The Island - Playing with Fate - Racial Aspects

Racial Aspects

The group that I'll be doing some play testing with has gotten started on the collaborative character/world creation in the RPGG forums. As this a fantasy setting, one of the things we are working on now is picking out races for the characters. I've opted to use Aspects to cover races.

I am going to list a few of the sample races I'm planning on using. With each one I will be stating sample Invokes as well as Compels. I'll begin each with a brief description of the race. Of course, the Invokes and Compels listed aren't the ONLY choices, just ideas based on the specific racial cultures.

I am still debating using humans as a Racial Aspect. Part of me says go with it, the other says to use them as the baseline; human characters then have that aspect to use for something else.

Dark Elf
Dark elves are a race of elves who live deep underground. Rarely going out in the daylight, they are a tribal race where the basest rule is the rule of deniability. Anything goes in the upper echelons as long as it cannot be traced back. Dark Elves are capable of slipping into shadows and disappearing. Some say they can literally turn themselves invisible.
Invoke Aspect - Invoke this aspect when slipping into shadows, using water magic, moving quickly or to maneuver about/notice things underground more easily.
Compel Aspect - A GM might compel this aspect in situations where the culture of this race is known, or when the light of the sun might affect the character's action, etc.

Golem
Golems are a race of large humanoids, manufactured from fired clay and generally used as servants. Though they are entirely sentient and intelligent, they are viewed almost everywhere as property. They are strong, indefatigable, able to withstand the elements and rarely need to rest. They can be of any size and shape, though generally they are made to appear as 8-9 foot tall humanoids.
Invoke Aspect - This Aspect can be invoked when attempting feats of great strength, when needing to remain awake while others sleep, to remain steadfast when others would move, withstand severe weather/temperatures or when using Earth Magic.
Compel Aspect - The GM might compel this aspect when the character needs to be taken seriously (as opposed to being viewed as an animate object), when the literal interpretation of something might cause complications, when heavy weight may be an issue, etc.

Human

Humans are the most prevalent race in the multiverse. They are found in nearly every (if not all) plane of existence. They are adventurous, innovative, equally warlike and peaceable to their neighbors. Unlike other races, humans are rarely viewed at with suspicion as a race.

Invoke Aspect - This Aspect can be invoked to illustrate a character's ability to not stand out in a crowd, to use the general amicability of humankind, embrace innovation or use Ritual Magic.

Compel Aspect - The GM might compel this aspect when the character is among another race that dislikes the prevalence of humans, when an impetuous move could cause problems for the group, etc.

Dwarf

Dwarves are a hardy race, shorter than humans. They are skilled at smithing and mining. They're generally seen as greedy but are loyal almost to a fault. Able warriors but as a race unaccustomed to mounts, they generally make up infantry in armies.

Invoke Aspect - This Aspect can be invoked when attempting to create well-crafted arms or armor, gauge the worth of jewels, tell direction when underground, strike a mighty blow at an enemy, be trusted with something of import or use Fire Magic.

Compel Aspect - The GM might compel this aspect when the character is drinking, his greed could get the better of him, or someone wants to use a loved one against him.

Elf

Elves are a graceful long-lived race. They are slightly taller than humans on average. On some planes they live in villages built high up in the trees; in others they create magnificent cities surrounded by woodlands; but wherever they live it is almost always in a forest. They are able ranged fighters, quick on their feet and are excel at creating items of great magic. Oftentimes they are haughty, looking down upon the other races. They are less hardy than the other races, though adept at dodging.

Invoke Aspect - This Aspect can be invoked when gracefulness is required, when forging magic items, combating within woodlands, hunting, leaving other standing in awe that allies might move about unnoticed or making use of Air Magic.

Compel Aspect - The GM might compel the aspect when interacting with other races, when taking a harsh attack, when not amongst the familiar surrounding of the forest, etc.

And that's it for now. I have chosen one race for each magic type, initially, though there will likely be more to follow. If I dump humans as an aspect I'll have to at least pick another to hand off Ritual Magic to.

The Island - Playing with Fate - The Repentant and the Innocent

Factions on the Island

Here are some of the Factions I'm planning on having existing on the Island, even prior to a collaborative world building. Of course, specific GMs can keep them or discard them as they wish. I, however, will likely be keeping them in any games I run.

The Repentant
Description: The Repentant is a religious sect on the Island. They believe that the Creature is the physical embodiment of the guilt of those who live on the Island. They believe the only way to be able to leave the Island and get free of the Creature is to declare repentance of their sins. They also believe that everyone on the Island IS guilty of the crime they were convicted of. This causes problems when they encounter people who remain steadfast in their innocence.
Aspect: Everyone is Guilty
Emotional Offense: +4
Magic Offense: +2
Mental Offense: +1
Physical Offense: +2
Social Offense: +3 
Emotional Defense: +1
Magic Defense: +2
Mental Defense: +2
Physical Defense: +2
Social Defense: +3
Trade (Cartography): +2

Franchise Affiliation Benefits
1-3: +2 Resource when attempting to trade for supplies
4-6: Guilt Stunt - Characters may use Empathy instead of Deceit when trying to talk someone into doing what they want
7-9: Evangelical - When using Guilt, character may add +2 to the roll. 
10: Hero of the Repentants - Free access to all Repentant maps, an additional +2 Resource when trading for supplies, open access to all Repentant Holds (free room and board)


The Innocent
Description: The Innocent is a group made up of all kinds of races and creeds. The only thing that binds them all together is the fact that every one of them attests that they did not commit the crime they were sent to the Island for.
Aspect: Live and let live
Emotional Offense: 2
Magic Offense: +2
Mental Offense: +2
Physical Offense: +2
Social Offense: +3 
Emotional Defense: +2
Magic Defense: +2
Mental Defense: +2
Physical Defense: +2
Social Defense: +3
Trade (Caravans): +2

Franchise Affiliation Benefits
1-3: +1 to bartering for supplies, +1 to Rapport interactions with X factions
4-6: +1 to Barter when trading for supplies, +1 Rapport interactions with X factions
7-9: True Soul Stunt - May spend a Quantum point to turn a successful Rapport roll with the Innocent and X factions into a Success with Style
10: One of Us Aspect; free room and board in Innocent Holds as well as ability to freely travel with trade caravans

I left off the consequence boxes because I think that is going to be dependent upon the collaborative world building (deciding which Factions have more Holds, etc). Once the world building is done the GM can assign consequence boxes as needed.

Extreme Vengeance: A GWO Video Review

As I mentioned earlier, I did a review of Extreme Vengeance for the 2013 Iron Reviewer contest on RPGG.com. Today I did a video adaptation of the review for my GWO YouTube channel. If you read the review, there isn't anything new here. If you prefer to watch reviews, give it a look!

As I review games for the Irong Reviewer contest, I will continue to adapt them to video and put them up in my channel. I'm debating on doing a "TL;DW' video review that takes the TL;DR section of the reviews and puts them into their own 2-3 minute video review.

New PLOT episode released, Session Five of Changeling: Lost Vegas

Play on Target Episode Three: What makes Call of Cthulhu, Fiasco, Apocalypse World, and Deadlands worthy of a top 10 spot?

Our third episode went live today. In this episode, we discuss the top ten list (at the time of recording) of RPGGeek.com. We then each choose a game on the top ten list (or in my case #11) and discuss why we feel it belongs where it is. Lastly we all take a moment to mention a game we think deserves to be in the top ten but is not.

This is a great episode overall, although I am not overly pleased with my contribution when it came time to discuss Deadlands. It's a game I love with a lot of unique mechanics (especially for the time in which it came out) that is still popular today. 

Unfortunately, I was having an off day during the day we recorded and some of my not feeling hot carried itself over into the recording. Thus, there was a bit more stumbling over words on my part then you generally catch on the other episodes. Minus that though, I feel we have released another quality episode and I recommend people give it a listen!

Changeling Lost Vegas Session Five: Bookie's Odds

Last night, +Lowell Francis ran the fifth session of his Changeling: the Lost campaign. During this session, my character (John W. Smith, aka. Nameless; a Wizened Smith) discovers a letter in a hollow made of glass and a second tarot card. The motley has more fun at Teodoro's expense (poor creepy guy), our ogress companion shatters a glass boa constrictor and the group negotiates (poorly, according to John Smith) to gain use of the Hollow for ourselves. Oh, and John gets to use his handy-dandy stabby poison-removal device on Andi.  In addition, he gives an extremely helpful narrative GM hint that I am planning on stealing for my own games. If you want to follow along, it's been recorded! 

