FATE Wars: Session I

The party exits hyperspace alongside two other gunship to an out-of-the-way sector of space where at least two escort vessels lay in ruins and an invasion-quality flag ship floats with severe damage.

A small fleet of 2 metre tall pyramid-shaped fighters have already been deployed, and one of the Sith fleet is destroyed on approach. With some fancy flying, the blind pilot takes out a couple while X uses her telekinesis to wipe most of them from the bridge; this clears the way sufficiently for them to forcefully board the enemy ship.

They're the second to board, the first having already unleashed their cargo of murder and slaughtering the crew on-board  As the primary hall is full, they take one of the more narrow corridors, and shrug off the trap. They throw a couple of their minions into the fray as they fight their way into the larger crew and real masters of the ship.

Hacking the systems, they find the panic room and subdue the gold-scaled captain of the ship after gunning down his three elite bodyguards. Moving their way up to the bridge with the saurian-body shield, they force a surrender and lock the crew in the brig.

And thus begins the slow trek to planet Khem Tal after slapping down a heavy amount of engine tape as well as faith in the Force. During the two week journey, they investigate the ship for causes of its damage, and discover that it was a systemic power anomaly throughout the mundane systems after a surge in the entechment capacitors.

In addition, week one, three of Pradeque's soldiers run past him down one of the halls in terror. He stops two of them, demanding an explanation, and kills the one who stated "we were surrounded and fled for our lives." The second one gave a better response of feeling that the forces before them seemed like a worthy fight for their master and did not want to waste resources with a fruitless charge into their death without his command. The word given was that the four of them were on break (fourth was unaccounted for at this point) at the mess hall, when they heard chanting surround them and felt unimaginable terror and evil.

At the mess hall, the missing fourth marine lay face down in a puddle of his own blood, a finger used to draw out an inexplicable equation onto the floor with his vital fluid before expiring. The wounds were nonexistent  seemingly bled out from all available orifices. Calling upon Jon Seer to help with his Force sight, they determine that an intense point of the Dark Side manifested in the area and entered the marine, eventually leaving in its equally inexplicable manner.

At Khem Tal, they're given the next mission by one of the Dark Council, the Sphere of Logistics herself. A stern, madame-esque human. Her focus is in supplying resources for the Empire is through prostitution, slave-trafficking, and drug smuggling; which means the connections for overt military resources are constrained. As a result, the party's new mission is without much in the way of aide. They are to find a shipyard large enough to handle something scale of their capture, friendly enough to allow two overt Sith oversee the procedure for the month or two long process, and to get it fully repaired and operational.

Before getting further details on the next step, two scenes happen. Lambert calls upon his connection to solve the equation, and contacts a Givin he gave assistance in transporting A.I. modules from ship-nav system to interested buyers. The givin examines the equation, and declares it to be an integral formula describing the shape and mass of an ovoid ship, along with an energy distribution of a fission-based drive (matching their capture on all points). The equation uses the following numbers: 4, 8, 9, 15, 23, 111.

Meanwhile, the Force sensitives of the party go planet-side to meet Darth Newton, whom they've been told has developed a new technique for drawing upon much greater quantities of Dark Side energy than typical. Pradeque and Imriel are less than impressed, disgusted and dismissive even, of the givin's technique. They describe his approach as both obvious and too Vulcan in approach, focusing on the precise; claiming that when picturing someone to hate to draw Dark Side energy, you must focus specific aspects as determined by their species (brow of a human, nose-hole of a givin, etc), as well pointing out intricately precise angles for each finger when using Force Lightning.

