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CONTENTS

The Basics .......................................................................................... 5

Welcome to Fate! ....................................................................................6

What You Need to Play ........................................................................7

Players and Gamemasters ...................................................................8The Character Sheet ............................................................................10

Taking Action .......................................................................................... 12

Fate Points ............................................................................................... 16

Start Playing! .........................................................................................20

Game Creation ................................................................................23

What Makes a Good Fate Game? .................................................. 24

Setting Up Your Game ....................................................................... 26

Making the Setting Work in Fate ................................................... 26

A Games Scale ..................................................................................... 27

The Settings Big Issues ..................................................................... 28

Faces and Places .................................................................................. 32

Make Protagonists ............................................................................... 33

Character Creation .........................................................................35

Character Creation Is Play ................................................................36

Your Character Idea ............................................................................ 37

The Phase Trio .......................................................................................44

Skills .......................................................................................................... 52

Stunts and Reresh .............................................................................. 53

Stress and Consequences .................................................................54Youre All Set! ........................................................................................56

Quick Character Creation .................................................................56

Aspects and Fate Points ................................................................59

Dening Aspects ..................................................................................60

Dening Fate Points ...........................................................................60

Types o Aspects...................................................................................61

What Aspects Do ................................................................................. 63

Making a Good Aspect ......................................................................65

I You Get Stuck ....................................................................................68

Invoking Aspects .................................................................................. 72

Compelling Aspects ............................................................................ 75

Using Aspects or Roleplaying .......................................................80

Removing or Changing an Aspect ................................................ 82

Creating and Discovering New Aspects in Play ....................... 82

The Fate Point Economy ...................................................................84

Skills and Stunts .............................................................................89

Dening Skills ........................................................................................90

Dening Stunts ...................................................................................... 91

Building Stunts ...................................................................................... 92The Deault Skill List ......................................................................... 100

Actions and Outcomes .................................................................135

Its Time or Action! ............................................................................136

The Four Outcomes ...........................................................................138

The Four Actions ................................................................................ 140


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Challenges, Contests, and Conicts ........................................... 151

Zooming In on the Action................................................................152

Challenges .............................................................................................153

Contests ................................................................................................156Conficts ................................................................................................. 160

Teamwork ...............................................................................................178

Running the Game ......................................................................... 181

What You Do ........................................................................................182

What to Do During Game Creation ............................................ 186

What to Do During Play .................................................................. 190

Creating the Opposition...................................................................219

Playing the Opposition ....................................................................228

Scenes, Sessions, and Scenarios .................................................231So, Now What? ...................................................................................232

Dening Scenarios .............................................................................232

Find Problems .....................................................................................233

Ask Story Questions .........................................................................243

Establish the Opposition ................................................................ 246

Set Up the First Scene .....................................................................248

Dening Scenes ................................................................................. 250

The Scenario in Play ..........................................................................256

Resolving the Scenario ....................................................................258

The Long Game ............................................................................. 261Dening Arcs .......................................................................................262

Dening Campaigns..........................................................................262

Building an Arc ...................................................................................263

Building a Campaign ....................................................................... 264

Advancement and Change .............................................................265

Dening Milestones .......................................................................... 266

World Advancement .........................................................................273

Extras..............................................................................................279

The Bronze Rule ................................................................................ 280Dening Extras .................................................................................. 280

Do You Need Extras? .........................................................................281

Why Use Extras? ................................................................................282

How to Make Extras ..........................................................................283

Permissions and Costs .....................................................................297

Landons Character Sheet .......................................................... 300

Cyneres Character Sheet ............................................................ 301

Zird the Arcanes Character Sheet .............................................302

Character Sheet ............................................................................303

Character Creation Worksheet .................................................. 304


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1THE BASICS


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THE

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6 FATE CORE

NEWT

OFATE

I youre a new player, all you

really need to know is in this

chapter and on your character

sheetthe GM will help yougure out the rest. You may

want to check out the cheat

sheet or conicts on page

XX just to save your GM some

eort, but otherwise, you

should be good to go.

I youre a new GM, this is

just the tip o the iceberg or

you. You should read and getamiliar with the whole book.

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, andwhat happens to them.

Its not all just conversation,thoughsometimes youll use diceand the rules in this book to bringuncertainty into the story and makethings more exciting.

