Fate chat and game room

Okay, I'm not entirely up to date on the newest changes to FAE, so this could be a little rough going. Also, many of our previous PCs were built on an older beta so we're going to have to update them...

C. Ross

k

BESW

Sounds fun.

trogdor

yeah,....

Problematic

@BESW we can rebuild them. We have the technology

BESW

@Problematic You're working on that.

Knights in shining armor, heroic princes battling the forces of darkness, good solid fairy tale tropes.

C. Ross

1:16 AM

aye

BESW

Do you have a Desperate Quest in mind yet?

'scool if not, we can let one emerge in the process.

C. Ross

no

BESW

Okay. Do you want to talk about him a bit, or would you like me to ask you questions?

C. Ross

He's driven to heroism out of a sense of nobless oblige

He has great strength of arm and character

But he's held back by his own expectations of himself

meh, that sounds ~~lame~~ weak

BESW

Okay, let's dig into his actual story.

Roughly, the DFRPG character creation phases. So: childhood.

Sounds like he's of noble birth.

A prince? Did one or both of his parents suffer Death by Origin Story?

Brothers? Sisters? older/younger? Does he feel responsible for them, or like he has to emulate them, or the need to be different from them?

Did he always want to be a sword-and-board hero, or was his childhood filled with dreams of some other kind of life?

C. Ross

1:23 AM

A son of a duke or something, and his father still lives but is more villain

his mother was kind and instilled hope and love in his heart

An older brother and a younger sister

His brother follows after his father, and he feels responsible for his sister, Lady Loraine

He didn't really want to be a sword and board hero, but his father taught him to fight, and his mother taught him to help people ...

BESW

So he's trying to, at least narratively if not deliberately, atone for the offenses of the men in his family who should have been his role models.

C. Ross

his mother died of presumably natural causes years ago, and his father has since remarried

@BESW yes

Wicked stepmother?

Trope friendly game?

The game is tropes.

1:30 AM

This setting is based on the idea that every forest in every fairy tale is this Forest that we're in.

C. Ross

Then yes, wicked stepmother

but of the more wine variety, not the blood of virgins variety

BESW

Self-indulgent and negligent, then.

C. Ross

yes

BESW

Married a man, not a family.

C. Ross

married the title even

BESW

1:31 AM

Excellent.

What did he want to be when he grew up?

C. Ross

A good lord, maybe a priest

maybe a merchant

BESW

Okay, keep that in mind because it'll come back later.

C. Ross

k

BESW

Now, do you want his adventure in this campaign to be his first, or would like him to have some experience in heroics prior to this?

C. Ross

Minor heroism, but of the plebian, driving off bandits sort

BESW

1:36 AM

Nice.

What specifically made him give up (at least temporarily) his laudable and realistic childhood dreams for the romantic and dangerous life of a reluctant hero?

Was there an event, or was it a gradual process?

C. Ross

@BESW His brother gave him a sword, a shield, and a horse and told him to be on his way

BESW

That's suitably abrupt and fairy-tale.

Presumably the honest, upright younger brother was giving the elder conscience pangs or something.

C. Ross

@BESW or just the usual competition for the thrown

Ben Hardy

cinderelly cincerelly?

C. Ross

@BenHardy huh?

BESW

1:40 AM

Okay, so we now approach the Forest and why he's there.

C. Ross

k

BESW

The Forest isn't a place to stroll around in casually; you've gotta have a pretty good reason, usually a Desperate Quest, in order to willingly enter.

Ben Hardy

►

BESW

The Quest can be typical or atypical; we have PCs who are looking for a home, a magic item, self-control, dignity, destiny...

C. Ross

he was told to seek an old hermit in the forest for a secret about his mother

BESW

1:45 AM

That's good.

Who told him?

Problematic

@C.Ross we have a blind seer he should meet...

C. Ross

@BESW an old wise woman he protected from local thugs

brb

Ben Hardy

this is great, I've already changed my character a ton XD

trogdor

lol

"old hermit in the forest"

suitibly vague for sure

BESW

It might even be Kirby.