Lowell is the GM. The players are myself, +Shoe Skogen, +Stacy Dellorfano and +Sherri Stewart.

The Island - Playing with Fate - Faction Affiliation Part Two

In part two of the Faction Affiliation design journal, I am going to discuss the Faction Affiliation Rating (F.A.R.) and the impact it has both on a character and with the faction to which it refers. After that I'll be moving on to the Faction Conflict Mechanic.

Faction Affiliation Rating
Each character sheet is going to have an area designated for Faction Affiliation Rating. My current ideas behind how this works is it will start with zero. As the players interact with the various factions on the island, this will increase and decrease. The rating will start at zero.

My idea is whatever else is going on plot-wise, in factions the players have made contact with, various "side-jobs" would be available. Depending on the difficulty of the assistance rendered, it would be worth a certain amount of Faction Points. The Faction Points are an abstract way of measuring acceptance, trust and influence a character has with a given faction. At the moment I'm thinking that the F.A.R. will range between 0 (unknown) and 10 (Faction Hero).

How is the F.A.R. used? First, there is the Faction Benefit. These are going to be Aspects and Stunts available to those who reach an appropriate level. As soon as a character reaches the appropriate level with the faction they will have access to all F.B.s of that level and below.

Additionally, the F.A.R. can be used like currency during a Faction Conflict. A player can spend F.A.R. points from a third party when two factions are going up against each other. This will enlist the aid of that faction in the conflict on whatever side the player desires. This will essentially be calling in a favor and will lower the character's F.A.R. with that faction by that amount until they do something for the faction to regain the previous level.

Example: Fartosh sees that the Reapers are preparing to attack the Innocents. However, he has a rating of 5 with the Repentant faction and chooses to spend 2 of those points to aid the Innocent's defense. Now the when the GM rolls for the conflict, he adds to to the defense total of the Innocents and says that at the last moment a troop of Repentants join the fray and push the Reapers back into their own territory.

Faction Conflicts
As I mentioned in my last post, Faction Conflicts are going to be an adaptation of the Franchise Conflict from Time Heroes of Fate. While the idea behind it itself will be similar, the mechanics will be more in-depth and fleshed out. I want the system to illustrate the potential for changing alliances and possibly points when characters will have to look out for themselves over the whole of the group.

The first thing I want to say is that character involvement in Faction Conflicts is going to be secret. The conflicts themselves will occur at the end of a session. The players will write down what (if any) F.A.R. points they will be spending from which factions and pass them to the GM. The GM will then make the necessary rolls, privately adding the appropriate bonuses. After, the GM announces the results of the conflict.

I think I'm going to have the consequence boxes for the factions represent strongholds or important parts of the Island they control. As they lose conflicts, they lose the area in the appropriate consequence box. I haven't yet decided if it will then go to the winning side. I suppose it would make sense.

The skills are broken up into offensive and defensive versions (except for the Trade skill, which is simply an indicator of what that particular faction is known for being able to offer to the island's economy as a whole). Whatever skill is being used by the aggressor determines the defense used by the defender.

I'm going to do one more post on Faction Affiliation where I'm going to show some examples of factions I plan on designing between now and tomorrow. As always, feel free to comment or question! As was yesterday's post, this one was freeflowing, so if I missed something I meant to touch on, let me know.

The Island - Playing with Fate - Faction Affiliation Part One

Well, I'm afraid today's post may not end up with anything solid in regards to the topic. I'm mostly going to just freeflow thoughts on the topic as they come to me. I suppose that it's possible that by the end of this I'll have laid out how the Franchise Affilition mechanic is going to work, but I'm not holding my breath. Anyway, without further ado, here goes!

Faction Affiliations
The Island isn't just filled with wildlife. It has had hundreds of years for the various convicts to form their own societies, stake their own claims to parts of the island. If a group is going to survive in the longterm, they are going to have to make some sort of alliances somewhere along the way, at least while it's convenient. Unfortunately, there are limited supplies for an always-growing population. This leads to strive amongst the various subcultures of the island. With this in mind, I am creating a new mechanic for the game called the Faction Affiliation System.

Each faction upon the island will be created as part of the collaborative world-building session. In the final product I will be including some of the bigger players on the island, although specific GMs can use or not use any particular faction as they desire. Each faction is going to be an entity in its own right. Every faction will have a name, an Aspect and skills. In addition, I am thinking of including Aspects and/or Stunts that are specific to each faction that characters with a certain level of Faction Affiliation can make use of.

Factions
Each faction in the game will made up of the following (for sure):
Name:
Aspect
Emotional Offense
Mental Offense
Physical Offense
Social Offense
Emotional Defense
Mental Defense
Physical Defense
Social Defense
Trade (specific profession)

When designing a faction, my first instinct is to have the group allot 20 levels amongst all nine of the skills listed, with any given skill maxing out (initially) at +4 (Great). If split evenly, that would give each skill a rating of +2 (Fair) with two skills a rating of +3 (Good).

I'm also planning on including levels in the factions with various stunts/aspects/benefits for characters that have an equal lefel in their Faction Affiliation Rating. I'm not sure specifically what they are yet, but I'll have more to talk about tomorrow.

The last thing I want to mention in this post is that I am going to adapt the Franchise Mechanics from Time Heroes of Fate to work with the Island, with some additions to add more depth to the system and to give some control to the players (and also potentially pit them against each other in secret). Come back tomorrow and I'll have more in detail. It seems to me that as I am detailing this from the top of my head, I'm quite liking the route it is going. I have a pretty good idea of where I'll be going with tomorrow's post.

Stay tuned and thanks for following along!

The Island - Playing with Fate - Skills

Skills of the Island

The first topic of my design blog for the Island is going to be adaptation of the skills from Fate Core. The book gives a good list of skills, but for my purposes I think I'm going to have to add a few more. In addition, I may be altering some of the existing skills so they fit more with the theme of my game.  For the moment, here is the skill list that will be used in the Island RPG. After I will discuss each of the skills that have been added or had their names altered, as well as why. The new and changed skills on the list are in bold:

Air Magic
Athletics
Contacts
Deceit
Earth Magic
Empathy
Fighting
Fire Magic
Intimidation
Investigation
Lore
Notice
Physique
Rapport
Resource
Ride
Ritual Magic
Shooting
Stealth
Survival
Thievery
Trade (specific profession)
Water Magic
Will

Before I move to explanations, I should state that the descriptions of the elemental magics will ring similar. I don't mean to be repetative, but I am trying to phrase them as they are most likely to appear in the final product itself.

Air Magic - Like the other elemental magic skills, Air Magic requires an air-based Aspect of some kind. Air Magic is the ability to manipulate the very air; summon gusts, carry messages on the very wind. Turned inward, Air deals with speed and the ability to fly and motion in general. As can the other magic skills, Air Magic can combine to create more powerful effects (sample effects will be provided in another post).

Earth Magic - Like the other elemental magic skills, Earth Magic requires an earth-based Aspect of some kind. Earth Magic is the ability manipulate the earth; create walls of rock, cause earthquakes. Turned inward, Earth deals with hardiness and the ability to stand firm. Again, Earth can combine with other magic skills to create more powerful effects.

Fire Magic - Like the other elemental magic skills, Fire Magic requires a fire-based Aspect of some kind. Fire Magic is the ability to manipulate flame; ignite flammable objects, create massive walls of flame. Turned inward, Fire deals with fighting prowess and passions. Fire can combine with the other magic skills to create more powerful effects.

Ride - This is the Drive skill, simply renamed. As the Island is a fantasy world, I felt it more appropriate as a skill.

Ritual Magic - Ritual Magic is the one magical skill that doesn't require an Aspect to be able to use. However, in order to combine it with another non-magical skill it is recommended that the character have some Aspect that would lead to combining them. Ritual Magic can be used on its own to assist in healing consequences or temporarily granting advantages.

Survival - This is a skill that I added. While I assume that survival skills would generally fall under Lore, I felt the setting might deserve having Survival as its own skill. Not only would this be knowledge of what's basically safe to eat, but it would enable one to be able to built sturdy shelters from available materials, create fires, things that reading in a book wouldn't automatically grant one the ability to do.

Thievery - This is the replacement skill for Burglary. I felt like Thievery might be a little broader ranging. In addition, burglary sounds to me more urban, while the Island is mostly anything but.

