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FATE Games Roleplaying

Centurions: DeLeon

DeLeon

Aspects
Latin Ways
Dad taught me everything about flying
Flying Ace
Lady Killer
Could Fly Swiss Cheese
Eagle Eyes
Man-O-War, his plane
Skills
+5: Pilot
+4: Engineering, Guns
+3: Alertness, Intimidation, Might
+2: Athletics, Leadership, Resolve, Survival
+1: Burglary, Drive, Endurance, Gambling, Rapport
Stunts
Barnstormer
Death from Above
Flying Ace
Personal Aircraft (Man-o-War)
Fly By Night
Health: 4
Composure: 4
Refresh Rate: 5
Current Fate Points: 5

Man O War: Detachable Pontoons, Armed

DeLeon grew up with his father, a plane maker, who inspired DeLeon with a passion for flying from a young age. He never knew his mother and avoided school as best he could, flying with his father to remote corners of Portugal. They moved to the US, where his Latin Ways intrigued the girls and charmed other boys. When he turned 13, his father died crashing an experimental plane.

With no one keeping track of him, DeLeon joined the military as an aviator. During the war he relegated to gunner… until the day his pilot had to bow out at the last minute due to a sudden flu. They turned to DeLeon, who amazed them with his expert flying. Soon he was a decorated Ace.

DeLeon in Around the World in 60 Days
Guest Starring: Thomas Kretchman and The Shamrock
While filling his plane, DeLeon spotted a flash over the hill. Shots burst out around him; he threw the propeller and got in as it rolled forward under fire. He barely made it off the ground and turned to take on the ambushers when a plane dove toward him out of the sky. Despite several shots piercing Man-o-War, he managed to maneuver, blinding the following plane with the smoke pouring from his plane, before rising up and finishing off his ambusher.

Later, DeLeon hired Thomas to carry his plane across a long gap in the Pacific where refueling would have been difficult. Enemy agents tried to storm the decks of the Princess Greta to sabotage DeLeon’s plane… but were thwarted when Thomas broke out a stash of tommy guns and chased them over the side. The Shamrock, a fellow passenger, noticed a few raiders trying to sabotage Man-o-War and joined the fight!

Categories
FATE Games Roleplaying

Centurions: Micky “The Shamrock” O’Sullivan

Micky “The Shamrock” O’Sullivan

Aspects
I’m a Mountain
Driven
Mob Enemy
Darling of the Shamrock Fight Club
Soft Spot for Kids
Real Men are Straightforward
Can Smell Sabotage
Loyal to Friends
Devil May Care
Skills
+5: Fists
+4: Might, Athletics
+3: Endurance, Intimidation, Weapons
+2: Alertness, Guns, Resources, Resolve
+1: Academics, Drive, Gambling, Rapport, Survival
Stunts
Brawler
Dirty Fighter
Crippling Blow
Wrestler
Hammerlock
Health: 5
Composure: 4
Refresh Rate: 5
Current Fate Points: 5

Micky grew up not knowing his parents, in an orphanage. His Irish heritage is obvious, and he was always a size larger than his peers, becoming a playground enforcer. His natural talent for fighting soon made him famous on the streets of Brooklyn. His childhood was desperately poor, lighting a fire for wealth in Micky’s veins.

In his teens he found his way to a boxing club and began to make a good living. The sports world took notice as rose quickly in rankings, concealing his true age behind his large frame. He loyally joined the army, but found that secret patrons wanted him kept out of harm’s way– he spent his days teaching hand to hand combat to new recruits. One day he came across a group of men smuggling supplies out of the camp; alone and unarmed he stopped a half dozen men. This brought him to the attention of Colonel Wilkensen, a member of the Century Club.

The Shamrock in Fists and Dollars
Guest Starring: Alastair Carstairs and Jack Hex
The Shamrock was scheduled for the super heavyweight boxing match of the century in France, pitted against the Turk. On the way over, Jack Hex stopped several attempts on The Shamrock, ambushes to prevent him from making the fight. Jack was a motivated defender of Shamrock, since he had his life savings invested in Shamrock’s victory. If the opposition had only known Jack was on the job, they’d never have wasted their time making the futile attempts.

Reporters from around the world witnessed a 12 round bout where the Shamrock won, despite the Turk’s corner cheating. Alastair noticed the opponents slipping a drug into The Shamrock’s water bucket. Taking matters into his own hands, Alastair cautiously foiled the plot by pretending to trip, spilling the bucket of poisoned water.

The Shamrock’s victory secured the mortgage for the orphanage he’d grown up in and preserved the Shamrock Boxing Club building.

