Young Centurions - Revenge on Mars

We're running two Fate games at Con of the North. The first of these happens from 12-4 PM, on Friday, February 17. We're kicking the convention off with a session of Young Centurions, which is the teen PC version of Spirit of the Century.

Here's the blurb:

On the eve of WW I, Martian artifacts are uncovered hinting at a new tripod invasion. The teen heroes of the Century Club must find a way to defeat the Martian foes before the once again wrap their slimy tentacles around the Earth. Try out this easy, fun-to-play RPG prequel to Evil Hat's Spirit of the Century.

I was originally thinking of having the starting action scene set in NYC. Now I am thinking more about the African terrain of Nisi Shawl's Everfair. We shall see.

One of the considerations is the violence level. Young Centurions encourages the GM to avoid a lot of gunplay, since the PCs are teens. That might not be an ideal fit with the Belgian Congo, arguably the most brutal episode of European colonialism in Africa.

Still, Nisi Shawl did some very interesting things with her alternate history setting, and I can think of some synergies with what I want to do in this game.

Young Centurions

I had to pull out of the recent Fate More Kickstarter, due to the first in a series of massive car repairs this Winter/Spring. This week, a slew of new Evil Hat releases hit The Source, and I grabbed them all! No more fear of missing out!

The new game Young Champions is particularly welcome. The game is set in the Spirit of the Century RPG universe.  And SOTC was my first brush with Fate. In fact, it was love at first sight!

I may have run the first open game of SOTC in Minnesota. That demo game years ago at The Source drew my friend Chad, who created a Jungle Lord (transplanted to NYC), as well one of the only Hollow Earth Expedition RPG fans in town, who played a Doc Savage type, complete with labs and domicile in the Empire State Building!

The action featured a fight on a Zeppelin in the skies over NYC. Like so many subsequent Zeppelin fights in my SOTC and HEX games, it did not end well for the Zeppelin! I think in this case, a wrench being used as a weapon hit a metal ladder frame within the airship's canvas shell. Sparks were drawn, and leaky gas cells ignited. Things like this happen, ALL-THE-TIME, in Spirit of the Century.

From there, I never went back! I've run many convention scenarios set in the SOTC universe, ranging all over the Earth and onto Mars. We've had Moorcockian Eternal Champions and villains in our games too, including the Ulric and Ulrika twins (my own creations), Count Zenith, and Jumping Jack Flash. But by Fate Core standards, SOTC has a bit heavier frame than I really need for a good pulp action Fate game, so it is good to see Young Centurions deliver the pulp using the lighter chassis that Fate Accelerated Edition provides.

And this isn't simply a retread of the 1930s SOTC setting, but instead features the young heroes of 1910 earlier in their career. I haven't read through the rules yet (just got 'em) but the cover and interior art are just outstanding, so I want to call that out today. Look at the diversity of heroes - and vehicles - on the cover. (Tractors don't get nearly enough love.)

And look at the heroes on the back cover:

Finally, I'll point to my new favorite character right here:

Given that my initials are JET, I'd say this is a perfect character.

Godgraft

Godgraft (Curses, Cost, Per Scenario, Corrupting): The caster rolls INT/Clever +2 to graft one or more divine organs, tissue, or body parts onto a willing subject. The subject must lose some of their own substance and essence to create space(s) for the graft(s) to fit, so amputations, flensing, and organ removal usually occurs prior to to casting. The recipient crosses off an existing Aspect and creates a new one representing the graft.

The recipient typically agrees to the casting because of the prospect of acquiring divine powers or abilities. The recipient rolls 1DF. On a positive roll, the GM determines what beneficial power has been acquired; on negative roll, some deleterious change occurs in the recipient as a result of the graft; on a zero (0) result, the limb, organ, or tissue is simply a functional replacement for the organ that was removed.

For the caster, this is a Major or Severe Infraction, depending on the deity and organs involved.

This spell is inspired by Michael Moorcock's Corum series.

Manna

I should have taken a photo. When we took the Anubian Ambassador out on Sunday morning, something strange was waiting for us in the back yard. A small round object with a hole in it was sitting in the middle of the yard.

Sticking straight up in the snow.

At first I thought it was a huge toadstool (and how did this grow up through packed snow?), whose head had somehow been turned to face me.

I picked up the Anubian Ambassador so she would not be tempted to gobble up the Mystery.

On closer inspection, it was clear what we were seeing: a bagel.

