Fate Core: Building Eternia pt 14

First Adventure: The Diamond Ray of Disappearance

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v78/gbagok/Book_of_Evil/skel_hex_fight.jpg

Every adventure of Faternia has an Aspect attached to it. This Aspect is the lesson of the day. it can get Compelled and Invoked like any other Aspect. It will be different in every adventure.

For the diamond Ray of Disappearance the Lesson Aspect is this: There are no shortcuts in life

Background
 The Diamond Ray of Disappearance was locked away by the Elders long ago. Deep within the Ice Caves of Chernohg. It was a punitive tool in the ancient days. When a villain proved too dangerous to be locked away in a conventional prison, the Diamond Ray would be used to lock the Villain away in a dimension of timelessness. When the elders left Eternia, many such artifacts were left behind. Skeletor has found the Diamond Ray in its hidden location and seeks to use it to take over Eternia.

If you wish to run this adventure a bit longer, or add a little more depth to the game world you can allow the Masters to discover Skeletor's plot earlier, perhaps the Ray was guarded by someone, and they run to Grayskull to let the heroes know what it was that happened. this can lead to research and investigatory scenes, if your group is into that.also it will mean that Skeletor and his minions will have a larger fight on there hands, than in the original plan.
Scene 1: Diversion at the palace
The Masters of the Universe are attending a party held by King Randor at the palace. take some time to establish what they are doing and what they are interested in at the party. The party is interrupted by an attack on the city(roll Observation overcome action vs a Difficulty of +2  to avoid surprise, there is a bit of noise from the party). Trap Jaw and Beastman are attacking the city. If they are attacked they will flee after the first round of combat. If the characters pursue it becomes a chase.

The chase will be treated as a stress track, with four boxes. It defends with the lower of Beastman or Trapjaws Ride skill. once the chases stress track is filled then the chase is over and Trap jaw and Beastman spring their trap. A giant Snake and four robot drones(chompers). They fight until defeated.

Scene Aspects
Party: Loud and crowded
Chase: Canyons and trees
Overall: Moonlit night
Scene 2: Bait and Switch
If the players did not chase Beastman and Trap Jaw, or if some did and some did not,  then they will become involved in the next scene earlier than if they had. The attack by his minions was simply to lure the Masters out of the castle and away. While this is going on Skeletor and Evil-Lyn will be invading the castle. Skeletor will use the Diamond Ray of Disappearance on the king and queen, as well as any masters that are in his way. If the character have been chasing Trap Jaw and Beastman then they find out about the plot during the fight, as Trap Jaw mocks them about how they were fooled into leaving the palace unguarded.

The first blast of the Diamond Ray takes out the King and Queen, if the players come up with a plan to stop it, you can let them stop it, or offer them a Fate point as a compel on the adventure aspect to let Skeletor win for now. If there is a fight, it is possible that one or more of the characters will get zapped by the Diamond Ray. describe to them an existence of formlessness, where the ancient evils of Eternia were locked away. They can only do mental actions in this state. If you want you can have some of the ancient evils attack them or trick them. or you can leave that alone and focus on escape.

Scene Aspects
Grand hall:  
Tables chairs and food everywhere
Firelight
Great pillars surround
Scene 3: The Diamond Ray
After the King and queen are dealt with Skeletor declares himself King and threatens everyone with the Ray if they do not agree with him. If the Masters did not chase and fight Beastman and Trap Jaw, or if they did but left in the middle to try and save the king, those two miscreants appear to hail Skeletor triumphant. The players could do many things at this point.

If they research the ray they find that people could be brought back if the diamond is destroyed. this would be an overcome action of +4 with the knowledge skill. Or if they ask the sorceress she will tell them this as well.

If they just attack Skeletor, then there is a combat, and if they win they can then work on getting their friends out of the Diamond. this will be a tough fight, as there are four evil warriors plus three chompers and Panthor. they could win, but it would be very difficult. if they fail I recommend some kind of easily escapeable death trap, or put them in the dungeons of Eternia(for those that lost, but not to the Diamond Ray). That way they can escape and find a new way to win.
Scene 4: Disappearance
If the characters manage to defeat Skeletor and his Evil Warriors, or if they manage to get their hands on the Diamond Ray through some other means, they have to decide what to do with it. If they break it, then their friends come back, but there is also the possibility that all the evil beings stored in it will come back as well. I could see that as an interesting game changer, so you will probablywant to think over the ramifications of that. with everything back to teh wayit was(maybe) you can then do the wind down scene, ask the masters how they celebrate beating skeletor and see if any of the Masters have been changed by their experience(minor Milestone)
Cast of Villains
Skeletor
Evil lyn
Trap jaw
Beastman
Chompers(nameless NPCs)
+1(Average) Fighting
one hit takes them out
Giant Snake
+2(Fair) Fighting, +1(Average) Fitness and Wild
One shift box of stress


Diamond Ray of Disappearance: Anyone who looks at at gets attacked by a shooting skill of +6. It can be defended normally. It attacks every round. Anyone it stresses out vanishes to a dimension of Timelessness. it only has one stress box and then it is destroyed.

Friendly NPCs of Eternia

http://www.he-man.org/assets/images/home_news/king-randor_1280_full.jpg

King Randor
When his brother, Keldor tried to take over the kingdom and began the Great Unrest Randor had just been proclaimed king. He spent the first years of his kingship fighting a seemingly endless war. He knows the terror of war and seeks to bring peace to all Eternia. He values discourse and compromise and will not stand for Evil. His only real disappointment is his son Adam, who seems to have no aims or goals in life.

High concept: King of Eternia
Trouble: The darkness has returned
Motivation: I will see peace and unity

http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/0/77/310400-35333-queen-marlena_large.jpg

Queen Marlena
Earth's best astronaut, Marlena was the test pilot for a new space craft with an experimental drive system.When she tested it out, something went wrong. She fell through a portal in space and crashed on Eternia. King Randor found her and nursed her back to health. She joined the royal gaurd and helped Randor end the conflict. During teh Battles she and Randor fell in love, when the war was over, they married and she had a son, Adam. Because earth is Larger than Eternia it has a much higher gravity. Marlena is stronger and faster than the native Eternian humans. She is an expert pilot and a skilled soldier.

