Let's Make Some Fate Characters (using Fate Accelerated Edition)

Hello Everyone, Since a bunch of you don't have much experience making FATE characters, I figured starting a thread about making characters would be helpful to play around with your options. Sometimes a new game system is daunting and without any outside input it's hard to learn how to do stuff, so hopefully this thread can give us the opportunity to try out creating some characters on the fly. i've chosen FATE Accelerated character generation rather than FATE Core because it's simpler. The ole "learning to walk before learning to run". This thread is just to get used to the concepts and try it out. So let's make some characters! /Matt

The key to making an interesting character in FATE Core or FATE Accelerated is choosing good Aspects that add details that can be used to Invoke and Compel. Don't say "ex-soldier" because that's BORING. Say "Ex-soldier who's seen too much Death" or "Ex-soldier who wants his Soul back". Don't say "a sword" because that's BORING. Say "My family's ancestral sword, carried by each generation of warriors" or "Blackrazor, Drinker of Souls!" Don't say "a wizard" because that's BORING. Say "The Youngest Archmage of the Age" or "The Boy Wizard Who Lived" Troubles are even more important to get a good Aspect done right. Don't say "alcoholic bum" because that's BORING. Say "Crawled out of the Bottle 10 years ago and never want to go back!" or "She left me and since that day I've never been sober" Don't say "criminal" because that's BORING. Say "I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die!" or "I double-crossed the Mafia and ran off with the Don's daughter" Troubles can even be similar to the High Concept (see below). Next time you watch a TV show or movie, examine the characters and think up Aspects and Troubles for them. Write them down. Today, I watched Numb3rs with my wife. It's a TV Show about an FBI Agent and his Math Genius Brother. Charlie Epps, Math Genius High Concept: Aging Child Math Prodigy, wondering what it's all about Trouble: If I'm no longer the Boy Wonder, then what am I? Aspect: I've Got an Equation for That! Aspect: Guns make me Nervous For Charlie Epps, a High Concept of Math Prodigy makes a lot of sense, but if you've watched the show, Charlie has to confront the fact that he's aging and no longer the Wunderkind. So "Aging Child Math Prodigy" ups the Aspect. Since the character also has several confrontations about who he is in the world, adding "wondering what it's all about" adds even more detail to the character. For his trouble, he's no longer the Wunderkind, so "If I'm no longer the Boy Wonder, then what am I?" throws much more into the mix. Here's his brother Don: Don Epps, FBI Agent High Concept: Hot-shot FBI Agent, Making a Name for Himself Trouble: My Team has to Trust Me, I don't have to Trust my Team Aspect: I Almost made it to the Majors (Baseball) Aspect: Charlie can't see my World, he's too innocent If I started with the High Concept "FBI Agent", that's pretty boring. So adding "Hot-shot" and "Making a Name for Himself" pushes it to 11. He's going to take risks and get burned by them. He'll be first in the door to bust that criminal and might get himself shot as a result. Brash, confident, etc, is all in that High Concept. During the course of the show, he has to confront his Trouble, that he has trouble trusting his team. In fact, he tells a police therapist that "they have to trust ME!" That Trouble is going to cause him problems with his Team. Just you wait. Give it a try. Start with one or two words for Aspects then add more detail. Don't go overboard and make it a paragraph because that's not going to work for you or anyone. But a little detail is good. Here's some examples I've used above: Ex-soldier -----> Ex-soldier who's seen to much Death Wizard -----> Youngest Archmage in this Age FBI Agent -----> Hot-shot FBI Agent, Making a Name for Himself Math Prodigy -----> Aging Child Math Prodigy, wondering what it's all about With these examples in mind, try these out: Cowboy -----> Writer -----> Mom -----> Thief -----> Then add some more......

