mook at the beginning, then building a template for each varied form. D&d challenge rating determination always eluded me for some reason.

As for the charms.
The original idea was dnd rules. A charm would grant class levels. Some charms would allow, say an extra domain for a cleric, extra school of casting for the sorcerer, specific feats for the fighter ect.

Charms that granted bonus features to a class also gave +1 to that class level.

In fate the charms might just grant a bonus to certain types of rolls. I will use FAE because I have not read core yet. A weak charm might grant +1 to an approach, or a mid charm an extra stunt(using normal refresh rules) or extra stress boxs. While A powerful charm may grant a bonus to both or more.

A low charm may grant casting package, while mid charm may grant a boost to all spellcasting as well as an extra boost to a specific spell.

It took me a few minutes to connect this description to Digital Devil Saga, where something like that happens.
Take a look at Aspects of Fantasy, it is a Fate-d20 with levels and all those things you probably want.

Coincidentally I love that game. And no, the humans cannot eat each other to gain power lol. The charm thing was a concept I have tossed around for level management, lacking a dm's guide. It seemed to fit the feel and story of the campaign. And it added story fodder.

It started as my feeble attempt to make a new campaign and NOT connect it to my old ones... yeah that did not last long. I felt really satisfied with how everything interconnected and gave me a way to end my longest running dnd characters career.

I will look up aspects of Fantasy thanks. I just feel dnd might work, but I had issues with the monsters.

EDIT There is no way I can deny Devil saga's influence, but it was not intentional lol. I just never thought about it.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:43, Tue 24 June 2014.

I've been wanting to do an Intergalactic Rockband for a while now. Once I have time I think I'll see if I can hash it together.

Fate is fun in that it can leave conventional games far behind. I think it should be used more and more for some crazy ideas.

An old people's home that is threatened to be shut down by some corporation, where the old people will try to prevent it with wathever crazy skills they have.

A game where everybody is a forest animal like in Mouse Guard.

A game where everybody plays a corporation.

Tried a sword-and-planet game a while back.

Also want to try an Amber game using FATE.

Not to derail your idea, but this makes me think of Bubba-Ho-Tep!

I got a kick out of that show.

I continually return to thinking about a game based around a chapter of an outlaw motorcycle club ala SOA.

Probably run with atomic robo and a new mode of 'biker' .

Set up organizations of the MC, local police, other 'gangs' etc.
This message was last edited by the GM at 14:39, Fri 27 June 2014.

In reply to Alyse (msg # 9):



Oh, now THAT has some interesting possibilities. Pattern and Logrus attunement as extras. Probably Shadow Walking, too. Shadow Aspects, different versions of Sorcery. . . There would be some things to figure out. Certainly worth a bit of time pondering.

What is amber?

I tried a FAE Amber game and it didn't really work for me. I'm just too used to running Amber diceless that having a system, even FAE, got in my way.

But I do want to give it a shot again someday. But I suspect I will go with Fate Core rather than FAE.

In reply to Merevel (msg # 13):

Amber is the creation of Roger Zelazny. There is only one real world, called Amber. All other worlds are reflections of that one true place. The royal family of Amber refers to them as Shadows, and have the power to walk among them and exert a degree of control over them. They gain this power by walking the Pattern, located in the basement of Castle Amber. Only a member of the royal family can survive the attempt, and once you start walking, you cannot stop or leave. To do either is to die.

The royal family of Amber is a web of vendettas, mistrust and conspiracy. Everyone has their own agenda and the power to move it forward. They are all superhuman to a degree, stronger, tougher and more resilient than any human being. Out among the Shadows they can build whatever power base they like, raise armies, form kingdoms, become gods to the peoples living there. They can lead their troops through Shadow if they wish.

Kinda makes me want to play Final Fantasy Legend.

One of my biggest wishes is to run a crazy Planescape/Spelljammer game.
I tried it once using D&D but it didn't work out.
Nowadays I'm kinda sick of that system but still like the idea so I've gotten it into my head to use FATE for it.
Especially since the philosophical nature of Planescape lends itself better to the idea of, say, aspects, than it does classes and such in D&D.

I'm a little fuzzy on the particulars of both of those settings. What makes Planescape so Planescapey, and Spelljammer so Spelljammy? I've always had the vague impression Spelljammer was literally D&D in space, with magic powered starships. That's all I've gotten so far between the two settings.

That being said, what in particular are you envisioning with Fate? I've spent the last few days looking more deeply at the System Toolkit's magic ideas, and am in deep system hacking mode. :D

On a different note, in the great circle of RPOL life, I've lost a game I was playing in, and as been the case recently, I'm thinking of replacing it with a game that I will GM. I'm leaning very heavily toward Jadepunk: Tales from Kausao City using it's Vigilance Committee adventure series.

I would ask that the players have a copy of the rules.

Any interest?
This message was last edited by the GM at 05:50, Fri 15 Aug 2014.

I have the rules but have yet to read them.

Sounds interesting, but I am juggling a lot.

Do you have a certain posting rate in mind?

Something like 3-5 a week, not particularly fast. I could go slower, or maybe a bit faster if that works for those interested.

I've been looking for a reason to pick up another Fate build...

Jadepunk takes more cues from Fate Accelerated than Fate Core, so if you like Fate Accelerated you'll probably be a fan. I really like that the setting does a great job of keeping the 'punk' ideology a core part of the game. Most X-punk games generally focus on an aesthetic, and forget the other bits.

Busy weekend, but will try to find the time to download and peek at today.

So no promises just yet, but I'm considering running a new Fate game. Would be smallish (3-5 players) and not terribly intense in terms of posting rate. Thinking low-fantasy, an old setting of mine that I think the current version of Fate can breath some new life into. (Originally used Fate 2.0 for it.)

So when I say low fantasy, I mean it -- think more medieval fantasy, more akin to Game of Thrones. No abundance of non-human races (including no elves or dwarves), magic is rare / feared / outlawed, monsters are rare. Think pretty grim and gritty. Combat is deadly, and a man in armor with a sword is a force to be reckoned with if you're unarmed. I can spill more -- and we can develop more together -- if there's any interest.

Alternatively, I might go a *little* more traditional with the D&D style tropes, but it would still lean toward low rather than high fantasy. For rules, I'm thinking of tweaking the Fate Freeport ruleset...

Interest expressed!

I'd be down as well.

Cool. I'll wait to see a couple of more interested parties, then will pitch the specific ideas (there are two of them) to see what people think.

I would, but I already have... 11 characters and 1 of them will be a challenge, well if I try to hold par with the other players in the game at least.

In reply to Harrigan (msg # 28):

I'd be interested.

You know I LOVED that setting, Harr. I'm in.

(What was it called? Umbria, Cumbria?)

I might definitely be interested.

Now I'm pondering a Midnight to FATE/FAE port ... loved that setting.

Midnight is like LotR with the twist of the bigbad won!

Also down for that! Currently running a Midnight game using D&D 3.5, but I have been thinking Fate would do a great job of it, too. The way it potentially cooks in a character's motivations to resist the Shadow and their bonds to other PCs suits the Fellowship-y feeling it could/should have nicely.

Would you implement Heroic Paths as Aspects, as excuses for supernatural Stunts, or something else?

Probably similar to magic in Fate Freeport ... seems a solid enough mechanic.

Mmmm. Midnight good.

Looks like enough interest from folks to proceed to serious brainstorming. If no one minds, it's probably easiest to do that here. If folks would rather we don't junk up this thread, I can create a separate thread for just those interested.

So, opinions on initial direction here? I'm of two minds.

OPTION ONE

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I roll out my old medieval fantasy background that's very western Europe flavored -- Cambrae, I think I'd called it, Dirigible. The basics:

-There are three main countries occupying a small-to-medium sized continent. Here's the Western Europe theme -- think rich farmlands, wooded valleys, misty vales, rugged mountains, dense forests and the like. Cities are few and far between, towns and villages are much more common. Cities are walled affairs, though in many cases they sprawl well beyond their walls in terms of markets and the lower classes.