I would approve of this.

C. Ross

1:52 AM

Kirby?

Ben Hardy

docs.google.com/document/d/…

another pc

BESW

@C.Ross Kirby is @trogdor's PC, a blind oracle who is seeking a home in the Forest so that fewer people will bug him for fortune-telling.

C. Ross

ha!

BESW

If he survives the dragon...

trogdor

yeah

if he survives the dragon

he will then be annoyed

his is certainly shaping up to be a horrible day

C. Ross

1:56 AM

so, the knight errant seeks the "old hermit" for information about his dearly departed mother

BESW

@trogdor On a scale of dragon to princess, which is the worse end of the scale?

@C.Ross Sounds good!

So, what complicates his life regularly?

C. Ross

His evil family

His insistence on doing things the right way

BESW

mmm. More specifically, what complicates his life regularly that can be commonly compelled while in the Forest?

trogdor

@BESW well, if he gets eaten, at least he doesn't have to put up with being blind, and bugged by countless future seekers.

C. Ross

@trogdor I'm going to haunt your ghost

BESW

1:59 AM

That'll be a turn-up for the books.

trogdor

lol

C. Ross

pondering an appropriate trouble

BESW

He's both thoroughly dedicated to honorable action and wishes he weren't called to this kind of action, wanting a more boring life.

There's some good stuff in there, but it might not be what you want to be your trouble.

Is he tempted to follow in the footsteps of his father and elder brother?

C. Ross

Hmmm, his trouble for sake of this might be that he's compelled to help

BESW

Ah, can't walk away from the needy?

C. Ross

2:02 AM

yes

BESW

That's great.

It'll provide awesome invokes when he's doing his thing, it justifies him teaming up with any PC he meets, it's an easy hook for me to use to drag him into whatever I want, and it could lead to some hilarious farce with people who don't want his help at all.

C. Ross

Yes indeed

BESW

"Go away, you... over-solicitous tin can!"

C. Ross

"Listen, you need my help"

BESW

Okay, I think you're ready for some mechanics to go over these ideas.

Ben Hardy

2:06 AM

More like "Listen! I need you to need my help!"

BESW

Don't feel like you're committed to any of the ideas, though. Often the mechanics stage leads to tweaking of the concept.

I'm so, so, sorry.

C. Ross

@BESW I've done this before boss :-)

BESW

@C.Ross Traditionally, we put mechanics on a GDocs sheet.

C. Ross

so high concept would definitely contain

BESW

@C.Ross Yes, yes.

Would you like me to set up the sheet and link it, or can you handle that?

C. Ross

2:10 AM

Sir Brandon Northface

trogdor

@BESW I will murder you yet fairy

BESW

Excellent.

High concept ideas: noble-born, honorable, reluctant champion

C. Ross

hmmm thinks

reluctant champion will do for the moment

BESW

I'm quite happy to let people fiddle with their aspects for the first session or two.

C. Ross

good

One aspect, one stunt?

BESW

2:15 AM

That's how we've been doing it, but largely because that's how the previous beta was set up

trogdor

yeah

BESW

So I'd like to move forward to the final FAE form.

trogdor

turns out you apparently get 3 stunts

you can have more but it starts impacting your refresh

BESW

SO: minimum three aspects (HC, Trouble, Aspect), max 5 (you can add more as you go if you don't start out with five).

trogdor

ooooh

so 3 isn't max

ok

C. Ross

2:17 AM

yeah, but the recommend everyone starting out level, so I'll keep to one for now

BESW

Stunts: between 0 and 3 for free at CharGen, more available by spending refresh at CharGen or at appropriate milestones and you can drop stunts in the free slots as you go.

Starting Refresh of 3.

C. Ross

hmmm, other aspect

I'm tempted to go with shield bearer

BESW

I would suggest that it be inspired by his desired life.

The one where he's a merchant, or a good lord, or the like.

Rounds him out a bit.

I'm sure you're clever enough to make it relate to his current situation too.

C. Ross

hmmmm...

Good with money?