Trade (specific profession) - This replaces Crafts. In addition to assisting with creating objects (Trade - Smith, for example) it could be uses to assist in bartering (Trade - Merchant), etc.

Water Magic - Like the other elemental skills, Water Magic requires a water-based Aspect of some kind. Water Magic is the ability to manipulate the rivers and lakes; ice daggers to fling at enemies, spray gouts of water to put out flames. Turned inward, Water could give the ability to turn invisible or move more gracefully.

The Island - Playing with Fate - Magic

I was originally going to start my design journal for the Island by talking about skills and what changes I plan on making to the skill list. However, partway into it, I realize whatever I decide to do with skills will be directly affected by the magic system.

The magic system for Time Heroes of Fate was easy to come up with. Using Stunts as spells. Whatever Magic Stunts you have, that's what you can cast. Unfortunately (or fortunately, I suppose), I want to make a deeper, more visceral system for the Island. This topic may end up taking up more than one post as I'm not sure how exactly it's going to work.

Aspects/Skills/Stunts
My immediate idea for the magic system for the Island involves Aspects, Skills AND Stunts. I'll break down how I envision it working below. Any feedback is appreciated. I don't want to create a magic system that's either completely broken or completely uninteresting.


Aspects - My current idea is to have skills for the basic types of magic: Air, Earth, Fire, Ritual and Water. Ritual magic is a skill that anyone can use with the proper components. However, to be able to use any of the other types of magic requires choosing an aspect associated with one of the elements.

Example: A player wants their character Frantosh to be able to use the Water and the Earth Magic skills. He would have to devote one Aspect to each of the elements of magic. So, he might choose to create Aspects called "Born of the Earth" and "Favored of the Lake."

Skills - As I briefly mentioned above, I want to create five magic Skills: The four involved with Aspects are Air, Earth, Fire and Water. The fifth doesn't require an Aspect to be able to use. That one is Ritual Magic.

Ritual Magic by itself won't be overly powerful. Perhaps a minor ward or cleansing food/water at camp. It is more potent when combined with other magic skills, or other skills in general.

Example: A smith character could make an extended test using Ritual Magic and the Trade: Smith skill to make magically sharp blades.

The four elemental magics can work independently or combined. A player makes a roll for whatever skill they want to use for magic (Air might be used to create a gust of wind or to fly, fire to create a dart of flame to shoot at an opponent). However, if a player wishes to combine effects, they make consecutive rolls for each skill. During a conflict, this means one skill during one turn, the next involved skill during the next turn, etc. until all effects have been added. Only after the last skill has been rolled successfully does the spell go off.

Example: A player wants to reverse the gravity in a room. The player makes an Earth Magic roll. On the next round of the conflict he makes an Air Magic roll. Once both rolls are successfully made, the gravity in one Zone switches and down is up and up is down.

Stunts - Stunts are the way a character will be able to quickly combine magic skills without having to spend extra rounds. If there is a spell they plan on using often, they can create a stunt listing what magic skills it uses. Then, when the character needs to cast the spell, they merely have to make one roll and then add the average of the magic skills to be used.

Example: Frantosh is a mage who can get into places other cannot. He decides he wants to create "Ghostform," a Magic Stunt that would give him the ability to turn invisible and walk through walls. His player and the GM decide that the magic skills to be part of this would be Water for invisibility and Air for turning insubstantial. Frantosh has a +4 (Great) in Water Magic and a +2 (Fair) in Air Magic. The average of these two skills would be three, so any time Frantosh wants to use his Ghostform Stunt, he rolls the dice and adds 3 to the total.

Anyway, this is the magic system as it currently resides in my brain. I don't know how well (or even if) it will work as a feasible magic system, but it's the first one I thought of. Unless I hear a bunch of reasons why I should scrap it I'll probably move on to skills tomorrow under the assumption that this will be the magic system for the Island. If I change it later, I'll just have to do some redesigns.

The Island - Playing with Fate - Initial Thoughts

That's right, I am now officially working on two Fate products at once. While my Time Heroes adaptation is underway and has made decent progress, I'm going to be starting my "the Island" campaign soon via G+ Hangout and so I thought another design journal would help get me going.

A History of "the Island"

The Island is all the place is known by. It is a setting where the "worst of the worst" criminals from various realities are dumped. In a world where all is ocean save for this one single continent, it seemed the perfect place to have a penal colony. No work was required other than just dumping convicts there and returning to the home reality.

The point behind the concept of the Island is survival. The PCs are those convicted of their realities' most heinous crimes (though not necessarily actually guilty of said crimes) who have been left on the Island to fend for themselves. Not only must they fend off the creatures of the Island, they must also make alliances, prove themselves useful to whatever subcultures they choose to join in a day-to-day fashion and make sure they aren't stuck holding the short end of the stick when all is said and done. Oh, and the creature of the Island.

The Island was originally born as a D&D 4E setting. My players had fun in it but, like most 4E games I ran, it just didn't feel right to me. Here I had created a setting that was just perfect for political intrigue and backbiting, survival in the wilderness and plain old adventure. 4E does have its merits, but this game could be so much more than what 4E provided for.

The next thing I attempted was to run it using Burning Wheel, Revised. The system was intriguing to me and it seemed perfect for what I wanted to do with the Island. Between the unique fighting system and social mechanics to interesting skills, what could be better? Unfortunately, this was a bit too far on the other side of things for my players. Not used to such a system, it fell flat on its face before the end of the first session (combined with trying to game in a local store with the kiddos running around in an enclosed room for the first time, which didn't happen after that). After that, I set the Island aside.

Why Fate?
After getting a bit into the conversion of Time Heroes to Time Heroes of Fate, I found myself loving the system. It has a collaborative world-building to it that allows a GM to take a basic idea for a game and use the players to flesh it out to the benefit of everyone at the table. It has combat mechanics that can be used for more than just physically attacking someone. Players can work with GMs to create their own Stunts that can be used for most anything imaginable.

That is when the Island popped back into my head. While I still feel Burning Wheel would be a great system for the Island, I am finding that Fate might prove to work just as well, while being more player (well, MY player) friendly. I have decided to create a design journal as I attempt to turn the Island into a game of Fate. If it turns out, that's awesome. If not, it's a learning experience.

Here is what I am planning for Design Journal entries (there will likely be more and it may not happen in this order):

Skills - Time Heroes of Fate was fine just adding the Magic and Future Tech skills to the list. I think that in order to accomplish what I want to with the Island I'm going to have to rename/change/add skills moreso than in my last adaptation.

Magic - Magic in the Island is going to be of a different style than how I am doing things in Time Heroes. I'm not solid yet on how exactly it will work. This entry will be me exploring ideas I have an possibly settling on the one that will work best for how I envision magic on the Island working.

Stunts - As I did with Time Heroes, I will write at least one post devoted to Island Stunts. This may be based off of magic as well as other things about the Island that would work best as a Stunt.

Collaborative Creation - The Island, I think, is going to be created collaboratively under more of a "Microscope"-style system, allowing the players to assist in creating factions, areas of the continent, common problems, etc. This will certainly be a post to itself, although I may or may not add a second post with an example of collaborative world creation.

Faction Affiliation - I want to see if I can create some kind of affiliation system that will affect the players while they are interacting with one faction or another.

The Creature - There are a couple of ways I see the Creature working in the Island. I will be writing a post going into more detail on the various options I think could work and then explaining why I chose what I chose.

As I said, there may be more posts than just those touching on the topics I've just mentioned, but at the least these will certainly be addressed along the way.

GeekWorld Online Video Review: Fate Core (Kickstarter Draft)

I make my return to video reviews with my review of Fate Core (Kickstarter). If you have read the review on my blog previously, this won't hold any new information for you. I just thought I would share it for those who prefer to watch reviews than read them.

And hey, if you decide to subscribe to my channel, who am I to complain!

I'm thinking about starting up a Game Master-based video series with tips and tricks I've learned along the way, maybe on some world design. When I start doing it it will be separate from my blog here, although I'm sure it will touch on similar subjects from time to time. This is the same with Play on Target. While I may touch on some topics we cover on the podcast, I'm hoping to run this slightly differently. I can't promise it's going to come to anything, but I can say the video reviews will keep happening on a regular basis. For now I'm thinking of trying to do one a week.