-There is a serious class system in place. Again -- medieval. The lords own the lands, the serfs have the right to work it. There's a burgeoning merchant class, but the wealth and power is still firmly in the hands of the nobility -- and the church.

-Ah, the church. Drawing inspiration from Game of Thrones (and, in fact the way Christianity spread), there's a schism between the 'old ways' and the new. Old ways = a large pantheon of gods, all with relatively small spheres of influence. (Battle, the sea, healing, fertility, revenge, etc.) Then there's the Church of Aon -- the one true god. It's been a hundred years or more since Aon's religion swept the land, and virtually all civilized folk are now members of his church. Thing is, each of the three main countries (names are subject to change, as I've never settled on anything I like, but something along the lines of Roan, Merlais and Brynder) views the Aon religion (and life) quite differently. This has been the source of much conflict.

-I liken Merlais to Louis XIV France. Think opulence. Extravagance in the extreme by the nobility, and a badly downtrodden populace. Incredible culture abounds (music, plays, books), but the golden apple is rotten at the core. Knights gild and paint their wives, their homes and their armor -- the culture is all about opulence, about showing your neighbors what you can afford. The church is extremely powerful, and suffers from the same love of wealth and  excess. Think idolatry, collecting from the masses so the priests can wear robes of woven gold, etc. Magic is tightly controlled by the church.

-Brynder is at the other end of the spectrum. It is still a society of haves and have-nots, but they have rejected the excesses of the Merlaisians and build their entire nation on the foundation that one needs to be humble, unpretentious, indeed, even meek to be close to Aon. Over time, backed by humble but solemn, ruthless monks from the church, the Brynder people have been ground under foot by these notions. It has been a joyless society, where inebriation, dancing, singing and all other forms of outward joy are considered ungodly. Think Cromwellian England. The brute squads roving the lands, looking for sinners. Magic is one of the gravest of sins, and its use is punishable by death. Think witch hunts, and not the Salem kind -- the real

-Roan is, naturally, somewhere between the two. A nation where the merchant / middle class is on the rise, it is more tolerant of a wider range of behaviors than Brynder, but lacking in the appalling hubris that characterizes so much of Merlais. These guys are the moderates, the sane voice in the room. The church is still present here, but -far- less powerful than in the other two countries. Geographically, it stands in part between its neighbors -- meaning it is often forced to be involved in their frequent wars. Magic is carefully controlled by powerful and secretive guild.

-To the north are the wild lands (they need a name). There are rumors of graul (orcs), ogres, giants, dragons and worse -- but day to day, no one sees or experiences these things. They are largely thought of as fairy tales intended to scare childten.

-From the north west, across the sea, come Viking-like raiders, Stormlanders. They pillage and loot the poorer provinces of Brynder, and are among the fiercest warriors in the land. (These are my barbarians.) Magic is more druidic / shaman-based, and these boys and girls don't follow Aon. One of these days, Brynder, Roan and Merlais might just team up and send a fleet to wipe out these heathens once and for all.

-To the south, across the sea, is a blazing desert, but one rich in culture, and... er, riches. Saladan -- an ancient kingdom of sorcerer-kings who once ruled the land, but who, legend has it, got too big for their britches and lost control of their demon servants. Think stereotypical Arabia in terms of culture -- minaret-rich cities, thieves in the night, assassins, black magic, alchemy, necromancers, fabulously wealthy merchants, exotic poisons, sultans, slaves, harems, war galleys and all the rest. They are a broken, ruined nation now, but power still lurks here, biding its time. They do not follow Aon, and there have been multiple crusades over the decades to try and wipe out convert these folks.

Anyway. That's more than enough to give a flavoring. Unfortunately, most of this is in my head, but I'll get more of it formalized if there's interest. I've been wanting to run a game about a witch (magic user) and his or her friends on the run, about someone hunted by the Brynder brute squads, about -- well, any of the hooks you see up there.

Please note that I -know- some of that stuff is borderline offensive in terms of being stereotypical. It's purposeful -- in that I find it allows new players to relate to the setting immediately, to "get" what it's about. I do the same thing with my supers background, and it's seemed to work very well over the years at its intended purpose -- getting everyone on the same page in terms of tone, reality levels, etc.

OPTION TWO

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Oooooor... we can scrap all that and I'll consider running something more dungeon-delvy, complete with elves and dwarves and gelatinous cubes and giant rats and spiked pit traps and rooms full of treasure and twenty floor wizard towers that get harder as you go and such.

Ja? Ja.

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Please forgive typos. Blasted this out stream-of-consciousness style pretty quickly.
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:34, Fri 22 Aug 2014.

I like Option 1!

Perhaps the house guard/retainers/retinue of a nobleman working to some end.  Maybe something good.   Maybe something bad.   Above our pay grade.   Travel from place to place.   Intrigue,  adventure,  sword fighting ,  chases ,  escapes,  true love.... Miracles?   Went a little Princess Bride for a moment....

OOH!

We could /start/ a war!  A glorious profession with a long and noble tradition.

I agree with Option #1.

Your background seems excellent, plus I'm not a dungeon-crawl kind of guy.

Cambrae! That was it. I'm all for that.

I like option one.

Where do you see the characters come from class wise? Serfs, Middleclass, Noblemen, Clergy?
Should we decide on a common storyhook before starting to brainstorm for characters?

• We could be travellers, like a merchant caravan, a group of troubadours, pilgrims, raiders, crusaders, smugglers... with a common goal/destination.
• We could each be nobles, plotting and scheming in the same city.
• Or knights (nobles) sent out by the opulent king or a noble house (our father) to retrieve some fabled doohicky (a lamp, ring, sword) just so he could show it off or to cure our mother/sister's illness (unicorn horn or something like that) to make it fairytale like.
• We could be a group of guards/watchmen, trying to keep the city as safe as we can (or not, taking bribes etc.) hunting brigands, catching smugglers, stopping serial killers etc.
• We could be mages on the run (but I would bow out the game for that) or suspected of witchcraft, but innocent (I would be ok with that), but it would be harder to keep us together like that.
• We could be a 'heretic' offshoot of the main faith (like protestants, Kathars, or the fransiscans when they started to follow Francis of Assisi), hunted by witchhunters or inquisitors (I've been reading about Alva lately) or we could be the inquisitors, sent by superiors (influenced by (corrupt) church politics) to capture, torture and possibly kill people they consider witches. (pretty dark, thogh, that)
• We could be a group of priests in training trying to make sense of all the politics and powerplays in the churh that we did not expect in our naivite and idealism.
• We could be part of a legion in an army battle. (to keep us together we should be part of the same legion, so we'd basically all be the same type. Footmen, spearmen, archers, cavalry, slingers ...)
• We could be wealthy middleclass aspiring nobility, which of course ticks off the nobles. To keep us grouped I'd suggest a guild of some sorts, or a 'staten generaal' like the Dutch had back in the day, which Philips II of Spain ignored and which started all kinds of trouble.
• We could be serfs that can't take it no longer and start a rebellion.

That are all the ideas I could come up with right now. But I think that there's promise in there. And it would seriously influence what kind of characters we'd need to make.

All good ideas, Frili. I'll admit my bias towards the group being persecuted somehow, being on the run, or otherwise struggling against someone with a big mailed fist. (Note in what I've provided so far there are ample bad guys to choose from. =] ) That's definitely not the only angle -- noble houses warring against one another (perhaps one of you is being forced to intermarry with an old enemy to forge a new alliance and decided to run for it), the wildlands frontier could be brewing trouble, a new king might be laying down some crazy rules -- it's wide open.