Darth Newton

FATE Wars: The Crew

Lambert

Species: Twi'lek
Power Level (Refresh): Trouble (6)
Stress: 5
Consequences
Mild (-2)
Moderate (-4)
Severe (-6)
Aspects
1. Been to Every Port 6. Anything Worth Doing Worth Doing for Money
2. Pleasure Station Outlook 7. Do You Know How Much This Cost?
3. Bloodhound of the Keepers 8. Don't Shoot the Messenger
4. Could Sell Shoes to a Hutt 9. Should've Read the Fine Print
5. Apprentice to Mentok 10. Talk the Talk, Walk the Walk
Skills
+1 - Endurance, Intimidation, Investigation, Resolve, Empathy
+2 - Telepathy, Telekinesis, Gambling, Deceit
+3 - Mind Control, Rapport, Trading, Contacting
Stunts
Forced Presence [Telepathy] When using a Fate point for social effects, gain a +3 instead of a +2
Mental Shield [Mind Control] No -3 penalty while resisting Dominate
Merchant Prince [Trading] Finding buyer for material or trade goods to sell at +2
I Know a Guy [Contacting] +2 to make contact in area without any
Insider [Contacting] Use Contacting instead of Leadership when dealing with bureaucracies
Feather Touch [Telekinesis] Fine motor control
Gear (Resources +2): 
Little Black Datapad [Contacting in place of Academics, Aspect: Sensitive Phone Numbers, AI (Deceit, Empathy), Miniaturization, Holosystem, Craftsmanship (Contacting)]
Rich Man's Shield [Armor 3, Hard to Detect]
Suit [Aspect: Very Professional]
Blast Pistol [Damage 2, Accuracy 4, Range 2; Aspect: Prototype]

Lord Pradeque

Species: Sith Pureblood of Korriban
Power Level (Refresh): Trouble (6)
Stress: 8
Consequences
Mild (-2)
Mild (-2)
Moderate (-4)
Severe (-6)
Aspects
1. Holy Crap Did You SEE That Guy?
2. That's Lord Pradeque
3. Peace is a Lie
4. I Will Claim a Sith Sword
5. You Won't Get Past Me
6. Through Strength I Gain Power
7. Screw You, Darth Tail Head
8.
9.
10.
Skills
+1 - Alertness, Contacting, Leadership, Mind Control, Survival
+2 - Control Energy, Intimidation, Weapons
+3 - Resolve, Athletics
+4 - Endurance, Might
Stunts
Wrestler [Might] Use Might in place of Fists in combat
Absorb Energy Weapons [Control Energy] Make a Block vs energy weapons, rolling Athletics and Control Energy (use higher result). For a FATE point, absorb up to 4 Stress from one attack as a passive defence.
(2) Minions [Leadership]
Gear (Resources +1)
Tremorsword (Damage 4)
Cortosis Power Armor (Armor 3, Cortosis, +2 Might rolls)

Sorbin

Species: Miraluka of Alpheridies
Power Level (Refresh): Trouble (6)
Stress: 5
Consequences
Mild (-2)
Moderate (-4)
Severe (-6)
Aspects
1. Space Jew
2. Blind as a Miralukan Bat
3. Looking for Excitement
4. Never Leave a Job Unfinished
5. It Wasn't My Fault
6. What Do You Mean 'Your' Chair...right
7. If you want it done right
8. Hot-shot pilot
9. Only job I could get
10. I see...said the blind man
Skills
+1 - Stealth, Contacting, Resolve, Endurance (Tireless), Medicine
+2 - Artillery, Systems, Engineering (Greasemonkey)
+3 - Alertness (Sharp Eyes), Trading
+4 - Pilot (Walk Away from It, One Hand on the Stick), Guns (Long Shot)
Stunts
Tireless [Endurance] Endurance (+0 diff, +1/night) to resist need for sleep without penalties
Greasemonkey [Engineering] +1 with vehicles and reduced one time step
Sharp 'Eyes' [Alertness] +2 notice important clues
Walk Away From It [Pilot] Party can stagger out of your crashes at cost of half FATE points
One Hand on the Stick [Pilot] No penalty to action while also piloting
Long Shot [Guns] +1 range on guns
Gear (Resources +2)
Blast Sniper Rifle (Damage 3, Accuracy 2, Range 4)
Battle Screen (Armor 3)
Engineer's Toolbox (+0)
Star Suit (Aspect: Airborne Alacrity, Controlled Flight in Low G)
Medic's Field Kit (+1 Medicine rolls, +2 medicine on field wounded)

Name: (Sanada)

