Ruminations on Aspect Generation and Use

This discussion is inspired by posts by +Wil Hutton, +Robert Hanz, +Jack Gulick, +Ryan M. Danks, +Michael Moceri, and a great many other wonderful people over the last year. I will be using parts of their ideas as well as my own throughout this post.

Nothing I am saying here is all that new or groundbreaking in the least. This is more an attempt, by me, to codify how I view aspects. Sometimes I learn much by trying to define a thing. That said, if you find this useful I am glad.

Aspects
Aspects are a great many things to a greta many people. At heart they are simply the mechanization of nebulous fictional objects within the sphere of player agency. Things that are important to the player characters in the moment. Some have described them as levers for the narrative, or handles for the fiction. I like to avoid using terms like narrative and the like as it tends to lead gamers mind down unproductive paths. Saying that it relates to the narrative gives the impression that there is a preplanned narrative to begin with. It is thinking like this that leads to the GM using aspects as a goad rather than as a incentive and complication.

It is no wonder that many people new to Fate latch onto the aspects as the most important part. Aspects are everywhere in Fate. They define your character and the world around them. They define the important genre conventions and the mood. They encompass everything and in a way they control the rest of the mechanics in Fate. In this way, while not being the most important part of Fate, they are definitely the most distinctive part. as the major distinction between Fate and many other games, an explanation of what aspects do is needed as well as a guide to what makes a good or bad aspect. And so we begin.

Aspects as character
As a general rule the first time a player runs into aspects is with character creation. Your aspects(whether ten, seven, five, or some other variable) define your character. More specifically they define what is important to your character. This may seem like a pointless distinction but it is not. Being, The Finest Swords-woman in the World, is only useful if two things are true. If your character's belief that she is the finest swords-woman drives her actions in some way or if the game revolves around Swordplay to some extent. Basically a character aspect is a cue, both to the player and the GM. It lets the GM know what kind of game the player is looking for. It also serves as a reminder to the player that she wanted this type of game at some point.

This goes back to something I say fairly often, "aspects should be of immediate use." At the core, if you go through a whole session without using at least two of your aspects(preferably all of them), you may want to change your aspects to fit the scenario, or remind the GM of your relevant aspects(self compel). If you keep buying off compels on an aspect, that may be a sign you didn't really want that aspect and you may want to rework it.

Another way that character aspects can be problematic is if the tone of your aspects do not match the intended tone and mood of the game. Basically if you have a bunch of aspects that encourage humorous play in a serious existential horror game, that can be a problem. If you are playing a gritty world war one game about how rough it is in the trenches, then having a bunch of super-heroic aspects could cause issues. On the other hand if used right, they can define the game and make it better. When a character has an aspect(or a bunch of aspects) that clash with the tone of the game, this is when you want to bring it up and discuss how to handle that. Maybe it will work, maybe it won't, you need to know before play starts.

Aspects as world
The other introduction a great many new Fate players have with aspects is with City/World/System/Setting Creation. In this case the aspects define the permanent or semi permanent parts of the world through aspect generation. these aspects represent the Places and Faces that will be recurring throughout the first major campaign(could go further, but generally the first campaign changes many of these as you go along). Often GMs will have a difficult time using the major themes and threats designed during this period. Sometimes this means that the PCs aspects are changing the direction of the game away from the original themes, others it is when the aspect is poorly worded. For a poorly worded aspect, just change it to work better. When the PCs are moving away from the original themes and threats then compelling is what to do. If they keep buying off those compels, or get upset when they can't, it is time to talk with them about the direction of the game. It is here, where I see a lot of GMs using aspects as a goad. Many times, they think they are making the game they all want, when in reality the wants have changed, and no one spoke of the change.

Aspects as Permission
Some aspects let you do things that would be impossible without the aspect. The Last Son of Krypton aspect would let you do a great many things, whereas The King of England aspect would allow for different things than most can do. This is a big grey area in the game, the power of a given aspect must be discussed during character/world generation. You as a table must decide on the scale of the game, and what can be accomplished with aspects, skills, and stunts. The reason the Fate Core has no listing of what a +1 means compared to a +4 is so that you as a table can define that. As Fate Core is fiction not physics nothing is all that definite. In fiction Spiderman is as strong as needs to be for that story, and no more. Sometimes he can hold up a collapsing building, and sometimes he can only lift a car(heh, only). So when we look at his character sheet, we would(perhaps) only see the aspect, Spider Powers, the rest is handled by the skills. The aspect just gives scope to the skill. It grants permission to do things that would otherwise be impossible.

This can also mean that a temporary aspect can allow you to do things not normally allowed. It can allow for you to attack a whole zone, defend a zone border to prevent movement, allow you to roll when you normally would be allowed, and many other interesting tactical things. All of this is subject to table agreement, so if you intend on doing this sort of action bring it up early.

Aspects as Harm
Although I generally do not like using the term harm to describe consequences, it is relevant here. While consequences do not represent Harm every time, they are the only true way to define it in game. Consequences are an aspect that lasts for a given amount of time due to stress. Primarily they are negative aspects, in that they will most often lead to you gaining fate points rather than being something you can use fate points on. Now this is not always true, but it should be true more than not. So if you find yourself invoking consequences more than they are compelled, you are either in a unique situation or you have a poorly worded consequence.

Aspect as Meta-game principle
Aspects are your primary method of gaining and using fate points. they are without doubt the core of the fate point economy. Without aspects you would gain no points. without aspects you would be unable to spend them. this is why much aspect advice revolves around making aspects double edged. Double edged aspects are by far more useful than a good or a bad aspect alone. In fact they are twice as valuable!

As much as this drives play, it is really self explanitory. At first glance you can see how it should work. The really hard part of the meta-game piece of the aspects is that you have to keep that in your mind at all times. In your more traditional game their are two modes of play(well there are more, but for now I am only interested in the primary two).  There is the Role-play mode, where you think in character and attempt to achieve a seamless verisimilitude. Then there is the Game-mechanics mode, where you engage the mechanics and attempt to "win" through manipulation of game mechanics. Generally speaking you would do each part fairly separate from each other. When you engage in combat in D&D you do not have to think to hard about characterization and motivation. Conversely when you engage in discussion with the local baron, you may only need to engage mechanical bits rarely, one or two roles and you are done.

Fate Demands you engage both modes simultaneously and continuously. You must always keep in mind your motivation and goals, you must always engage the mechanics. There are few parts of the game that allow for just one mode or the other. When I first started playing Fate this wore me down. Constantly keeping both sides of my mind operating at full rather than being allowed to "rest" by engaging only one mode or the other. It is something to keep in mind as you go forward and try and play the game with newbies.