BESW

I'm not seeing that coming up a lot in the Forest?

Try brainstorming ideas instead of phrases. Let the phrases come out of the ideas.

You said maybe he wanted to be a priest.

C. Ross

2:22 AM

He wants a peaceful, productive life, where he can help others

(he sees shipping supplies to people as helping)

BESW

Are there any skills or knowledge sets that he might have been trying to cultivate as a youth, toward that goal?

C. Ross

public speaking and leadership

he is a noble after all

Ben Hardy

Leading Orator (hellooooo bard)

BESW

ooh. That sounds useful.

Maybe he's a good mediator?

(lord knows, the party could use one.)

C. Ross

@BESW that would certainly fit

Ben Hardy

2:24 AM

XD

C. Ross

peacemaker?

or just mediator?

oooh, how about "blessed peacemaker"?

BESW

Let's throw in a tiny hint of that priesthood possibility.

"Blessed are the Peacemakers."

Now he can use it to throw bonuses at friends with similar actions.

C. Ross

yep, and be compelled for peace

stunt or approaches?

BESW

Approaches are next in the book. Nice and easy.

I like this. He was feeling a bit goody-two-shoes without much internal conflict, but now he can be pushy about butting in where he's not wanted, passive where he should be aggressive...

C. Ross

goody two shoes with lots of internal conflict

BESW

2:29 AM

A good solid "wants to do right" character who's still struggling with figuring out how to match the appropriate action to the appropriate situation.

C. Ross

Do I talk to him or hit him with my sword?

I'm currently debating between forceful or flashy up top

BESW

I'd go with Flashy.

It's more applicable in situations where he's trying to be nice.

C. Ross

forceful is obvious, but flashy for making inspiring speeches, mediating conflicts, and just plain "behold the glory"

k

BESW

Flashy = speechifying. Yes.

C. Ross

@BESW and if he does develop the priestly bit, the whole appearing robed in light?

BESW

2:32 AM

Could work!

C. Ross

now for a stunt

BESW

Well, what do you want him to do a lot?

C. Ross

Because I'm a reluctant champion I can add +2 to forcefully create an aspect protecting others?

BESW

Sounds good!

3 Refresh, 3 stress, and you're done!

C. Ross

done and done

BESW

2:40 AM

Most excellent. I look forward to running a session with Lord Northface.

doppelgreener

@Brian I take it your order includes Magician's? Mine's settled, so I'll be ready to order later.

Sohum

oooh, "Sir Brandon Northface"

excellent name

like an oak tree :p

Ben Hardy

heheh.

BESW

Technically, the non-eldest son of a Duke is either addressed as "Lord," or as "Master of X," where X is one of the father's holdings.

Sohum

huh. so what's the eldest referred to as?

Ben Hardy

2:43 AM

Master Northface!

BESW

The eldest son would be the Earl of X, or he could use one of his father's subsidiary titles with permission.

doppelgreener

@BenHardy More like: Lord Northface, Master of Oaktreesland, or whatever

Sohum

mmm

I'd never have guessed that "Lord" is actually a subsidiary title

BESW

That is, if the Duke of Hammersack also happened to be the Earl of Nails, but Nails is a lesser holding and he doesn't use the title, his eldest son might be given permission to call himself Earl of Nails.

The younger son would then be Master Hammersack.

Ben Hardy

such interesting naming conventions XD

BESW

2:47 AM

@Sohum "Lord" means different things in different contexts.

Sohum

of course it does

because these things can never be simple, can they :P

BESW

For example, the House of Lords is named that to distinguish it from the House of Commons; members of the House of Commons are elected from the non-noble, while membership in the House of Lords is a hereditary peerage.

Sohum

but not necessarily of Lords?

BESW

In the sense I defined above, no.

It's very likely that they can lay claim to a Lordship, regardless of whether they use that title, though.

Oh, the other way you can use Lord as a courtesy peerage is just to give it to the younger son to put before his name.

Sohum

"courtesy peerage"

BESW

2:51 AM

So "Lord Brandon Northface" might be just as applicable as "Lord Hammersack."

