(order #6167550)

free

FATE
(order #6167550)

CREDITS
Open Game Content collated, modified and augmented by R.
Grant Erswell. Editing, Additional Material, and Layout by
Carsten Damm, Kathy Schad and Jason U. Wallace.

www.vagrantworkshop.com

2
(order #6167550)

CONTENTS
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4
What is Roleplaying? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Character Creation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

Create a Concept . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Choose Aspects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Choose Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Choose Stunts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Finishing Things Off . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10

Rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Making a Test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13

Contests. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17
Time Consuming Tasks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18
Fate Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19

Aspects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Invoking Aspects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20

Tagging Aspects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21
Introducing Aspects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23
Compelling Aspects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23
What is a Good Aspect? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25
Example Aspects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27

Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Assessments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28
Declarations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29
Knowledge Tests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30
Research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31
Skill Descriptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32

Stunts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41

Stunt Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41

Customizing Stunts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .43

Conflicts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .47
Running Conflicts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .47
Attacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .48
Maneuvers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .50
Example Maneuvers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .52
Other Actions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53
Stress and Consequences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .57
Recovery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .61
Medical Attention . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .62
Other Sources of Injury . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .63

Chases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .76

Chase Conflicts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .76

Chase Scenes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .78
Passengers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .81
Chase Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .82

Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Melee Weapons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Ranged Weapons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Armor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .85
Explosives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .87
Vehicles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .87
Workplaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .89
Damaging Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .90
Miscellaneous Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .91

Character Development . . . . . . . . . 92

End of Session . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .92

Other Session Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .93
End of Story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .94

Magic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Power Aspects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .95
The Mysteries Skill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .95
Other Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .96
Sorcery. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .96
Sorcery Stunts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .97
Summoning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Summoning Stunts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
Example Summoned Creatures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
Magic Items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
Gadget Improvements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
Example Magic Items. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105

Appendix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

Example Stunts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

Example Minions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
Example Companions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127

Character Sheet. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
Open Game License . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132

Supporting Characters . . . . . . . . . . 68
Extras . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .68
Minions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .69
Companions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .71
Advances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .73
Named Characters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .75
Aspects and Fate Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .75

3
(order #6167550)

INTRODuCTION
FreeFATE is your gateway to exciting adventures, suspenseful tales
and thrilling action! This guide helps you and your friends to tell
interactive stories, otherwise known as a roleplaying game.
The FreeFATE rules are a cutdown & condensed version of the
FATE System (Fantastic Adventures in Tabletop Entertainment),
and are intended to appeal to gamers who prefer uncomplicated
rules and to act as an introduction to the full system.
The FATE system was developed by Robert Donoghue and Fred
Hicks of Evil Hat Productions, and based upon the Fudge system of
Grey Ghost Press. The FATE system is, and will be, used in a number
of great games such as:

Spirit of the Century (Evil Hat Productions)

The Dresden Files (Evil Hat Productions)
Starblazer Adventures (Cubicle 7)
Legends of Anglerre (Cubicle 7)
Diaspora (VSCA Publishing)
Bulldogs! (Galileo Games)

To learn more about FATE visit the website www.faterpg.com.

FreeFATE requires the use of two six-sided dice (D6s) of different
colors.

What is Roleplaying?
A roleplaying game is a means by which a group of friends can tell
a story, a story in which all but one of them take on the mantle of
the protagonists.
The other player acts as gamemaster; she creates the outline of the
plot, describes the scenery, plays the supporting characters and arbitrates over the success or failure of the characters actions. The
gamemaster has a lot to do, but it can be a very rewarding experience!
The players declare how their characters react to the scenes presented by the gamemaster and the story progresses through a verbal interaction between players and gamemaster.

4
(order #6167550)

C h a p t e r

I n t r o d u c t I o n

David, portraying a brusque, recently widowed, police detective

called Trevor Maples.
Maria; who is playing Alison Havers, a university lecturer in the
field of parapsychology.

I N T R O D u C T I O N

Sarah is a gamemaster and she has decided to run a modern day

supernatural thriller. She has constructed a simple plot outline, below,
for her two players:

Maria and David previously agreed that Alison was a close friend
of Trevors late wife, Caroline, and that Trevor and Alison helped each
other through their grief.
Scene 1Alison and Trevor are visiting Carolines grave when they
hear a commotion within the church. If they investigate (and Sarah
expects them to!), they find that the interior of the church is a mess
yet no one is present. Written in the wax of some spilt candles is a
message Help Adam.
Scene 2The characters will likely want to investigate who Adam
is and his connection with the church. Until recently Adam was an
altar boy, he ceased attending church after the death of his brother
Mark, now buried in the graveyard.
Scene 3The characters can visit Adams home but will be told by
his parents that he has run away. An investigation of his room and
computer will point to his involvement with a gang.
Scene 4The characters are likely to want to track Adam down,
when they do they realize he has taken to drugs to escape his grief
over his brothers death. The characters must try to convince Adam
to leave with them and return to his parents. They must also deal with
the aggressive gang members.
EpilogueThe next time the characters visit Carolines grave, they
will see words being drawn in the dirt by an unseen handThank you.
The example set-up and plot above illustrate a few storytelling
techniques. Firstly the player characters have a reason for knowing
each other.
The gamemaster has also given a motive for the player characters
wanting to help; in this case it was Alisons professional interest in
the supernatural and both characters empathy with Adam over

(order #6167550)

the loss of a loved one. How obvious an incentive needs to be will

depend upon both the players and their characters.
Despite a fairly straightforward plot, exactly how this story plays
out depends upon the choices of the players. For example, how will
the player characters find out who Adam is? They could ask the
vicar, speak with members of the congregation or search through
the churchs records.
The gamemaster will need to determine how successful the
characters are in these endeavours, using the Rules, common sense
and judgement of the players roleplaying and choice of approach.
More importantly the gamemaster cannot be sure that the players
will follow the plot line at all. As such she should plan some ways
to get things back on track, or expect to improvise and let the story
evolve into something unexpected.
The impor t ant thing to remember is to have fun, being a
gamemaster and playing a character are things that improve with
practice. Encourage each other and provide constructive criticism
to help each other tell better and better stories.

6
(order #6167550)

C h a p t e r

I n t r o d u c t I o n

Characters in FreeFATE are composed of four main traits:

Concept,
Aspects,
Skills and
Stunts.

However, a character only becomes more than a set of words and

numbers when a player roleplays his personality.

Create a Concept

C R E a T I O N

C h a R a C T E R

ChaRaCTER CREaTION

The first step in creating a character is to come up with a Concept,

a few words or phrases that describe the characters personality
and role.
Some examples of concepts could be hard-nosed detective,
inquisitive, yet cowardly, con artist, or even a reclusive
scientist with an alcohol problem. The concept should provide
the player with an idea of the characters motives, values and behavior. It should also help the player when choosing Aspects, Skills
and Stunts.

Choose Aspects
Aspects are an extension of the character concept that together
paint a picture of who the character is, what hes connected to and
whats important to him (in contrast to the what can he do of
Skills).
Aspects are purely descriptive in nature and have no numerical
rating. They can describe relationships, beliefs, catchphrases,
aptitudes, life events, items or pretty much anything else.
Some example Aspects are shown below:
Always in the thick of it
The death of his partner still haunts his dreams
Never without his trusty.45

7
(order #6167550)

Aspects should reflect both positive and negative features of a

character, as they can be used to help a character accomplish tasks,
and also to limit a characters behavior to his detriment (though the
player gets a Fate Point as compensation, see Compelling Aspects
on p. 23).
At character creation a player should select up to
8 Aspects to describe his character.
If the gamemaster agrees the player may elect to define some of his
Aspects during the game as personality quirks and relationships
get fleshed out.
David is creating a character for a modern day supernatural
campaign. His concept is a brusque, domineering, and out of shape
detective who has been recently widowed and has turned to drink.
David chooses the following Aspects:

Police Detective Inspector

I want results!
Slave to the demon drink
Let the younguns do the running
Trained by Commander Morse Davidson.
Haunted by wifes death in a hit & run accident.
A policemans notebook is his greatest weapon

David asks his gamemaster, Sarah, to choose his last Aspect once the
game has begun. Sarah agrees.

Choose Skills
The next step in creating a character is to choose a number of Skills
and assign them a rating. Skills can represent both learned ability
and also natural aptitudes and abilities.
Skills are given a descriptive and numeric rating according to the
following chart, known as the Ladder.
A full list of Skills is provided in the Skills chapter along with an
explanation of what each does.

8
(order #6167550)

C h a p t e r

c H A r A c t E r

c r E A t I o n

1 Great (+4),
2 Good (+3),
3 Fair (+2) and
4 Average (+1) skills.

All other Skills that a player does not

select for his character are assumed
to be at the default rating of Mediocre
(+0).

Description

Rating

Legendary

+8

Epic

+7

Fantastic

+6

Superb

+5

Great

+4

Good

+3

Fair

+2

Average

+1

Mediocre

+0

C R E a T I O N

Table: The Ladder

C h a R a C T E R

Skills should adhere to a pyramid type

structure; during character creation
this means a player should select:

Poor
1
David now turns his attention to Skills
Terrible
2
for his detective, who he has decided to
Abysmal
3
call Trevor Maples.
David knows that he wants his character to have some good investigation-related Skills and a smattering of supporting Skills that would
cover such things as forensic knowledge and combat abilities.
David chooses the following Skills and assigns the ratings appropriately:
Great (+4): Investigation
Good (+3): Contacting, Intimidation
Fair (+2): Alertness, Leadership, Resolve
Average (+1): Drive, Guns, Science, Stealth

Choose Stunts
Stunts are benefits, special abilities, specializations or different ways
to apply skills that characters without the Stunt are unable to do.
Stunts are described in more detail within the Stunts chapter. During
character creation a player should choose four Stunts that relate to
his chosen skills. The gamemaster may allow a player to postpone the
selection of one or two Stunts until after the game has begun.
David looks through the list of Stunts and selects the following to reflect his characters status within the police and the abilities he has
built up over his career:
Concentration Criminal Snitches: Gain a +1 bonus to Contacting
when gathering information about criminal activity in the city.

9
(order #6167550)

 Specialization Police Interrogation: Gain a +2 bonus to

Intimidation when interrogating a suspect in an official police
interview.
Skill Switch Surroundings Read: Roll Investigation instead
of Empathy to get a read on someone when speaking with them
in their home, workplace, car or favorite hangout.
Ally Police Backup: Can call on police officers to provide
physical backup. Backup will consist of six Fair (+2) Minions
with police authority.

Finishing Things Off

Stress Tracks
A character has two Stress Tracks that measure how much physical
and social injury he can suffer before being taken out in a conflict.
The Physical Stress Track reflects the amount of physical punishment a character can suffer, whether inflicted by punches, kicks,
gun shots, a fall or burns from a fire.
The Physical Stress Track has 5 boxes which is increased if
the character has an Endurance Skill above Mediocre (+0).

The Composure Stress Track reflects the amount of insults, embarrassment, temptation and self-doubt a character can suffer before they lose a social conflict, be it a debate, a negotiation, or a
seduction attempt.
The Composure Stress Track has 5 boxes which is increased
if the character has a Resolve Skill above Mediocre (+0).
Table: Stress Track Boxes
Skill Rating (Endurance or Resolve)
Mediocre (+0)
Average (+1) or Fair (+2)
Good (+3) or Great (+4)
Superb (+5) or Fantastic (+6)

Boxes
5
6
7
8

10
(order #6167550)

C h a p t e r

c H A r A c t E r

c r E A t I o n

Fate Points Refresh Rate

A character begins each adventure with a number of Fate

Points equal to his Refresh Rate which is calculated at
character creation as 10 minus the number of Stunts
the character has (so if all four Stunts are selected at
character creation, the Refresh Rate would be 6).

C R E a T I O N

Fate Points give players the ability to take a little bit of control over
the game, either by giving their characters bonuses, or by taking
over a small part of the story. Fate Points are described more fully
in the Rules and Aspects chapters.

C h a R a C T E R

David notes that as he did not choose the Endurance Skill for his
character his Physical Stress Track has 5 boxes. Trevor Maples does
however have a Fair (+2) Resolve skill and thus his Composure Track
has 6 boxes.

If a character finishes a scenario with more Fate Points than their

Refresh Rate, they keep these excess points to use in the next
adventure.

Equipment
A player can choose a number of items of equipment with a cost (the
purchase Difficulty) of Mediocre for every defined Aspect and Stunt.
In addition, a player can choose an item for each step on the ladder
from Average (+1) to their Resources skill plus two (or to Fair if the
character has no Resources skill). The cost of each item must be
equal to or less than the associated step.
Trevor Maples does not have the Resources Skill and so David can only
select 11 Mediocre cost items (for his 7 Aspects and 4 Stunts), plus
one item with a cost of Average (+1) or less and one item with a cost
of Fair or less.
Maria defined all 8 Aspects and 4 Stunts for her character Alison
Havers, and also gave her a Good (+3) Resources skill. Maria therefore
can choose 12 Mediocre cost items and an additional five items with a
cost of Superb, Great, Good, Fair and Average.

11
(order #6167550)

Character Creation Summary

1. Create a character concept
2. Choose 8 Aspects
3. Choose 10 skills
(1 Great, 2 Good, 3 Fair and 4 Average)
4. Choose 4 Stunts
5. Calculate Stress Tracks
(5 boxes, more if Endurance and / or Resolve Skills are chosen)
6. Calculate Fate Point Refresh Rate
(10 minus number of Stunts chosen)
7. Choose Equipment based upon Resources.

12
(order #6167550)

C h a p t e r

c H A r A c t E r

c r E A t I o n

Making a Test
Whenever a player wants his character to perform an action
where the outcome is in doubt a Test is made pitting a characters
Skill against a Difficulty chosen by the gamemaster.

R u l E S

RulES

A Test is resolved in the following manner:

1. Determine the Skill to use
2. Determine a Difficulty
3. Roll the dice & modify the Skill Rating
4. Determine Success or Failure
5. If successful, determine Effect

Determine the Skill to use

The gamemaster should determine what Skill is appropriate to
the task at hand, for example, Athletics to climb a wall, Rapport to
charm someone or Fists to swing a punch.
David is trying to shoot a thug who is assaulting his friend Alison. The
gamemaster Sarah determines that this is a test using the Guns Skill.

Determine a Difficulty
The gamemaster should gauge how difficult
she believes the task to be. Difficulties, like
Skill ratings, are based upon the Ladder.
Sarah, judges that shooting the thug would
normally be a Mediocre task as he is unaware
of Trevor and thus unable to seek cover. However as the conflict takes place in a dark alley
and Trevor does not want to accidentally shoot
Alison, Sarah deems this a Fair (+2) Difficulty.
For many tasks, the gamemaster may use
another characters Skill rating as the
Difficulty Number, e.g. haggling may use the
supporting characters Resolve Skill rating
as a Difficulty.

Table: The Ladder

Description

Rating

Legendary

+8

Epic

+7

Fantastic

+6

Superb

+5

Great

+4

Good

+3

Fair

+2

Average

+1

Mediocre

+0

Poor

Terrible

Abysmal

13
(order #6167550)

If the thug had been aware of Trevor the starting Difficulty would have
been the thugs Athletics skill.

Roll the dice & modify the Skill

Once the Skill and the Difficulty have been determined the player
should roll two six-sided dice (abbreviated as D6s) to reflect the
role of random chance.
One die should be designated as the Plus Die, the other designated
as the Minus Die. When the dice are rolled the player need only pay
attention to the die that rolled the lowest number.
If the lowest die result was on the Plus Die, that number is
added to the Skill Rating.
If the lowest die result was on the Minus Die, that number is
subtracted from the Skill.
If the two dice results are the same, there is no lowest die,
and the Skill goes unmodified.
The modified Skill rating is known as the Effort.
Effort = Skill +/ Lowest Die Result
David rolls two D6s and gains a 4 on the Plus Die and a 5 on the
Minus Die. The lowest result is on the Plus Die, so that is added to
his Guns Skill of Average (+1) for a final Effort of +5; a Superb result
on the Ladder.

Determine Success or Failure

The Effort should now be compared to the Difficulty; if it equals
or exceeds the Difficulty the character has succeeded, otherwise
he has failed.
David compares Trevors Effort of Superb (+5) to the Difficulty of Fair
(+2); Trevor has succeeded.

14
(order #6167550)

c H A P t E r

r u L E S

3
Sometimes it is not enough just to know that a character has
succeeded; it can be important to know how well that character
has succeeded.

R u l E S

If successful, determine Effect

The amount by which a characters Effort exceeds the Difficulty

is known as the Effect and is measured in Shifts. The greater the
Effect the more successful the character has been.
Effect = Effort Difficulty
An Effect of zero shifts is barely a success; the character has
accomplished most of what was hoped for, but not all. This usually
means further action is required to complete the task.
Previously in the adventure, Trevor was forced to leap from one
rooftop to another to escape a fire. David made an Athletics test and
achieved a success with an Effect of zero shifts. Sarah declared that
Trevor barely jumped the gap and is left hanging on by his fingertips.
A further Might Skill test was called for in order for Trevor to pull
himself up and out of danger.

using Shifts
Shifts may be spent to affect the outcome of a roll. Often, the
gamemaster will implicitly spend shifts in accordance with the
players description of his characters actions. Sometimes, players
may explicitly spend shifts as well.
Basic uses for one shift include:
Reduce time required: Move the time required by one shift
along the Time Increments table.
Increase quality of outcome: Improve the quality of the job
by one step.
Increase subtlety: Make the job harder to detect by one.
Inflict Stress: In a conflict, each shift on a successful attack
inflicts one point of Stress.
Gain Spin (requires 3 shifts): See Spin below.

15
(order #6167550)

David determines the Effect of his characters Guns test. Trevors Effort
was Superb (+5) and the Difficulty was Fair (+2), therefore the Effect is 3
shifts; as this was an attack roll a base of 3 Stress is inflicted on the thug.

Spin
Spin is a special effect that occurs when a character achieves an
Effect of 3 shifts on a Test and doesnt use those shifts for any other
purpose (e.g. reducing the time taken, inflicting Stress, etc.).
Normally Spin simply indicates that the character performed extremely well, perhaps gaining admiring glances or special recognition. However, in some cases, gaining Spin can result in an actual
game effect. Specific effects are detailed elsewhere in these rules.

Modifiers
Modifiers reflect circumstances that make a task easier or more
difficult to perform. Modifiers impact the test by adding to, or
subtracting from, the Difficulty.
For each complicating factor increase the Difficulty by one shift
up the Ladder, so a Fair (+2) task which is complicated by 3 factors
becomes a Superb (+5) task to perform.
In the example above, the darkness in the alley was one complicating
factor and Trevors wish to avoid hitting Alison was another factor.

Combining Skills
Occasionally a secondary Skill will have an impact on the task
at hand, for example trying to shoot a gun (Guns Skill) while
maintaining balance on a precipice (Athletics Skill).
If the second Skill is of greater value than the first, it grants a +1
bonus to the roll; if the second Skill is of a lesser value, it applies a
1 penalty to the roll.
Secondary Skill > Primary Skill = +1
Secondary Skill < Primary Skill = 1

16
(order #6167550)

c H A P t E r

r u L E S

3
R u l E S

When the second Skill can only help the first, which is to say it can
only provide a bonus, it complements the Skill. A complementing
Skill never applies a 1, even if its lower than the primary Skill.
This usually happens when the character has the option of using
the secondary Skill, but doesnt have to bring it to bear.
If the secondary Skill comes into play only to hold the primary Skill
back, it restricts the Skill, meaning it can only provide a penalty or
nothing at all. A restricting Skill never applies a +1, even if its higher
than the primary Skill. Often Skills like Endurance or Resolve are
restrictive Skillsas you get more tired, you wont get better, but
if youre resolute, you may not get worse.
ModifiesCan provide a bonus or a penalty
ComplementsCan only provide a bonus
RestrictsCan only impose a penalty

Contests
As mentioned previously, sometimes the Difficulty of a task is
based upon another characters Skill rating. When one skill opposes
another in this manner it is known as a Contest.
When a Contest occurs only one party should actually roll the dice
and modify his characters Skill rating, the opposing Skill is left
unmodified and acts as the Difficulty.
If the Skill Test result only equals the Difficulty, then the Contest is
actually a tie; the guard hears a noise but doesnt spot the sneaking
character, the characters come to a stalemate in negotiations, or
both characters grab the gun at the same time.
Further tests or action may be necessary to determine ultimate
success or failure, e.g. the guard may investigate the source of the
noise, new offerings may be made in the negotiations, or a tug of
war begins over the gun.
If the Test fails the opponent has won with an Effect equal to the
number of shifts by which the Test failed.

17
(order #6167550)

If a Contest is between a player character and a supporting

character, in nearly all circumstances it should be the player who
rolls the dice. This allows the players to feel more in control of the
fate of their characters, and also frees up the gamemaster from
having to grab dice and roll them.
Occasionally however it may be more appropriate for the
gamemaster to make the test for the supporting characters, using
the player characters Skill rating as a Difficulty.
This may be useful when the act of asking for a dice roll may tip off
the player that something is up; for example, asking for an Empathy
test may clue the player into the fact that the supporting character
is deceiving him in some way. Secretly rolling a Deceit test with a
Difficulty of the player characters Empathy may be a better option.
Equally, it may be quicker to roll a single Stealth test for a
supporting character and compare it to all the player characters
Alertness Skill ratings, than have four or five players all rolling dice.