Pennies from heaven? I haven't been able to figure out how it got there. There were no footprints (or paw prints) around it. The back yard is fenced off and it's a tall fence.

My guess is that a bird dropped it. We have a Bruggers maybe a half mile from home to the north, and a Cub Foods about a half mile to the south.

But it could have been the Nexialist casting Bread Torus.

***

Bread Torus (Evocation, Cost, Per Scene):  During the Nexialist Revolt, this formula sustained the besieged defenders of Nexialist Institutes. It became one of the 12 essential proofs of the "Miraculous Materialism" that undergirds the Nexialist tradition.

Bread Torus manifests as one or more dense white rings of a breadlike substance. One bread torus can sustain a person for a day. Sometimes also called a "carbohydrate brick", bread tori putrefy remarkably slowly compared to other bread substances. If left at room temperature for several days, however, a torus may become a knife-breaker or tooth-chipper.

The caster rolls WIS +2 to manifest Bread Torus. The number appearing is equal to the effort rolled.

Strange Stars, Alien Humans

Saturn 3

The alien humans are not from our time; they are visitors from the far future. The last survivors of humanity on a rogue planet in The Degenerate Era, the alien humans have a vastly more diverse genome than the varied clades of modern starfaring humans. Their cells swarm with genetic prostheses. Their blood and other tissues teem with strange parasites, antique nanites, and cyber-amulets. Even a cursory scan reveals oddly-shaped alien organs with no discernible functions. Their tissues also evidence significant radiation damage.

Their kind fall within three basic phenotypes:

• Pallids are hairless and display the traits of near albinism. With make-up they can easily pass for modern humans. Pallids are the alien humans most frequently encountered in modern times. They are diplomats, deal makers, and tech and gene traders. They have an abrasive, distant mien, which is interrupted every 25 hours by a period of intense, unpleasant, and demanding affect. During this period, Pallids are often driven to barter their unusual tech and exotic information in exchange for various forms of gratification. They strike hard, often unpleasant bargains. 
• Grendellines have a leathery grey integument which protects against vacuum and hard radiation. The Grendellines' integument and implants convey a species of machine telepathy which permits them to pilot vessels by force of will, as well as remotely operate many individual machines and devices.
• Insulae have jet black porcelain-hard skin optimized for absorbing and metabolizing the remaining ambient energies of the Degenerate Era. When the integument of an Insulae is damaged, it chips or cracks. Their wounds hiss, releasing a mildly radioactive organic spray into the environment. Their exterior is not readily penetrated by scanning technology. The Insulae communicate by means of Pallids known as Interlocutors. The role of the Insulae phenotype is unknown.

OGL MECHANICS

Alien Human
Pallid clade (neutral)

ASPECTS:

• High Concept: Alien humans from the future
• Trouble: The 25th hour
• Aspect: Abrasive and distant
• Aspect: Hard, unpleasant bargains
• Aspect: Strange genetics, alien implants

APPROACHES

• Careful: +2
• Clever: +3 
• Flashy: +2
• Forceful: +1
• Quick: 0
• Sneaky: +2

STUNTS:

• Cyber-Amulets [Two Spells] - Each time this Stunt is taken, a Pallid may select two spells from the Galactic Grimoire.  The Pallid uses these spells without any particular insight into the workings of magic. 
• Drive a Hard Bargain - A Pallid takes +2 to their Careful Approach to gain insight into the kinds of information or tech for which an individual might trade dearly.
• Interlocutor - A Pallid has the ability to communicate telepathically with members of the Insulae phenotype.

REFRESH: 3

Playtesting Strange Stars

"Greetings from the Mighty and Benevolent Vokun Empire!" With these words booming planetside from an orbiting space fleet, we began our first playtest set in Trey Causey's Strange Stars universe. I'm 95% done with the Fate Strange Stars rules that will follow the release of the Strange Stars setting book. Tonight's playtest focused on testing and refining some factions rules I have created using the idea behind the so-called "Fate Fractal." Based on the notion that almost anything in a game can be represented similarly to a character, we have created rules for running the prominent factions of Strange Stars, as well as guidelines so that GMs can create new factions..

One of my goals with the Fate Strange Stars rules is to have factions be something that players can tap into as a resource. That's fairly straightforward. The thing I wanted to test was rules that enable the use of factions as a tool for the table to participate in environment creation and evolution in a manner similar to Microscope. Through a series of exchanges in which factions cooperate and compete, recent history can be developed by the players as the backdrop to a new roleplaying campaign.