Time Heroes - Fate Adaptation - Thoughts on and Examples of Future Tech Stunts

As I wrote in yesterday's blog post, one of my weak points in adapting Time Heroes to the Fate Core rule set is in gauging Stunts in regards to whether or not they should cost a Fate Point (Quantum Point in Time Heroes of Fate). Yesterday's post and today's both serve to get down on paper where my current understanding is at, as well as giving a basic sample list of Stunts that fall under the Magic skill and the Future Tech skill.

Anyone interested in playing Time Heroes will be able to choose Stunts from the list or use the provided stunts as examples to build off of when creating their own. Any reader who would care to comment regarding anything about these Stunts (specifically if I'm making mistakes about if a Stunt is worth spending a Fate Point on or not), feel free to comment or somehow let me know. As with yesterday, I am going to provide several sample Stunts below as a jumping off point. I have opted not to do another full ten at the moment as, between the two posts, I'm hoping my way of thinking will have made itself evident.

Cybereye
Q.P. Cost: 0
Range/Target: 1 person
Duration: Instantaneous
Description: If a character is attempting to discover an aspect that someone has and fails, he may immediately make a Future Tech roll at Good (+3). Success at this roll acts as a basic success at creating advantage (turns the initial failure into a success).
On Failure: If this roll is a failure, the GM can choose to keep the aspect secret, reveal it, or reveal an aspect the target doesn't actually have (though the character thinks it is accurate).

Tactical Radar
Q.P. Cost: 1
Range: Zones adjacent to character using the Stunt
Duration: Instantaneous
Description: When a player spends a Quantum Point and succeeds at a Fair (+2) Future Tech roll, the character becomes aware of the position of every life form in every Zone adjacent to the one the character is presently in. If the roll succeeds with style, the range extends out to two Zones from the Zone of origin.

Repeating Laser Blaster
Q.P. Cost: (0) or 1
Range: 2 Zones
Duration: Instantaneous
Description: The basic ability of this allows a character to use the Future Tech skill instead of Shooting to make ranged attacks. However, if a Quantum Point is spent, if the initial shot hits the character may immediately make a second attack against another target in the same Zone as the initial target.

Cybernetic Legs
Q.P. Cost: 1
Range: Personal
Duration: Instantaneous
Description: Twice per session, a player may spend a Quantum Point to allow their PC to bypass an obstacle when entering a Zone.

Cybernetic Arms
Q.P. Cost: 0 (1)
Range: Personal
Duration: Instantaneous
Description: This allows the character to use Future Tech instead of Fighting for unarmed combat. Once per session, the player may spend a Quantum Point to permanently destroy an obstacle between Zones, making a path accessible to anyone.

Help Fund the Berserkon Kickstarter!

First, the Kickstarter web address: Berserkon Kickstarter (New Attempt)
Well, I'd started writing a post for today about Future Tech Stunts for Time Heroes of Fate. However, I was interrupted by an update stating that a new Berserkon Kickstarter is up with a lower fund goal this time! Berserkon is a gaming convention that local RPG author +Kevin Mickelson is trying to get running. They previously had a Kickstarter that didn't make its goal. However, this inspired the folks behind the idea to see what they can do to cut costs. They succeeded, and the new goal has been lowered to $9,950. If funding is successful, the convention will be taking place May 24-26, 2013.

I am not affiliated with the creators of this, although I kind of wish I was. It takes a lot of effort to spearhead something like this, and I'd be honored to see them at my gaming table. Anyway, my excitement is purely because this could, at long last, be a gaming convention I would be able to attend on a regular basis. I've already made my pledge at the "3-day pass + t-shirt" level. I would have pledged more, but even that was stretching my budget a bit these days. However, I think it's worth it and I'm fairly confident my fiancee Ashley will agree and quite probably pledge herself.

They have already mentioned that several members of Zombie Orpheus Entertainment will be in attendance, as will +Cam Banks and an improv group from Thunder Bay called 807 Improv. They'll be rough screening Gamers 3 as well as seasons 1 and 2 of Standard Action. If this isn't enough to pique your interest, might I say again: THREE DAYS OF GAMING.

Some of you who read this may not be able to attend, which is understandable. But I'm reaching out to the gaming community in general (as opposed to simply locally) in the hopes that everyone would want to see a new con succeed. And you could vacation on the shores of Lake Superior, visit local shops, catch a show, maybe even take a harbor cruise.

Anyway, I decided to devote today's blog post to Berserkon because I am 100 percent behind this project and the least I can do for something I've been wanting to see for 20 years is do a little bit of shilling. I will be back tomorrow with the post I expected to make today.

Again, the Kickstarter can be found here: Berserkon Kickstarter (New Attempt)

Time Heroes - Fate Adaptation - Thoughts on and Examples of Magic Stunts

My weak spot in regards to designing Time Heroes of Fate is figuring out what Stunts, if any, should cost a Quantum Point. Although Stunts can be designed by the players during character creation, I still want to provide a list of samples. They can either choose Stunts directly from the list or they can use them as examples to adapt or build off of.  With that in mind, I'm going to use this to post some Magic Stunts for those characters with the Magic skill.  In my next post I'll be doing similar with Future Tech Stunts.

Any feedback is greatly appreciated, especially in the area of if a Stunt should cost a Quantum Point (Fate Point, for those who haven't been reading along thus far) or not. Feedback in general, is good though and feel free to advise of sample "spells" I didn't think to post!

Remote Viewing

Q.P. (Quantum Point) Cost: 1

Range/Target: 1 Zone

Duration: Concentration or until Scene ends, whichever comes first

Description: Make a +2 (Fair) Magic roll. On a success, the character is able to use the Investigation skill up to one Zone away. Each shift extends the range by one Zone.

On Failure: The spell still succeeds. However, whatever is in the Zone that is being remote viewed is able to see back into the Zone of the spell caster.

Climate Control
Q.P. Cost: 1
Range/Target: 1 Zone
Duration: Concentration or until Scene ends, whichever is first
Description: Make a +3 (Good) Magic roll. On a success, the character can increase or decrease the temperature in an adjacent Zone by 20 degrees Fahrenheit (either up or down). For each Shift above the difficulty, the temperature may be adjusted by an additional 10 degrees.

Truth
Q.P. Cost: 0
Range/Target: 1 Opponent
Duration: 1 Question
Description: The caster is able to use the Empathy skill to make an attack vs. an opponent's Will.  If the attack is successful, the opponent must answer any one question truthfully. Each Shift above the defense roll grants an additional question.
On Failure: Each shift the roll fails by inflicts a point of Mental Stress against the spellcaster.

Light
Q.P. Cost: 0
Range/Target: Zone the caster is in
Duration: 1 Scene
Description: The caster makes an Average (+1) Magic roll. Success gives the Zone the spellcaster is in the "Well Lit" Aspect. Each Shift will allow the spellcaster to choose to allow the spell to remain for an additional Scene.

Flame Dart
Q.P. Cost: 0
Range/Target: 1 Opponent
Duration: Instantaneous
Description: The spellcaster may use the Magic skill instead of Shooting to make a ranged attack against an opponent. Otherwise this Stunt works identically to Shooting.

Teleport
Q.P. Cost: 1
Range/Target: 1 Zone/Spellcaster
Duration: Instantaneous
Description: The spellcaster makes a +2 (Fair) Magic roll. Upon success the spellcaster may transport himself to an adjacent zone, ignoring any obstacles. Shifts give the spellcaster an additional choice. For each shift, he may choose to either extend the range teleported by one Zone or he may choose to extend the teleportation to additional characters. ex: Franco makes a teleport roll, scoring two shifts. He may choose to either teleport a total of three Zones away, may teleport one Zone away and bring two other characters with him, or teleport two Zones away with one additional character.
On Failure: The GM may choose to teleport the spellcaster elsewhere within the same bounds as success. Each failing Shift would increase the range by one Zone. 

Fade
Q.P. Cost: 0
Range/Target: Spellcaster
Duration: Instantaneous
Description: The spellcaster is able to use their Magic skill in place of Stealth for purposes of sneaking.

Grease
Q.P. Cost: 0
Range/Target: Zone the spellcaster is in
Duration: 1 Scene
Description: The spellcaster makes a +2 (Fair) roll. A success creates a "mini-zone" in the Zone the spellcaster is in, giving it the Aspect of "Frictionless."

