I have a basic plan for the game, but FATE works best with a back and forth discussion between the GM and the players.  In this thread we can discuss details of the setting, people and groups that the characters would be involved with, and their relationships with each other.

Magic

The first subject I'd like to discuss is magic.  This is a fairly low magic setting.  For simplicity I want to keep it mostly narrative in nature.  A player who wants to play a magic user should have an aspect which states the type of magic they use.  The magic itself would mostly be flavor for a normal skill check.  A wizard could use the shoot skill to shoot a fire ball from a wand.  A shaman could use contacts to commune with the spirits for aid.  More powerful magic would involve long rituals, and quests to find rare magical components.
This message was last edited by the GM at 13:38, Tue 14 June 2022.

Name: Katerina
High Concept: Greatest Warrior In The Making

Katerina has proven to have a great amount of skill as a soldier. Some say that one day she can beat the mightiest among the army. Maybe even bring peace once and for all.

Trouble: Estranged Father

Katerina wants to one day rekindle her relationship with her father. She wants him to understand that this is her choice. But sometimes her emotion gets the better of her and she would get unfocused or worse, become more rash in her decision.

Hi all! My idea is dependent on the setting choices a little bit but the rough idea is a charismatic warrior from the losing side of a major battle or war, partially inspired by Mal from Firefly. He is a Thebian who fought on the Persian side on the last battle of the second Greco-Persian war.

Character Name: Nikandros of Thebes
High Concept: First spear, Ghosts of Plataea
Trouble: (something like “I will survive” I need to workshop it)
This message was last edited by the player at 14:00, Sun 19 June 2022.

Hi! I figured I'd go with a sort of very low-key wizard type, who's got insights and skills that are probably just poorly understood science but might be just a tiny bit more. I initially pictured him as a druid, but since we're going with ancient Greece, let's put a bit of Socrates in him. :)

Name: Chiatracles of Urcadia

High Concept: The Wisest Man in Urcadia

Chiatracles is a natural philosopher who has spent his long life studying the world and reading the works of all the great thinkers who came before him. As a result, he has a great store of knowledge that sometimes seems to verge on the magical.

Trouble: An Age of Fear and Superstition

Chiatracles was driven from Urcadia by his enemies, who accused him of trafficking in matters that belonged to the gods and leading the city-state's youth astray. To his sorrow, he has found that other places are much the same - everyone fears a man who seems to know more than he should, and are quick to blame him for any stroke of ill fortune.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:55, Sun 19 June 2022.

Hello everybody! Glad to be on board. As a (casual) Ancient historian I can dig the Grecian theme and I was waiting to see what cultural norms we preferred as a group before naming my character, so that's one piece of the puzzle sorted!

Name: Orekles

High Concept: Superstitious Farmer

Orekles is a peasant farmer with a level head, good practical sense (and skills) and a healthy respect for the supernatural, arcane and spiritual. Not, perhaps, as powerful or quick as any soldier but he does have the brute strength and boundless endurance of someone able to wrangle cattle and labour all day under a blazing sun. Likewise, he's not quick of thought or well educated, but he is methodical, persistent and has a wealth of practical farming lore.

Trouble: Pestiferous Ancestors

Orekles is convinced the spirits of his ancestors follow him around, interfering and advising him on what they think of him, his actions and what he should do next. Despite their allegedly good intentions and occasionally good, even prophetic advice, he often gets frustrated at their constant nagging and frequently speaks to them in harsh outbursts; a habit that ostracizes him from those that perceive his "madness".

Well, it looks like my concept is going to dovetail rather nicely with y'all...  I'd originally had a more tribal/nomadic-based character in mind, but she's malleable.

Name: Sophia

High-Concept: Huntress on the Path of Harmony
Sophia is an huntress, deriving true enjoyment from the entire process: the plan, the discovery, pursuit and eventual triumph of the hunt.

She is a fervent believer that everything is inter-connected, that the material world and the spirit world are reflections of one another. The best way to do anything is to work in harmony with the world around her.

I want The Path of Harmony to be a cult of some sort.  (though I don't like the modern negative connotations for the world "cult").  The Path of Harmony advises looking for the big picture before acting... patience means impulse-control.


Trouble: Prophecies of Peril and Praise
She has had vivid dreams all of her life.  Through the Path of Harmony, she's come to believe that these dreams are--in fact--prophetic, and are a call to action.  But prophetic dreams are never clear and concise.

I have more ideas for other Aspects... things that will make it more personally involved.  But, for right now, this covers the really big elements of who she is...