Fate doesnt come with a deaultsetting, but it works best with anypremise where the characters areproactive, capable people leadingdramatic lives. We give more advice onhow to bring that avor to your gamesin the next chapter.

FO

RVETERANS

You might be reading this be-

cause youre amiliar with Fate

rom our other games,Spirit o

the Century and The Dresden

Files Roleplaying Game. Several

other popular RPGs, like Galileo

Games Bulldogs! and Cubicle

Sevens Legends o Anglerre,

also use the Fate system.

This is a new version o Fate,

which we developed to update

and streamline the system.

Youll recognize some o whats

in here, but weve also changed

some rules and some terminol-

ogy. You can nd a master list

o all the changes weve made

later on in the book.

For

Veterans

p. XX

What Makes

a Good Fate

Game

p. 24


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7CHAPTER 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.)

Fudge dice, at least our, but pre-erably our per participant. Fudge

dice are a special kind o six-sideddice that are marked on two sideswith a plus symbol ( ), on twosides with a minus symbol ( ),and has two blank sides ( ).

okens to represent ate points.Poker chips, glass beads, or anything similar will work. Youll want tohave at least thirty or more o these on hand, just to make sure you haveenough or any given game. You can use pencil marks on your character

sheet in lieu o tokens, but physical tokens add a little more un.

Index cards. Tese are optional, but we nd theyre very handy orrecordingaspects during play. Well talk about aspects here in a bit aswell.

I you dont want to use Fudge

dice, you dont have toany set

o regular six-sided dice will

work. I youre using regular

dice, you read 5 or 6 as , 1 or

2 as , and 3 or 4 as .

Character

Sheet

p. 303

Aspects

p. 16

Fate Points

p. 16


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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 char-acter in the game world who isnt portrayed by a playerwe call thosenon-player characters (or NPCs). You describe the environments andplaces that the PCs go to during the game, and you create the scenariosand situations they interact with. You also act as a nal arbiter o the rules,determining the outcome o the PCs decisions and how that impacts thestory as it unolds.

Both players and gamemasters also have a secondary job: make everyonearound 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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9CHAPTER 1

THE EXAMPLE GAME

All o our rules examples in this book reer to the same example

game and setting. The name is Hearts o Steel, a tongue-in-cheek

antasy romp about a group o troubleshooters or hire. They traipseabout the countryside and get into trouble at the behest o the vari-

ous petty kings and e lords who hire them.

The participants are Lenny, Lily, Ryan, and Amanda. Amanda is

the GM. Lenny plays a thuggish swordsman named Landon. Lily

plays the nimble, dashing, and dangerous Cynere, who also hap-

pens to love swords. Ryan plays Zird the Arcane, a wizard who, by

contrast, has absolutely no love or swords.

Check out Game Creation to see how this game came about. We

included character sheets or the example PCs at the end o thebook.

Game Creation

p. 23

Example PCs

p. 300


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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.

Aspects (page 60)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 your aspects benetyou, you can spend ate points to invokethat aspect or a bonus. When your aspects

complicate your characters lie, you can gainate points backthis is called accepting acompel. See the section below on page 19or more inormation about that.

Lilys character, Cynere, has the

aspect Tempted by Shiny Things

on her sheet, which describes her

general tendency to overvalue

material goods and make baddecisions when gems and coin are

involved. 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 bestaspects are both.

And aspects dont just belong to charac-ters; the scene youre playing in can haveaspects attached to it as well.

Stress (page 166)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.


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Mild2

STUNTS

C O R E S Y S T E M

Refresh

Skills (page 90)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.Stunts (page 91)

Stunts are special tricks that your charac-

ter knows that allow you to get an extrabenet out o a skill or alter some othergame rule to work in your avor. Stuntsare like special moves in a video game,letting you do something unique or dis-tinctive compare to other characters. wocharacters can have the same rating in askill, but their stunts might give themvastly dierent benets.

Landon has a stunt called

Another Round?, which gives

him a bonus to get inormation

rom someone with his Rapport

skill, provided that he is drink-

ing with his target in a tavern.

Reresh (page 84)Reresh is the number o ate points youget to spend or your character at thebeginning o every game session. Yourtotal always resets back to this number,no matter what you were at last session.