The next part of character generation in FATE Accelerated is the Approaches. Think of them as skills in some sense or large groupings of skills that can overlap, like a Venn diagram. The six approaches are: Careful Clever Flashy Forceful Quick Sneaky When confronted with a locked door, it's possible to Forcefully open it by knocking it down, right? But equally possible to open it by Cleverly picking the lock or Sneakily pull the hinge pins or Carefully look around to find the key hidden in a nearby desk. Each one of these approaches gives a way to open the door. Some approaches are appropriate in most circumstances but rarely are all approaches appropriate. The situation usually limits it. In the locked door example above, Flashy or Quick aren't going to work unless there's a guard to bamboozle by Flashily showing a fake ID and blustering your way in or waiting till someone goes through and Quickly tailgating in after them. Approaches are really informed by your Aspects. Action characters will be more Forceful and Quick than others, while Brainy character will be more Careful and Clever. When making your character, you get to decide which score each approach gets. For a standard FATE Accelerated game, that means allocating one +3, two +2s, two +1s and one +0. In the Numb3rs example from above, Charlie Epps would have Clever +3, Careful +2, Quick +2, Flashy +1, Sneaky +1 and Forceful +0, whereas his brother Don would have Quick +3, Forceful +2, Sneaky +2, Careful +1, Flashy +1 and Clever +0. Take those Aspects you defined above and couple them with some approaches like I've done here.

The last step in character creation in FATE Accelerated is Stunts. Stunts take approaches and give them a +2 in certain circumstances. The format for stunts is as follows: Because I [describe some way that you are exceptional, have a cool bit of gear, or are otherwise awesome] , I get a +2 when I [pick one: Carefully, Cleverly, Flashily, Forcefully, Quickly, Sneakily][pick one: attack, defend, create advantages, overcome] when [describe a circumstance] . or Because I [describe some way that you are exceptional, have a cool bit of gear, or are otherwise awesome] , once per game session I can [describe something cool you can do] . Stunts are based upon your Aspects and Approaches. It doesn't make sense for a stunt to have nothing to do with the character created thus far, so adding a Stunt about casting spells when none of your Aspects mention spell casting ability is right out. In the Numb3rs example, it's pretty easy to come up with a Stunt for Don Epps: Because I am a bad-ass FBI Agent, I get a +2 when I Quickly attack an opponent using a gun. You could even change "bad-ass" to "exceptionally well-trained" or "highly-skilled" or "experienced" since they all mean the same thing but sometimes the tone of the Stunt is different. Bad-ass is all about Action, whereas exceptionally well-trained says something more about how the character approaches things. To make it more about Force than Quickness, you can change "Quickly" to "Forcefully". But Don is pretty fast on the draw with his gun. This Stunt doesn't give him a +2 in all circumstances, only when he's got a gun, so if he's unarmed, he can't use it. If he's fighting an opponent and they knock the gun out of his hand (creating an Aspect: Unarmed on him), then he's left with using just one of his Approaches to defeat his opponent (often, given the genre, involving some Clever way to knock someone out with only a sock and a loaf of soft bread). Charlie could have this Stunt: Because I'm a Math Prodigy, once per game session I can use Math to figure out where the bad guys are or will be. That's a pretty powerful Stunt, since every episode the characters are pursuing bad guys. It doesn't say that the outcome of that will be in the player's favor, often in the show it is to the contrary, it is just that once a game session he can figure out something important to the plot. On the Aspects you've started above, try adding a Stunt or two to them and see where it gets you.

Pulling the Numb3rs characters together from the above posts produces the following: Charlie Epps, Math Genius High Concept: Aging Child Math Prodigy, wondering what it's all about Trouble: If I'm no longer the Boy Wonder, then what am I? Aspect: I've Got an Equation for That! Aspect: Guns make me Nervous Approaches: Clever +3 Careful +2 Quick +2 Flashy +1 Sneaky +1 Forceful +0 Stunt: Because I'm a Math Prodigy, once per session I can use Math to figure out where the bad guys are or will be. Refresh: 3 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Don Epps, FBI Agent High Concept: Hot-shot FBI Agent, Making a Name for Himself Trouble: My Team has to Trust Me, I don't have to Trust my Team Aspect: I Almost made it to the Majors (Baseball) Aspect: Charlie can't see my World, he's too innocent Quick +3 Forceful +2 Sneaky +2 Careful +1 Flashy +1 Clever +0 Stunt: Because I'm a bad-ass FBI Agent, I get a +2 when I Quickly attack an opponent using a gun. Refresh: 3