Temporary aspects
I hesitate to call these aspects temporary, as in reality all aspects are temporary to one degree or another. These aspects represent things that were true of the setting(or were just created within the setting) and suddenly became the focal point of a roll or series of rolls.  These aspects last as long as it makes sense for them to last. they are like the devices Macgyver builds. Generally they are only used to overcome an obstacle or defeat an opponent and then forgotten. However that does not mean those devices just vanished. It merely means that those devices are no longer important in the continuing adventures of Angus Macgyver. In fact I like that analogy(metaphor?), from now on I will know these aspects as Macgyver aspects.

These aspects appear in one of two ways. either they are declared by the GM or they are declared by the Players. If a GM declares them it is either as an impartial part f the world(no tags/free invokes) or as an NPC(they must use a skill or spend a fate point). If the player is declaring he must use a skill or spend a fate point. In some Fate games there are a lot of different names for this process of declaring aspects. I really like that in Fate Core they have simplified it all down to the Create Advantage action.

Permanent aspects
I don't like this term for the same reason I don't like temporary aspects. Aspects last as long as it makes sense for them to last. What I mean by permanent aspects are aspects that, when changed, alter the entire point of the game. If you are playing a gritty World War One game and you change the aspect, Vicious Trench Warfare, to a new aspect, The Joy of Christmas, it changes the whole nature of the game. Some folks may not wish to play anymore. Some will claim that this is no longer even a war game. The nature of the game has changed so drastically that it would be difficult to play in the same way you had played before. That is what I view as a permanent aspect.

there should be very few permanent aspects. As I have said before, they change everything. Having a lot of them can make the game feel rail-roady and deprotagonizing. However you will need a few. Generally speaking these will be major themes or conflicts within the game. Once they are resolved the game changes.

Changing aspects
Aspects are mutable. They can change. However they are true. they only exist as aspects when they matter to the game. Thus, they only change when the change is due to the game and due to the importance of the change in the game.

Basically aspects exist only so long as they are important. So when your character's aspects are no longer as relevant as you would like, it is time to change the aspect. often people will hang on to aspects far beyond what is necessary in a given scenario. This can lead to a feeling of stagnation with a character, when it does not need to.

Misconceptions on aspects
That aspects need to be good and bad. 
While it is true that the best aspects are both beneficial and problematic, that does not mean that you need to do this. Sometime you just want a beneficial aspect. When you do that be sure to remember that you will not gain any fate points from it. Other time you may want a purely detrimental aspect. In that case make sure to remember to gain as much fate from it as you can. The important thing is to get as much out of the aspect as you want. In fact, when making your first character for Fate ever it may help you to come up with negative and positive aspects. Then as you go along, you can change them to better suit your needs. Remember that aspects on the sheet are not permanent things. You can make "bad" ones, and fix them as you go along.

That aspects must be short and catchy.
WHile it may be fun to make short and catchy aspects, it is best to make an aspect that is unambiguous. Short catchy aspects can end up being a bit ambiguous and wibbly-wobbly. The goal is that an aspect will let you know the kinds of situations it is useful in. You may be playing the character for a while. You don't want to come back to your character sheet after a long week and not remember what your aspect means.

Aspects define what you can and cant do...the aspects as special powers in the game
WHile aspects can be special powers I would like to think that I have shown that aspects can be a lot more than merely define what you do.


Here is my aspect break down. I have no idea if this will be of any use to anyone. ever. Let me know what you think. discuss, comment, complain, critique.

Fate of the Nova Age: Gods and Gear

Gear
Gear in Fate of the Nova Age exists to provide permission for certain actions. If you have a gun, you can shoot with it. If you have a tool box you can do simple repairs on a car. That sort of thing is pretty standard. Weapons and armor require a bit of twiddling however. I would like to up the danger of weapons, and to do this I am going with a weapon and armor extra. Here is how it works. Weapons(as defined by your table) negate the physical stress track. You can only mitigate stress from weapons by using consequences. Armor allows you to utilize your stress track again against weapons. You can have armor piercing weapons which negate armor, but you cannot heavy armor that would negate that, there has to be a limit in here somewhere, and that is where I draw the line. Armor Piercing Weapons, and indeed, weapons of any kind can be restricted depending on where in the world you set your game. this would be handled by an aspect on the location which can be compelled should one of your PCs have the restricted item on their person. and that is my take on weapons and armor.

I would also like to do a version of gear rules for really special gear, but I think that is handled best by taking a personal aspect relating to the special gear and talking out with the table what that means in the context of the game. Also it could be a way for a PC who is not a Nova to gain a Nova stunt. Simply attach the aspect to the stunt, and if it gets compelled then you can't use the stunt until you get your gear up and running again. These are my current thoughts on the subject, that may change as we go along.

Team Tomorrow
Proteus Archives
Search: Team Tomorrow
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1998, March 23, 08:18 ZULU
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Satellite Galatea explodes in orbit. No known cause. Investigation is ongoing.
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1998, March 23, 11:31 ZULU
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First known modern Eximorph Eruption, Randal Portman. Saves a bus full of children on national television. Scenario one: Containment and Concealment impossible. Move to scenario two: Control and Direct the flow of information. Initiate contact with U.N., seek declaration of humanity.
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1998. June 30
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Zurich Accord signed. Novas(Homo Sapiens Novus) declared humans, with all rights and responsibilities thereof. Stage one of Control Scenario in place. Move forward on Project: Utopia. Proteus safeguards in place. 
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1998, August 13
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Utopia fully engaged. Recruitment and Propaganda are primary focus. Triton Division has asked for permission to move forward more directly. 
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1998, December 4
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Dr.s Mazarin and Rashoud announce the discovery of the source of Eximorph abilities. This M-R Node warrants further study. Moving Forward on clinics in major cities across the globe for recruitment purposes. Proteus reports over 600 known "Novas" worldwide. Will release data to press after analysts are done with it.
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1999, January 1
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Team Tomorrow initiated. Proteus 'genetic protocols' have been canceled. Potential fallout too great. Thetis assumes Directorship of Proteus after unfortunate death of previous Director.