Consequences (page 167)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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TAKING ACTION

Players, some o the things youlldo in a Fate game require you to

roll dice to see i your charactersucceeds or not. You will alwaysroll the dice when youre oppos-ing another character with youreorts, or when theres a signi-cant obstacle in the way o youreort. Otherwise, just say whatyour character does and assume ithappens.

Rolling the DiceWhen you need to roll dice inFate, pick up our Fudge dice androll them. When you read thedice, read every as +1, every

as 0, and every as -1. Youllget a result rom -4 to +4, mostoten between -2 and +2.

Here are some sample dice totals:

= 0

= +1

= +3 = -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 particular

result means? Glad you asked.

The most common reasons to use the

dice in Fate are:

To overcome an obstacle

(see page 140)

To create or unlock an ad-

vantage or your character,

in the orm o an aspect you

can use (see page 142)

To attack someone in a

conict (see page 146)

To deend yoursel in a

conict (see page 148)


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The LadderIn 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 Legendary

+7 Epic

+6 Fantastic

+5 Superb

+4 Great

+3 Good

+2 Fair

+1 Average

0 Mediocre

-1 Poor

-2 Terrible

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 whatyouve 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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Interpreting ResultsWhen 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 passiveopposition 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 outcome.

As beore, 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.

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.

The Four

Actions

p. 140

The Four

Outcomes

p. 138


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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 create a scene aspect, todeclare a story detail, or to 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.

Invoking an AspectWhenever 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 reroll toget that +4.) You do this ater youve rolled the dice and arent happy withyour total.

You also have to explain or justiy how the aspect is helpul in order to getthe 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 Deceit 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 really valuable in a trea-

sure hoarde 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...

Aspects

p. 60


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Creating a Scene AspectYou can spend a ate point to create a scene aspect at any time. Tis alsocounts as an invocation as long as you explain how the new aspect is ben-

ecial to you when you make a skill roll. Use this i you need a bonus roman invocation on a roll, but dont see a good candidate rom the aspectscurrently in play.

Zird the Arcane is in ull-on magical battle with Gornak the

Terrible, a sorcerer who has called upon the most unholy powers

to aid a mission o conquest. Theyre in Gornaks sanctum,

exchanging spells in the unriendly way.

In the ght, Ryan decides to do the most uncharacteristic

thing imaginablehe has Zird run up and body check Gornak,

hoping to turn this into a physical grapple. His Fighting attack is

only an Average (+1), though, which Gornak could easily oppose.

Ryan looks over his aspects, but doesnt really see a good way

to justiy invoking any o them. So he spends a ate point and

says, Yeah, Zirds not a great ghter, but he notices that Gornak

is standing on a Throw Rug, which he telekinetically pulls rom

under Gornaks eet as he charges.

Because he worked the aspect into his action, he gets an invo-

cation also, which bumps his roll up to a Good (+3). Also, that

Throw Rug is now an aspect on the scene, which might come

up again later.

Scene

Aspects

p. 62

*ThrowRug


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Declaring a Story DetailSometimes, you want to add a detail that works to your characters advan-tage, but it doesnt seem right to represent that as an aspect. For example,you might use this to narrate a convenient coincidence, like retroactively

having the right supplies or a certain job (O course I brought thatalong!), showing up at a dramatically appropriate moment, or suggestingthat you and the NPC you just met have mutual clients in common.

You should try to justiy your story details by relating them to youraspects. GMs, you have the right to veto any suggestions that seem out oscope or ask the player to revise them, especially i the rest o the group isntbuying 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, gutteral 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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CompelsSometimes (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 your 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.

Compels

p. 75


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WHERE TO GO

FROM HERE

The Game Creation chap-

ter takes you through the

process o setting up your

game, so that should prob-ably be your next stop. Then

Character Creation will show

you how to make the char-

acters youll play.

Players, youll eventually

want to readActions and

Outcomes and The Long

Game, to help you get a

better handle on the nuts

and bolts o doing stu and

developing your character

during play.

GMs, youre going to want

to amiliarize yourselves

with the whole book, but

Running the Game and

Scenes, Sessions, andScenarios are o particular

importance to you.

Game Creation

p. 23

Character

Creation

p. 35

Actions and

Outcomes

p. 135

The Long Game

p. 261

Running the

Game

p. 181

Scenes,Sessions, and

Scenarios

p. 231

START PLAYING!

Tese are the basic things you need to know to play Fate. Te ollowingchapters go into greater detail on everything weve covered above, and will

show you how to get your game o the ground.