To get into this discussion properly, lookee here, a game you can RTJ: link to another game

See you there, those of you who have responded with interest.

Hey all, I'm jumping back into play-by-post after an absence and am thinking about running a Harn based campaign called Blackpowder Over Harn...quick description to gauge interest:

The spread of blackpowder weaponry is fueling the unrest among serfs and freemen alike and there are rumors that even some nobility are plotting against liege and lord. There are rumblings that the age of kings is dying, it just doesn't know it yet. It is in times of uncertainly when men of questionable talents are needed most...the powerful take what they want without remorse or repercussions, it takes someone morally gray to provide justice for those with nowhere else to turn.

This would be run with my FAE+ hack, essentially a dual-column hack adding Professions to go along with Approaches...

Rules: https://docs.google.com/docume...dit?usp=docslist_api
Magic: https://docs.google.com/docume...dit?usp=docslist_api

I'd be looking for two to three players...characters would be a warrior, rogue and if a third a mage...so I'm looking to gauge interest from potential players. The duo, or trio, would start as a "for hire" Leverage style group and depending upon their actions would get embroiled in one side or the other of the unrest and potential civil war in Kaldor.

I have the itch, again. I feel like running some kick-behind Fate hack. A few ideas:


Sardaukar Blade:

A story set in late bronze age, about two brothers (actually half-brothers) who travel the continent to return their late father's ax to the imperial Sardaukar corps. Their father was an Imperial guard and they are allowed to take their ax with them once they honorably retire from the corps. Legitimate hairs to Sardaukar are allowed to either keep the ax as a proof that their ancestor served in the corps or return it for Imperial appointment. The brothers decide to do just that.


Towers:
(More appropriate (epic) name needed)

This is my unapologetic take on high fantasy. The world is flat and the landscape is dotted by impossibly high towers (each over hundred storeys high) around which towns have sprang. Some people say that towers were built by archwizards, but where they are and what happened to them is unknown. Others say that they are pillars that hold the sky, but what would happen if one of them should fall, one can only stipulate. The characters would be heroes akin to characters from computer games, with a few powers, magical or otherwise, and the players would decide on aspects of their city, government, aspects, their place in it and so on.


RWBY

Now I know I'm supposed to be both too old and too male, but I just can't help it. Such a lovely take on (kind of) modern fantasy that it simply got me hypnotized. And before somebody asks WTF, it's available online for free at the link below:

http://roosterteeth.com/archive/?sid=rwby&v=more

I'm thinking of running a bit older characters, ones who have just graduated as huntsmen and huntresses and who are assigned to some more urban area, rather than front line which mostly seems to consist of wilderness.


Battlestar Galactica (reimagined yet again)

This would probably be closest to standard Fate Core. About the only change as far as the rules go about this one would be that Cylon aspects provide +3 shifts, rather than two, even if you're not a Cylon. Everything else about Galactica and the rest of the fleet will be decided on the spot.


Stellar Troops of Pilintor

This would be personally the most ambitious Fate hack. Players would be designing one, but two characters. One would be their battle suit and the other would be the pilot (trooper) himself/herself. Battle suits are no bigger than two meters tall (so no, they're no mechs) and have no sentience whatsoever, but the majority of cool would be located there. Basically the game would be something between WarCraft III and Warhammer 40K only sane. Characters would be spending majority of the time in battle suits, but there would be times when either for because of infiltration or social norms they will be required to leave the suits (and therefore their aspects) behind.


Now I'd like to know which of these concepts inspire most interest, because I really want to do some actual gaming, rather than just think about Fate.

I'm having some computer problems, being that both mine are dead, but I'd like to raise my hand anyway. Been looking to play a RWBY game for a couple months now, and that's the idea you've listed that catches my interest the most. Wondering how you'd do it, though, since it seems to me the vanilla Core and Accelerated setups would require a bunch of personalizing to that kind of universe. Still, casting my vote. :D

Um, what is RWBY? An anime maybe?

It's a semi-anime made by Monty Oum of Rooster Teeth, kind of an extention of his Dead Fantasy series: an original world with a heavy Final Fantasy vibe with a heavy focus on fight choreography. Teams of students from a combat school fight against monsters using crazy weapons (like a scythe that transforms into an anti-material rifle). Follow Tzuppy's link and you'll get to the episodes. They're free on RoosterTeeth, and get uploaded to YouTube shortly after they go up.

In reply to Nintaku (msg # 44):

A lot of my interest in RWBY comes from customizing combat and magic rules to feature their over-the-top weapons, gear and martial arts (for the lack of better word). Therefore doing and testing a RWBY hack is what interests me great deal.


In reply to Merevel (msg # 45):

You can watch RWBY for free at the link below:

http://roosterteeth.com/archive/?sid=rwby&v=more

Not sure what I want to call this one yet, it obviously borrows heavily from multiple sources, would love to know if there's some interest or anyone wants to provide feedback. If there's enough interest, I'd prefer to run something like this in a sandbox type environment with a light narrative arc, but with a smaller group, I'd provide a stronger narrative arc:

Main Summary: In the far flung future, man has risen, fallen and risen again. For generation, man has been digging itself out of a cataclysm. The origins of the cataclysm are unknown, what we do know is this: We are not alone, we can't hope to fathom what came before, space is a harsh place to make a living.

About a dozen systems comprise known space, some with many habitable planets, moons and ancient outposts. Earth was left behind, the cradle of civilization is now Orinda Prime and only in the last few generations have we begun to inhabit the other planets, moons and outposts again. Some colonies have broken away from Orinda, governing themselves, many still work under her sway. The Orindan government is a theocracy, with the Grand Phoenice Nakir being the head of the church and state. They bring light to the dark corners and fire to those that would oppose them.

Some are born with abilities beyond that of mortal men, they are the gifted. Many believe they inherit genetic sequencing from before the cataclysm that grants them powers beyond explanation. The Orindans see this as a divine calling, taking in the gifted they find to be indoctrinated into the life of Orindan Verisaat, holy paladins that enforce the will of the Grand Phoenice. For this reason, many hide their gift, even in independent worlds, for word is, Orindans will seek out and capture or murder the gifted in all corners of known space.

The PCs are frontiersmen, smugglers and independents who are trying to make a buck while staying out of Orindan space. They have a ship, a friendly settlement and a map pointing to some unexplored pre-cataclysm ruins. Some can be gifted, though not all will be.

Space Travel: FTL space travel is done via induction gates, an example of the old earth technology that demonstrates mastery over dimensions. They work by targeting a beacon, broadcasting a specific code from a target ship and folding space to place the ship in the vicinity of a corresponding gate on the other side. The known codes were passed down for generations. The systems in known space are not actually neighbors in physical space, some hundreds or thousands of light years from systems they can reach via induction gate. The travel is instantaneous between the systems, but it can still take several weeks to travel from one side of known space to the other, due to the slower than light travel required and the distances between the gates themselves. Also, the gates must cool down between activation, so while several dozen ships may travel at once, it may take up to two or three hours before the gate will transport the next batch. It is theorized that the gates create such distortion fields that they can not be placed within more than a few AU of each other and they sit in inclined, eccentric orbits. Many gates lie dormant, their beacon codes lost to the ages or lying in wait to be discovered. Communications and data transfer are near instantaneous while in system but word must travel via ship to get to other systems. Without close coordination, dedicated communications vessels and sophisticated data networks, news and correspondence can take hours, days or weeks to spread.

Races: Some forty races inhabit known space, by most reckonings, though many of these are in small colonies of a few hundred or a few thousand. Some posses the gift, though most do not seem to carry it. The most populace races one might recognize are sylvans (elves), goroth (orc), mintakken (tall, thin, gray skin, black, pupil-less eyes, black hair) and widowren (short, copper skinned, brightly colored hair and eyes). While distinctively different species, they have been long isolated from their home worlds and while living among a predominantly human civilization, they have developed what are more akin to close sub-cultures rather than distinct cultures of their own. Races with smaller numbers in more isolated colonies tend to have more distinct cultures.