<Transcript of conversation Between Steve Debow [Director of Marketing, Utopia] and Justin Laragione [Director, Utopia], 09/10/1998 18:47 ZULU>
Laragione: Steve, its good to see you. What can I do for you today?
Debow: You have seen my team's last report?
Laragione: To be honest, what with getting this project up and running and moving to New York, the paperwork has gotten ahead of me here. Saying that, I think I have it here-ah here it is. Was going to get to this after lunch. Is there something I should know?
Debow: I will leave you to read for yourself, but the short answer is we have a serious problem in the immediate future. Our psychologists and sociologists, not to mention [redacted], are in accord, without some form of action Novas of a certain power level and higher will begin doing whatever they please. We need a response team.
Laragione: Response team?
Debow: Yes, and soon. Before problems become endemic.
Laragione: Surely it can't be that-
Debow: Our most conservative estimates show that if only five or ten of the hundreds we know of go bad, it will set a precident. Regular police and military can't handle this sort of threat. We need to show the world that we can.
Laragione: So a police force for Novas.
Debow: It has to be more than that.
Laragione: More? More how?
Debow: We need to build three ideas with this response team. First, Nova criminals can't get away with breaking the rules. Second, The team needs to be both normal humans and Novas. We have to show that Novas are humans too. Third, we need to build a desire to do good works by having this team be photogenic and public.
Laragione: I will have to talk with [Redacted]. See if there are any candidates that will work. I think I know of-Thank you Steve, for bringing this to my attention. I agree this is a pressing issue. Get your Marketing team working on a name, slogan, the whole press package. I will set up a meeting in a week, we will formalize this plan and begin working on a solution.
<End transcript>


We have seen you. Well, everyone has seen you. After your rather public eruption you are now one of the most recognized Novas, to use the idiom, in the world. More than your public display, however, is your apparent dedication to doing the right thing. You have powers and abilities far beyond the pale. Anyone else would have become a monster, with power like that. Not you, though. Not you. you are probably wondering who I am and who I represent. I represent Project Utopia, and through them the United Nations. As to who I am? that is not important. I am here to ask you a question. Probably the most important question you will ever be asked. Do you want to save the world?

Team Tomorrow are as close to superheroes as one can get in this post Eruption world. They stand for all that is right and good. At least that is what the news promos tell you. By and large, that is true. Team Tomorrow is filled with very altruistic people. They are pretty much what is advertised, save for a dark secret. Team Tomorrow is an outgrowth of Project: Utopia which is, itself, a creation of Proteus. What Proteus has planned for this team is unknown. In fact it would take quite a bit of digging to even find the connection between Team Tomorrow and Proteus.

Team Tomorrow is split into three teams: Team Tomorrow Hyperion, Team Tomorrow Themis, and Team Tomorrow Iapetus. Hyperion is the public face of Team Tomorrow. Their job is to do charity work, attend photo ops, do interviews, and help Themis deal with threats when called for. Themis are the heavy hitters of the team. Their job is to deal with the powerful Nova threats that cannot be dealt with by the local Law enforcement. Iapetus is the investigative and espionage team. Dealing with negating threats before they start and gathering intel on existing threats. The Teams fall under the oversight of the UN Security Council and take their orders directly from the Security Council appointed Director of Nova Affairs, I have not named the director here, as it should be up to the table who this person is.

Locations
Adis Ababa: Home base of the Team Tomorrow Hyperion, it sits in the center of the reinvigorated city. Project: Utopia is also centered hear. In all the world Adis Ababa is probably the most friendly to Novas.

New York: This is the major base of operations for Team Tomorrow Iapetus. They have purchased a large plot of land abutting the ocean and have constructed the large low slung building that houses the investigative division.

Mumbai: Home to Team Tomorrow Themis. Located in India so as to be close to the two largest populations of Novas in the world. Mumbai has become the hot spot for Novas in the eastern hemisphere. the booming film industry and sheer number of Novas in the area assured that. With all this activity it was thought to be a perfect location for the Enforcement arm of Team Tomorrow.

Plot Threads
New Members: Your PCs are offered spots on Team Tomorrow. This is the closest to a typical superhero game that Fate of the Nova Age gets. Basically you would play the response team dealing with threats as the come up. For examples of this see Warren Ellis' run on Storm Watch...pretty much nails it.

The Conspiracy Deepens: Their is a connection between Proteus and Team Tomorrow. Your characters investigate that. they could be friends of Jennifer "Slider" Landers or perhaps Andre Corbin. Maybe they come across some of the T2Mers doing something shady and investigate. Perhaps they run into a strange document or recording while digging into Project: Utopia.


Philosophy of Terras, and the Null Manifesto
There is a book, written by a transcendent mind, written before the Eruption Event, that dictates a post-human philosophy. Written by a man called Primus, it speaks of Novas and how they should view themselves. Those who have done serious digging into it claim that Primus was a pseudonym taken by Michael Donigal, an extraordinary man who helped found the Aeon Society. These same investigators sometimes claim that Donigal was a Nova who erupted in the twenties, the first Nova. they say he caused the Eruption Event. Before he did so he penned the Null Manifesto. However his mind was such that there are layers of meaning and symbolism hidden in every word. It is written in a language he constructed to serve his purposes. No one has yet deciphered the whole text. But at the core lies a simple message., "Novas are not human, and thus not bound by human morality or laws." No one has found any evidence of Primus or Donigal since 1998.

A powerful Nova, calling himself Divis Mal, discovered the Null Manifesto and broadcast it to the world. Since then several groups of Novas have taken up the Manifesto as their guiding light. They bicker among themselves as to the correct translation/interpretation of the document, but to the outside word they have become grouped as one whole. They are known as the Teragen, the followers of Terras.

Groups within the Teragen
The Pantheon: Founded by a man known only as The Mathematician and Count Raoul Orzaiz, the Pantheon follows the Terras by assuming each Nova is a nation and moral entity unto themselves. "Do what thou wilt, shall be the letter of the law," is something Orzaiz is found of quoting. they see themselves as the shepherds of man, and see themselves as above all petty squabbles. Each is dedicated to following Terras and trying to keep tensions down between Novas and Baselines. The Pantheon wants the Novas to take their natural role as leaders of the world, and then everyone can live in peace.

Vigilance: A war is coming. A war to end all wars. A war between Baselines and Novas. Those who strike first have the greatest chance of victory. This is the rationale of Vigilance, espoused by its leader, Geryon. He sees the disparities between Novas and Baselines and knows that such disparities eventually lead to war. He leads his band on raids of anyone and everyone he sees as trying to control or destroy Novas.

The Legacy: they believe in the evolution of self. They seek to constantly test themselves and grow in power. Lead by the Mad Prophet Scripture and his right hand man the Apothecary, they dive deeply into Quantum Taint and seek to develop ways of controlling and channeling it. They are some of the most powerful Novas on the face of the earth.

Fate of the Nova Age: Secret Societies & Superhumans

The world needs a change
Power is needed to change the world
Power demands a horrible price
What Will you do with the power of a god?

Character creation

Novas
Forged in quantum fire, wielding powers beyond the dreams of mankind. Novas are at once terrifying and awe inspiring, Genius beyond human thought, these beings are power incarnate. Simply by existing the change the world around them. Whole new fields of science became viable just knowing Novas were possible. Some claim they are the next step in human evolution. In fact they are one possible path, a powerful and dangerous path. Novas recently came to the public's attention in 1998. The space station Galatea exploded and Randal Portman erupted in the middle of New York city in front of hundreds of cameras. Novas come about when the right human is placed in jeopardy. The stress causes their powers to erupt. As of this moment their are approximately six thousand Novas world wide. that sounds like a lot, but it is a rather small number compared to the entire planet. If you are a nova, odds are good you have met a good percentage of the Novas in your area, and a few from far away. 