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2GAME CREATION


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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.

ProactivityCharacters 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.

CompetenceCharacters 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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DramaCharacters in a game o Fate lead dra-matic lives. Te stakes are always high

or 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 andstruggle 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 and

sympathize with them.Tis doesnt mean they spend all their

time wallowing in misery and pain, orthat everything in their lives is alwaysa world-shaking crisis. It just meansthat 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:

Setting: Decide what the

world that surrounds the

protagonists is like.

Scale: Decide how epic or

personal your story will be.

Issues: Decide what threats

and pressures inherent to

the setting will spur the pro-

tagonists to action.

NPCs: Decide who the im-

portant people and locations

are in the setting.

Skills and Stunts: Decide

what sorts o things charac-

ters in the setting are likely

to want to do.

Character Creation: Make

the protagonists.


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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 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 mystery (intrigue,great cosmic or historical legend, etc.). Tese are the sort o things thatcharacters want to engage with, are orced to engage with, help them out,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 set-

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

Lily have recently read some o the Fahrd and the Grey Mouser

stories. So they pitch two guys and a girl with sword. The world

is vaguely medieval, Earth with the serial numbers led o.

Ryan suggests guy and girl with sword, and guy without

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

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

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

Character

Creation

p. 35
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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-scale gameinvolves dealing problems that aect a world, a civilization, or even a galaxyi the genre youre playing in can handle that kind o thing. (Sometimes, asmall-scale game will turn into a large-scale one over time, as youve prob-ably seen in long-running novels 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 because theres peril they want to ght or undermine. Tese arethe settings issues.

Youll come up with two issues as agroup and write them down on indexcards. Tese issues will become aspectsthat will be available to invoke orcompel throughout the entirety o thegame.

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:

Current Issues: Tese are problems or threats that exist in the worldalready, possibly have been or a long time. Protagonists tackling theseissues are trying to change the world, to make a better place. Examples:a corrupt regime, organized crime, rampant poverty and disease, a gen-erations-long war.

Impending Issues: Tese are thingsthat have begun to rear their uglyheads, and threaten to make theworld worse i they come to pass orachieve a goal. Protagonists tacklingthese issues are trying to keep theworld rom slipping into chaos ordestruction. Examples: an invasionrom a neighboring country, the

sudden rising o a zombie hoard-horde, the imposition o martial law.

Te deault number o issues in a Fategame is two: Either two existing issues(or a story solely about trying to makethe world a better place), two impend-ing issues (or a story about strivingto save people rom threats), or one o

each. Te latter option is common inction: think about the stalwart heroeswho work against some impendingdoom while already discontent with theworld around them.

Game and Character Creation

involve making aspects. I

youre new to Fate, read over

the Aspects and Fate Points

chapter (page 59).

CHANGING THE

NUMBER OF ISSUES

O course, you dont have to

use the deault number o two

issues i you dont want toone

or three also works, but it will

change the resulting game a

bit. A game with one issue will

revolve around just that issue

a quest to rid a city o evil or

one o trying to stop evil rom

happening. A game with three

will show o a busy world, one

where the characters resourc-

es are strained against multiple

ronts. I you think you need

to ocus down or expand the

scope o your game, talk it over

with the group and start by

tweaking the number o issues

to best t what youre ater.


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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: theres an existing issue o the 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 an existing issue.

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

o happening, something Really Bad. They come up an impend-

ing 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. TheScarTriad2.TheDoomthatIsto

Come


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Making the Issues into AspectsAs we said earlier, issues are aspects. urnthe ideas you have into aspects that youcould conceivably use at dierent times

in the story (oten as compels to theprotagonists or as invocations or oes,but clever players will always nd otheruses or aspects). Write them down, andthen i you need to add a little bit toremember the context or some details,write those down alongside the aspects.

Amanda writes down The Scar

Triad and The Doom that Is to

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 o on this or now. Youll get quitea bit o practice making aspects or your characters. Once youre done with

character creation, turn these issue ideas into aspects.

CHANGING ISSUES

IN PLAY

The Long Game chapter

(page 261) will talk about

this in detail, but issues can

change as the game pro-

gresses. Sometimes, the issue

evolves into something new.

Sometimes, the characters will

successully ght against it,

and itll be gone. And some-

times, new issues will emerge.