Species: Omwati of Thyferra
Power Level (Refresh): Trouble (6)
Stress: 4
Consequences
Mild (-2)
Moderate (-4)
Severe (-6)
Aspects
1. Run Like Space Gazelle
2. Easier In Than Out
3. These Ears Aren't for Show
4. Her Name is Betsy
5. I know all the hidey-holes
6. I'm sure they're nice deep down...way deep
8. Last of her kind?
9. Could sell ice to a wompa
Skills
+1 - Resolve, Telepathy, Academics, Investigation, Systems
+2 - Stealth, Medicine, Empathy
+3 - Alertness, Athletics
+4 - Telekinesis, Rapport
Stunts
Feather Touch [Telekinesis] Fine motor control
Mind Shield [Resolve] Negate -3 penalty while resisting Dominate
Environmental Immunity (Endurance)
Regeneration [Combat] Heal consequences at x3 speed, Fate to regain 1 stress/round if stationary and not attacked
Gear (Resources +1)
Dual Discblades [Damage 2/3shield, Return to Sender, Powerful, Indirect Fire, Range 1, Anti-Armor]
Battle Screen [Armor 3]

Imriel

Species: Human of Dromund Kaas
Power Level (Refresh): Trouble (6)
Stress 4
Consequences
Mild (-2)
Moderate (-4)
Severe (-6)
Aspects
1. Peace is a Lie
2. Imperials...Everywhere
3. Politics & Cocktail Parties
4. Stanback, I Got This
5. Sorry Master, He Looked Sturdy
6. What's Better Than One Lightsaber
7. Sorry Master, He Looked Healthy
8. Nobody Wakes the Captain
9. Ship, Crew, Everyone Else
10. Last Pilot Struck by Lightning
Skills
+1 - Might, Rapport, Empathy, Deceit, Alertness
+2 - Endurance, Intimidate, Leadership
+3 - Weapons, Athletics
+4 - Telekinesis, Move Self, Control Energy
Stunts
Force Momentum [Telekinesis] When using Fate point for physical action, gain +3 instead of +2
Move Self [Telekinesis] Can fly at Mediocre (+0) quality
Force Lightning [Control Energy] Stream of lightning (4 Damage) against target in same zone. If hit, can spend Fate point to add 'Electrocuted' aspect or a minor consequence. Armour provides no defence to stress caused.
Close at Hand [Weapon] No supplemental to draw, blocking action at -2 penalty
Aura of Menace [Intimidating] 1/scene/target, FATE point to intimidate as a free action
Minions
Gear (Resources +1)
Dual Sabers [Damage 4, Energy, Weapon skill defend vs projectiles, unblockable vs melee unless cortosis, ignore physical armor unless cortosis)

Honey Badger

Size 4 (Advanced)

Structural Stress 5
Systems Stress 5
Skills
+1 Ship Systems, Flight Bay (Planetary Shuttle), Beam Weapon, EWS (Advanced)
+2 Beam Weapon, Ablative Armor, Energy Shield (Overload)
+3 Hyperdrive, Maneuver
Aspects I've Got a Vornskr (Miralukan Mastiff) in my Hold & I'm Not Afraid to Use It, Seen Plenty of Action, Needle in a Haystack, She's Completely Unarmed...Oh Bugger

Closest Shave (Shuttle)

Medium (3; 2 crew, 12 passengers)
Structural Stress 3
System Stress 3
Skills
+1 - Targeting Computer, Beam Weapon
+2 - Maneuver (Atmospheric Entry)
Aspects: Hottest Damn Thing Flying, Turn on a Credit, BFG (Spinal Weapon Mount)

FATE Wars

It's the year 3502 BBY, two decades since the crushing defeat of the Dark Lord of the Sith, Darth Desolous. The shadow of the Sith Empire over the galaxy at large is considered no more a threat than pirates. While there remain planets under the dominion, any available military is spent maintaining what planets remain under their sway.

The Dark Lord of the Sith, Darth Collude, is rife with paranoia and fear of assassination. Effectively leaderless due to Collude's priority of surviving over governing, the Dark Council grip of control is nearly total.