Categories
FATE Games Roleplaying

Centurions: Jack Hex

Jack Hex

Aspects
Son of Billy the Kid
Born in the Saddle
Master of Disguise
Anything for a Friend
In the Nick of Time
Twisted R Ranch Rivalry
Always Bets the Farm
Got The Shamrock’s Back
Hero of the Mexican War
Skills
+5: Guns
+4: Gambling, Survival
+3: Athletics, Fists, Weapons
+2: Alertness, Endurance, Resources, Resolve
+1: Contacting, Drive, Leadership, Rapport, _______
Stunts
Quick Draw
Winnings
Hell Bent for Leather
Two Gun Joe
Lightning Hands
Health: 4
Composure: 4
Refresh Rate: 5
Current Fate Points: 5

Jack was raised by his Pa in the ways of a gunfighter. Both were surprised when Jack bested his father at age 12. A horse ranch is a great place to grow up; Jack learned a lot from the local Indians who worked on the ranch.

Jack eventually fell in love with a local girl, but the call of glory was strong. He ran off to war, while she pledged to wait for him. Jack rode in the cavalry in North Africa, quickly rising to the rank of Captain. While serving, he got bad news: his sister had married into the twisted R family.

Jack Hex in the Fall of Pancho Villa
Guest Starring: The Shamrock and DeLeon
Seeking the day when the way of the gun was a way of life, Jack accepts Blackjack Pershing’s invitation to quell the Pancho Villa uprising. Using his skill as a horseman and gunfighter, Jack confounded Villa’s army by cutting off supply lines and beating his best men.

DeLeon contributed by scouting from the sky, strafing an enemy formation, and flying back to Jack Hex with Pancho’s location. The Shamrock joined up with Jack and cleared away a bunch of rebels standing between Jack and Pancho. Jack took on Pancho, defeating him and earning a congressional medal of honor for his actions.

Categories
FATE Games Roleplaying

Centurions: Alistair Carstairs

Alistair Carstairs

Aspects
Mask of Quetzalcoatl
Single Minded
Sucker for a Pretty Face
Mask of Thor
Enemy: Devlin VonStein
Clumsy on Cue
Mask of Ra
Skills
+5: Mysteries
+4: Resources, Weapons
+3: Academics, Resolve, Stealth
+2: Alertness, Science, Contacting, Survival
+1: Athletics, Guns, ______x3
Stunts
Artificer
Psychic
Secrets of the Arcane (Mythology)
Herbal Remedies
Rare Artifact: Mask of Thor
Health: 3
Composure: 5
Refresh Rate: 5
Current Fate Points: 5

His mother, a successful and beautiful debutant could always get him to do anything with a smile– a trait that has continued to haunt him through his life. Alistair was with his father on an Aztec dig in Central America when he fell down a shaft in a pyramid, and knocked over an Aztec mask which somehow landed on his face. The glowing mask offered him power…

Alastair ran away to join the army, enlisting as a foot soldier, in contrast to his older brother and father. They each served as officers, directing the war safely behind the lines. He was in the trenches when a canister of mustard gas landed nearby and crept over the trenches. A wind sprang up, saving Alastair and his companions… and bringing him to the attention of Grandpa Merlin, who inducted him into the Century Club.

Alastair Carstairs versus Devlin Vonstein in The Mask of Ra
Guest Starring: Thomas Kretschmann and Jack Hex

The call of the Mask of Ra lured Alastair and Devlin into a race for the power of the gods. Stormy Mediterranean seas, rogue sandstorms, desert nomads, and Devlin VonStein conspired to thwart our hero.

When Alastair took the Greta from London to Cairo, neither Alastair or Thomas suspected that thugs had stowed away inside a secondary cargo crate. When they made their move, the ship was trying to thread a stormy gates of Gibraltar!

In the desert, Jack decoyed a band of nomad attackers away on a two day detour, finally making a stand while dressed as Alastair to draw their fire.

Categories
FATE Games Roleplaying

Centurions: Thomas Kretschmann

Thomas Kretschmann

Aspects
The Black Sheep of the Family
“I’ve Got the Sea in My Blood”
“Damn those torpedoes! All Ahead FULL!”
Decorated by the Kaiser – Cross of Iron
Cutting it Close
Married to Greta, the “Not-So-Trampy” Freighter
“I’ve Got an Angle”
“I Have Some Friends in Low Places”
“Well, For a Few Dollars More….”
TBD
Skills
+5: Rapport
+4: Contacting, Leadership
+3: Deceit, Fists, Sea Captain
+2: Athletics, Alertness, Empathy, Guns
+1: Endurance, Engineering, Investigation, Resolve, Resources
Stunts
Linguist: German (N), English, TBD, TBD, TBD, TBD
Crazy Helmsman (i.e. Barnstormer) – “Greta will FIT!”
Danger Sense
“I Know a Guy Who Knows a Guy”
Personal Gadget: S.S. Prinzessin Greta
Health: 4
Composure: 4
Refresh Rate: 5
Current Fate Points: 5

S.S. Prinzessin Greta – Futurization (Faster Turbines), Rugged (Built to Last), and Secret Compartments

Thomas left home in his teens to live a life at sea. Thomas did not maintain contact with his estranged father, a wealthy Prussian industrialist, or his uncaring and detached mother. The only member of his family that he maintains a correspondence with is his sister Inga.