Novas have the Nova extra. This costs one refresh and allows you to take Nova stunts. These stunts represent your Nova powers and abilities. Those listed are there to showcase what the limits and possibilities would be It also give you access to a secondary consequence list. This is your Quantum Taint Consequence list. you can take a Quantum Taint consequence along side a stress box and a regular consequence. This allows you to take quite a bit more stress than a baseline human, However this can lead to some serious deformities and derangements. You can also gain a consequence by Maxing a roll. this represents pushing your limits as far as you can and then pushing further. How it works is this. You can add a number to your roll equal to the consequence you are taking(plus two for mild, plus four for Moderate, and so on). Quantum Taint consequences take twice as long to recover from. Should you ever take a Quantum Taint extreme consequence your character's high concept must become more inhuman and strange, representing your disconnect from the rest of the human race.

Psions can invoke your Taint consequences to shut down your aberrant stunts for a round. They cannot stop you acting, but they can negate your powers for a moment.

Aberrant stunts
Here is a list of sample stunts for Novas. Feel free to make up you own. 
Mega_____: You can take this stunt as many times as you have skills, but only once per skill. What it does is allow you to set one of your fudge dice to + before the roll when using that skill. you are just plain better than most folks. you can use your skill at beyond the peak of human ability. You can take this up to four times per skill. Basically you would automatically get a +4 on every roll then.
Epic_____: You can take this as many times as you have skills, but only once per skill. This allows you to do part of that skill more, superhumanly more. When you choose this stunt take one of the following effects: the skill is used far faster than any human could do it(you can use this to do most skills in a single combat turn), The skill can do far more(you can use the skill in a way that is flat out impossible perception sees through walls, athletics lets walk on the ceiling, that sort of thing), or needs no tools when you use it. basically this stunt removes the overcome obstacle roll for certain circumstances with the skill. Should you face another being with Epic____ in the same area in a vs overcome roll, they cancel out and it comes down to a roll, though the two with Epic___ are going to go far more/better/faster than any other competitor. Requires you have Mega_____ or Elite____.
Elite_____: when you use this skill you replace one of your Mega____ skills automatic pluses with a D6. You are better than most Novas. Your ability is able to do things that are impossible for anyone else. This skill requires and replaces Mega______. You may take this as many times per skill as you have taken Mega____.
Warp: You can bend space, ripping a hole in the universe between here and there. the further away, tho more difficult it is to do[+3, or a roll vs your opponent, to leave the immediate area(leave the conflict zone areas), +6 from the earth to the moon, +8 from earth to Oort cloud, +10 to Alpha Centauri]. Use Lore or Notice(Lore for far jumps, notice for combat initiative, defending, and dealing with obstacles) to roll to warp. Combat Jumping is pretty much always going to work so long as you have a sight line to where you are going, you only need to roll to defend against incoming attacks. You can start each turn in whatever zone you like. The only way that your opponent can resist is to build advantages that would block your line of sight, or hinder you in a similar manner.
Mind control: Use either will, perception, or lore(pick a skill at the time of stunts purchase) to make a mental attack. If you take your opponent out you can change their high concept, trouble, or give them one preprogramed action they must take.
Dangerous Mind: Requires Mind Control. Treat your Mind Control attack as being a weapon.
Mind Reading: Use perception, Will, or Lore(choose at the point of picking the stunt) to read the surface thoughts of another thinking being. They resist with will.
Mental Shield: You mind counts as having Armor.
Flight: You can fly, this negates some obstacles and give you more movement options for creating advantages. You use athletics should you need to maneuver,
Matter Transmutation: Use Lore to change matter from one thing into another. the difficulty is based on the amount of matter to be changed. +3 for changing something small enough to fit in your hand, +5 for anything smaller than the human body. +7 for anything less than a ton. +9 for anything larger than that but less than a city block in size. Larger than that would require Epic Lore related to matter transmutation.
Create___: Use Lore or Craft to create energy or matter of one sort. The amount you can create is the same difficulties as Matter Transmutation.
Quantum Blast: you can use shooting without a weapon. you can fire out two zones without penalty. Each zone past that decreases you roll by one.
Quantum Blast2: This ability has the prerequisite of Quantum Blast. When you take this ability you can choose one of the following abilities:
    1. Supercharge: your blast does an an extra two stress on a successful hit
    2. Combustion: you can attack a whole zone, roll your shooting at -1 to attack every target in the zone.
    3. Alternate defense: Your opponent must defend against your blast with some other skill(choose the skill when you choose this ability.
    4. Burn: After a target has taken stress from the blast attack, the target continues to take one stress per turn until they take a turn to make an overcome roll(vs static difficulty +2) to put the flames/acid/mind-bleed/whatever out.
    5. Powerful Blast: Your Quantum Blast counts as a weapon.
    6. Piercing Blast: Your Quantum Blast counts as Armor Piercing. Requires Powerful Blast.
    7. Extended Range: You may shoot your quantum blast out an additional two zones without penalty.
Armor: Gain Armor against physical actions.( I will detail weapons and armor in the next post)
Disrupt: You can halt another Nova from using there abilities. Roll your Will vs your opponents will. If you succeed, your opponent cannot use one of their Nova abilities unless they spend a round to roll their will vs Fair(+2) difficulty.
Needs of the Flesh: You can ignore hunger, thirst, Sleep, pressure, temperature extremes(non-attack), lack of oxygen, age(pick three). This stunt can be taken twice.
Claws: Your hands count as weapons.(I will post the weapon rules in the next post)
Claws 2: You may use any of the options from Quantum Blast for your Claws, save for Extended Range.

Daredevils

There are some people who have no apparent powers, no special abilities. Yet even with this obvious weakness, they stand taller than their fellow men. They seem to be luckier than most, always in the right place at the right time with the right skills. They are both  blessed and cursed. Cursed to live in interesting times. Blessed in that they can face that danger head on. They are the daredevils. Singular individuals with the skill, luck, and desire to walk where angels fear to tread.

Daredevils are the second evolutionary branch of mankind, able to bend probability to their unconscious desires. They live in a world where Fate exists and it loves them best of all. Daredevils reshape reality in subtle yet powerful ways. They fit into powerful archetypes that resonate with the world around them. To represent this Fate bending ability the Daredevils get an extra base refresh which they can use as normal. This represents their innate luck or intense specialization(if they use it to take extra stunts).

Daredevil focused stunts
Death Defiance: Gain an additional mild consequence. Should you raise your physique or will to five, you gain an additional mental or physical(depending on the skill) moderate consequence.
Forgettable: gain a +2 to rolls involving blending in with the crowd. Any nameless NPCs automatically fail any roll to detect you.
Indomitable Will: When some one seeks to read or control you mind(via psychic or aberrant power) should you succeed with style on your defense roll you can choose to do two mental stress to that person rather than gaining a boost.
Navigation Hazard: On a successful pilot roll to attack(ramming, sideswiping, etc) you can spend a fate point to increase the level of consequence inflicted(mild to moderate, moderate to severe). If they would not normally take a consequence, they take a mild consequence.
Perfect Poise: You are immune to normal fear of any kind. You gain a +2 to any roll versus psychic or aberrant effects that cause unnatural fear.
Resilient: You heal consequence as if they were one level lower.
Untouchable: Nameless NPCs do not get a teamwork bonus against you.