The Force

While in Bulldogs, psychic powers are placed under the umbrella of a single skill, I feel that this game would be lessened by doing that. In a narrative, magic is inherently greater than the mundane. Mundane actions are burdened and circumscribed by our own personal experiences, while any limitations with magic must be explicitly pointed out. Even outside of that, open-ended systems mean that a broad, general skill is superior to a narrow, specific one. You can simply do more and different things with Engineering and Psychic than you can with Artillery; and being able to do more means you have greater narrative control, which is not a desirable outcome.

So as to prevent the Force from being all empowering, the Psychic skill shall be removed, and more narrow skills are added to be selected based on the character's aspects. This means you need something like "Peace is a lie. Through strength, I gain power" to be able to choose Sith focused skills.

The options below are available to all who take the Jedi Aspect; taking a Sith aspect will do largely the same thing, switching out Empathic for Exude Energy [Lightning stunt], and other Force Traditions (or even aspects that incorporate specialized training) would give different options.

Base Jedi Skills

Empathic Talent [Skill] Can sense emotions without direct contact. Spend Fate point to roll vs target's Resolve. Each shift allows a Yes/No question about the target.

Mind Control [Skill] Affect a number of minions equal to shifts generated. If a leader is present, must overcome the leader's Resolve skill. Can be used to cause the minion to ignore the character, allow them to pass, or leave. It cannot cause them to kill themselves. Spending a Fate point will 'win over' the minions to join and attach for the duration of the scene.

• Dominate [Dark Side, Mind Control, Stunt] Control named foe, spending Fate point to use skill vs Resolve, targeting Composure track. During attack, target at -3 to physically act against controller. If target taken out, they are under complete control, the dominator at -1 to all actions to maintain concentration; which is lost if they take any consequences. Releasing control leaves the target with no composure stress and Major mental consequence.
• Mental Shield [Mind Control, Stunt] Negates -3 penalty while attacked with Dominate. Can also use Mind Control in a blocking maneuver

Telekinesis [Skill] Gives same attribute as Might, but at a distance. Number of shifts generated is the number of exchanges the item can be carried before rolling again. Zero gravity lowers difficulty one level.

• Feather Touch [Telekinesis, Stunt] Allow delicate handling of objects, such as turning a key, typing, or writing.
• Move Self [Telekinesis, Stunt] Can target self, allowing use of the Fly skill. Defaults to Mediocre
• Move Heavy Loads [Telekinesis, Stunt] Weight-based difficulties reduced by two steps.

Telepathy [Skill] Use Rapport, Empathy, Deceit at a distance; Telepathy rank acting as a restriction (if Telepathy < Skill, skill at -1). Friendly communication is difficulty equal to number of zones plus intervening barriers. 

Sixth Sense [Alertness, Stunt] Fate point for +4 Alertness check when making one or versus a known opponent's Stealth

Jump [Athletics, Stunt] +2 Athletics to jump

Regeneration [Endurance, Stunt] Treat healing times as three time periods faster for consequences. Pay a Fate point in a scene to start regenerating, regaining 1 stress per round so long as they remain stationery and are not attacked

Control Energy [Dark Side, Skill] Rank also determines damage value, requires a stunt for the energy's form. Range is same zone.

• Force Lightning [Control Energy, Stunt] Can send a stream of lightning against a target in the same zone. On a hit, the character can spend a Fate point to add the 'Electrocuted' aspect or a minor consequence. Armour provides no defence to stress caused.
• Absorb Energy Weapons [Control Energy, Stunt] May make a block against energy weapons, rolling Athletics and Control Energy, using the greater total of the two for the blocking attempt. May also use Absorb Energy instead of Athletics for general defence. Alternatively, for a FATE point, absorb up to 4 points of Stress from one attack as a passive defence.
• Absorb Energy [Control Energy, Stunt] Able to heal self by drawing energy from the environment. Able to heal 1 stress with mediocre difficulty providing there is working technology at hand (which will malfunction for the round) or in the same zone as a source of strong energy ambiance.
• Absorb Energy [Control Energy, Stunt] Use in place of Fists attack to damage powered targets (batteries, robots, energy beings, etc). On a hit, causes Stress on the powered target or can spend a Fate point to place an aspect of "Running out of Juice."

