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LEONARD

BALSERA

BRIAN

ENGARD

JEREMY

KELLER

RYAN

MACKLIN

MIKE

OLSON

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CHARACTERS LIVE AT THE

CORE OF FATEA High Priestess of the barbarian hordes,

an undead Wild West gunslinger, and a

Second Lieutenant of the Intergalactic

Security Forces are about as dierent

as they come, but theyve got one thing

in common: they need a strong engine

to drive their stories.

Fate Core is that engine.

Fate Core is the latest evolution of theaward-winning Fate roleplaying game

system from Evil Hat Productions.

Weve streamlined and clarified the

rules while maintaining the systems

trademark flexibility. Name your game;

Fate Core can make it happen.

Inside, youll discover:

Easy-to-follow rules for character

and world creation.

Rock-solid storytelling advice for

players and GMs to produce the best

play experience.

Clearly-defined systems to guide

players both new and old.

New and improved approaches to

character actions, aspects, compels

and more!

TELL YOUR TALE. ROLL THE DICE.

EMBRACE YOUR FATE!

EHP0001 ISBN 978-1-61317-029-8 $25.00 US

www.evilhat.com @EvilHatO cial

facebook.com/EvilHatProductions

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C O R E S Y S T E MLeonard BaLsera

Lead SyStem deveLopment

Brian engardaSSiStant deveLopment

Mike oLsonaSSiStant deveLopment

ryan MackLinaSSiStant deveLopment editing

JereMy keLLerediting Layout inteRioR gRaphic deSign

Fred HicksaRt diRection coveR deSign pRint pRoduction

kurt koModacoveR aRt inteRioR aRt

sean nittnerpRoject management

cHris HanraHanBRand maRketing

Fate WaS oRiginaLLy cReated By

roB donogHue and Fred Hicks

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An Evil Hat Productions Publicationwww.evilhat.com eedback@evilhat.com

@EvilHatOcial on witteracebook.com/EvilHatProductions

Fate Core SystemCopyright 2013 Evil Hat Productions, LLC.

All rights reserved.

Te text o Fate Core System will be available under the Open Gaming Licenseand a Creative Commons Attribution license. For more details about the terms andrequirements o these licenses, please visit www.evilhat.com or www.aterpg.com.

First published in 2013 by Evil Hat Productions, LLC.10125 Colesville Rd #318, Silver Spring, MD 20901.

Evil Hat Productions and the Evil Hat and Fate logos aretrademarks owned by Evil Hat Productions, LLC. All rights reserved.

Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-61317-029-8Kindle ISBN: 978-1-61317-058-8ePub ISBN: 978-1-61317-057-1

Printed in the USA.

No part o this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, ortransmitted in any orm or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,recording, or otherwise, without the prior express permission o the publisher.

Tat said, i youre doing it or personal use, knock yoursel out.Tats not only allowed, we encourage you to do it.

For those working at a copy shop and not at all sure i this meansthe person standing at your counter can make copies o this thing, they can.

Tis is express permission. Carry on.

Tis is a game where people make up stories about wonderul, terrible, impossible,glorious things. All the characters and events portrayed in this work are ctional.

Any resemblance to real people, antasy adventurers, wizards o the arcane,supernatural cops in a China-colonized Hong Kong/America that never was,

cybernetic super-intelligent apes, or squirrel mechanics is purely coincidental,but kinda hilarious.

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FeedBack Heroes

3Jane, John A, Scott Acker, Jordan Adams, Ryan Aech, Dan Alexander, DannyAlexander, Jens Alke, Carl Anderson, Alexandre Antonov, Devon Apple, Mark Arndt,

Arrghus, Michael Atlin, Wille Backman, Kevin Bates, J B Bell, Richard Bellingham,Garrison Benson, Michael R. Bernstein, Billchuck, Don Bisdor, Peter Blake, RonBlessing, Adam Blinkinsop, bodhranist, McKay Bonham, Jrmie Blacky Bouillon,Brett Bowen, Michael Bowman, Guy Bowring, Ezra Bradord, Mick Bradley, FabriceBreau, Jean-Baptiste Breton, Bill Burdick, Francisco Bustos, Jason Campbell, SeanCarroll, Nick Carter, Richard Chilton, Krzyszto Chyla, Coboney, Bill Collins,Cameron Corniuk, Danni Coy, Creature, cthos, Josh Culbertson, Patrick Curtin,Carsten Damm, Darryl, James Dawsey, Tomas Deeny, Martin Dickson, RobDonoghue, Droqen, Lukasz Dziubczyk, Erdil, Manuel Echevarria, Jason Eley, JohanElmquist, James English, Epimetreus, Tomas Erskine, Ian Evans, Dustin Evermore,

John Faludi, Keith Fannin, Jarrod Farquhar-Nicol, Christian Fasy, Olman Feelyus,Antaeus Feldspar, Fenikso, Chris Flipse, Ben Flood, Brook Freeman, Emlyn Freeman,Josh French, Gauth, GhostBob, D Gilbert, Ed Gonzalez, Mikhail L. Gordin, OliverGra, im Graham, im Gray, Michael Guerra, Jack Gulick, Gwathdring, RolandGyarmati, Dan Hall, Rob Hanz, Craig Hargraves, Sen Harnett, George Harnish,John Harper, Jon Harrison, Julien Harroch, Christopher Hazell, M. Herzog, MagnusLie Hetland, Bruce Hill, Rob Hipskind, Jonathon Hodges, Brian Homann,roy Holaday, Stephen C. Holland, Je Hoskinson, Robert M. S. Huether, LinkHughes, Casey Hunten, Blake Hutchins, Hypersmur, Justin D. Jacobson, Kent J.Johansen, johnoghue, Stephen SDJTorin Johnson, Andrew Kampen, Jack Kelly,

Dave Klempa, Jeremy Kostiew, Darth Krzyszto, Steve Kunec, Mark Kung, SteveKyer, Jonathan Lang, Alec Lanter, Shai Laric, Gee Lawrence, LDK, David Leaman,Josh Leavitt, PK Levine, Adam Longley, Eliot Lyon, EK Lytle, Edward MacGregor,Joshua Madore, Ergodic Mage, Ville Makkonen, James Malaspino, Erin McBride,Jon . McCarty II, Robin McCollum, Robert McCowen, Shawn McDaniel,Colin McMillen, Dylan Mikus, Earl Miles, Agustin Miranda, om Miskey, JimMontgomery, Jacob Mooney, Sean Mulhern, Mysterious and Pedantic Stranger,Peter Netzer, Sarah Newton, Brian K. Nielsen, Koji Nishiuchi, Iain M Norman,Selene ORourke, Daniel Paarmann, Lisa Padol, Addramyr Palinor, Andrea LordLance Parducci, Johnny Peng, Ryan Perrin, Jonathan Pierson, Nick Pilon, AlexanderPuterbaugh, Scott Pyle, Rob Rendell, James Ritter, Brian Rock, Mike Roddewig,RolHypnos, Roman, Garrett Rooney, Rosque, RPG Geek, Christopher Ruthenbeck,Carrie S., Norman Sager, Ryan Sands, Philippe Saner, Christoph Sapinsky, JohnSavage, Ernie Sawyer, Evan Sayre, SC, orge Schmidt, Jason Schneiderman, AdamSchwaninger, im Seiger, Alredo Sendn, Mike Sergio, Andrew Shore, shosuko,Josh Simmons, Scott Slater, Robert Slaughter, Jon Smejkal, Ruben Smith-Zempel,ess Snider, Paul Snow, Soren, SQLCowboy, Jan Stals, starwed, Sterling, David L.Stewart, Jaap Stoel, Lane Stroud, Joe Stroup, SwitOne, Ricardo avares, DavidTackaberry, John obin, om X. obin, Alan sang, Joshua urton, Carrie Ulrich,