What we played out in the session was the rediscovery of a long lost star system in the Zuran Expanse, a region of space sandwiched between several large interstellar polities. Players took on the roles of the Alliance (the closest thing to the United Federation of Planets in this setting), the Vokun Empire (a ruthless and decadent polity led by a species of feuding Harkonnen-like alien clan elders), the Instrumentality of Aom (an interstellar theocracy that uses peaceful conversion where possible), the Zao Corsairs (space pirates so ruthless and successful that many other space pirates pretend to be them), and the Airrotten Unified Assembly (the one party state ruling the system's two inhabited worlds).

The new arrivals knew that the Airrotten system had ruins dating back to the ancient Radiant Polity era. Since Radiant Polity tech was more advanced than the mainstream technology of the current era, this was the primary point of interest for a couple of the other factions. Creating the conditions for access to these caches of ancient tech was one goal of the new arrivals. Another was adroitly pursued by the Vokun player, who quickly saw the value in obtaining Airrotten war captives from the Zao Corsairs to use as genetic stock for new servitor species. (The Vokun Empire is a racially stratified polity in which subaltern species play specific socio-economic roles; the Vokun are pretty nasty folks to have as either overlords or neighbors.)

People played their factions well, getting into "character" as their faction very quickly. Since my factions system uses six custom Approaches rather than the more granular skill set in Fate Core, it was important to see the Approaches in action and learn whether they made sense to players. People thought they did. However, the four Actions need some examples for the factions level of play, especially in a factions sub-system that includes the potential for PVP play. (Note that if you are signed up for the Strange Stars game at Con of the North in February, we'll be doing traditional roleplaying with characters - NOT PVP gaming.)

The players had a lot of great ideas for how the factions system could be clarified and improved. We'll be implementing a number of those, including building-in mechanical rewards for inter-factional deal making and mutual assistance. One astute observation was that the Fate economy slowed down due to the lack of Compels. This was probably because the GM was playing one of the factions, and not paying sufficient attention to the Fate Point economy. That being said, one player asserted there was no need for a GM with this kind of set-up. A lot to consider there.

One positive outcome was how many Aspects were in play simultaneously at the table. I'm usually forgetting about scene Aspects entirely and not necessarily doing the best job of tracking the Aspects that players discover or create during the game.

What was different this time? I used Avery Dry Erase Flash Cards for each of the two Airrotten planets, as well as to write down individual aspects and place them on the table (in "orbit" around one planet or the other) as we played. That made a real difference and added a lot of color and texture to the story. One downside of the flash cards is that they tend to smear ink across the card rather than completely erase the ink. They are still a great resource and I am going to continue using them!

(The "encounter" side of the Jadepunk playmat is another option, but our very generous host usually places a couple bowls of snacks in the table's center, and the players have mugs with beverages - so not the ideal set-up for using a mat.)

What's next? Refining the factions rules a tad! The time has also come for a careful rereading of the Fate rules for Actions; I get confused by the difference between Create an Advantage and Overcome Actions. So it's back to the book for a refresher!

I'm looking forward to running the full Fate Strange Stars RPG at Con of the North, so if what you see here as piqued your interest - and you're in town - stop by and play in this session. In fact, I may use what developed in the factions play last night as the scenario seed for the roleplaying.

We'll also have some opportunities to offer demos of the game next year at The Source. Stay tuned for details!

Glastegs

Glastegs glitter, Glastegs shine, Glastegs come from another place and time. Glastegs are rare as hen's teeth but they have been spotted on several different worlds with saurian megafauna, including Sector I-5 of Kepler-22B. Glastegs are modified stegasauri resulting from genetic engineering by the Translucent One Who Chimes, a mysterious visitor to the pocket universe known as the Land Between the Pylons.

Glastegs can modify their chromatic properties of their integument. They can become translucent to the point of near invisibility, thereby evading detection by predators. They can also become blindingly reflective, startling and confusing their attackers. There is at least one instance of glastegs working together to concentrate beams of light between them, and then channel this energy in a beam attack upon an opponent.

But that's not all. Glastegs can also affect local gravitational fields when they become enraged. When attacked, they may bombard adjacent zones with gravity waves of 2-3 standard gravities, overturning the earth, tearing flesh, and breaking bones. Working together, they can even disrupt planar boundaries, creating temporary interdimensional Nexus Points.