Time Consuming Tasks

Certain tasks require an extended period of time to perform; it can
take minutes to crack open a safe and weeks to write a computer
program.

Base Time
If a gamemaster feels a task requires longer than a few moments
to complete then she should assign the task a base time period in
which it can be accomplished. The Table: Time Increments lists
appropriate base times to assign to a particular task.

actual Time
When the Test is made to determine the success or failure of the
task, the player can elect to spend any shifts of Effect to reduce the
time. Each shift used in such a manner reduces the time taken by
one increment on the table.

18
(order #6167550)

c H A P t E r

r u L E S

Alternatively, if a character fails the

test, the gamemaster may allow him to
spend more time to complete the task.
The time taken is increased by one
increment for every shift by which the
character failed. This cannot be used to
increase the Effect.

Fate Points
Fate Points allow a player to nudge
for t u ne i n h i s ch a r ac t er s f avor.
Spending a Fate Point can provide one
of the following benefits:

Table: Time Increments

Time Period
Instant
A few moments
Half a minute
A minute
A few minutes
15 minutes
Half an hour
An hour
A few hours
An afternoon
A day
A few days
A week
A few weeks
A month
A few months
A season
Half a year
A year
A few years
A decade
A lifetime
Generations
Centuries

R u l E S

Trevor Maples is conducting a police

interview with a suspect. The gamemaster, Sarah, has stated that such an
interview has a base time of an hour.
David rolls Trevors Intimidation skill to
perform the interrogation and succeeds
with an Effect of 2 shifts. David elects to
use both shifts to reduce the base time
from an hour to 15 minutes, but his Effect
is now effectively zero; he gets enough of
a confession to follow a new lead, but not
enough to charge the suspect.

Add +1 to the total of any Skill Test Effort, or to the Skill

rating if being used as a Difficulty in a contest.
Power a Stunt if it is particularly powerful.
Make a minor narrative declaration, for example introducing
an item into the scene that wasnt described as previously
being there, e.g. a fire extinguisher. The gamemaster has
veto power over this.
Fate Points however can be used to achieve more potent effects
when used in combination with Aspects; see the Aspects chapter,
p. 20, for more information.

19
(order #6167550)

aSPECTS
Invoking Aspects
As described previously, Aspects are descriptive qualities of a
character; however they can have a mechanical impact on a game
as well. Whenever a player states that his character is performing
some action that is very much in line with an Aspect, he may
invoke that Aspect.
The player should ask the gamemaster whether he can invoke the
Aspect, explaining why he feels the Aspect will have an impact on
the situation. If the gamemaster agrees, the player spends a Fate
Point and can:
Add +2 to the Effort (or to the Skill rating if being used as a
Difficulty in a contest), or
Have the dice re-rolled, taking the new result.
Davids character Trevor Maples is speaking with a pathologist in the
hopes of getting some leads from the corpse he and Alison discovered
earlier. However the pathologist is being far from cooperative.
David elects to have Trevor use his Good (+3) Intimidation Skill
to convince the pathologist that he should give this corpse priority
and work into the night if needed. Sarah, the gamemaster, sets the
Difficulty at Average (+1), the pathologists Resolve Skill rating.
David rolls the dice and gets a 6 on the Plus Die, and a 4 on the Minus
Die; as the Minus Die shows the lower of the two results David reduces
the Skill Rating of Good (+3) by 4 shifts to Poor (1). Seeing the result,
David knows he will fail, so he looks to his characters Aspects to see
if any are applicable.
David turns to Sarah and asks whether he can invoke his I want
results! Aspect, explaining that Trevor will have gained a reputation
for making a persons life a misery if they dont produce the goods.
Sarah is convinced and David hands over a Fate Point, stating that
he will play it safe and take the +2 bonus, turning his Poor (1) Effect
into an Average (+1) Effect and just scraping out a success!

20
(order #6167550)

c H A P t E r

A S P E c t S

4
A player can also invoke an Aspect for effect, using it for a benefit
that is not related to a dice roll or Skill use at all. This costs a Fate
Point like any other invocation does. For example, a player could
invoke an Aspect that describes a secret organization to declare
that the group has a chapter in town.

a S P E C T S

Invoking for Effect

This is subject to the same sort of restrictions as spending Fate

Points for minor declarations (see p. 29) but is more potent due to
the focus of the Aspect. When an Aspect is part of a declaration, it
can make the less plausible more plausible, thus allowing the player
to get away with more.
Trevor is following up a rumor that a local journalist managed to take
some photos of a crime in progress, but gets the brush off when making
enquiries at the newspapers office; it seems someone has threatened
the journalist and she is refusing to talk to anyone.
David asks Sarah to invoke his Haunted by wifes death in a hit
& run accident Aspect to state that the journalist was the one who
covered the death of his wife, and that she had been sympathetic to
him back then.
Despite this not being part of Sarahs original notes for the scenario,
she thinks it will be a nice tie-in to the characters backstory and
allows it, asking David to spend the Fate Point. In return, Sarah roleplays the journalist as recognizing the police inspector and opening
up a little because of their past relationship.

Tagging Aspects
It is not just player characters who have Aspects, supporting
characters, items, locations and even the scene itself can have
Aspects too. These Aspects can be invoked by a player just like his
own characters Aspects; this is known as tagging the Aspect.
Trevor has just interrupted a backroom poker game at a pub known
to be the hangout of a suspect. Sarah describes how the poker players,
all local neer-do-wells including the suspect, look up worried, an
atmosphere of nervous tension settling over the proceedings.
David asks Sarah whether atmosphere of nervous tension is an
Aspect of the scene; thinking about it, she says it is. David then asks

21
(order #6167550)

whether he can spend a Fate Point to tag that Aspect for a Bonus when
using Investigation to get a read on the suspect, Sarah agrees.
David plays out the use of his Skill Switch Surroundings Read
StuntThats quite a sum of money in the pot there Jimmy, and
single-malt Scotch, not the blended stuff you usually drink? Come into
some money recently?
David rolls his Investigation Skill against a Difficulty of Jimmys
Deceit; with the bonus from tagging the Scene Aspect, he succeeds
and Sarah reveals that Jimmy has the Guilty conscience Aspect.
Instead of one of the usual benefits for invoking an Aspect the
gamemaster may allow a player to Tag an Aspect to use a different
Skill to accomplish a task than he normally would. For example,
tagging a scene Aspect of Fear & Trepidation may allow
Intimidation to be used in a negotiation rather than Rapport; rather
than a charming negotiation it becomes a set of bullying demands
and threats!

Tagging for Effect

Similar to the way in which a player may invoke his characters
Aspects for effect, so may he tag Aspects not belonging to the
character for effect. As normal, the gamemaster has the power to
veto any suggestion.
A tag for effect can be used to compel the way in which a supporting
character will act; though only in general terms (it cannot dictate
specific actions). The victim of a tag for effect receives a Fate Point
if the effect is to their detriment.
Having learned that Jimmy has the Guilty conscience Aspect, David
asks the gamemaster to tag that Aspect and compel Jimmy to try to
get away when his character Trevor asks him to accompany him to
the station.
David knows that Trevor has already called in backup and so Jimmy
is unlikely to actually escape, but he hopes that an attempt to flee will
give him the excuse to arrest Jimmy and help prove his guilt.
Sarah agrees to the tag, however she informs David that it is entirely
up to her just how Jimmy tries to get awaywill he charge past Trevor
to the door, try to crash through a window, or upend the table with
the cash on it hoping the confusion provides cover? The specifics are
Sarahs call.

22
(order #6167550)

c H A P t E r

A S P E c t S

Players can, through their characters actions, discover Aspects

that were previously hidden or even create new Aspects for a scene,
location or person via a declaration or a maneuver in a conflict.
When this occurs the player should be awarded a free tag of that
Aspect, i.e. he does not have to pay a Fate Point to tag it for the first
time (if used to tag for effect to the detriment of a character, that
character still gets a Fate Point).

a S P E C T S

Introducing Aspects

Such a free tag is subject to one key limitation: it must occur

immediately or very soon after the Aspect has been brought into
play. This usually means that the free tag must be taken within the
same scene that the Aspect was introduced.
In the example above, David discovered a previously hidden Aspect
of Jimmy, Guilty Conscience. When David attempted to tag it for
effect Sarah allowed this to occur without requiring David to spend
a Fate Point.
The player may pass his free tag to another character if he so
wishes. This can allow for one character to set up an ally who is
better positioned to take advantage of the newly revealed Aspect.
For further information on exactly how Assessments & Declarations
work see the Skills chapter. Maneuvers are explained in the
Conflicts chapter on p. 50.

Compelling Aspects
Just as players can tag a supporting characters Aspects to dictate
the way in which he should behave, so the gamemaster can tag
the Aspects of a player character to compel him to act in a certain
manner, usually to the characters detriment. This is known as
Compelling an Aspect.
Alternatively the gamemaster may Compel a characters Aspects to
add a complication to the task at hand, force an automatic failure of
an action, or even introduce difficulties off-screen such as have a
loved one mentioned in an Aspect kidnapped!

23
(order #6167550)

Though this may seem like a bad thing for a player, a Compel can
lead to interesting and exciting situations, but more immediately a
player who accepts a Compel receives a Fate Point.
Accepting a Compel is the primary way for a player to gain Fate
Points, and as such it is wise to make sure a character has a number
of Aspects that can easily be Compelled by the gamemaster.
Just as David requested, Sarah has the suspect Jimmy make a break
for it, pushing over the table of cash and barging past Trevor. Knowing
that he requested the police constables cover the back of the pub,
David states that Trevor will give chase.
Sarah states she is Compelling Trevors Let the younguns do the
running Aspect, stating that Trevor will only have two exchanges
to catch Jimmy before having to give up wheezing and out of breath.
David accepts the Compel and receives a Fate Point.

Voluntary Compels
Sometimes it is the player, rather than the gamemaster, who
identifies a situation where his characters Aspects may be
compelled. In such cases the player may bring this to the attention
of the gamemaster. The gamemaster can either agree and hand over
a Fate Point, or defer, offering a brief explanation.

Refusing a Compel & Escalation

If a player really does not want to accept the Compel, they can
refuse it but doing so costs a Fate Point rather than earning one.
Rarely, in moments of high tension or drama, the gamemaster can
choose to escalate a Compel. This is an optional rule, and should
really only be used when the character getting compelled is having
a defining moment in his story.
When a player refuses a Compel, the gamemaster can elect to offer
two Fate Points instead of one. If the player accepts he spends no
Fate Points and instead receives two. However if the player really
does not want to accept he can still refuse, but now it will cost him
two Fate Points.

24
(order #6167550)

c H A P t E r

A S P E c t S

Thinking of Aspects that describe a character can be easy,

however creating Aspects that lend themselves well to the
mechanics of invocation, tagging and compels is quite a bit
trickier!

a S P E C T S

What is a Good Aspect?

Aspects serve a number of purposes in a FreeFATE game and a

good Aspect is one that fulfils most if not all of these needs.

Is it a hook?
Aspects should say something about how the character fits into
the larger world. Such an Aspect can provide story hooks, be they
supporting characters, organizations or past events.
David wants an Aspect that indicates that Trevor Maples is welltrained in deductive reasoning and investigation. Rather than simply
have an Aspect of Investigator, or even Trained investigator,
he chooses Trained by Commander Morse Davidson.
The commanders nickname is a reference to the fictional Oxford
detective and suggests that Trevor was mentored by the best and is a
clever, observant and intuitive investigator. But better still, it introduces
a supporting character that the gamemaster can use to pull Trevor into
a story, or that David can call upon by invoking his Aspect.

Can it be Invoked?
In order to gauge whether an Aspect will likely see use in a
FreeFATE game, you should try to think of at least two or three
different ways it could be invoked to provide a benefit to the
character.
If you are struggling to come up with more than one, the Aspect
may be too narrowly focused.
Slave to the demon drink would seem to be largely a weakness,
but David could invoke it to explain Trevor having a bottle of whiskey
in his pocket to use as a bribe, or to create a Molotov cocktail.
It could also be invoked to enhance a Contacting Test stating that
Trevor knows all the pubs and bars in the area, and which miscreants
frequent each one. Equally, this Aspect could enhance a Stealth Test
to remain undetected when observing an illicit meet in a bar.

(order #6167550)

25

Can it be Compelled?
A good Aspect is often a double-edged sword: a benefit in some
circumstances and a hindrance in others. This allows Fate Points
to be earned as well as providing the opportunity to spend them.
Like invocations you should be able to think of a few different
ways in which the Aspect could be compelled in such a way that
the Consequences resulting from accepting the compel would make
for a more interesting and exciting story.
Trevors I want results! Aspect could be Compelled to encourage
David to have Trevor accept a suspects statement as true if it could
lead to a quick arrest, even though David knows it is likely a red
herring and will lead to trouble with a local crime boss if acted upon.
Alternatively, the gamemaster may agree with Davids self-compel to
have Trevor plant evidence to get a conviction, on the understanding that
it will come to light at some point and Trevor will suffer because of it.
If youre struggling to come up with Aspects that can both be
invoked and compelled then try to make sure that a character has
at least some Aspects that can be invoked and some that can be
compelled, providing a balance overall.

Make it Snappy & then Discuss

Aspects should be short, catchy phrases, not paragraphs of text.
However, the brevity of an Aspects name means some things are
left unspoken, so a player should discuss what they feel an Aspect
means with his gamemaster.
As Sarah was not familiar with the Morse novels and TV series, David
needed to explain what he meant by Trained by Commander Morse
Davidson.
Aspects are also a way that a player can explicitly inform his
gamemaster of what he wants to see happen in the game; if the
player picks an Aspect like Death-Defying then he is telling the
gamemaster to put his character into death-defying situations.
The gamemaster should pay close attention to the Aspects of his
players characters, as they will inform her of the type of adventure
she should be creating.

26
(order #6167550)

c H A P t E r

A S P E c t S

Always in a rush
But it works for me!
Curiosity killed the cat
Dont I know you from somewhere?
First on the scene
Girl in every port
Heart of Gold
Lying comes easy
Never trusts a man who wont look him in the eye
Odd coincidences
Paparazzi dog my every step
Quiet as a mouse
Reckless Fun Lover
Something to prove
We need more! Much more...and bigger!

a S P E C T S

Example Aspects

27
(order #6167550)

SkIllS
Skills reflect both natural aptitudes and learned abilities. Skills are
rated on the Ladder as described in the Rules chapter,.

Assessments
Certain Skills allow characters to observe, study and interact with
people and locations in order to discover useful information about
them. Using a Skill in this manner is known as an Assessment and
usually requires anywhere from a few minutes to a few days.

Table: Skill List

Academics
Alertness
Art
Athletics
Burglary
Contacting
Deceit
Drive
Empathy
Endurance
Engineering
Fists
Gambling
Guns
Intimidation
Investigation
Leadership
Might
Mysteries
Pilot
Rapport
Resolve
Resources
Science
Sleight of Hand
Stealth
Survival
Weapons

Assessments can even be used

to uncover previously hidden Aspects
of a character or locale.

p. 32
p. 32
p. 32
p. 32
p. 32
p. 33
p. 33
p. 33
p. 33
p. 33
p. 34
p. 34
p. 34
p. 35
p. 35
p. 35
p. 35
p. 36
p. 37
p. 37
p. 37
p. 38
p. 38
p. 38
p. 39
p. 39
p. 39
p. 40

Trevors ex-con associate Mickey is helping him

investigate a factory from which a number of
people have disappeared. Mickeys player Joe asks
the gamemaster to use his Burglary Skill to case
the factory. Sarah the gamemaster sets a Difficulty
and Joe makes the Burglary Test, succeeding.
Sarah reveals that the factory has an Aspect
of Poorly maintained fencing, an Aspect that
could be tagged (free of charge) in the immediately
following scene to aid an Athletics Skill test to enter
the factory grounds.
The Difficulty for the Skill roll to determine
whether an Assessment is successful is set by the
gamemaster. For locations and items, a default
Good (+3) Difficulty will allow characters to
successfully make an Assessment, though this
may be increased if special efforts have been
taken to conceal the Aspects, features and flaws.
For Assessments that focus on other characters,
the Difficulty will often be set by that characters
appropriate Skill rating, e.g. Deceit or Resolve.

28
(order #6167550)

C h a p t e r

S K I L L S

5
If the gamemaster is amenable, an Assessment may also allow a
player character to discover an element that the gamemaster
hadnt even thought of previously. In this manner the Assessment
works like a Declaration (see below) with the player stating that his
character has identified a weakness, Aspect or other feature. The
gamemaster sets a Difficulty for the Skill roll to see if the character
was correct in his Assessment, or whether he was mistaken. If the
roll fails, the gamemaster may wish to impose a temporary Aspect
on the assessing character to reflect this, for example Mistakenly
believes the security cameras to have a blind spot.

S k I l l S

assessments as Declarations

Declarations
A Declaration allows a player to use his characters Skills to
introduce entirely new facts and Aspects into play by making a
statement and testing to see whether it is true. Declarations are
often, but not exclusively, the domain of knowledge Skills such as
Academics, Art, Mysteries and Science.
Unlike Assessments, a Declaration takes no in-game time to perform
as they represent a character recalling previously learnt knowledge.
Marias character Alison Havers is helping Trevor Maples investigate
the death of noted psychic and artist Ray Bremmond. When reviewing
the crime scene Trevor inspects the deceaseds latest painting and asks
Alison whether there is anything special about his work.
Maria asks the gamemaster to make a Declaration using her
Average (+1) Art skill stating that Ray Bremmond always included
Veronese green somewhere in the lower left corner of his paintings as
a secondary signature.
The Difficulty for a declaration should be based on how interesting
the proposed fact or Aspect is. Ideas which would disrupt the game
or are just unreasonable should simply be vetoed.
For reasonable suggestions, these are the questions to ask when
determining Difficulty:
1. Is the declaration interesting or funny?
2. Will the declaration have interesting Consequences if its
acted upon but is wrong?

29
(order #6167550)

3. Does the declaration propose a specific and interesting or

heroic course of action?
Each no adds 2 to a base difficulty of Mediocre (+0).
Sarah the gamemaster thinks this is a reasonable declaration and
asks herself the three questions. The idea of a secondary signature
is interesting, and if the declaration is wrong but believed to be true,
Alison and Trevor may declare a number of Bremmonds paintings to
be forgeriespotentially embarrassing them and also creating some
red herrings!
However the declaration would not prompt a particular course
of action and so Sarah sets the Difficulty at Fair (+2) for a no to
question three.
Maria succeeds at the test and her Declaration is now a fact
within the game, something that can be used to help authenticate
Bremmonds paintings.
Often a Declaration can be used to assign a new Aspect to an item
or scene, when this occurs the declaring character gets one free
tag of the Aspect.
Maria asks Sarah whether Signed with Veronese green can be an
Aspect of all of Bremmonds paintings and Sarah agrees.

Knowledge Tests
When a player wants to see if his character knows about a certain
topic or area of study then a test can be made using an appropriate
skill, e.g. Academics, to recall details of an historical battle, while
Guns might be used to identify a particular firearm and who
manufactures it.
Table: Knowledge Difficulty
Obscurity
Common knowledge
Expert knowledge
Leading expert knowledge
Known only to one or two people in the world
Lost knowledge

30
(order #6167550)

C h a p t e r

S K I L L S

Difficulty
Average (+1) to Good (+3)
Great (+4)
Superb (+5)
Fantastic (+6)
Epic (+7)

5
S k I l l S

The Knowledge Difficulty table can be used as a guide to assign a

Difficulty to the task. The greater the Effect, the more detailed the
knowledge the character has about the subject.

Research
If a character fails a Knowledge Test, he can spend time researching
or experimenting to find the answer as long as he has access to a
good library or laboratory in some form. The amount by which the
knowledge Skill Test failed is the length of time in time increments
(p. 19) required to find the answer, beginning at 15 minutes for
failing by 1 shift.
The Quality of the library or laboratory determines the hardest
possible question that can be answered within it; so if the
Knowledge Skill Test had a Difficulty of Good (+3) then a Good
library or better is required.
Alison Havers is attempting to identify an occult symbol left on
the body of a murder victim. Sarah the gamemaster asks Maria to
make a Mysteries Skill Test for her character, setting the Difficulty
at Superb (+5).
Alison has the Mysteries Skill at Great (+4), but unfortunately Maria
rolls a 5 on the Plus Die and a 2 on the Minus Die, meaning her Effort
is only Fair (+2).
Sarah tells Maria that Alison is unable to identify the symbol. Maria
therefore elects to return to her university Arcane Library (which
luckily is of a Superb quality) to search for the answer.
As Maria failed the Test by 3 shiftsSuperb (+5) Difficulty minus
the Fair (+2) Effortit will take Alison an hour to find the answer.