@Sohum yes. That's the technical term.

Sohum

@BESW that is excellent

BESW

"You're not really Earl of Nails, boy. That's me. But I'm not using the title, and it shouldn't go to waste, so you go ahead and use it. Means nothing, but it'll sound good at the club."

Sohum

I assume because this is all hereditary, the assumption is that eventually he will become the Earl of Nails?

BESW

Yes.

But at that point he'll probably also be Earl of Hammersack, which as the more prestigious title he'll convert to.

Sohum

heheheheheh

Okay, it's ... 4am and I am awake. If you're free, @BESW, I can do char creation now. Or if @BenHardy wants to, I'm good with going to sleep, too~

BESW

2:54 AM

@Sohum You should sleep.

I'm going to have some lunch.

Sohum

fine by me!

/me snore

BESW

Dragons, by the way, find all of this far too silly to contemplate.

Sohum

I was half-tempted to ask to play the dragon...

doppelgreener

@BESW Damn that's an impressive title...

BESW

If you're King of the Dragons, you're King of the Dragons and it doesn't matter if you're male or female. Queen of the Dragons is an entirely different job, and the last guy who had it retired as soon as he could.

(lots of work, not much respect.)

Ben Hardy

2:56 AM

lunch sounds good

Sohum

@BESW heeee.

BESW

@Sohum That... might be feasible.

Sohum

@BESW ... ogod

OKAY SLEEP NOW

BESW

I've been waiting for someone to want to play a non-human.

Ben Hardy

hmmm, I could be a pixie doctor XD. Pixie dust to cure what ails you.

get you addicted early, and often. Great money maker.

doppelgreener

2:58 AM

There's a novel trilogy called Memory, Sorrow and Thorn (that's the name of the trilogy, not the books). There's a fortress in it which has walls lined with great iron nails. Reason being: it was once used to defend against an attack by the book's equivalent of Elves, for whom iron is a poison and an abhorrent substance.

Ben Hardy

i mean.....what?

doppelgreener

@BESW I want to join in the game and play a non-human, but I don't know how often I'll be along!

BESW

Frequency is not an issue.

doppelgreener

Well I was thinking I'd even play off that and be, like... an impish creature which only shows up every now and then, for instance. But that requires timing, which clashes with the fact all of this can and should just happen ad-hoc.

BESW

...Oh. My. You can be Suz.

trogdor

3:10 AM

lol

I could play a dragon after Kirby gets eaten by a dragon

lol

if that actually happens

BESW

Am I going to have to impose a Dragon Quota?

trogdor

lol

Quota? why?

hehehehe

Trogdor playing a dragon? that is just obsurd!

if someone else starts playing a dragon, then I will not start

but I might still go for something non human if Kirby gets eaten by a dragon

which I hope doesn't happen, but what can you do?

doppelgreener

@BESW :o Who is Suz!?

Brian Ballsun-Stanton

@JonathanHobbs yes

doppelgreener

@Brian Ok. :D

BESW

3:17 AM

Suz is a minor character in the fourth novel. He's a little lizard who shows up randomly to provide exposition/commentary. Suz has a peculiar manner of speaking ("I do? Yes, I suppose I do. How very unusual!") and seems to be one of the Forest's biggest gossips: you can count on him to know most anything worth knowing, but anything he finds out about you will soon be common knowledge.

trogdor

lol

doesn't sound very PC

doppelgreener

@BESW Secretly he is a dragon!!1

BESW

In the Enchanted Forest, a talking animal could be an enchanted prince, a fairy in disguise, or just a talking animal.

doppelgreener

@BESW Which novel is that?

BESW

@JonathanHobbs I'm heavily basing this campaign on the Enchanted Forest Chronicles.

The fourth novel is Talking to Dragons.

Brian Ballsun-Stanton

3:26 AM

@BESW someone to murder :)

@trogdor when, I think :)

trogdor

lol

you underestimate me good sir

Ben Hardy

oh lawdy

BESW

You underestimate the ability of a dragon to hit you for +16.