Glastegs can survive on a diet of plant matter, but only have access to their special abilities when they consume energy sources such as matrix gems, batteries, and power packs. In the Land Between the Pylons, they lurk near these enigmatic structures, hoping to startle a passerby and consume any matrix gems they may be carrying.

Glastegs have a nose for such energy sources, and will track and pursue persons who have these items. They are drawn to the ruins of technological societies for the same reason, as there are often long-abandoned power sources upon which they can feed.  No doubt that is why the Glastegs seem to thrive on Kepler-22B.

OGL MECHANICS

Glasteg
Modified Stegasaurus (neutral)

ASPECTS:

• High Concept: Mirrorskin Stegasaurus
• Trouble: An appetite for batteries and power packs
• Aspect: What's that chiming sound?
• Aspect: Look at me long enough and you'll go blind
• Aspect: Glastegs come in threes

APPROACHES

• Careful: 0
• Clever: +1
• Flashy: +3
• Forceful: +3
• Quick: 0
• Sneaky: 0

STUNTS:

• Blinded by the Glitter: Glastegs take +2 to their Flashy Approach to Create an Advantage against an opponent using their blinding mirror skin. This only works in daylight. The more suns the better.
• Ray Blast: When three or more Glastegs work together, they can add +2 to their Flashy Approach to blast someone or something with a laser beam. This can be used as an Attack or an Overcome an Obstacle action.
• Tailcrack: By slapping its spiked tail against the ground, Glastegs can propagate gravity waves into adjacent Zones. They take a +2 to their Forceful Approach to Create an Advantage such as Crushing Gravity. This effect propagates in a particular direction for two Zones on a result of +1, or three Zones on a result of +2 or better. On a Succeed with Style, the total effort of the roll can be directed as an Attack on each creature in the direction of the gravity wave.
• Turn Translucent: Glastegs take +2 to their Sneaky Approach when becoming translucent as way to Creating an Advantage against a pursuer or enemy.  

REFRESH: 2

Wireless Message

Wireless Message (Divination, Cost, Per Scene, Permanent, Requires one other Divination spell):  A Wireless Message never brings good news. This casting is used to keep tabs on a loved one, or a person the caster has been charged with protecting. It requires a photograph, a lock of hair, or some other arcane connection to its target. Once cast, the spell is permanent, but is only discharged if the target is threatened in some way by their immediate external environment (e.g., fire, drowning, abduction, an accident, or assault). If a triggering event occurs, the caster receives an immediate sensory impression of the local environment from the target's point of view. The caster will also be aware of the target's thoughts and feelings at the time of the triggering event.

This spell requires a WIS/Careful +2 roll:

• A normal success means that the spell has been cast successfully. 
• If the caster Succeeds with Style on their casting roll, they will experience Wireless Message as a premonition which occurs one day before the triggering event. 

A target may resist the casting by rolling their CHA/Flashy vs. the caster's WIS/Careful +2:

• If the target rolls higher than the caster, the spell fails. 
• If the caster rolls higher than their target, the spell is successfully cast upon the target. 

This spell was inspired by the Ambrose Bierce short story, "A Wireless Message".

Planarian Nine

http://www.ub.edu/web/ub/en/menu_eines/noticies/2011/02/07.html

Planarian Nine is a species of other-planar flatworms that range in from 1 cm in length x 3 mm in width on the small side, to the dimensions of humpback whales when full grown. The average specimen is 3-4 M long x 1 M wide x .3 M from dorsal to ventral surface. These planar vagabonds squiggle and squirm their way between dimensions. They extend their ventral feeding tube into nexus points to prey on unwitting travelers. They also scour a world's tidal pools and planar adjacencies - at least in those adjacencies with two or more dimensions - seeking fleshy morsels. For that reason, Planarian Nine are one of the main interdimensional wanderers feeding on the flesh that is displaced when the formula Skeletizer is cast.

A Planarian Nine secretes a sheet of mucus whose special properties lubricate the interstices between dimensions, facilitating smooth transitions across the planes. Their skin is much sought after for these properties. The eyes of the Planarian Nine are on their dorsal surface, so the creatures seldom view what they are consuming. Instead, the eyes help them to discern the energies coursing within and between dimensions, facilitating the identification of planar adjacencies that are nutrient rich. The creature's eyes are much sought after by those seeking a permanent version of the spell Eye of the Nexus, as its ocular tissues can be sectioned in exquisitely thin sheets for use as contact lenses.