While serving on a merchant vessel, he was incorporated into the merchant arm of the Kriegsmarine during WWI. Thomas was made a junior officer due to his abilities, family name, and Prussian heritage. While serving as second officer of the merchantman Hamburg, Thomas took charge of the ship when the Captain and First Officer were killed during an attempt to break a Britsh blockade in the Baltic. Tom’s luck enabled the ship to break through and deliver the medical supplies needed by the German Army. He was given an Iron Cross by the Kaiser himself. His parents did not attend this ceremony and they kept Inga from attending as well.

After the war, Thomas signed on with a freighter, the S.S. Austria, owned by a salty old sea-dog named Karl Lundtz. Lundtz was a friend to the Century Club, his father having been a member in it. Lundtz noted the date of Thomas birth and realized that he would be a prime candidate for the Century Club. With that secretly in mind, Karl became Thomas’ mentor and he soon realized that Thomas had some special gifts in dealing with people.. There were many adventures and it wasn’t too long before Thomas was recruited into the Century Club. After a while, he became the First Officer aboard the newly launched S.S. Prinzessin Greta. When Lundtz passed away, he left the new ship to Thomas, much to the dismay of the wealthy ship-building Lundtz family, who had wanted to sell it to the Weimer Republic or another government as a proto-type.

Thomas Kretschmann in “A Tale of Two Princesses”
Guest Starring: Alastair Carstairs and DeLeon

The Russian princess Anastasia, fleeing communist agents from the Port of Leningrad, begged for passage aboard the Greta. When the Russian navy sorties to cut off the Princess Greta, Kretschmann realizes that escaping with the last of the Romonovs will be cutting it close.

Alastair Carstairs had booked passage to protect the fleeing princess and escort her to England. When the Russian navy sought out the Greta, Alastair called upon the Mask of Thor and divine mist cloaked the ship, concealing it until it made port in Norway.

There, Thomas was tipped off that two Russian ships lurked just outside of port, waiting to snare the Greta and recover Anastasia. Thomas tracked down DeLeon, who chivalrously flew the fleeing princess out of Norway. Thomas continued on course and allowed the Russians to board his ship in a futile search for the Princess who was already winging her way to London.

Categories
FATE Games

Assessments, Declarations, and Manuevers

From http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FateRPG/message/16305

Assessments, Declarations, and Maneuvers are all the same action, the way I look at the system. As individual applications, they’re framed differently. Assessments ask the GM to come up with something that in the story-space is already true, just discovered. Declarations empower the player to come up with something that was already true. Maneuvers empower the *character* to assert something new and now true.

Fred

And from Grant: If the GM is amenable, an Assessment may also allow a player character to ‘discover’ an element that the GM hadnĀ“t even thought of previously. In this manner the Assessment works like a Declaration (see below) with the player stating that his character has identified a weakness, Aspect or other feature. The GM sets a Difficulty for the Skill roll to see if the character was correct in his Assessment, or whether he was mistaken. If the roll fails, the GM may wish to impose a temporary Aspect on the assessing character to reflect this, for example ‘Mistakenly believes the security cameras to have a blind spot’.

Pulp theft caper

Categories
FATE Games

FATE one-shot advice

(From the FATE mailing list: this post)

I posted most of this earlier to this list, so look through the archives for that thread, as there were other good hints. But here are my tips for one shot/con games.

Characters –
I would shy away from full chargen at the table. My local group loves to spend a whole evening generating characters, but it’ll take too long in a convention slot.

Use partial to full pregen characters. Don’t choose stunts at the table, again it will take too long. Either you pick them before or go stuntless, by choosing good aspects(which is the path I prefer).

At a minimum choose the top skills (the +5, and the 2 +4s for each characters). Let them fill in the rest, but also allow them to put them in in play so you can get going.

Pregenerate several aspects for each character. Make sure you have a list of them and write down possible places in the adventure that you’ll be able to compel them. You won’t be able to track more than one or two aspects per player at a table of 6 for very long. Have some compels up your sleeve and any others are gravy.

Cut their fate points to 5, and compel early and often. Explain self compels, and try to get them to the work for you.

Use the faster damage rules on the wiki if you want to speed up combat.

The Adventure –
In a 4 hours slot with pregens and 5 players I usually get either 3 bigger or 4 smaller encounters. Not much more.
Be sure to design the adventure so that you can drop whatever is needed out to get to the Big Bad at the end. Players are more forgiving of plot problems than not getting to the triumph stage.

Start them in the middle of something. Ignore the “meet in the bar/clubhouse/ diner and plan” stage (players will overthink it, and spend too much of the precious game time looking for things that aren’t there.) Get them into the action as soon as possible.

Jeff