Shea Laayette Valentine, Leroy Van Camp III, Kevin Veale, Paul Vermeren, NathanW., Ral Wagner, Josh Ward, John Weber, Greg Weir, Marko Wenzel, Beat Wieland,Mitch A. Williams, Jan Willms, Gordon Wincott, Xavon Wrentaile, wusemajor,Savage Yinn, Kris Zaragoza, Jacob Z-Dawg Zimmerman, zombiecalypse

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contents

Te Basics ........................................................................................... 1

Welcome to Fate! ....................................................................................2

What You Need to Play ........................................................................3

Players and Gamemasters .................................................................. 4The Character Sheet ..............................................................................6

Taking Action ............................................................................................8

Fate Points ............................................................................................... 12

Start Playing! .......................................................................................... 15

Gae Creation .................................................................................17

What Makes a Good Fate Game? ................................................... 18

Setting Up Your Game .......................................................................20

Making the Setting Work in Fate ...................................................20

A Games Scale ...................................................................................... 21

The Settings Big Issues ..................................................................... 22

Faces and Places .................................................................................. 26

Make Characters ................................................................................... 27

Caracter Creation .........................................................................29

Character Creation Is Play ................................................................30

Your Character Idea ............................................................................. 31

The Phase Trio ....................................................................................... 38

Skills ..........................................................................................................46

Stunts and Reresh ..............................................................................48

Stress and Consequences .................................................................50Youre All Set! ........................................................................................ 52

Quick Character Creation ................................................................. 52

Aspects and Fate Points ................................................................55

Dening Aspects ..................................................................................56

Dening Fate Points ...........................................................................56

Types o Aspects.................................................................................. 57

What Aspects Do ................................................................................. 59

Making a Good Aspect ....................................................................... 61

I You Get Stuck ....................................................................................64

Invoking Aspects ..................................................................................68

Compelling Aspects ............................................................................. 71

Using Aspects or Roleplaying ....................................................... 76

Removing or Changing an Aspect ................................................ 78

Creating and Discovering New Aspects in Play ....................... 78

The Fate Point Economy ...................................................................80

Skills and Stunts .............................................................................85

Dening Skills ........................................................................................86

Dening Stunts ..................................................................................... 87

Building Stunts ......................................................................................88The Deault Skill List ...........................................................................96

Actions and Outcoes ................................................................ 129

Its Time or Action! ........................................................................... 130

The Four Outcomes ...........................................................................132

The Four Actions ................................................................................ 134

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Callenges, Contests, and Conficts .......................................... 145

Zooming In on the Action............................................................... 146

Challenges .............................................................................................147

Contests ............................................................................................... 150Conficts ................................................................................................. 154

Teamwork ............................................................................................... 174

Running te Gae .........................................................................177

What You Do ........................................................................................178

What to Do During Game Creation .............................................182

What to Do During Play ...................................................................185

Creating the Opposition...................................................................213

Playing the Opposition ....................................................................222

Scenes, Sessions, and Scenarios ................................................225So, Now What? ...................................................................................226

Dening Scenarios .............................................................................226

Find Problems .....................................................................................227

Ask Story Questions .........................................................................232

Establish the Opposition .................................................................236

Set Up the First Scene .....................................................................238

Dening Scenes ................................................................................. 240

The Scenario in Play ......................................................................... 246

Resolving the Scenario ....................................................................248

Te Long Gae ..............................................................................251Dening Arcs .......................................................................................252

Dening Campaigns..........................................................................252

Building an Arc ...................................................................................253

Building a Campaign ....................................................................... 254

Advancement and Change .............................................................255

Dening Milestones ...........................................................................256

World Advancement .........................................................................263

Etras..............................................................................................269

Dening Extras .................................................................................. 270The Bronze Rule, aka The Fate Fractal ..................................... 270

Creating an Extra ................................................................................271

Extras and Advancement................................................................276

More Examples o Extras ................................................................277

Ceat Seet ...................................................................................292

Veterans Guide .............................................................................294

Caracter Creation Workseet ...................................................296

Gae Creation Workseet ..........................................................297

Landons Caracter Seet ...........................................................298

Cyneres Caracter Seet ............................................................299

Zird te Arcanes Caracter Seet ............................................ 300

Caracter Seet ............................................................................ 301

Inde ...............................................................................................302

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1The Basics

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Fate Core

neWt

oFate

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WeLcoMe to Fate!

I youve never played a roleplaying game beore, heres the basic idea: youand a bunch o riends get together to tell an interactive story about a group

o characters you make up. You get to say what challenges and obstaclesthose characters ace, how theyrespond, what they say and do,and what happens to them.

Its not all just conversation,thoughsometimes youll usedice and the rules in this book tobring uncertainty into the storyand make things more exciting.

Fate doesnt come with a deaultsetting, but it works best with anypremise where the characters areproactive, capable people lead-ing dramatic lives. We give moreadvice on how to bring that avor toyour games in the next chapter.

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Chapter 1

WHat you need to PLay

Getting into a game o Fate is very simple. You need:

Between three and ve people. One o you is going to be the gamemas-ter (or GM or short), and everyone else is going to be aplayer. Wellexplain what that means in a moment.

Acharacter sheet, one per player, and some extra paper or note-tak-ing. Well talk about whats on the character sheet below. (GMs, anyimportant characters you play might have a character sheet also.)

Fate dice, at least our, preerably our per person. Fate dice are aspecial kind o six-sided dice that

are marked on two sides with a plussymbol (+), two with a minussymbol (-), and two sides areblank (0). You can get these dicerom many hobby and game stores,oten under their original name,Fudge dice. (For Fates purposeswell continue to call them Fate dice, but call them whatever you like!)Evil Hat will oer Fate dice or sale atwww.evilhat.com later in 2013.

Te Deck o Fate is an alternative to Fate dice that will be availablerom Evil Hat. Its a deck o cards that mimics the probability o Fatedice, and is designed to be used in the same way Fate dice are.

okens to represent ate points. Poker chips, glass beads, or anythingsimilar will work. Youll want to have at least thirty or more o these onhand, just to make sure you have enough or any given game. You canuse pencil marks on your character sheet in lieu o tokens, but physicaltokens add a little more un.

Index cards. Tese are optional, but we nd theyre very handy orrecordingaspects during play.

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Fate Core

PLayers and gaMeMasters

In any game o Fate, youre either aplayer or agamemaster.I youre a player, your primary job is to take responsibility or portray-

ing one o the protagonists o the game, which we call a player character(or PC or short). You make decisions or your character and describeto everyone else what your character says and does. Youll also take care othe mechanical side o your characterrolling dice when its appropriate,choosing what abilities to use in a certain situation, and keeping track o

ate points.I youre a gamemaster, your primary job is to take responsibility or the

world the PCs inhabit. You make decisions and roll dice or every characterin the game world who isnt portrayed by a playerwe call those non-player characters (or NPCs). You describe the environments and placesthe PCs go to during the game, and you create the scenarios and situationsthey interact with. You also act as a nal arbiter o the rules, determining theoutcome o the PCs decisions and how that impacts the story as it unolds.

