FAE Game Sheets

I've been playing around with ideas for Fate Accelerated Edition (FAE) settings, and using the bronze rule to build a little "character sheet" for the setting, aspects and stunts that any character can use to establish the basics of the setting and reinforce its theme.

I've currently have six of these mini settings in various stages of doneness in my notebook: the catalogue, a generic magic girl game, modern magica, the silent castle, greys in black, and night town.

For each setting, I'm trying to do the following:

• Define the core conceits of the setting and the specific tropes I want to encourage. The former being a good source of aspects and the later stunts.
• Give the PCs things to do and tools to do those things. This includes thing like weird powers and technology, but also possible allies.
• Generate interesting antagonists and challenges for the PCs to face.

For each setting will have a short description with aspects highlighted with bolded italic text, followed by a short list of stunts.

Here's an example based on one of my old blog posts:

Onyx, City of Mysteries

It is a seven day trek across a desert black as midnight to the Lost City, Onyx, once stood at the center of a continent spanning empire but now is only A Shadow of its Former Glory. Only an unmarked trail from an anonymous village serviced by Unsavory Merchants leads through the rocky peaks that seal Onyx off from the outside world.

The city has only One Taboo, It is forbidden to venerate of any god within the city, but this is only a pretense. Such worship was common during the city's heyday, but when the territories rebelled the city turned against their imported gods. Despite the ban, the city is controlled by Mystery Cults devoted to Strange Foreign Gods.

The city is the home to many Sorcerers, with inborn magical powers that grow with use. Sorcerers built Onxy's empire and Sorcerers control its mystery cults, but sorcerers are also drawn to the city to learn to control their powers.

Stunts

• Because Sorcery Knows No Master, you get +2 when you Forcefully attack when ignoring the consequences of unleashing sorcery.
• Because Onyx Eats Secrets, you get +2 when Cleverly overcome obstacles when revealing a secret as leverage.
• Because Mysteries Breed, you get +2 when Carefully creating an advantage when fighting an unknown foe.

Onyx, City of Mysteries

The player write up for my upcoming Lamentations of the Flame Princess campaign.


Onyx, City of Mysteries
The legendary city of Onyx, once the center of a vast empire, sequestered itself behind a nearly impassible chain of mountains to stop the tide of a rebellion poised to bring the city to its knees. After centuries in hiding many think that Onyx just as fiction, but it still exists and it can be reached.

Reaching the city takes a seven day trek across a desert as black as midnight—most travel with one of the few merchant caravans that make the circuit between Onyx and a small village at the most often used pass through the mountains.

The city itself is built into a cliff face. There are six separate wards laid out like links in a chain reaching from base to summit. Each ward more exclusive and difficult to breach than the one before it. The first is set aside of traders and foreign laborers.

There is one taboo in Onyx worth mentioning. It is forbidden to venerate of any god within the city. Before the city turned inward, worshiping gods from conquered lands was a common practice, but when those lands slipped through Onyx's fingers they turned against those foreign gods...at least publicly. The law only pushed worship underground, creating a abundance of mystery cults. These cults have wormed their way into the power structures of Onyx.

Possible Reasons to Travel to Onyx
It's going to be a sandbox style game, which means the players will be setting the agenda for most sessions. Every character is going to have a reason for traveling to Onyx (so when faced with no other pressing concern every character has something to do), below are some possibilities.

-- A long lost relative was sold into slavery and you tracked him or her to Onyx.
-- You came into the possession of a map of an underground complex buried somewhere deep beneath the city that is liable of hold untold treasures.
-- You discovered that one of your enemies has found sanctuary in Onyx.
-- You're an exile from your homeland for some crime (real or imagined) and are looking for some way to prove your innocence (or buy your way back into the good graces of the powers that be).
-- You're on a religious pilgrimage to recover a priceless relic.
-- You need to find a copy of a spell first penned in Onyx.