Credit to Numenara, Diaspora, Firefly, Rifts, Mass Effect and Star Wars for inspiration.

Dig it -- nice work, RedAnchorite. I like the various elements of past civilizations, exploration, religion, limited FTL, Elite / Freelancer, etc. Good stuff. I'd be game.

In reply to Harrigan (msg # 49):

Game is up! Feel free to drop by with an RTJ. :)

link to another game

The setting sounds like a fun mix of things. I've just started playing the ME trilogy, and I could see the inspiration in the relays

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Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
among other things--like biotics and destroyed civilizations

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, Firefly in the isolated frontier worlds, and a touch of Star Wars in the zealous group that takes and trains the gifted. I'd like to join in.

Fair warning, I'm new to FATE. I've created one character in a Dresden Files game that never got off the ground, and I have that pdf and a copy of the 2013 FATE Core. Do I have the right edition?

Well I'd encourage you to use the above link and submit an RTJ. As with most any Fate game, there are a couple of novices to the rules, so that's fine. :) You've matched where the influences are having an effect, still there's room for some interpretation along the way.

I am thinking of putting in an rtj. Right now I am working on one for a game. Oddly enough the gm wanted a 400 word back ground, but s/he will be lucky if I stop at double that at this rate...

Feel free. I'm still accepting applications, probably going to settle at about seven PCs, with the assumption that 2-3 will end up dropping. So we still have a few open slots.

I bailed on that game. The gm expected 150 word posts... yeah... no.

They also granted bonus character ex for longer posts then that... again no. So maybe later.

Yikes. Sounds like they're going for novels. There's something to be said for keeping a game moving and I do appreciate the occasional bit of brevity.

Yeah, I can spend a couple of days and give a sweet long back story, especially if given a degree of control over the world, within reason of course, but 150 word posts. I am lucky for 1/2 that. I consider a good post 2 paragraphs, sometimes 3. Frankly it also depends on the situation. I am not going to pad posts with long internal mono logs and nose scratching. I may be creating but I am no where near that good a writer.

Anyhoots, wrong thread for those talks right?

https://www.artstation.com/artwork/1920-scout

(In case you haven't seen it already.)

Better link. (Sorry for reposting.)

https://www.artstation.com/artist/jakubrozalski

That would be an interesting world idea!

I'm thinking of running a superhero game with a modified version of Fate Accelerated. The mechanics would work the same, but there would be a few tweaks. To me, superhero games mostly focus on the high-action without much, if any, attention given to the inter-character melodrama. I think you need both to get it right. So this hack is an attempt to achieve that balance.

---

The quick version of the intended changes are:

• Replace Approaches with Drives (Values and Relationships) from Smallville.

• Challenging a Drive (acting against the Drive statement) earns players one (1) Fate point. The bonus is then stepped back for the remainder of the episode. At the end of the episode the Drive statement can be rewritten.

• Simple bonus style Stunts are not used.

• Extreme Effort (Fate Toolkit, p60) and Collateral Consequences (FT, p61).

Otherwise, FAE.

The most appropriate Values and Relationships should be used at all times, not simply the ones that will yield the highest bonus. But if you can justify a Drive combination without getting a veto from the table, you're free to roll it. For example, when acting to protect Alicia Masters from a Doombot, The Thing's player could use Justice Stop the strong from hurtin' the weak +3 and Alicia is the Love of My Life +2 for a total of +5. But if Ben is trying to convince Reed in an argument, his roll might be much weaker (Truth Let Reed do the thinkin' +0 and Reed has his head in the clouds +0) for a total of +0.

"In this game, who you do things for—or against—is just as important as why you do them, and arguably both matter more than what you actually do..." (Smallville, p85).

---

Possible sample character...

THE THING (BEN GRIMM)

ASPECTS
High Concept: Rocky-Hided Tough Guy
Trouble: I'm a Monster!
It's Clobberin' Time!
What a Revoltin' Development

VALUES
Duty I can't let my family down +2
Glory No respect for the ever-lovin' blue-eyed Thing +1
Justice Stop the strong from hurtin' the weak +3
Love Who could love me when I look like this? +2
Power Power corrupts +1
Truth Let Reed do the thinkin' +0

RELATIONSHIPS
Johnny is a hot-headed tool +2
Sue is like my dear, sainted mother +1
Reed has his head in the clouds +0
Alicia is the Love of My Life +2
The Richards' Kids need protecting +1

Stunts
"Because my THICK HIDE is nearly invulnerable, once per session I can ignore physical stress."

Refresh: 3
Stress: OOO
Consequences: Mild +2, Moderate +4, Severe +6

---

Any thoughts, feedback, or interest in something like this?
This message was last edited by the player at 05:31, Tue 12 May 2015.

I don't know is there's anyone still reading this, but in 24 hours I'm supposed to run a Fate game for some rookies (I was kind of surprised, but there's no way I admit I'm not ready), so I could use some ideas.

There are definitely people still reading, but that's a little vague. You have 24 hours to run a game and nowhere to start? Usually the first step is to have a premise of some kind.

What sorts of adventures do they want? What about setting? If you don't have that stuff yet, it might be best to ask /them/ for ideas, pretty much just using the game creation worksheet from Core. Though we can just start throwing ideas out there to see what sticks. What are you looking for?

Nintaku is right. You need an idea. Provided you can't ask your players what they want, just go to DriveThruRPG, pick your favorite Pay What You Want FATE World of Adventure, and voilà!

Unfortunately, I cannot ask players what they want (for reasons I'd rather not discuss ATM) and I don't think we'll have time to do the proper worldbuilding.

So I was thinking like perhaps you guys would either recommend me something from like Words on Fire / in Shadow or some World of Adventure which is rookie friendly, or throw me your world idea that I could expand.

Also worth noting is that majority of the players will be female and I am pretty much guys' guy.


So I would appreciate for a rookie friendly and female friendly suggestion I could pick up to run quickly from:

• Worlds on Fire
• Worlds in Shadow
• Worlds of Adventure

or hit me with your pitch that I could quickly expand.

I would suggest White Picket Witches, The Secrets Of Cats, or Romance In The Air.

Now that's the kind of info we need to help you. :D

Along with Alyse's fantastic suggestions, I'd like to recommend Court/Ship from Worlds in Shadow. For a less stereotypically "girly" couple suggestions, you might try the Ellis Affair, CrimeWorld, or No Exit. Also CAMELOT Trigger can have neat concepts for everyone's interests.

Have I mentioned that I love Fate so very much?

I haven't read Romance in the Air, but the other two are great setting. If the Ladies you're running for really dig action, then CAMELOT Trigger is amazing. It's in Worlds of Shadow and it's pretty much King Arthur meets Gundam.

Part of my point with CT is that it doesn't have to be action if the players aren't into that, but it can totally be if they are. Being part Gundam in tone, it's easy to have giant robots punching other giant robots in the face focusing on explosions and zoom and pewpepew, or dramatic sword duels focusing on the personal drama between rivals, or big sweeping battles focusing on the horror of war. It's just as easy to have the big robots be a backdrop, and focus on courtly romance, or political rivalry, or espionage, or literally anything the players want to see. It's kind of the only one of the settings I've seen that's quite that versatile.

We've been playing a game of it that focused on a knightly tournament. Politics, intrigue, social prejudice, romance, anime-style mecha duels, horror, mystery. We've got it all.

Yea, great point. I didn't mean to make it sound like it had one note. It just seems like a waste to ignore the giant robot fights in their entirety.

Alyse, I read through Face-Off rules from White Picket Witches and frankly I couldn't figure them out. They seem complicated, discretionary, unclear (especially in terms of Fate point expenditure) and largely unworkable. Have you tried it or can you explain the Face-Off system in brief? Or did you mean just the setting without custom rules?