Both players and gamemasters also have a secondary job: make everyone

around you look awesome. Fate is best as a collaborative endeavor, witheveryone sharing ideas and looking or opportunities to make the events asentertaining as possible.

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Chapter 1

ThE ExAmPLE GAmE

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Fate Core

CONSEQUENCES

Mild2

Moderate4

Severe6

High Concept

Trouble

ASPECTS SKILLS

Superb (+5)

Great (+4)

Good (+3)

Fair (+2)

Average (+1)

EXTRAS

PHYSICAL STRESS (Physique)

1 2 3 4

MENTAL STRESS (Will)

1 2 3 4

ID

Name

Description

tHe cHaracter sHeet

Players, your character sheet contains everything you need to know aboutyour PCabilities, personality, signicant background elements, and any

other resources that character has to use in the game. Heres an example o aFate character sheet, so we can show you all the components.

ass (. 56)Aspects are phrases that describe some sig-nicant detail about a character. Tey arethe reasons why your character matters, whywere interested in seeing your character inthe game. Aspects can cover a wide range o

elements, such as personality or descriptivetraits, belies, relationships, issues and prob-lems, or anything else that helps us invest inthe character as a person, rather than just acollection o stats.

Aspects come into play in conjunctionwith ate points. When an aspect benetsyou, you can spend ate points to invokethat aspect or a bonus (p. 12). When

your aspects complicate your characterslie, you gain ate points backthis is calledaccepting acompel (p. 14).

Lilys character, Cynere, has the

aspect Tempted by Shiny Things

on her sheet, which describes her

general tendency to overvalue

material goods and make bad

decisions when gems and coin areinvolved. This adds an interesting,

un element to the character that

gets her into a great deal o trou-

ble, bringing a lot o personality to

the game.

Aspects can describe things that are ben-ecial or detrimentalin act, the best

aspects are both.And aspects dont just belong to charac-

ters; the environment your characters are incan have aspects attached to it as well.

Srss (. 160)Stress is one o the two options you

have to avoid losing a conictit repre-sents temporary atigue, getting winded,supercial injuries, and so on. You havea number o stress levels you can burn oto help keep you in a ght, and they resetat the end o a conict, once youve hada moment to rest and catch your breath.

exrs (. 269)Extras are the powers, gear, vehicles,organizations, and locations your groupmay want to have some rules or (iaspects, skills, and stunts dont quitecover them on their own).

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Chapter 1

Mild2

STUNTS

C O R E S Y S T E M

Refresh

Slls (. 86)Skills are what you use during the game todo complicated or interesting actions withthe dice. Each character has a number oskills that represent his or her basic capa-bilities, including things like perceptiveness,

physical prowess, proessional training, edu-cation, and other measures o ability.

At the beginning o the game, the playercharacters have skills rated in steps romAverage (+1) to Great (+4). Higher is better,meaning that the character is more capableor succeeds more oten when using that skill.

I or some reason you need to make a rollusing a skill your character doesnt have, you

can always roll it at Mediocre (+0). Tere area couple exceptions to this, like magic skillsthat most people dont have at all. Well talkabout skills in greater detail in their ownchapter.

Zird the Arcane has the Lore skill

at Great (+4), which makes him

ideally suited to knowing a con-

venient, obscure act and doing

research. He does not have the

Stealth skill, however, so when the

game calls upon him to sneak up

on someone (and Amanda will

make sure it will), hell have to roll

that at Mediocre (+0). Bad news

or him.Ss (. 87)

Stunts are special tricks that your char-

acter knows that allow you to get anextra benet out o a skill or alter someother game rule to work in your avor.Stunts are like special moves in a videogame, letting you do something uniqueor distinctive compared to other charac-ters. wo characters can have the samerating in a skill, but their stunts mightgive them vastly dierent benets.

Landon has a stunt called

Another Round? It gives

him a bonus to get inorma-

tion rom someone with his

Rapport skill, provided that

he is drinking with his target

in a tavern.

Rrs (. 80)Reresh is the number o ate pointsyou get at the start o every game ses-sion to spend or your character. Yourtotal resets to this number unless youhad more ate points at the end o the

last session.

csqs (. 162)Consequences are the other option youhave to stay in a conict, but they have amore lasting impact. Every time you take aconsequence, it puts a new aspect on yoursheet describing your injuries. Unlike stress,you have to take time to recover rom aconsequence, and its stuck on your char-

acter sheet in the meantime, which leavesyour character vulnerable to complicationsor others wishing to take advantage o yournew weakness.

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Fate Core

taking action

Players, some o the thingsyoull do in a Fate gamerequire you to roll dice to seei your character succeeds ornot.You will always roll thedice when youre opposinganother character with youreorts, or when theres a sig-nicant obstacle in the way

o your eort. Otherwise,just say what your characterdoes and assume it happens.

Rll dWhen you need to roll dicein Fate, pick up our Fate diceand roll them. When you readthe dice, read every+ as +1,

every0 as 0, and every- as1. Add them all together. Youll get a result rom 4 to +4, most otenbetween 2 and +2.

Here are some sample dice totals:

--++ = +0

0-++ = +1 0+++ = +3

--00 = 2Te result on the dice isnt your nal total, however. I your character has

a skill thats appropriate to the action, you get to add your characters ratingin that skill to whatever you rolled.

So, once youve rolled the dice, how do you determine what a particularresult means? Glad you asked.

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Chapter 1

t LrIn Fate, we use aladder o adjectives and numbers to rate the dice results, acharacters skills and the result o a roll.

Heres the ladder:

+8 Lr

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It doesnt really matter which side o the ladder you usesome peopleremember the words better, some people remember the numbers better, andsome people like using both. So you could say, I got a Great, or I got a+4, and it means the same thing. As long as everyone understands whatyoure communicating, youre ne.

Results can go below and above the ladder. We encourage you to come upwith your own names or results above Legendary, such as Zounds! andRidiculously Awesome. We do.

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Fate Core

irr RslsWhen you roll the dice, youre trying to get a high enough roll to matchor beat your opposition. Tat opposition is going to come in one o twoorms: active opposition, rom someone rolling dice against you, or pas-sive opposition, rom an obstacle that just has a set rating on the ladder oryou to overcome. (GMs, you can also just decide your NPCs give passive

opposition when you dont want to roll dice or them.)Generally speaking, i you beat your opposition on the ladder, you suc-

ceed at your action. A tie creates some eect, but not to the extent yourcharacter was intending. I you win by a lot, something extra happens (likedoing more harm to your opponent in a ght).

I you dont beat the opposition, either you dont succeed at your action,you succeed at a cost, or something else happens to complicate the out-come. Some game actions have special results when you ail at the roll.

When you beat a roll or a set obstacle, the dierence between your oppo-

sition and your result is what we call shits. When you roll equal to theopposition, you have zero shits. Roll one over your opposition, and youhave one shit. wo over means two shits, and so on. Later in the book,well talk about dierent instances where getting shits on a roll benetsyou.

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Chapter 1

Landon is trying to escape an ancient mechanical death trap he

accidentally set o during a routine exploration o the Anthari

Catacombs. Dozens o tiny (and some not-so-tiny) spears are

shooting out o the walls in a certain hallway, and he needs to get

past them to the other side.

Amanda, the GM, says, This is passive opposition, because its

just a trap in your way. Its opposing you at Great (+4). The Anthari

really didnt want anyone getting to their temple treasure.