Here's an easy one: Hawaii 5-0 character Steve McGarrett: High Concept: Ex-Navy SEAL turned Maverick Cop Trouble: My Family has so Many Secrets, I'm in Over My Head Aspect: First in Everything Approaches: Forceful +3 Quck +2 Sneaky +2 Flashy +1 Careful +1 Clever +0 Stunt: Because I'm a Bad-Ass Ex-Navy SEAL, I get a +2 when I Forcefully attack someone with a gun. Refresh: 3 More about Aspects: Aspects can be Invoked by the character for their benefit (gaining a re-roll or a +2 to a roll) at the cost of a Fate Point or Compelled to go against the character's best interest to gain a Fate Point. Compels exist so that players can gain Fate Points to use to do more awesome stuff when they Invoke their Aspects. When the player is confronted with a situation where it's prudent for McGarrett to go second, say in a delicate diplomatic situation, the GM can turn to them and say "You're First in Everything, aren't you? I'm going to Compell your Aspect. Either accept this Fate Point and cause a diplomatic incident or pay me a Fate Point to avoid it." That puts the player in a quandary: do they use a Fate Point to avoid an issue or do they complicate matters further by accepting a Fate Point? Either way, the story is changed. Just as easily, the player could be put in a situation where "Ex-Navy SEAL" is Compelled. If McGarrett is undercover as a computer nerd, if a thug threatens him with a gun, he could just take it away from the guy, breaking his cover and the GM could say "You can take this guy. I'm going to Compel your Ex-Navy SEAL Aspect. Either accept this Fate Point and disarm the guy or pay me a Fate Point to maintain your cover." So he'll have to avoid giving away that he's actually a bad-ass Action Hero by paying the GM a Fate Point when Compelled. When creating a character, think about how the Aspects you use can be Compelled because everyone needs more Fate Points and if you're playing and you're in a situation where you should be Compelled and the GM hasn't pointed that out, speak up! Do something foolish and get that Fate Point!

It's been a long time since I worked the system so it would be good for me to to try out characters: I'll do the first part first: Cowboy -----> Cowbow who saw his family killed by bandits. Writer -----> Writer who hasnt had a hit since his first book Mom -----> mom who worrys she doesnt have all the answers Thief -----> Thief who wants to go straight but has debts.

We've heard hints about good Aspect-making since the 80s. Basically, it shouldn't be just a Turtle, it should be a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle, lol!

I think Aspects are one of the harder elements for creation, if only because I struggle with naming things. Let's see what I can do with the first part... Cowboy -----> Cowboy of the New Age Writer -----> Writer of the newest hit Mom -----> Mother to a hero Thief ----->  World Class Thief EDIT: Forgot to add some more. XD Assassin ----> Assasin bored with the job. Janitor ---> The Guy who saw everything. Zookeeper ---> Zookeeper to exotic species. 

I don't like Accelerated, but I'll do aspects, anyday. Cowboy -----> The Blood-Stained Desperado of El Paso Writer -----> Bitter Fantasy Author who's Past his Prime Mom -----> Overprotective Mother of Three Thief -----> Cat Burglar with a Heart of Gold Princess -----> Wayward Princess of Del'Narith (yay, it's Megan!) Baker -----> The King's Personal Pastry Chef Cop -----> Corrupt Police Captain on the Don's Payroll Janitor -----> Superhero High's Caped Custodian

Here's mine Cowboy -----> Lassos his enemies with every word Writer -----> Finds a story on every street Mom -----> Earths protector of the elements Thief -----> Born with a silver spoon but has thrown it away Princess -----> Bitch slapped with a wet fish Baker -----> Found his pie baked to perfection Cop -----> A foot pounder with vision Janitor -----> Sweeps away all the evil in school