OGL MECHANICS

Planarian Nine
Planar Flatworm (inimical)

ASPECTS:

• High Concept: Huge interdimensional flatworm
• Trouble: Can't see what it's eating
• Aspect: Moves on mucus and leaves a trail
• Aspect: Drawn to Nexus Points
• Aspect: Quiet as a mouse

APPROACHES

• Careful: +2
• Clever: +1
• Flashy: 0
• Forceful: +3
• Quick: 0
• Sneaky: +3

STUNTS:

• Dimensional Editing: A Planarian Nine takes a +2 to its Sneaky Approach to a Create an Advantage by collapsing three or more dimensions down to two in an adjacent Zone. This forces any three dimensional creature to move one Zone further away. On a Succeed with Style, this action inflicts one Moderate Consequence on any targets in the Zone being edited; such individuals are also displaced to an adjacent Zone.
• Planar Squeeze: Once per Scene, the Planarian Nine may shift itself to another plane of existence. They cannot return to their original location during the remainder of that Scene.
• Regeneration: At the end of any Scene, the Planarian Nine may remove one Moderate Consequence.
• Twinning: After taking a Severe Consequence, the Planarian Nine may split itself into two smaller organisms and begin to regenerate. The Severe Consequence is downgraded to a Moderate Consequence for each twin. If the parent also had a Moderate Consequence at the time of twinning, each twin gains two Moderate Consequences. Each twin also inherits any Stress that its parent had at the time of twinning. Both have the memories of their parent.

REFRESH: 3

The Lords of Paganistan

Vampire Dice for Dresden Files!

We've had three Dresden Files Accelerated playtest sessions with our Thursday Night Group so far, with our fourth scheduled for tomorrow night. It's been fun! In earlier posts with labelled Dresden File Accelerated, I've described the Twin Cities supernatural setting we've created collaboratively. Now I'm going to give you a quick snapshot of the PCs.

The players decided they wanted to live in a commune of sorts in the Powderhorn neighborhood of Minneapolis. It's an interesting part of the city: high crime with many low income families, a bourgie corner with upper income families, a lot of renters, an increasing rate of Latino homeownership, and a significant lesbian community. And hippies and alternative types. A bit of everything really, and the largest pagany cultural festival in the metro area.

They decided on a group identity for their commune: The Lords of Paganistan, a motorcycle gang of magical bounty hunters. They fit right in with this neighborhood. Now Dresden Files Accelerated uses Mantles as the template for different classes of supernatural beings, and Weight Classes as the scaling system for the disparate power levels that we see in the Dresdenverse. Our players decided to play the first Weight Class up from Mortals, which is called Unnatural. The PCs are as follows:

• Fred Silverbloom, High Concept: Badass Biker Turning Into A Bug. Fred's Mantle is Changeling: Troll Blood. He is good at fighting but needs to avoid being touched by cold iron. His Trouble is The World Is Not Your Ashtray. He gets really mad when people pollute.
• Lotus, High Concept: Consulting Psychic; Trouble Believes Everything. Lotus is a trip. She has the Mantle Minor Talent: Cassandra's Tears. Lotus has visions of the future that she can't control. Her other aspects include Let's talk it out, Commune with Nature, and Embrace the power of "and." She is the most hippie-like of a hippie bunch. 
• Juice, High Concept: OCD Aspiring Beat Poet. Juice has the Mantle Psychometrist, which means that he can read objects by touching them. First GM ruling in the first session? Whether dead bodies are objects. Trouble: Organic Vegan Only. Juice wears gloves because meat eaters have touched so many things. He doesn't like the contact residue of animal screams that rubs off on the objects that meat eaters touch.
• Draka (aka Donald), High Concept: Bounty Hunter, Trouble: Drinks Too Much. Draka's Mantle is an Einherjar, one of the honored dead who have been returned to the mortal world and who is gifted with battle skill. He always has on a duster jacket (that should be an aspect for him!) and wears a sword under it. 

Next time, I'll tell you about the PCs adventures against Minneapolis' Evil short sale gurus. Realtors make great monsters!

Enkidu FerJabbersSake

Enkidu FerJabbersSake is my first character for 5th edition D&D. Yesterday, I posted the backstory for this character at The Everwayan. I thought it might be fun today to translate him for Fate Freeport Companion.

Keep in mind that a beginning character for the Fate Freeport Companion is significantly more capable than a 1st level D&D character.

