Time Heroes Kickstarter Nearly Ready!

Well, if you're reading this, you likely already know more than you'd care to about Time Heroes. However, in case you haven't, this is the Kickstarter announcement I posted on both RPGGeek.com and RPG.net earlier today (as well as in the GeekWorld Online Time Heroes Kickstarter forum):

First, let me say that this is going to be the first official GeekWorld Online production (hopefully with more to follow).

Since backing and reading through Fate Core, ideas have been coming to me left and right for games that could be put together using Fate Core as the glue. Two projects really stuck with me to the point where I blogged many design journal entries on them, and one of them is just about ready for the Kickstarter to begin.

Time Heroes is a comedic adventure RPG that has been created to capture the feel of Saturday morning cartoons (along the lines of Inspector Gadget, the Real Ghostbusters, etc.). In its default setting, it is about stopping the evil sorceress Morgan la Fey from destroying time as we know it.

Morgan la Fey has come to a point in history where magic has long since died but before technology has evolved to completely replace it (basically, the present). She has torn open rips in the fabric of space and time to draw through armies from the past and future with which she intends to make the Earth her own. She has managed to place a time bubble around a few year block that has been separated from the normal passage of time. Her goal is to take control of the planet, send people back and then drop the bubble, altering the course of history in one fell swoop.

The Great Merlini, last living descendent of Merlin has gone from simple stage magician to discovering the power of his ancestor within himself with the assistance of his ancestor’s book of magic, the Bionomipro. He is using this power to draw his own people through time and space in order to hold back la Fey's ambitions. While the bubble around the present allows la Fey to bring people through without repercussions, it also prevents going back to alter events that have already happened within the bubble itself. Essentially, if Merlini can keep Morgan la Fey at bay for a few years, the bubble will drop and normality will be restored.

So that's the basic lore behind the setting. But how do I see this play out in the game itself?

While the way I've presented it just now may not indicate it (although how sheerly ludicrous the idea itself is might), Time Heroes is meant to be a zany romp for a group of players. Ultimately, I envision it along the lines of a television show or cartoon where, though there may be arcs here and there, primarily each session is its own episode and - much like, Inspector Gadget, for example - Morgan la Fey will always barely slip away at the end of each "episode." Obviously the reasoning behind this is because if she's taken out completely, any series would be over. Also, she will be almost entirely in the background pulling strings and not in the thick of it herself. I want the world of Time Heroes to be one in which a sword-carrying barbarian, a laser mop-wielding space janitor and a Spam salesman are all equally likely as character concepts, even in one group.

So, where are we at? Well, the beta draft of the core rules is finished, though it is art-free (much of the Kickstarter fundage will be for compensating my artist). A Quick-Start packet has been finished on my end, and is currently with the artist/layout designer. Once that is finished, it will be distributed at Berserkon in Duluth, MN (and will also be a

And now, info regarding our Kickstarter (set to start once the CC licensing is available):

After some thinking, we've put together some initial reward levels. We're still having troubles coming up with what would be good offerings for higher pledge amounts, but we still have time before the Kickstarter gets off the ground.

Without further ado, here's what we've decided on for certain:

$1 - Extra
You will have immediate access to the Quick-Start Packet PDF. This includes four pre-generated characters, the basic rules, and a Quick-Start Episode: Rise of the Plushies!

$5 - Supporting Cast
Includes the Extras level, as well as immediate access to the beta draft of Time Heroes. With this you can begin your very own Time Heroes series before the Kickstarter is even over!

$10 - Big Bad
You will receive the Extras and Supporting cast levels, as well as a copy of the Time Heroes PDF upon release.

$30 - Time Hero(200 available)
You will receive the Extra and Supporting cast levels, as well as the softcover of Time Heroes upon release (B&W). If you would also like the PDF, add $5 to your pledge.(total of $35) If you would like your copy autographed, simply add $10 to your pledge. (total of $40 without PDF, $45 with) Add $15 for international shipping

$40 - Morgan la Fey (10 available)
You will receive the Extra, Supporting Cast, and Time Hero levels. In addition, Andrew Goenner will help you create your own Time Hero to be included in the core rules.