Psions
The third branch of the human genetic potential, Psions are very rare in the Nova Age. The abundance of Quantum Taint makes it more likely that humans will transform into Novas rather than Psions. There are still a few however. They come about naturally only rarely, but there is the possibility of a prometheus chamber existing out there in the world. Whether it was devised by the Alien Doyen, or by some Terrestrial mad genius only you and your GM can say.

When you wish to play a psion, you must subtract one from your refresh, and pick a psionic aptitude. This aptitude is the only way you can access psi. Once you have picked an aptitude that is your only psionic power from then on, you can never use another aptitude. You must also have something in your high concept related to being a psion.  


Psionic Aptitudes
I have reused my old material on the psionic aptitudes here, as I think they are pretty neat and still work just fine. I will probably monkey with them a bit as this project moves forward.

Biokinesis
 Mostly this is used for creating advantages, and overcoming obstacles by changing your shape, altering your internal organs, and the ability to adapt to hostile environments. You cannot directly attack and defend with this power, you have to have prepared an advantage before hand to represent the changes you make to yourself.

Stunts
Aggressive Shape-shift:  You can use your Biokinesis skill to attack physically within the same zone.
Carapace/redundant organs/ defensive shape change: you can use your biokinesis to defend physically.
Master shifter: You gain a +2 bonus when rolling to create an advantage.
Clairsetience
Use this to create advantages and overcome obstacles either through looking into the past or the future. Directly attacking is impossible and defense is defined by creating an advantage and then using that to defend or justify a defense.

Stunts
Programed moment: you use clairsentience to avoid a blow by predicting the scenario.
Cosmic dice: You gain a +2 bonus when rolling to create an advantage.
Planned hit: you saw the damage coming ahead of time and used that knowledge to lessen the blow. once per conflict you can spend a fate point to use a consequence as if it were one higher.


Electrokinesis
Advantage, and overcome actions, only related electricity and light(photokinesis).  


Stunts
Lightning bolt: you can use Electrokinesis to attack. For each zone outside your current one reduce your roll by one.
Technokinesis: you can use your electrokinesis when using computers, or interacting with machines that have an electric current.
Power Surge: when attacking a machine gain a +2 to your roll.

Psychokinesis
You can make attack actions and overcome actions for kinetic and thermal energy.

Stunts
Remote manipulation: Use psychokinesis to create an advantage.
Freeze: you can create  a barrier around a person or thing(see Storm calling in the Magic Toolkit), like the attack action for glacier calling(pg 15).
Burn: when making an attack action you can attack every target(except you) in a zone. you take a minus one to the attack roll to do so.

Telepathy
You can overcome and create advantages dealing with understanding the mind and emotions. you can read thoughts and emotions. Telepathy is the least common of the psionic disciplines.

Stunts
Phantasm: +2 to create advantage rolls involved with illusion
Mindstorm: use Telepathy to make a mental attack.
Mental fortitude: telpathy defends against mental attack.


Vitakinesis
You can overcome obstacles and create advantages related to the healing. you can speed up the healing of yourself and others, you roll psi vs a difficulty equal to +[the combined level of the consequences you are trying to heal], should you succeed at the roll treat the consequence(or consequences) as one level lower for the purposes of healing times only. If you succeed with style it counts as two levels lower(can't be lower than minor).

Stunts
Algesis: you can use vitakinesis to attack within the same zone(you must touch the victim of the attack).
Regeneration: +2 to overcome rolls to heal yourself.
Negation: when an ally(or enemy I guess) takes a consequence you can roll your Vitakinesis. If your roll is higher than the attack roll that player can treat a consequence as a higher level of consequence for purposes of negating damage.

Teleportation
You can roll overcome and defense actions involving teleporting, either yourself or others. Overcome action to move distances. the bigger the object and the less you know about the location, the more difficult it is. Roll defense action to avoid physical damage by a short hop out of the way of the damage. 

Stunts
Object Jump: reduce your roll by one to teleport an object and everything in it(like a space ship, or a house) over a long distance.
Transmass Shield: my altering the way space folds around you you can roll teleportation to defend everyone in the same zone as the Teleporter.
Master of the Long Jump: you gain a +2 to overcome rolls to teleport.



Here are the first two power groups in the Game. I will be adding more groups in the next few posts. If you have any thoughts as to plot hooks/threads or locations I should add please let me know and I will add them in.

Societies
Aeon
The Aeon Society is a conspiracy of super humans (nobody knows Daredevils exist, Psions are really rare, and Novas used to be rare until the Galatea explosion) who are engaged in a shadowy conspiracy to control the course of human history. A conspiracy to make the world a better place. They dream of an enlightened and evolved humanity heading out to the stars and spreading throughout the galaxy in peace. Basically they want to see the star trek ideal come to fruition.

The people behind Aeon are some of the most talented and dedicated people you are likely to meet. They may not be able to slug it out with the biggest Novas head on, but they are as brilliant as any implausibly smart Hollywood smart guy you care to name; they are Sherlock Holmes, Tony Stark, Lex Luthor, and Hannibal Lector level brilliant people. And they are insanely lucky. And they have the Mercer Codex. A journal written by the founder of the Aeon Society that is an eerily accurate prophecy of things to come. From 1924 to 2120s there are a great many predictions, all have come to pass in one form or another. Some Claim the Mercer is still around, somehow unstuck in time. Some say he is on the move again in the world. Of course those are just silly rumors.

That's where the PCs step in. You have a cabal of brilliant people who know that someone needs to do something about this crisis over there right now, but can't focus enough attention to fix it themselves, so they gather a handful of misfits whom they have a hunch would be useful and throw them at the problem. Basically they are UNIT, with Mercer as the Doctor dropping in with advice on occasion

Locations
Home Office: Constructed in downtown Chicago, the home office for the Aeon Society has not been used for years. Mostly it serves as a storage facility for old files and the like. In the last year there has been a bunch of activity around it again. the rumors are true Mercer is back and he has taken up residence back in the Home Office once more. He plans on gathering a group of likeminded idealists and trouble shooters to help him sort out what has gone wrong since he last disappeared in the seventies. This will be that groups home base. Filled with old trophies and souvenirs of the strange past f the world, surrounded by reminders of how strange the world really can be, this will be where this small band of heroes tries to set things right.