High Concept: Earthborn Queen of Eternia
Trouble: My family is not safe
Motivation: I must do what is right, no matter the cost
Sorceress

Fate Core: Building Eternia pt 13

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Stratos
High Concept: King of the Bird People of the Misty Mountains
Trouble: My people, My heart
Stratos is the king of Avion. He is a close ally of King Randor and when Skeletor threatened he answered the call. Now he is a Master of the Universe, second only to Duncan. Often he must be away to deal with the issues of his people. He believes in a united Eternia, and he will stand with Randor against the forces of evil.
Origin: The greater good
Like all Bird People he has wings and the ability to fly. He also has augmented tat with his rocket pack, allowing him to fly higher, faster, and longer than he otherwise could attain.
Power: Lord of the skies
Stratos is a brilliant tactician and a master of the arts of war. He often serves as a scout alongside Buzz Off and Mekaneck.
Aspect: Leading the way


Skills
+4
Fitness
+3
Sneak, Observation
+2
Power,  Heart, Shooting
+1
Caring, Scare, Wild, Friendliness

Stunts
Flight: You can fly. Use fitness to Overcome Obstacles and create advantages.
Aerial Superiority: +2 to fitness for creating an advantage using flight
Hawk's Vision: +2 to overcome obstacles with observation

Refresh: 3
Mental Stress: [1] [2] [3]
Physical Stress: [1] [2] [3]

Weapon: Laser gauntlets
Cutting

http://www.alvinleeart.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/MOTU_ram-man_main1.jpeg

Ram-Man
High Concept: Human Battering Ram
Trouble: Easily Bamboozled
Ram Man was tricked By Keldor into believing that Randor was evil. He fought alongside Keldor's forces during The Great Unrest. When he was beaten by Randor, the prince saw that he was basically good and spared him. Ram-Man realized he was tricked and has been loyal to Randor since.
Origin: Evil is not to be trusted
Ram-Man is nearly indestructible and one of the few Masters to go into comabt unarmed.
Power: Nigh Invulnerable
Ram-Man is very careful of his strength. He likes children and animals, and is a gentle soul.
Aspect: Gentle Soul


Skills
+4
Fitness
+3
Power, Fighting
+2
Caring, Friendliness, Heart
+1
Wild, Ride, Scare, Observation

Stunts
Body Check: pg. 102 using fitness
Killing stroke: pg. 115
Take the blow: pg. 125 uses power
Tough as nails: pg. 125 uses power

Refresh: 2
Mental Stress: [1] [2] [3]
Physical Stress: [1] [2] [3] [4]

Gear: Heavy Armor suit
Tough

Fate Core: Building Eternia pt 12

http://images.fanpop.com/images/image_uploads/Masters-of-the-Universe-he-man-604216_1024_768.jpg

He Man/Prince Adam
High Concept: Defender of Eternia
Trouble: My secret must be protected
Prince Adam, on his sixteenth birthday was given the power sword. This sword allows him to channel the power of Castle Grayskull and become He Man, the most powerful man in the universe. Only Orko, the Sorceress, and Duncan know that Adam is He Man. He must keep it secret or Skeletor and his forces would use that information against him.
Origin: By the power of Grayskull
He Man is the most powerful man in the universe. He can hit harder, run faster, jump higher and lift more than anyone known.
Power: I. Have. The POWER!!!
Adam must play the role of the fop in order to hide his work as He Man. He loves Teela and cannot tell her as she thinks he's a coward. He can only discuss his problems with Orko or Duncan.
Aspect: Dual Identity

Skills
+4
Power
+3
Fitness, Fighting
+2
Heart, Caring, Ride
+1
Friendliness, Scare, Wild, Shooting

Stunts
Heavy Hitter: pg. 115
Grappler: pg. 125
Take the blow: pg. 125
Power Sword Defense: can use fighting to defend against ranged attacks when using your power sword.
Power Sword Redirect: when you succeed with style when defending against ranged attack using your power sword you can  make an immediate attack instead of gaining a boost.

Refresh: 1
Mental Stress: [1] [2] [3]
Physical Stress: [1] [2] [3] [4]

Weapon: Sword
Sword of Grayskull
Defender's Blade

http://cghub.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=24242&stc=1&d=1282669575

Cringer/Battlecat
I had to do some tinkering here with the aspects, as Cringer and Battlecat have such different personalities so I allowed them to have different aspects for both versions.
High Concept: Cowardly Tiger(Cringer)/Most Powerful Tiger in the World(Battlecat)
Trouble: Lazy and fearful(Cringer)/Foolhardy valor(Battlecat)
Cringer was lost and alone in the vine jungle as kitten. a young Prince Adam found him and tried to get him out. they both became lost in the forest and Orko came to rescue him. Since then Cringer has been afraid of everything. When Adam first became He Man a dramatic change happened with Cringer as well. He gained the ability to transform into Battlecat, the most powerful Cat in Eternia.
Origin: Run away!(Cringer)/I will defend Eternia(Battlecat)
Cringer can change into Battlecat, the strongest, fastest, and toughest Cat in the Universe. 
Power: The power of Grayskull
Cringer loves his Family and will do anything for them. they love him as well.
Aspect: The king's family is my family

 Skills(first is Cringer's skill, second is Battlecat's)
 +4
Sneaking/Fighting
+3
Lying/Power,Friendliness/Scare
+2
Wild/Wild, Observation/Observation,  Fitness/Fitness
+1
Heart/Heart, Power/Sneaking, Caring/Caring, Knowledge/Knowledge

Stunts
Transform: change from Cringer to Battlecat
Killing Stroke: pg 115
Heavy Hitter: pg. 115
Provoke Violence: pg. 117 uses Scare

Refresh: 2
Mental Stress: [1] [2] [3]
Physical Stress: [1] [2] [3] [4]

Weapon: Battle Harness
Pointy

Fate Core: Building Eternia pt 11

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Man-E-Faces

High Concept: Cursed Actor
Trouble: Emotions not my own
Manny was Eternia's greatest actor, a man of a thousand faces. He was hired by King Randor to infiltrate Keldor's forces. Using his disguise and acting skills he made it to the inner circle. Keldor learned of his treachery and cursed him to be a monster. He rampaged through a small town before the Masters of the Universe could figure a solution. however they could not fully restore him. He is now a man with three faces: the human, the monster, and the robot(which regulates his personality). He renamed himself Man-E-Faces.
Origin: Man of a thousand faces
He can gain the form and powers of a Monster or a robot.
Power: Monstrous strength
He has vowed to use his curse to bring down Skeletor and his evil warriors
Aspect: Robotic calm

Skills (the second skill list is for the monster, the third for the robot)
+4
Lying/Power/Ingenuity
+3
Friendliness/Scare/Knowledge, Caring/Fighting/Observation
+2
Heart/Fitness/Power, Knowledge/Wild/Shooting, Sneaking/Observation/Ride
+1
Fitness/Heart/Heart, Fighting/Sneaking/Fighting, Ride/Ride/Caring, Ingenuity/Friendliness/Friendliness

Stunts
Shape shift: Can transform into a monster. Switch out the standard skill list for another, does not effect the stress tracks.
Shape shift: Can transform into a robot. Switch out the standard skill list for another, does not effect the stress tracks.
One person, Many Faces: Pg  109 uses lying

Refresh: 3
Mental Stress: [1] [2] [3]
Physical Stress: [1] [2]

Weapon: Multiweapon
Versatile
Ranged

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Mekaneck

High concept: Heroic Human Periscope
Trouble: My power is not enough
The man who would become Mekaneck was the lead scout for the forces of Eternia. He was a single father, and his son, Phillip, was his world. Count Marzo saw in the potential futures that his son would one day be an important sorcerer. Marzo decided to kidnap Phillip and raise him up to be a weapon against the forces of good. Mekaneck's neck was broken when he tried to protect his son. Duncan discovered the scene, and over time managed to build a cybernetic system to repair Mekaneck. Now he is a Master of the Universe until he can find his son and rescue his son.
Origin: Nothing will stop me
His neck, chest and eyes have been replaced and enhanced by Duncan. Now his neck can extend to a large degree and his eyes can see farther than anyone else on Eternia.
Power: Periscopic Spy
Mekaneck has formed an unlikely friendship with Buzz Off. Both of them serve as the scouts of the Masters of the Universe. Mekaneck has become a master of stealth and perception.
Aspect: My eyes see all