31
(order #6167550)

Skill Descriptions
academics
Academics measures a characters book learning, any knowledge
that would not explicitly fall under Science, Mysteries or Art.
Academics is often used to make and perform Declarations (see p.
29). In addition, Academics covers knowledge of other languages;
each step above Mediocre gives the character knowledge of one
extra language.
Important for
Initiative

alertness

Alertness is a measure of the characters passive awareness,

his ability to stay on his toes and react to sudden changes in his
environment. Alertness is also the basis for initiative in a physical
conflict. Active searching falls under the Investigation Skill.

art
Art measures the characters overall artistic ability, covering the
gamut of endeavours, from painting to dance to music. This includes
knowledge, composition and performance. Art can also be used to
perform Declarations (see p. 29).
Important for defense in
physical conflicts

athletics

Athletics measures the characters general physical capability,

excepting raw power (which is Might) and long-term endurance
(which is Endurance). Athletics covers running, jumping, climbing
and swimming. It determines movement and acts as a defensive
Skill in physical conflicts.

Burglary
Burglary represents the ability to overcome security systems, from
alarms to locks. Burglary also includes knowledge of those systems
and the ability to assess them (see p. 28).

32
(order #6167550)

C h a p t e r

S K I L L S

5
Contacting is the ability to find things out from people. A character
may know a guy, who knows a guy, or maybe he just knows the right
questions to ask. Whatever his methods, he can gather information
by asking around.

S k I l l S

Contacting

Deceit
Deceit is the ability to hide the truth and convey falsehoods
convincingly. Deceit can be used to fast-talk a security guard, carry
out elaborate confidence schemes or create simple disguises that
can withstand casual inspection (but not close scrutiny, i.e. any use
of the Investigation Skill).
Deceit is often opposed by Empathy, Alertness or Investigation.
Deceit (modified by Rapport) can itself be used to oppose the use of
Empathy to get a read on a character (in place of straight Rapport).

Drive
Drive is the ability to operate a ground- or water-based vehicle, be
it a car, hovercraft, boat or submersible. It is often used in chases
(p. 76).

Empathy

Important for initiative

and defense

This is the ability to understand what other people are thinking and
feeling. It can be used to spot a liar or help tell someone what they
want to hear. Empathy is usable as a defense against Deceit, and is
the basis for initiative in a social conflict.
Finally, Empathy can be used to get a read on someone by
performing an Assessment (see p. 28) using a target characters
Rapport as the Difficulty.

Endurance

Important for
Stress Track

Endurance is the ability to keep performing physical activity

despite fatigue or injury. Its a measure of the bodys resistance to
shock and effort. In addition to fatigue, Endurance measures how
well a character shrugs off poisons and disease. Finally, Endurance
determines the number of boxes on a characters Physical Stress
track (see Stress Tracks, p. 10).

33
(order #6167550)

Engineering
Engineering is the understanding of how machinery works, for
purposes of building, repairing and even sabotaging it. Engineering
is often complemented by the Science Skill (see Combining Skills,
p. 16).
Engineering can be used to repair devices, given the right tools
and enough time (see the table below). The gamemaster should set
the Difficulty for the Engineering roll, if in doubt use the highest
value of the device, or its Resources cost. Repairs also require a
Workshop (see p. 89) with a Quality Rating equal to the Difficulty
of the repair minus 2.
Rules for creating items can be found on p. 90.
Table: Repair Times
Repair Undertaken
Remove all Stress
Remove a Minor Consequence
Remove a Major Consequence
Remove a Severe Consequence
Remove an Extreme Consequence

Time Period
A few hours
A few hours
A day
A week
A month

Important in
conflicts, causes Stress

Fists

Fists represents a characters ability to fight and defend himself

while unarmed. Despite the name, this Skill can be used for kicks,
headbutts and bites as well as the use of bare hands. Fists is used
in physical Conflicts (see p. 47).

Gambling
Gambling is the knowledge of how to gamble and moreover, how to
win when gambling. It also includes knowledge of secondary things
like bookmaking and risk taking.
Finding a game to sit in on can simply be a matter of going to a
casino; private games require a Contacting Test to find. The stakes
of a game are assigned a rating on the Ladder, this is the Difficulty
for the Gambling Test.

34
(order #6167550)

C h a p t e r

S K I L L S

5
S k I l l S

If the Gambling Test is successful, and the stake is cash or easily

liquidated assets, the gambler gets to make a single Resources Test
using the rating of the stake rather than his own Resources Skill.
If the Gambling Test fails, the gambler must make a Resources Test
with a Difficulty of the stakes. If this succeeds, the gambler can pay
his dues, otherwise he is in debt preventing him from gambling any
more until he can make payment.

Guns
The Guns Skill is used to shoot any type of personal weapon that
fires at range from bows to pistols to automatic rifles. The Guns
Skill is used in physical Conflicts (see p. 47).

Intimidation

Important in
conflicts, causes Stress

Intimidation is the Skill of unsettling and sometimes outright

scaring another person through physical threats of violence or
more subtle psychological means. This is also the Skill to use for
interrogation. Using Intimidation is often a blatant social attack,
which someone can defend against with their Resolve.

Investigation
Investigation is the ability to look for things and, hopefully, find
them. This is the Skill used when the character is actively looking
for something, such as searching a crime scene or trying to spot a
hidden enemy.
It is also useful for eavesdropping or any other activity where
someone is trying to observe something over a period of time.
When looking for deep patterns and hidden flaws, Investigation
may be used to make Assessments (see p. 28).

leadership
Leadership is a multi-faceted Skill. A good leader knows how to
direct and inspire people, but he also understands how to run an
organization. As such, the Leadership Skill covers acts of both types,
from inspiring comrades to make one last push on a battlefield, to
navigating the maze of bureaucracy of a corporation.

35
(order #6167550)

The gamemaster may allow Leadership to Complement other

characters Skills if organization is an important factor (see
Combining Skills on p. 16).

Might
This is a measure of pure physical power, be it raw strength or
simply the knowledge of how to use the strength one has.
A character can carry a default amount of weight as shown on the
table below. If carrying more than this, for each step heavier the
character takes a 1 penalty on all other physical action up to a
maximum of a 4 penalty (up to four steps higher).
A Might Skill Test with a Difficulty of his own Might will allow a
character to push himself into a category five steps higher for a
total 5 penalty.
Table: Breaking Things
Difficulty
Mediocre (+0)
Average (+1)
Fair (+2)
Good (+3)
Great (+4)
Superb (+5)
Fantastic (+6)
Epic (+7)
Legendary (+8)

Description
Paper or glass
Flimsy wood
Cheap wood, bamboo, some light plastics
Non-reinforced wooden board, an interior door
Strong wood, hardwood boards, exterior door
Reinforced wood, heavy door
Security door
Bending prison bars
Safe of bank vault door

Table: Lifting
Might

Carry
(lbs)
15
25
50
100
150
200
250
300
350

Mediocre (+0)
Average (+1)
Fair (+2)
Good (+3)
Great (+4)
Superb (+5)
Fantastic (+6)
Epic (+7)
Legendary (+8)

Might may be used indirectly as

well, to modify, complement, or restrict some Skill uses, for example
in combat, Might may complement
Fists and Weapons if force is a very
significant element.
Furthermore, a successful maneuver may allow a character to begin
grappling with his foe, allowing
Might to be used instead of Fists.

36
(order #6167550)

C h a p t e r

S K I L L S

5
Mysteries is knowledge of the supernatural, the occult and psychic phenomena. It covers everything from experience with hypnosis techniques to a sense that there is something else beyond
the material world.

S k I l l S

Mysteries

Mysteries is often used to perform Declarations (see p. 29). In

certain circumstances the gamemaster may allow Mysteries to be
used to make Assessments (p. 28) to discover hidden Aspects of a
locale or person (by reading an aura for example).
A gamemaster may allow a Mysteries Test as she would an Alertness
Test, to notice strange and mysterious things, in effect it is a sixth
sense.
A Mysteries Test with a Difficulty of a willing participants Resolve
Skill will allow the character to put the participant into a hypnotic
trance. This can be used to help the participant recall memories or
calm them down.
If appropriate, Mysteries may be used like the Engineering Skill
to create and repair arcane and magical items. Rules for creating
items can be found on p. 90.

Pilot
Pilot is the ability to fly aircraft, whether they be propeller fighter
planes, helicopters, or commercial jet airliners. It is most often used
in chases (see Chases on p. 76).

Rapport
Rapport is the ability to talk with people in a friendly fashion
and make a good impression, and perhaps convince them to see
ones side of things. Any time a character wants to communicate
without an implicit threat, this is the Skill to use, which makes it
appropriate for interviewing.
Rapport is the fallback social Skill. While Empathy, Deceit and
Intimidation are fairly specific in their applications, Rapport is the
catchall that covers everything else.

37
(order #6167550)

Important for defense

and Stress Tracks

Resolve

Resolve is a measure of a characters self-mastery, his courage

and willpower. Its an indicator of coolness under fire and also
represents the drive not to quit. It can play a key part in efforts to
resist torture or strange powers.
Resolve is almost always rolled in response to something, rather
than on its own. Its primary role is as defense against most kinds
of social manipulation or distraction.
Finally, Resolve determines the number of boxes on a characters
Composure Stress track (see Stress Tracks, in Character Creation).
Important for
equipment

Resources

Resources is a measure of available wealth, the specific form this

takes, from a family trust fund to a well invested portfolio, can vary
from character to character (and may be indicated and enhanced
by their Aspects).
Resources is used to determine starting equipment (p. 11) and
can be used to purchase items. The cost of items is measured as a
purchase Difficulty on the ladder and many items are detailed in
the Equipment chapter.
A character can buy reasonable quantities of anything of a value less
than his Resources without worrying about it. For items greater than
or equal to his Resources, the player needs to roll against the cost of
the item. If successful, the character can afford the item; if not, he
cant. Characters can only make one Resources roll per scene.
When a character is in a place where he cant draw upon his usual
resources, the gamemaster may increase the Difficulty of making
a purchaseanywhere from +1 for a modest amount of red tape, to
a +4 if the character is limited solely to the already-converted local
currency he happens to have in his pockets.

Science
Science holds the promise of revealing all of natures secrets. This
Skill represents a broad knowledge of scientific methods, and
includes the field of computers (including hacking) and medicine.

38
(order #6167550)

C h a p t e r

S K I L L S

5
S k I l l S

Science is often used to make Declarations (see p. 29). In certain

circumstances the gamemaster may allow Science to be used to
make Assessments (p. 28).

Sleight of hand
This Skill covers fine, dexterous activities like stage magic, pick
pocketing, and replacing an idol with a bag of sand without tripping
a trap. While Athletics is appropriate for gross physical activities,
most things requiring manual speed and precision fall under this
Skill (that said, if youre picking a lock, use Burglary).
Using Sleight of Hand is usually a contest against a targets
Alertness Skill, if the target is on guard they gain a +2 bonus,
however a distraction can negate this.

Stealth
This is the ability to remain unseen and unheard. Directly opposed
by Alertness or Investigation, this ability covers everything from
skulking in the shadows to hiding behind a door.
Environmental conditions can greatly affect the ability to use
Stealth, the table below suggests some modifiers to apply to the
Stealth Skill roll.
Table: Stealth Skill Modifiers
Modifier Environment
+4
Pitch black, no visibility
+2
Dark, smoke, thick fog, no clear line of sight, greatly
diminished visibility
0
Dim lighting, cluttered line of sight
2
Good Lighting, clear line of sight
4
Bright lighting, clear area

Survival
Survival is a very broad Skill covering virtually every sort of outdoor
activity from wilderness survival to animal handling and riding.
For determining whether a character is able to survive in an
environment, the gamemaster should set a Difficulty appropriate
to the harshness of the environment; success allows the character

39
(order #6167550)

to survive. If required the character can also help a number of other

characters equal to the Effect to survive as well.
When handling animals Survival is often used in a Contest against
the animals Resolve.
A successful Survival Test against a Mediocre (+0) Difficulty allows
for a hunting blind to be built that allows Survival to complement
Stealth while in it. The blind lasts for one day, plus a number of
extra days equal to the Effect.
Important in
conflicts, causes Stress

Weapons

This is the Skill for fighting with weapons, including swords,

knives, axes, clubs and whips. The Weapons Skill also covers the
ability to throw small handheld weapons up to one zone away, or
to use weapons (like a whip) with unusually long reach to attack
adjacent zones, so a character would use this Skill to be a good knife
fighter and knife thrower.
As a combat Skill, Weapons inherently carries the ability to defend
oneself in a fight and as such, may be rolled for defense.

40
(order #6167550)

C h a p t e r

S K I L L S

Stunts exist to provide guaranteed situational benefits, special

abilities and even minor powers, under particular circumstances.
A Stunt may grant a character the ability to use a Skill under
unusual circumstances, such as using it in a broader array
of situations, substituting it for another Skill, or using it in a
complementary fashion to another Skill. A Stunt might allow a
character to gain an effect roughly equal to two shifts, when used
in a specific way, or otherwise grant other small effects. Put more
simply, Stunts allow the usual rules about Skills to be brokenor
at least bent.

S T u N T S

STuNTS

Gamemasters, and players under gamemaster supervision, are

encouraged to create their own Stunts to fit their game. To help
with this process FreeFATE suggests five templates for Stunts.
These templates provide guidelines on how to create distinct and
balanced Stunts. Players and gamemasters are encouraged to give
a name to a particular implementation of a template for ease of
reference. By doing this, it is possible to build up an extensive list
of different Stunts.

Stunt Templates
Concentration
A Concentration Stunt provides a character with a +1 bonus to a particular Skill when using that Skill in a particular manner. The scope
of this use is quite broad (but does not cover all uses of the skill).
A Concentration Stunt for the Weapons skill could be when wielding
bladed weaponsbe they swords, knives or axes. A character would
gain a +1 bonus to Weapons Skill Tests when using such a weapon, but
not when using clubs, staffs or whips.
When David was creating his character Trevor Maples he and Sarah
his gamemaster created a Concentration Stunt that they called
Criminal Snitches; Trevor gains a +1 bonus to the Contacting Skill
when gathering information about criminal activity in the city. This
bonus is not gained when using Contacting to learn about any other
subjects (e.g. political funding sources, which actor is secretly seeing
that new pop star, etc.).

41
(order #6167550)

Specialization
A Specialization Stunt provides a character with a +2 bonus when
using a Skill in a very specific way.
For example, a Specialization Stunt for the Weapons skill could
apply when a character is wielding a particular type of sword, for
example, a katana.
If the character also has a Concentration Stunt that overlaps with
this specialization, only apply the +2 bonus from the specialization.
David also created a Specialization Stunt for his character called
Police Interrogation. Trevor gains a +2 bonus to the Intimidation
Skill when interrogating a suspect in an official police interview.
David and Sarah agree that this means an interview in a police
station interview room, with another police officer present and the
interview being recorded.

Skill Switch
A Skill Switch Stunt allows a character to use one Skill in place of
another when performing a particular task. The scope of such use
is similar to that of a Concentration Stunt.
For example, a Skill Switch Stunt may allow the Athletics Skill to be
used instead of Survival to ride horses and other mounts.
David and Sarah devised the Skill Switch Stunt Surroundings Read,
which allows the Investigation Skill to be used instead of Empathy
to get a read on someone when speaking with them in their home,
workplace, car or favorite hangout. If trying to assess someone away
from those environments David will need to use Trevors Empathy
Skill, which defaults to Mediocre (+0).

ally
An Ally Stunt provides the character with an ally, another character
who can help in specific types of conflicts and who may also have
the ability to provide assistance outside of conflicts too.
The ally is by default a Companion character which the player
can improve with four Advances (see Companions on p. 71 of

42
(order #6167550)

C h a p t e r

S t u n t S

6
S T u N T S

the Supporting Characters chapter). If the player chooses the

Strength in Numbers Advance the ally is instead a group of three
Minions (more if the Strength in Numbers Advance is chosen more
than once).
If desired a second and third Ally Stunt can, rather than provide
more allies, provide an additional three Advances each to spend on
an existing ally (for a maximum of 10 Advances).

Benefit
A Benefit Stunt is the catchall category for any other Stunt that
doesnt conform to the previous four templates. Benefit Stunts can
provide a character with access to resources, equipment, special
abilities and other qualities.
When creating Benefit Stunts some will appear more powerful
than others, if the gamemaster and players are happy to have such
Stunts available, then they should feel free to incorporate them
into their game.

Customizing Stunts
However, if such imbalance is not desired, there are a few methods
to limit the power such Benefit Stunts may have, so that they are in
line with other Stunts.

Fate Point Expenditure

One simple manner to limit any possible abuse of a powerful Stunt
is to require the player spend a Fate Point in order to gain access
to the Stunts benefit.
Joe wants to create a Stunt that lets his ex-con character Mickey act
first in every exchange of a conflict. Sarah finds this too overpowering,
however requiring a Fate Point to be spent each exchange provides a
more balanced Stunt, one which Joe calls Im on top of it!

Prerequisites
Some Stunts may have prerequisites in the form of other Stunts
that have to be gained before the benefit Stunt can be used. This
makes the more powerful Stunt more difficult to obtain, and any

43
(order #6167550)

character who does meet the prerequisites has shown a particular

degree of focus on one concept that may leave weaknesses in other
areas. Thus, the powerful Stunt is more balanced against Stunts
that any character can take.
Joe is really focused on making his character Mickey able to act first
in a conflict and suggests another Stunt that provides a +1 bonus to
his Alertness Skill Rating when determining initiative in a physical
conflict. Sarah thinks this is reasonable as it is effectively just a
Concentration Stunt.
However, Joe wants to be able to take the Stunt multiple times with
the bonuses stacking with one another. Sarah thinks that this may be
too powerful, but not wanting to say no, she allows it but enforces a
prerequisite. In order to take this new Stunt (which Joe calls Ready
for Anything) a character will need the Im on top of it! Stunt. Sarah
reasons that at least this means a character will have one less Stunt
available to use to take Ready for Anything.
Joe happily agrees and uses up three of his characters Stunts to take
Im on top of it! and two instances of Ready for Anything.
It is also possible to have prerequisites in the form of Aspects
rather than other Stunts. This ensures there is always a particular
Aspect to compel in exchange for taking the Stunt.
David suggests to Sarah a Stunt that will allow his character to
call upon a number of police officerssix Fair (+2) Minionsto act
as backup.
This is actually an ally Stunt (with the Advances: Strength in
Numbers 2 and Summonable), but one that Sarah feels provides an
additional benefit in that these Minions will have official authority to
enforce the law.
Sarah states that such an ally Stunt requires the character to
have an Aspect that identifies him as an active member of the police
(or other security service). This will allow her as gamemaster to
compel the Aspect to sometimes make the backup unavailable, and
also to ensure the character has some motivation to use the backup
responsibly.
David agrees to the prerequisite and names the Ally Stunt Police
Backup.

44
(order #6167550)

C h a p t e r

S t u n t S

6
A third way of limiting the power of a Benefit Stunt is to impose a
restriction on the number of times it can be used per game session.

S T u N T S

uses per Session

Joes character Mickey is also a gambler, and Joe suggests a Stunt that
will allow him to use Mickeys Gambling Skill instead of Resources
to make purchases. Joe argues that this represents the winnings his
character accumulates in games of chance off screen.
This initially sounds like a Skill Switch Stunt to Sarah, except for
the fact that Joe hasnt suggested a reduced scope in which the switch
can occur; Joe wants to be able to use Gambling all the time instead
of Resources.
Knowing Joe has already assigned Mickey a Great (+4) Gambling
Skill and has a number of gambling related Aspects he could invoke to
gain further bonuses, Sarah is reluctant to allow this Stunt without a
severe restriction. She states Joe can have the Stunt but it can only be
used once per game session, explaining that even with this limit Mickey
will likely be able to buy something with a cost of Great every session.
Joe accepts and names the Stunt simply Winnings.

Combined limits
Some especially powerful Stunts may still seem too imbalanced
even with one of the above restrictions. In these instances more
than one type of restriction may be needed in order to balance
the Stunt.
In a previous FATE game Maria played a burly soldier, able to suffer a
lot of punishment. In addition to having a high Endurance Skill, Maria
created the One Hit to the Body Stunt that allowed her character to
pay a Fate Point and ignore the effects of one attack per game session.
Maria found this Stunt extremely useful despite the two restrictions
and saved it to avoid attacks where an enemy got an especially lucky
shot in with a powerful weapon.

Example Stunts
A number of sample Stunts are provided in the Appendix (p. 107);
these can be used by players and gamemasters when creating
characters.

45
(order #6167550)

Stunt Toolbox
Concentration: +1 bonus to a particular Skill when using that Skill
in a particular manner
Specialization: +2 bonus when using a Skill in a very specific way
Skill Switch: Use one Skill in place of another when performing a
particular task
Ally: Gain a Companion character or several Minions which can be
improved with Advances
Benefit: Provides access to resources, equipment, special abilities
and other qualities
Use of a Stunt can...
...require the player to spend a Fate Point.
...require another Stunt as pre-requisite.
...be tied to an Aspect.
...be limited to a certain number of times per game session.
...have combined limits (e.g. require spending a Fate Point and
have a pre-requisite).

46
(order #6167550)

C h a p t e r

S t u n t S

The stories often include moments of intense action and social

interaction, times when the insults and lead starts flying or
swords start swinging while wits are challenged.

