A Milestone Fractal Example

Someone mentioned that they do a lot better grokking these kind of things with examples, so I thought I'd try to cook one up.

First, I have some slight refinements of what I posted yesterday (I swear I'm not trying to copy how +Ryan M. Danks posted his adventure fractal, I'm really not).

Revisiting Dixton

Aside from getting a Tribe 8 game going, I have two other things I want to expand on. The first is the setting that I started writing for the #ADX anthology. I had a lot of stuff I chopped out to try to get it down to a reasonable word count, but I'm simply not sure what I want to do with it - just put it out there for my own satisfaction, try to publish it, Kickstart it, I'm completely not sure.

The second was my Dixton setting. It start out as a kind of Thief/Dishonored homage, but it's settled in my brain worms a bit, and I feel that I want to to shift slightly in theme and tone. Watching shows like Revolution and Defiance have kind of inspired me toward an even more Civil War-era, pseudo pre-Antebellum Southern feel.

That means going more into themes of class division and privilege. I don't want it to be a social commentary or anything like that, but I've never really dealt with this kind of thing in any depth. I definitely don't want to fall into any traps or cliched stereotypes...I want to handle the problematic subject matter well. I'm assuming that's going to mean a bit of primary source research, particularly the history of slavery in the British Empire because that is a closer analog to the dominant society in the setting. I'm definitely open to suggestions as to where to start.

The setting currently has one non-human race, the Sia, who are native to the continent where the setting is focused. They were enslaved and then set free. I think I want to move their magic toward something more animistic and visceral, involving blood and pain, but not fall into a, "It's just like voodoo or Santeria" trap. Things like The Heart from Dishonored would fit right in.

The emphasis will still be on the characters being part of the seedy underworld, as thieves and assassins and fences and crime lords. But there's going to be some social upheaval in the works. I want Dixton to be a powderkeg, and I think the PCs should be the fuse.

Dixton Extra: Sigils

Got the draft (hit the link for the Google doc) completed for the Sigils in the Dixton setting. They are probably going to need some tweaking, but overall I'm pleased with how they turned out. Many thanks go to +Rob Donoghue for his channeling "hack" that helped set the mechanics up in my mind and +Cameron Corniuk, +Andy Hauge, +Jack Stephenson-Carr and +Mike Thompson for their great suggestions that helped break me out of a bit of writer's block in coming up with an implementation.

Building a sneaky game

So, I have a basic outline of a city for a Thief/Dishonored style game. It has - or at least I hope it has - the elements a game like this needs. Slightly more advanced than the Renaissance; no multitudes of non-human races; a mysterious ancient civilization for some mystery and to provide an excuse for artifacts/rare treasures/forbidden magic; and lots of dark, cramped alleyways, rooftops, waterways and underground tunnels. The next step is figuring out what a game like this needs in order to work.

There are roughly four groups of actions characters in these games take: sneaking around, taking down opponents, overcoming obstacles or puzzles, and stealing things. This applies even to modern or near-future games like Deus Ex: Human Revolution or Alpha Protocol. For the opposition, there are typically only two types of actions they take: looking for thieves and trying to kill them.

With that in mind, I can flesh out a rudimentary list of various abilities. They're intended to be their own skills, instead of stunts for existing skills. Some things that aren't on this list like Physique or Will may still be available when needed, but they aren't a key focus in this genre. Even so, a general skill like Investigation shouldn't be allowed to overshadow Case, which is intended on being a narrower, more focused skill so that it can concentrate on what's important to the genre. I'll detail each of these with overcomes, advantages, attack and defense later (with some possible additions and changes).