So the ones you make are just

what youre starting o with.

*TheScarTriad

Theyreintoracket

eeringand

othernastystuff.

*The Doom that Isto Come

Led by the Cult of Tranquility


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Drilling DownYou can also use issues to esh out important, but smaller pieces o yoursetting. An important location (a major city or nation, or even a memorablelocal restaurant) or organization (a knightly order, a kings court, or a corpo-

ration) can have impending and/or current issues as well.We recommend you start with one issue per element, just to keep things

rom getting too bogged down, but you can always add more as the cam-paign progresses. Likewise, you dont have to do this right nowi you nda setting element becoming more important later in the game, you can giveit 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.

The Cult ofTranquility

Issue: two conflicting prophecies


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FACES AND PLACES

Decide who the important people and locations are in the setting.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 an exemplar 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 need 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 unold, 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 cowing to 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.

NPC Types

p. 219

Secret Aspects

p. 83


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MAKE PROTAGONISTS

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 tothe aces and places you named in the previous step. I its dicult to relate

the characters to the setting, then youmay want to rethink your protagonistsor revise your game so it will make abetter t or the new characters.

When youre making characters,youll also discover a bit more about thesetting as people talk about who theircharacters know and what their char-acters do. I anything comes up that

should be added to your game creationnotes, do so beore pushing orwardwith playing the game.

SKILLS AND

YOUR SETTING

A big part o your setting is

what people can do in it. The

various skills in Skills and

Stunts (page 89) cover

many situations, but youll want

to look over them to see i any

dont apply or i theres a skillthat you need to add.

This is covered in more detail

in the Extras chapter (p. 279).

HugotheChar

itable

LieutenantintheScar

Triad

*EveryoneinR

ivertonFears

The PrimarchCult of Tranquility leader

*

KaleWestal

ShopownerinRiverton

*StubbornBecauseImRight

CharacterCreation

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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 otherthisestablishes 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 ways toestablish connections between the char-acters 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 talkabout your characters, make suggestionsto each 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 phases worksheet in the back o this book or downloadable at

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

build your characters back-story, a process that takes place over threephases. Once you have that gured out, esh out your characters skills andstunts. Ten youre ready to play!

WHEN CREATING YOUR

CHARACTER:

Aspects: Come up with your

characters high concept and

trouble aspects.

Name: Name your character.

First Phase: Describe yourcharacters rst adventure.

Second and Third Phases:

Describe how youve crossed

paths with two other

characters.

Aspects: Write down one

aspect or each o these

three experiences.

Skills: Pick and rate your

skills.

Stunts: Pick or invent one to

three stunts.

Reresh: Determine how

many ate points you start

play with.

Stress and Consequences:

Determine how much o a

beating your character can

take.

Arcs

p. 262

High Concept

p. 38

Trouble

p. 40
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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

As youre making stu up or

your characters, youll also

make stu up about the world

around them. Youll end up

talking about NPCs, organiza-

tion, places, things like that.

Thats antastic!

You might also come up with

a character concept that adds

something undamental to the

world, like saying I want to

play a wizard when no one

talked about magic yet. When

that happens, discuss with the

group i thats a part o your

setting and make any neces-

sary adjustments.

High

Concept

p. 38

Trouble

p. 40


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IF YOU GET STUMPED

ON ASPECTS

The golden rule o making as-pects in character creation:

you can always change it later.

I youre struggling to make an

aspect, write out the idea in as

many words as you need to, in

order to get it down on paper

in the rst place. I an aspect

pops up ater you write it down,

great! I not, maybe someoneelse at the table can help you

come up with an aspect. And

i youre still stuck, leave it or

nowyoull have plenty o time

during play to rene it.

And i you really need to, its

okay to leave some blank. Look

at Quick Character Creation

(page 56) or more on leav-ing parts o your character

sheet blank.

High ConceptYour 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 would ndodd: Wizard Private Eye, Singing Knight o the Round, Monster-slaying Accountant.

You could play o o an importantrelationship to your amily or anorganization youre deeply involvedwith (especially i the amily or

organization are well-connected orwell-known): Black Sheep o theTompson Family, Low-level Tugor the Syndicate, Scar riads Patsyin Riverton.

Tese arent the only ways to play withyour high concept, but theyll get youstarted. But dont stress out over itthe

worst thing you can do is make it intotoo big o a deal. Youll come up with ourother aspects ater this oneyou donthave to get it all nailed right now.