Enkidu was originally created for a new western continent in the Forgotten Realms setting. But he'd work well in Freeport or Razor's Coast - really in any setting with a colonial port city and a wilderness where indigenous groups clashing with settlers from across the seas.

Although I originally wrote Enkidu as a grudging worshiper of Bahgtru, the orcish god of idiot strength, this version of Enkidu taps into 13th Age's Icons cosmology.

Enkidu FerJabbersSake

ASPECTS:

• High Concept: Hulking Half Orc Ranger
• Trouble: A taste for human males
• Icon Relationship: Conflicted Relationship with the Orc Lord
• Aspect: My missing Half Orc brother
• Aspect: Surprisingly handsome

SKILLS:

• STR +3
• DEX +1
• CON +2
• INT 0
• WIS +1
• CHA +2

STUNTS:

• Favored Enemy: Because I have not forgiven my own goblinoid-kind for enslaving my little brother, I take +2 to my STR Skill when Attacking orcs or goblins.
• Half Orc Smash!: Because of my great size and physical prowess, I take +2 to my STR Skill to Overcome an Obstacle where might can help.
• Natural Explorer: Because I have lived all my life in the forest, I take +2 to my WIS or INT Skills to Create an Advantage in this environment.
• Rough Trade: Because I am ruggedly handsome, I take +2 to my CHA Skill to Create an Advantage with someone likely to be attracted to me.

REFRESH: 2

STRESS TRACKS: Physical - 3 boxes, Mental - 2 boxes

Historical Gaming

Yesterday, +Evil Hat Productions asked G+ folks to say who they'd like to play a game of Fate with, if they could travel anywhere throughout time for the game. My first thought - still my preference - would be to play with folks from my current group - as well as my friends Boris, Amon, and Mark. Play maybe 10, 15, 20, or 30+ years ago.

We have quite an age spread in our group - from late 20s through 50s - and some of us started gaming in the mid-'70s. So it would be kind of fun to game with our current group when we were all around 14 or 15, maybe in the mid-70s with EPT, D&D White Box, or Black Box Traveller. This would of course require a certain amount of shuttling of people between different locations in spacetime.

If I couldn't run that game, - well, then, maybe a gaming group made up of different members of the Central Committee of the Communist Party.  A few of the key players and their styles with Fate:

• Lenin needs to be there for sure.  He has a keen eye for opportunities and openings. He'd be the most consistent user of the Create an Advantage action. Some of the Aspects he came up with were really funny and creative, like this one: "Communism is Soviet power plus the electrification of the whole country."
• Alexandra Kollontai for sure. Not just because she's the only woman available, I mean just read her bio. Left her husband and child to study Marxism. A Leader of the Left Opposition. That's two big Aspects right there. 
• Trotsky. Incredible revolutionary orator and supreme military tactician of the Red Army, he always leads with the Attack action using his Flashy Approach. He's a power gamer but even worse, he's a rules lawyer and always picking fights with the GM and other players. Even when they know he's right a lot of the other players won't help him because they think he's a contentious asshole. 
• Bukharin. A conservative player, Bukharin always thinks he's playing the long game. Truth to tell, he probably does have an extra Stress Box and one additional Moderate Consequence. A cautious player, he rarely takes advantage of any Aspects on the table. A philosopher, he does some of his most intriguing work once he's been Taken Out.
• Stalin. Of course, everybody knows he's Trouble with a capital "T" don't they? He's another power gamer, but unlike Trotsky who likes modern art and jazz, Stalin is conservative about everything. Stalin is the OSR dude at the table: for him, everything's about rulings, not rules. Nobody takes him too seriously at first. Lenin has to do a rewrite on Stalin's paper on the National Question, the first draft is so crude and stupid. But Stalin has a way of winning in the end. His M.O. is the social Attack using his Sneaky Approach. Most of the time when he Takes Out someone, it's an NPC doing it for him. A lot of his victims just think Stalin doesn't know, or that It's some kind of mistake. More players exit the game because of his play behavior than because of anything else.

Mayor Betsy And The Prince

Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges

Mayor Betsy is clueless. At least about the occult underground in the Twin Cities. That's what the players decided.

The greatest supernatural force in Minneapolis is Prince. That's right, The Prince of the Purple Rain. Not some dumb vampire prince.

Wrong game.

Prince used to lead the Summer Court. But the people of Minneapolis are feeling his absence. Prince has withdrawn his favor from our fair city. We wish he'd come back.