Running Conflicts

C O N F l I C T S

CONFlICTS

Once a conflict begins, the gamemaster should regulate the flow of

the action using the following pattern:
1.
2.
3.

Frame the scene

Establish initiative
Begin exchange
Take actions
Resolve actions
Begin a new exchange

Framing the Scene

The gamemaster briefly describes the location in which the conflict
occurs, declaring any obvious Aspects of the scene. If the scene
takes place in a broad area, the gamemaster declares the zones the
scene will cover, and in which zone each character begins.
The gamemaster should also determine whether any participants
begin the conflict surprised (e.g. failing an Alertness Test to spot
an ambusher). A surprised characters first Defense is considered
to be only Mediocre (+0).
Zones
Zones are loosely defined areas that help adjudicate which
characters may interact with each other. Generally, people in the
same zone can touch each other; people one zone apart can throw
things at each other, and people two (and sometimes three) zones
apart can shoot each other.
Moving from one zone to another may be relatively simple; however
sometimes there are barriers to moving between zoneswalls,
staircases, chasms, doorways, etc.that require a character use
a bit more effort to move zones.

47
(order #6167550)

Establish Initiative
The order of characters actions is determined at the beginning of
the conflict, with characters acting from highest to lowest Alertness
Skill (for physical conflicts) or Empathy (for social conflicts).
Ties in initiative are resolved in favor of characters with a higher
Resolve. Any remaining ties are in favor of the player characters (if
a tie is between a player character and a supporting character), or
the player closest to the gamemasters right (if the tie is between
player characters).
The initiative order is used for the entire conflict.

Begin Exchanges
An exchange is a variable period of time during which all characters
involved in the conflict get to act. Actions occur in order of initiative
as determined in the previous step.
In turn, each player (or the gamemaster for supporting characters)
announces the action his character is going to take. This action is
usually either an:
Attackan attempt to directly inflict Stress and / or a
Consequence onto an opponent, or
Maneuveran attempt to change the situation in some way,
affecting the environment or other people, but not in a way
that directly harms them
Once the action is declared, the gamemaster and player resolve the
action according to the rules described previously and guidance
given below.
Once the action has been resolved the next character gets to act.
Once all actions have been taken a new exchange is started.

Attacks
An attack is an attempt to force the attackers agenda on a target,
by attempting to injure them, by bullying them, or by some other
means.

48
(order #6167550)

C h a p t e r

c o n F L I c t S

Purpose
Wound or kill
Deceive
Scare
Charm

Attack Skill
Fists, Guns, or Weapons
Deceit
Intimidation
Rapport

Defense Skill
Fists, Athletics, or Weapons
Resolve or Empathy
Resolve
Resolve or Deceit

C O N F l I C T S

Table: Attack and Defense Skills

An attack is resolved as a contest, with the player rolling his

characters attack Skill against a Difficulty equal to the supporting
characters Skill used in defense, or the player rolling his characters
defense Skill against a Difficulty equal to the opponents attack
Skill, depending upon whether the player character is attacking or
being attacked. If for some reason a player character is attacking a
player character, only the attacking characters Skill is rolled.
Not all attacks are necessarily violent. An attempt to persuade
or distract someone is also a sort of attack. When determining
whether or not the attack rules apply, simply look for two
characters in conflict, an agenda (or want) pushed by the acting
character and the target or obstacle to that agenda, the defending
(or responding) character. The Skills used to attack and defend
depend on the nature of the attackers agenda.
A successful attack inflicts an amount of Stress on its target equal
to the number of Shifts on the attack (the amount by which the
attack skill exceeded the Difficulty, or the amount by which the
Defense skill failed by) plus any weapon Stress bonus and minus
any Stress reduction due to armor.
As described on p. 16, Davids character Trevor shot a thug and
achieved 3 shifts on the attack roll. The thug suffers a base of 3 points
of Stress plus the bonus from the weapon (+2 for a handgun) for a total
of 5 Stress points. As this was a physical attack this Stress is marked
off against the thugs Physical Stress Track.

Defense and Spin

If a character who is defending against an attack achieves an Effect
of 3 or more shifts he gains Spin. Spin provides a +1 bonus or 1
penalty to the very next test made by anyone in the conflict.

49
(order #6167550)

The only qualifier for using Spin is that the player must explain how
his character was able to help or hinder, even if its just as simple as
shouting some encouragement or providing a distraction. A player
might not always be able to justify using Spin. Spin that isnt used
on the next action simply goes away.
Carrying on from the example above, Sarah the gamemaster has the
thug try to grab Marias character Alison to use as a shield against any
further attacks by Trevor.
Sarah states that this will be an attack using the thugs Fair (+2)
Fists Skill. Maria elects to have Alison try to duck out of the reach of
the thug by using her Average (+1) Athletics Skill. Maria rolls the dice,
resulting in a 4 on the Plus Die and a 5 on the Minus Die.
Maria applies the Plus Die result to increase her Average (+1) Skill
Rating for a Superb (+5) Effort. This exceeds the thugs Fists Skill by
3 shifts and so Alison dodges the thugs grasp and gains Spin. As it is
Alisons action next Maria elects to take the +1 bonus to Alisons action.

Maneuvers
When a character tries to jump to grab a rope, throw dust in an
enemys eyes, draw eyes upon himself in a ballroom, or take a
debate down a tangential paththats a maneuver.
A maneuver is either a simple action or a contest, with the Difficulty
determined by the nature of the maneuver. A maneuver that doesnt
target an opponent is resolved as a simple action.
Most simple maneuvers like this result in a character rolling against
a gamemaster set Difficulty and doing something with the resulting
shifts, potentially adding a temporary Aspect to the scene (such as
Barn on Fire!).
A maneuver can also target an opponent, and, if successful, place
a temporary Aspect on him. The opponent can either accept the
temporary Aspect, or spend a Fate Point to avoid accepting it.
Introducing an Aspect by performing a maneuver provides
one free tag of that Aspect as described in Introducing
Aspects, p. 23.

50
(order #6167550)

C h a p t e r

c o n F L I c t S

7
C O N F l I C T S

Maria asks Sarah the gamemaster whether there is anything within

reach that Alison can throw into the thugs eyes, Sarahs reply is You
tell me!
Taking the hint, Maria spends a Fate Point to make a minor narrative
declaration (see Fate Points, p. 19) and states that a half-empty pot of
paint sits on the wall directly behind where Alison is standing.
Maria states that Alison grabs the pot and throws the contents at
the thug. Sarah believes that this is a maneuver rather than a direct
attack even though Maria will be rolling her Mediocre (+0) Weapons
Skill against the Thugs Average (+1) Athletics Skill.
Sarah further states that grabbing the paint pot is a supplemental
action (see p. 55) and therefore Marias Test suffers a 1 penalty,
however this is cancelled out by the Spin bonus gained previously.
Maria rolls well for an Effort of Fair (+2), a success! Maria declares
that the thug now has the temporary Aspect of Blinded.

Temporary aspects
Temporary Aspects that result from maneuvers are usually
fragile.
A Temporary Aspect exists for only a single tag and / or
may be cleared away by a simple change of circumstances.
Consider someone who uses a maneuver to take aim at a target,
placing an In My Sights Aspect on the target. Once the shots taken,
the aim goes awaythis is clearly fragile. But it could get lost even
before the first shot, if the character who (likely unwittingly) has the
Aspect on him manages to break line of sight or move significantly.

Sticky aspects
Some Aspects that result from maneuvers can be sticky. Sticky
Aspects dont go away after they are first tagged, allowing people
to spend Fate Points to continue to tag them. The gamemaster is
encouraged to be much more picky about whether or not to allow a
sticky Aspect to result from a maneuver.
In many cases, the gamemaster may require that the maneuvering
character gain Spin (see p. 16) in order to succeed at placing a sticky
Aspect.

51
(order #6167550)

Sarah states that the Blinded Aspect will exist until the thug spends
a supplemental action (see p. 55) wiping the paint from his eyes.
Luckily, Trevor is the next character to act and Maria passes the
free tag to him to use. Even if Trevor fails to subdue the thug in that
exchange, the thug will suffer a penalty on his action for taking the
time to wipe away the paint.

Example Maneuvers
Blinding
Whether its throwing sand in someones eyes, spraying someone
with a harsh chemical or tossing a can of paint in his face, the goal
is the same: keep him from being able to see. This likely involves
the attacker rolling Weapons and the defender rolling Athletics,
with the maneuver succeeding if the attacker gets at least one shift.
A successful maneuver puts the Aspect Blinded on the target,
which may be tagged to add to the defense of his target, or
compelled to cause him to change the subject or direction of an
action. It cant force a character to take an action he doesnt want
to (so a blinded character cant be compelled to walk off a cliff if the
character refuses to move).

Disarming
A successful disarm maneuver forces the target to drop his weapon
or otherwise renders the weapon temporarily useless. The target
must either spend an action to become re-armed, or pick up the
weapon as a supplemental action.
A supplemental action is normally a 1 penalty to the main action,
but when a disarm maneuver is used, the shifts on the maneuver
increase the penalty. For example, if the disarm attempt succeeds
with three shifts, when the target tries to recover his weapon, he
will suffer a 4 penalty (1 for the usual penalty, plus an additional
3) to his action that exchange.
His defensive rolls are not directly affected by this penalty, but they
are indirectly affected; without a weapon in hand, he cant use the
Weapons Skill to defend (Athletics and Fists are still options).

52
(order #6167550)

C h a p t e r

c o n F L I c t S

7
Pushing a target requires a successful attack (usually Fists or
Might) and must generate a number of shifts equal to 1 per 100
lbs or part thereof (2 shifts for most people) +1 for each zone the
target will be pushed (the +1 is basically the usual cost for moving
one zone). So pushing a target one zone would require 3 shifts, two
zones would require 4 shifts, etc..

C O N F l I C T S

Pushing

A push moves both the target and the acting character into the
destination zone. Any applicable border conditions affect the roll
to push.

Throw or knockback
Its possible for a character to knock something or someone away
from himself, without moving. Knockback covers any maneuver
that can accomplish this, including throws.
To knock something back one zone requires the maneuver succeed
with 1 shift plus 1 per 100 lbs or part thereof (so an average person
would require 3 shifts to knockback one zone, the same as a Push).
However, each additional zone costs as much as the previous zone
did, plus one, so that the cost increases dramatically over distance
(so an average person would require 7 shifts to knockback two
zones, 3 for the first zone and 4 for the second).

Other Actions
Free actions
Some kinds of actions are free; they dont count as the characters
action during an exchange, whether or not a roll of the dice is
involved. Rolling for defense against an attack is a free action, so
are minor actions like casting a quick glance at a doorway, flipping
a switch right next to the character, or shouting a short warning.
There is no hard limit on the number of free actions a character may
take during an exchange; however the gamemaster should impose a
limit if a player is taking excessive advantage of this rule.

53
(order #6167550)

Full Defense
A character can opt to do nothing but protect himself for an
exchange. By foregoing his normal action, he gains a +2 on all
reactions and defenses for that exchange. Characters who are
defending may declare it at the beginning of the exchange rather
than waiting for their turn to come around. Similarly, if they have
not acted in the exchange at the time when they are first attacked,
they may declare a full defense at that point, again foregoing their
normal action for the exchange.

hold Your action

A character can opt not to act when his turn comes around. When
a character takes a hold action, he has the option of taking his turn
any time later in the exchange. He must explicitly take his turn after
someone else has finished their turn and before the next person
begins. He cannot wait until someone declares what theyre trying
to do, then interrupt them by taking his turn (although as an optional
rule, the gamemaster may allow this if the player spends a Fate Point).

Block actions
When the characters action is preventativetrying to keep
something from happening, rather than taking direct action to
make something happenhe is performing a block action.
He declares what hes trying to prevent and what Skill hes using
to do it. Players may declare a block against any sort of action or
actions and may theoretically use any Skill, but unless the block is
simple and clear, the gamemaster may assess penalties based upon
how hard it would be, or how much of a stretch it would be. Players
should never be able to cover all bases with a single block.
A blocking character can declare that he is
protecting another character. He makes this
declaration on his turn, and rolls the Skill hes
using to block; the result is the block strength.
When, later that exchange, any enemy tries to attack the protected
character, the protected character gets the benefit of either the
block strength or his own defense, whichever is better.

54
(order #6167550)

C h a p t e r

c o n F L I c t S

7
C O N F l I C T S

For other types of blocks, the blocking character declares the

block on his turn, and rolls the Skill hes using to block, subject to
any penalties imposed by the gamemaster. The result is the block
strength. Later that exchange, every time another character tries
to perform the blocked action, he enters into a contest with the
blocker. The character trying to get past the block rolls the Skill
hes using for the action (not a Skill specifically appropriate to the
block), and compares it to the block strength. If the attacker gets at
least one shift, he successfully overcomes the block.
Trying to get past a block always takes an action, though the
gamemaster may grant some latitude in deciding what Skill is being
used to get past it.
Even if the action is normally free, getting past the block takes
additional effort, and thus the gamemaster can declare that it takes
up the players action for the exchange.

Supplemental actions
Sometimes a player wants his character to perform a simple action
in addition to his main action. Examples range from drawing a
weapon and attacking, to firing off a signal flare while intimidating
the wolves at the edge of the firelight.
Such supplemental actions impose a 1 penalty on the characters
primary action roll (effectively spending one shift of Effect in
advance). When in doubt about which is the primary action and
which is the supplemental one, the supplemental action is the one
which would normally require no dice roll.
Sometimes the gamemaster may decide a supplemental action is
particularly complicated or difficult, and may increase the penalty
appropriately.

Movement
Movement is one of the most common supplemental actions. When
it is reasonably easy to move from one zone to the next, a character
may move one zone as a supplemental action.
If a player wants his character to move further than that, he must
perform a primary (not supplemental) sprint action, which entails

55
(order #6167550)

rolling Athletics and allowing the character to move a number of

zones equal to the shifts generated.
Sometimes, it is more difficult to move from one zone to the next,
such as when there is some sort of barrier (like a fence or some
debris) or there is some other difficulty (like getting from a rooftop
to the street below and vice versa). This movement complication
is called a border. The numeric value of that border increases the
penalty for a supplemental move action and subtracts shifts from
a sprint action.
Mickey runs from a couple of thugs wanting the money he just won at a
gambling parlor. Hes in a small alley, which is blocked at one end by a
wire fence. The alley is a zone, and the wire fence is a Fair (+2) Border.
Mickey needs to make an Athletics Skill Test with a Difficulty of Good
(+3) to get into the next zone.
Also note that if Mickey only wants to move the 1 zone, then he
could do that as a supplemental action (see p. 55) but the penalty is
increased by the Border Rating to 3.

Border

Building 1

(Fair +2)

Street

Zone 2

Mickey

Alley
Building 2

Street

Zone 1

56
(order #6167550)

C h a p t e r

c o n F L I c t S

Zone 3

Stress
Stress represents nonspecific difficulties a character can encounter
in a conflict.

C O N F l I C T S

Stress and Consequences

Stress received from a physical attack is marked off against the

Physical Stress Track (mark off a number of boxes equal to the
Stress inflicted). This represents bruising, minor cuts and fatigue.
Stress suffered from a social attack is marked off against the
Composure Stress Track and represents get ting f lustered,
embarrassed or losing control of the situation.
When a character suffers Stress that equals or exceeds his Stress
track he is Taken Out, losing the conflict, unless the Stress can be
absorbed by taking Consequences (see below).
At the end of a scene, unless the gamemaster says otherwise, a
characters Stress tracks clear out: minor scrapes and bruises, trivial
gaffes and embarrassments, and momentary fears pass away.

Consequences
Stress is transitor y, but sometimes conf licts have lasting
consequences: injuries, embarrassments, phobias and the like. These
are collectively called Consequences and are a special kind of Aspect.
Consequences reduce the amount of Stress taken from a particular
blow but in turn can be tagged or compelled (or even invoked) like
any other Aspect and can have lasting effects.
Just like any other Aspect that a player introduces to a scene, the
player of the attacking character who inflicted the Consequence
gets the first tag of that Consequence for free.
Consequences fall into four levels of severity: Minor, Major, Severe
and Extreme. A character can only carry three Consequences
at a time (barring Stunts which may allow more) and only one
Consequence of each severity level (i.e. a character cannot carry
three Minor Consequences, but could have a Minor, Severe and an
Extreme Consequence).

57
(order #6167550)

Whenever the character is hit for Stress, he may use up one or more
of these Consequence slots to reduce the hit, describing each
Consequence as a particular kind of wound or setback that is not
easy to shake off.
Minor Consequences negate 2 Stress points
Major Consequences negate 4 Stress points
Severe Consequences negate 6 Stress points
Extreme Consequences negate 8 Stress points
The exact nature of the Consequence should depend upon the
conflictan injury might be appropriate for a physical struggle,
while an emotional state might be apt for a social one. Unlike the
temporary Aspects resulting from maneuvers, Consequences tend
to hang around for a while and take time to fade.
Following a short scuffle, during which Trevor suffers 1 point of Stress,
Trevor finally handcuffs the blinded thug. However, in all the excitement
Trevor fails to notice the thugs friend sneaking up behind with a knife.
A failed defense test results in Trevor taking another 4 Stress! Added
to the 1 point of Stress he has already suffered this would equal his
Physical Stress Track of 5 boxes. This means Trevor will be Taken Out
unless he takes a Consequence.
David elects for Trevor to take a Minor Consequence which he
describes as a Nasty cut on his leg. This negates 2 Stress meaning
the attack only deals 2 Stress points. David marks off the 2 Stress
on Trevors Physical Stress Track taking the total to 3; he also writes
down the Minor Consequence.
Despite help from Alison, Trevor is unable to subdue this second
attacker and again is struck, this time for 3 Stress points. Trevor needs
to suffer another Consequence or be Taken Out. As he has already
taken a Minor Consequence David elects for Trevor to suffer a Major
Consequence Stabbed in the hand.
A Major Consequence can negate up to 4 points of Stress, however
the attack would only have inflicted 3 points. No Stress is suffered and
David writes down the new Consequence.
Normally, the person taking the Consequence gets to describe what
it is, so long as its compatible with the nature of the attack that
inflicted the harm; as always the gamemaster is the final arbiter on
what is reasonable for the circumstances and severity.

58
(order #6167550)

C h a p t e r

c o n F L I c t S

7
If a character suffers Stress that equals or exceeds his Stress track
and has already taken three Consequences then the character is
Taken Out.
The character has decisively lost the conflict, and unlike the other
levels of Consequence, his fate is in the hands of his opponent, who
may decide how the character loses. The outcome must remain
within the realm of reasonvery few people truly die from shame, so
having someone die as a result of a duel of wits is unlikely, but having
them embarrass themselves and flee in disgrace is not unreasonable.

C O N F l I C T S

Taken Out

Being able to determine how a character loses is a very powerful

ability, but there are a few limits:
1. The effect is limited to the character who has been Taken
Out. The victor may declare that the loser has made a fool of
himself in front of the admiral, but he cannot decide how the
admiral will respond (or even if the admiral was particularly
bothered).
2. The manner of the Taken Out result must be limited to
the scope of the conflict. After the victor wins a debate with
someone, he cannot decide that the loser concedes his point
and the loser gives him all the money in his pocketsmoney
was never part of the conflict, so its not an appropriate part
of the resolution.
3. The effect must be reasonable for the target. People do not
(normally) explode when killed, so that cannot be a part of
taking someone out. Similarly, a diplomat at the negotiating
table is not going to give the victor the keys to the empire
thats probably beyond the scope of his authority, and even if
its not, its unlikely something he would give away under any
circumstances. What he will do is make a deal that is very
much in the victors favor and possibly even thank him for it.
4. You can buy your way out. Players are not always
comfortable with being on the receiving end of this and may,
if they wish, spend all the Fate Points they have left (minimum
of one) and demand a different outcome, and the gamemaster

59
(order #6167550)

(or winning character) should then make every effort to allow

them to lose in a fashion more to their liking. That said, if this
is a real concern, the loser may want to concede somewhere
before things reach this point (see Concessions, below).

Concessions
Any time a character takes a Consequence, he also has the option
of offering a Concession. A Concession is essentially equivalent to
surrendering, and is the best way to end a fight before someone is
Taken Out (short of moving away and ending the conflict).
The character inflicting the damage can always opt to not take
the Concession, but doing so is a clear indication that the fight will
be a bloody one (literally or metaphorically). If the gamemaster
declares that the Concession was a reasonable offer, then the
character who offered it gains one Fate Point, and the character
who refused it loses one.
The Concession is an offer of the terms under which the character is
Taken Out. If the Concession is accepted, the conceding character is
immediately Taken Out, but rather than letting the victor determine
the manner of his defeat, he is defeated according to the terms of
his Concession.
Many conflicts end with a Concession when one party or the other
simply does not want to risk taking Major or Severe Consequences
as a result of the conflict, or when neither party wants to risk a
Taken Out result that might come at too high a price.
David, realizing that Trevor is only another couple of Stress points
away from suffering a third Consequence (which must be either Severe
or Extreme) decides to offer a Concession to the second thug.
He suggests to Sarah, the gamemaster, that Trevor painfully
retrieves the keys to the handcuffs from his pocket and throws them to
the thug shouting Take your damn friend! before collapsing against
a dumpster holding his bloody hand.
Sarah considers the suggestionlosing their handcuffed suspect
is a significant setback to Trevor and Alison. Sarah clarifies that
Trevor wont be able to try to stop the thugs escaping if he accepts the
Concession as, although not unconscious or dead, Trevor will still be
considered Taken Out. David agrees.