Skills
+4
Observation
+3
Sneaking, Wild
+2
Fighting, Power, Fitness
+1
Ride, Lying, Heart, Caring

Stunts
Extension Neck: When your neck is extended you gain a +2 to over come observation obstacles.
Headbutt: if you headbutt with your extension neck you can attack with fighting out to two zones.
Danger sense: pg 123 uses Observation
Power of Deduction: pg 119 uses observation

Refresh: 2
Mental stress: [1] [2] [3]
Physical stress: [1] [2] [3]

Weapon: metal club
Solid

Fate Core: Building Eternia pt 10

Today, there is just one Pregen, but man is it a doozy. I give you Orko, Master of the compel!

http://fc05.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2009/345/1/8/Orko_by_ElCachone.png

Orko
High Concept: Lost Trollan Wizard
Trouble: Magic fails in Eternia
Orko was the most gifted graduate of the Trollan Academy of high arts. His natural aptitude for mischief, humor, and getting into trouble saw that his skill with magic did not help his reputation. He was set to marry Dree Elle, daughter of one of the leading Magicians of Trolla, when he was whisked away to Eternia. A freak Aether Storm appeared causing a rift. Orko was caught in the rift and arrived in the Tar Swamp on Eternia. He arrived in time to see Prince Adam, then just a boy, stuck in the bog. Orko rescued him and brought him to his father. He has been stranded in Eternia since that moment.
Origin: The promise of a king
Orko was one of the greatest wizards on Trolla. Unfortunately, the laws of Nature on Eternia are very different then those on Trolla. His magic is powerful, but often goes awry.
Power: Misfiring Master of Trollan Magic
Orko cares deeply for the people of Eternia. King Randor took him in when he was stranded here, and he has known Teela and Adam since they were children. He is n optimist and believes in the best in others.
Aspect: My friends are the only family I have left

Skills
+4(Great)
Sorcery
+3(Good)
Friendliness, Caring
+2(Fair)
Heart, Lying, Sneaking
+1(Average)
Fitness, Observation, Knowledge, Ride

Stunts
Sorceror: Gains access to the Sorcery Skill.
Illusion: Use sorcery to create illusions. Allows you to use in overcome and advantages involving illusions.
Fly: Use Sorcery to overcome obstacles, create advantages, and Defend in situations where flying would be useful.
Conjuration: can conjure objects out of thin air. Use Sorcery skill for overcoming obstacles and creating advantages that relate to conjured objects.
Indomitable: using Heart, see pg 133

Refresh:  1
Mental stress: [1] [2] [3]
Physical stress: [1] [2]

Weapon: Staff
Reach


Sorcery Skill explained more fully
Sorcery(the skill) can only be used if you have the sorcerer stunt. Sorcery allows you to make Overcome obstacles to gain information(like the investigation skill pg 118). It does not allow you to create advantages, Attack, or defend. to gain access to those types of actions you will need to take sorcery stunts. I hope this clears up the issues people had with the sorcery skill. If it does not please let me know. I may be trapped in some kind of cognitive cycle, where I know what I am saying, but no one else understands.

Fate Core: Building Eternia pt 9

Today(happy Boxing Day!) I am going to start working on the Pregen playable characters. So I present to you the first of the Masters of the Universe:

http://fc01.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2012/207/0/e/motuc_man_at_arms_by_aldgerrelpa-d58q98p.jpg

Duncan

High Concept: Man at Arms
Trouble: Over thinks everything
During the Great Unrest, Duncan's people were wiped out by Keldor when they refused to join his crusade.Duncan, the last of his people joined the Eternian guard in order to stop the evil of Keldor and those like him. He befriended the young King Randor, and helped drive Keldor's forces back, becoming the latest in a long line of heroes to gain the title of Eternia's Man at Arms.
Origin: My king, my friend
Duncan's power is and always has been his mind. Brilliant strategist, genius engineer, and the consumate warrior, his knowledge of the combat arts is surpassed by none.
Power: Know your enemy
After the great unrest the Sorceress of Castle Grayskull came to Duncan with an infant girl. She could not allow the forces of Darkness to learn that she had a daughter, as they would gain leverage on the protector of Grayskull. She asked Duncan to care for her daughter, Teela. Duncan swore to do so, and has raised her as his own since that day.
Aspect: My daughter in all but blood!

Skills
+4(Great)
Ingenuity
+3(Good)
Shooting, Fighting
+2(Fair)
Ride, Observation, Knowledge
+1(Average)
Caring, Heart, Friendliness, Fitness

Stunts
Always Making Useful Things: Based off of Ingenuity(using stunt from pg. 107)
A Friendly Shoulder: Basically the Psychologist Stunt(pg. 113) uses Caring Skill.
Machinist: Gain +2 to Knowledge rolls when dealing with mechanics or mechanical devices.
Called Shot: (pg. 131)

Refresh Total: 2
Mental stress: [1] [2] [3]
Physical stress: [1] [2] [3]

Weapon: Mace
Blunt

http://koti.mbnet.fi/jukka_i/temp/teela_1024.jpg

Teela
High Concept: The Warrior Goddess
Trouble: I must prove myself
The Daughter of the Sorceress of Grayskull was never destined to have a simple life. Her mothers identity known only to Duncan, and her father's known only to the Sorceress, Teela grew up without a true sense of her own self worth. Mer-Man tried to use her against Duncan when she was young. Tricking her into The Caverns of Fear, far beneeth Castle Grayskull. No one had ever ventured into the Caverns and returned. While she was lost down in the caverns teela met the spirit of the castle. Seeing that she was an innocent, and the blood of the gaurdian of grayskull was within her, it led her to Duncan. Duncan had become hopelessly lost in the labyrinth of tunnels and chambers. Teela led him out of the caves.
Origin: Even in the darkness, I am
While she was within the caves she stumbled upon a chamber full of the graves of ancient warriors. They had been laid to rest here by The Elders for their own inscrutable reasons. She rested in this chamber, and while she did the spirits of the ancient warriors transferred to her. She now has the skill and power of the greatest heroes of Eternian prehistory.
Power: Spirits of war! Guide my hand!
Duncan was the King's best friend, and so she grew up in the castle. She was the same age as Prince Adam and grew up along side him. She see's greatness in Adam, but wishes he would be...more.
Aspect: Adam needs my help

Skills
+4(Great)
Fitness
+3(Good)
Fighting, Power
+2(Fair)
Ingenuity, Heart, Observation
+1(Average)
Ride, Shooting, Caring, Friendliness

Stunts
Hardcore Parkour: (pg. 102)
Roll with the blow: (pg. 102)
Danger sense: (pg. 123) uses Observation Skill
Reed in the Wind: renamed the Tough as nails Stunt(pg. 125)

Refresh: 2
Mental stress: [1] [2] [3]
Physical stress: [1] [2] [3] [4]

Weapon: Staff
Snake staff
Collapsible


In Faternia, each character gets a weapon that goes with the character(basically every character action figure came with a weapon, so to does your character). If it is a regular weapon then it gets one aspect, if it is a named weapon then it gets two. these work like any other aspect in the game. Weapons can be disarmed, by placing the disarmed aspect on the character. Weapons have no other mechanical benifit other than having an extra aspect.