• Alertness - A measure of knowing what is going on around you. This is not much different than the existing Notice skill. Guards typically have this skill, which they use to blow your stealth. 
• Breaking - This is the ability used for picking locks, opening safes, figuring out how to manipulate doors, hatches, gates, etc.
• Cant - This is a measure of the character's reputation and connections within the criminal underworld. It can be used to get information on potential missions, find employment, obtain equipment, or locate other less-than-lawful knowledge. It can also be used to communicate with other underworld types without Squares (i.e., normal people) understanding them.
• Case - The ability to find vulnerabilities and items of interest in a location. This includes guard patrol patterns; hidden or little known entries/exits; safe routes; hidden rooms; compartments or safes; valuables "hiding in the open"; etc.
• Deceit - This is identical to the default skill in Fate Core.
• Fence - This is the ability to evaluate the usefulness or value of items. It is also used to locate buyers or sellers. Thieves typically have a rank or two in Fence, but often rely on dedicated individuals.
• Fighting - This is the standard skill from Fate Core. Note that most thieves (and even many assassins) are not particularly good at it. Guards almost always have this skill.
• Pilfer - The ability to take (or place) objects without being noticed.
• Shooting - Another standard Fate Core skill. Some thieves and assassins prefer Shooting to Fighting, so slightly more have some level of it. Guards that don't have Fighting usually have Shooting. The worst ones have both.
• Sneak - The ability to avoid being seen or noticed - basically Stealth from Fate Core. 
• Square - A measure of the character's non-criminal contacts, legitimate concerns and resources. It also be used as a measure of how honest or non-suspicious the character can appear.
• Takedown - This skill is used to quietly, and quickly, remove opposition. It is separated from Fighting to allow thieves to be good at taking out opposition but terrible fighters.
• Tracing - Also called parkour or freerunning, this is a particularly specialized form of Athletics dedicated to overcoming and navigating obstacles. This may not stay as a separate skill, but instead become an Athletics stunt (there is a good argument that the ability to do parkour means being generally athletic).

Player Characters

Obviously, in a game like this thieves don't break into manors in groups like a stealthy flash mob (or a flock of crows - you get a brownie if you get the reference). For the most part, this genre is one of solitary characters. There are a number of ways to handle this - having a main character and a supporting character, or have players play different roles within the criminal underworld. Since we're assuming everyone wants to be the dashing Flynn Rider, We'll go another route. Each of the player characters perform their own missions and jobs and meet during downtime to take care of other business and drama. When a player character decides to take on a mission or job, the other players collaborate with the GM to flesh out the details. The other players also assume roles in running opposition against the player. This will require more work later on to determine exactly how the whole thing works.

Guards

This is a genre where the opposition are kind of like Barney Fife until they are provoked. They are Fair NPCs, with no stress boxes and one skill (Alertness +1). But once they spot your character or otherwise become sufficiently alerted (like you accidentally blow something up) they become more like Jack Bauer.

This is simulated by guards, soldiers, etc. (and only those types of opposition) becoming Good NPCs once a certain threshold has been reached. They become much deadlier and more difficult to deal with at the worst possible time - when you are out in the open and exposed.

If there's a threshold which needs to be reached it's possible to have the player roll a contest consisting of obstacles and if they fail the guards are alerted. This option seems like a cop-out. Once the alarm is raised, there's no good way of figuring out how long it should last or what the consequences are. Consequences are probably the key word there, and where consequences are a possibility a stress track is sure to follow. Side note: Apparently I must be the stress track king, considering how many I use in Strands of Flesh and Spirit. I promise I won't go that far here.

Characters using the Sneak skill have a Stealth Track. This is a standard two-box stress track (there may be skills, stunts or extras that add to this). When a character fails a roll or otherwise does something where they might be caught, they can either take the stress or downgrade and take a consequence. This doesn't add any additional consequence slots, meaning the character is vulnerable in a physical or mental conflict because they have a stealth consequence. This is intentional - having the consequence of "I Found Him!" means more guards are going to be coming down on you and you're one step closer to getting run through (criminal justice in this genre doesn't often involve courts or jail).