The Revolution is trying to bring him out of seclusion.  Of course, they are all powerful Summer Court functionaries too. They're trying to hold things together, maybe renew things.

Then there is the White Court, fueling a massive wave of gentrification across the metro. Affordable apartments go down; luxury condos go up. What is the White Court up to with all their buying and selling?

Finally there is the President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, Narayana Kocherlakota. Everyone's sure he's up to something. But no one's exactly sure what.

Narayana Kocherlakota

Midnight At The Witch's Hat

"The Witch Hat Tower And A Full Moon" by Mark Goodman Photo

If this stunning image doesn't convince you that Minneapolis, Minnesota has places of power, I don't know what will. The Witch's Hat in Prospect Park has been part of the Twin Cities' occult landscape since 1913. It was built as a water tower (with a bandstand deck at the top) and it occupies the highest natural spot in the landscape of Minneapolis.

This was just one of the numerous supernatural locations that the we identified in our first playtest session of Dresden Files Accelerated. Others included the Elf House near Lake Harriet...

Minneapolis Star Tribune

Where it looks pretty easy to leave a message... for someone.

Elf House

More to come on the "movers and shakers" in our Minneapolis' Dresden setting, as well as on the cool PCs that our players created using Dresden Files Accelerated's "Mantles".

Dresden Dreams

Winter Knight Dice

The dice fall where they may, and sometimes they fall in your dreams. That was my experience last night. I spent roughly four hours reading the Dresden Files Accelerated Alpha Playtest rules, because our Thursday Night Group will be running it's first playtest session tonight.

We're doing some city generation, character generation, and campaign issues.

Once I had finished reading the rules it was 12 midnight, so I turned in.

Almost exactly an hour later, I woke up from a nightmare.

We had been playing the game.

We were rolling the dice. A spell was being cast.

The roll was a Bad One.

I was more than a little rattled.

It's just a game right?

Except that in the dream it was both real and a game.

Doomsdays & Dresdens

http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/The_Doomsday_Machine_(episode)

Quick post for today. Yesterday's write up of the USS Constellation for Paul Stefko's Interstellar Patrol prompted someone to suggest that I should do a write-up for the Doomsday Machine itself. I am thinking about how one might do that.

In the meantime, I am preparing to run the first playtest of Dresden Files Accelerated with our Thursday Night Group. I'm thinking our playtest adventures will take place in the Twin Cities, MN, one of the cities that gave birth to Urban Fantasy in novels such as Emma Bull's War for the Oaks.

Should be fun!

U.S.S. Constellation

Commodore Matt Decker

The Constitution class of starship was a solidly build workhorse vessel suitable for deep space, long-term exploration. It was also used for perimeter patrols and defense of core systems of the Federation. This class of starships was also built to hold its own in a battle. The Klingons and Romulans soon learned that they needed to field three D7s against one ship of this class to ensure a superior prevailing force.

Commodore Decker - like Captain James T. Kirk and their peers commanding other Constitution class vessels - was a hard-headed commander and a bit of a megalomaniac. But you had to be to go out to the edge of the Federation and beyond with one starship on a five year mission. This ship could take you there, but you had to bring it back in one piece.

With a crew.

Which not everyone did.


Federation Starship USS Constellation

• Propulsion: Two warp nacelles and impulse engines
• Tactical: Phasers, photon torpedos, and shields
• Sensors: Suitable for deep space exploration
• Amenities: Everything needed for a five year mission
• Special: Saucer separation
• Someone at the helm may invoke this Aspect to detach the saucer section from the engineering section of the ship. Crew will be needed to staff a bridge on each section.
• Special: Tractor beams
• Someone at helm, engineering, or science may invoke this Aspect when using their Forceful Approach to grab hold of an object in space. 
• Special: Self-destruct
• In extreme circumstances, the Captain may invoke this Aspect and use their Forceful Approach to destroy the ship (often damaging or destroying a nearby enemy in the process).

Klingon Bird-Of-Prey

Klingon Bird of Prey

Here's another example of a starship built using Paul Stefko's Interstellar Patrol campaign frame for Fate Accelerated Edition.  The Klingon Birds-of-Prey are a beautiful line of ships.