60
(order #6167550)

C h a p t e r

c o n F L I c t S

Recovery

C O N F l I C T S

Of course, Marias character Alison has not been Taken Out, and she
may still attempt to confront the thugsbut any such attempt would
be foolish without Trevors help.

As stated previously, unless the gamemaster says otherwise, a

characters Stress tracks clear out after the scene has resolved.
Consequences however can take longer to recover from, as follows:

Minor ConsequenceA few minutes

Major ConsequenceA few hours to A few days
Severe ConsequenceA week to A few weeks
Extreme ConsequenceA few months

Recovering from Minor Consequences

Minor Consequences are removed any time the character has the
opportunity to sit down and take a breather for a few minutes.
These Consequences will last until the end of the current scene,
and will usually be removed after that. The only exception is if there
is no break between scenesif the character doesnt get a chance
to take five, the Consequence will remain in place.

Recovering from Major Consequences

Major Consequences require the character get a little more time
and distance. Depending on the type of Major Consequence they
remain in place until the character has had the opportunity to take
anything from a few hours of downtime up to a few days.
This may mean getting treatment for an injury, sleeping in a
comfortable bed, spending time with a charming member of the
opposite sex, or sitting on a beach to forget about it all or anything
else so long as its appropriate to the Consequence. An afternoon of
hiking might be a great way to get past a Heartbreak Consequence,
but its not a great choice for a Bad Ankle.

Recovering from Severe Consequences

Severe Consequences require substantial downtime, measured in a
week to a few weeks. Generally this means that such a Consequence

61
(order #6167550)

will linger for the duration of a session, but could be cleared up

before the next adventure begins or at least reduced one level.

Recovering from Extreme Consequences

Extreme Consequences generally put characters in severe accidents
and emergencies, in jail, in the nearest rehab, perhaps on their
deathbed or fried within an inch of their lives. Its likely that such
a character will be left with lasting effects in the form of an Aspect
(such as Prosthetic Leg or Branded a traitor).
These could require sophisticated medical treatment usually only
found in major cities, or trained counsellors on hand 24 hours a
day to stop you going over the edge. Healing or recovery will take a
few months. Needless to say the experience should have a profound
effect on the character and result in the change of some of their
Skills and Aspects.

No Time to Recover
If the character is in back-to-back sessions with no in-game time
between them, such as in a multi-part adventure, he gets a break;
any Consequences he begins the session with are treated as one
level lower for how quickly theyre removed.

Medical Attention
A character trained in the Science Skill can attempt to provide first
aid to an injured ally during a conflict and also provide long-term
care afterwards.

First aid
When using the Science Skill to perform first aid in the middle of a
conflict, the character must take a full action with a target whos
not trying to do anything else (i.e., forfeiting his next action).
Make a Science Skill test against a Difficulty of Mediocre (+0); if it
succeeds with at least one shift, the subject may remove one point
of Stress from his physical Stress track. Every two shifts beyond
the first improves this effect by one; for example, with five shifts, a
character can remove three Stress.

62
(order #6167550)

C h a p t e r

c o n F L I c t S

7
Consequence
Minor
Major
Severe
Extreme

Difficulty to Reduce Time

Mediocre (+0)
Fair (+2)
Great (+4) requires Great level medical equipment or facility
Fantastic (+6) requires Fantastic level Medical facility

C O N F l I C T S

Table: Medical Care Difficulties

Success can also be used to stabilise someone who has taken

a Severe or lesser Consequence that would appear to be lifethreatening (e.g., a Bleeding to Death Aspect)in game terms,
this has the effect of limiting the extent to which the Aspect can be
compelled. A given person cant be the target of more than one first
aid action in an exchange.

long-Term Care
When using Science to address someones long-term injuries, the
character will need some kind of medical kit or equipment and must
spend a scene providing proper medical attention.
This is a use of Science to directly address someones physical, longterm Consequences. If the roll is successful, then the time it takes
the subject to recover from the Consequence is reduced by one step
on the time table.
At the gamemasters discretion, when the doctor in question gains
Spin on the test, the time to recover may be reduced by two steps
instead of one.
Multiple such attempts may not be made. The Difficulty of the roll
depends on the severity of the Consequence per the table above.

Other Sources of Injury

Falling
If a character jumps or falls from a height he may suffer damage
in the form of Consequences. The severity of the Consequence is
determined by the height of the fall per the table below.
When a character falls, an Athletics test should be made. If the
Effort is less than Mediocre (+0), the fall is treated as one category
worse than it is. If the Effort equals or beats a Difficulty based on
the height of the fall, treat the fall as one step shorter.

63
(order #6167550)

Table: Falling
Height
Short 20 feet
Medium 40 feet
Long 100 feet
Extreme over 100 feet

Difficulty
Fair (+2)
Great (+4)
Fantastic (+6)
Not possible

Consequence
Minor
Major
Severe or Extreme
Taken Out

Fire
Fire is rated by its intensity. At the beginning of an exchange, a fire
inflicts its intensity in physical Stress on every person in the scene.
See Table: Fire on how Intensity works (see p. 65).

Explosions
Explosions and other area attacks have the potential to do damage
against everyone within their radius. They are deadly and can end
a fight or alter a scenario significantly once used.
Explosives have three ratings: Complexity, Area and Force.
Complexity is the Difficulty to disarm the bomb once the
device has been primed.
The Area of an explosion determines how many zones the
explosion will cover. An area of 1 means the explosion affects
only one zone. An area of 2 means it affects one zone and
every zone adjacent to it, and an Area of 3 expands it out to
all zones adjacent to that.
The Force of an explosion is a measure of how dangerous it
is once it finally detonates. When an explosive detonates in a
zone that a character is in, the Force value is the Difficulty of
the free action Athletics test to take cover behind something
solid enough to take some of the brunt of the blast.
If successful, the character takes a Major Consequence (unless
he generates Spin, in which case he makes a miraculous escape).
If he fails, he is Taken Out immediately and suffers an Extreme
Consequence. People unaware that a detonation is impending
automatically fail this roll.
The Force of an explosion drops by one for each zone it crosses, so
characters in an adjacent zone have to deal with a Force level thats

64
(order #6167550)

C h a p t e r

c o n F L I c t S

Intensity Description
0
The building is on fire, but the fire can be avoided.
1
Almost everything is on fire, and the heat is pressing
in on you in waves.
2
Everything is on fire, and the flames lick up near you.
3
Inferno! There may well be nowhere to run; you have
only moments to live.

C O N F l I C T S

Table: Fire

one lower. If there is a border between the zones that would provide
some cover (like a wall) it also reduces the Force by the value of the
border. The Force of an explosion drops to zero once it reaches its
maximum radius indicated by the area.
An explosion occurs with an Area of 3 and a Force of 6. Mickey makes
an Athletics Skill Test with a Difficulty of +6, Thug 1 with a Difficulty
of +5 and Thug 2 with a Difficulty of +4.
Alison and Trevor are lucky, as they sit behind Borders. Alison is in
Zone 3 behind an Average (+1) Border, so she makes her Athletics Skill
Test with a Difficulty of +3. Trevor is in Zone 2 behind a Good (+3)
Border, his Skill Test has a Difficulty of +2.

Zone 3

T hug2

Zone 2

T hug 1

Zone 1

Mickey

ding
l
i
u
B

Border
(Good +3)

Trevor

ivan

Min
Alison

Border
(Average +1)

65
(order #6167550)

Throwing Explosives
Throwing an explosive as an attack works in two stages. When a
character throws an explosive, its an attack using Weapons against
a Difficulty of Mediocre.
If successful, the explosive lands in an appropriate zone (thrown
weapons have a range of one zone), and if not, it lands in the
throwers zone.
When the explosive lands, everyone within a zone covered by its
Area rolls Athletics against the attackers Weapons result (from
above). If they gain Spin on this defense roll, they may move one
zone away from the zone the explosive is in by diving clear as a
free action.
The thrower has the option to reduce everyones Difficulty to dive
clear (he may not want to make it too difficult for his allies to dive
away), as long as that Difficulty is not reduced below Mediocre.
Anything short of Spin has no effecttheyll have to hope that they
get a turn before it goes off to move away, otherwise they will have
to deal with a detonation scenario as described above.
If the thrower makes a bad throwmissing the Mediocre target
entirelythen as noted, the explosive lands in the throwers zone,
with the Difficulty for the thrower to dive free increased by one
for each step he missed the target. The thrower does not have the
option to reduce it, though in such a circumstance everyone else
merely faces a Mediocre Difficulty to dive clear.

Poisons
Poisons have a Potency and a Subtlety Rating. Potency determines
how hard it is to resist and treat, while Subtlety is the Difficulty to
detect or analyze it (using Alertness, Investigation or Science)
either to prevent exposure or determine the cause of someones
ailment. Poisons also need a means of application, e.g. contact,
ingestion, inhaled or injected.

66
(order #6167550)

Fast-Acting Poisons
Fast-Acting poisons inflict Stress on a target, which may reflect
lethal damage or knockout drugs. Such poisons are often found on
the blades of enemies and tips of blowgun darts.

C h a p t e r

c o n F L I c t S

The poison continues to act, with the victim making further

Endurance Tests before the first initiative of each exchange. This
repeats every exchange until the end of the scene (at which point
the poison has run its course) or until the character somehow
stops the poison, such as with medical treatment (or even inducing
vomiting).

C O N F l I C T S

When such a poison is introduced into the system, the victim must
make an Endurance Skill Test with a Difficulty of the poisons
Potency. If the Test fails the victim suffers a point of Stress for each
shift by which the Test failed.

Many such poisons may stop if the player acquires Spin on his
Endurance Test (beating the Potency by 3 shifts or more).
Slow-Acting Poisons
Slow-Acting Poisons inflict Consequences on the victim over a
prolonged period of time.
Once per scene the victim makes an Endurance Skill Test with a
Difficulty of the poisons Potency. If the Test fails by 3 shifts or more
(the Poison effectively gains Spin) the victim suffers a Consequence
(beginning with a Minor Consequence if one is not already being
suffered). Regardless of severity, these Consequences do not
disappear until after the poison is cured.
This process repeats until the poison is cured or, if the gamemaster
allows, the Victim gains Spin on an Endurance Test.
Exotic Poisons
Rather than damaging their target, exotic poisons put one or more
additional Aspects directly on them (as with a maneuver rather
than an attack). A victim must make an Endurance Test Skill Test
with a Difficulty of the poisons Potency. If successful the symptoms
are passing, but if the Test fails the victim immediately gains the
Aspects as described in the poison. The duration of these effects
depends upon the poison.

67
(order #6167550)

SuPPORTING
ChaRaCTERS

Supporting characters are all the people portrayed in the game

by the gamemaster, rather than the characters of the other players. It is for this reason that they are sometimes referred to as
nonplayer characters.
Supporting characters include both the friends and foes of the
players characters, ranging from the cheerful bartender at the
characters local pub, to the corporate CEO who is behind the
villainous acts the player characters are investigating.
There are four different types of supporting characters that are
used in a game of FreeFATE.
Extras
Minions
Companions
Named Characters

Extras
Extras are those supporting characters who dont often take up
much screen time in the adventure; they are the cast of people on
the fringe of the story, people met along the way.
Examples of Extras include the storekeeper who sells you that roll
of duct tape and happens to mention the rough-looking characters
who were in his store earlier, the border guard who reviews your
forged papers for a tension-filled moment before waving you
through, and the politicians aide who stymies your attempts to
get an interview with his boss.
Often, an encounter with an extra is purely social in nature and
no Skill Tests are involved. However, if the story may require an
Extra to make a Skill Test then the gamemaster should refrain from
creating them as full-blown characters, but rather define their
three highest rated Skills (rarely rated above Good) and maybe an
Aspect or two.

68
(order #6167550)

C h a p t e r

S u P P o r t I n G

c H A r A c t E r S

The term Minions is used to refer to the large number of faceless

followers of important, named characters, often the villains of the
piece. Minions are the bodies of the faithful that the heroes must
climb over to take on that villain.

Minions have two important statistics, Quality and Quantity.

Quality

ChaRaCTE R S

The gamemaster may build a villains mob using an Ally Stunt (p.
42) using one or more Strength in Numbers Advances (see p. 74) but
should feel free to assign minions on an as needed basis.

S u PPOR TI N G

Minions

The Quality of a set of Minions denotes their base effectiveness

in one sort of conflict (physical, social or mental), as well as their
capacity for Stress.
Minions only have a single Stress Track against which both Physical
and Composure Stress is marked.
Average (+1) Minions can take one box of Stress, Fair (+2)
can take two, Good (+3) can take three and so on. Minions
cannot take Consequences, nor can their Armor (see p. 85).

Quantity
The quantity of Minions is simply the number of Minions present.
Together, Minions act in one or more groups, each of which is treated
as a single character in the conflict. This allows the gamemaster to
minimize the number of dice rolls being made, even when the player
characters are facing off against a group of twenty frothing cultists.
Minions who act together as a group are much more effective
than individual Minions, gaining a bonus to their effective Quality
for purposes of Tests in conflicts (see Table: Minion Quantity
Bonuses, p. 71).
As a rule of thumb, when a gamemaster has a large number of
Minions, she should split them up into several smaller groups
preferably one group for each player character they face. These
groups dont necessarily need to be equal in number; sometimes
it makes sense to pit the largest group of Minions against the most
capable opponent.

69
(order #6167550)

Also, grouping Minions together makes it a little easier for the

characters to eliminate several Minions in a single action.
When Minions take Stress damage, any overflow of damage is
applied to the next Minion in their group. This means a solid enough
effort can take out an entire swath of Minions. The attacking
characters Stress bonus from a weapon is only counted once, but
then any Stress reduction from armor the Minions are wearing is
equally only applied once.
Trevor Maples is continuing his investigation when he is ambushed
by a group of three hoodies wielding knives. They attack as a
single group.
Sarah the gamemaster asks David to make a defense roll using his
default Mediocre (+0) Fists Skill against a Difficulty of Fair (+2). This
Difficulty is based on the hoodies Average (+1) Quality with a Quantity
bonus of +1.
David succeeds in his defense roll and actually manages to gain spin!
David elects to have Trevor attempt to intimidate the hoodies into
running off (a social attack).
David uses his Good (+3) Intimidation skill with a +1 bonus for Spin
against the Difficulty of Fair (+2)although this is a social attack
Sarah believes the Minions Quality should still apply as it is in the
midst of a physical conflict; the Quantity bonus also applies.
David rolls the dice and gets a 5 on both dice, meaning his Skill goes
unmodified; this results in a final Effort of Great (+4); an Effect of 2
shifts, and 2 Stress applied.
As the minions are only Average Quality the first Stress point takes
out one Minion, and the overflow (another Stress point) takes out a
second Minion. Sarah describes two of the hoodies shouting Run! Hes
a cop and then fleeing. She notes that now that only a single Minion
remains no Quantity bonus applies.

Mixed Groups
One of the main uses for Minions, be they ninjas or yes-men, is
to aid their leader in conflicts. When this occurs the Minions are
considered attached.
The leader acts as normal but receives a Quantity bonus based on
the group size including himself (so even one minion will provide

70
(order #6167550)

C h a p t e r

S u P P o r t I n G

c H A r A c t E r S

8
Table: Minion Quantity Bonuses
Number
of Minions
23

Bonus
+1

David asks Sarah whether he can spend a Fate Point to summon his
Police Backup Stunt minions immediately to help with his conflict with
the hoodies, explaining that he called for reinforcements off screen.
Sarah agrees and allows David to narrate how six uniformed
police officers round the corner to join Trevor as he stares at the last
remaining hoodie. Trevor now gains a +3 Quantity bonus for having a
group of seven (himself and six Minions).
Give it up son, youre nicked! growls Trevor.

ChaRaCTE R S

46
+2
Stress suffered is applied to
79
+3
Minions first, reduced by their
10+
+4
armor. If all Minions are taken
out any excess shifts of damage
overflow to the leader but are reduced by the leaders armor at that
stage. Leaving or attaching to a group is a free action, and a character
may detach from a group automatically by moving away from it.

S u PPOR TI N G

a +1 bonus) to his attacks (assuming the Minions can contribute to the attack), maneuvers and defenses.

Alternatively, a character with the Leadership Skill attached to a

group of Minions may use his Leadership Skill to Complement the
Minions Quality (plus Quantity bonus) in Tests (see Combining
Skills on p. 16). This allows villains without much combat Skill to
still help out their minions in a fight. In this scenario, the Minions
act as a normal group but with the extra bonus.

Companions
Companions are characters who are a little more important than
Minions but are not quite fully fledged named characters in their
own right.
Companions are either granted as a short-term story element by
the gamemaster, or are established through the purchase and use
of an Ally Stunt.
Like Minions, by default, a Companion can assist in one type of
conflict (though the Scope Advance can expand this). The type of
conflict that the Companion can assist with determines her type.

71
(order #6167550)

Also like Minions, Companions have a Quality rating. This Quality

Rating is used for all tests during a conflict of the appropriate type.
They can attach to named characters in the same way Minion
groups can, and thus grant a +1 bonus in appropriate conflicts due
to group size (a Quantity of two including the named character).
Companions also get a single Skill column (instead of a pyramid)
with a number of Skills equal to their Quality. For example, a Good
quality Companion has one Good (+3), one Fair (+2) and one Average
(+1) Skill. These Skills allow the Companion to be of use outside of
conflicts (unlike Minions), and also to have some measure of ability
in tasks outside of their normal scope.
If desired, a named character to whom a Companion is attached
may substitute the Companions Skill level in place of his own if
its higher. The Quantity bonus still applies if the named character
has at least an Average rating in the Skill in question; in effect he is
providing the Quantity bonus to his Companion.
Like Minions, Companions only have a single Stress Track (though
see the Scope Advance for exceptions). Companions have one Stress
box per level of Quality plus one, for example, a Good (+3) Quality
Companion has 4 Stress boxes.
Sidekicks with the Endurance Skill and Aides & Assistants with
the Resolve Skill get extra Stress boxes just as a character would.
Normally Companions cannot take Consequences (but their
armor can), however if attached and not yet Taken Out they can
allow the named character the ability to withstand an additional
Consequencespecifically, that the Companion is knocked out,
kidnapped, or otherwise removed from the conflict. The severity
of the Consequence indicates how long the Companion is Taken Out.
Unless she has the Independent Advance, in order for a Companion
to act in a scene without their named character a Fate Point must
be spent.
Table: Companion Types
Type
Sidekick
Aide
Assistant

Conflict
Physical
Social
Mental

72
(order #6167550)

C h a p t e r

S u P P o r t I n G

c H A r A c t E r S

Advances are traits that can be applied to a Companion or group of

Minions to differentiate them from the baseline Average (+1) ally.

Communication

Consequence

Only for Companions

The Companion can take a Consequence of their own to reduce

stress. This may be taken twice.

Independent

ChaRaCTE R S

The ally has some means of communicating with her patron in even
the strangest of circumstances (a psychic link, a dedicated radio
transceiver in a wrist watch, etc.).

S u PPOR TI N G

Advances

Only for Companions

The Companion can act independently without the named character

needing to spend a Fate Point. In addition the Companion can access
the named characters Fate Points and up to two of his Aspects that
would also apply to the Companion.

keeping up
If the allys patron has a means of locomotion or stealth that makes
it hard for the ally to keep up with him, then the ally with this
Advance has a similar ability. This ability is useful only for keeping
up with her patron when attached, and for no other purpose.

Quality
Improve the Quality of an ally by one step (from the default Average
to Fair, Fair to Good and so on). This Advance may be taken several
times up to a maximum Quality one step below the patrons peak
skill for a Companion, and two steps below for Minions.

Scope

Only for Companions

Improve the scope of a Companion, allowing them to assist in an

additional type of conflict. This may be taken twice, allowing the
Companion to be effective in all three scopes.
A Companion able to assist in Physical & Mental, Physical & Social,
or all three scopes of conflict has both a Physical and Composure
Stress Track and may gain extra Stress Boxes from both the Endurance and Resolve Skills.

73
(order #6167550)

Skilled

Only for Companions

Each time this Advance is taken the Companion gets an additional

column of Skills. However each new column is one rank lower than
the last.
For example, a Good quality Companion with the Skilled Advance
would have one Good (+3), two Fair (+2) and two Average (+1) Skills.
Another Skilled Advance would add only one Average Skill.

Strength in Numbers
This Stunt increases the number of allies you have. One application
effectively turns a Companion into three Minions of the same
Quality. Second and further applications of this Advance increase
the number of Minions by a further three.

Stunt

Only for Companions

This Advance allows the Companion to take a single Stunt and

may be taken a maximum of two times. This does not allow the
Companion to take an Ally Stunt themselves.