Fate Core: Building Eternia pt 8

This will be a short one for Christmas, and it barely made it in under the wire for that as well. Enjoy.

http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lugs1pVEFR1qzkrfxo1_500.jpg

Trap Jaw
 A psychotic warlord from another dimension, Trap Jaw arrived in Eternia when the heroes of his realm banished him from their world. Before the transfer could be complete Trap Jaw used a hidden device to sabotage the dimensional portal. Instead of going to the prison realm of Tartarus he wound up in Eternia. Finding Grayskull to be the greatest power source he had ever discovered, he set about trying to conquer it. Skeletor made a deal of shared power with him to gain his loyalty, now he build many of Skeletor's fiendish devices. He knows that Skeletor will Betray him, but Trap Jaw has plans for that.
    High concept: Wizard of Weapons
    Trouble: Psychotic rage
    Origin: Warlord and warrior
    Power: Robotic Weapon Arm and Mouth
    Aspect: Never without a weapon
Skills
+4
Ingenuity
+3
Shooting, Power
+2
Fighting, Scare,Observation
+1
Heart, Knowledge, Lying, Ride

Stunts
I need help coming up with a custom stunt, or stunts, to represent Trap Jaw's abilities. Any thoughts would be appreciated.


Eternian Weapons and Equipment
In the Extras chapter in the Fate Core rules book it talks of weapons and armor(p 291 specifically). I will be using those rules listed on that page. so when you come up with the weapon or weapons that your character uses come up with an adjective for that weapon, use this as an aspect. Vehicles will work the same for the most part.

For true artifacts of power Like the ram staff and He-Mans power sword, I am uncertain how I would handle this. Any ideas 

Fate Core: Faternia Actual Play

Just finished running a game of Fate Core. I ran a game set in Eternia, home of the Masters of the Universe. I have been doing a conversion of it for the last week or so, and I thought I had enough taht playing would be a possibility. I was mostly right. Sorcery became an issue, but more on that later.

First the good. I really enjoyed running the game, and all of the parts worked together well. I had multiple bad guys in the fight and I had no trouble keeping track of them and the aspects and such.

Now the issues I had. I ran into a problem with invoking Aspects. The question came up as to whether or not one could invoke the same aspect twice. I was uncertain. On the one side I was fairly sure that you could only invoke one Aspect at a time. On the other hand, I couldn't find a place in the rules were it said you couldn't. Since then I have found the location(pg 72) of said rule. So, I guess that did answer the question.

The second issue I had was in the use of a compel to end a conflict. Can the player compel an adversary's Aspects to end a conflict or enforce behavior? I was looking through the Aspects section and saw only references to the GM compelling the player's characters, not to the players compelling the NPCs. I still do not have an answer to this dilemma.

If anyone is interested, here is a recording of the game, enjoy:

Fate Core: Building Eternia pt 7

http://fc01.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2010/308/d/2/swamp_ruins_by_snaketoast-d32675n.jpg

Ruins of Zalesia
Ruled over by the Faceless One since before the time of the great wars, what was once a thriving city state is now a ruin with few buildings still standing. Two if them are as invulnerable as anything in Eternia, The Grand Library of Zalesia and The Vault. The library is the largest compilation of books of sorcery in Eternia. The Vault holds some of the most dangerous artifacts known.

Aspect: Ancient city, ancient knowledge
Aspect: Ancient Evils Locked Away

http://www.badhaven.com/wp-content/gallery/masters-of-the-universe-0/thumbs/thumbs_dave-rapoza-evil-lyn.jpg

Evil-Lyn
Her father was the guardian of a great magic, The Faceless One. She killed her father in order to gain that power. However, her training was incomplete and so she was only able to grasp a fraction of what was available. Skeletor came to her and promised to teach her new and powerful magics, if she would follow him. Evil-Lyn is one of Skeletor's most powerful minions, but also the most treacherous.

High Concept: Damsel of Dark Magic
Trouble: Treacherous to a fault
Origin: Bred to power
Power: Elemental magics
Aspect: The Shaping Staff

Skills
+4
Lying
+3
 Sorcery, Knowledge
+2
Sneaking, Heart, Caring
+1
Fitness, Scare, Observation, Fighting

Stunts
Sorcerer: allows her to use the Sorcery skill when wielding her staff, she must have an aspect related to her sorcery, generally this is a high concept thing.
Illusion: allows the use of sorcery to make a disguise. requires the sorcerer stunt.
Blast: able to attack using sorcery. Requires the sorcerer stunt.
Summoning: use sorcery to make attack and advantage rolls.


Sorcery rules
Sorcery in Eternia is the manner in which most mortals shape and control magic. There are many types of magic, but this is the type the players will run into the most. It is represented by a series of stunts.

Sorcery Stunts
Sorcery: This stunt allows you to use the sorcery skill. In order to use this stunt you must have a high concept the mentions your sorcery in some way, also you need to have another aspect mentioning the implement you use to channel the magic.
Illusion: Allows you to use the Sorcery skill to create advantages involving disguise or illusion
Shape change: allows you to switch out physical and sensory skills. requires illusion.
Blast: Use Sorcery skill to attack within the same zone.
Blast 2: use sorcery to attack out to two zones. Requires blast.
Teleport: use Sorcery to overcome obstacles or create movement advantages.
Fly: Use sorcery to create advantages or overcome obstacles involving movement
Water breathing: same as fly but for water
Summoning: use sorcery to make creature based attack and advantage rolls

Fate Core: Building Eternia pt 6

http://fc01.deviantart.net/fs22/f/2008/026/f/d/enigmatic_subterranean_tower_by_pabloskjold.jpg

Subternia
 Beneath the surface of Eternia lies a realm of caverns and magma flows. Two races vie for control of this realm. The lizard-like Caligar, Militant and honorable, and the Winged Speleans, shadowy and mysterious. There Feud is as ancient as the caverns they dwell within. Held in a truce by King Randor they wait for any legal means of starting a conflict. There are many ancient Snake Men ruins and artifacts hidden in the deepest reaches of Subternia. Subternia is sometimes known as The Demon Zone.

Aspect: Pit of Darkness, Well of Shadows
Aspect: Uneasy Peace

http://www.originofcool.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/nathan-rosario-whiplash.jpeg

Whiplash
A follower of the great Demon Kraal, lord of the underworld, Whiplash left Subternia for the Dark Hemisphere in hopes of finding a way to break the seals holding his master from corporeal form. He is a distant cousin in the Caligar royal family and so can sometimes still curry favor with the strange Caligar court system. He joined Skeletor because Skeletor promised to release Kraal when he had finally gained control of Grayskull.