High concepts can have overlap amongthe characters, as long as you have some-thing to distinguish how your character isdierent rom the others. I high conceptsmust be similar among all the characters,

such as i the GM pitches an all-swords-man story, its crucial that the troublesdier.

Aspects

p. 60

Trouble

p. 40


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Lenny and Lily were settled on 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 mysteri-

ous name: Disciple o the Ivory Shroud. (And now we have a bit

more setting made: 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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TroubleIn 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 existance?rouble brings chaos into a characters lie and drives him into interest-

ing situations. Teyre broken up into two types: personal struggles andproblematic 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 related to your high concepti youhave Lead Detective, saying your trouble is Te Criminal UnderworldHates Meis a dull trouble, because we already assume that with your high

concept. (O course, you can turn that up a notch to make it personal, likeDon Giovanni personally hates me, to make it work.)

Beore you go any urther, talk with the GM about your characters trou-ble. Make sure youre both on the same page in terms o what it means.Both o you may want to look at how this aspect might be invoked orcompelled one way to make sure youre both seeing the same thingsor togive each other ideas. Te GM 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. Hes 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

Since your trouble is an aspect, its something you should also be

able to invoke, right? Because weve been so ocused on how this

complicates your characters lie, its easy to miss how a trouble also

helps your character.

In short, your experience with your trouble makes you a stron-

ger person in that regard. Dealing with personal struggles leaves

you vulnerable to being tempted or cajoled, but it can also give

you a sense o inner strength, because you know the sort o person

you want to be. Problematic relationships oten cause trouble, but

people do learn hard lessons rom the troubles they deal with. They

especially learn how to maneuver around many o the smaller issues

their troubles present.

Lennys The Manners o a Goatcould be used to the groups ben-

et. Maybe he turns that up intentionally, to draw attention away

rom Lilys character sneaking around.

With Lilys Tempted by Shiny Things, we could reasonable say

that Lilys character is well-acquainted with the value o various

shiny things (and well-acquainted with getting caught and locked

in prison, so she knows a thing or two about escaping).

Ryans Rivals in the Collegia Arcana can come in handy when

dealing with rivals he knows wellhe knows what to expect rom

their tactics. He could also use this aspect to gain aid rom people

who share his rivals.

Invoking

Aspects

p. 72


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INTRO TO CHOOSING ASPECTS

A lot o character creation ocuses on coming up with aspects

some are called high concepts, some are called troubles, but theybasically all work the same way. Aspects are one o the most impor-

tant parts o your character, since they dene who he is and they

provide ways or you to generate ate points and to spend those

ate points on bonuses. I you have time, you really might want to

read the whole chapter we have dedicated to aspects beore you go

through the process o character creation.

In case youre pressed or time, here are some guidelines or

choosing aspects.

Aspects which dont help you tell a good story (by giving you suc-cess when you need it and by drawing you into danger and action

when the story needs it) arent doing their job. Those aspects which

push you into conictand help you excel once youre therewill

be among your best and most-used.

Aspects need to be both useul and dangerousallowing you to

help shape the story and generating lots o ate pointsand they

should never be boring. The best aspect suggests both ways to use

it and ways it can complicate your situation. Aspects that cannot be

used or either o those are likely to be dull indeed.Bottom line: i you want to maximize the power o your aspects,

maximize their interest.

When youre told you need to come up with an aspect, you might

experience brain reeze. I you eel stumped or decent ideas or as-

pects, theres a big section ocusing on several methods or coming

up with good aspect ideas inAspects and Fate Points.

I your character doesnt have many connections to the other

characters, talk with the group about aspects that might tie your

character in with theirs. This is the explicit purpose o Phases Twoand Threebut that doesnt mean you cant do it elsewhere as well.

I you ultimately cant break the block by any means, dont orce

itleave it completely blank. You can always come back and ll out

that aspect later, or let it develop during playas with the Quick

Character Creation rules.

Ultimately, its much better to leave an aspect slot blank than to

pick one that isnt inspiring and evocative to play. I youre picking

aspects youre not invested in, theyll end up being noticeable drags

on your un.