Illusory Target
Q.P. Cost: 1
Range/Target: Self
Duration: Reaction
Description: When the spellcaster would be hit by an attack, he may make a +3 (Good) Magic roll. Upon success, the attack hits an illusory duplicate of the spellcaster instead. The illusion then dissipates.

Mystical Armor
Q.P. Cost: 0
Range/Target: Self
Duration: 1 Conflict
Description: The spellcaster can make a +2 (Fair) Magic check. Upon success, the spellcaster gains +1 Armor vs. physical attacks during the next Conflict. Every two Shifts of success increase the Armor granted by one. ex: A success with two shifts would grant an Armor bonus of 2.

There are other spells I could come up with, but I think ten is a good start, both as examples for players and to indicate to my readers where my errors in thought lay. As I mentioned earlier, tomorrow I plan on doing the same, only with Future Tech.

The Evolution of a Gamer

I had a bit of an epiphany on my drive home from the weekly Mutants & Masterminds game I run at Rogue Robot (a local comic book/game store). The session went pretty well and the players had fun, which is always a plus for me. However, that isn't the epiphany that I had. It actually revolved around a specific situation during the game. On the drive home I realized that my views on things as a GM have shifted. I still can't put my finger on exactly when the change occurred, but they did. First though, the scene that got my brain going on the topic:


The players had (at long last) realized they should probably team attack the big bad as they were doing next to nothing to him one on one. I said "So, just tell me how you guys want to cooperate to attack the Buried One and you can make your rolls."

That comment was all but met with groans. One player said that that was the reason she hadn't suggested it already, she didn't have an idea of how to do it. Then another player said "Too bad you used all your plastique already, you could wad it in a ball, throw it to Alloy and I could throw him at the Buried One."

The skills they would be using would be the plastique-owner's (Nal) ranged blast skill, the one throwing Alloy (Rogue Robot)'s ranged laserfinger skill, and Alloy's unarmed attack skill. Technically, the description of what they wanted to do had nothing to do with the actual skills rolled (except Alloy's, tangentially). And Nal was out of plastique. However, I said to just roll with it. The game rules don't specify ANY description has to be given, and I thought it sounded cooler than "we all shoot/punch him at once."

They performed their team attack and the adventure continued on its course to the end. Afterwards I was driving home and I found myself realizing that not even a year ago, my answer might have been very different. 

I was weaned on OD&D, AD&D and the like. As a GM starting out, I quickly discovered that I was very much a "if it isn't on your character sheet, you don't have it" game master. I wasn't a hardcore simulationist. I always preferred leaving the battlemap out of things. I like drawing a sketch of the area and using tokens or even just drawn circles to mark the locations of players/NPCs. However, when it came to equipment, abilities, powers, etc., if you didn't have it written down then you didn't have it at all.

On the drive home last night, I started trying to pinpoint when it was that my attitude started to change. A year or so ago, in a best-case scenario I would have asked the player to spend a hero point to "edit the scene" to have the plastique for the attack. I also would have required the players come up with a description involving the specific skills they were rolling. Now, I call it fluff and say "if it sounds cool, go for it."

I think that part (if not all) of this stems from some of my RPG experiences over the past year. I read (though have yet to play) Burning Wheel for the first time. I also discovered and played both Fiasco and Dread for the first time. These are all games that revolve far more around story and collaborative storytelling than mechanics. I think perhaps my recent love affair with Fate Core is what finally pushed me over the edge completely into being a more narrative GM than mechanics-driven. 

I guess I really just find it funny because it wasn't until last night that I even realized it had happened. It's just one of those examples of change being gradual and one day you wake up realizing you aren't who you were the day prior. In addition, this is just one of those things I love about role playing.  I can not be a fan of your style of play, you can not be a fan of mine and we can both be 100 percent correct in our opinions. You can play games that are completely dice driven or games (like Amber) that require no dice whatsoever.

Well, there wasn't a ton of "enlightening" material in today's post, but it was still something I felt like sharing. Because regardless of role playing being "just a silly hobby," it can change people and their perceptions.

Narrative? Check. Fast-paced combat? Check. Easily adaptable for design purposes? Triple check! (A Fate Core Review)

I thought it appropriate that as my blog posts up until this point have been revolving around adapting Time Heroes to the Fate system that I post a review of the Fate Core book that I've been using in this project. I am going to focus on what I consider the key concepts that I apply when looking at the playability of any RPG. Rules will be talked about, but not rated on any kind of standalone basis. At the end of each section I will include a "TL; DR" summary for those who just want to get the gist of it.

The Idea

"Fate doesn't come with a default setting, but it works best with any premise where the characters are proactive, capable people leading dramatic lives."

The above quote from the beginning of the Fate Core book is probably the best way to capture what the game is all about. Fate Core is also a designer-friendly system in that the minds behind the game were open about how they created the game, thus making it easy to adapt other games/settings to. I say this from first-hand experience as I have just finished my design journal in which I adapt my Time Heroes RPG to the (I think) much more appropriate system of Fate Core.

If you're interested in learning more about a fast-paced narrative game or about a system that can be applied to most anything, keep reading!

Mechanic System:Atmosphere

The first of my key concepts is the one that I consider to quite possibly be the most important. Do the mechanics of the game successfully capture the atmosphere the game is trying to create? Below I will discuss various aspects of the mechanics in relation to the atmosphere of the game.
Before I get into the specifics of this topic for Fate Core, I'm going to address a probable question: How do you discuss the atmosphere of a game in which there is no default setting? I think the best way to do this is by use the idea the game is meant to be narrative, fast-paced and accessible to most anyone as the "atmosphere" intended in the design of the game. Of course, I can't say this is 100 percent the intent, but it is what I took away from the game.

Mechanics
The best way to talk about the mechanics of Fate Core is (for me at least) simply to describe them. First, the game doesn't revolve around dice rolls. If an action doesn't do anything interesting or potentially complicate things, don't bother rolling.

Rolling Dice
If an action does require a roll, Fate uses a set of four [thing=44946][/thing]. Each die is broken up into three symbols. Two sides have minus sides, two have plus sides and two are blank.

The basic rolling mechanic is this: Roll four dice, add them up and reach a number that ranges from -4 to +4. If there is a skill that applies to the situation, that number is added to the roll. That number is then applied to the Fate Ladder to determine success.

Fate Ladder
+8 - Legendary
+7 - Epic
+6 - Fantastic
+5 - Superb
+4 - Great
+3 - Good
+2 - Fair
+1 - Average
0 - Mediocre
-1 - Poor
-2 - Terrible

How does the Fate Ladder come into play? The two types of opposition in Fate Core are active and passive opposition. Active opposition is when two people are directly rolling against each other. When the rolls are made, the person who rolled higher wins the contest.

Passive opposition is when the GM chooses a level on the ladder and sets that as the difficulty for the action. If the total from the player is higher than that level, the action generally succeeds. If the total equals the difficulty number, it might succeed but not to the extent the player wishes. If the total is under the difficulty number, the action could fail or succeed at a cost or with other complications involved.

Aspects
The biggy of Fate Core for me is the concept of the Aspect.  Aspects are phrases that can have both positive and negative connotations (Ex: Tempted by Shiny Things). These aspects can be invoked by spending a fate point in order to allow a reroll or add +2 to a roll (With Tempted by Shiny Things the player might spend a fate point in order to use this Aspect to assist with determining how much a jewel is worth). The GM can also compel the player to use the negative side of the Aspect (again, with Tempted by Shiny Things the character might be distracted from their goal by the sight of some kind of treasure and then need to go acquire it at the expense of the others).

Fate Points
Fate points can be used to do a few things. First, they are spent to invoke the positive side of an Aspect. This allows the player to reroll the dice or add +2 to the total of a roll.

They can be used to create a scene aspect if a character aspect doesn't apply. If a player wants to invoke an Aspect but doesn't have an appropriate one on their character, a Fate Point can be spent to create a scene aspect (Ex: a wizard decides to charge a thug head-on. They only roll a total of +1 for their Fighting skill. Wanting to ensure success, the player pays a Fate Point to state that he telekinetically yanks a Rug out from under the thug, granting him a +2 to the roll for a total of +3). After that the Scene Aspect remains, able to be used by others for the extent of the scene.

Third, Fate Points can be used to declare a story detail. This is basically the "what a coincidence" use for Fate Points. For example, a character could need to get a safe screwed into a wall. The player could spend a Fate Point and say they happen to find (or have brought with them) a power drill with which to remove the safe.

Lastly, Fate Points are spent to use certain higher-powered Stunts.