Klingon Bird-of-Prey

• Propulsion: Warp capable starship
• Tactical: Klingon patrol [raider, scout, pirate] ship
• Communications: An ideal vessel for espionage
• Amenities: Hot, humid, and cramped
• Special: "A cloaked ship is no small favor"
• Someone at the helm may invoke this Aspect to make the Bird-of-Prey invisible to sensors for all or part of a Scene
• A captain may invoke this Aspect to drive a hard bargain with someone who needs to get somewhere without being detected

The Fate Library: Interstellar Patrol

A little over a week ago, Paul Stefko published an eight page campaign frame for Fate Accelerated Edition called Interstellar Patrol. The first review to appear on DriveThru is rather harsh. The product is Pay What You Want, so if you like space opera, I'd encourage you to give it a look.

Interstellar Patrol bills itself as offering players the opportunity to play a campaign of relatively optimistic SF, such as the original Star Trek. This isn't a fully realized retro SF RPG setting though, such as Cosmic Patrol and Rocket Age.  Instead, Interstellar Patrol offers the barebones tools for creating a space opera game. If you needed to run a pick-up game in an hour, you could download this (provided you have downloaded and read Fate Accelerated Edition already), read this eight page guide, and offer your players a game.

The PDF offers quick suggestions for making PCs, primarily focusing on selection of two strong Approaches for each character type. The examples are perfect for the bridge crew/core cast for a show like Star Trek. I don't agree with all the recommendations but the examples are fine.

This is followed by some great examples of Stunts that are perfect for a space opera game. Here's an example:

Because I know every inch of the engine room like the back of my hand, once per session I can "give all she's got" and automatically succeed with style on one action using the ship's systems.

Next come quick 4DF tables for creating worlds and adventures. Again, these are perfect for a pick-up game.

Finally we get quick rules for creating spacecraft. Ships have four systems that are represented as Aspects with three possible damage conditions. Those systems are: Propulsion, Tactical (which includes both Attack and Defense), Sensors (which includes communications), and Amenities (which includes life support).

It would be easy enough to embellish these Aspects to make them specific to the vessel. For example, the shuttlecraft Galileo might have Impulse Engines (Propulsion), Harmless (Tactical), Planetary Range Sensors, and Barely Any Amenities. Note that the last Aspect will work equally well for any D7 Battlecruiser your players run into during a game.

Players take action with the ship using their own Approaches but only one player may operate a particular ship system at any given time. So you can't have three PCs each running Tactical and taking shots at the enemy.

Each system has three damage states (Disrupted, Damaged, and Disabled) which must be taken in order, and which absorb 1,2, and 4 shifts of shit-to-ship combat stress, respectively. Alternatively, a PC can take a number of shifts directly as a personal Consequence on their own character sheet, rather than the ship's. This simulates all the being tossed around we see during space combat in shows like Star Trek.

Again, this looks pretty sufficient for a pick-up game, but maybe less so if you enjoy the tactical complexity of Diaspora or the broader range of design selections possible in a game like Starblazer Adventures.

There's no aliens offered in the game, although it's straightforward to make an alien character. Just take an appropriate Aspect.

I should mention that the FATE Bestiary at here FATE SF is mostly written for Fate Accelerated Edition - so most entries there are 100% compatible with Interstellar Patrol.

Zombie Breath

Putrescent Garland of the Copper Tomb (Illusion/Necromancy*, Cost, Persistent, Requires "Disguise", Corrupting): An essential casting learned by all who must tarry among the living dead, Putrescent Garland is a perfect disguise which convinces any living dead that the target of this spell has an aspect such as Zombie, Living Dead, or Overkilled. Boarding crews of pirate ships that use Annihilators are usually accompanied on boarding actions by someone who knows this casting.

Putrescent Garland does not bestow upon the target the regal mien of one of the undead elite, such as a vampire or lich. Quite the contrary. It creates the illusion that the target is one of the most abject, shambling, and rotting forms of undead,

Roll CHA +2 to cast this on oneself or others. An unwilling target resists with a WIS roll. If the caster should Succeed with Style on their casting roll, the target's appearance also convinces the living that the target is undead.

This casting is Corrupting and inflicts a Minor Infraction.  It is also unpleasant for the target. The target has the experiences dysgeusia as if their own flesh were indeed rotting. Other sensory systems may be similarly disturbed.

*The Necromantic version of spell works differently. It has no Cost, and does not require knowledge of the Illusion spell "Disguise".  However, use of this spell often brings bad fortune on the caster. A draw from the Deck of Fate is required. If a negative aspect appears on the card drawn, the caster gains an appropriate Moderate Consequence related to that aspect.