Lenny sighs and says, Well, Ive got Athletics at Good (+3),

so Ill try dodging and weaving through them to cross the hall.

He takes up the dice and rolls, getting -+++, or a result o

+2. This steps up his result on the ladder by two, rom Good (+3)

to Superb (+5). Thats enough to beat the opposition by one shit

and succeed.

Amanda says, Well, it takes equal parts acrobatics and rantic

stumbling, but you manage to make it through to the other side

with only some cosmetic tears in your tunic to show or it. The

mechanism shows no sign o stopping, thoughyoull still have

to deal with it on your way out.

Lenny replies, Just another day at the oce, and Landon

continues his trek through the catacombs.

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Fate Core

Fate Points

You use tokens to represent how many ate points you have at any giventime during play. Fate points are one o your most important resources in

Fatetheyre a measure o how much inuence you have to make the storygo in your characters avor.

You can spend ate points to invoke an aspect, to declare a story detail, orto activate certain powerul stunts.

You earn ate points by accepting acompel on one o your aspects.A word o warning: dont use edible things as tokens, especially i the ood

hasnt arrived yet.

i asWhenever youre making a skill roll, and youre in a situation where anaspect might be able to help you, you can spend a ate point to invoke it inorder to change the dice result. Tis allows you to either reroll the dice oradd +2 to your roll, whichever is more helpul. (ypically, +2 is a goodchoice i you rolled 2 or higher, but sometimes you want to risk a rerollto get that +4.) You do this ater youve rolled the dicei you arent happywith your total.

You also have to explain or justiy how the aspect is helpul in orderto get the bonussometimes itll be sel-evident, and sometimes it might

require some creative narrating.You can spend more than one ate point on a single roll, gaining another

reroll or an additional +2, as long as each point you spend invokes a dier-ent aspect.

Cynere is trying to covertly goad a merchant into describing the

security eatures o his personal vault by posing as a visiting dig-

nitary. The merchant is giving her passive opposition at Good

(+3), and her Deceive skill is Fair (+2).

Lily rolls. She breaks even, getting a 0. That leaves her result at

Fair, not enough to get the inormation she wants.

She looks at her character sheet, then to Amanda, and says,

You know, long years o being Tempted by Shiny Things has

taught me a thing or two about whats in a treasure hoard and

whats not. Im going to impress this merchant by talking about

the rarest, most prized elements o his collection.

Amanda grins and nods. Lily hands over a ate point to invoke

the aspect, and gets to add +2 to her standing roll. This brings

her result to a Great (+4), which exceeds the opposition. The

duly impressed merchant starts to brag about his vault, and

Cynere listens intently....

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dlr Sr dlSometimes, you want to add a detail that works to your characters advan-tage in a scene. For example, you might use this to narrate a convenientcoincidence, like retroactively having the right supplies or a certain job

(O course I brought that along!), showing up at a dramatically appropri-ate moment, or suggesting that you and the NPC you just met have mutualclients in common.

o do this, youll spend a ate point. You should try to justiy your storydetails by relating them to your aspects. GMs, you have the right to vetoany suggestions that seem out o scope or ask the player to revise them,especially i the rest o the group isnt buying into it.

Zird the Arcane gets captured with his riends by some tribesolk

rom the Sagroth Wilds. The three heroes are unceremoniously

dumped beore the chietain, and Amanda describes the chie-

tain addressing them in a strange, guttural tongue.

Ryan looks at his sheet and says, Hey, I have I I Havent Been

There, Ive Read About Iton my sheet. Can I declare that Ive

studied this language at some point, so we can communicate?

Amanda thinks thats perectly reasonable to assume. Ryan

tosses over a ate point and describes Zird answering in the

chietains own speech, which turns all eyes in the village (includ-

ing those o his riends) on him in a moment o surprise.

Ryan has Zird look at his riends and say, Books. Theyre good

or you.

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clsSometimes (in act, probably oten), youll nd yoursel in a situation wherean aspect complicates your characters lie and creates unexpected drama.When that happens, the GM will suggest a potential complication that

might arise. Tis is called a compel.Sometimes, a compel means your character automatically ails at some

goal, or your characters choices are restricted, or simply that unintendedconsequences cloud whatever your character does. You might negotiateback and orth on the details a little, to arrive at what would be most appro-priate and dramatic in the moment.

Once youve agreed to accept the complication, you get a ate point oryour troubles. I you want, you can pay a ate point to prevent the compli-cation rom happening, but we dont recommend you do that very oten

youll probably need that ate point later, and getting compelled bringsdrama (and hence, un) into your games story.

Players, youre going to call or a compel when you want there to be acomplication in a decision youve just made, i its related to one o youraspects. GMs, youre going to call or a compel when you make the worldrespond to the characters in a complicated or dramatic way.

Anyone at the table is ree to suggest when a compel might be appropri-ate or any character (including their own). GMs, you have the nal wordon whether or not a compel is valid. And speak up i you see that a compel

happened naturally as a result o play, but no ate points were awarded.

Landon has the aspect The Manners o a Goat. He is attending

the annual Grand Ball in Ictherya with his riends, courtesy o the

royal court.

Amanda tells the players, As youre milling about, a sharply

dressed young lady catches Landon sticking out o the crowd.

She observes him or a while, then goes to engage him in conver-

sation, obviously intrigued by how dierent he looks among all

the stuy nobles. She turns to Lenny. What do you do?

Lenny says, Uh... well, I guess Ill ask her to dance and play

along, see what I can nd out about her.

Amanda holds up a ate point and says, And is that going to go

wrong, given Landons excellent command o courtly etiquette?

Lenny chuckles and replies, Yeah, I presume Landon will

oend her pretty quickly, and thatll get complicated. Ill take the

ate point.

Amanda and Lenny play a bit to gure out just how Landon

puts his oot in his mouth, and then Amanda describes some o

the royal guard showing up. One o them says, You might want to

watch how you speak to the High Duchess o Ictherya, outlander.

Lenny shakes his head. Amanda grins the grin o the devil.

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FROm hERE

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Tese are the basic things you need to know to play Fate. Teollowing chapters go into greater detail on everything weve

covered above, and will show you how to get your game o theground.

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WHat Makes a good Fate gaMe?

You can use Fate to tell stories in many dierent genres, with a variety opremises. Tere is no deault setting; you and your group will make that

up yourselves. Te very best Fate games, however, have certain ideas incommon with one another, which we think best showcase what the gameis designed to do.

Whether youre talking about antasy, science ction, superheroes, orgritty cop shows, Fate works best when you use it to tell stories about peoplewho areproactive, competent, and dramatic.

prCharacters in a game o Fate should be proactive. Tey have a variety o

abilities that lend themselves to active problem solving, and they arenttimid about using them. Tey dont sit around waiting or the solution to acrisis to come to themthey go out and apply their energies, taking risksand overcoming obstacles to achieve their goals.

Tis doesnt mean that they dont ever plan or strategize, or that theyre allcareless to a ault. It just means that even the most patient among them willeventually rise and take action in a tangible, demonstrable way.

Any Fate game you play should give a clear opportunity or the charactersto be proactive in solving their problems, and have a variety o ways they

might go about it. A game about librarians spending all their time amongdusty tomes and learning things isnt Fate. A game about librarians usingorgotten knowledge to save the worldis.

cCharacters in a game o Fate are good at things. Tey arent bumbling oolswho routinely look ridiculous when theyre trying to get things donetheyre highly skilled, talented, or trained individuals who are capable omaking visible change in the world they inhabit. Tey are the right people

or the job, and they get involved in a crisis because they have a good chanceo being able to resolve it or the better.