Brian Ballsun-Stanton

@trogdor you may explode with extreme prejudice and take me with you?

BESW

Without tags.

trogdor

3:31 AM

no, you underestimate my ability to talk a dragon out of attack

Ben Hardy

OP dragon >.>

Brian Ballsun-Stanton

@trogdor with Mr. Grumpy? Yes.

trogdor

lol

doppelgreener

3:48 AM

@BESW You may have to fill me in on that one. Also do you think I should play Suz or a Suz-like character, if I presently have 0 familiarity with the novels (and Suz)?

BESW

Knowledge of the series is irrelephant to the campaign, as I chose it specifically because of its all-canon/no-canon nature.

Suz just seemed to be a perfect example of the in-again, out-again kind of character you were describing.

BESW

3:59 AM

Back in an hour or two.

doppelgreener

4:11 AM

@BESW (Whenever you're back) Are there... chameleons in the forest? :D

(Please do imagine one appearing or leaving in the fashion of the Cheshyre cat, though he wouldn't have the same mannerisms - nor total invisibility)

doppelgreener

4:29 AM

The Cheshyre cat's ability to simply fade in and out of sight seems like it would be quite something in the hands of a player. How would that be in FAE? I hesitate to use terms like "overpowered" since I don't know if those concepts carry over to a game like FAE.

trogdor

"overpowered" would carry over, I expect

but if you create a character the right way, it shuldn't be an issue

doppelgreener

5:55 AM

@trogdor Yeah, I'm hoping so. I guess that's why I think they might not carry over quite the same: in Fate, it isn't as straightforward as "I can cast fireball five times as often as my closest rivals, and I have the strength to do chin-ups in full plate armor!"

trogdor

mm

true

but BESW can most likely help you find something that isn't "broken"

doppelgreener

(I wonder what strength score you need to do a chin-up in full plate armor.)

trogdor

lol

depends on the system

in some systems 10 is a ridiculous number

in others 10 is normal

doppelgreener

Oh. Well. D&D is currently my brain's default RPG system.

Pathfinder or 4e, depending.

trogdor

yeah, that was my default for a bit too

but I played a few other systems breifly

enough to know that they do things differently anyway

doppelgreener

6:27 AM

I have heard a lot about a few different systems, thanks to here and a couple of other factors. :) So at least I know there's a pretty huge variety and I know a bit about some.

Off I go for now!

BESW

7:35 AM

Okay, that was... longer.

trogdor

hah!

caught you in an unintentional time traveling lie!

Sohum

I am pleased that there might have to be a dragon quota

trogdor

same

dragons = best thing

BESW

So, balance, chameleons, camouflage.

trogdor

7:50 AM

yep

BESW

If each PC is built with the same CharGen limits (number of aspects, modifiers on approaches, total number of stunts/refresh, etc), then balance is pretty automatic.

The main way to imbalance characters is for one character's aspects/stunts to be more commonly usable than another's.

So that's a matter of the group workshopping each others' characters so that everyone's is made with a roughly similar level of "skill."

Sohum

right

trogdor

well

the stunts also can't let you nuke stuff from orbit

but other than that the logic is sound

Sohum

"Because I am an orbital superweapon, once per session I can..."

BESW

The group is self-regulating in that sense. The FAE stunt template is pretty good, and if we deviate from that and it turns out bad, the stunt will get changed.

Sohum

7:55 AM

mmm

FATE is more about screentime balance than anything else, too

and the fate point system is really cool at handling that

BESW

Have you read Consequences as Positive Currency?

4

Sohum

I think so, yes

but I should probably reread it!

"Spend a consequence, and get 1, 2, or 3 depending on the magnitude. It’d be like an on-demand micro-refresh of sorts, with a price attached, and I know any number of players who’d cheerfully hose themselves with a consequence in order to grab a few extra fate points in an hour of need."

oooh yes

BESW

I don't necessarily like the specific mechanics it's presenting, for use in this game, but the ideas of equivalency behind the mechanics are very liberating.

Sohum

yea

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