May as well throw in some examples for these as High Concepts, Troubles, and Normal aspects (HC,T, And N respectively): Cowboy -----> HC: Disgraced Lawman of Drywood Creek; N: Rugged Rider Writer -----> HC: The Pen Behind the Lawrence Enigma; N: Pen vs Sword Mom -----> HC: Homemaker and World Saver; T: The Recital is at Eight!; N: Davey, 8 years old Thief -----> HC: Heiress of the Catpaw Pilferer; T: Inspectors on my Trail; N: Just another second floor job. Princess -----> HC: Truant Princess of the Mandorian Throne; T: Damsel In Distress; N: A suitor around every corner Baker -----> HC: Baker of Dreams; N: Bread for Every Occasion Cop -----> HC: The Incorruptable Sergeant; T: My Duty to Protect and Serve; N: I know every Criminal in town. Janitor -----> HC: Master of Mop-Fu; T: Cleanup in Aisle 5; N: Not worth noting

Arctic said: I think Aspects are one of the harder elements for creation,  Sometimes, it works pretty good kicking the Aspect idea around to see what the rest of the group thinks. It lets someone else take your words into a clearer thought that sounds better for you! /Matt

Decided to arbitrarily create a sample character based on one of the sample aspects I gave so here is another example with commentary. Name: David Errant High Concept: The Pen Behind the Lawrence Enigma Trouble: It was supposed to be fiction! Aspects: - Millionaire Bestseller - Super-spy Wannabe - The Secret-Mobile Approaches: Careful - +0 Clever - +3 Flashy - +2 Forceful - +1 Quick - +1 Sneaky - +2 Stunts: Because I spend too much on spy gadgets, once per session when I successfully create an advantage I get an extra Free Invoke because I have the perfect gadget. Description: David Errant is a short 27 year old shut-in who would best be described as perfectly average looking, who stumbled onto success with his breakthrough hit Lawrence Enigma series, published under the pseudonym Edward Lawrence, describing the (Fake) author's years of adventures as a Super-Spy. However it seems that David's research was perhaps a bit too good as now he has more than a handful of entities seeking revenge for leaking their secrets despite him making them up in the first place. Character detail Commentary: High Concept - For this I started with Writer, but decided that I really needed to define it a bit more to get a reasonable character. First any writer has a genre which I ended up selecting Spy Thriller because it seemed right, and from there it was a matter of making the character unique, in this case introducing the character's most famous piece of writing, The Lawrence Enigma. On this line a suggestion I typically make is that your characters should always be unique and interesting, not just another person blending in with the surroundings which is a great use for one's high concept. Trouble - This one was a bit difficult as Writers don't typically lead particularly troubled lives at least in the spectacular sense Fate assumes, but in this case I took the High Concept and came up with as direct of a way for this to cause trouble that could be played up for an entertaining plot Aspect 1 - The first one is typically fairly easy, as for example in this case this was largely a set of details I wanted to include in the High Concept but couldn't reasonably include. Notably this is likely to be useful to the character as he has a notably amount of funding, and is known by a great many people; On the other hand this is likely to prove frustrating, as pushy fans and publicity events are bound to work their way up at annoying times. Aspect 2 - Here I started working with the idea of why does David write this type of novel in the first place, and ended up deciding he was a fan of the genre already. It ends up being useful when he needs to do spy type things as he has read all the books and researched all the gadgets a spy could want, however this proves difficult as what super-spy takes the easy approach when he can do things in style? Aspect 3 - In this case I decided to use the last aspect to establish David's most notable piece of spy gear, his ultra fancy customized spy car the Secret-Mobile. Obviously it proves useful any time the party needs an awesome ride with all sorts of tricks. As with many aspects focusing on establishing a physical thing, there tends to be fewer negatives offered up to the GM, but with the rest being double edged I shouldn't have too much trouble getting fate points. Approaches - Not really much to say here, mostly just assign them as it would make sense for the character Stunt - Obviously any massive spy fan with more money than sense is going to end up with a few gadgets on hand at any time, it is just a matter of figuring out how to implement it mechanically. In this case, it doesn't take long to realize that this is going to be a once per session power as any good spy fiction ends up with the spy pulling out their tools but a handful of times so it works better. Further, generally the spy's tools just make success easier for the spy as opposed to solving the problem entirely, so this seems more along the lines of Creating an Advantage. In this case Upgrading a success to a success with style is a fairly basic stunt option. The one thing to note is generally this would be a bit too broadly useful, but given the once per session nature it generally won't prove problematic. Also since I forgot, here is another aspect seed: Dragon - High Concept: Vengeful Young Red Dragon; Trouble: "Look... I only ate one villager!" Normal: The Size of a Large Horse

I thought I might throw my own group into the ring here: Cowboy -----> The reincarnation of Billy the Kid. Writer -----> The man with the golden pen Mom -----> Robot replica of there dead mother Thief -----> Streetrat sorcerer  Princess -----> Daughter of Hades Baker -----> The bread o' mancer of Drury Lane  Cop -----> The precognitive gumshoe Janitor -----> The hit-man who cleans up the mess. 

