VOLUME 2, ISSUE 5 SEPTEMBER 2015 APPROACHES AS SCALE by tracy barnett SWORD AND SORCERESS by kira magrann Sample fileNEGOTIATION IN FATE by mark diaz truman BLUE COLLAR NECROMANCY this month's quick start by jacob possin VOLUME 2, ISSUE 5 • SEPTEMBER 2015 EDITOR IN CHIEF MARK DIAZ TRUMAN EDITORS BRENDAN CONWAY 0 SALLY CHRISTENSEN JUSTIN ROGERS 0 AMANDA VALENTINE CONTRIBUTORS TRACY BARNETT 0 KIRA MAGRANN JACOB POSSIN 0 MARK DIAZ TRUMAN SampleARTISTS file OLIVIA BOYD 0 MIKE MUMAH 0 JUAN OCHOA GRAPHIC DESIGN THOMAS DEENY PROOFREADER SHELLEY HARLAN Sample file The text of Articles, Essays, Systems, and Settings © 2015 their respective authors, and released under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.en_US). When attributing, include the following text in your copyright information: ‘This work uses material from [article title], published by Magpie Games in The Fate Codex Volume 2, Issue 5 and written by [article author], and is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.en_US).’ The art and layout © 2015 their respective creators and all rights to these elements are reserved. This work is based on Fate Core System and Fate Accelerated Edition (found at http://www.faterpg.com/), products of Evil Hat Productions, LLC, developed, authored, and edited by Leonard Balsera, Brian Engard, Jeremy Keller, Ryan Macklin, Mike Olson, Clark Valentine, Amanda Valentine, Fred Hicks, and Rob Donoghue, and licensed for our use under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/). Fate™ is a trademark of Evil Hat Productions, LLC. 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CONTENTS 4 ABOUT THE FATE CODEX–VOL. 2, ISSUE 5 Mark Diaz Truman welcomes you to the fifth issue of Volume 2 of The Fate Codex. 5 APPROACHES AS SCALE: HOW TO GO BIG IN FATE Tracy Barnett brings scale mechanics to Fate using approaches to quickly model different levels of conflict. 15 SWORD AND SORCERESS Kira Magrann shows you how to reinvent sword and sorcery fiction at your table Sampleto be more inclusive, file interesting…and sexy. 26 NEGOTIATIONS IN FATE Mark Diaz Truman explains a new lens for Fate action— negotiations!—for social haggling that doesn’t fit challenges, contests, or conflicts. 32 BLUE COLLAR NECROMANCY This month’s Quick Start from Jacob Possin features a Dust Bowl world beset by the ghosts of the dead and the working class necromancers who keep them at bay. 54 CREDITS 57 PATREON AND THE FATE CODEX ABOUT THE FATE CODEX–VOL. 2, ISSUE 5 by MARK DIAZ TRUMAN As we round the corner into the final few months of the year, I’m always excited to look back and see how many issues of The Fate Codex we’ve been able to get out this year. (Spoiler: it’s always more than I can remem- ber and less than I planned!) This year—like last year—sees us making a sprint for the finish: after a slow start, we’re still planning to make it to seven issues! Woot! The issue we’ve put together for September features a mix of old and new authors: Jacob Possin and Kira Magrann are both returning to The Fate Codex for a second run, and Tracy Barnett—a long time Fate fan and creator—joins us for his first piece. That’s no accident! I love going out to our previous contributors and asking “What do ya got for me this year?” and I’m thrilled when folks doing their own Fate projects want to write for The Fate Codex. It’s exciting to add more folks to The Fate Codex “family.” In addition to the awesome articles that Kira and Jacob have put together—new takes on gender and class issues that I think will prove useful at your table—we’re also featuring two pieces this month that take mechanics developed elsewhere and bring them into The Fate Codex. Tracy Barnett’s piece on approaches as scale was originally developed for Iron Edda, and my piece on negotiations in Fate Core was originally developed for the new Fate Core edition of Bulldogs! from Galileo Games. Bringing these systems and ideas into The Fate Codex means that not only will they gain a wider exposure, but they’ll also be usable under a Creative Commons license! As always, thank you for your support and patience with this month’s issue. It’s a treat to serve asSample Editor in Chief file of such an engaging and inter- esting (mostly-monthly) publication, and we’re already planning neat stuff for 2016. Thank you! Editor in Chief Mark Diaz Truman FATE CODEX c 4 Mark Diaz Truman welcomes you to the fifth issue of Volume 2 of The Fate Codex. APPROACHES AS SCALE: HOW TO GO BIG IN FATE by TRACY BARNETT You’re creeping through the tunnels of the dragon’s lair, trying to stay as quiet as possible. It doesn’t pay to wake a dragon, especially when you’re looking to steal from it. There’s an ambient glow that gets brighter as you proceed. When you round the last corner and the tunnel opens into the lair itself, you’ve got one thought: Holy cow, that dragon isSample huge. file In a lot of traditional roleplaying games, there are mechanical ways to handle scale. Bigger things hit harder, move more slowly, get more hit points, and so on. In Fate Core, there aren’t any specific guidelines for how to, say, throw a giant at your players, or a kaiju. You could add more stress boxes, give higher skills, sure. But I think there’s a better solution. I ran into this problem when I was writing Iron Edda: War of Metal and Bone where giants and giant-scale threats feature prominently. In an early draft of the game, my rule for handling giant threats was simple: if it’s bigger than you and it hits you, you’re dead. Big feet = squish. I thought that would express the danger of the giants. I wanted to highlight the value of having a giant of your own in your group. In the early playtests, however, the first thing the players wanted to do was the climb the big dwarven destroyers to attack. If I’d squished FATE CODEX c 5 Tracy Barnett brings scale mechanics to Fate using approaches to quickly model different levels of conflict. Approaches AS Scale: How TO GO BIG IN Fate them outright, it would have taken away their autonomy. They wanted to fight the giant directly. It makes sense. Fate’s a game of big action, and when you combine that with Norse myth, it makes little warriors go for the giants. The fix came when Clark Valentine suggested I use approaches to signal scale. With giant threats, using an approach for its stats does a few things: • It puts the focus not on what the threat is doing, but how it’s doing it. • It keeps the range of skills and shifts the same for giant scale. • It allows human-sized players to easily interact with giant scale threats. Example Threat: Our Dragon, Kringellion To look at how all of this works, we need an example threat. Let’s give our hypothetical dragon some scales, wings, claws…and a few aspects and approaches: KRINGELLION, THE DESTROYER ASPECTS Mistress of the Seven Hills, and All I Survey It’s Mine, Mine, Mine, all MINE Wings ThatSample Cover the Hills file in Shadow A Stomach Full of Hellfire Intellect as Sharp as My Bladed Teeth APPROACHES Forceful: Good (+3) Careful: Poor (+0) Sneaky: Average (+1) Flashy: Fair (+2) Quick: Average (+1) Clever: Fair (+2) That’ll do for a character outline. Stunts don’t factor into this example, so we’ll leave them out for now. FATE CODEX c 6.