Stress clears at the end of the scene, but obviously the consequences linger as per Fate Core. The recovery action required depends entirely on the nature of the consequence. If you have the mild consequence "I Know You're Here Somewhere!" you would just need to take an action to convince the guard that it was nothing, and then rename the consequence to "Damn Rats" or "It Must Have Been the Wind". Once that has been accomplished, it's a matter of not getting caught for the remainder of the scene so you can clear the slot. A moderate consequence might be "Set Off The Alarm", which will have to be disabled or turned off to downgrade to "Stay On Alert". A severe consequence might be "Botched the Bamford Job". Bamford is going to want to find the thief who infiltrated his manor and depending on how things went down or past history you might be a suspect. Contacts may not want you around until it's cleared up; worse, some of your more opportunistic peers might decide to help Bamford out in finding you. Once you run out of Stealth stress boxes, the guards know you're around (if they haven't seen you directly) and at that point go from being Fair to Good. That's when things unquestionably go pear-shaped, and it's probably best to try to get out of there as fast as possible.

Next up, I'll start to flesh out the custom skills.

For a lot of good references on 18th century London thievery, including a dictionary of Thieves Cant, a list of professions, business directory, costs of goods and other neat information head on over to this website.

Finally, I'd like to thank the Fate Core Google+ Community, particularly Jeff Johnston, Jack Gulick, Andy Hague and Andrew Jensen, for their terrific ideas on how to handle stealth.

Welcome to Dixton, Torcher!

The Fate Core Kickstarter ended on an enormous high note. So high, I think I might fail a drug test. I'm honored and humbled to be part of such an auspicious event...I actually think this is roleplaying history in the making.

In honor of the Kickstarter ending, I offer a brief write-up of the setting I intend on using for a Thief/Dishonored inspired game. I've actually been working on it for over a week, but it wound up being too in-depth and very dry, so I backtracked and trimmed it down.

Dixton

Modern Dixton is a city of contrasts. The twin rivers of Eastfork and Westfork split the city into quarters and highlight the divisions between its people. The cramped, dirty, violent alleys of The Commons. The clean, safe manors of Highvault. The sweat and labor of Dockside. The parties and festivals of the Old Quarter. The genteel land-owners and the scheming merchants. Commoners whisper in the streets of secretive cults and conspiracies, of dark rituals and shrines to a shadowy trickster god, while the Deacons in Highvault proselytize their vision of a world of pristine order, bereft of chaos.

Dixton was also where torchpalm was discovered, a plant that transformed a whole Empire. Growing in the subtropical forests around the small trading outpost, the pods of the palm-like trees held the secret to creating a form of high-powered fuel. It helped usher in a technological revolution...powering factories and machinery, light sources, ships, and even weaponry. The sleepy trading town boomed into a sprawling metropolis virtually over night.

This expansion was not without its growing pains. Prior to the discovery of the torchpalm, Dixton was filled with all manner of criminals, pirates, smugglers and con men. The Empire installed a Governor and began granting land to wealthy nobles for plantations, and drove the criminal elements underground where they formed criminal families and syndicates. Dixton's rise in prominence as a transportation hub meant powerful merchant houses formed, vying with the landowners for more say over the city's affairs. The Governor's rule keeps the peace, but doesn't extend into every dark corner of the city. It is in these shadows were the battles are still fought using sabotage, theft and assassination.

Beyond Dixton and its vast plantations lies a continent that has been barely explored. Naturalists continually discover new plants and minerals with unheard of properties. Ancient ruins are covered by the forest and undergrowth, the artifacts and treasures to be found there coveted by wealthy collectors and scholars alike. The builders of these ruined cities are a mystery. The only natives to the area, the human-like Si who were set free two decades ago when the Empire abolished slavery, have no written language and only primitive technology. Yet they have unexplained knowledge of many things, from faraway lands to astronomy to scientific principles Their knowledge of the torchpalm is yet to be surpassed, and the strange tattoos inked with the tree's juice are said to have magical properties. Whether they are the true heirs of this lost civilization has yet to be seen.

Interwoven through all of these elements are those who aren't afraid of the shadows. They're the ones the wealthy turn to for their plots, the crime families for their operations, the relic collectors for their artifacts. They're the ones who don't concern themselves with the reasons they're needed or the origin of the coin purse they walk away with. They go by various names: torchers, thieves, sneaks, burglars, taffers, assassins, choffers, rogues.  And you're one of them.

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