Tis doesnt mean they always succeed, or that their actions are withoutunintended consequence. It just means that when they ail, it isnt becausethey made dumb mistakes or werent prepared or the risks.

Any Fate game that you play should treat the characters like competentpeople, worthy o the risks and challenges that come their way. A gameabout garbage men who are orced to ght supervillains and get their assesconstantly handed to them isnt Fate. A game about garbage men who

become an awesome anti-supervillain hit squadis.

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drCharacters in a game o Fate lead dra-matic lives. Te stakes are always highor them, both in terms o what theyhave to deal with in their world, andwhat theyre dealing with in the sixinches o space between their ears. Likeus, they have interpersonal troubles and

struggle with their issues, and thoughthe external circumstances o their livesmight be a lot bigger in scope than whatwe go through, we can still relate to andsympathize with them.

Tis doesnt mean they spend all theirtime wallowing in misery and pain, orthat everything in their lives is alwaysa world-shaking crisis. It just means

that their lives require them to makehard choices and live with the conse-quencesin other words, that theyreessentiallyhuman.

Any Fate game that you play shouldprovide the potential and opportunityor drama among and between the char-acters, and give you a chance to relate tothem as people. A game about adven-

turers mindlessly punching increasing numbers o bigger, badder bad guysis not Fate. A game about adventurers struggling to lead normal lives despitebeing destined to ght ultimate evilis.

WHen creating

your gaMe:

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setting uP your gaMe

Te rst step in setting up your Fate game is to decide what sort o peoplethe protagonists are and what sort o world surrounds them. Your decisions

here will tell you virtually everything you need to know to get the ballrolling: what the protagonists are good at, what they may or may not careabout, what problems theyre likely to get into, what kind o impact thesecharacters have on the world, and so on. You dont need completeanswers(because thats part o the point o playing the game), but you should haveenough o an idea that answering those questions doesnt draw a blank.

First, well start by talking about your setting. Well handle the specicson the protagonists later, in Character Creation.

Making tHe setting Work in Fate

Decide what the world that surrounds the protagonists is like.Youre probably already amiliar with the idea o a setting, but in short, its

everything that the characters interact with, such as people, organizationsand institutions, technology, strange phenomena, and mysteries (crime,intrigue, and cosmic or historical legend). Tese are the sort o things thatcharacters want to engage with, are orced to engage with, look to or help,or stand in their way.

I youre using a setting that already exists, rom a movie, novel, or othergame book, then many o these ideas are ready or you to use. O course,youll also likely add your own spin on things: new organizations or dier-ent mysteries to uncover.

I youre inventing a setting, you have more work cut out or you. Itsbeyond the scope o this chapter to tell you how to make a setting; wereassuming you already know how to do that i thats what youre choosing todo. (Besides, we live in a vast world o media. See tvtropes.orgi you dontbelieve us.) One word o advice, thoughdont try to invent too much up

ront. As youll see over the course o the chapter, youre going to be generat-ing a lot o ideas just through the process o game and character creation, sothe details will come in time.

Amanda, Lenny, Lily, and Ryan sit down to talk about the setting.

Theyre all jonesing or a low antasy game, as Lenny and Lily

have recently read some o the Fafhrd and the Gray Mousersto-

ries. So they pitch two guys and a girl with swords. The world is

vaguely medieval, Earth with the serial numbers led o.

Ryan suggests guy and girl with swords, and guy without a

sword so that theres a dierence between the two guys. Also,

because he wants to play someone who is more bookish (or

contrast). Everyones on board with this, and they move on.

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a gaMes scaLe

Decide how epic or personal your story will be.Te setting might be small or it might be vast, but where your stories take

place determines the scale o your game.In a small-scale game, characters deal with problems in a city or region,

they dont travel a great deal, and the problems are local. A large-scalegame involves dealing with problems that aect a world, a civilization, oreven a galaxy i the genre youre playing in can handle that kind o thing.(Sometimes, a small-scale game will turn into a large-scale one over time,as youve probably seen in long-running novel series or television shows.)

Amanda likes the vibe o guy and girl with sword, and thinks itll

shine as a small-scale game, where they might travel rom town

to town, but the problems they have to deal with are locallike a

thieves guild or the regents vile machinations.

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tHe settings Big issues

Decide what threats and pressures inherent to the setting will spur theprotagonists to action.

Every setting needs to have something going on that the characters careabout, oten a peril they want to ght or undermine. Tese are the settingsissues.

Youll come up with two issues as a group and write them down on indexcards or a game creation worksheet. Tese issues are aspects and will beavailable to invoke or compel throughout the entirety o the game.

Te issues should reect the scale o your game and what the characterswill ace. Teyre broad ideas; they dont just aect your characters, butmany people in the world. Issues take two orms:

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Current Issues: Tese are problems or threatsthat exist in the world already, possibly or along time. Protagonists tackling these issuesare trying to change the world, to make ita better place. Examples: a corrupt regime,organized crime, rampant poverty and dis-ease, a generations-long war.

Impending Issues: Tese are things that have

begun to rear their ugly heads, and threatento make the world worse i they come to passor achieve a goal. Protagonists tackling theseissues are trying to keep the world rom slip-ping into chaos or destruction. Examples:an invasion rom a neighboring country, thesudden rising o a zombie horde, the imposi-tion o martial law.

Te deault number o issues in a Fate game istwo: Either two current issues (or a story solelyabout trying to make the world a better place),two impending issues (or a story about strivingto save people rom threats), or one o each. Telatter option is common in ction: think aboutthe stalwart heroes who work against someimpending doom while already discontent withthe world around them.

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The group thinks about the sort o problems they want to deal

with in the world. Ryan immediately says organized crime, and

they fesh that out a little. They come up with the idea o The

Scar Triad, a group o thugs who are known or thievery, extor-

tion, and other nasty things that the world could do without. This

is clearly a current issue.

Lily wants the story to also be about something on the verge

o happening, something Really Bad. They come up with an

impending issue: a vile cult that seeks to summon something

horrible into the world (which means theyre also saying that

their setting includes horrible, Lovecrat-inspired things). Lenny

calls it The Doom that Is to Come, and Ryan really likes this idea

because it gives his bookish character a hook into things going

on in the world.

Issues1. TheScarTriad

2.TheDoomthatIstoCome

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m isss assAs we said earlier, issues are aspects. urn the ideas you have into aspects thatyou could conceivably use at dierent times in the story (oten as compelsto the protagonists or as invocations or oes, but clever players will always

nd other uses or aspects). Write themdown, and then i you need to add a littlebit to remember the context or some details,write those down alongside the aspects.

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Come as two game aspects. She

notes down next to The Scar Triad,Theyre into racketeering and

other nasty stu. And with The

Doom that Is to Come, Led by the

Cult o Tranquility.

I youre new to making aspects, hold oon this or now. Youll get quite a bit o prac-

tice making aspects or your characters. Once youre done with character

creation, turn these issue ideas into aspects.

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drll dwYou can also use issues to esh out smaller, but nonetheless important pieceso your setting. An important location (a major city or nation, or evena memorable local restaurant) or organization (a knightly order, a kings

court, or a corporation) can have impending and/or current issues as well.We recommend you start by giving only one issue to each setting element,

just to keep things rom getting too bogged down, but you can always addmore as the campaign progresses. Likewise, you dont have to do this rightnowi you nd a setting element becoming more important later in thegame, you can give it issues then.