High Concept: Foot soldier of the Abyss
Trouble: My will is not my own
Origin: I serve Kraal, may he reign forever
Power: Crushing tail
Aspect: Strength of Stone

+4
Power
+3
Fighting, Heart
+2
Knowledge, Scare, Fitness
+1
Observation, Sneaking, Wild, Fitness

Stunts
Whip Tail: If you roll a successful attack action with fighting increase the damage by two shifts. if you miss on the initial roll, then the extra shifts are not added.
Tough as the hills: Use Power to defend from physical stress, though you take one stress on a tie.
Strong as the mountains: +2 when trying to create and advantage using Power

Caligars
Ruled by the Noble and mighty king Ciratus, the Caligars are a complicated race of lizard men living deep in Subternia. They have a complex and ritualized system for any official or religious cerimony. Time and location are very important to the Caligars. They have had a feud with the Speleans though none remember why. Surely those treacherous Speleans are to blame.

Aspect: The strength of Stone
Aspect: It must be the right time and the right place
Aspect: Old gods buried deep

Stunt: Whip tail(see Whiplash entry)

Speleans
The Bat-like Speleans are a mysterious race. They are great keepers of secrets, and it is said that the Holy Library of Spelea is one of the hidden wonders of Eternia. The value knowledge and Secrets over all. Ruled by the Lord Dactys, the merciful and cruel, they keep to themselves only venturing out when needs must. They were once allies with the Caligars, but something soured the relationship. The Power hungry Caligar are to blame, no doubt.

Aspect: The shadows are our home
Aspect: A secret must be kept
Aspect: Silence is our watchword

Stunts: Flight(use fitness to fly for overcoming obstacles or creating advantages, land based obstacles may not apply), excellent hearing(+2 observation for hearing only)



How stress tracks work in Fateternia: the escape clause
When you take a Main Villain out of the combat all the heroes in the combat get a fate pint and the Villain gets away. The heroes can take the villains permanently ot if they spend a fate point to negate the fate reward for escape.

I think that this is genre appropriate, as Skeletor and his main crew escape from He-Man all the dang time. Let me know what you think of the rule.

Tomorrow: Evil-Lyn, best named villain...Ever!

Kriegzepplin Valkyrie: First thoughts on game play

Today I was run through a game of Kriegzepplin Valkyrie. These are my first thoughts on the module and how it was run.

Part the first, was it fun? Yes, yes it was. we utilized far more of the Fate Core mechanics than I had in previous games. The game still impresses with how smooth and quick it runs. I did run into one minor issue with the mechanics of Fate Core. I tried to use an advantage as an obstacle, and this ended up not really doing anything special. It was just another Aspect that was used on a defense roll. Others and I have brought this issue and Mr. Hicks is aware of it. Aside from that one issue the game ran well. On a side note, I think my french accent slipped into a more German one mid game. This is not a gameplay issue, just something that I noticed.

Part the second, did the new rules for the scenario work? Overall I would say that yes they did. The dog fighting rules were pretty darn interesting, they did tend to lengthen combat over standard Fate Core, but it was not a dull extension. It was more like the game was very loose outside of Dog Fighting, and then when it starts the game suddenly dilates down to the action we all wanted. I would probably want to use a mechanic like this for other games, but reskin it for the part of the game that the game is focused on.

The second major rule change is the Relationships mechanic. As there were three of us(at the start) there were three relationships, only two of them ever really showed up in play. They did add a lot to the game though. the rivalry between mine and Frank's characters really drove much of the drama. at one point Rene(my char) punched Heinrich(Frank's char) in the face. Heinrich then accused Rene of being a traitor. He also fired on a zeppelin that he knew Rene was on. It was a blast to play such an open rivalry, we even came up with a bit of back story about how we flew against one another in the Great War. The other Relationships did not come up all that much, but it was only one session so that is not such a huge deal.

The third big item was the aircraft themselves. I believe that they are major game changers. In the air all of us were damned near unstoppable. I do not know if this was a part of the bonuses given by the planes or if it was the GMgiving us too easy a time, but we were dominating every dogfight. I know on my part, I was rolling with a +6 average in a dogfight, which is a lot in Fate. I didn't even take stress the whole game. again not sure if it is even a problem, just thought I would mention it.

The fourth and fifth new rules bits did not come up much. Wing men were never used(mostly we forgot they were there), and we only did one post dogfight interview thingy, so I have no idea if what I experienced is right, but it was an interesting idea that I think has a lot of legs on it.


And there you have it. I had fun, the scenario is spot on for a lot of what I look for in a world war on style dogfight simulator. I mean, I got to fly a Sopwith Camel in combat(just like Snoopy!), whats not to like? I would recommend the game and the campaign to anyone who wants to play a great game. It reminded me of a lot of what I loved about the Rocketeer and Sky Captain. Totally worth your time to play!

And here is the recording of the game:

Fate Core: Building Eternia pt 5

http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20111024120903/heman/images/6/6b/Crystal_Sea_02.jpg

The Crystal Sea
    The largest sea on all of Eternia, it is surrounded by the great crystal cliffs. It is home to the Fish People and the Great Bakull. Bakull is worshiped as a god by the Fish people, though it can be controlled through a ritual using the red pearl and a human sacrifice.

Aspect: Great crystal cliffs
Aspect: Terror in the deep

http://www.blogcdn.com/www.comicsalliance.com/media/2012/02/nathan-rosario-merman.jpg

Merman
He was the Priest King of the Fish People. He was going to sacrifice a girl to the great Bakull. Duncan stepped in and rescued the girl. Merman's people cast him out, and he joined up with Skeletor on the promise of vengeance against Duncan. Some of his people still follow him in his quest to dominate all the oceans of the world.
    High Concept: Warlord of Water
    Trouble: Overdeveloped sense of vengeance
    Origin: Man at Arms will pay for my humiliation
    Power: Strength of the seas
    Aspect: Secrets of the Deeps


Skills
+4
Fitness
+3
Knowledge, wild
+2
Ride, Fighting, Power
+1
Heart, Scare, Observation, Lying

Stunts
Water breathing: use fitness skill to overcome movement obstacles and to create movement based advantages when in water or involving water.


Fish People
     Aspect: Dark superstitions
     Aspect: Peaceful nomads of the seas
     Aspect: Secrets of the deeps
Stunt 
Water breathing: You can use your Fitness(or sorcery if you are using magic) skill to overcome movement obstacles, and to create movement based advantages when in the water or involving water.


Possible new rules for initiative
In Eternia those who talk have initiative on those who don't. Initiative order goes like so. I want to use a rule like this to emulate how Skeletor will have these long monologues in the middle of a combat and then use that speech to make his attacks better. I am not sure if this is the right way to handle this.
1. surprise(if it exists)
2. speech(if more than one is speaking then highest heart score to lowest)
3. attack(highest fitness to lowest fitness)

Aspect selection process
1. High Concept: This remains unchanged from Fate Core
2. Trouble: Unchanged
3. Origin: Write down the adventure that led you to join the Masters of the Universe. Was there a threat only you could help with? Did the Masters of Evil trick you into doing something bad? Did you seek out the Masters of the Universe, or did they seek you out?
4. Power: What is your power? What is it that sets you apart from the rest of the world?
5. Free choice of aspect

Fate Core: Builing Eternia pt 4

http://old.he-man.org/cartoon/motu/universe/vine-jungle.jpg

Vine Jungle
Home of the Beast Peoples as well as a great many great beasts. It is dangerous for travelers, due to the many dangerous creatures and plants of the jungle.