Cowboy -----> Gunslinging Alcoholic Sheriff, "My Mistakes Haunt my Nightmares." Writer -----> Mildly Psychotic Narrating Storyteller, "We're all Mad here!" Mom -----> the Mother of Monsters, "I'll do anything to feed my family." Thief -----> Gentleman Thief, "Subtlety, Good looks & Fast Cars. I'm just magnificent."

I guess I'd place my idea of this like this: Approaches: Careful +1 Clever +2 Flashy +1 Forceful +0 Quick +3 Sneaky +2 Cowboy -----> Quick witted fighter with guns. Writer -----> A genius that many person think they are crazy. Mom -----> A being that take care of you for some time. Thief -----> A street smart person willing to do anything to survive. 

Nice thread first of all, here's my first character, creative critique is welcome :-) Name: Matt Turk High Concept: A human/cyborg surivalist, abadoned from society. Trouble: Wants to help, but will never fit in. Aspects: - "If i can't fix it, nobody can" - "My cybernetic arm never lost an arm wrestling" - "But this city is my home" Approaches: Careful +3 Clever +2 Flashy +1 Forceful +2 Quick +1 Sneaky +0 Stunt: Because have a cybernetic arm, i get a bonus on hand-to-hand combat when i attack forcefully. Refresh: 2 (-1 Due to the cybernetic heart)

Name: Anthos Silic High Concept: Wondering sand elemental in a human form Trouble: May have a bounty on my head. Physical Description: Made of black sand compressed into a human shape. small bits of other colored sand is formed as eyes to keep a “look” about me that isn’t entirely uncomfortable to look at. Clothes have tinges of color but most that is actually just sand made to look like clothes (it would be odd to people to walk around naked). He has a small bag he holds around his back, and he wears a cloak made of thin cloth material. Not the most extravagant things in the world but it keeps him dry and covered and not always holding items in his own sand body. Aspects: - "Shady Sandman" - "Curious to the Living" - “Quick with a Knife” Approaches: Careful +2 Clever +1 Flashy +0 Forceful +1 Quick +2 Sneaky +3 Stunts: 1. “Fast as the Hourglass” -Because I am made of sand, I have a +2 to dodging attacks quickly 2. “Always Finds a Way In” -Provided I am not wearing or holding anything, I can squeeze through small spaces. 3. “Keep your Dusty Hands off Me “I can move the sand of body and grab a small item that is not within normal reach. Refresh: 3

Cowboy -----> Ranch hand clinging to the past Writer -----> Poet obsessed with death and tentacles Mom -----> Mom by day, Spy by night Thief -----> Wisecracking safecracker Solider------> He should have died with his brothers Jock--------> High school quarterback hiding their gender Dad---------> Haunted by his son's kidnapping ("Gimme back my son!") Genie-------> Cursed to serve the master until released I'll do the Thief. Sam Spindial HC: Wisecracking Safecraker Trouble: The McCormick's know I pinched the goods Aspect: I haven't met a lock I can't pick. Aspect: HA! I always have a quip up my sleeve. Approaches: Careful +0 Clever +2 Flashy +2 Forceful +1 Quick +1 Sneaky +3 Stunt: Because I haven't met a lock I can't pick, once per game I get +2 when using sneaky to overcome a locked object or door.  