Summonable
No matter where you are you can summon your ally to you. This
normally takes at least one minute but you may spend a Fate Point
to accomplish it in a single round. A summoned ally vanishes or
leaves if the summoning character is Taken Out, and will not last
more than one scene either way. They may be summoned again in
a later scene if needed again.

Variable Summons
Requires Summonable

Usually the same ally is summoned each time but this Advance
allows the player to allocate the allys other Advances when they
are summoned. Once chosen the Advances are locked in place for
the adventure unless the player spends a Fate Point to reallocate
the Advances again. This variability makes the ally more like a
range of Companions and Minions the player can call upon one at
a time.

74
(order #6167550)

C h a p t e r

S u P P o r t I n G

c H A r A c t E r S

Named characters are the major characters in the story who have
a name, as opposed to Guard #3. They might be a player characters
boss, a major ally or enemy. They could be an archnemesis, her main
henchman, an evil alien or a mad scientist.

If desired a gamemaster can set the apex of the Skill pyramid (i.e.
the top rated Skill) at a higher or lower rating than Great (+4)the
apex Skill rating for a starting player character.

ChaRaCTE R S

Named characters are defined just like player characters, with a

pyramid of Skills, a set of Aspects and Fate Points.

S u PPOR TI N G

Named Characters

Aspects and Fate Points

Named Characters have Aspects and Fate Points like player
characters do. Extras, Minions and Companions may have one or
two Aspects if the gamemaster desires (e.g. Obedient to a fault,
Skittish). However they do not have Fate Points of their own; their
Aspects exist solely to be tagged by others (if tagged for effect they
do not gain a Fate Point).

75
(order #6167550)

ChaSES
Chases are the staple of many thrillers, be they on foot, riding an
animal, car chases or dogfights in the sky. The key to enjoyable
chases is that they arent all about speed. In a straight race the
faster person, animal or vehicle will win but that sort of situation
should almost never happen.

Chase Conflicts
Chases play out like any other conflict, with one or two small
differences. The gamemaster should regulate the flow of the action
using the following pattern:
1.
2.
3.
4.

Declare Difficulty for Exchange

Chased Character makes Test
Pursuer Makes Test to Attack or Performs a Maneuver
New round, until Chase ends

Declare Difficulty for Exchange

At the beginning of each exchange in a chase (regardless of
initiative) the chased characters player declares a Difficulty of his
choice, and describes what complicated and dangerous maneuver
hes performing that this Difficulty matches.

Chased Character Makes Test

The player of the character being chased then makes an appropriate
Skill roll against the declared Difficulty. The Skill used is dependent
upon the means of locomotion:

Athletics for a chase on foot

Drive for a car chase or in watercraft
Pilot for a chase in aircraft
Survival for chases on horses or similar mounts

This Skill is modified by the Speed of the vehicle or mount if

appropriate (see p. 88).
If the Skill Test succeeds, the character pulls it off, but if he fails,
it goes less well than plannedthe character, vehicle or animal

76
(order #6167550)

C h a p t e r

c H A S E S

9
C h a S E S

gets injured or slips out of control and suffers Stress equal to the
number of shifts the player rolled below the Difficulty (as if the
character had failed a Defense roll in a physical conflict).

Pursuer Makes Test to attack

Next, the player of the pursuing character (see below if there is more
than one pursuer) rolls against the same Difficulty. If successful, he
takes no Stress and inflicts Stress to the fleeing characters person,
vehicle or animal according to the shifts on the roll, just as if making
an attack.
This represents getting close and grabbing at the fleeing character,
slamming bumpers, firing some shots, forcing the prey into difficult
terrain or otherwise making trouble.
If the pursuer fails the test, he suffers Stress just like the chased
character would.

Pursuer Performs a Maneuver

Alternately, if the pursuer is not looking to damage the fleeing
character or his ride / mount, he may roll for a Maneuver (see
Maneuvers on p. 50). If successful the Maneuver succeeds.
If he fails, the character, his vehicle or his mount takes Stress as if
failing a Defense roll; overzealousness or poor driving has had him
collide with a nurses trolley, sideswipe a vegetable stand, or rip up
his tires on a tight turn.

Ending the Chase

The above sequence of events repeats for each exchange until
eventually one party or the other will be Taken Out, and at that
point the chase concludes. If the pursuer is Taken Out, the fleeing
character escapes, if the pursuer is the one left standing he has
captured his prey.

Multiple Vehicle Chases

The above chase conflict rules work well when one character is
chasing another, however often chases are a lot more crazy than
thatits a lucky hero who is only pursued by only one vehicle!

77
(order #6167550)

Multiple vehicle chases usually use the Minions rules (see p. 69),
with each car equating to a minion, and all of the pursuers acting as
a single unit making a single roll. If theres a named pursuer with a
handful of unnamed companions, the minion vehicles attach to the
named leader normally.
However, if there are a lot of carssay you have a named pursuer
who has 10 minionsits a little hard (and anticlimactic) to have
all of the vehicles on the field at once. When you look at movies and
the like, the usual pattern is that a few cars show up in pursuit, they
crash and new cars come in to take their place, and this process
repeats until there are no more reinforcements.
With that in mind, when you want to play out a more extended
chase that has this kind of pacing, the Chase Scenes rules become
appropriate.

Chase Scenes
Chase scenes occur when the players are being pursued by a
large enemy force that appears in waves. A chase scene is made
up of a number of Chase Conf licts, with the main villain or
henchman (a named character) staying out of the chase usually
until the last conflict.
Over the course of the chase, the pursuing minions come at the
player sequentially, with a new minion coming in as a prior one is
Taken Out. This continues for the duration of the chase until the
named pursuer is out of minions, at which point, she enters the fray
and the chase is then resolved as a final Chase Conflict.
Because for much of the chase scene the named pursuer is not on
the field, the minions never attach, so they use their own Quality,
which is often to the fleeing characters benefit. In return for this,
the pursuing villain is given a few tricks to balance the scales.
Players, being heroes, dont usually use these rules, since they are
potent individuals of action, however if any PC has Minions it might
be suitable to have him be the named pursuer.

78
(order #6167550)

C h a p t e r

c H A S E S

9
At the beginning of a scene, the gamemaster-controlled named
pursuer is given a certain number of points, which represent the
total value of the pursuit.

C h a S E S

assign Pursuers Chase Points

Table: Chase Points

Points
5
10
20

Type of Chase Scene

A short chase
A major feature of the adventure
A climactic marathon of a chase

The baseline use of this value is to determine how many minions

the pursuing character has. Each minion costs a number of points
based on its value.

Purchase Minions
At the start of the chase, the gamemaster can spend as many
points as she wants (up to the total value of the pursuit) in order
to buy Minions for the named pursuer. Higher Quality Minions
cost more points.
Table: Minion Chase Point Cost
Points per Minion
1
2
3

Minion Quality
Average (+1)
Fair (+2)
Good (+3)

She can choose to have all of these minions go after the characters
from the start or she can hold some of them in reserve (in which
case the reserve vehicles enter the chase one by one, replacing
individual minions that have been Taken Out).
Also, at any time there are no pursuing vehicles (i.e. all the minions
on the field of play have been Taken Out), the gamemaster can
spend points to add a single additional pursuing vehicle, which
immediately enters the chase.
The gamemaster may not wish to spend all these points on Minions
though, some may be kept back to pay for Tricks (see below).

79
(order #6167550)

Tricks
The gamemaster may spend 1 point per exchange for any of the
following effects:
Reinforcements
This trick allows the pursuing character to add multiple Minions at
once. By spending one point, the gamemaster is allowed to spend
additional points (up to half the remaining total) on purchasing
additional Minions, which are immediately added to the field. These
vehicles must all be of the same Quality.
Road Hazard
The pursuers have managed to get someone ahead of the fleeing
character who launches an attack! The attack uses the named
characters Leadership Skill as the attack value, reflecting how well
planned and coordinated the effort is.
Other pursuing vehicles do not need to defend against this
attack, since in theory, at least, theyre aware that the hazard is
forthcoming. This is one of the main tools the villain may use to
offset the loss of not involving herself directly.
Shotgun!
One of the pursuing Minions is able to make a ranged attack at the
fleeing character in addition to simply pursuing. For example, a
vehicle has someone with a gun in the passenger seat.
Any time the fleeing character takes Stress, it is increased by one as
long as this Minion is still on the field and able to shoot.
The Last Pursuer
If the pursuing villain is not going to join the fight herself, she can
try to end the chase with one last, tougher-than-usual Minion. This
is the last ability the pursuer can use, and costs all remaining chase
points (minimum of 1). If the Last Pursuer trick is used, the villain
herself cannot subsequently join the chase.
The last pursuer is always more impressive than the previous
minions. Perhaps the car is big and armored, sleek and black, or
maybe its something completely unexpected, like a biplane. The
Last Pursuer is treated as a Good (+3) Minion, but with one extra
box of Stress capacity for each point spent beyond the minimum.

80
(order #6167550)

c H A P t E r

c H A S E S

+3 Stress Boxes
+1 to Athletics, Drive, Pilot or Survival Rolls

C h a S E S

It also has one other benefit from this list:

Armed (the Last Pursuer is always treated as having the

Shotgun! Effect).
1 point of armor (reducing Stress taken by 1)
Alternate Movementthe pursuer can move in a way the
fleeing character cannot (such as flying) enabling him to
avoid most hazards. The pursuer may elect to automatically
succeed at a chase Skill roll, at the expense of inflicting no
Stress on the fleeing character. The pursuer must only roll if a
hazard is described that forces him to respond.

Dramatic Entrance
This is the moment when the named pursuer reveals herself, and
begins the end of the chase. If the gamemaster has used The Last
Pursuer trick already, this option is off the table.
This costs all the pursuers remaining points (minimum 1) and
triggers a Road Hazard trick for the fleeing vehicle, as the pursuer
appears in a colorful and hopefully hazardous way.
The stats of the pursuers vehicle or mount (if appropriate) depend
on the pursuer, and if she does not have a signature vehicle or
mount, she may use the same rules as The Last Pursuer, above,
replacing the minion Quality with her own Skill.
Once the pursuer is out of points and there are no pursuers left, the
fleeing vehicle finally escapes.

Passengers
Whether in a simple Chase Conflict or in a fully fleshed out Chase
Scene, player characters not directly involved in the chase (e.g. who
are passengers in a car) may still be able to help out.
Each exchange, one passenger may assist the driver, provided he
has the means to do so. This allows him to contribute to the chase,
as long as he finds a way to describe it, be it shooting at the pursuers

81
(order #6167550)

(Guns), pushing a crate out the back (Might), or just shouting look
out! when dramatically appropriate (Alertness).
The passenger rolls his Skill while the driver rolls his Drive as
usual, and the driver may use the higher of the two results. There
is a limit though!
The same passenger may not help
two exchanges in a row.
Note that the Skill Test only aids the driver, it does not have any
other effectfor instance, a passenger who is shooting does not
get normal attack results, just the ability to let the driver choose
between the two Test results.
This said, by dint of being passengers in the same vehicle, all
characterseven those not able to roll in that exchangemay offer
to spend Fate Points out of their own pool on behalf of the driver, so
long as they supply a bit of colorful dialogue, e.g., Alleyway ahead!
Furthermore, theres nothing saying that characters along for the
ride cant be doing other things that dont contribute directly to the
chase. While they can only act against the pursuers by partnering
with the driver as described above, theres nothing to say that
your car chase cant feature the Academics guy in the back seat
furiously trying to read through the book the heroes just stole from
the villains lair just in case the guys minions catch up with them
and the book returns to its owner.
These rules allow chases to be resolved quickly and also focus
the chase experience around the person in the drivers seat, the
characters shtick of being good at driving gets backed up.

Chase Example
Back on p. 24 we saw the suspect Jimmy make a break for it when
confronted by Trevor Maples in a pubs backroom. Due to a Compel
Trevor only has two exchanges to finish the chase.
Jimmy is a named character with Fair (+2) Athletics and a Physical
Stress Track of 5 boxes.
Sarah (playing the fleeing Jimmy) declares the Difficulty for the first
exchange at Fair (+2) describing how Jimmy bursts into the bar and

82
(order #6167550)

c H A P t E r

c H A S E S

9
C h a S E S

attempts to push his way through the crowd of drinkers. Sarah makes
an Athletics Skill Test and succeeds with a Good result.
David then gets to roll for Trevor, defaulting to a Mediocre (+0)
Athletics Rating. Unfortunately even with a roll of +1 he fails with only
an Average result. Trevor suffers a point of Stress for failing the Test
by 1 shift; David describes how he stumbles over a stool and crashes
into a customer carrying a tray of drinks.
Sarah declares a Difficulty of Good (+3) for the next exchange as she
describes Jimmy trying to shake off pursuit by dodging between traffic
and cross the busy road outside. She rolls badly, a Poor (1) result
meaning Jimmy suffers 4 Stress Points, one short of being Taken Out!
A taxi screeches to a halt too late, hitting Jimmy hard and sending him
reeling into the gutter.
David sees his chance and invokes his Haunted by wifes death
in a hit & run accident Aspect to have had the foresight to station
traffic officers outside with orders to stop traffic if the suspect fled,
fearful of innocents being hurt. Confident his men will have done this,
Trevor pursues Jimmy into the road. David rolls a +2, increased to a
Great (+4) result from the Aspect Invocation, succeeding with 1 shift,
inflicting 1 Stress on Jimmy leaving him Taken Out.
Trevor trots across the street and drops his weight onto the bloodied
Jimmy as he struggles to his feet. Between gasps and wheezes Trevor
announces Youre nicked!

83
(order #6167550)

10

EQuIPMENT
Melee Weapons

The table below specifies the Stress Bonus and Cost

Difficulty for several melee weapons. The Stress Bonus adds
to the shifts of a successful attack to determine the amount of
Stress inflicted upon the target.

Ranged Weapons
A number of ranged weapons are summarized in the Ranged
Weapons table, the Stress Bonus, Range in Zones and Cost Difficulty
are shown.

ammunition
Generally, ammunition limits are not given much concern in a
FreeFATE game, it is assumed characters carry extra ammunition
and reload appropriately.
However, running out of ammunition can occasionally add drama
to a scene. Running out of ammunition is a legitimate Compel for a
character with gun-related Aspects, but even more, its an excellent
first Consequence (or even a Concession if the Conflict is primarily
being fought with guns).
Having a foe run out of ammunition could also be a result of a
maneuver; for example using Athletics to run all over the place,
drawing fire and getting the bad guys to expend their ammunition.
Table: Melee Weapons
Weapon
Fists
Knife*
Sword
Hand Axe
Battle Axe
Club or Staff
Whip **
Stun Baton***

84

Stress Bonus
+0
+1
+2
+2
+3
+2
+1
+0

Cost Difficulty
Not Applicable
Average (+1)
Fair (+2)
Average (+1)
Fair (+2)
Average (+1)
Fair (+2)
Good (+3)

*A knife may also be thrown at a target 1 Zone away.

**Whips may be used to attack foes in an adjacent zone at
the expense of a 1 penalty to the Weapons Test.
**If a foe is struck by a Stun Baton any Stress inflicted
applies to both his Physical & Composure Stress Tracks.

(order #6167550)

c H A P t E r

1 0

automatic Fire
R a nged weapon s c apable of automatic fire
are particularly useful
for performing suppression and covering fire.
Such weapons gain a +1
bonus to perform Block
Actions (see p. 54) using
the Guns Skill.

E Q u I P M E n t

10
Accessories are represented by Aspects of the weapon that can be
invoked, compelled and tagged just like any other Aspect. Some
sample ways to use these Aspects are provided.
Laser Sight
Cost Difficulty: Good
Invoke: Gain a +2 bonus on a Guns Test
Tag: Roll your Alertness instead of Athletics for a Defense roll (you
see the red dot on you and dive for cover)
Compel: Cause a hidden sniper to be spotted

E Q u I P M E N T

Ranged Weapon accessories

Silencer
Cost Difficulty: Fair
Invoke: Be able to use a gun while using Stealth
Tag: Gain a +2 bonus on a Fists Test to perform the Disarm Maneuver
on the silenced-gun toting foe (youve got something to grab)
Compel: Cause the weapon to get caught in clothing when being drawn

Armor
Armor can absorb a certain amount of Stress inflicted as part of an
attack, sparing the wearer from having to suffer that Stress. If an
attacker gets a successful hit then the shield or armor value is deducted
from the total Stress inflicted (including any weapon Stress Bonus).
Table: Ranged Weapons
Weapon
Stress Bonus Range (Zones)
Bow
+1
2
Crossbow*
+2
2
Musket*
+4
2
Hand Gun
+2
1
SMG**
+3
2
Sniper Rifle
+4
4
Assault Rifle**
+3
3
Shotgun
+4
2
Taser***
+0
1
Energy Pistol
+4
1
Energy Rifle
+5
4
Shuriken
+0
1

Cost Difficulty
Average (+1)
Fair (+2)
Good (+3)
Good (+3)
Great (+4)
Superb (+5)
Great (+4)
Good (+3)
Good (+3)
Superb (+5)
Fantastic (+6)
Average (+1)

*These weapons have an Aspect of Slow to load that can be tagged by targets to their benefit.
**These weapons are capable of automatic fire, see above.
***If a foe is struck by a Taser any Stress inflicted applies to both his Physical & Composure Stress Tracks.
Stress Bonus is for targets in the same zone, the bonus drops by 1 point for each zone of range after that.

(order #6167550)

85

To absorb additional Stress, armor and shields can take one or

more Consequences reflecting damage to the actual worn armor.
Consequences taken on armor can, of course, be tagged for bonuses
or for effect by attackers.
A Major Consequence for Plate Armor may be Badly dented, which
could be tagged to help land a blow against the armored opponent
(the dent funneling the blow, rather than deflecting it) or compelled
to impede the armored person from sprinting.
Once a piece of armor has suffered its maximum number of
Consequences it is also considered Taken Out, and no longer absorbs
Stress. Consequences can be repaired by qualified Engineers.
Trevor Maples is taking part in a police raid on an illegal drugs factory
and is wearing a Stab Vest.
Unexpectedly he gets attacked by a worker wielding a syringe (+1
Stress Bonus). Davids defense roll for Trevor fails by 2 shifts meaning
Trevor would suffer 3 Physical Stress (2 shifts + 1 Stress Bonus).
However the Stab Vest will absorb 1 point of Stress leaving Trevor
to only suffer 2 points. However, knowing that Trevor is being
attacked with a syringe (which contains goodness knows what)
David elects to take a Minor Consequence to the Stab Vest, meaning
it absorbs all of the Stress (1 for its inherent armor bonus and 2 for
the Minor Consequence).
Table: Armor

Leather
Chain Mail

Stress
Absorbed
0
1*

Plate Mail

2*

Stab Vest
Kevlar Vest

1
2

Assault Vest

Assault Suit

Armor

86
(order #6167550)

Consequences
1Minor
1Minor
1Major
1Minor
1Major
1Severe
1Minor
1Minor
1Major
1Minor
1Major
1Severe
1Minor
1Major
1Severe
1Extreme

*Also acts as a penalty to Athletics & Stealth Tests.

c H A P t E r

1 0

E Q u I P M E n t

Cost
Difficulty
Fair (+2)
Great (+4)
Superb (+5)

Fantastic (+6)
Great (+4)
Superb (+5)

Fantastic (+6)

10

Explosives

E Q u I P M E N T

This leaves the stab vest Taken Out and indeed a hindrance with
David selecting the Consequence of Torn and twisted. David still
thinks it is worth it though!

The table below lists a few example explosives along with ratings
for Complexity, Area, Force, the type of Fuse and Cost Difficulty.
Rules for using explosives are provided on p. 64.

Fuses
The fuse determines when an explosive goes off.
Timer
The explosive detonates after a predefined time. A crude timer (e.g.
fuse wire) may not be 100% accurate; the number of exchanges is
modified by a dice roll (i.e. it may detonate up to 5 exchanges early
or late). Grenades detonate after 1 exchange.
On Demand
The explosive detonates on demand, either by use of a remote
switch or radio trigger.

Vehicles
Vehicles are vital tools for numerous people and may be important
to a story. Vehicles have three attributes, their Type (Pedestrian,
Mount, Car or Aircraft), Speed (the top speed of the vehicle) and
Stress Capacity (the amount of damage the vehicle can sustain
Table: Explosives
Type

Force

Complexity

Area

Fuse

Military Grade Legendary (+8) Epic (+7)

Home Made

Superb (+5)

Superb (+5)

Mining
Explosive
Plastic
Explosive
Grenade

Fantastic (+6)

Fantastic (+6)

Epic (+7)

Fantastic (+6)

Fantastic (+6)

Superb (+5)

Timer or On
Demand
Timer
(crude)
Timer or On
Demand
Timer or On
Demand
Timer
(1 exchange)

Cost
Difficulty
Epic (+7)
Great (+4)
Superb (+5)
Fantastic
(+6)
Good (+3)

87
(order #6167550)

before being Taken Out). Vehicles of Named Characters and

Companions may also take up to three Consequences.
The Type of a vehicle is mostly relevant to understand the value of
its Speed. The Speed value is not absolute, but rather indicative of
how fast the vehicle is for the Type of vehicle it is.
An Average Speed of a Car is much faster than an Average Speed
for a Pedestrian, but slower than an Average Speed of an Aircraft.
Speed comes into play for simple contests of which vehicle is faster
(roll Speed vs. Speed, modified by respective Drive or Pilot skills as
appropriate) but for anything more complex, the chase rules (see p.
76) may be more appropriate in which case the Drive or Pilot Skill
is modified by the Speed of the vehicle.

