This is all pretty much going to be transparent when in play.  But I want it clear how I'll be dealing with things.

Message 01: Index of References
Message 02: Scene, Session, Scenario & Narrative Justification
Message 03: Roll For Initiative & Holding Your Action
Message 04: Six Viziers Stunts Disallowed
Message 05: Weapons & Armor
Message 06: Using Flashbacks
Message 07: New Action: Full Defence (Integrated into Fate Condensed)
Message 08: Ammo Stress-Tracks
Message 09: Progress-Clocks & Danger-Clocks DELETED
Message 10: Rolling Notation & Unsolicited Rolls
Message 11: Taking Zero (When you might not need to roll)
Message 12: Q&A Invokes & Compels

This message was last edited by the GM at 04:38, Fri 21 Oct 2022.

For our purposes:

• A scene will be presented in a distinct thread.  A location may be reused, but each distinct scene will have it's own thread.  When the scene is over, the thread will be closed.
• A Session (or Episode) is a collection of scenes.  It ends when we reach some sort of narratively important point.  The completion of a Session will result in a Minor Milestone (see FC 256).  Items and stunts that can be used "once per session" will reset.  This still needs to make narrative sense (ie, a one-shot weapon that hasn't been reloaded in a scene that follows immediately after another scene, can't be used until it's reloaded)..  If in doubt, talk to me in the metagame thread!
• A Scenario (or Season) is a collection of  session (episodes).  It encompasses the whole of a story.  This will result in a Significant or Major Milestone, depending on how long and how involved the story has been.

Narrative Justification
First off, please realize that normally, Consequences need a narrative justification before they can be healed.  That's the whole "After recovery starts" bit.

If your character has A BLOODY NOSE at the end of scene 01.01, he does not automatically heal up at the start of scene 01.02.    He is going to have a bloody nose through scene 01.02.  He should be doing what he can to justify recovery... wadding tissue up his nostrils, putting ice on his nose... whatever.  That is the narrative justification so that when scene 01.03 rolls around, he's free and clear and the Minor Consequence is gone.

You cannot normally start recovery on a Consequence during the scene in which the character acquired the Consequence.  You pretty much have to carry the consequence through the next scene (or down-time).

Also note that, where recovery of a consequence is concerned, you must roll an overcome action to initiate recovery.  the narrative isn't enough.  It took dice to get you the consequence, it'll take dice to get rid of it.


Of course, there are magics or super-science which might act to heal the character immediately.  This rule doesn't refer to those things.


What about down-time between scenes?
Okay, so what if scene 01.02 takes place an hour after scene 01.01?  Or even the next day?
This can also serve as narrative justification.  But we need some sort of narrative reference to justify the removal of the Consequence.    So, give me a line that acknowledges the existence (and removal) of the consequence:  "Mike touched his nose, tenderly.  It took hours to get the bleeding to stop the night before, and he was worried about how he looked..."   Awesome.
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:47, Tue 18 May 2021.

Roll for Initative
When entering combat, the GM will roll Initiative by rolling 4dF + your Notice skill.  This will determine your positioning in the initiative ladder.  You can pre-roll it, if you like....  just give me a heads up that that's what's going on.

Your Initiative lasts throughout the entire combat-scene, unless stunts or Aspects allow you to change it.

Fate-Point Re-Rolls
If you spend a fate-point to re-roll you may always take the better of the two rolls.  You're not going to be stuck with an even worse roll.


"Holding Your Action"
If you're at +5 in the Initiative and you want to wait for a +3 character's actions, you should be able to do that.  If you're already lower down on the initiative ranking, you simply can't make a conditional action depending on what someone higher in the initiative ranking does.
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:11, Tue 02 Mar 2021.

Side note on stunts:
There are a lot of websites that aggregate stunts from various sources.  I am NOT ALLOWING stunts that come from The Fate System Toolkit, pages 89 through 101.  These are technically NOT stunts and should not have been included in these aggregating websites.  These are blessings particular to the Six Vizier's magical system which is not a magical system that we are using in this game.
This message was last edited by the GM at 08:02, Mon 01 Mar 2021.