Plot threads
Find the lost files of the Aeon Society: For nearly fifty years the Aeon Society published a yearly journal of their adventures. they kept out the really dangerous secrets, but they tried to be as open as they could. The Aeon Guide was what the true explorers read rather the Ponatowski's trite digest, Our World, which was often just a bunch of lies and exagerations. Since the last Aeon Guide was published all volumes have disappeared. Was is even more startling is that all the original files the books were based on have also disappeared. 

Corruption within and without: When Proteus broke away they did so during a tumultuous time in the Aeon Society. Mercer had disappeared again, and much of the leadership had died of natural causes or strange accidents. As of today, no one in power at the Aeon Society knows that Proteus ever belonged to Aeon. Or so it seems. Yet every time you get close to a proteus secret things fall apart. It is almost as if someone in power is feeding Proteus your plans.

Proteus

Proteus is what happens when the ideals that founded Aeon go rotten. For decades they had been dealing with strange threats and unusual problems. Often at the end of these threats Aeon would end up with terrible technologies and horrible secret. They needed a place to store these things, a place to keep them out of the wrong hands. THey built Proteus to do just that. Proteus has dirt on everyone, it has access to technologies far beyond anything currently known, and it has taken over the world. 

That is not an exageration. Something happened in the late seventies within Proteus. No one knows what. From then on Proteus has been blackmailing, bribing, and assassinating its way into power. Throughout the eighties they instituted what they called Project Rewrite. They began to systematically rewrite the history of the western world. The erased all mention of Z-Waves, Telluric Energy, and the Unique Individuals who had made the twentieth such a strange century. By 1998 Proteus had nearly convinced the world that it was a banal and mundane thing with nothing special to show for it.

The Eruption of Randal Portman changed all that. It was public, it was loud, and it was not an isolated incident. Proteus could not cover it up, nor could it cover up the throngs of others that erupted within those first few months. Novas were here to stay, and the careful control of Proteus had been unbalanced, if only a little. Now Proteus does what it has always done. It seeks to control these new assets on the board. If it can't control them, it seeks to distract or destroy them. So far few outside of Aeon even know it exists. With this brave new world, Aeon has begun a brand new offensive against Proteus. Director Thetis is uncertain what has brought on this renewed vigor, but she is convinced Proteus will weather this secret war.

Locations
Bahrain Facility: the secret Nova research facility is part prison and part laboratory. Here Proteus houses the worst Nova criminals that have ever been captured. Within this facility Proteus scientists are delving into the Nova Phenomenon as only those without ethical oversight can. They have sold many of their finds in secret to Triton industries, a multinational pharmaceuticals company that has recently been on the rise with their genetic therapies for treating several forms of cancer. 

The Vault: All of those death rays and lightning guns have to be stored somewhere. That somewhere is deep below the antarctic ice. The Vault is where they store all the devices that they have no use for yet. Think Warehouse 13, but really really evil.

Potential Plot threads
Control, Distract, and Destroy: This plot thread is kind fo the core plot if you are using Proteus. Basically this is the mustache twirling evil conspiracy. So get out you favorites, black helicopters, new world order, FEMA, Nova Sterility Cocktail, JFK, Sao Paolo Bombing, Slider's Murder, take your pick. Heck they could be in league with aliens and all that. grab one and go for a short run game. Grab ten and go for a longer form game. The main focus would be on the conspiracy to control Novas, but you could also do a secret archeology game where you are digging into all the things that Proteus has covered up in the last century or so.

Something has gone wrong in the Vault: Just what it says on the tin. Something has gone wrong. Perhaps someone has taken control and the PCs are the team Thetis thinks she can trick into saving her precious Vault. Maybe some horrible pathogen, or genetically constructed monstrosity has gotten loose and the PCs accidentally or on purpose overheard the distress call. This would be the worlds nastiest Dungeon Crawl. The same can be done at the Bahrain Facility.

Someone wants to come clean: The PCs get contacted by someone in high authority. He tells them he has to come clean at all the horrible things he has done, but he needs protection. He asks the PCs to meet him at a secure location. Depending on how you feel like letting this go he could be dead when they arrive(mystery scenario), He could come under attack when they protect him(action scenario), or something even stranger could occur.



So that is it for todays post. The next post I will be putting equipment rules into the game, and adding in the Terragen, and team Tomorrow. Let me know what you think. Comments, concerns, questions, and critiques are welcome...as is praise too I guess, though it doesn't really fit in the whole alliteration thing I had going there.

Fate of the Nova Age: Conspiracies, Intrigues, and Secret Histories

A while ago I did a hack of Aeon Trinity for Fate Core. The hack was sufficient for my needs at the time and focused on what I was interested in within that setting. Namely it was a mix up of Star Wars, Babylon 5, and the Legion of Superheroes. Now I wish to take a crack at another game setting, one within the very same world of Aeon Trinity, Aberrant.

Fate Of Aeon Trinity
Part 1: Initial Idea and Pitch(whith some stuff about another project)
Part 2: Psi Skills
Part 3: Timeline Alterations and Stunts
Part 4: Aberrants
Part 5: Qin and Biotech
Part 6: Chromatics
Part 7: Daredevils
Part 8: Coalition
Part 9: Ship Combat

Aberrant was set about a hundred years prior to Aeon Trinity. It focused as much on Aberrants(or Novas as they are called) as Trinity focused on Psions. Basically it was attempting to be a superhero game, without being a superhero game. I really loved many parts of the setting, and I despised other parts. So with all that in mind I started a hack for Wild Talents. However that came to nothing, for a few reasons, mostly because I kept too close to the original material. So I am going to hack it again, this time for Fate Core. Hopefully something interesting will come forth.

Aberrant at its core was not a superhero game. It was a Conspiracy, Intrigue, and Secret History game. This was not directly spelled out in the setting or rules. In fact there was little spelled out in the fiction or rules in regards to how one is supposed to play a group of Aberrants. It always made running the game a bit tricky for me. The players would come in with vastly different ideas as to what the game was supposed to be about. I say that it is about Intrigue, Mystery and Secret history because of how the adventures and adventure hooks were laid out. Most were about those things to one extent or another. In fact most were about conspiracies. So really it is a conspiracy game, but those other two have a fairly large share of adventure material, so I keep those as well. I also keep them as I love Planetary by Warren Ellis, and Aberrant is a game where you play Planetary.  It is true. The game focuses around secret cabals of powerful individuals who control the world, who rewrite history to fit their worldview. It is about exposing those dark cabals to the light and changing things. You could play a game of it like the JLA, the Avengers, Storm Watch, or the Authority as well, but that is for a different day.

On to the secret history of the world and the powers that control it.

So for a secret history to work we need both secrets and history. The history is pretty well worked out in my head. Basically I would like to cut out useful chunks of history and then color them with Aeon Continuum goodness. So take your favorite piece of history and add in some weirdness and then set the remnants of that weirdness in the current world of Aberrant and let the players go investigate.

Secrets
There are a lot of things that can be used as secrets to go into your secret history. There are aliens, secret societies, lost worlds, and singular events of great importance or interest.