The Cult o Tranquility keeps popping up in pre-game discus-

sions, so the group decides that it also needs an issue. Ater

some discussion, the group decides itd be interesting i there

was some tension in the cults ranks, and makes a current issue

called Two Conficting Propheciesdierent branches o the

cult have dierent ideas o what the doom is going to be.

ISSUES

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CityofRiverton

KaleWestralShopownerinRiverton

The Cult of

TranquilityIssue: two conflicting prophecies

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Faces and PLaces

Decide who the important people and locations are.At this point, youve probably got your issues gured out, and you may

have thought o some organizations or groups that eature prominently inyour game.

Now you have to put some aces on those issues and those groups, sothat your PCs have people to interact with when theyre dealing with thoseelements. Do they have any particular people who represent them, or standout as exemplars o what the issues reerring to? I you have any ideas atthis point, write them down on an index card: a name, a relationship to theorganization or issue, and an aspect detailing their signicance to the story.

Do the same or any notable places in your setting. Are there any impor-

tant places where things happen, either important to the world, importantto an issue, or important to the protagonists? I theres a place where youenvision multiple scenes taking place, then talk about that. Unlike NPCs,they dont require aspects.

Te GM may esh these characters and places out later, depending ontheir role in the story. Or one o these ideas might be a great inspiration ora protagonist! And, o course, new ones will unold as the story progresses.

I theres a piece o your setting thats meant to be a mystery which theprotagonists uncover, dene it only in loose terms. Te specics can be

detailed as they are revealed in play.

Ater a ew minutes o discussion, the group writes down:

Hugo the Charitable, a lieutenant in the Scar Triad. His aspect

is Everyone in Riverton Fears Me.

Which brings us to a place, the city o Riverton. There are two

rivers here, so its a hub or trade.

Amanda comes up with a sympathetic character, Kale Westal,who owns a shop in Riverton. She isnt cowed by Hugos extor-

tion, and will likely all victim to an accident. Her aspect is

Stubborn Because Im Right.

The Primarch, the leader o the Cult o Tranquility, whose iden-

tity is a mystery. Because that part o the setting is a mystery,

they arent going to come up with an aspect or otherwise go

any urther, leaving those details to Amanda to gure out in

secret.

They could go on, but they know theyll have more ideas ater

character creation and as they play. Thats just enough to paint

a picture o whats going on at the very beginning o the story.

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Make cHaracters

Each player makes a protagonist.You can make player characters ater nishing game creation, or you can

do it in the middle o this processollow your instincts here. I you ndyoursel talking more about the characters than the world, go to charactercreation and then oat back around to whatever parts o game creation youhavent done yet. Otherwise, go ahead and nish out all o game creationrst.

Its worth noting that the protagonists should have some connections to

the aces and places you named in theprevious step. I its dicult to relate thecharacters to the setting, then you maywant to rethink your protagonists orrevise your game so it will make a bettert or the new characters.

When youre making characters,youll also discover a bit more about thesetting as people talk about who their

characters know and what their char-acters do. I anything comes up thatshould be added to your game creationnotes, do so beore pushing orwardwith playing the game.

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cHaracter creation is PLay

Te moment you sit down to make the game and characters, youre playingFate. Tis style o character creation does three things to reinorce that.

First, character creation tells parto the characters stories, just like anyother game session does. Charactersthat really come alive have histories otheir own and with each other. Tisestablishes where theyve been, whattheyve done, and why they continue toact against the issues they ace, togetheror in opposition. Teres an ongoing

story youre now stepping intoits justthat the most interesting parts haventhappened yet.

Second, it sets the stage or the nextpart o the story. Each arc o a storysets up the next, so that they ow intoone another in a natural evolution.Character creation needs to set up therst story arc.

Tird, character creation in Fate iscollaborative. As with game creation,character creation is best done as agroup activity. Doing all o this togetherbuilds a strong oundation o commu-nication between the players and GM,and this process has a number o waysto establish connections between thecharacters and the setting.

Combined with game creation, char-acter creation can take a ull session todothis allows everyone to learn aboutthe world and each others characters.You and the other players will talk aboutyour characters, make suggestions toeach other, discuss how they connect, and establish more o the setting.

Youll want to keep good notes on this process. You can use the charactersheet and character creation worksheet in the back o this book or down-

loadable at FateRPG.com.Start by determining your characters high concept and trouble. Ten

build your characters backstory, a process that takes place over three phases.Once you have that gured out, esh out your characters skills and stunts.Ten youre ready to play!

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your cHaracter idea

Come up with your characters high concept and trouble aspects.Character creation starts with a concept or your character. It could be

modeled ater a character rom a avorite novel or movie, or it could bebased around some specic thing that you want to be able to do (like breakboards with your head, turn into a wol, blow things up, etc.). Just like youdid with the games issues earlier, youre going to take your ideas and turnthem into the two central aspects or your characterhigh conceptandtrouble.

Player characters should be exceptional and interesting. Tey could veryeasily nd success in less exciting situations than those that come theirway in play. You must gure out why

your character is going to keep get-ting involved in these more dangerousthings. I you dont, the GM is under noobligation to go out o her way to makethe game work or youshell be toobusy with other players who made char-acters that have a reason to participate.

Because picking a high concept andtrouble are linked, theyre grouped

together. Youll likely have more successcoming up with a compelling charac-ter idea i you think about them as onebig step rather than two separate steps.Only ater you have that (and a name,o course!) can you move on to the resto character creation.

Tat said, dont worry too muchi your character idea evolves later on,

thats great! You can always go back andtinker with the early decisions.

keeP BuiLding your

setting

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iF you get stuMPed

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h cYour high conceptis a phrase that sums up what your character is aboutwho he is and what he does. Its an aspect, one o the rst and most impor-tant ones or your character.

Tink o this aspect like your job, your role in lie, or your callingitswhat youre good at, but its also a duty you have to deal with, and its con-stantly lled with problems o its own. Tat is to say, it comes with somegood and some bad. Tere are a ew dierent directions you can take this:

You could take the idea o like your job literally: Lead Detective,Knight o the Round, Low-level Tug.

You could throw on an adjective or other descriptor to urther denethe idea: Despicable Regent o Riverton, Reluctant Lead Detective,

Ambitious Low-level Tug.

You could mash two jobs or roles together that most people wouldnd odd: Wizard Private Eye, Singing Knight o the Round able,Monster-slaying Accountant.

You could play o o an impor-tant relationship to your amilyor an organization youre deeplyinvolved with (especially i the

amily or organization are well-connected or well-known):Black Sheep o the TompsonFamily, Low-level Tug or theSyndicate, Scar riads Patsy inRiverton.

Tese arent the only ways to playwith your high concept, but theyll

get you started. But dont stress outover itthe worst thing you can dois make it into too big o a deal. Youllcome up with our other aspects aterthis oneyou dont have to get it allnailed right now.

High concepts can have overlapamong the characters, as long as youhave something to distinguish how

your character is dierent rom theothers. I high concepts must be simi-lar among all the characters, such asi the GM pitches an all-swordsmenstory, its crucial that the troubles dier.

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Lenny and Lily settled on the guy and girl with sword idea, and

Ryans going with guy without sword. But those are just start-

ing ideas. Now its time to turn them into proper high concepts.