Chiatracles     The Wisest Man in Urcadia         An Age of Fear and Superstition
Katerina        Greatest Warrior In The Making    Estranged Father
Nikandros       First spear, Ghosts of Plataea    I will survive
Orekles         Superstitious Farmer              Pestiferous Ancestors
Sophia          Huntress on the Path of Harmony   Prophecies of Peril and Praise

I think that magic should always come with a narrative price.  I don't mean fate mechanics, I mean story.  We're going low-fantasy, right?  This kind of reminds me of Harn.  People will always talk about magic even in a non-magical setting.  But it doesn't mean that magic is actually a thing in that setting.

Between Orekles and Sophia, it sounds like we do have active spirits.  Orekles with the ancestors, Sophia with the spirits of... well, anything... (my inspiration was actually a first year philosophy prof who claimed he'd proven that chairs have consciousness).

Orekles' ancestors brings up some interesting things for the existence of an after-life...  I look forward to eventually discussing that in-character!

I think we're off to a pretty good start.  I had to do some research already on what pestiferous means, and on the battle of Plataea.

For game purposes, there was an invading army who found am ally in the city of Thebes, but were driven off by an alliance of local city states at Plataea.  The Battle of Plataea will be an aspect of the setting, I haven't figured out what to do with it yet. You all can decide if and how it might have an impact on your character, but it could work as an inciting incident.

I have a couple aspect notes

For player 1, I will need a bit more information on the estranged father, and what kind of impact you want it to have.

For player 2, Ghosts of Plataea could be a good trouble aspect on its own, then you could expand the high concept to something like "charismatic officer from Thebes."  Just an idea.

Really, right here? Okay then.

Katerina's father is the king of Urcadia, (or at least a kingdom with a more militaristic society), and a lot of people don't know about the fact that she's the eldest daughter of the king or that they had a falling out. Only her closes comrades and lover would know. Despite her skills in war, she's not as good in politics and she knows she'll never be. However, it doesn't stop her to prove her worth to the king. Often that action tends to lead to more reckless approach.

Is that a good enough impact? What else should I add?

In reply to player 1 (msg # 10):

Thank you. That clears it up for me.

So, this isn't just a melieu based on ancient Greek.  We've got Thebes, Urcadia and Plataea.  So, I'm guessing we're cleaving to the geography and politics of the time?

What are the boundaries of "low-fantasy" here?  Here's what I'm taking my cue from.  ( https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/LowFantasy )  How accurate does this depict what we're using as our setting?

The Persian War was Iron age, this is Bronze age. I had intended on simply using Greek themes to make it easy to visualize.  We can use the geography too for reference, but It's not real world Greece.

It's more heroic fantasy than low fantasy. Think of Clash of the Titans, or any of the Hercules movies or shows as examples.

Oh good.  I know next to nothing about classical Greek culture, let-alone timelines and politics.  But I suppose wikipedia can help.

Okay, heroic fantasy.  Same question.  How much does ( https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pm...p/Main/HeroicFantasy ) capture what were going for?  For me, it'll help me figure out how deep and how angst-ridden my character might be.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:01, Wed 22 June 2022.

This about what I'm thinking of.

Thanks, that helps me immensely.

So... Orekles!

It sounds like your Aspect introduces the fact that this setting has A Vibrant and Active Spirit World.   I love that he's got one or more ancestor-spirits following him around offering unasked for advice, etc.

I have a basic ideas for a cosmology that says that there are four "worlds"

• The Physical World - the one we're in
• The Spirit World - the "behind the curtain of reality" side of things
• The After-World - Not certain whether it's wholely separate or simply a facet of the Spirit World.
• The Godhead - Where the Gods reside and, perhaps where you go when you dream...

I don't expect this to be a major story-point but a common general understanding at the player level would help, I think.   Any thoughts on this?

That sounds pretty good to me, yeah, I'm all board with this.

I like a "layered" cosmology and the notion of "depth" you get like an ocean:
- On the surface you have people in their boats or swimming around. Nothing unusual and little unexplained. It's nice.
- Just beneath the surface you have some divers and other creatures that interact with people all the time. It's familiar, the inhabitants include actual people and things that are kinda like people if you squint a bit, even some that can go to or interact with the surface for a time. Which is not to say it doesn't have its dangers. Sometimes something from deeper will come up to see what the craic is, but not very often.
- Deeper still things get scarier and inexplicable and weird by human standards, but most of all they get...bigger. The natives here can't really get to the surface, let alone interact intelligibly with it. Likewise they're not going to understand (let alone tolerate) something as fragile and out-of-depth as an unprepared human and why, outside of really very specific reasons, would a human be down this far anyway.
- Then in the very depths, you get the stuff that really isn't in any way comprehensible; it's dark and inhospitable and the things around you are the stuff of nightmares. And then there's the Gods of this domain; the prehistoric leviathans that are the uncontested rulers of this domain and all others, because who's going to mess with them in any of the realms they deign to visit? Plus, if it weren't for these deities of the deepest and darkest places, none of the rest of what exists above would survive (because that's how ecology works, folks!).