Aliens
Within the Trinity universe there are several Alien species. Some are Appropriate for this and some would take some explaining to get them to earth.
Doyen
Masters of Biotechnology, Psi, and the Sub-quantum universe the Doyen are in a never ending fight with the Zeps. The Doyen prefer to use proxies and lateral tactics rather than directly fight. They prefer it if their enemies never even know they exist. They are non-corporeal entities that require a host to utilize much of their psychic power. There current favorites are the Qin. They have crafted the Qin to be their greatest weapons against the Zeps. Doyen crafted ships could have crashed on earth at any time period, or the Doyen could have meddled with human genetics at one time or another, leading to psychic phenomena and such during any of the time frames. If they did have a ship crash it could have had a working Prometheus Chamber. Perhaps their ships require intelligent biological beings to act as the various parts of the ship. The gunner would be a master telekinetic, the engineer would be a teleporter, the comms officer would be a telepath, and so on. Maybe the ship just wants to go home and it begins "recruiting" earthlings to be those parts it needs. They get phenomenal Psychic powers, but are now psychically part of the ships crew.
Zeps
Masters of Hard Tech, individual evolution, and the Quantum universe the Zeps are the polar opposite of the Doyen. They are extremophiles and dwell in gas giants. They have the ability to trigger and control beneficial mutation. Given enough information and enough time, they can develop any Aberrant super power. They have been fighting a war with the Doyen forever. They are physically imposing and each is a unique looking creature. A crashed Zep ship could be a fantastic set up, perhaps deep in the Mariana Trench...or something. Perhaps they meddled with human genetics at some point. Maybe they are the reason humans can even become Novas. Perhaps a group of Zeps is planning on using humanity as soldiers in their never-ending war with the Doyen. Maybe they are even walking among us, using their strange abilities to alter their shape to appear as human. Are they able to breed with humans? Is this where Novas come from? Or maybe they are studying the Nova phenomenon and trying to figure out how a bunch of monkeys can do what the Zeps can do.
Qin
The Qin are the subject species of the Doyen. they worship the Doyen like gods. Any plot involving the Doyen could easily involve the Qin as well. They are telepathic slugs who use biotech to make armored suits to use. They are masters of large and small unit tactics, as they use there telepathy to be a type of Gestalt entity during a fight. All of their minds are one. On a one on one basis they can read minds and communicate with any mind. This makes them dangerous, and useful tools for the doyen.
Coalition
A race that gains power through forcible taking of genetic material and mineral resources of planets. They travel in massive generation ships at slower than light speeds. they are the locusts of the universe. their could be a crashed ship, or one of the secret cabals ruling the world could be in cahoots with them. Perhaps sabotaging earths defenses and space programs. Perhaps they have an outpost on one of the moons of saturn or some such. They make a great black hat for the series. They could also work as a ticking clock. You must discover their plot and defeat it, before they arrive and wipe out mankind.

Lost Worlds
The Aeon Continuum has quite a few lost worlds and wondrous secret places. Discovery of them could be the focus of a session or a whole Campaign.

Ape City
Sometime ago(how far back will alter the narrative a bit) something genetically altered a few thousand Gorillas in africa. Whoever or whatever did this increased their intelligence to equal(maybe even exceed) the minds of Men. These Gorillas forged a society that quickly split. One Society Hated the outside world of Man and went into exile. they are Xenophobic and Decadent. They have great sciences and technologies and are hidden from the eyes of man by these technologies. The other society of Apes was peaceful and outgoing, they too developed great sciences and technologies, but they sought to become part of the larger world. they knew that mankind was not ready to meet them and they wait for the day they can reveal themselves to the world. Possible plots here involve the heroes finding the ruins of one(or both) of the cultures and piecing together what happened. Perhaps there is a war going on between the two societies and the heroes stumble into it. Maybe they run across a gorilla fugitive from the Xenophobic Apes and they must decide what to do about it.

Aspects: Secret Societies of Apes
Aspects: Are you a good Ape, or a bad Ape?

Hollow Earth
Beneath the earth there are ancient tunnels that lead to the center of the earth. there the two intelligent races fight for supremacy over a primal paradise. Great prehistoric beasts walk the land and crystals power an artificial sun at the heart f the earth. This is a campaign set piece all on its own. You could run a one shot here, but the reality is, this would probably work best as the focus for a whole campaign. What are these crystals? Can they be harvested? Replicated? Should they? What of the various people who dwell in the land, what should be done about them? What other secrets are down here? And what are these massive airships doing in these great caverns? There are a few crazy newspaper clippings that can be found about some Baron attacking New York with hot air balloons. There is an old Journal by a man known as Zorbo. Most of it is ranting about the environment and the need to leave the earth, but in it are also clues to finding the hidden paths to the Hollow Earth.

Aspect: Ancient Worlds Beneath the Ground
Aspect: Crystal Powered Artificial Suns

Ruins of Old Mars
Mars was never inhabited. the first NASA sponsored Novas proved that beyond a shadow of a doubt. There is nothing more than microbes living on the planet, now or in the past. There are no bones. there are no plants. there are no animals. there never were...and yet there are the ruins. On Mars there are three cities, designed for beings completely dissimilar from man. All the dating methods devised shows them to be no more than a hundred years old, yet there is no life in them. there are no signs of life in them. By all accounts, not one living thing ever existed within the cities. It is as if a bunch of aliens built three cities and left without ever using them. Needless to say, even knowing about the ruins is a secret of the highest order. This would be used for a space going game, if you were using the Daedalus Group or something of the like. Who made the ruins? for what purpose? why did the build a city and not live there? Where did they come from? Will they come back?

Aspect: Evidence of Life among the Lifeless rocks
Aspect: Buried secrets of the Builders

The Forbidden Plateau
There exists a plateau in south america that no satellite can see. You cannot land a plane or helicopter on it. Once on it you cannot leave. There exist many land routes to it, each is dangerous and deadly and impossible to find again once you have gotten out. The Plateau is a hole in time. It is linked to several eras and collects the detritus of the time stream. Ancient Lizard-men from 65 million years ago are fighting a war with the forces of the Ninth Legion. Cave men and dinosaurs, Mayans and people from the future, All have fallen into the trap of the Plateau. the number of people who have escaped it with their lives can be counted on one hand. Now that Novas exist, perhaps the plateau can be understood and explored. Maybe even it could be used to some effect or another. This is basically the land of the lost meets the lost world meets the savage land, using some sort of Telluric/quantum/sub-quantum effect.