A player gains Fate Points by accepting Compels of the negative side of an Aspect from the GM.

Skills
A character's skills are rated from +0(Mediocre) to +4(Great), at least to start. When a roll is made, if a skill applies to the situation, the player can add the skill level to the roll.

Skills are used for four different things:
Overcome - Skills are used to defeat challenges (your basic roll and beat the difficulty number and you succeed)
Create Advantage - A skill can be used to discover something that already exists about an opponent or create a situation that helps you succeed. It lets you discover and create aspects as well as granting a free invocation of them.
Attack - What you expect it to be, except in Fate, depending on what the player declares, an attack can be physical, mental, emotional or social.
Defend - The same as Attack from the other side.

Stunts
Stunts are special effects that can change the way a skill works.  They can add a new action to a skill (Backstab lets the player use Stealth to make physical attacks if the target doesn't know the character is there), add a bonus to an action (Arcane Expert gives a +2 bonus to create an advantage using Lore if the situation has to do with the supernatural or occult) or create a rules exception (normally a skill can only be used once in a challenge but Ritualist allows a player to use Lore in place of another skill, allowing the player to use it twice in one challenge).

Combat
Very briefly, combat is an opposed roll. The winner deals damage in the amount of how much they beat the defender by. The damage must then be absorbed via stress or give a consequence (a negative Aspect that is longer-lasting than simple stress, such as a broken leg). If neither of these is able to be done, the character is out of the fight. Stress goes away after a fight with a few minutes of a breather, but Consequences are longer lasting.

Being taken out of a conflict is not the same as dying. The rules are pretty clear that generally in Fate Core, the only time a character should die is when it is narratively appropriate (and the GM and player should agree on this).

Those are the basics of the mechanics and probably more than I needed to get into for a simple review, but I wanted to be sure and convey how the game works. Something I particularly like is that the rules are clearly laid out in an easy-to-understand format. Granted, this book isn't the final version, so there are some errors here and there. However, as a whole it's not a difficult read.

Character Creation/"Leveling Up"
Character creation in Fate Core is extremely collaborative and is also tied in with setting creation. Both occur immediately after each other (or simultaneously) and should involve everyone intending to play in the game. Some aspects (lower-case 'a') of the setting may already be determined, but a good portion of it should be decided upon by everyone together.

There are no "character classes" in Fate Core. The closest the game comes to this would probably be the "High Concept," or primary Aspect of a character. This might be something like "Knight of the Round," "Low level Thug" or "Wizard Private Eye."

Character creation itself breaks down into several steps. I won't go into great detail on them here, but these are the steps:

1. Aspects - Choose your character's high concept and trouble aspects. A trouble aspect would be the equivalent of a flaw, although like any other aspect it can be invoked in a positive manner when desired.
2. Name - Pretty self-explanatory.
3. First Phase - Discuss the first adventure your character was a part of.
4. Second and Third Phases - In each of these two phases, discuss how your character crossed the path of another character.
5. Aspects - Pick an aspect for each of the three phases to give your character.
6. Skills - Pick your skills and rate them. During character creation a player has ten levels of skills to distribute amongst the skill list: 1 +4(Great), 2 +3(Good), 3 +2(Fair) and 4 +1(Average). Every other skill is rated at +0 (Mediocre).
7. Stunts - Design or choose stunts for your character.
8. Refresh - How many Fate Points will you start with?
9. Stress and Consequences - Figure out how many of each of these boxes your character has.

I think the most important parts of character creation to touch on in this review would be steps 3 and 4. In these steps, not only do you get to flesh out your character's history, you also get to determine how you know other characters, affect the world in a concrete manner and indicate what kind of a game you're looking forward to playing.

Leveling up occurs during Milestones. The type of Milestone (Minor, Significant or Major) determines how exactly you're allowed to change your character (from switching out aspects to gaining new stunts or improving skills). These generally occur at the end of a session and the GM determines by where they are in the story what kind of a Milestone it's going to be.

TL; DR Summary - Mechanic System:Atmosphere

The use of Aspects in Fate Core has illustrated to me that it is just about the perfect medium for story-telling. The dice mechanics are unique and uncomplicated. Simply roll, add appropriate skills and apply to the ladder. Combat is fast-paced, has lasting story-effects and is only deadly when narratively appropriate.

Character creation and setting creation occur simultaneously and both are collaborative, involving everyone around the table. A portion of character creation is determining your character's first adventure as well as how he met two of the other characters. He then chooses aspects based on each of these three events that will have a long term effect on him.

Character advancement happens during a Milestone, the type of which (Minor, Significant or Major) is determined by the GM. Each type of Milestone has a list of advancements a character is able to make.

In short, in a game that is intended to be fast-paced, engaging and extremely narrative, I'm not sure if I could come up with a better system to accomplish all of this than Fate.

Mechanics:Atmosphere Rating -  5/5

Complexity

Complexity of a system can not only have effect on general playability, but also to how newbie-friendly it is. Because of this, the complexity of a game is the second of my key concepts as it applies to the Basic System, Players and GMs.

Basic System
I think this is one of those things that depend on the player. In general I would say that it might seem confusing on the first read through, but once you've had a chance to play it for even one session, things will pretty quickly click into place. It boils down to roll four dice, total them, add appropriate skill bonuses/aspects and apply to the ladder. If you beat the difficulty/opposition, you succeed. If not, you fail or succeed at a price.

Player
This is a game where if you don't want to go into detail on what you're doing or have a say in what's going on in the world, it might be too complex for you.  Fate Core is very much a collaborative storytelling game in every sense of the word. While the game may not be too complex rules-wise for players used to saying "I attack the orc," I think it might be description-wise. Fate is very much a game of thinking on your feet and creating advantages where there aren't any immediately apparent.

GM
This, I would say, is kind of a tough one to gauge. Some of the storytelling is taken out of the GMs hands, making life a bit easier. On the flip side of that coin, some of the storytelling is taken out of the GM's hands. In addition to normal duties, a GM of Fate must really be able to fly by the seat of his pants when it comes to dealing with new aspects/situations/places created by the players during the course of a game.

Fate has no default setting, which means that the GM has a bit more to do prep wise. However, as mentioned earlier, much of the setting creation is done collaboratively during character creation so it may not be quite as involved as in other generic role playing systems.

TL; DR Summary - Complexity

After diving into a game of Fate, the basic rules should come along fairly quickly, unless you are uncomfortable having more say in the creation/evolution of the story than you are used to as a player.

GMs don't have a base setting to work off of, but much of that is handled during character creation anyway so as generic rules systems go it's a bit ahead of the curve.

Complexity Rating - 4/5

GM Section

I am primarily a GM when I play, so the third of my key concepts is how useful the GM section of a book is for potential GMs. Some are extremely in depth and some are basically useless.

The Fate Core book is a bit more interwoven regarding player and GM sections. I expected this; given how much of everything that happens is a collaborative effort. That being said, when the book gets to the GM-specific areas of running the game, designing scenarios, etc., it does a good job of getting the point across.

Running the Game
This portion the book is more of an extended overview of exactly what it is a GM does. It also differentiates between the tasks of a GM in other games and the tasks of a GM in Fate.  Throughout this area (as with the rest of the book), there are sidebars giving hints and tips for GMs to help them get the feel of the game and run things smoothly.

This section covers such topics as how to start and end scenes, playing the world and NPCs, judging the use of rules and when (or if) they should be used and creating scenarios and games (campaigns). It goes into more detail on how to make failure awesome and gives suggestions on ways to fail the roll but still succeed at the task (at a cost or with complications).

It also covers most things the players read about from the GMs angle as well as touching on odd situations that might crop up and different ways to resolve them quickly and to the benefit of the group as a whole.

Creating Campaigns
The Fate Core book goes into great detail about how to create memorable villains, designing games that your players will like, how to determine difficulties of actions in a given adventure and balancing the game. The portions of the book covering adventure/campaign creation are extremely in depth and make a great read in general even if you don't intend to use the Fate system itself.

TL; DR Summary - GM Section

The GM section of the Fate Core book covers everything previously in the book but from the GM's perspective. It also is a great resource for adventure/campaign building, even for those who might not be interested in using the Fate system itself.

GM Section Rating - 5/5

Included Adventure
The fourth and last key concept for any core book is the sample adventure included. Ideally, this should give GMs an idea of what a general adventure in the system should look like while keeping it easy to reference.