Additional Force Skills & Stunts

Accessing these require aspects that incorporate it into the character's backstory.
Force Momentum [Telekinesis, Stunt] When using a Fate point to increase a physical effect, the bonus is +3 rather than +2.

Buried Presence [Stealth, Stunt] The character can not only hide their alignment to the Force or even their sensitivity to the Force, the bonus from Sixth Sense doesn't apply for purposes of detecting them in general.

Shifting [Stealth, Stunt] Enhances In Plain Sight stunt to permit moving up to a slow creep

Force Resistance [Racial, -2] Like the Yinchorri and Toydarians, you are immune to mental manipulation from the Force

Lightsabers

A kind of necessary feature to describe, since any Star Wars campaign will have someone choose Sith or Jedi who wields one or more laser swords.

Lightsaber (Damage 4, Deflect, Superb Cost, Energy) Can use weapon skill to defend against projectile attacks. Melee weapons, unless energy or specially noted, cannot block a lightsaber. Epic (+7) for a pair of sabers. Note, energy weapons are unhindered by armor, but can be blocked by energy shields.

• An elegant weapon [Weapon, Stunt] If Spin obtained on defense, make an immediate ranged attack against another target using Lightsabre skill and Range of 1 zone. Damage is equal to deflected attack.

Extra Equipment

Following a standard closer to Starblazer Adventures, you start with 15 items equal to your Resources or less in cost, purchasing items above your Resources requires a Resources check. Failing will result in you not being able to roll again during character creation, though as in the regular system, you can choose to get it anyway with a number (equal to how much you failed by) of negative aspects that I can tag for free once per session each.

Group Purchases - If desired, you may forgo one or more of your starting item options to increase another's Resources by +1 for a single purchase. You cannot do a group effort for Resource purchases like this again, only during character creation.

Sith Tremor Sword (Damage 4, Great Cost) No real extra cost other than being capable of blocking lightsabers.
Discblade (Damage 2/3 shields/0 armor, Range 1, Fair Cost)

Starships

Hyperspace Travel - Operations roll required, against Mediocre difficulty. The time required is a few minutes if navigation data is 1 year old or less, one hour otherwise. Failure requires a second check to notice the error before making the jump to hyperspace, failing the second check means the ship will exit hyperspace at a random point along the route and take 1 consequence. Modifiers include:

• Using nav computer (+1)
• No nav computer (-2)
• No Holonet access (-1)

Travel Time - 1 + steps up or down chart (from starting position) in days. Add another day to travel time if going to different quadrant.

• Deep Core, Colonies, Inner Rim, Expansion Region, Mid Rim, Outer Rim, Unknown Regions
• Hyperdrive multiplier
• +1 - x4
• +2 - x3
• +3 - x2
• +4 - x1
• +5 - x0.5

For those wondering about the slow hyperdrives here, it's established in the setting that there have been actual advances in hyperdrive technology between this era and that of the movies. It's never been very well clarified, and the setting does lend itself toward stagnation, so I've left it at a single step of advancement.

Cost, creation, and maintenance are going to be different, and higher, by a bunch. Here are a few examples for purchasing...

Basic Scale 3 Ships [Shuttles, fighters, small freighters, etc]: 3 separate Epic (+7) purchases, making it Advanced adds another purchase

Basic Scale 4 Ships [Medium freighters, patrol ships, gunboats]: 3 separate Legendary (+8) purchases, making it Advanced adds another required purchase

Maintenance is required each month, and is going to be either Fantastic (+6) or Legendary depending on whether it's Scale 3 or 4 size ship. If you failed one or more times, you can still purchase the ship on credit, which raises the price for maintenance by one level per failed check to represent loan payments (loan lasts for a year). Failing a maintenance check bestows the "Disrepair" aspect onto the ship and forces a cumulative -1 to all skill checks until it gets proper maintenance, while also increasing the duration of the loan repayments by another year (assuming it's on credit); failing 3 cumulative maintenance checks for a loaned ship results in repossession as appropriate for the organization you got the loan from.

From the above, you guys should be fine on getting whatever ship you want within the above guidelines; if everyone but the buyer (since he can't) gives up 7 starting items, you'll auto-succeed on the best ship non-corporations can buy. Ship creation, while different, will be discussed as a group due to it being a group purchase.