Note: 2022-October: I'm going to have to edit this to make it more in-line with Fate Condensed, but it basically holds.

We are using Weapon & Armor Values.   Weapon & Armor-Values are applied once a hit has been determined to be a successful.  The remaining Effort of the hit is added to the Weapon-Value.  Any Armor-value is subtracted from this.

In this way it is possible to hit a target but not do any damage (the armor was successful).  It is also possible to hit a target for +0 and then apply weapon-damage to do +2 (or more) damage...

Of course, the trade-off with armor is that it impact maneuverability and not all armor defends well against all attacks. Chainmail may work well at fending off sword-blows but crushing weapons (mace, etc) will still crush.


Combat of any stripe is going to take the following form:

• Attacker rolls to attack: 4dF(X) + Skill(X) = Effort(X)
• Defender rolls to defend: 4dF(X) + Skill(X) = Defense(X)
• Effort(X) - Defense(X) determines if the hit connects

If it connects: (Defense(X) + Armor-Value(X)) - (Effort(X) + Weapon-Value(X)) = Damage Done(X)

Example:
The guard, Keldar, is trying to hit the street-rat, Evan.  Evan is a physically adept acrobat and is wearing only a light leather jerkin  (Armor(+1)).  Against Keldar's broadword (Weapon(+2)), he's likely gonna get hurt if Keldar connects.

1. Keldar swings his sword at Evan.  He rolls 4dF(+2) + Melee(+2) for Effort(+4)
   
2. Evan is not armed, so he attempts to dive out of the way.  He rolls 4dF(-1) +Athletics(+3) for Defend(+2)
   
3. Effort(+4) is greater than Defend(+2) so Keldar hits Evan!
   
4. Keldar's (Effort(+4) + Weapon(+2)) vs Evan's (Defense(+2) + Armor(+1)) == (Keldar(+6) vs Evan(+3)) -- A hit! A very palpable hit!
   
5. Keldar inflicts 3 stress on Evan.
   
6. Evan's stress-track is free and clear so, he doesn't take a consequence...  He takes on three stress, though.  Narratively, this means Evan's jerkin is torn, or some other such device...

This message was last edited by the GM at 04:42, Fri 21 Oct 2022.

Using Flashbacks
Based on the article "I Remember When...": Using Flashbacks in Fate by Tara Zuber, published by Magpie Games in The Fate Codex Volume 2


At any time, a player may introduce a flashback to justify the creation of an Aspect or dramatic element of the game.

• Define the time and place
  I spent a year on Traugor-5 when I was younger.  These people know me.  I helped them...
• Define what happened
  I helped remove a radiation-source from the township well....
• Define what your character wants to get out of this  (This will typically be defined by a Situation Aspect.)
  So... They Remember Me
  
• Notes:
  
  • GM and other players may ask questions to create a more robust story
  • You and the GM will determine what kind of play or rolls are necessary If any).
    This will typically be related to the Aspect you want to bring into play.   This one, for instance might require a Science roll...
  • If successful, the story becomes a part of the game's history.  You might be able to leverage it again
  • If a tie, you are successful, but at a cost.  You get what you need, but there's always a price attached
  • If you fail... well, things didn't quite go as you remembered them...

You Must Not Contradict the Present
No killing the big-bad before he traps you in that cell. (But, y'know, you might've run into that guard before...)

The Past Happened
Whatever you introduce during a flashback is fair game for later incorporation into the
game, even if it changes the direction of the story.
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:14, Tue 02 Mar 2021.

REDACTED

This now reiterates what is in the rules (P48) of FATE Condensed.


This message was last edited by the GM at 02:22, Wed 15 June 2022.

REDACTED
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:53, Mon 14 Nov 2022.

I use a specific notation when rolling and asking for rolls.
Roll Rapport[+1] (skill is defined, action is not defined, target to beat is +1)
Roll vs Attack(+0) (skill is undefined, action is defined, target to beat is +0)
You rolled Science(+4) to Overcome (skill and action is defined, target was either mentioned earlier or you rolled without a target defined).