Number of included adventures: 0

I am not going to rate this section for Fate Core. The reason being that those who have pledged the Kickstarter campaign for this will be receiving at least one adventure (in PDF format at least) that will work with the system. However, I do not have access to it currently.

I understand why the book itself does not have an adventure in it. Fate is a generic system and I can see why the designers wouldn't want to put an adventure in that might imply the system was meant for one genre or another.

Potential Concerns

This section isn't only devoted to things I don't like about a game, but also potential problems that don't bother me but might also bother others. This section isn't rated as it is even more subjective than the rest of my review.

Fate is a collaborative game. For players of D&D, Pathfinder, Shadowrun, etc., it could take some getting used to and may not be everyone's cup of tea. Everyone has to be willing to have input in regards to the world and can't be afraid to think outside the box. And role play.

My other potential concern is that this isn't the finished product. I don't expect too much to change drastically from what is in this book, but until the final version is released, that possibility will exist.

In Closing

I am preparing to run my first Fate game with a few members of the geek and have been working on adapting Time Heroes to the system. I think Fate is a fantastic generic system and the fact that the designers are so open about how everything works makes it a joy to tinker with. Lastly I think the fact that this game is going to be OGL makes the system even better. The Kickstarter still has some time left as of this writing and if you pledge even a dollar to it, you have full access to the PDF that I have just completed reviewing.

*This was my second entry in RPGGs 2013 Iron Reviewer Contest

Time Heroes - Fate Adaptation - Franchise Conflicts

Franchise Conflicts
In the course of a Time Heroes game, there is going to be plenty of conflict at the personal level. The good guys are going to fight the bad guys, head games will be played, information extracted. However, in Time Heroes, there is a type of conflict that will occur at a higher level: the Franchise Conflict.

At the end of each session, a Franchise Conflict test will be made by the players. Depending upon the era the game is set in, the conflict could take different forms. An example from each era might be:

Past - A rival group of knights begins performing acts in the name of the PCs group, working to destroy their good name with the peasantry.

Present - The characters' particular Time Heroes, Inc. franchise is attacked by a rival corporation in the media in an attempt to drive its stocks into the ground.

Future - An elite group of robowarriors is capturing members of the characters' rebel cell, as well as allies, getting information from them that gradually brings them closer and closer to the location of the rebel base.

During world creation, the players and GM need to decide on the type of conflict that will be occurring, at least initially. This will likely stem from the decision made regarding who or what the group is going after in the long term (not la Fey generally, but what big bad a particular arc revolves around). After that particular arc is resolved one way or another, the group will have to work to decide what form the Franchise Conflicts in the next arc of the story are going to take.

At the end of each session, the GM will roll for an attack against wish the Franchise will roll a defense. The total defense can be affected by three things:
1. At the GM's discretion, actions taken by the characters during the session may add a bonus to their defense roll (or the attack roll if they really bungled something at the wrong time).
2. Remaining Fate Points may be spent on the roll, one per character, to invoke character aspects they can rationalize applying to the attack.
3. The defense skill of the Franchise is added to the roll.

Franchise Defense - This is a skill that is carried only by a Franchise. New Franchises start as being relatively unknown and so the skill begins at 0. Each time the players reach a milestone in which they are allowed to increase a skill, the Franchise Defense increases by one point.

Franchise Consequences - When a Franchise fails at defending itself, it gains a consequence in the same way a character does. They are removed slightly different than character consequences, however. First, one consequence may be renamed at either a Significant or Major Milestone. To remove it completely a second Significant or Major Milestone must be reached. In essence, it takes two Significant or Major Milestones for a Franchise Consequence to heal entirely.

The players may affect the removal of the consequence. The GM may offer them a situation in which they can remove a consequence with only one relevant milestone. However, this will work similarly to a Compel. The situation will be one that inconveniences the characters and/or makes their lives in general more difficult. This could even be impetus for a session all on its own (perhaps investigating to find evidence that the rival corporation was lying the entire time).

At the moment, this is how I see the conflicts working. Is it a good plan? I don't know. I won't know until I get a chance to use it. However, like many of my other posts, it feels at the very least like a great starting point.

With that, I think I might actually be done with the basic adaptation of Time Heroes to Face Core. I'll write more posts if I come up with other things I need to touch on, but for now I think I'm going to move on to other subjects. I'm not sure what tomorrow's post will be about as of yet, but chances are it won't be Time Heroes of Fate-related (unless I need make another correction or something else DOES end up coming to mind).

I hope you've enjoyed reading this little design journal as much as I have writing it. I also hope you'll keep reading my blog and find more of interest as I move on to other RPG topics.

Time Heroes - Fate Adaptation - A Correction on Franchise Consequences

After yesterday's post, a reader pointed out some issues he had reconciling what I'd written about Franchise Conflicts/Consequences and the feel of a Fate game. His questioning was spot on and so today, I am not only going to go into details on an additional mechanic for Time Heroes of Fate - Franchise Conflicts - but also make a correction.

Franchise Consequences
Instead of having the same named consequence boxes that a character would have, Franchises instead have four consequence boxes. Once all four boxes are filled, a fifth Franchise Conflict-inspired consequence will put that Franchise "out of business" as detailed in my last post.

The reasoning behind removing the titles is because it was pointed out to me that if the Franchise Conflicts happen at the story level, they'll more or less be happening parrallel to the milestones and therefore they won't add any excitement to the game. Basically, a consequence would be gained and could immediately be written off.

My new plan for this mechanic is this:

At the end of each game session, there is a Franchise Conflict. Should the Franchise fail against the attacker, it will gain a consequence (the title of which should seem a logical result of the kind of attack).  Under the Franchise Milestone idea, everything will play out the same except that consequences can only be renamed during a Significant or Major Milestone and even then, only one consequence may be renamed.

I have an an idea for an additional Franchise Milestone rule in which on top of what I just mentioned a PC would have to forego renaming their OWN consequences to rename one Franchise Consequence during a given milestone. I'm not sure if that's too much or not. I'm going to try playing without it first and see how that works.

This is a brief post. As stated yesterday it's been a hectic day so I'm afraid I couldn't get to my Franchise Conflict mechanics. But hey, at least i got SOMETHING relevant up today and keep your eyes peeled tomorrow!

Time Heroes - Fate Adaptation - Franchise Consequences and Improvement

In yesterday's blog I stated I would be continuing today with an example of character creation. In the intervening time, I've changed my mind. I'm not seeing anything immediately that needs to be added or changed from basic Fate Core character creation.  If I put together a final product I probably will include such an example, but for the purposes of this blog I'm not sure that it's necessary. With all of that being said, if my assumption is incorrect, please let me know and I can write a post.

Instead, I've opted to write a post about a question that was asked of me by someone who read a previous post. In my description of world creation I discuss Franchises. A brief synopsis for people who haven't read the other entries, a franchise is a representation of the group the player characters belong to, although the group might not technically be a franchise. After reading this post, someone asked me about the idea of possibly improving Franchises, much like one would a character. That is the topic of today's post.

When I thought up the plan for Franchises, I had intended on being able to improve them as time goes on. I had several ideas on how to do so and after much thought I've managed to narrow it down to two. I haven't yet decided if I'm going to pick one and include that, or include both (one as a basic rule and one as an advanced version) or simply include them both and say "pick one."  In either case, I'm going to detail them both here in as far as I have thought them out. If anyone has feedback on either or both ideas, please don't hesitate to let me know!

Before I get into the two ideas however, I want to touch an addition I'm thinking of including to the concept of the Franchise, making it more important to the central plot. What I am thinking of adding is the idea of Consequences to a Franchise. The idea is pretty new and is still a bit of a work in progress. What I mention below are simply my initial thoughts on the subject. Should I decide to not at Consequences, it will have an effect on my two ideas for being able to improve a Franchise as well.

Franchise Consequences

This is a result of a larger-scale type of conflict. Whereas the PC war takes place in the streets and person-to-person, conflicts involving the Franchise takes place via the media or similar outlets. While the war might be public, Morgan la Fey knows who her enemies are and she has organizations of her own. She will use them to undermine the Franchise of the PCs in order to make sure they aren't taken seriously. When these conflicts occur and the Franchise loses, it is like losing any other conflict only instead of Stress Tracks, it goes right into consequences. 

Once all Consequence boxes have been filled, another failed conflict involving the Franchise will lead to its "going out of business." This is, of course, a more abstract concept than simply going out of business. It might be  a rebel cell finally being wiped out completely, or a group of knights being dishonored.