In reply to Tzuppy (msg # 71):

Face-Offs are just a slightly tweaked variant of FATE Core conflicts, with more of a narrative emphasis. Consider them as Swashbuckling Duels (FATE System Toolkit, pp. 168-9) and they may work better for you.

Will look it up. The event, however got cancelled and now I can go back to my scheduled program.

Thanks for the suggestions, though, the prepping was fun enough for me.

In reply to Tzuppy (msg # 73):

Prepping sometimes has to be enough. It certainly happens a lot on RPOL.

(Like)

Alyse, first time I do a Fate game, I'm inviting you. Do you do hangout games?

In reply to Tzuppy (msg # 76):

Currently am without internet at home, so I can't really do hangout games. Sorry...

Tough. Lemme know when that changes.

Will do.

So...

I'm considering running a FATE Core game set in the late 1930's starring a band of globe-trotting adventurers looking for a lost map, and (assuming the game goes on long enough) then following said map to...

Well, that'd give a lot of the game away. ;)

The reason I'm putting this here is 1) to check interest (though I'm going to put it up on the Game Proposal board as well), and 2) to ask a question for GM's and players.

To wit: Every single FATE game I've been in on RPOL (save one) has died almost immediately after character generation. Players post their "I am here" posts, do a little socializing, then either the GM never comes back, or they officially shut down the game. My question is: How do I avoid this? From either a GM or a player perspective, have any of you noticed this as well, and if so, what sort-of warning signs have you seen?

Thanks in advance for your input.

Well, if it's post character generation, then I would say that it's just a problem with PbP in general. I'd say if my experience half or more of my games as a player die before launch or soon thereafter.

As for ways to prevent that well... as the GM you have all the power there. Just don't disappear and make sure to address any slowdown quickly so you don't stall.

I will say I have noticed a strong correlation between games that last and the comradery/friendliness of OOC chat. I'm not sure if it's that forming player relationships keeps games going or if the game lasting naturally encourages friendships to form between players. It's probably a bit of both. All I know is that in the games that I am in that have lasted a while most people are open to shooting the breeze in OOC chat as much as they are to posting in character, which is a lot like actual face to face play in my experience. Maybe food for thought?

Makes sense!

Thanks for the advice, folks. Now I'm pondering. I know that momentum is the factor, and while I'm itching to start something up, I know that in less than two weeks I'm going to be heading out for GenCon, at which time my ability to connect will be limited. I'm thinking perhaps I'll have to wait til the con is over, then fire up the new adventure. That make sense?
(Of course, I'd give folks here first crack at things!)

I really want to run a FATE game. I played in a SOTC campaign a few years ago and I've loved the system ever since, but I feel like I need to GM for a while to really understand the mechanics better.

I also love Ken Hite's "Day After Ragnarok", and there is now finally a FATE book for it, so everything seems great, so that is definitely what I would choose for a setting for my first game.

My only concern is how slow online games can be. I am thinking of doing the quick-start options where you just begin with a name, a concept and a skill. That way we can jump into the fun parts directly, and character creation gets folded into gameplay.

Any thoughts or suggestions on best ways to run online games? How does FATE Core work out here on rpol? Should I be considering FAE?

Thank you for any advice you have!
This message was last updated by the player at 03:41, Wed 12 Aug 2015.

Last night, with a friend who needs to practice his English, I started a campaign based on True Detective in science fiction environment. Most of the things in the game are still undetermined (including whether we'll be using Core or Accelerated), but we did collaborative setting creation, we have our protagonists and we have our victim.
The setting will be called the Refuge, because a refugee ship crash-landed on almost uninhabitable planet some centuries ago. The planet has a thin atmosphere at ground level, but the refugees eventually managed to start tunneling underground towns (they're called cities, but in reality these are towns) where they could live. Since they have created a mini civilization, where normal human activities, such as trade, police, government etc. were reestablished.

Initially twelve sentient robots were present aboard. Robots vary in shapes, sizes, hardware and processing power, but as long as they are sentient, they are awarded a full set of human rights, including the rights to vote, own property and procreate. In centuries since the fall, number of robots has changed somewhat from initial twelve, but not by much.

Most powerful and influential of robots is called Teletron. It is the central processing unit of the original ship.

Our protagonist is called Johnny Stark and his stats are below.

Johnny Stark, a murder detective
Ladies' man
Social drinker
Stunt:
Gun in a sleeve.

As my primary character, I'll be playing his robot partner, the first of the new generation of robots which are visually indistinguishable from humans.

Mileena Stone, his robot partner
"Should I make myself less beautiful?"
"Below this latex is military grade titanium"

Our victim is Richard Armstrong, wealthiest person in the city.

Richard Armstrong, trader in rare minerals
"His head is in the adjacent room and his genitals are missing"
"His safe is emptied and some art is missing"
His house is so expensive that it has a window (that is to outside, not other tunnels)

He is succeeded by a wife, three sons and a daughter, mother and mother-in-law. His oldest son is crying and his daughter is too young to be interviewed by the police.

Politically, two factions may be involved in his death. Moles believe people should dig deeper and appreciate more peace and prosperity the Refuge has brought, while Roosters want to start broadcasting distress calls and hope for the best.

What refugees were fleeing from is referred only as "Saracens", but who or what they are is still undetermined.

Anyway, I am confident I can pull this game off, but none the less I would appreciate suggestions. This applies especially to creating story aspects (and rule modifications if needed) that would drive the feeling that this is a True Detective game, not just plain vanilla police procedural.

That's a really cool idea. Bits of it remind me of Transformers, Arx Fatalis, Asimov's Caverns of Steel, Millennium...

For me, the most distinct elements in True Detective were the allusions to a fairly obscure occult work and the lingering atmosphere of desolation. With the post-apoc set up you've got the latter should be easy; emphasise the ruins visible through the victim's window, how people now live the shells of mines, bunkers, cellars in tunnels, etc. As for the former... perhaps pick a favourite horror/supernatural novel, movie or mythos and work in some subtle references to it in character names, plots and adversaries.

I can't believe someone actually caught Millennium reference.

Teletron was obvious since I'm the right age, but Millennium is obscure off the chart.

The rest, I never heard of. Must be a coincidence.


As for occult, I was planning on sleeping through that one, but no such luck. My player is pushing crazy cultists angle real hard.

I would be most interested in a Gods & Monsters game. I have read and reread the product and it might just be the thing for me, regarding all kinds of god games out there.

Is there anyone else? Some games somewhere already going needing a player?

I've been sitting on a game that went inactive about four years ago. It was set in the Honorverse (circa 1917 or 1918) and originally had rules out of (I believe) Diaspora. I'm not the original GM, but am his successor.

A couple of us are considering bringing it back to life, perhaps as is, perhaps with minor modifications, perhaps with major modifications.

This is a notice of intent, not a notice of availability or recruitment. December is going to be slow on RPoL. However, if you have interest, please PM or rMail me.

Thanks for your interest.

link to another game
This message was last edited by the player at 02:42, Sat 05 Dec 2015.

So um... watching Mario Warfare made me think... I tried to create a BESM version of Mario, and ran into the roadblock of people who were completely unreceptive to the idea. Nevermind that... It dawned upon me this morning that citizens of the Mushroom Kingdom could be represented by having no stress boxes, and only starting with their mini-form as their 2 point consequence. The Mushroom could represent earning the 4 point consequence, and all the other suits except the star, the 6 point consequence. In theory, the star box could represent a Perfect Invocation on a situational aspect where you roll against Average Passive Opposition, to automatically defeat a number of opponents equal to your shifts of success. Thoughts?

EDIT:You could probably use Notice or Physique to represent busting blocks to Create an Advantage.
This message was last edited by the player at 07:09, Thu 17 Dec 2015.