Aspect: A Tear in Time and Space
Aspect: Everything is a threat

Monster Island
Back in the fifties something happened in the Pacific ocean. Either some natural Phenomenon occurred or a device of some sort was set off. the result of this was an infusion of Giant monsters throughout the Pacific. It took a transnational naval force fifteen years to coral the monsters onto a single uninhabited island in the south pacific. the monsters appear to be nearly invulnerable and immortal. they do not breed and they do not die. the scientists and soldiers who have been monitoring the Island for the last several decades are constantly coming up with new ways to contain the beasts. If one got loose in a major metropolitan area there is no telling how great the destruction would be. Who or what Caused these creatures? If it was natural, why did it happen then and not since or prior? If it was man made, why hasn't it been used, or threatened to be used since? What can stop these creature should they escape?

Aspect: Impossible Beasts of utter destruction
Aspect: Catastrophic House of Cards

Here is how I see this working. First comes the Event. This is something that happens in the world that is strange and worthy of investigating. It could be Sliders death, the Sao Paolo bombing, the formation of the Terragen, or anything really. You start out an investigation into an event. Then you add in one of the Agencies or Aliens. Then you put that on Frappe, and strain all the goodness out. Hell you could take several events and put them together with several of the aliens or Agencies. the Lost Worlds do not have to be used, I see them more as potential events or campaign hooks.

This is what I have so far. Next post will be on the various organizations and secret societies as well as character creation.

Part 2: Reworking the Character Creation rules
Part 3: Gear Rues and Campaign Frameworks
Part 4: Actual Play of the game

FATEsy Heartbreaker:Exploration et al

This is not a complete idea yet. Basically I am trying to build a framework for exploration and long distance travel in Fate. I would like to be able to model The Hobbit andThe Lord Of The Rings with Fate. Most of those books were just traveling from one location to another. In fact I would like to be able to model some of my favorite Sci Fi as well which are often just long trips to somewhere where the adventure is happening. As this is a rough idea I would welcome any thoughts as to how it could be improved. so without further run up, here is the basic idea.

Exploration and travel have a goal. A person, place, or thing you are seeking out. All the rolls involved in exploration lead up to the goal, but are not about attaining the goal. The goal is the adventure proper. The exploration is how one gets to the goal. Attaining the goal is another thing all together.

H'okay, so we have a goal, now what? Exploration is like an extended challenge scene, with successes and failures creating situations to play through. The number of rolls and the difficulties of the rolls varies depending on what you are doing. The number of rolls should equal a minimum of the number of characters involved. The difficulties should start equal to the highest skill rating of the characters involved. Increase the difficulty by two for every other character involved. Increase the difficulty by two for each difficulty that has already been overcome(they stay the same if you fail to overcome a difficulty). This will lead to some very high difficulties, higher than most player can achieve without some help. Should the players wish, they can use stress to increase a roll. For every point of stress the player places on the character add a point to the result of the roll. Stress cannot be recovered as normal during a travel/exploration sequence. You must have a recovery scene in order to do this.

There are two ways of deciding on the travel, mapped and unmapped. When dealing with mapped exploration/travel you take a sheet of paper(a big sheet of butcher paper is my favorite, it handles crayon the best, true story) and mark down your start point at one side and your goal at the other. then fill in each major terrain based obstacle on the way. there are many types of terrain that could fit in an obstacle: Plains, Swamps, Mountains, lake/sea/ocean, hills, forest/jungle, something really out there. The idea is to fill in the map with a number of intervening terrains so that you can build the world as you explore/travel.

Example: You and your crew are heading to face a dragon in a lonely mountain lair far away. To get there you must find the hidden fortress of the elves in a series of hidden valleys, pass by the massive mountain chain, find a path through a massive and dangerous forest, before finally finding the secret entrance to the dragon's mountain lair on the other side of a lake.

Once you have your terrains marked out on the map the rolls begin(woot!). Should you fail a roll then a contest or conflict scene will be instigated. The players at the table must decide what failure means and what type of contest/conflict is appropriate for this scene. The GM should make the opposition difficult but not unsurpassable, In general I find the device on pg. 222(Fate Core) very useful for helping figure out what I need for a given scene. Once the scene is done the players must try and overcome the obstacle again(unless the GM feels as though the conflict/contest scene has solved that issue somehow), but at base difficulty.

Example: Our heroes made it through the mountains and have just barely fought off a savage attack by a bunch of giant spiders. Some of them are poisoned and all have at least one consequence. It has been a rough journey. They have failed at getting free of the forest(again) and have decided that getting captured by elves would be a great idea. The player of the Halfling Thief spends a fate point of fate on his aspect, "And Here's The Burglar!" and has remained free. They must now enter a contest with the elves to escape. It will be very tense as these are wood elves and they are really good at remaining vigilant. If only they had a ring of invisibility or some-such...

The GM can also compel a setting aspect to make the initial conditions of this scenes far worse, or to change the nature of the conflict or contest.

Example: Earlier in their adventures our party was just leaving their starting location, the halfling river communities. They were on their way to the hidden fortress of the elves to get the information they need to cross the mountains. As it is early days for our heroes they felt it was too early to spend all their fate to beat the first obstacle, they failed(ouch). After a brief discussion they think it would be fun to face down three river trolls who are run a toll service on the road(The Dwarven Fighter's player is a bit of pun man). The GM thinks that is fine, but then slides out a bunch of Fate points and says if they accept it they will start out captive, rather than a fight it will now be an attempt to hold off the Trolls until dawn(the GM is taking some liberties with Trolls here, but it sounds cool) the players accept, and now they must have a contest to hold the Trolls off until sunrise and the trolls will turn into stone.

Recovery scenes remove all stress from stress boxes and allow for rolls to recover consequences. However should your players choose to use a recovery scene all the remaining difficulties will increase by one for the Travel/exploration sequence. Also there will be an extra overcome roll in  the next terrain.

Example: Our heroes have made it through the mountains. The Gm made it a rough go, though. He split the party, the thief got compelled to go off on his own and ended up in a contest of wits(to the death!)with a monster in the deep caverns. In the end he wound up spending a fate point to get away(he created the advantage, "What have I got in my Pocket?" and then spent a Fate point to declare it was a magic ring he found. After a bit of haggling the GM agreed to this(he basically said that the player could have it if the GM could compel it in unspecified way). The others in the party had to fight thier way through a horde of goblins. They all made it out, and it would normally be time to move on to the next overcome roll, but the GM compelled the goblins hatred of dwarves and they gave chase with great wolves(because why not). They got away when the wizard spent his last fate point to invoke his aspect, "Agent of a higher power," to summon some eagles to rescue them. Now they are all battered and bruised, so they decide to have a recovery scene. THey come up with this hidden house of a shapeshifting druid named Bjorn who lives in the woods with his awesome animal friends. They then recover. After they must deal with a new obstacle, the river of forgetfulness. THey overcome it when a dwarf spends a consequence to make the difficulty(he fell in, so he forgot a bunch of stuff, major consequence). 

So that is what I have for the exploration/travel rules. I would love to hear what you think, as I know that this is incomplete. I think there needs to be something extra, or maybe something less? I don't know, all I know is that it is not where I want it yet.