Aspect: Home of the beast people
Aspect: Carnivorous creatures, Carnivorous foliage

http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/3/33697/1421104-beastman_super.jpg

Beast Man
A member of the beast tribe of the vine jungle, Beast Man sought to lead his tribe through fear and force. They exiled him from his jungle home. Bitter and power hungry he quickly found and ally in Keldor, who promised him leadership of the Vine Jungle when Keldor gained the throne. Since the fall of Keldor and the rise of Skeletor, Beast Man has remained Skeletor's trusted right hand man.

High Concept: Master of Beasts
Trouble: Instincts of a beast
Aspect: Rulership of the fittest
Aspect: Untamed Strength
Aspect: Skeletor will bring victory

Skills
+4
Wild
+3
Power, Ride
+2
Observation, Scare, Fitness
+1
Sneaking, Lying, Heart, Knowledge

Stunts
Master of Beasts: Beast Man can use his Wild Skill as Friendliness when trying to convinceanimals to do his will.
Scent the wind: Use Wild instead of Observation for initiative in physical conflict


Races
I will be starting out my basic form on how I will cover the races of Eternia. There will be a listing of three or four Aspects that are racial Aspects. When you are playing a person of that race you must take one of those aspects for your free aspect(I will be going over aspect selection in a future post, probably the next one). Also there may be a stunt or two that are required for a race. These stunts will not be free, they will count as regular stunts they are just required for you to play the race.

Beast People
Racial Aspects
    Instincts of  the beasts
    Untamed strength
    Enhanced senses

Nameless Beast People
Aspects: Enhanced Senses, Untamed strength
    +2 Wild, +1Shooting, Fitness


Also in this post I will go over the skills list and see what can stay and what needs to change for this game. So here is the new skills list:

Fitness(the same as Athletics)
Ingenuity(Crafts)
Lying(Deceit)
Ride(Drive)
Caring(Empathy)
Fighting
Scare(Intimidate)
Knowledge(Lore)
Observation(Investigate and notice)
Power(Physique)
Friendliness(Rapport)
Shooting
Sneaking(Stealth)
Wild: skill for dealing with nature and understanding animals(not sure if it works)
Heart(Will)
Sorcery(can only have this if you take the sorcery stunt)

 Skills that have been removed
Burglary: As this is about He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, burglary is just not needed for a game based on my favorite 80s cartoon(well...its tied with Transformers), Stealing is frowned upon here.
Contacts: Honestly this skill is just not needed. The show is about individuals of great individual power. Its about what you can do, not who you know(except for Prince Adam, lazy goldbrick).
Resources: same reason as contacts. money doesn't matter to the champions of good.
Investigate and Notice: for this game I think that we can fold this in with notice in the new skill observation.

 Next up: Merman and the Crystal Sea

Fate Core: Building Eternia pt 3

http://fc07.deviantart.net/fs70/i/2011/103/d/c/castle_grayskull_by_kenartcorp-d3dw1f7.jpg

Castle Grayskull
Long ago the Elders, a group of powerful immortals, found the center of power in Eternia. They called it the Star Seed. It was the last spark left over from the beginning of the universe.Around it the built the Hall of Wisdom. There they ruled for many years in peace. By the time of the rise of the Snake Men the Elders had vanished from Eternia. King Grayskull sought to protect the Hall of Wisdom and it secrets from the Snake Men. He built a great castle around the hall. he and his friends became the first Master of the Universe. The held of the Snake Men and all other despots who sought the castle's power. For to control Castle Grayskull is to control the Universe itself.

Aspect: Center of Eternian Power
Aspect: Bottomless moat

http://gallery.xcave.net/images/comics/indies/heman/HeMan_Sorceress001.jpg

The Sorceress
Teela Na was the princess of the Osirans, a technologically advanced people who lived in the Sands of Time. When Hordak and the Horde invaded her people could do nothing. driven from their home they sought the Aid of King Grayskull to defeat Hordak. After much hardship and many dangerous adventures the few remaining Osirans met with King Grayskull and his Masters of the Universe. When Hordak came Grayskull sacrificed himself to destroy the physical form of Hordak, trapping him forever in Despondos, the dimension of despair. As he lay dying he passed on the protection of Eternia to his fellow masters, and protection of Castle Grayskull and its secrets to Teela Na. from that day forward she would be known as The Sorceress. She only put down her duties once. for a short while she wandered Eternia, to see how the world had changed in her centuries of guardianship. She meta soldier named Duncan and fell in love. She was called back to her duty, and he to his. She was torn howver, as she had become pregnant. She knew the child could not grow up surrounded by the dangers that seek to control Grayskull. So she sent her daughter, Teela, to be raised by her father, now King Randor's chief adviser.

High Concept: Mystical protector of Castle Grayskull
Trouble: the further from the castle the weaker my power
Aspect: The last of the Osirans
Aspect: Secrets of the universe
Aspect: Duty before all


So when working on this entry, I realized I needed to work out the sorcery rules before I moved too much further along, as a lot of the NPCs I will be making have access to it. My basic thought here is to keep it simple. I had this idea when I was working on my star wars game I am running. Basically there is a sorcery skill, it does not do much on its own, and you need to take a stunt to gain access to it. once you have the stunt and the skill, you can take other stunts that increase the versatility of the skill. basically you would have a stunt that allows for teleportation, and a stunt that allows for ranged attacks, and a healing stunt, and so on. This will help people who don't have sorcery keep up with with the sorcerers in the game. Also, as a He-Man specific rule, you need to have a channel for your magic, a staff or a wand, or an amulet. The true masters can get past this, but it is more difficult to do. Perhaps you need a stunt to be able to use magic without a focus. I will need to think on this more. Until then, let me know what you think.

Fate Core: Building Eternia pt 2

http://illuminatiwatcher.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/519465-snake_mountain.jpg

Snake Mountain
In early Eternian history, the Snake Men sought to conquer the world. Led by King Hiss they were far more powerful than any petty warlord or threat that had occurred before. When they were defeated they were locked in a mystic prison, the Void, located far below their very citadel, Snake Mountain. later it became the center of evil in all the Dark Hemisphere. Skeletor is the current master of Snake Mountain, though even he does not know all its secrets.
    Aspect: Heart of Darkness
    Aspect: Gateway to the Void
    Aspect: Dark Secrets

http://daverapoza.cghub.com/files/Image/177001-178000/177702/450_stream.jpg

Skeletor
Keldor was the brother of King Randor. Seeking to claim the throne Keldor studied the dark arts, finally summoning Hordak to grant him knowledge. With his new found mystical might he led a rebellion against Randor. He failed and was chased to the Dark Hemisphere. He seeks greater power, making a Pact with Hordak for the Havoc Staff, the greatest Dark Artifact known. Keldor reneged on his pact with Hordak, and in punishment his flesh was burned from his face. His mystic abilities kept him alive, but the pain of the action drove him to madness. Now he rules from his throne on Snake Mountain as Skeletor Master of Darkness.
   High Concept: Master of the Darkness
   Trouble: Everyone is an idiot
   Aspect: Eternia is mine, and no one else's
   Aspect: Curse of Hordak
   Aspect: The Havoc Staff


Panthor
 Skeletor's mount, and loyal companion.
   Massive battle panther
   Right hand of the throne


Doing this location and its relevant Face has led me to realize I need to come up with a magic system of some kind for the game. I would like to keep it a bit nebulous, as in the show and comics it was always just blasting stuff, or really odd one off things that are done with magic. I will need to think on this.