When Using the Die-Roller
When using the dice-roller, it really helps if you list the Skill & rating, the Action and, if possible why the roll...
Rolling Tech(+2)to Overcome the door-locks

The more information you can put in one place, the easier it is for me.  I like easy.

However...

Unsolicited Rolls
If you decide to roll dice for an Action, please include the Action (Attack, Defend, Overcome, Create Advantage) in the dice-roller and/or post.   If the action is a contested action (meaning you're rolling vs a NPC and not an arbitrary situation), I will roll for the NPC to oppose or defend.

If you choose to roll without being asked, I will need you to play by the results.
  If you can't think of (or aren't willing to play out) a dramatic result of a success and a dramatic result of a failure, please don't roll for it.  It's better to give me an OOC line saying what you want to happen.  'Cause if I cant' think of a dramatic success or failure, we should just go with the cooler option.
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:44, Tue 29 Mar 2022.

"Taking Zero"
"Taking Zero" allows you to move forward without rolling by assuming a roll of 4dF(+0) + your appropriate skill.

It can only be done in an unopposed roll (so, when you're not rolling against another character's roll), and you will never get a "success with style".  But if your skill-rank meets or exceeds the target already, there's no failure.
This message was last edited by the GM at 05:24, Wed 17 Aug 2022.

@VIPER:
I am unfamiliar (British understatement there) with the narrative mechanisms of Compelling or any of the other.

An Invoke of an Aspect allows you to use it to your advantage.  Mechanically, it allows one of three things (player's choice):

• It allows you to re-roll a roll and take the better result
• It allows you to add +2 to the roll you just made
• It allows you to introduce or discover a "new" fact  about the current scene, story, setting etc.

That third one is the one we're going to talk about here...

A Compel allows someone else--usually the GM--to use that Aspect to introduce plot complications.


An Example:
You have an Aspect Wanted By the Galactic Authority.

Invokes:
You could Invoke it (to your advantage) by saying something like:
"Hey, GM, I want to Invoke Wanted By the Galactic Authority to say that there are wanted announcements being displayed on the station feed and that the leader of the gang we need help from has seen them, so of course he can trust me!"

The "facts" being introduced by this Aspect is the wanted announcements and that the leader of the gang has seen them.    If I Accept this Invoke, you spend a fate point and the fact is now a part of the story.  We then create an Aspect for the setting Wanted Announcements, which you get a free invoke on.


Compels:
I could Compel it (against you) by saying something like:
"Normally you would go to the market look for anything to help your pilotting rig.  But you are Wanted By the Galactic Authority, and there's a small unit of GA-agents there, having just come off a deep-space duty.  They haven't seen you yet.  Will you accept this complication?"

The "fact" being introduced is the presence of a Galactic Authority unit on the commerce station you just docked with.  So, we'd introduce a new Aspect to the session "GA Deep-Space Unit Looking to Blow Off Steam.  Nobody gets the free invoke 'cause I gave you a fate-point for it.  Or, I guess, I get the free-invoke.


The Underlying Rule:
When you roll dice or spend a Fate-Point to create a new Aspect, you Always get a free Invoke on that Aspect.  You can give that free-invoke to others.

More detailed explanation can be found at:
https://fate-srd.com/fate-core...g-compelling-aspects


Tagging An Aspect?
I will also accept/understand the expressions "tag an Aspect" or "tagging an Aspect".  These means either Invoke or Compel, depending on how it's used.  This is a holdover from The Dresden Files RPG (pre Fate-Core), which I ran for many years.

Conditional Actions in Combat

In a face-to-face game, this would be normally be adjudicated by lowest initiative declaring actions first, then higher-initiative being resolved first.  We're fudging it. I just try to keep in mind that lower-initiative NPCs didn't see it coming when you act...

So, if you're at +5 in the Initiative and you want to wait for a +3 character's actions, you should be able to do that.  If you're already lower down on the initiative ranking, you simply can't make a conditional action depending on what someone higher in the initiative ranking does.


Narratively in a rpol game, this means that Albert can make conditional actions in a combat exchange ("If Clarence draws his guy, I'm going to kick him;  If not...").  Beatrice can do it only conditional on Clarence, and Clarence can't.  He sucks.