Star Wars FATE: Initial Campaign Houserules

I will be using the Bulldogs! rules system for this campaign (Trouble level), with a few additions/modifications from the Starblazer system that I will detail in the next post. It's a system that uses the FATE mechanics, much like Spirit of the Century and Starblazers. Before we begin, let me introduce a few discussions regarding the system.

Mechanics & Mullings
There are three major faults in the FATE system, as I've noticed in the system and heard from actual campaigns. Please note that FATE points are important, where gaining or using them draws the spotlight to the player.

• Attention Whore This isn't the Drama Queen, who insists on bizarre back-stories to justify why they don't have any of the skills expected of their role, as this system actually handles those people much better than games such D&D. No, the problem is in the player who actively locks down the situation with their flaws. Failure from compels earns the specific player FATE points, but the consequences are communal. As a result, once everyone is captured, the player that caused the trouble is the one with the lion's share of FATE points, and is thus the most equipped to save the party.
• Wall Flowers If you don't speak up and act with your character, then you'll face an appreciable lack of FATE points. The system encourages you to get involved to earn FATE points, but there is a sizable number of players who genuinely require turns and lists of what they can do. Boundaries create freedom for these people, and while they are not to be pitied, one must acknowledge that free-form rules do not encourage involvement for these people.
• DM's Girlfriend (Favoritism) The difference between a player whose ideas are not approved and a player whose are is stark indeed. Every game suffers from this to an extent, but when benchmarks are fluid in a rules-lite system, this issue only explodes.

The problems of the Attention Whore bring up another facet of the system that I disapprove of; the Refresh Economy. Let's freshen ourselves up on the nature of FATE points first. It's a fact that compelling and invoking aspects are important to the flow of the game, and thus the act of moving FATE points create focus on the story to their events. When you focus on something actively being done by a player, gaining or losing a FATE point, then that player is enforcing their will on the game and ending up the center of attention.

With the Refresh Economy, you change how many FATE points you start with by choosing fewer or more stunts and special abilities in the reverse. Stunts and abilities are objective increases your power and ability to influence the narrative in specific ways, and having them lowers how many FATE points you start with. Note, this is only for beginning rates. Compelled aspects, trait activation, and other sources of FATE point acquisition are unchanged.

What the Refresh Economy does is encourage high-competency players to have more hijinks in the beginning of the session to gather FATE points to offset their deficiency. This means they're encouraged to hog the spotlight in the beginning, which leaves them on par with everyone else, but with more powers and abilities. A Lower Refresh "requires" you to monopolize the story more, and more and better powers allow you to monopolize the story more. What this creates some players who can't advance the narrative as much, at the 'benefit' of having the narrative focus on them less. Last I checked, that's what you do with NPCs.

Solutions
Favoritism and Wall-Flowers are difficult problems to overcome, especially as my S.O. actually is going to be one of the players. The primary solutions to these issues is to move away from rules-lite systems entirely, which the sacrifice is currently not worth. The thing I can do about "DM's Girlfriend" syndrome is to be aware of such and make an active effort to watch my behavior. Wall-Flowers I'm hoping to mitigate with a house-rule I'm going to instate to handle the Attention Whores and Refresh rules.

What I'm going to create is a communal FATE pool. Whenever a player is compelled, the earned FATE point goes toward a pot that any player can choose to draw upon as if it were their own. Therefore, the player whose foibles bring down consequences upon the party does not subsequently gain the monopoly in the ability to control the narrative to handle the consequences. What this ideally does is also provide the Wall-Flowers a resource to use FATE points without having to interject to gain them; which I am aware is not ideal, but it's at least a gentle nudge so they do not face undue resistance.

Next, I will raise the Refresh of every player to 12 and instate mandatory character creation to buy abilities and stunts until their Refresh becomes 6; no more, no less. Some characters will be wizards or own spaceships, while others will have iron will and steely gazes. I cannot think of a concept that would truly be expected to have [i]less[/i] stunts than others without that player asking to be an NPC, which isn't what the system is about.