If you're reading this with the impression that I'm presenting a cosmology that's a little more sinister than the usual "getting closer to the gods, who are benevolent and kind, is a good thing"...that's as intended! I like gods to be unexplained and mysterious and the afterlife to be something that should be a little more unsettling than the "sunshine and lollipops" of Elysium (or heaven, or whatever you want to call buddying up with your fave deity). Is that an angle anyone else is on board with? i.e. that the afterlife is not only "vibrant and active", but also (for want of a better word) spooky, dark and mysterious (in the truest sense of the word).

Sure, I can live with that. :) Might mean that the Urcadians weren't entirely wrong in exiling my characters for trying to delve into the deeper world, mind...

Of course, even sages with the aid of magic would likely only see just beyond their own world.  Is that a shadow of reality? or a completely new world?  What do dreams mean? Is dream a separate world? Are dreams crafted by the gods to communicate with mortals? or are they crafted by mortal minds to shield them from harsher realities?

People would surly tell stories to explain these mysteries.  Some would speak of an upper and a lower world, and spirits that flit about on the edge of human awareness.  Others might tell stories of a world made of layers which grow ever more frightening the farther you went.  Still others could say the world is made of the stories gods tell each other, and though most people never leave their safe homes, great heroes of legend delve into the wilderness to face the horrors beyond.

I'm easy.

I was in contact with Player 6.  They have a concept that they're hammering out.  Once they're ready, we can start on the phase trio.  Start thinking of an early adventure or other significant event.

Oh, of course.  Naturally, different cultures will have differing views on cosmological structure.

I think I'd like to move it from the metagame understanding ("this is how it is") to the character's cultures dominant understanding, which then leaves it wide open to actually being completely different from what it really is... and, in fact, this allows us to never actually have to define how it really is.

Possibly a small and insignificant point, but if the conversation ever comes up, this at least provides us with a common understanding of the concepts--even if our characters don't agree with it.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:29, Sat 25 June 2022.

In reply to player 5 (msg # 22):

Ok thanks. I think I misread the direction the conversation was going.

We were having some cosmology discussions, and I wanted to continue it.  There are a couple characters who have spirit based aspects, how much do we want spirits to have contact with the material world?  Do we want spirits who will manifest is some way, or do we want it more subtle, like symbolic dreams, or feelings?

I'm of the feeling that manifestations of the spiritual in the physical realm should be limited to "borrowing" physically-present things.  So, talking with the concept of a living forest might involve a curious swirling of leaves and bending of trees, the sound of voices on the wind through the leaves, the change of cadence in the babbling brook.

Actual, outright, physical manifestations of a godhead or a spirit in the physical world should be exceptionally rare--but not impossible.  This is the foundation of our myths and stories, our legends.

For something like ancestral spirits or spirits of a very specific place, or thing, I still like the idea of a manifesting using already-present elements.  The painting of the grandfather who's position changes every time you look away, the drawings made in the sand around the altar, etc. etc.

I think that the not knowing is really important.  The other-worlds should be essentially unknowable--hinted at and guessed at but definitely not quantified and measured.

One who cannot listen cannot benefit from spiritual guidance.  Now, I imagine that for Orekles, theses things might manifest in a much more overt manner than the rest of us...

In reply to player 5 (msg # 25):

All this sounds good to me, also. :)

Well the cosmology isn't much interest to the character that I'm playing as, I think I'm in agreement with player 5's ideas.

In reply to player 5 (msg # 25):

Great! This seems like people with significant levels of lore or empathy might discern the spirits' wishes through observation.  It makes for an interesting challenge for use with aspects.  I can't be too blunt with the messaging.  But then, it could involve more party members in figuring things out.

There's also the utter ubiquity of dreams and visions, which has often been seen as the avenue of  interaction with the otherworlds, but it's just not as inclusive to other PCs.

Orekles might be one such special case where he's actually got ancestors tied to him chattering away 24/7...  But, you know, special cases.