Sorry to double post, but I've been reading the System Toolkit and pondering a game. What would be the interest in a game inspired by the Organizations, Squad, and Mass Combat rules where players are each crime bosses?

The idea I've been pondering is that each player has a "Vices" aspect that reflects their organization's criminal specialty, an HQ aspect that represents their facilities, and a Big Break replacing their First Adventure. Crossing Paths might be called Making Alliances and Burning Bridges. Finally, they would also have a series of custom skills that I'm still thinking on but I will probably use Operations, Equipment, and Recon from Mass Combat, and retain Provoke, Rapport, and Resources. Regarding other skills, I was thinking that Turf could be a skill, as well as several types of influences such as Media, Police, Politics, Maybe some sort of Beureaucratic or Legal influence to sneak around red tape. Skill points could be 1 Good, 2 Fair and 3 Average skills if players only use the skills mentioned here.

In reply to steelsmiter (msg # 90):

I'm interested, though I'd have to reread the toolkit. Might those influences work better as stunts (ie. Media Influence: +2 to Provoke or Rapport roles involving the Media)? Perhaps break Resources into multiple skills, such as Turf, Wealth, Weapons, and Underlings. Contacts would still be a very useful skill, I figure.

They might actually. It would basically be moving the Specialist stunt from Lore (which is one that would get the axe) to either of those. The main reason I originally went with influences as separate skills is to pad the much thinned Skill list, and also because I figured that players might want influences they can more easily tailor instead of having all of them be at a given level and one of them (or more as stunts allow) being 2 points higher. I don't know, it's something I'll tinker with. I had originally considered taking out all the personal skills so that you only have organization wide skills and represent damage to the Boss only being possible through an obnoxiously good Operations roll.


That's a better fit for what I was going for since it allows more detail in how players run their Operations and gives a larger cushion of Stress Tracks. Turf might represent literal plots of land or specific businesses (either 1,2,3,4 or 1,3,6,10 such plots or businesses as preferred), Wealth might represent orders of magnitude of earnings (Hundreds of dollars per day, Thousands of dollars per day, Tens of Thousands of dollars per day, or Hundreds of Thousands of dollars per day) although these are intended to be categories rather than set amounts (so no 20k or no "thousands of dollars equal to shifts on a roll"). Weapons could represent a similar magnitude of value sank into a Cache, and underlings could literally represent individual captains and lieutenants in the same quantities as plots of land. Adding in something like Motorcade would eliminate a separate Equipment skill. Players could choose which stress track they attack, and have one of the following outcomes:

Fail/Succeed at Serious Cost: Either no stress to the enemy, or 1 stress to them, and 2 to your Underlings
Tie/Succeed with Minor Cost: 1 Stress each
Succeed: The victor inflicts 1 Stress to the target's asset he chooses
Succeed with Style: Either 2 Stress to an asset or 1 to an asset, and inflict a consequence on the target Boss. Presumably you might Choose to skip dealing damage to the boss in exchange for a bit of extra Turf, confiscated cash (Wealth), picked up firearms that had been discarded (Weapons) or the like, but earning Underlings should probably be avoided with Operations.

Instead, a player might roll to Create an Advantage to replace lost underlings.
This message was last edited by the player at 05:04, Sun 27 Dec 2015.

Mmm, I see now why you'd want influences to be skills that let you create or modify an advantage that can then be used with other skills, instead of just granting a +2 to those other skills. It comes down to whether you want influence to be an action, or just to modify one.

Is there room for any roleplaying in this game, or just constant fighting rolls?

Well, you make rolls besides attack and defense, but leaving that aside, I'd say the fact that Refresh would be difficult to trigger in the usual way (by sessions) the idea of the Refresh Scene found in System Toolkit could be used to do RP. I could see giving players a Refresh Scene every predetermined interval (could be each Organization action takes a week or a month for example, and RP-and by extension Refresh Scenes-would occur between the organization actions). There's also the possibility that a Boss could call another to his HQ thread for negotiations, and they could RP those. I was in a game once where we did that, and narrated how we were in an office with the doors closed and there were exchanges of muffled voices (with the actual statements in PMs)

Another thought did come about in regards to this one: if I did make the influences all separate skills, I would have to say the only way it  would work is by eliminating Provoke and Rapport since you wouldn't be influencing individuals... but the drawback of that would be that you would be influencing individuals in your refresh scenes. The only obvious way around that would be if I added Civilian as one of the influences. With the previous 4 Influences the list would now be Civilian, Legal, Media, Police, Politics, and with the Turf, Underlings, Wealth, Weapons, and my addition Motorcade, plus the Operations and Recon skills, that makes a list of 12 skills.

You mentioned before something I never directly addressed

Given the fact that a single Burglary stunt eliminates the need for it if the characters are criminals, I'd say no, but given the fact that characters might want contacts outside the criminal element, I would be more inclined to say it depends on the flavor of the contacts.

So Burglary and Contacts are in, making 14 skills.

Drug and Arms dealers might also want Crafts for things like Drugs, Explosives, or Vehicles, While that makes sense to offload onto Operations, the distinction there would be whether the boss personally knows how things in his facilities work. And it brings the skill list up to 15 (or potentially 17 if the character chooses multiple Crafts). Investigate might be used to clean up evidence in your name, or plant evidence against an opponent (although so could Burglary). Adding in Investigation makes the list 16 skills (or potentially 18 depending on Crafts). With a skill list of that approximate size, I could go back to the standard 1 Great, 2 Good, 3 Fair, and 4 Average.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:17, Sun 27 Dec 2015.

In reply to steelsmiter (msg # 95):

How many stressbars would you be looking at, then? One per resource? Influences, too?

Just Resources. Nothing else, because the only way to damage the Boss is to Succeed with Style, so allowing stress AND consequences for the boss seems like he'd be nigh on immortal.

To be clear, I meant 1 per resource.

In reply to steelsmiter (msg # 98):

Cool. I'm keeping my eye out for when you run this.

Alright. After a bit of organization, I'll let people know over in the GPIA thread, and either message you or link it here somewhere.

I may have to sit down and start figuring out how to adapt the old White Wolf Street Fighter game to Fate.  Really thinking Fate might provide a nice home for this old game.

Been watching the Vikings series, and wondering if there is a splat book for Viking era, or has anyone ran a Viking game?

Also wondering, what sort of stunt or option would feel appropriate for a Beserking warrior? Googled it but didn't really see any results that jumped out at me.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:12, Wed 17 Feb 2016.

My ideas:

Spirit of the Last War: Eberron in Fate
Pulp adventure set in Eberron, but with a Fate approach, not a D&D one. The intent would not be to emulate the D&D rules, or the D&D style. I've recently come to better understand how Fate handles both combat and non-combat challenges, and how characters are intended to be able to contribute without directly causing stress to the enemy.

So, one specific idea would be that the players are sort of like either the Century Club from Spirit of the Century, or the Leverage Group from Leverage. Basically they would tackle odd jobs and deal with odd goings on in the world, probably mostly in Sharn, so I can keep things focused on sort of a Big Apple sort of vibe.

Fate of Justice: Justice League (Unlimited) in Fate
I've been watching a lot of this old show and it strikes me has having a lot of the same sort of pacing that I think a Fate game is meant to have: the heroes do well in an early challenge, or have just come off a good run of successes, and then they're flung into something that lays them out. They regroup, argue, maybe get beaten again, and then finally rally, bringing to bear powers and capabilities they somehow didn't have or couldn't use to their full potential earlier - just like Fate characters who needed to power up with a wad of fate points by conceding in fights and having consequences compelled.

I'd probably stay away from any actual heroes (due to the somewhat well-known trickiness of recreating Superman in Fate), but one thing this show makes clear is that there is a lot of overlap. If you want to deflect bullets, or stretch, or be fast, or strong, or acrobatic, welcome to the club.