$75 - Great Merlini (3 available)
You will receive the Extra, Supporting Cast, Big Bad, and Time Hero levels. Plus, Andrew Goenner will run an episode of Time Heroes for you via G+ Hangouts.

The price point on the last two aren't set in stone and may well be adjusted prior to the Kickstarter actually beginning, but that's what we're looking at so far.

Here are ideas for some of the stretch goals that we have (no monetary amounts decided on yet):

- A hardcover version of the core rules

- Colorizing the core rules

- An Era supplement covering the Past and Future Time Heroes setting

- A "Who's Who" of Time Heroes, filled with pre-generated characters as well as descriptions/statistics for NPCs in the Present setting.

As we progress closer to the Kickstarter, I'll pop back and update this thread. Otherwise, if you're looking for more information on GeekWorld Online or Time Heroes, feel free to head over to the site: GeekWorld Online. Links to the GWO Blog are there, as well as news pieces and the forums for discussing GWO projects.

Lastly, for the art-curious, I have a couple of samples my artist has provided for me for promotional use that I thought I'd share with you here:

Time Heroes of Fate - Revamping Magic After an Actual Playtest

As those of you who read yesterday's post know, I finally had a chance to run a scenario from Time Heroes of Fate at a convention yesterday. During the course of play, I noticed one thing. Future Tech (and Magic), are either over- or under-powered. In my initial laying out of the Magic/Future Tech skills, I didn't greatly specify how they are used. I spoke of them in context of being rolled to pull of spells/devices (stunts), but that's about it. I didn't really clarify if that's the only situation they could be used in, or if they were some kind of "uber-skill." And to be honest, I hadn't really thought of it one way or the other until it came up in play. During the game I just used GM fiat to determine if something could be done or not, but I knew that I was going to have to sit down and look again at how Magic and Future Tech are used.

Magic as a Skill Supplement

This is the idea that hit me full-force as I was looking over my blog a short while ago. 

You can still use stunts for whatever spells/devices you and your GM can think up. However, the skills can also be used on their own, but only to supplement other skills. What I mean to say is, you can use Future Tech/Magic to perform the task of another skill, but ONLY up to the rank you have in the skill (whichever is lower).So if you have a Magic of +4 (Great) and a Burglary of +2 (Fair), you could use Magic to pick a lock but you would only add your Burglar rank of +2 to the roll. If the skills were reversed (Magic +2 and Burglary +4), you would still only add 2 because that's the lower of the two skills.

I'm also thinking to limit how many skills Magic/Future Tech can be used for. Even being used in place of another skill when something makes that skill unavailable, combined with rolling them with spells/devices it still seems pretty powerful. If I opt to limit the amount of skills, I'm currently thinking of allowing the player to link their Magic/Future Tech with one "regular" skill per rank in Magic/F.T. So, if a wizard had a Magic of +2 (Fair), she could link it with two skills and use it to supplement them.

How is this useful, you ask? It allows you to perform an action in a situation where you normally couldn't. Say you're held up against a wall by a thug, restrained. Just behind him is a perfectly-sized vase with which to clock him in the head. You have a Fighting of +2 (Fair) and a Magic of +3 (Good). Since you're held firm, you couldn't normally use fight to smash the vase onto the thug's head. However, being restrained doesn't prevent you from using your Magic, and so (since the Fighting skill is lower at +2) you roll and add +2, levitating the vase full-force into the back of the goon's skull.

Time Heroes of Fate - Layout Decisions

I'm finding myself extremely indecisive in regards to the design for Time Heroes of Fate. I want to put together a nice all-encompassing document that could be its own thing once the OGL goes into effect. However, I'm finding that I can't decide how to do it together.

My initial thought was to have an introductory chapter that goes into the basics of Fate Core and how it works. From there I'd move into Time Heroes of Fate itself. I'd mix setting and rules and go over everything in relation to Time Heroes.