There are two Mild Consequence boxes, one Moderate and one Severe. Regarding mechanics of the concepts, they are still a work in progress and I plan to address them in a future post once I've worked it out for myself. This idea came to me just before writing this post and I haven't had time to flesh it out fully yet.

Franchise Milestones

The first option revolves around the idea that Franchises have the ability to change at the same time that characters do.  The process itself is slightly different, but the milestones occur at the same time they occur for the players. 

Minor Franchise Milestones - A minor milestone has the following effects upon a Franchise:

• Change any single stunt for another stunt (this option is only available after the first Major Franchise Milestone as the initial Franchise Stunt is permanent)
• Rename any minor consequences the Franchise has so that the "negative press" affecting the Franchise can begin to be forgotten/removed.

Significant Franchise Milestones - A significant milestone has the following effects:

• The same effects as a minor milestone
• Rename any moderate consequences to begin the road to recovery for them.

Major Franchise Milestones - Lastly, a major milestone accomplishes the following:

• The effects of both a minor and significant milestone
• Rename any severe consequences so that the Franchise can recover from them.
• Gain an additional Franchise Stunt (try an rationalize how it would fit in with the group's specific Franchise)

It's as simple as that. When the players reach a milestone, they apply the equivalent milestone to their Franchise, improving as noted above.

Franchise Resources

This is an abstracted version of money. At the end of each "mission," or when the GM deems appropriate, the Franchise will be paid in Resource Points. These will be stored in a kind of bank until the players opt to spend them on improvements for the Franchise. As an example, perhaps saving a princess from a dragon is worth 4 RPs or a raid on a futuristic robot factory nets the rebels 3 RPs of supplies that can be used to aid the rebel camp to expand.

If I include this particular option, I will be giving examples of what kinds of tasks are worth how many RPs, in addition to what various improvements would cost. Essentially, the improvements would be the same options I mentioned in the Franchise Milestones section above. The difference between the two being that  RPs can be saved and spent whenever the PCs wish to spend them.

I think the Milestones idea feels the most like Time Heroes to me, but including the Franchise Resources option as an alternative for those who want to have more control over how the Franchise improves when might be a nice idea.

On a personal note, tomorrow I have a big job interview. I'm not sure if I'll get around to writing a post or not. I suspect that the next post that I do write will revolve around Time Heroes-specific mechanics (which at this point amounts to Franchise Conflicts). 

Time Heroes - Fate Adaptation - The World of Time Heroes - Part 3. Example Collaborative Location Creation

Yesterday I wrote about collaborative location creation. In today's post I'm going to go through a quick example of what the process might look like. Should anyone be interested in running a Time Heroes of Fate game, hopefully this will make things a little easier to do so.

Paul, Ashley, Ben and the GM Andrew are sitting around a table. They've decided the best thing to do - even prior to character creation - is define the setting itself. The following is what a collaborative setting-creation exchange might look like.

Andrew (GM): "OK, so the first thing we should probably decide is what era we want to set this in. What do you guys think?"

Ben: "I was hoping to make use of the Future Tech skill with my character in some sense or other. With the description of the era 'past,' it looks like that would be tough to rationalize so I'd prefer present or future."

Ashley: "I'm interested in the more humorous aspects of the game. If we went with future, I'd rather avoid the possible dark overtones associated with things and keep it lighthearted. Plus, I'm a bit fantasied out, so I'd also rather not run in the past."

Andrew (GM): "Well, it sounds like unless Paul has a major objection to it, the past is out of the running then."

Paul: "Damn. I was thinking of going a Conan-ish thug route. I can come up with another plan though."

Andrew (GM): "Well, don't write that off yet. If that's the kind of character you want to run, that's still feasible in the present era. That seems like a pretty fair compromise across the board. Plus, with Ash's preference for humor, it's the more natural way to go."

At this point everyone agrees to go with Era: Present. Once that is complete, the group moves onto the next step.

Andrew (GM): "So, we've settled on the era. Let's focus in a bit. Where do we want to set the game, or at least start it? I think with what I've heard so far rural probably won't scratch your respective itches."

Ashley: "Why not set it in a city somewhere? Lots of people, lots of potential jobs to take."

Ben: "Yeah. Plus, night life!"

Andrew (GM): "So, your future tech-based character is going to be a party animal. Might want to think about working that into an aspect of some sort, Ben."

Paul: "I like the city idea as well. But aren't we going to look funny running around on the streets? Me in a loin cloth, Captain Future over there with his cybernose or whatever and...whatever Ashley's gonna be?"

Ashley: "I haven't been inspired yet. Once we're done with the setting I might have a better idea. In regards to a city, why not L.A.? With everyone running around there, who's gonna notice a librarian and a cyborg?"

Everyone chuckles and agrees that's the best way to go. Andrew writes Location: Los Angeles on the setting card.

Andrew (GM): "And onto the Lifestyle Aspect. "

Ben: "How about 'Weird is Everywhere' since we're in L.A.?"

Andrew (GM): "Not bad, but that sounds like more an answer to one of the questions about the setting as a whole."

Ashley: "So...how about 'Weird is blase?' As in, everyone in L.A. has seen it all and nothing shocks them anymore. So maybe we can invoke it when we are about to do something that would make others aware of the war and they'll just shrug and move on."

Andrew (GM): "OK, and how about for compels?"

Paul: "Ooh! You could drop a compel, say, when we're trying to alert people to danger and they'd just not be scared enough to hurry or follow directions or something."

Andrew (GM): "Not too shabby guys. I'll write that down. If we need to refine it later for whatever reason, we can. And remember, the Lifestyle Aspect isn't necessarily set in stone forever. It's possible circumstances could change it."

Andrew records Lifestyle Aspect: Weird is Blase.

Andrew (GM): "And the last step before I ask some questions to give myself a good idea of the setting is deciding on a Franchise Stunt. What do you guys want your group to be known for?"

Paul: "I think I'm sticking with my barbarian. I was thinking maybe he signed up to smash magic."

Ben: "I like that idea. Maybe my future tech guy's price to be brought to the 'past' was that he could learn magic and bring that back to his time to assist in the rebellion."

Andrew (GM): "OK, so far we have two thoughts revolving around magic. That's pretty vague. What about the supernatural in general?"

Ashley: "What, investigating it? Like the Ghostbusters? Ooh, could my character be a Ghostbuster-type?"

Andrew (GM): "I have no problems with that. Could lead to a lot of humorous circumstances. So we're going to have a barbarian who loathes and in fact has vowed to destroy all things magic, a"

Ben: "Cyberjanitor with a lasermop!"

Andrew (GM): "cyberjanitor with a lasermop and a girl who's watched 'Ghostbusters' too many times. Nothing could possibly go wrong! So here's my suggestion. How about we call the franchise 'Ghostbusters' and the benefit would be that someone could spend a Quantum Point if something supernatural is discovered and that person could make a Magic or Lore roll to create an advantage against that supernatural thing in a future scene. You guys ok with that?"

Ben, Ashley and Paul: "Love it!"

Andrew writes down Franchise Stunt: Ghostbusters and makes a note on what the Franchise Stunt does.

Andrew (GM): "OK, last step before we can get to character creation. Although, I have to say that the world creation seems to have gone a long way towards solidifying character ideas in your guys' minds. Anyway, first question: Is the war overt or covert?"

Paul: "I like the idea of it being covert."

Ashley: "Me too. Everyone isn't supposed to know it's going on. In L.A. it might be less noticed, but even then we don't want to be blasting at spooks in the middle of the street."

Ben: "What they said."

Andrew: "Great! That right there gives me a bunch of ways to complicate lives for you guys. Next question: Where is your franchise?"

Without hesitation, everyone simultaneously says fire hall. They spontaneously decide that Ashley's character picked out their headquarters.

Andrew (GM): "Moving on. Is your franchise itself overt or covert?"

Ben: "Well, the war is covert so wouldn't it make sense our franchise was as well?"

Ashley: "No way! I want a big Ghostbusters sign hanging outside the firehouse! We could hire out as real Ghostbusters!"

Paul: "And we could just be viewed as a bunch of crackpots."

The conversation continues from there and after a few more questions everyone has a good feel for the kind of world their Time Heroes of Fate game is going to be set in. In my next blog post, I will continue this example by moving it into the character creation part of the session.