Mixed Types
Occasionally you may find that a chase involves parties in different
Types of vehicles, or where one participant is on foot or riding a horse.
The normal rules for resolving chases apply in this case. The party
using the slower mode of transport suffers a penalty, however.
Table: Vehicles
Vehicle

Type

Speed

On Foot

Pedestrian

Athletics Skill Rating

Bicycle

Stress
Capacity

Cost
Difficulty

Average (+1)

Pedestrian

Athletics Skill Rating + 1

As
Character
1

Camel
Elephant
Horse
Motorcycle, Offroad
Motorcycle, Racing
Car, Saloom
Car, Sports
Car, Limousine
Van
Truck
Speedboat
Yacht
Cruise Ship
Helicopter
Propeller Plane

Mount
Mount
Mount
Car
Car
Car
Car
Car
Car
Car
Car
Car
Car
Aircraft
Aircraft

Average (+1)
Mediocre (+0)
Good (+3)
Good (+3)
Great (+4)
Good (+3)
Great (+4)
Fair (+2)
Fair (+2)
Average (+1)
Great (+4)
Fair (+2)
Average (+1)
Fair (+2)
Good (+3)

2
4
2
1
1
4
2
5
4
6
4
6
10
2
2

Fair (+2)
Fair (+2)
Fair (+2)
Good (+3)
Groartig (+4)
Good (+3)
Great (+4)
Superb (+5)
Good (+3)
Superb (+5)
Great (+4)
Fantastic (+6)
Epic (+7)
Fantastic (+6)
Fantastic (+6)

Fighter Jet
Passenger Aircraft

Aircraft
Aircraft

Great (+4)
Good (+3)

4
6

Epic (+7)
Epic (+7)

88
(order #6167550)

c H A P t E r

1 0

E Q u I P M E n t

10

A Pedestrian suffers a 2 penalty against a Mount and a 4 penalty

against a Car. A Pedestrian automatically loses to an Aircraft.
A Mount suffers a 2 penalty against a Car and a 4 penalty against
an Aircraft.
A Car suffers a 2 penalty against an Aircraft.

E Q u I P M E N T

A character suffers a 2 penalty against a vehicle of the next Type

up, and a 4 penalty against an opponent in a vehicle Type two
steps up from him. A Pedestrian automatically loses to an Aircraft.

These modifiers allow chases to be performed with mixed Types of

vehicles, however the gamemaster is free to limit such chases even
further, perhaps only allowing mixed chases to occur for a limited
number of exchanges, for example five exchanges if the difference
in Type is only one step, and three exchanges if the difference is two
steps. If the chase is not resolved within this time frame the faster
Type of vehicle simply out paces the slower Type.
When taking off, an Aircraft is effectively considered a Car Type,
allowing Pedestrians a chance to catch up to a fleeing plane.

Workplaces
In order to conduct research, experiments or to repair something,
people need workplaces and the tools that go along with them.
There are a number of different types of workplace, depending
upon the Skill being used, as shown in the table below.
Each workplace has a Quality Rating that determines its usefulness
and also how much it costs. The Cost Difficulty of a workplace is two
steps higher than its Quality Rating, e.g. a Good Quality Laboratory
has a Cost Difficulty of Superb.
Workplace Cost Difficulty = Quality +2
The rules for conducting Research, and the required Quality Rating
of a Library or Laboratory, are detailed on p. 31.
For repairs the Quality Rating of the workplace must equal the
Difficulty of the repair minus two, so repairing a Saloon Car
requires an Average (+1) Workshop; the Difficulty for repairs being

89
(order #6167550)

Table: Workplaces
Skill
Academics
Science
Science
Engineering
Mysteries
Mysteries
Mysteries

Work
Academic Research
Lab Work
Medical Aid
Repairing
Arcane Research
Artificing
Alien Research

Workplace
Libarary
Lab
Med Facility
Workshop
Arcane Library
Arcane Workshop
Alien Archive

Good (+3); based upon the higher of its Speed and Cost Difficulty
(see the Engineering Skill on p. 34).

Creating Items
For creating items using the Engineering Skill (or the Mysteries Skill
for arcane and magical items) an appropriate workshop is needed.
Creating an item requires four things:
1. A workshop with a
Table: Creating Items
Quality Rating equal to
Cost Difficulty Base Time
the items Cost Difficulty.
Mediocre (+0) A week
2. A successful Resources
Average (+1)
A few weeks
Skill Test with a
Fair (+2)
A month
Difficulty of the items
Good (+3)
A few months
Cost Difficulty 2 in order
Great (+4)
A season
to purchase materials
Superb (+5)
Half a year
and pay for any extra
Fantastic (+6) A year
labour required.
Epic (+7)
A few years
3. A successful Engineering
or Mysteries Skill Test with a Difficulty of the items Cost
Difficulty.
4. A Base Time determined by the Cost Difficulty of the item as
shown on the Table: Creating Items.

Damaging Equipment
Normally items have no Stress Capacity; any damage inflicts a
Consequence. The number of Consequences an item can suffer is
determined by the gamemasters estimation of the durability of the
item. Once all of an items Consequences have been suffered it is
considered unusable.

90
(order #6167550)

c H A P t E r

1 0

E Q u I P M E n t

10

Miscellaneous Equipment

E Q u I P M E N T

Fragile Items can suffer 1 Consequence

Durable Items can suffer 2 Consequences
Toughened Items can suffer 3 Consequences

Table: Miscellaneous Equipment

Item
Mobile Phone
Computer, Laptop or Tablet
Camera
Audio Transceiver (Radio)
Camcorder
Caltrops*
Handcuffs
Lock Pick Gun
Binoculars
Concealable Microphone
Parabolic Microphone
Mini-Tracer
GPS Receiver
Flashlight
Night Vision Goggles***
Camouflage Clothing****
Gas Mask
SCUBA Gear

Cost Difficulty
Average (+1)
Fair (+2)
Average (+1)
Fair (+2)
Fair (+2)
Average (+1)
Average (+1)
Good (+3)
Average (+1)
Fair (+2)
Fair (+2)
Fair (+2)
Fair (+2)
Mediocre (+0)
Fair (+2)
Average (+1)
Fair (+2)
Fair (+2)

* +1 to Block Actions preventing movement.

** +2 to Burglary Tests to pick mechanical locks.
***Negate darkness related penalties.
**** +1 bonus to Stealth Tests if appropriate.

91
(order #6167550)

11

ChaRaCTER
DEVElOPMENT

Characters in a FreeFATE game can change and improve

over time. The rules below indicate how this development is
reflected in game mechanics.
Some development occurs at the end of each gaming session, while
other more significant improvements occur only at the end of a
particular story, which may involve several gaming sessions.

End of Session
At the end of each session each player character is awarded one
Skill Point to add a new Skill or improve an existing one. If everyone
agrees, the gamemaster can award two Skill points to a player who
did something spectacular in the session.

adding a New Skill

1 Skill Point allows a player to add a new Skill to his character at a
Rating of Average (+1).

Improving a Skill
1 Skill Point allows an existing Skill to be improved by one step, for
example, a Fair (+2) Alertness Skill can become Good (+3).
However, there is one stipulation: the player must maintain the
pyramid Skill structure; each Rating tier must have at least one
more Skill than the tier above. For example, to have 3 Good Skills, a
character must have at least 4 Fair Skills & 5 Average Skills.
Trevor Maples has the following skills:
Great (+4): Investigation
Good (+3): Contacting, Intimidation
Fair (+2): Alertness, Leadership, Resolve
Average (+1): Drive, Guns, Science, Stealth
Before he can increase Trevors Alertness from Fair (+2) to Good (+3)
David first needs to gain an extra two Skills at Fair (+2) which in turn

92
(order #6167550)

c H A P t E r

1 1

c H A r A c t E r

d E v E L o P M E n t

11

Great (+4)
Good (+3)
Fair (+2)

Great (+4)
Good (+3)
Fair (+2)
Average (+1)

DEVElOPMENT

Average (+1)

ChaRaCTER

requires an extra two Skills at Average (+1). Thus his Skill pyramid can
change as shown below when he improves Alertness.

Other Session Development

In addition to being awarded and spending Skill Points, at the end
of each session each player can do one of the following as long as
it does not result in any Stunt prerequisites no longer being met.

Replace an aspect
Players may change an Aspect, either because it is not working out
as envisioned, or because it makes sense based upon the characters
experience in the previous adventure.
David elects to change Trevors Aspect of A policemans notebook is
his greatest weapon because it isnt seeing much use and Sarah is
finding it a difficult Aspect to Compel. David chooses Alison is always
there for me as a replacement Aspect.
A few sessions later David has been playing through Trevors fight
against the demon drink, and thus changes his Slave to the demon
drink Aspect to Determined to stay on the wagon.

Swap adjacent Skills in the Skill Pyramid

A player can swap the Rating of a Skill with that of a Skill with a
Rating one tier higher or lower.

93
(order #6167550)

Trevor has been sneaking around a lot more than he has been leading
a team of police investigators, so David elects to swap his Fair (+2)
Leadership Skill with his Average (+1) Stealth Skill. Leadership thus
gets downgraded to Average (+1) and Stealth gets upgraded to Fair
(+2).
A Skill with a Rating of Average (+1) can also be dropped completely
and replaced with a new Skill at Average (+1). In this instance, an
Average Skill is effectively being swapped with a Mediocre Skill.

Change one Stunt

A player can remove one Stunt and replace it with another, subject
to any prerequisites.
Trevor has relocated to another city as part of the ongoing story, so
David decides to remove the Concentration Criminal Snitches Stunt
and chooses to create a new Ally Stunt for Trevor instead.

End of Story
Choose one of the following options:

add a Stunt
A character can gain a Stunt (prerequisites must be met) at the
expense of reducing his Fate Point Refresh Rate by one; if this would
reduce the Refresh Rate to zero, a Stunt cannot be added.

add an aspect
A new Aspect can be added. The maximum number of Aspects a
character may have equals his Fate Point Refresh Rate plus the
number of Stunts he has.

Increase Fate Point Refresh Rate

A characters Fate Point Refresh Rate can be increased by one. This
provides more Fate Points at the beginning of an adventure and
increases the limit on the number of Aspects and Stunts.

94
(order #6167550)

c H A P t E r

1 1

c H A r A c t E r

d E v E L o P M E n t

FreeFATE Magic presents two different types of

magic: sorcery and summoning.

12

M a G I C

MaGIC

12

Sorcery deals with spell casting: the manipulation of

magical energy to achieve numerous effects ranging from
bolts of eldritch energy to throw at foes to spells to unlock a door.

Summoning deals with the magical rites that conjure up spirits, elementals or even demons! This type of magic relies on achieving ones
ends through bargaining with extraplanar beings to do your will.

Power Aspects
When creating a character who will use sorcery, summoning or
a little of both, the player must define the source of their magical
power and frame that in the form of one of their characters Aspects.
As with all Aspects it is always a good idea to make this Power
Aspect colorful in its description; rather than simply Wizard, a
Power Aspect could be Wizard of the Red Cabal, Apprentice
to Kryanin, Sorcerer of Shadow or even Modern day Merlin
wannabe!

The Mysteries Skill

The most important skill of a magic-using character is likely going
to be the Mysteries skill. As stated in FreeFATE, the Mysteries skill
provides knowledge of the supernatural, the occult and psychic
phenomena.
This skill, along with an appropriate Power Aspect, is enough
to provide minor magical abilities such as aura reading (using
Mysteries to make Assessments) and a sixth sense (allowing a
magician to use Mysteries instead of Alertness to notice magical
items, effects or beings).
Mysteries can also be used to enchant magical items in the same
manner the Engineering skill can create and repair mundane items.
A selection of magical items are described in Magic Items on p. 105.

95
(order #6167550)

Finally, for those magicians who choose the path of sorcery, the
Mysteries skill is the key measure of their magical power, and the
skill used to cast spells.

Other Skills
In addition to the Mysteries skill several other skills may prove
useful to a magic-using character:
Academics: For the magic user whose source of power is
thaumaturgical equations and formulae, this skill may complement
attempts to research new spells or identify magical items or effects.
Art: If a character practices sympathetic magic; the ability to
influence something based on its relationship or resemblance to
another thing, then the ability to create paintings or dolls may be
useful.
Empathy: Knowledge is power, and so the ability to uncover hidden
Aspects of a person using Empathy can be very useful to a magician.
Intimidation: For a summoner, a good Intimidation skill can be
useful as a fallback plan should a bargain with a summoned spirit
go awry.
Resolve: A strong willpower can sometimes be the best defense
when a character is on the receiving end of some unpleasant magic.
Survival: For the more primal magic users, such as shamans and
druids, a good Survival skill can potentially complement attempts
to get nature to aid you.

Sorcery
A character with an appropriate Power Aspect and the Mysteries
skill can gain access to the power of spell casting by taking the
Sorcery Stunt detailed below. In addition, other new Stunts can
provide extra abilities in the use of Sorcery.

96
(order #6167550)

c H A P t E r

1 2

M A G I c

12

Sorcery

Requires an appropriate Power Aspect

M a G I C

Sorcery Stunts
This Stunt allows a character to use the Mysteries skill in place of
any other skill on a single roll, even if the usual tools and equipment
for the skill being replaced are not available. However there is a
cost.
The price to pay for using Sorcery is either a Fate Point or taking
two time increments longer to perform the task; effects that would
normally take A few minutes take Half an hour, while tasks that
would only take An afternoon take A few days.
If the extra time cost is chosen rather than spending a Fate Point and
the test is successful, regardless of how many shifts are assigned to
reducing the base time of the action, the actual duration cannot be
reduced below A minute (two steps above the default time period
of A few moments).
In addition to the Fate Point or time cost, the magic user must also
perform an act that focuses and channels the magical energies;
such channelling acts have both a verbal component (incantations,
chanting, singing) and a physical component (gesturing, dancing,
performing a martial kata and so forth).
These acts of focusing make it fairly clear that the character is
performing an act of magic. The use of Sorcery will be recognized
with a successful Alertness or Mysteries test with a Difficulty of
Mediocre (+0) plus 1 per zone the observer is away from the magic
user; any Barrier ratings also add to this Difficulty.
The Sorcery Stunt also allows a character to use their own
Mysteries skill to resist, or even perform a block against, uses of
Sorcery performed by other characters.
Susan is playing in a fantasy game as a Sorcery-using character called
Bronwyn, who has the power Aspect of Made an infernal pact for
eldritch power. Bronwyn is adventuring with a thief called Sullar
and a warrior named Hadrak when the party is ambushed by vile
serpent cultists.
During the battle Susan wants to use Sorcery to conjure bolts of
shrieking ghost energy to strike at a group of cultists (three Average

97
(order #6167550)

(+1) minions). Susan elects to use Mysteries to replace the Guns skill to
make a ranged attack (assuming a range of two zones), even though
she has no ranged weapon.
Normally firing a ranged weapon takes A few moments to draw
a bead on the target and fire, however using sorcery Bronwyn would
require A minuteSusan cannot afford to take that amount of time
in the heat of battle and thus elects to spend a Fate Point so the attack
takes the normal amount of time.
Susan rolls the dice and adds the result of +1 to her Mysteries Skill
of Great (+4) getting a Superb (+5) Effort. This beats the Fair (+2)
Difficulty (Average minions with a +1 Quantity bonus) by 3 shifts
meaning 3 points of Stress (without a weapon there is no Stress Bonus)
taking out all three cultists!
Later in the adventure Bronwyn and Hadrak find themselves locked
in a cell by the city militia at the behest of a corrupted temple priest.
Without their companion Sullar to pick the lock of the cell door Susan
turns to Sorcery to help, having Mysteries replace Burglary.
The gamemaster states that picking the lock has a Good (+3)
Difficulty and would normally have a base time of A few minutes,
alas as Susan has no Fate Points to spend her attempt has a base
time of Half an hour.
Bronwyn begins her incantations and gestures and Susan rolls the
dice, amazingly she achieves a dice result of +3, which added to her
Mysteries skill gives an Effort of Epic (+7) and an Effect of 4 shifts!
Although 4 shifts would normally be enough to reduce a base time
of Half an hour down to Half a minute the restrictions of Sorcery
state the minimum actual time is A minute.
With a guard just down the corridor within earshot of Bronwyns
incantations, Hadraks player begins thinking of how his character
can best grab the guard and incapacitate him so Bronwyn can finish
her spell.
At the climax of the adventure the party confronts the high priest
of the serpent cult, himself a sorcerer. The high priest attempts to
use Sorcery to instill fear in Bronwyn replacing Intimidation with
Mysteries.
As this is a use of Sorcery the gamemaster allows Susan to resist
the maneuver with Bronwyns Mysteries skill instead of her inferior
Resolve skillsomething Susan would not be allowed to do against a
mundane use of the Intimidation skill.

98
(order #6167550)

c H A P t E r

1 2

M A G I c

12
Requires the Sorcery Stunt

This Stunt allows a sorcerer to spend a Fate Point to select and gain
the temporary use of a Benefit Stunt to enhance the casting of a
spell. Any prerequisites for the Benefit Stunt must be met.

M a G I C

Empowered Casting

This Stunt may be taken multiple times, allowing multiple Benefit

Stunts to be applied to a single use of Sorcery (spending a Fate Point
for each).
Bronwyn, Hadrak and Sullar have just released the village mayor
and his wife who were being held for ransom by a horde of goblin
bandits. Now wishing to sneak out of the goblin camp Alison wants
to use Bronwyns Mysteries skill in place of Stealth to help everyone
move unseen.
Sarah, the gamemaster, agrees stating that a single roll will be
enough to see the party get clear of the camp, but anything more will
require further Stealth tests and thus further spells.
Bronwyn has the Empowered Casting Stunt and so pays a Fate Point
to use Sorcery and another Fate Point to gain the temporary use of the
Hush Benefit Stunt (see p. 115).
Rolling a 1 on the dice, Alison spends another two Fate Points to
invoke her Made an infernal pact for eldritch power and tag
Sullars Never seen, never heard Aspect for a total +3 bonus. With
her Great (+4) Mysteries skill she achieves an Effort of Epic (+7).
Bronwyn and her four companions seem to fade from view becoming
almost invisible and they move unseen through the camp even as
several goblins alerted by Bronwyns chanting begin searching for
intruders.

Inscribe Glyph

Requires the Sorcery Stunt

The character may inscribe an arcane glyph onto an itemit must

be large enough to be reasonably visible and legibleand imbue it
with the power of a spell, allowing it to operate at a later time even
in the characters absence.
The nature of the spell, the skill being replaced and the manner
in which it must be used, must be defined at the time the glyph is
inscribed. Additional capabilitiessuch as communicating a small
piece of information across a distanceare entirely in keeping with

99
(order #6167550)

a scribed glyph. Fate Points or extra time are also spent at this time.
In addition, the activation trigger must be specified. By default
the trigger is a creature touching the glyph, however it can be the
detection of a specific event occurring within the vicinity of the
glyphuse the characters Mysteries skill in place of any Alertness
or other skill that would be used to detect such an event.
Once activated the glyph is only effective for a single significant roll
of the dice, however at the gamemasters option, the glyph might
continue to operate if its first roll is a failure; but on a success, it is
always used up and must be reset.

Rite of...

Requires the Sorcery Stunt

The character has practiced a particular use of Sorcery to the

point where it is second nature. No Fate Point or additional time
increments are necessary in order to perform this spell. The nature
of the rite, the skill being replaced by it and the manner in which the
skill must be used must be defined at the time this Stunt is taken.
The Rite of the Open Door allows Mysteries to replace Burglary for
purposes of unlocking (and locking) doors, chests, cupboards, etc. with
mechanical locks. It would not allow Mysteries to be used in place of
Burglary to disable alarms or to assess the security measures of a
location or object.
This Stunt may be taken multiple times, each Stunt relating to a
different spell.

Silent Casting

Requires the Sorcery Stunt

A character with this Stunt has learned to channel magical energies

without the need for the verbal acts that aid their focus.
This allows the character to use Sorcery even if they are gagged or
otherwise unable to speak. It also means that the act of Sorcery may
not be noticeable to anyone without line of sight to the sorcerer.

100
(order #6167550)

C h a p t e r

1 2

M A G I c

12
M a G I C

If the character has both this Stunt and the Still Casting Stunt then
the Mysteries or Alertness test for observers to recognise a spell
casting attempt has a base Difficulty of the sorcerers Mysteries
skill (rather than Mediocre (+0)).

Still Casting

Requires the Sorcery Stunt

A character with this Stunt has learned to channel magical energies

without the need for the physical acts that aid their focus.
This allows the character to use Sorcery even if they are bound or
otherwise unable to move. It also means that the act of Sorcery may
not be noticeable to anyone out of earshot of the sorcerer.
If the character has both this Stunt and the Silent Casting Stunt then
the Mysteries or Alertness test for observers to recognise a spell
casting attempt has a base Difficulty of the sorcerers Mysteries
skill (rather than Mediocre (+0)).