I'm also in favor of there being soem eral bona fide unexplained phenomena out there...  There is a pilgrimage location to the shrine of Hessia, for instance, where when you shout into the cavern, the voices that echo back don't always say the same thing...  Or the Fountain of Hod where the waters actually change colors before certain local events... (like, say, earthquakes)...

If everyone is ready why don't we move on to phase one of the phase trio. I'd like everyone to write a brief description of an event, an early adventure or other significant event, that the others could build off of.  Then make an aspect based on it.

On his wanderings, Chiatracles came to a village where all the children of a certain family were always ill and nothing seemed to help them. Performing a thorough investigation, Chiatracles discovered that the children's mother had been poisoning their food for years. Though the woman begged, bribed and threatened him to keep her secret, he announced it to the villagers. However, the villagers refused to believe that any mother could do something so terrible and instead chose to believe that Chiatracles was a wicked sorcerer who was himself the cause of the children's illness, and they drove him off in a hail of rocks and curses.

Aspect: Honesty Is Its Own Reward
This message was last edited by the player at 04:55, Sun 17 July 2022.

During her days as the eldest daughter of the King of Urcadia, Katerina had an affair with a daughter of the seamstress named Anemia. When she left her family, Katerina only had her support at the time and could always reconcile to her. Something about her support and kindness has always touched her heart.

Aspect: I Will Always Be Here For You

Sophia had always mourned the loss of her family as a child.  She'd bound herself to the Path of Harmony to help her set aside thoughts of vengeance.   But when she became acquainted with a young woman who's father sold her for bride-price again and again so that he could satiate his boundless appetite, she found herself incensed.

She feasted with the father, plied him with fresh-caught venison and copious amounts of wine. The satisfaction she gained from doing the only logical thing--revealing the father's treachery to each of the would-be husbands--was more than she had anticipated.    If retribution on the perpetrators of her own past could not be gained, she could, at least, act as the hand of Justice.  In this, at least, she would be true to herself, a reconciliation between the Path of Harmony and the need for Justice.

Aspect: Both Wine and Children Speak the Truth
This message was last edited by the player at 02:40, Sun 17 July 2022.

We have a good variety of phase one stories.  Now we'll move on to phase two.  Pick another character's phase one story that resonates with you, and write how your character was involved. if someone else picked a story you want to be involved with, hold on to that idea because we have phase three coming up.  But for now pick a story that hasn't been chosen yet. Below is the description from the book to help you out.

In the next two phases, you’ll tie the group together by having other characters contribute a minor, supporting role in your adventure, and vice versa.

Once everyone has their adventure written down (which is where the index card suggestion comes in really handy), you’re ready for phase two. You can pass to the left or right, or shuffle the stack and hand them out randomly (trading with the person to your right until you each have one that isn’t yours). However you decide to do it, every player should now be holding someone else’s adventure.

Your character has a supporting role in the story you’re holding, which you get to come up with right now. Briefly discuss it with the player whose adventure it is and add a sentence or phrase to the summary to reflect your character’s supporting role. Supporting roles come in three forms: they complicate the adventure, solve a situation, or both.

    Complicating the adventure: Your character managed to make some part of the adventure uncertain (possibly because of an issue or trouble aspect). Of course, since that happened in the past, it is known that you got out of it all right (or mostly all right, as indicated by the aspect you take). When describing this, don’t worry about how the situation is resolved—leave that for someone else, or leave it open. Descriptions like “Landon starts trouble when Cynere needs him quiet” or “Zird gets captured by mysterious brigands” are enough to get some ideas flowing.
    Solving a situation: Your character somehow solves a complication that the main character in the adventure had to deal with, or your character aids the main character in the central conflict (which is an opportunity to involve your high concept aspect). When describing this, you don’t have to mention how the situation was created, just how your character takes care of it. Descriptions like “Cynere holds off foes to give Landon time to escape” or “Zird uses his arcane knowledge to ask the ghosts for information” are enough to give us an idea of what happens.
    Complicating and solving: Here, your character either solves one situation but creates another, or creates a situation but later solves a different one. Mash up the two ideas, using the word “later” in between them, such as: “Landon starts a fight with the Scar Triad while Zird is trying to lay low. Later, he helps Zird by fighting off undead while Zird’s casting a spell.”

The idea is to be a bit self-serving here. You want to put a little spotlight on your character in order to figure out a good aspect from it: something you’re known for, something you can do, something you own or have, and someone you have a relationship with (for good or ill).

I hadn't addressed skills and stunts yet. You can assign skills and stunts while we're finishing up aspects.