Aspects and

Fate Points

p. 59

Phase Twop. 48

Phase Three

p. 50

Quick

Character

Creation

p. 56


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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 interest-ing and adventurous. Te secondand third are about how the otherplayer characters got involved in

that adventure, and how you gotinvolved in theirs.

Tis is an opportunity to tell astory about your characters. Eachphase will ask you to write downtwo things. Use the character work-sheet (at the back o this book, or atFateRPG.com) to write down thosedetails.

First, write a summary o what happened in that phase. A couple osentences to a paragraph should suceyou dont want to establishtoo much detail up ront, because you might have to adjust details inlater phases.

Second, write an aspect that refects some part o that phase. Teaspect can cover the general vibe rom the summary, or it can ocus onsome piece o it that still resonates with your character in the presentday.

FORVETERANS

I youre used to other Fate

games, youll see that there

are ewer aspects in this edi-

tion. We ound that its easier

to come up with ve good as-

pects than seven or ten. And

because there are game as-

pects and you can make scene

aspects, you shouldnt be short

o things to invoke or compel!


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Phase One: Your AdventureTe rst phase is your characters rst true adventurehis rst book, epi-sode, case, movie, whateverstarring him.

Ten, you need to think up and write down the basic details o this story

or the phases summary. Te story doesnt need to have a lot o detailinact, a pair o sentences works pretty wellbecause your ellow players willadd in their own details 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 answering

them, 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?

A note on timing: Because two other characters will be involved, thisadventure needs to be something that isnt so ar back that you havent metthose characters yet. I one o you has decided that you recently showed upin the story, then the adventures involving that person happened recently.I some o you have been riends (or old rivals!) or a long time, then thoseadventures can take place urther in the past. Your best bet is to not make

these adventures specic in time; once you know whos involved in yourstory, you can gure out that part.


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CHARACTER

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47CHAPTER 3

Lenny goes through Phase One.

He looks at the story questions to

help him gure the events o the

phase out, 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 show up and beat Landon

within an inch o his lie.

His bleeding body is then ound

by a veteran soldier named Finn

who heals Landons wounds and

encourages him to join the town

militia where he can 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 esh out more about the setting.

PHASES AND

INDEX CARDS

In phase one, you each came

up with your own adventure.

In phases two and three, youre

going to trade those stories

around as other players char-

acters get involved. Figuring

out how your character ts

into someone elses story can

be hard to do i youve handed

your character phase work-

sheet to another player, so we

recommend that you use index

cards (or whatever scraps o

paper you have).

During the rst phasewhen

youre writing your adventure

down on your worksheettake

a card and write your charac-

ters name and adventure de-

scription. Then youll pass the

card around during the second

and third phases so people can

contribute to your story. That

way, youll still have your work-

sheet when youre writing your

contributions and aspects, and

other people will know what

stories theyre supposed to

hook into.


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Phases Two: Crossing PathsIn 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 has managed to makesome part o the adventure uncertain (possibly because o an issue ortrouble aspect). O course, since that happened in the past, we knowyou got out o it all right (or mostly all right, as indicated by the aspectyou take). When describing this, dont worry about how the situationis resolvedleave 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 aides 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, just howyour character takes care o it. Descriptions like Cynere holds o oesto give Landon time to escape or Zird uses he arcane knowledge toask the ghosts or inormation are enough to give us an idea o what

happens.

Complicating and solving: Here, your character either solves one situ-ation but creates another, or creates a situation but later solves a di-erent one. Mash up the two ideas, using the word later in betweenthem, such as: Landon starts a ght with the Scar riad while Zirdis trying to lay low. Later, he helps Zird by ghting o undead whileZirds doing a spell.


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CHARACTER

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49CHAPTER 3

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 or the Triad

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

his athers 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.

Landongetsintoabar

fightwithsome

ofthescartriad.Heisrobbedofhis

swordandbeatenseverely.Hi

slifeis

savedbyaveteransoldiernam

edOld

Finn.FinnhelpstohealLando

n,clean

himup,andenlisthiminthetow

nmilitia.

*IOweOldFinnEverything

When Landon tells Cynere his story,she takes pity on him and decides to

help him recover his lost sword.

*Sucker for a Sob Story


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Phase Three: Crossing Paths AgainOnce everyones done with phase two,youll trade adventures with whatevermethod you chose beore, so long as

everyone has an adventure that isnttheirs or the one they just contributedto. Ten youre ready or phase three,where youll contribute to this secondadventure. Follow the directions romphase two.