Tomorrow: Grey Skull

Fate Core: building Eternia pt 1

I would like to try my hand at setting building for Fate Core. I will be working on my corellian Knights campaign on the side. In this series of posts I will be designing a setting just for fun. I will probably build a bunch of premade characters at the end. we'll have to see how it goes.

OK, so now it comes down to high concept. What is the basic game I want to run? I was digging through my DVDs looking for the Princess Bride when I ran across my He-man DVD sets. I realized that I loved He-man when I was a kid. It had this amazing blend of everything that I thought was great. Also it had the best toy sets(well third best, GI Joes and transformers were awesome).

So that will be my basic setting idea, a re-imagining of He-man.

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilaxESf20RdDNQjNk4nV3ZzcHGmXfL0r09lLBNBCO27CNCSfWDS7bzHsnml-2Id64nrOtLafq0I9vWw12LvVpX8qwY8WaKuQwXrkvKWFwhi8T3KIHYIBBjmyC6nQOjCeTcjshxvA7XvPA/s1600/he_man_teaser_style_by_nebezial.jpg

At the center of the universe sits a small planet. A planet of Light and of Dark. A planet of Power. Eternia, the pivot point of all the universe. For untold eons the Star Seed has sat at the center of the world. The center of the center of the universe. The Masters of the Universe protect it and the whole of the Light Hemisphere from the depredations of the Dark Hemisphere.

Basically it is about being a master of the universe. And how awesome that is. The scale of the game will be pretty damned epic. It deals with huge issues of light and dark, and the fate of the world and all worlds. Although it is still personal, in a way. Every story is sort of about a very personal issue, but generally it is attached to one of these grand events. So it is epic more than personal, also I think that models the aspect system so well that it borders on creepy.

Now I got to dig into the settings big issues, This is where I tend to have problems. how vague should it be? how specified? I will go with what I think should go there, and then if people disagree with me then we can go from there.

First trouble of the setting should be the Dark Hemisphere. I think I will go with something like the 2002 He-Man show's explanation. that there was a mystical barrier that separated the two and the barrier has just recently fallen. Allowing Skeletor and his minions through.

Current Issue: Masters of Evil

another issue I would like to explore would be the Snake men and Hordak, so I think that would be the coming trouble would be some sort of prison that holds them. we will call it The Void. it is sort of like the phantom zone in superman.

Impending Issue: Rising from The Void

That is a good start for the game. Tomorrow I will begin putting up a location or a face per day until I have something approaching a game setting.

Corellian Knights Episode 1

I just ran my first game of Fate Core. Check it out. We had quite a lot of fun.

Fate Core: An issue...perhaps

Just last night I ran the first session of a Fate Core campaign. The first session involves deciding what your game will be, what it will be about and the setting it will be in. It is also when the players make characters. It worked very well over all. It was a very organic game experience where we reached a game I am fairly convinced will work for us all.

My issue came during the character creation part of the evening. Most of the character creation worked for me. it was during the three phases of Aspect building that I ran into my difficulty. Basically a character comes up with their first adventure, and an aspect for it. Then they go t the first adventure of another player and they either help solve it or complicate it, then they write an aspect for that. So far, so good. It is phase three where the problem manifested.

In phase three of this Aspect building process you go to another players sheet, to the first adventure there and basically do the same thing that you did in phase two. the problem I am having is that their is already another PC in the mix. There is a good chance that the adventure is already complete. It just feels very tightly bound.

I guess that this is not a game issue I am having so much as a Me issue. I just find that this situation feels too coincidental...though to be fair a lot of fiction gets the group together in just such a coincidence. I don't know. I just found that part of character creation to not work for me.

Fate Core: Corellian Knights

I had a good game creation session last night with my crew. today I drew a couple of the set pieces for the game, the Jedi Temple on Corellia and the YT-80 That the PCs Pilot. Here they are:

YT-80 Light Freighter

Jedi Temple on Corellia

YT-80 Floorplan(rough draft)

Fate Core: GM thoughts

Tonight I will be running a first session of Fate Core via Google Hangouts. As the GM I am thinking about campaigns and settings. However, comma, I wll be using the setting creation ruleset. Well, ruleset is the wrong word, they are more like guidelines. Anyway as I won't be the only one developing the game most of my ideas won't be showing up in the game. Since tat is the case, I thought, "why not share them here?" I rarely ignore myself, so here goes.

The Force Wars
I love the force in Star Wars, but the Jedi were always a bit of a oddity. How did they come about, how did they form up? My idea is this, the formation of the Jedi order and the expulsion of the dark side users. There are many different philosophies of force use and schools of training. Each think that THEY have the right and best way to share the force. Last week one of the force schools, the Jedi, invited the leaders of all the other schools to a meeting of the minds. Do the leaders trust this invitation? Is unification even possible? What of the Dark Side? It is a game of politics and force powers at the dawn of the republic.

Age Of Stone
Long ago there was a shining city. A city of god-men. They had tools and magics far beyond stone and fire. They were prideful, thought themselves greater than the spirits of earth and sky. Then came the fall. the skies opened up and storms came. The ocean rose up to swallow the shining city. In this game you play the heirs of Atlantis in the stone age world. you have technologies and skills beyond anything the world around you understands. however with that come hubris. It becomes all too easy to forget the lessons of Atlantis. The great spirits of sky and stone do not allow for man to hold himself above the others.

Those are just a couple of the ideas that are flowing through my noggin. We'll see if anything comes of it tonight.

Fate Core First Blush

I got to play in a game of Fate Core last night. It worked pretty well. I played a dwarf in an Eberron hack. Check it out.

A couple of funny(to me) Poems

As I watched a recent dance concert a few funny ideas struck me. I wrote a couple of poems to express those thoughts. Poetry was chosen because it plays with words and grammar structure. As I was playing with Physics ideas and the structure thereof I thought it was a good fit. Without further ado I give you two funny poems(funny to me any way):

Thirteen
by: The Jake

They tell me that space and time are curved
They say space is infinite and time is not
Time is not
If space is infinite
If space curves
It is an infinite curve
An infinite curve
Is a ring
A ring
A ring of emptiness
Space
Emptiness and matter
Curved
You can go in a straight line in space
I can go in a straight line too
Space is curved
A ring
A ring of space with matter
Sprinkles of matter in space
Sprinkles
 A ring
Sprinkles
Welcome to the donut
Infinite donut

Objects in motion
By: The Jake

Movement is limited
Limited by light
like driving in the dark
We can't go faster than we can see
Light is the limit
The faster you go, the bigger you are
The bigger you are, the slower time moves
For light time stands still
Unmoving
Uncurling
Winding spirals of time
Held together by fast, heavy, objects
Mass holds time hostage
The ransom is movement

Those two thoughts just made me laugh and I thought I would share them. Let me know what you think.