We will be using the standard skill list with the exception of drive which will be vehicles in our game. Vehicles represents skill in riding as well as chariots and sailing.  You have one great skill (+4 bonus), two good skills (+3 bonus), three fair skills (+2 bonus), and four average skills (+1 bonus).

You will start with three stunts, and three refresh. You can increase your number of stunts by lowering your refresh for each extra stunt to a maximum of five.

Fate-srd.com has a stuntmaker feature if you need inspiration

During the early days of her courtship with Anemia, Katerina sought the advice of wise Chiatracles on whether she should truly pursue an affair with someone so much lower than herself in station. Chiatracles councilled her to follow her heart. This meddling in the royal family matters might later have played a role in his banishment.

Aspect: A Sympathetic Ear

During her time as a soldier, Katerina was ordered by someone higher up to hunt down members of The Path of Harmony. This is due to the fact that the Noble's believe them to be an affront to their religious beliefs and has hired a part of the militia for an extermination. Katerina led the charge and met Sophia, despite her order she let her get away with only heavy injuries.

Aspect: Arbiter of a Witch Hunt

I think we're off to a good start. I'd caution against compelling the actions or consequences on others.  This is more about what you do, and we can figure out the fall out of that. But I'd like the input of Katrina, and Sophia on Chiatracles's, and Katrina's phase twos respectively.

Not that I didn't like the Squirrel story, but it was a childhood thing and I don't want Sophia to have known Saulas that long.  Now the poisoned river?  That's something I can sink my teeth into.  And I figure this gives us the justification for traveling together now

In her dream, the river ran red while a woman wailed.  Scant vision to follow, but it led her to the River Neda.  The villagers of Petra had accused a rogue charlatan of poisoning the river, but they'd been hiding the truth. Sophia sought out Saulas and convinced him of their deception, then distracted the villagers long enough for Saulas to repair the damage.

Aspect: Silver-Tongued Storyteller
This message was last edited by the player at 02:35, Mon 01 Aug 2022.

Saulas worked for The king Urcadia.  The King arranged for Saulas to marry Katerina.  Something he did not want do (as he was already married twice).  After meeting with Katrina in private Saulas found out she was not into him at all.  Saulas tried to talk to the King but it was no use so he fled the kingdom with one of the kings prides warhorses.  Katerina seems to have fled the kingdom at the same time.

Aspect: Everybody should be free to love and live as they wish.


Summery of my post and my skills are in my Description for anybody to check over (looking at GM).  Chiatracles I noted your character description so I dropped my Lore down to +3.  So it on your head that I now have Rapport +4.  Got blame someone for Saulas charm.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:45, Mon 01 Aug 2022.

The villagers of Pella had been led to believe that some among them were cursed.  But when he revealed the truth, Chiatracles was driven out and stoned.  He found respite in a dark forest reputed to be haunted.  In truth, Sophia was there, recovering from her own grievous wounds inflicted by Katerina during the scattering of the Cult of Harmony.  Sophia shared some of the hard won wisdom of Mother Green, the spirit of the Forest, as she nursed Chiatracles back to health.

Aspect: Mother Green: Fostered By The Forest
Refers particularly to a favored environment (the Forest) and the "folk wisdom" that would be derived from such an environment.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:02, Sun 07 Aug 2022.

Fool's Driver:

At one point in her military career, she met Saulas once more and he had ran a bit of trouble again. To which she got roped into. Katerina did not remember much of what transpired or why they were running away mostly cause at the time she was a wee bit drunk from celebration, but Katerina eventually managed to escort Saulas out by procuring a wagon temporarily and driving them out. She unfortunately crash the wagon though, but they certainly evaded whoever was chasing them. Those wagon repairs though we're not cheap.

Saulas came across Chiatracles of Urcadia while he was teaching some students.  Saulas could not help himself and the two men got into a debate about wisdom, knowledge understandings, superstitions and fear.  Chiatracles one the debate and showed that he was truly a wise man.  However somehow Saulas managed to get Chiatracles to agree their is some use, value and wisdom in Fear and Superstitions.  Not something the wise man would really like to admit to.  The two parted with respect for each others understanding and knowledge but also the way they view the world is different.

Aspect:- A time for every activity under the heavens.

OOC:
This is subject to Chiatracles appeal as I sort of staying how his character feels about being tricked into saying Fear and Superstitions have a value.  So I am open to changing this depending on how Chiatracles player feels?

It's fine. True wisdom must occasionally be humbled. 8)

In reply to Chiatracles of Urcadia (msg # 44):

And we are in turn humbled by your wisdom :)
Thanks.