Lily gets Zirds starting adventure,

a pretty straightorward romp

where Zird battles his Collegia

rivals to obtain a magical artiact

and return it to its rightul place.

She decides that she compli-

cates that situation, by want-

ing 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 willinginess 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 veaspects and a good chunk o background!

FEWER THAN THREE

PLAYERS?

The phase trio assumes that

youll have at least three play-

ers. I you have only two, con-

sider the ollowing ideas:

Skip phase three and just

make up another aspect,

either now or in play.

Come up with a third, joint-

story together, and write

about how you each eature

in that one.

Have the GM also make a

character. The GM wont

actually play this character

alongside the PCs, though

it should just be an NPC.

Such an NPC can be a greatvehicle or kicking o a cam-

paigni a riend theyre tied

to during character creation

mysteriously disappears or

even dies, thats instant uel

or drama.

I you only have one player,

skip phases two and three,

leaving the aspects blank to be

lled in during play.

CynerestealsZirdsartifact.

EventuallyitreturnstoZirds

handsandthetwogainamutual

respectforeachother.

*IveGotZirdsBack


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CHARACTER

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51CHAPTER 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

Pase Three Aspect

SKILLS STUNTS & REFRESH

STRESS & CONSEQUENCES

OneatGreat(+4) TwoatGood(+3) reeatFair(+2) FouratAverage(+1)

OneStunt=Refreshof3 TwoStunts=Refreshof2 reeStunts=Refreshof1

AverageorFairPhysiquegivesyoua3-pointphysicalstressbox. GoodorGreatPhysiquegivesyou3-and4-pointphysicalstressboxes. Superb+Physiquegivesyou3-and4-pointphysicalstressboxesandanadditionalmildconsequenceslot. AverageorFairWillgivesyoua3-pointmentalstressbox. GoodorGreatWillgivesyou3-and4-pointmentalstressboxes. Superb+Willgivesyou3-and4-pointmentalstressboxesandanadditionalmildconsequenceslot.

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 DiananSisterhood. He gets cut across one eye, leaving him half-blinded andscarred. Later, she provides him the chance for vengeance by helpingher steal an artifact from them.

An Eye for an Eye


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SKILLS

Pick and rate your characters skills.Once you have mapped out your characters phases and chosen aspects,

its time to pick skills. Youll nd descriptions and details or each skill in theSkills and Stuntschapter.

Your skills orm a pyramid, witha single skill rated at Great (+4)which well usually reer to as the peakskilland more skills at each lowerrating going down to Average (+1):

One Great (+4) skill

wo Good (+3) skills

Tree Fair (+2) skills

Four Average (+1) skills

Mediocre (+0) is the deault or anyskill you do not take. Sometimes, a skillwill state that its unavailable i a charac-ter didnt take it; in those cases, its not

even at Mediocre.

Zird knows that hes not like the other PCs in terms o skills, so he

looks to distance himsel rom them as much as possible.

He takes Lore as his peak skill, ollowed by Rapport and

Cratsor a wizard, Zird considers

himsel a airly social sort. He takes

Athletics, Will, and Investigation

because he gures hell need them

in his line o work, and a smatter-ing o other skills either because

none o his riends have them, or

because he wants a positive score

in them when everyones sepa-

rated. That ends up being Fighting,

Resources, Contacts, and Notice.

Note: a ew skills have special ben-

ets, notably those skills that aectthe number o stress boxes and conse-quences you have available. I you knowyou want a certain number o those, putthose skills on the pyramid rst.

Deault

Skill List

p. 100

Stress and

Consequences

p. 54

FORVETERANS

WHY THE PYRAMID?

I youve played The Dresden

Files RPG, you know that we

use skill columns or that in-

stead o the pyramid.

In this build o Fate, we

wanted character creation tobe as quick and accessible as

possible, so we went with the

pyramid as standard. I you

want to use the columns, go

aheadyou get 20 skill points.

The skill column didnt com-

pletely go away. Its just re-

served or advancement. See

page 268.

THE SKILL CAP

By deault, we make Great (+4)

the highest rated skill PCs start

with. As characters advance,they can improve beyond this

cap, but its more difcult than

improving skills rated below

the cap (see Major Milestones,

page 270).

I youre making a game

about superheroes, pandimen-

sional creatu

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