Yeah, I will do one.  I really want Star Wars fans to pick this one apart.  I wanna see if I have the idea right. Name: Han Solo High Concept: Spice Smuggler turned Rebel Hero Trouble: A death mark's not an easy thing to live with. Aspect: Never tell me the odds. Aspect: I shot first! Aspect: Well, then, it's gonna cost you something extra. Description: Han stands a hand's breadth under two meters in height. Slender build, dark brown hair, brown eyes, light complexion, deep scar across his chin. Usual wearing some sort of utilitarian jacket and dark trousers sporting a Corellian Blood Stripe for valor. His trusty Blas-Tech DL-44 blaster is strapped to his right thigh in a highly worn quickdraw holster. He is often seen with his Wookie companion, Chewbacca, and is known to fly a dilapidated, slightly modified, YT1300 Corellian light freighter that will make point five past lightspeed. Approaches: Quick +3 Sneaky +2 Clever +2 Flashy +1 Forceful +1 Careful +0 Stunt: Dead eye dick. +2 to attacks when AIMING his blaster at a target in the same zone. Refresh: 3 Took some real consideration on the Aspects.  I think I moved them around and changed them like 15 times each.  But I think that about covers it.  What do you think?

I read the Fate Accelerated Edition quite a few times before I ever had the opportunity to play, and since then, I've also read a lot of thoughts and opinions regarding Fate, which I found to be very insightful. It also helps that I have had a good teacher along the way. So, I would like to try my hand at this, as well! With the examples above being pretty well taken care of, please allow me to introduce: Frank Palmer (protagonist of the book  The Haunted Streets ) Background: Frank Palmer is a 1930's detective that grew up in an orphanage after his father died in World War I and his mother tried to kill the two of them by crashing a car at high speeds. Frank managed to survive the crash, holding his mother until she died. In the orphanage, he met Arturo and Cesca Casadonte, becoming good friends with both. While they were there, the orphanage received a visit from the city's major crime boss, Salvadore Barone, who was there to donate a substantial sum to the children of the war's fallen heroes. A rival family attacked during the photo-op on the front steps, and Frank saved Barone by knocking him to the ground. Barone's wife was hit in the shoulder, and Arturo Casadonte plugged her wound with his finger to keep her from bleeding to death. Salvadore Barone then swore that the two of them would be taken care of the rest of the time they were at the orphanage. Once they became adults, Frank married Cesca and became a cop, where he rescued a little girl and a dog from a fire, and was given the dog (a Pembroke Welsh Corgi named Maurice) by the family in gratitude. Meanwhile, Arturo Casadonte evolved into Salvadore Barone's protege. Following a case involving an apparent serial killer (the God's Acre Murders), Frank and Cesca had planned to move to the southeast, with Cesca presumably going ahead to get their new house ready. That was, however, the weekend of the Labor Day Hurricane of 1935, and Cesca was one of the many that were never found. After his wife's death, Frank becomes cold and apathetic, never moves to the southeast, and remains at his current job as a detective in the city. He stores away all of Cesca's things - not because they are bad reminders - but because he feels he must protect all that is left of her. When another serial killer arrives in the city (presumably a copycat of the God's Acre Murders-this isn't clear in the book, but I'm dying to see if the prequel will have any insight), Palmer tracks him to a farmhouse in a place called Rohde Falls, where he becomes the only reliable witness to have ever seen the urban legend that the newspapers call Mortuary. Frank doesn't even lift a finger to stop Mortuary, allowing him to murder the serial killer and escape. Palmer is later paired up with his new partner, recently promoted and enthusiastic detective, Charlie Callaghan, where the two are called in to investigate the murder of locally famous radio host Morgan Maxwell. Salvadore Barone dies in the first chapter of the book, setting the stage for a mob war between several of the crime families, including the one ran by Arturo Casadonte. And that's essentially where the book begins. I will avoid any real spoilers from there, as I believe it's a fairly recent book. Aspects: High Concept: Insensible Detective Trouble: My Best Friend is a Crime Boss (and My Brother-in-Law) What I Saw at Rohde Falls Maurice, my Colt .38, named after my former Pembroke Welsh Corgi Approaches: Forceful +3 Clever +2 Quick +2 Careful +1 Sneaky +1 Flashy +0 Stunt: Because of What I Saw at Rohde Falls , once per game session, I can gain assistance from Mortuary. Refresh: 3 Any thoughts, comments, pointers, or criticisms are welcome!