However, then I started thinking about the fact that I would basically be reiterating the same rules. I'd be going over them in the Introduction to Fate Core and then again in the rulebook proper. On the flip side, wouldn't it be a good idea to give some sort of an introduction to the system itself before diving into the game proper?

Now I'm starting to think that maybe I should just give a synopsized version of the Fate Core rules. Maybe I can use the Introduction to talk about the extreme basics of Fate Core; talk about aspects, the Fudge dice, Stunts, etc. Instead of going into detail like I originally intended, just leave it to the generalities (so don't talk about teamwork, etc) and leave everything else to the Time Heroes of Fate rules.

Still, I can't make up my mind. So this is where I come to the few people who actually read this silly blog. What do you guys think would work for the layout for Time Heroes of Fate? The choices as I see them now are these:

• Full Fate-on in the intro. This will allow people to understand the game and possibly even run it without the Time Heroes setting, though I'd be essentially going over rules twice.
• General Fate overview in the intro. In this case, I'd be going over the basics of fate, but leaving out any of the advanced or in-depth items until getting to the Time Heroes of Fate rulebook proper.
• No rules overview in the intro. In this case I'd just mention Fate in the intro, maybe talk about the Fate dice, then go from there right into Time Heroes of Fate and introduce everything via the rulebook proper.

Of course there may be another option I haven't thought of, so please, chime in with thoughts/suggestions!

The Island -Time Heroes of Fate- Character Creation Steps

I've just now realized that when I was doing the design journal for Time Heroes of Fate I never went into the steps of character creation. As I prepare to do the writeup for the Island's character creation steps, I thought perhaps I would do the same for Time Heroes as well. I'll write up the Time Heroes proces first, then move on to the Island. Character creation for both games will be pretty much identical to that of Fate Core. The only difference will be in Aspect creation, so that's what each area will focus on.

In Time Heroes, characters were pulled from their various times so there isn't much of a likelihood the characters will have met previously to being thrown together by the Great Merlini (or Merlin or the Merlinator). Instead of Phases 1-3 involving the other characters, the phases for Time Heroes will be the following:

Phase One - Last Day of Previous Life: The first phase is a story from the character's life prior to being recruited by the Great Merlini (or Merlin or the Merlinator). The story could be an adventure the character had or just a regular "day in the life of" story. The story should end with their recruitment. Once this has been done the player should choose an aspect that the story illustrates.

Phase Two - First Encounter: This might be a "first adventure" kind of story. This phase revolves around the first encounter the character had with the Time War. The Great Merlini likes to drop his recruits into circumstances where they can show their worth to Time Heroes, Inc. From fighting members of the Roman legion to attempting to go undercover in Al Capone's group, this phase shows the character's first real chance to shine.

Phase Three - Equipment: This last phase is for an item or piece of equipment the character is known for carrying. This would be their signature item. Ghostbusters have proton packs, King Arthur has Excalibur; this aspect should be an item that embodies the character.

The Island is a situation where each of the characters may very well be from completely different dimensions. The first time the characters likely will be meeting is on the prison ship. Of course if it's determined the group has already been on the Island for a while, that might be different. But still, I think these phases will likely better capture the feel of the game.

Phase One - Race: In my last post I talked about Racial Aspects for the Island. Whether a character is Human, Elf, Dwarf, etc., each race has qualities both positive and negative. That is why the first phase is choosing what race the character is going to be.

Phase Two - The Crime: This phase is the story of the crime of which the character was convicted. Whether guilty or not, this story illustrates what the character's involvement in the situation was. The aspect drawn from this could be one that came about because of the crime and conviction, or one that led to it, or even one that showed itself during the crime.

Phase Three - The Belief: Even the most hardened of criminals believes in something. This aspect should paint a picture of something the character believes deep down inside. Granted, it could be something along the lines of "Suckers are Everywhere," but everyone believes in something. This gets down to the very core of a character.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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).