I know there are Extras and different books that exist to emulate things better, but at least initially I would want to stick to straight Fate Core and see how far that could take things.

Been pondering a game with a more western/frontier or settler vibe. Does anyone know of a good starting off point in the Toolkit or extras. Any tips would be great.

In reply to Cassieledm (msg # 104):

Any reason you think straight Core wouldn't be enough?

First off, I'm with engine. Minimalism makes me happy, though, so if you're dead set on switches and dials, I'd start with Burn Shift from Worlds on Fire. Just take out the Gamma World aspects of mutation and you have a perfectly serviceable set of community rules.

Of the things in the Toolkit, I'd suggest looking into the sections on Scale and the one on Making Big Changes. Looks to me like very little of the other ideas in there will help that particular concept too much, but if you have time, you should look them over anyway. You never know where inspiration will come from. :D

Thanks Nintaku. I will look into that.

Engine, it's not that I don't think Fate Core wouldn't work well, I like the base game for a lot ideas, I was just thinking someone may have done a setting already.

For me it would be Scale and finding the right type of Extras to encapsulate the settling, farm, homestead aspect I'm considering. Kind of like a Fate version of House Fortune in Song of Ice and Fire rpg.

Also curious about firearms. I like zero sum, but wonder if gunslingers need more punch than that.

I'm considering running a Star Trek game with either FAE or Atomic Robo as the base. Either way, the brainstorms and inventions rules from Atomic Robo would probably be used.

Every time the possibility of a Trek game comes up, the biggest hurdle seems to be the era of play. So if anyone would be interested in the game, please speak up about era preferences.

In reply to liblarva (msg # 108):

I'd definitely be interested in Star Trek. Pretty flexible with era, the reboot timeline seems wide open to explore freely.

Using Atomic Robo for Star Trek would work really well. It would be trivial to put together Modes based on the various Federation Departments and Races. And, yes, the Brainstorm rules are a perfect fit for the odd science fun of the setting.

Like Cassieledm, I think the reboot universe could be interesting. Set around the time of the movies but not involved in the movie story lines.

Other than it being the new hotness and the apparent lack of continuity, what is the particular attraction to the Kelvin timeline instead of prime TOS?

For me, it's the more action and faster pace to the portrayals that appeals. As well with the major changes to the timeline it just seems like a fresher slate. But also depends on whether exploration, or action is the general focus.

I'm having trouble deciding whether I want to play Save Game or to run it. I've found previous attempts to run Fate to be rather abortive, so that's my only apprehension in that regard, but I've been thinking of a Mario game with a basis in the beatdownboogie video Mario Warfare. Personally I could see the Glitch in The Mushroom Kingdom resulting from the events of said video, and have the players all be survivors that didn't chase Bowser.

Been reading the Fionavar Series, and much more so than Narnia or the other portal series it has me trying to figure out a campaign with a similar feel.

Has anyone tried a Portal Fantasy with Fate Core or Accelerated? Years ago now I was on a great freeform game here that was similar but totally died out over time. Just looking for ideas and such guys thanks.

While I only have a super vague idea for this, I'd love a historical campaign based on something like Crusader Kings, using FAE

Fate often strikes me as the perfect go-to for certain one-shot games, often inspired by neat video game ideas, such as A Plague Tale: Innocence. Here is the trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djmHcNBe1Z4 (warning: it can be gruesome). The idea is an alt-history Black Plague-infested France, where swarms of hideous rats flood the streets. The rats flee sources of light (such as torches), greedily devour even living, healthy people when they gather in numbers, and there is some kind of unnatural mystery behind it all. You can try to sneak past them, cleverly use the environment to your advantage, or even manipulate the rats into devouring Inquisition guards who seek to stop or kill you.

How would you do this with something like Fate for a one-shot? What clever ways would you use Aspects and environmental stuff to represent the rats, the torches, the fact that to accomplish some goals you have to risk drawing in the swarms or abandon the thing you sought just to escape the swarms, or guards? How would you add tension and horror to the struggle to survive the Plague-infested streets?

None at all, just in the normal ways Fate works.


It doesn't sounds to me like they're meant to be opponents one actually fights. In general I'd probably treat them as aspects on the scene, and as Challenges.

A given building or room is Full of Rats (sounds like everything would be, really).
A given swarm of rats is in a Feeding Frenzy, or Distracted by a Fresh Corpse.
A given escape route is Slick with Bodily Waste.


Isn't a torch a torch? I'd be willing to make a torch (or not) a general aspect that can be compelled to matter. No need to get too fancy there.

Anything can have aspects, so if I wanted some distinction between torches, I'd use aspects. At the outset it would just be a torch. If the character were knocked into a puddle, I might put "Guttering and Flickering" on the torch, or maybe "Sopping Wet" which makes it more difficult to relight. If something results in the players taking too long the torches would start "Burning Low."


I'm not sure how one would make that a "fact."

I didn't watch the video, but what you're describing here makes it sounds like a puzzle game. Draw the rats from one area, to clear another area to sneak through to grab the meat that you can use to lure the rats to another location, etc. If that's what it's like, don't think Fate would be good for that, since nothing is absolute. A situation might play out in vastly different ways depending on rolls and fate point expenditure.


I'd pick players who wanted to have a game with tension and horror and we'd all describe the tension and horror we wanted present. There's no other way to do it.

As a complete Fate newbie, I was hoping for some assistance figuring out how best to run a game with this premise. So, here's hoping!



Right. If you do "fight" them, it's not generally a "sword them until they are defeated" thing. It's a "drive them away for a time with fire" or "escape them to one of the few shrinking safe places."



That sounds cool. That's the sort of thing I thought would help create a really atmospheric game, interacting with the environment and doing a rather dynamic, tension-filled scene.



More like, would you suffer a complication (or Consequence? I'll have to check the term again) in abandoning an objective? Or suffer one to accomplish something (rats injure you or break into a stronghold, etc.)?

Unless the mechanics are actually used, though, this is just description. Things need to happen that make those aspects matter.

I watched the trailer and it seems basically like a puzzle game. Maybe things get more free-form after the learning level, but it generally seems like it's linear, with a solution to be found at each step. There's not much that you'd roll dice for if it were an RPG. Which is fine, except that you don't need Fate or any ruleset at that point.

But if you're only taking the game for inspiration, then I guess I could see it.

The rats would be an obstacle and they'd have some standard aspects like "Afraid of light" and "Ravenous." Guards or looters would have "None too bright" and "Armored goons." To these, you'd add other aspects like "Searching the area" or "Drunk as a skunk," for guards, and "Waist deep" or "Unusually bold," for rats. In dealing with the obstacle, the players and referees could compel those to make things harder or easier.

For instance, if a room contains some "unusually bold" rats, then the referee can spend a fate point to make some of them approach despite the light, requiring more light, some loud noises, or the like to overcome their boldness. I'm not sure what skill that might entail, which makes it a tad tricky.

It might not involve skills so much as fate points. Players can declare details for the use of a fate point, so in that situation they might put an aspect on the scene like "bags of flour" which lets the create flashes by throwing the powder through the torch. Or whatever. They spent the fate point, so they make it through.

As fate points run out, they'll need to get them back. I guess characters could have aspects that are related to fears or responsibilities, and when those are compelled, they'd get their points back.


Consequences are generally suffered as a result of losing a Conflict, but I suppose they could be the result of failing or partially failing a Challenge. I think this game would mostly consist of Challenges.

The wood pile is Rotten so it won't burn for long. Athletics to move across the terrain quickly, Notice to find the fire-making materials quickly, Craft to concoct an igniter in time, maybe Shoot to place additional flames where you need them. Fail on one or two of those, and while you're out of danger you're not where you were trying to reach, and the guards in the area are "On High Alert." Compel you "Nose for Trouble" aspect on your Notice checks and your "Longshanks" aspect on your Athletics check, because the referee is going to up the difficulty with the "Troublesome Flocks of Crows" and "Sucking Mud" aspects.