Lenny latches onto the idea o tying his concept to an orga-

nization, and starts with Disciple osomething. He envisions

a character who has trained in some mysterious martial art, and

that involves rival schools and oes that want to learn those

secrets. The group helps him come up with a suitably mysterious

name: Disciple o the Ivory Shroud. (And now weve made a bit

more setting: theres an Ivory Shroud, mysterious martial arts,

and all that implies.)

Lily, on the other hand, doesnt really know where to go rom

girl with sword. Shes not interested in the organization thing,

so shes thinking about adjectives. Eventually, she settles on

Inamous Girl with Sword. (Keeping the girl with sword part

makes her giggle, so she wants to say it oten during the game.)

Ryans idea o bookish guy without sword would be a pretty

dull aspect. He thinks about whats been declared so ar: an evil

cult who can summon Bad Things and a mysterious martial arts

school. So he asks hey, can I be a wizard? They talk a bit about

what that means, so that being a wizard doesnt overshadow

the swordsmen and isnt a weak idea. Ater that, he writes down

Wizard or Hire.

HighConcept

Trouble

ASPECTS

SKILLS

Superb(+5)

Great(+4)

Good(+3)

Fair(+2)

Average(+1)

EXTRAS

STUNTS

ID

Name

Description

Refr

DiscipleoftheIvory

Shroud

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trblIn addition to a high concept, every character has some sort o troubleaspect thats a part o his lie and story. I your high concept is what or whoyour character is, your trouble is the answer to a simple question: what

complicates your characters existence?rouble brings chaos into a characters lie and drives him into interesting

situations. rouble aspects are broken up into two types: personal strugglesand problematic relationships.

Personal struggles are about your darker side or impulses that arehard to control. I its something that your character might be temptedto do or unconsciously do at the worst possible moment, its this sorto trouble. Examples:Anger Management Issues, Sucker or a Pretty

Face, Te Bottle Calls to Me. Problematic relationships are about people or organizations that

make your lie hard. It could be a group o people who hate your gutsand want you to suer, olks you work or that dont make your jobeasy, or even your amily or riends that too oten get caught in thecrossre. Examples: Family Man, Debt to the Mob, Te Scar riadWants Me Dead.

Your trouble shouldnt be easy to solve. I it was, your character would

have done that already, and thats not interesting. But nor should it para-lyze the character completely. I the trouble is constantly interering withthe characters day-to-day lie, hes going to spend all his time dealing withit rather than other matters at hand. You shouldnt have to deal with yourtrouble at every turnunless thats the core o one particular adventure inthe story (and even then, thats just one adventure).

roubles also shouldnt be directly relatedto your high concepti you have LeadDetective, saying your trouble is Te Criminal

Underworld Hates Me is a dull trouble,because we already assume that with your highconcept. (O course, you can turn that up anotch to make it personal, like Don GiovanniPersonally Hates Me, to make it work.)

Beore you go any urther, talk with theGM about your characters trouble. Makesure youre both on the same page in termso what it means. Both o you may want to

nd one way this aspect might be invoked orcompelled to make sure youre both seeing thesame thingsor to give each other ideas. TeGM should come away rom this conversationknowing what you want out o your trouble.

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Lenny wants to contrast the whole I know an ancient martial art

vibe. Hes not playing an ascetic monk or anything like that. So

he wants something that will get him into social trouble, some-

thing that has to do with him and not with any specic people

or organizations. So he writes down The Manners o a Goat. His

character will unconsciously make an ass o himsel.

Lily likes this idea o her character being her own worst enemy,

so shes also going or a personal struggle. Shes had the idea or

a while o playing someone who cant help but be Tempted by

Shiny Things, so she writes that down.

Ater seeing the other two go or personal struggles, Ryan

wants to add a bit to the setting by having a problematic rela-

tionship trouble. He wants something thats involved with his

high concept, someone he cant just ght openly againsthe

wants to see intrigue in his story. So he writes down Rivals in

the Collegia Arcana (which also names a group o people in the

setting, that Ryans character is a part o).

tHe BrigHt side oF trouBLes

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ik

ass

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intro to cHoosing asPects

a l rr r ss w ss

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Chapter 3

nI you havent already, its time to give your character a name!

Lenny names his character Landon, a name thats been in his

head or years. He used it years ago or another roleplaying

game, and decides to bring it back or nostalgias sake.

Lily names her character Cynere, which is Greek or thistle.

She sees Cynere as a beautiul plant, but one thatll prick you i

you get too close. That ts nicely.

Ryan names his character Zird, because it just hit his mind as

an appropriately ridiculous wizardly name. Then he pauses or

a moment beore adding the Arcane, because he sees Zird

as the sort o guy who would demand to be known as Zird the

Arcane.

CONSEQUENCES

Mild2

Moderate4

Severe6

HighConcept

Trouble

ASPECTS

SKILLS

Superb(+5)

Great(+4)

Good(+3)

Fair(+2)

Average(+1)

EXTRAS

STUNTS

PHYSICALSTRES

S(Physique)

1 23 4

MENTALSTRESS

(Will)

3 4

ID

Name

Description

Ref

DiscipleoftheIvory

Shroud

TheMannersofaGo

at

Landon

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tHe PHase trio

Describe your characters rst adventure. Describe how youve crossedpaths with two other characters. Write down one aspect or each o

these three experiences.Important: Beore moving on to this step, you need to have gured out

your high concept, trouble, and name.Te three remaining aspects on your character are made in phases,

together called the phase trio. Te rst phase is about recent background:something you did thats interesting and adventurous. Te second and thirdare about how the other playercharacters got involved in thatadventure, and how you got

involved in theirs.Tis is an opportunity to

tell a story about your charac-ters. Each phase will ask you towrite down two things. Use thecharacter creation worksheet(at the back o this book, or atFateRPG.com) to write downthose details.

First, write a summary o whathappened in that phase. Acouple o sentences to a para-graph should suceyou dontwant to establish too muchdetail up ront, because youmight have to adjust details inlater phases.

Second, write an aspect thatrefects some part o thatphase. Te aspect can cover thegeneral vibe rom the summary,or it can ocus on some piece oit that still resonates with yourcharacter in the present day.

FoRveteRan

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ps o: yr arTe rst phase is your characters rst true adventurehis rst book, epi-sode, case, movie, whateverstarring him.

You need to think up

and write down the basicdetails o this story or thephases summary. Te storydoesnt need to have a loto detailin act, a pairo sentences works prettywellbecause your ellowplayers will add in their owndetails to this past adventure

in the next two phases (asyou will to theirs).

I you nd yoursel stuck, look to your characters high concept andtrouble. Find a dilemma that has a chance o throwing those ideas intoocus. What problem do you get roped into because o your high concept ortrouble? How does the other aspect help or complicate your lie?

Ask yoursel the ollowing story questions. I you have trouble answeringthem, talk to the other players and the GM or help.

Something bad happened. What was it? Did it happen to you, to some-one you cared about, or to someone that you were coerced into helping?

What did you decide to do about the problem? What goal did youpursue?

Who stood against you? Did you expect the opposition you got? Didsome o it come out o nowhere?

Did you win? Did you lose? Either way, what consequences arose romthe outcome?

Once youve come up with the adventure, write an aspect that relates tosome part o what happened.