My Final Portfolio for Figure Drawing

So I have handed in my final portfolio for my figure drawing class. I needed to hand in ten, only eight exist. I hope this doesn't effect my grade. any way here are my pieces:

NaGa DeMon Day 16, a dangerous idea(and a Big Mac)

I was listening to the Walking Eye Podcast review of Marvel Heroic Roleplaying and they brought up a mechanic I love when playing that game. The idea is that you can use a distinction as either a good thing(D8) or a negative thing(D4). If you use it as a bad thing then you get a plot point. on the podcast they mention that this is basically how Aspect in Fate are Supposed to work. now I think, overall, that Aspects work mostly fine in play. I think what they were talking about(at least this is the idea I riffed off of, so go with me on this) is the Self Compel.

I have played a bit of Fate, and I have listened to a great many actual play recordings. Throughout all of this I have heard the same complaint. People(I think it is a certain type of player, but that is neither here nor there) are conflicted on the idea of a Self Compel. They are of the mind that they were just doing what they would normally do anyway,so they feel it is to meta to ask for a fate Point afterward.

As I was processing all of this while walking home from Mcdonalds(I loves me some Big Mac...drool) and I thought that I could introduce a solution to the self compel similar to that of Marvel Super Heroic Roleplaying.

Basically here is how my idea works. In Fate you roll 4dF and add numbers to it based on Skills and Aspects. Another way to roll in Fate is the d6 - d6. this ends up a little more swingy than 4dF, but it works. so my first thought was to use the Self Compel to alter the roll to 1d4 - 1d6 and then gain a fate point, but then I wasn't sure if that was good enough, so I thought that d8 - d8 as the standard and d4 - d8 for the self compel.

I am uncertain which will work better, also how to adjust the rest of the game to suit the new die rolling bit. This is a major change to the game, and doing it this late in the process(halfway through) is really making me nervous. Right now my game is just an eight page framework, and I have a lot of writing to do.

Well I have made myself hungry for a Big Mac, so i am going to go eat one-I mean contemplate this situation.

NaGa DeMon Day 15

I have this idea for War In The Heavens. As I have said it is a Fate based game(using Dresden Files and Diaspora as a base). during the course of this I started to think about aspects. I think that I would like to have free floating free taggable Aspects related to emotional states.

Here is how I see that going down. I am a theatre major, and in looking at certain types of theatre from Asia I saw a few trends that I think might be useable, particularly in regards to Kathakali. I really liked the idea of there being a very formalized and limited number of expressible emotions. I plan to provide a listing of emotions that can be free tagged(Love, Rage, Ridicule/Mirth, Fear, Wonder, Valor, Sadness, Disgust). in order to tag them for free, you must make the ritualized expression.

Now the expressions will be picked by the group during the first session. When you do an action later in the game and wish to tag an emotion, you must make the requisite expression. this allows you to tag it, and then for the rest of the scene this can be compelled by the GM.

I think that this idea will work, but I am uncertain how 'fun' it will be. Any thoughts on this would be appreciated.

A side issue I am having is understanding trappings of skills. I understand all the Basic Moves in Fate, but how does one decide which skills do which actions? Is it just arbitrary, or is there  a one for one with a skill trapping and a Basic Move? right now I am going with the arbitrary model, but it is unsatisfying.

Still working on my prose for the game, the fluff is harder to work out than I had anticipated at the beginning. still chugging away at it though.

NaGa DeMon Day 9

I have been working on some of the setting and fiction of the game. During the course of this I have discovered that I am too much of a minimalist. I have always been this way, even back when designing my first game. I realized early on that most game rules can be expressed in very simple terms. Honestly, most RPGs rules could be put on less than ten pages.

This idea has clung to my psyche like a limpet mine since then. Now that I am working on The War in Heaven I am realizing how much I minimize in text. I do have the basic character creation taken care of, it is a little disjointed but I have the framework I need to work this out.

There are six major houses in the Empire of Man, each descended from one of Sovereign's children. the players will play all members of one of the Houses of the Scions. the Houses are:

• House Kai: They are the finest duelists and assassins, they are the smallest of the houses.
• Svanich Clan: Strength and Honor over all. they have the largest fleet in the empire.
• Udre Family: The Mind overcomes that which the body cannot.
• House Hadja: We remember, we stand firm.
• House Skyrris: Live in fame or go down in flames. they are the most decadent and least trustworthy of the houses.
• House Dremahn: Family, Honor, Duty. they are the eldest of the houses.

And here is the blurb I am working on, sort of an elevator pitch along the lines of the intro to Conan:

In the bright center of the Human Empire Sovereign and Her Divine Scions rule with wisdom and power. On the fringes of Empire the Old Machine Gods seek to devour Man. In hidden fortresses floating silent in the void the Gene Lords plot their terrible retribution. Monsters, Gods, and Heresy seek to tear apart the bright and shining Empire of man.

Know this, oh prince, that it is the Sixth Age of Man and the search for Earth continues. You are Sovereign's hands in the universe. You are all that stands between the Humanity and chaos, between the faithful and the pagan hordes.

Basically the setting is Dune meets Star Gate meets Lexx.

I am still working on troupe play mechanics. I am very unsure as to how to do it. i have decided to use something like Icons' supergroup mechanics, for the Cadre that the players will be members of.

I am also working on a worksheet or something for the campaign design. I feel that unless I put some rules to how to design the campaigns, the group will  flounder in tone and feel. I would like to have something like the worksheet in Apocalypse World.

It has been going slowly, but I am still plugging along. more updates later.

NaGa DeMon Day 5

I have been working with the Fate system to build my Dune style Noble Houses game. While working with the Fate system I found a few areas I really would like to tweak. the first thing that jumped out at me was the Stress Tracks. they are really key to the flow of the game, I have seen them removed, but the game never really felt right in those situations.

The Stress Tracks tend to fall into a grouping of three that I have a hard time thinking my way around. There is Physical Stress, Mental/Emotional Stress, and Resources/Influence Stress. I am OK with the first two for my game, but as the game is about Nobles who do not worry about little things like money or fame I would really like a different Stress to track. i am running into a bit of a block in that regard.


Another issue i have run into is Troupe play. I would like to be able to run my game as troupe play. Each player would play a noble and several key characters from their entourage. I am having difficulty working this out for Fate. The sheer number of Aspects required seems problematic. Maybe if I could build a special sheet just for keeping track of things.

maybe i could run the whole house as one big character, and each person is a specific part of the character...I need to think on this more.

I really thought I was going to be farther along by this point, i seem to be wracked with indecision. i think that this maybe because i have so much freedom. If the scope of my game were a bit more narrow I may not be having these problems. maybe I should place some artificial restrictions on my game just to see where that channels my thoughts.

Art 211-01 Midterm Madness

Today was my Figure Drawing midterm(I know, right? It is November, what the heck?). Here are the pieces I chose to get graded. As you can see I am a bit hit and miss right now, I hope to improve as the year goes on.