Yeah, it could work. Good luck. Be sure to pick up a free copy of the rules or read the SRD.

I figured that would be the case. Basically, the whole question is "How do I use Fate to create scenes and games inspired by this?"



Yeah, I don't want to emulate the exact gameplay itself, just take inspiration for it. Or rather: "Say you're using Fate to run a game. The premise is that the Black Plague has struck France, carried by supernatural swarms of rats that threaten the stability of the place. It's a mix of survival horror and mystery. How would you run this game with Fate?"



Good! Sounds cool. I've read Fate, and played in some very, very short-lived games, so I never really got a feel for how to make the toolkit work for me. But there are lots of one-shot game ideas like this that seem like the system would work real well for, at least to me; it's why I seek the advice of Fate veterans in how you might do certain things.



This is what I mean. Cool ways to implement these things into scenes, how to put Fate's unique mechanics to work for you. The above is a perfect example of the kind of thing I wouldn't know how to do well, but figured someone could. And it makes me think my hunch was right: Fate would work real well for doing a game with this sort of premise.

In reply to Samus Aran (msg # 120):

Grab the FATE Horror Toolkit if you've not done so already, and familiarize yourself with FATE Core and an apocalyptic setting like that of Morts or The Ministry (all of which are pay-what-you-want for the PDFs).

Stuff like the FATE System Toolkit, and FATE games like Kaiju Incorporated and Achtung! Cthulhu, may provide further ideas should you opt for something other than FATE Accelerated Edition (by far the lightest version of FATE you'll find.)

I'm not sure I'd run it as a game, but there was a thread about running Heavy Metal type games in Fate (in the GPIA subforum here) because they had ideas that circumvented tyrannical Hit Point economies in D&D. For some random reason, that made me think of an anime game with stress boxes being tied to clothing state. I dunno why I thought of it. I don't think I'd want to run it, but it's just a random idea I had that I thought was hilarious.

I don't know what they didn't like about "hit point economies" but I doubt they'd get what they wanted from Fate. In my experience, fate points themselves get treated like hit points, in that players will resist using them because they feel that losing them puts them at the mercy of the GM.

The problem with hit point economies tends to be that they become the only way anything is truly decided. Every fight becomes about wiping out the other side, because just about everything else is messy to handle. All that is needed is to come up with other ways to declare victory and defeat. It's as necessary in Fate as in D&D and anyone who thinks just changing the damage system will fix the issues for them is in for disappointment.

Quick idea. I want to do a mashup of Traveller RPG setting with Fate rules, and Fantasy races. Pipe dream, already been done, to much work or cool idea. Not sure I can make up my mind. . .

By Traveller setting, do you mean the Third Imperium? It could certainly be done, but the setting already has plenty of races. Darrians are fairly close to elves, in a sense. Still sounds neat, though.

I’ve been thinking about running a pulpy, gonzo, freakshow of a game with action scientists, cyborg apes, and otherworldly madness set during World War Two. I’ll be drawing from the pulps and various pulp games along with Atomic Robo, Hellboy, and various WW2 games, including Spirit of the Century and Achtung! Cthulhu.

I’d be running this with Fate Core as it appears in the Atomic Robo RPG. Magic will be limited, if allowed at all.

So would anyone be interested in some over-the-top, pulpy, gonzo goodness?

I'd really want to play a Crusader Kings style game of fate or a FATE campaign in Middle-Earth

I would be up for a middle earth game. I was really into the idea of a Darker Dungeon game.

But I am also currently running a game right now that is just starting about people who are corrupted by a madness that is wrecking havoc on earth.

So think people who are turning into monsters who are being corrupted by this and have to struggle with trying to survive in the normal world while dealing with their monster nature.

link to another game

I'd really want to play a Crusader Kings style game of fate or a FATE campaign in Middle-Earth - or just a general medieval (like actual middle ages, not the traditional DnD fantasy) campaign.

I know I've said this a lot, but I'd love to play a crusader kings style campaign or an alt-history campaign.

I have learned way too much about the actual Middle Ages to be able to enjoy the romanticized versions of them anymore.  It even bleeds over into my enjoyment of Tolkien, at least a little.  (But I still love hobbits.)

Anyway, would anyone be interested in a game set in a project I've been working on for over a decade (off and on)?  It is called "After the Collapse" and it is a Fate game set in near future, in a time after the nuclear war in the Middle East has made all that oil unavailable.

No magic, no zombies, no supernatural of any sort.  It is typical pulp-style Fate where the heroic people are vastly tougher and more skilled than the normal, or minion, class.  But the world is just a gritty version of our own, but after a complete economic collapse.  The U.S. has splintered into several smaller countries with vastly different flavors:

• Republic of Texas, controlled by the corrupt oil barons
• Eastern badlands, where any pretense of the rule of law is gone
• United Northwest, where alternate energies have finally succeeded
• New Ellay, what's left of Southern California after the terrible earthquakes
• U.S. of A., what used to be the Bible belt has become a theocracy
• The Confederate States of America, where they've made 'Murica great again, and the KKK once again operates openly.

Any interest?
This message was last edited by the player at 21:07, Fri 23 Oct 2020.

In reply to Zag24 (msg # 131):

fair enough, I'd be fine even if it wasn't a romanticized version of the middle ages

I'm not sure about a campaign set in the future, but I'll think on it

Well, the actual version of the Middle Ages was horrible.  The church and the nobles (the two groups were incestuously mixed) held all the power, the system was rife with arrogance and corruption, and the lives of actual people were short and brutal.  Any sort of change -- social, scientific, technological, philosophical -- that might threaten the establishment was squashed brutally and mercilessly.  It took a freaking plague that killed 30-40% of the population to get us out of the cycle of power begets power begets brutal oppression of those who don't have it.

Consider all the stories, all the ongoing myths that still trickle through our society, of "the wisdom of the ancients."  Talk to someone today who seriously believes in Astrology, and they will tell you how much more our deep ancestors knew than we do today.  It's ridiculous, of course, but those myths arise from the almost-a-millennium of Dark Ages in which the cycle of power wielded by the church and the nobles crushed any free thinking, any scholarly effort that was not "Biblical scholar."  During that 900 year period, it actually was true that the most knowledgeable, most educated people knew a lot less than their predecessors from ancient Greece and Rome.

And look!  Our own country is trying to revert to a system where scientists are ignored and politicians are considered the source of truth.  Sorry, I started to rant.

In reply to Zag24 (msg # 133):

oh yeah, totally. no worries about ranting

I've gone and resurrected a game from a while back because some of the players were that persistent.   But not everyone came back.   We've been in a kind of doldrums for a little bit a I was waiting on a couple of ghosts.  Thought I'd post here before posting in Players Wanted.

Sins of the Orishi is a Space Opera-ish game, taking a a heavy influence from Dark Matter, Killjoys and, at the players insistence, Firefly.

The PCs were awakened from an advanced cryo-sleep to find themselves aboard a space-station that was falling apart around them.   Turns out they were all convicted criminals, but the awakening was botched and the PCs don't remember their life before awakening.

They made their way through the perils of the decaying space-station, fought their way onto a half-stripped space-ship in the Station's Maintenance flight-deck, and survived a FTL jump (despite the ship--The Orishi--supposedly not having a jump drive).  The ship has just tethered to an asteroid colony, K-Zino, where they've got five cycles to come up with the cash to pay for their atmosphere, food, etc...

I've got four pretty active players and could take on one or two more.  Now is a good time to do so, because I'm just about to launch the next big conflict.

Sins of the Orishi

Woo hoo!  Awesome game!  Come join us!  :D


Next... Big... Conflict...?  *gulp* ;)