A note on timing: Because two other characters will be involved in theollowing phases, this adventure needs to be something that isnt so early inyour characters lie that he hasnt met the other protagonists yet. I one oyou has decided that you recently showed up in the story, then the adven-tures involving that person happened recently. I some o you have beenriends (or old rivals!) or a long time, then those adventures can take place

urther in the past. Your best bet is to not make these adventures specic intime; you can gure out that part once you know whos involved in yourstory.

Landongetsintoabarfightwi

thsome

oftheScarTriad.Heisrobbe

dofhis

swordandbeatenseverely.His

lifeis

savedbyaveteransoldiernam

edOld

Finn.FinnhelpstohealLando

n,clean

himup,andenlisthiminthetow

nmilitia.

*IOweOldFinnEverything

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Lenny goes through Phase One.

He looks at the story questions

to help him gure out the events

o the phase, and decides on the

ollowing:

The bad thing was that Landon

kept getting into scrapes at his

local tavern. He grew up with no

sense o discipline or demeanor

and constantly picked ghts with

people larger and stronger than

him.

One thug Landon insulted at the

tavern was connected to the Scar

Triad, so some o the thugs bandit

buddies showed up and beat

Landon to within an inch o his lie.

His bleeding body was then

ound by a veteran soldier named

Finn who healed Landons wounds

and encouraged him to join the

town militia where he could learn

some discipline and ght with

honor.

Now Lenny has to write down

an aspect related to this story. He

decides to take I Owe Old Finn

Everything as his aspect, because

he wants to keep the connec-

tion to Finn in his story and give

Amanda a cool NPC to play.

As with the high concept and troubleaspects, this (and the ollowing phases) are urther opportunities to eshout the setting.

PHases and

index cards

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ps tw: crss psIn the next two phases, youll tie the group together by having other charac-ters contribute a minor, supporting role in your adventure, and vice versa.

Once everyone has their adventure written down (which is where our

index card suggestion comes in really handy), youre ready or phase two.You can pass to the let or right, or shufe the stack and hand them outrandomly (trading with the person to your right until you each have onethat isnt yours). However you decide to do it, every player should now beholding someone elses adventure.

Your character has a supporting role in the story youre holding, whichyou get to come up with right now. Briey discuss it with the player whoseadventure it is and add a sentence or phrase to the summary to reect yourcharacters supporting role. Supporting roles come in three orms: they

complicate the adventure, solve a situation, or both.

Complicating the adventure: Your character managed to make somepart o the adventure uncertain (possibly because o an issue or troubleaspect). O course, since that happened in the past, we know you gotout o it all right (or mostly all right, as indicated by the aspect youtake). When describing this, dont worry about how the situation isresolvedleave that or someone else, or leave it open. Descriptionslike Landon starts trouble when Cynere needs him quiet or Zird gets

captured by mysterious brigands are enough to get some ideas owing. Solving a situation: Your character somehow solves a complication

that the main character in the adventure had to deal with, or yourcharacter aids the main character in the central conict (which is anopportunity to involve your high concept aspect). When describingthis, you dont have to mention how the situation was created, justhow your character takes care o it. Descriptions like Cynere holds o

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oes to give Landon time to escape or Zirduses his arcane knowledge to ask the ghosts or

inormation are enough to give us an idea owhat happens.

Complicating and solving: Here, your char-acter either solves one situation but createsanother, or creates a situation but later solvesa dierent one. Mash up the two ideas, usingthe word later in between them, such as:Landon starts a ght with the Scar riad while

Zird is trying to lay low. Later, he helps Zird byghting o undead while Zirds casting a spell.

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Te idea is to be a bit sel-serving here. You want to put a little spotlighton your character in order to gure out a good aspect rom it: somethingyoure known or, something you can do, something you own or have, and

someone you have a relationship with (or good or ill).Finally, write the adventure idea and your characters contribution down

on your phase worksheet. Tis is important, because your character gets anaspect rom the supporting role he played. Te person whose adventure it isshould also write down the contribution, i theres room on his sheet.

Lily has Landons starting adventure and needs to decide how

she ts into it.

She decides that Cynere helped solve the situation. Ater

Landon ends up in the militia, he still has a grudge against the

Triad members who ganged up on him. In act, they robbed him

o his heirloom sword in the process. Hearing Landons tale o

woe, Cynere agrees to help steal the sword back.

She takes the aspectA Sucker or a Sob Story, to refect the

reason why she got involved.

Landongetsintoabarfightw

ithsome

oftheScarTriad.Heisrobbe

dofhis

swordandbeatenseverely.Hi

slifeis

savedbyaveteransoldiernam

edOld

Finn.FinnhelpstohealLando

n,clean

himup,andenlisthiminthetow

nmilitia.

*IOweOldFinnEverythingWhen Landon tells Cynere his story,

she takes pity on him and decides to

help him recover his lost sword.

*A Sucker for a Sob Story

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ps tr:

crss ps aOnce everyones done with phase two, youll

trade adventures with whatever method youchose beore, so long as everyone has an adven-ture that isnt theirs or the one they just con-tributed to. Ten youre ready or phase three,where youll contribute to this second adven-ture and determine your next aspect. Follow thedirections rom phase two.

Lily gets Zirds starting adventure, a pretty

straightorward romp where Zird battleshis Collegia rivals to obtain a magical arti-

act and return it to its rightul place.

She decides that she complicates that

situation, by wanting the shiny artiact or

hersel. Ryan already established that Zird

gets the artiact back to where it belongs,

so she only holds it temporarily.

She decides to take Ive Got Zirds

Back, as a way o refecting her willing-ness to stick her neck out or Zirdthe

group doesnt know what he did to earn

such loyalty, but they gure theyll nd out

eventually.

And with that, you have your ve aspects anda good chunk o background!

FeWer tHan tHree

PLayers?

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have te Gm also ake a

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handsandthetwogainamutual

respectforeachother.

*IveGotZirdsBack

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Chapter 3

CHARACTER IDEA

High Concept Aspect

Trouble Aspect

Name

PHASE TRIO

Phase One: Your Adventure

Phase One Aspect

Phase Two: Crossing Paths

Phase Two Aspect

Phase Three: Crossing Paths Again

Phase Three Aspect

SKILLS STUNTS & REFRESH

STRESS & CONSEQUENCES

One at Great (+4) wo at Good (+3) Tree at Fair (+2) Four at Average (+1)

Tree Stunts = Refresh of 3 Four Stunts = Refresh of 2 Five Stunts = Refresh of 1

Average or Fair Physique gives you a 3-point physical stress box. Good or Great Physique gives you 3- and 4-point physical stress boxes. Superb+ Physique gives you 3- and 4-point physical stress boxes and an additional mild consequence slot. Average or Fair Will gives you a 3-point mental stress box. Good or Great Will gives you 3- and 4-point mental stress boxes. Superb+ Will gives you 3- and 4-point mental stress boxes and an additional mild consequence slot.

C O R E S Y S T E M

Character Creation Worksheet

Disciple of the Ivory Shroud

The Manners of a GoatLandon

Landon gets into a bar fight with some of the scar triad. He is robbedof his sword and beaten severely. His life is saved by a veteran sol-dier named Old Finn. Finn helps to heal Landon, clean him up, and enlist

him in the town militia.

I Owe Old Finn Everything

Zird the Arcane hires Landon to quietly break into the Tower ofUnrest at the Collegia. When their cover is blown, Landon kicks outthe towers supporting pillars. The two escape as the structure comescrashing down.

Smashing Is Always an Option

Cynere drags Landon into a bar fight with warriors from the Dia