Summoning
As stated previously, the magical art of Summoning involves occult
rites that conjure up spirits, elementals or other supernatural
entities.
In a FreeFATE game, in order to be a summoner, a character should
have a Power Aspect and take one or more Ally Stunts with the
Summonable and Variable Summons Advances.
When the character attempts to summon an entity the player can
allocate the other Advances appropriately, allowing for anything
ranging from an intellectual imp to a horde of ravening zombies.
All such summoned entities should be given two Aspects to reflect
the manner in which they were conjured and their supernatural
form. For example, Mindless skeletons raised by necromantic
energy and Brittle husks immune to pain.

101
(order #6167550)

Summoning Stunts
Summon Greater Entity

Requires at least two combined Ally Stunts with the Summonable

Advance

For a Fate Point, you can summon creatures with a Quality equal to
or greater than your peak skill, and potentially with three or more
Stunts (two being the normal limit).
Such creatures will however try to break free of your control.
When first summoned and when the summoning character suffers
a Severe or Extreme Consequence the summoner must succeed on
a Mysteries or Resolve skill check with a Difficulty of the entitys
Quality or lose control of the entity.
If control is lost the spirit will normally vanish back to the plane
from which it came. However if it achieves spin on the control check,
or if the gamemaster wishes to compel the summoners Power
Aspect, the entity remains in the world for a brief time (a scene)
and causes chaos, often trying to destroy the one who summoned it!

Binding

Requires at least one Ally Stunt with the Summonable Advance

You can bind one or more creatures conjured in a single summoning

into an object, place, or to yourself, enabling them to last for more
than one scene. Make a Mysteries check with a Mediocre (+0)
Difficulty. Success means the spirit remains for An afternoon, with
each shift of effect increasing the time by one step on the Time
Increments table.
You can take multiple Binding Stunts, each relating to a separate
Ally Stunt (or combined Ally Stunts) with the Summonable Advance.
Bronwyn has branched out into the dark arts of summoning and
has gained two Ally Stunts, which Susan has combined together
and labeled Summoned Entities of the Netherworld. With the
Summonable and Variable Summons Advances as a given Susan has
five Advances to allocate each time Bronwyn conjures up a spirit
(taking one minute of time to do so).

102
(order #6167550)

C h a p t e r

1 2

M A G I c

12

kagravak, Spawn of the Plane of Fire

M a G I C

Example Summoned Creatures

Scope:
Quality:
Aspects:

Physical
Good (+3)
Bound by infernal powers
A being of fire and smoke
Skills:
Good (+3) Endurance, Fair (+2) Intimidation,
Average (+1) Deceit
Stunts:
Specialization Fiery Embrace: +2 bonus to attacks if
Kagravak can place a Grabbed Aspect on a foe.
Brawler
Stress:
(2 extra boxes for Endurance Skill)
Advances: Summonable, Variable Summons, Consequence,
Quality 2, Stunt 2

Selessiana, Succubus of the Fiend Pits

Scope:
Quality:
Aspects:
Skills:

Social
Great (+4)
Seductress for the infernal lords
Devilishly attractive
Great (+4) Deceit, Good (+3) Stealth, Fair (+2) Sleight
of Hand, Average (+1) Fists

Stress:
Advances: Summonable, Variable Summons, Communication,
Independent, Quality 3

horde of Gremlins
Scope:
Quality:
Quantity:
Aspects:

Physical
Average (+1)
5 groups of 3 (+1 bonus per group)
Small and nimble entities of chaos
The bane of technology
Stress:
(1 box per Minion)
Advances: Summonable, Variable Summons, Keeping Up,
Strength in Numbers 4

103
(order #6167550)

Magic Items
Magic items in a FreeFATE game are created using the Gadget
Stunt (see p. 112) describing the abilities of the Gadget as a result
of magic rather than technology.
The Magic Tech Advance is only required for capabilities that are
truly not able to be performed by even advanced technology for
the day, for example teleportation. Anything less and the magical
nature of the item is purely descriptive rather than an Advance.
If a player wishes their character to be able to craft magical items
they may wish to take the Universal Gadget Stunt a number of
times, allowing them to create new items each session.

Gadget Improvements
The following Gadget Improvements are only for use with magical
items.

Empowered Spell Casting

This Improvement allows the magical gadgets wielder to gain the
use of a single predefined Benefit Stunt to use in conjunction with
the casting of a spell, either a spell the wielder can cast or one the
gadget allows to be cast via the Spell Casting Improvement (see
below).
There is no Fate Point cost to gain the use of the Benefit Stunt
(unlike with the use of the Empowered Casting Stunt), however the
choice of Benefit Stunt must be predefined and cannot be altered.
Any prerequisites for the Benefit Stunt must be met by the wielder
of the magical gadget, or the gadget itself if possible.
Empowered Spell Casting may be taken a second time for a gadget
but this costs an additional two Improvements, rather than just one.

Spell Casting

This ability costs 2 Improvements

The item allows the wielder to cast a single specific type of spell
as if they had the Sorcery and Rite of... Sorcery Stunts. The wielder
uses their own Mysteries skill for the dice roll, but may default to
Mediocre (+0) if necessary.

104
(order #6167550)

C h a p t e r

1 2

M A G I c

12
M a G I C

The casting of this spell is considered a specific enough use that

an Upgrade Improvement can be used to provide a +2 bonus to the
Mysteries skill test.

Store of Energy
The magical item contains a charge of energy that can be used in
place of a Fate Point for purposes of using the Sorcery Stunt without
taking extra time, or when using the Empowered Casting Stunt (a
charge can also be used in place of any Fate Point that the chosen
Benefit Stunt may require). This Improvement can be taken up to
three times. These charges refresh when the characters Fate Points
refresh.

Example Magic Items

Magical Wand
A general purpose magical aid, this provides a +1 to use of the
Mysteries skill, and provides two charges of magical energy for
using Sorcery.
Improvements: Craftsmanship, Store of Energy 2

Orcs Bane Sword

A magically forged sword with a keen edge that is particularly
effective against orc foes. This is a sword with the Stress Bonus
increased to +3 and able to take 2 points of stress before suffering
a Consequence. Using the sword against orcs provides a +2 bonus
to the Weapons skill.
Improvements: Armed, Rugged, Upgrade

Cloak of Protection and healing

This item requires 2 Gadget Stunts to purchase

This cloak magically shields the wearer from harm absorbing

2 stress per attack. When placed over an injured ally it can heal
them; the wielder makes a Mysteries test with a +2 bonus against
a Difficulty of Mediocre (+0), every shift of Effect removes a point
of stress from the subject.
Improvements: Armored 2, Empowered Spell Casting (Medic
Stunt, the Upgrade is considered sufficient to meet the Medicine
Specialization requirement), Spell Casting, Upgrade.

105
(order #6167550)

Gloves of the Spider

With these gloves the wearer can climb surfaces he may not
normally be able to, using Mysteries with a +2 bonus instead of
Athletics. In addition, by spending a Fate Point, he may eliminate
the effects of all Difficulty modifiers for the climb resulting from
the environment.
Improvements: Spell Casting, Empowered Spell Casting (Human
Spider).

hat of Disguise
This item requires 2 Gadget Stunts to purchase

By donning this hat and concentrating for A few minutes the wearer
can change their physical appearance using Mysteries with a +2
bonus instead of Deceit. The character acts as if he had the Clever
Disguise & Mimicry Stunts.
Improvements: Spell Casting, Empowered Spell Casting 2 (Clever
Disguise, Mimicry), Upgrade.

106
(order #6167550)

C h a p t e r

1 2

M A G I c

Example Stunts

Below are listed a number of sample Stunts that

players may choose for their characters. These Stunts
usually relate to one particular Skill and players should
be encouraged to choose Stunts that relate to their characters peak
Skill to emphasize the niches their characters fill.

a P P E N D I x

13

aPPENDIx

13

Of course this isnt obligatory and a player may choose a Stunt

relating to a Skill which his character does not even have.
The table below summarizes the sample Stunts by associated Skill.

Table: Sample Stunts by Skill

Skill

Stunt

Skill

Stunt

Academics

Linguist
Photographic Memory
Walking Library

Guns

Long Shot
One Shot Left

Intimidation

Alertness

Danger Sense
Im On Top Of It
Ready for Anything

Nobody Moves!
Subtle Menace

Investigation

Lip Reading
Scene of the Crime

Leadership

Funding

Might

Body Toss
Wrestler

Mysteries

Psychic
Voices from Beyond
Words on the Wind

Pilot

Flawless Navigation
Flying Jock
Personal Aircraft

Rapport

Five Minute Friends

International

Resolve

Smooth Recovery
Steel Determination

Resources

Headquarters
Home Away From Home
Lair

Art

Commissions
Do You Know Who I Am?
Virtuoso

Athletics

Contortionist
Human Spider
Slippery

Burglary

Lock Master

Contacting

Walk the Walk

Deceit

Clever Disguise
Master of Disguise
Mimicry

Drive

Custom Ride
Defensive Driving
One Hand on the Wheel

Empathy

Cold Read
Ebb and Flow

Endurance

Feel the Burn

One Hit to the Body

Science

Medic

Gadget
Mister Fix-It
Thump of Restoration
Universal Gadget

Sleight of
Hand

Bump and Grab

Cool Hand

Stealth

Hush
Quick Exit

Survival

Creature Companion
Tracker

Weapons

Catch
Good Arm

Engineering

Fists

Brawler
Dirty Fighter

Gambling

Gambling Man
Winnings

107
(order #6167550)

Body Toss

Requires Wrestler

You know how to apply your strength in a fight to take people off
their feet. Whenever making a Throw or a Push maneuver (p. 53),
you require one less shift per zone than normal. Thus, to Throw an
average person one zone only 2 shifts would be required (rather
than 3) and only 5 shifts would be required to throw them two
zones (2 plus 3, rather than 3 plus 4).

Brawler
Youre at home in any big old burly brawl, with multiple opponents
and ideally some beer in you.
Whenever you are personally outnumbered in a fight (i.e., when
someone gets to attack you at a bonus due to a numerical advantage)
your defense rolls with Fists are at +1.
When fighting two or more minions, you deal one additional Stress
on a successful hit.

Bump and Grab

Your character is exceptionally skilled at taking advantage of
distractions in order to make a quick grab. You may spend a Fate
Point to make a simple Sleight of Hand attempt to do something
pick a pocket, palm an object, etc.as a free action.

Catch
When defending against a thrown object, if you are successful
enough to generate Spin on your defense, you may declare that you
are catching the item that was thrown at you, provided you have a
free hand and its something you could, practically speaking, catch
(so no catching, say, refrigerators, unless you have something truly
crazy going on in the Might department).

Clever Disguise
Normally, a character cannot create a disguise that will stand up to
intense scrutiny, i.e. use of the Investigation Skill (see p. 35). With
this Stunt, he may defend against Investigation (anything short of
physically trying to remove the disguise) with his full Deceit Skill.

108
(order #6167550)

C h a p t e r

1 3

A P P E n d I x

13

Cold Read
Normally, to use Empathy to get a read on someone (an Assessment)
it requires at least a few minutes of conversation, if not more.
Characters with this Stunt may do so after much less timetwo or
three steps faster on the Time Increments table (see p. 19).

a P P E N D I x

Furthermore, he may assemble disguises of this quality in a matter

of minutes, provided he has a well-equipped disguise kit on hand.

Commissions
Requires Virtuoso

Your works and performances are heavily sought out, and there are
those who will pay handsomely for it. Once per session, you may
use your Art Skill instead of Resources, representing a successful
past commission.

Contortionist
You can fit into and through spaces and shapes that no normal
human readily can. Normally, contorting tasks are impossible to
attempt, or at best default to a (non-existent) Contortion Skill rated
at Mediocre.
With this Stunt, you can use your full Athletics score instead,
and have rationale to attempt feats of contortion that are simply
unavailable to others.

Cool hand
A steady hand can be critical when things get hairy. This characters
hands never shake and never waver. Your character may ignore any
Difficulty increases from the environment when performing any
fine manual work (even if that fine manual work doesnt involve the
Sleight of Hand Skill, such as Burglary for lock picking, or Science
for surgical work).
Further, his steadiness minimizes other distractions and cuts
down on mistakes. Once per scene he may eliminate one single nonenvironmental penalty that affects his Sleight of Hand.

109
(order #6167550)

Creature Companion
Your character has cultivated a close companion from the animal
kingdom. This is an Ally Stunt, with a few changes and limitations.
Creature companions only operate within a Physical scope (i.e. are
sidekicks), and at least two of its Advances must be Quality and /
or Skilled.
Any Skilled Advances must be taken from a short list: Athletics,
Fists, Might, Stealth and Survival. You may take only one Skill
outside of that list, within reason, as based on the animal type.
A raccoon might have Sleight of Hand, representing its ability to
perform fine manipulation; a lion might have Intimidation (this is
unsubtle, and not considered a violation of the physical scope).
If the animal is of an appropriate size, this creature may be ridden
as a mount, at +1 to Survival. If the companion is a mount, such as
a horse, or a more exotic beast that has been persuaded to allow
you to ride it, you may use that mounts Athletics Skill instead of
Survival in order to ride it. Athletics would also be used to pour on
the speed when the rider is too busy to steer the animal himself.

Custom Ride
You own a land vehicle (no Resources Test necessary) that is special
and handles particularly well, providing a +1 bonus to any Drive
Tests.
Additionally, your vehicle has a little something extra, and you may,
once per session, spend a Fate Point and declare that the vehicle has
some extra device (such as an oil slick or caltrop dispenser) that will
allow you to perform maneuvers to impose appropriate Aspects on
any pursuers, e.g. Skidding Wildly or Shredded Tires.

Danger Sense
The character maintains a quick and easy awareness of ambushes
and other nasty surprisesperhaps preternaturally, perhaps
simply due to finely tuned mundane senses. Whenever ambushed,
the character is able to take a full defensive action, gaining a +2 on
his Defense roll, regardless of whether or not hes surprised (if he is
surprised, dropping his base Defense to Mediocre, this Stunt takes
his base Defense up to Fair).

110
(order #6167550)

C h a p t e r

1 3

A P P E n d I x

13
Youre good at keeping your vehicle in one piece. Whenever driving
in a chase (see p. 76), you may treat that exchanges Difficulty as if
it were one lower. The Difficulty itself is not affected, however, for
any other vehicles in the chase.

a P P E N D I x

Defensive Driving

Dirty Fighter
Requires Brawler

Your character has a talent for fighting dirty and is experienced in

pulling all manner of tricks in order to get the upper hand on his
opponents. By exploiting an opponents weakness, you are able to
strike deep and true. Any time you tag an opponents Aspect in a
fight, or tag an Aspect of the scene that affects your foe, you get an
additional +1 on the roll.

Do You know Who I am?

Requires Virtuoso

Your widespread name and your art are interlinked as one. When
identifying yourself in order to get your way in a social or other
applicable situation, you may complement Rapport, Intimidation,
Deceit and Contacting rolls with your Art Skill.

Ebb and Flow

The character is so aware of the social currents in a situation that
he is able to see something of whats coming before it arrives.
At the beginning of any social exchange, before proceeding with
the usual initiative order, the character may spend a Fate Point and
attempt a quick readlooking for surface moods and other social
cueson any one target of his choosing, as a free action.

Feel the Burn

The character can push through incredible pain in order to reach
his goal. The character can take one extra Major Consequence (see
p. 57) to negate Stress to his Physical Stress Track allowing him to
take a total of four Consequences in a physical conflict.

111
(order #6167550)

Five Minute Friends

For a Fate Point, you can make a steadfast friend in a place youve
never been, given a chance for five minutes of conversation. This
Stunt makes nearly impossible opportunities to make friends
merely improbable, improbable opportunities probable, and
probable opportunities outright certain.

Flawless Navigation
The skies are an open map in the characters mind. Unless bizarre
circumstances are afoot, he can never get lost in flight. If something
strange is happening the Difficulties for his Pilot rolls are never
increased by more than 2.
Flying Jock
This pilot can squeeze his plane through places where it has no
business fitting. Normally, a pilot can spend a Fate Point for a
coincidence or declaration to assure that the plane has enough
clearance space to fly through.
Characters with this Stunt never need to spend a Fate Point: if it
could fit, it can. Whats more, if your character does spend a Fate
Point, he can fit the plane in places it absolutely should not be
able to. This Stunt is also useful for landing planes in improbably
tight quarters.

Funding
You head an organization that is profitable. Pay a Fate Point and
your organization may temporarily increase a Resources Skill
up to the value of your Leadership, regardless of whether or not
youre present. When you personally make use of these resources it
may take some time to filter through the power structure to reach
you; the gamemaster may increase the time it takes to acquire
something by one step.

Gadget
You have a personal gadget based on an existing (or potentially
existing) piece of technology, with three Improvements (see below).
You may take this Stunt several times, either for several gadgets, or
to provide additional Improvements to the same gadget.
Additional Capability: The device can now do something else of
roughly the same scale. A car might also be able to be a boat, for
example, or a gun might be able to shoot a grappling hook.

112
(order #6167550)

C h a p t e r

1 3

A P P E n d I x

13

Alternate Usage: The device allows skills to be used differently.

For example, a ghost detector might allow a Scientist to use Science
rather than Mysteries as a kind of sixth sense.

a P P E N D I x

Advanced Technology: The device uses technology beyond what

is currently possible.

Armed: Adds guns or blades to a device allowing its use with the
Guns or Weapons skill. Each Armed Improvement adds +1 to stress
damage on a successful hit.
Armored: A device may be given a point of armor, meaning that
any time it is hit the armor reduces stress taken by one point per
Improvement. This can be taken up to 3 times.
Autopilot: The device is able to operate by itself in a limited
manner; a car could follow a simple pre-programmed route, a
sentry gun could fire at targets moving into range.
Conscious (requires Autopilot): The Gadget is sentient and can
be combined with an Ally Stunt to reflect this (the Physical Stress
track is the greater of the devices or the Allys).
Craftsmanship: The device gives a +1 bonus to any effort using it
(usually only to one skill, if the device supports the use of multiple
skills). This Improvement may not be taken more than once per
affected skill.
Magic Tech (requires Advanced Technology): The device does
something so advanced it appears like magic.
Maximization: This Improvement is used to allow an item to act as
if it was much larger; a pistol could potentially damage a tank, and
a car could hold a large number of passengers.
Miniaturization: Something thats not normally portable can now
fit in a large set of luggage, while something merely large can now
fit in a wristwatch.
Rugged: The device has 2 stress boxes in addition to any the item
would normally have. May be taken multiple times.
Upgrade: A specific Improvement, granting a +2 bonus to some
fairly specific use. A vehicle, for example, might get a +2 to maneuver
actions in a swamp or a +2 on a highway.

113
(order #6167550)

Gambling Man

Requires compellable Aspects related to gambling

As a gambling man, the character is rarely able to turn down a bet

or an opportunity to take a risk. Compels involving your gambling
Aspects start out at a point of escalationyou must either spend
two Fate Points to avoid them, or gain two Fate Points if you accept
them, right at the outset.

Good arm
The character has an amazing throwing arm, and can throw
weapons with great force, allowing them to still be effective at a
much longer range than usual. The character may make an attack
using a thrown weapon up to two zones away instead of the usual
one; if he does so, the attack is made at a 1.

headquarters
If a character has purchased a Workplace (see p. 89) then this Stunt
turns it into a full-blown private headquarters, such as a mansion
or a secret cave. In addition to the Workplace, the headquarters may
include one of the following extra elements:
Expert Staff: Your headquarters has a small staff of competent
individuals who are each treated as a Companion (see p. 71); two
are of Average Quality and one is of Fair Quality (they have no other
Advances).
Expert Staff are bound to the location of your headquarters, and
cant ever leave it without losing their Companion qualities (they
drop to Mediocre outside of their home environs).
Secondary Facility: Your base facility normally serves one
primary functionLibrary, Lab, Workshop, Arcane Library,
Arcane Workshop or Alien Archive. This extra allows you to
define a second function that operates at a Quality Rating one
less than the main Workspace.
Extensive Security: Security measures make your headquarters
difficult to compromise. All Difficulties for bypassing your
headquarters security are increased by one.
Utmost Secrecy: The location of your headquarters is top secret.
Few know of it, and even those located nearby may be unaware. The
Difficulty of any Investigation or Contacting roll to find the location
of your lair is equal to your Resources Skill.

114
(order #6167550)

C h a p t e r

1 3

A P P E n d I x

13

home away From home

a P P E N D I x

Communications Center: Your headquarters is the nerve center of

a number of vital channels of communication. Any communications
routed to, from, or through your base take one time increment less
to get to where theyre going, due to the efficiencies offered.

If a character has purchased a Workplace (see p. 89) this Stunt

allows the character to have a second such property in a different location (at the same Quality rating). The player may specify
the location during play (at which point it becomes locked in), or
in advance.

human Spider
The character can climb surfaces he should not be able to. He
receives a +2 bonus on any climb, and by spending a Fate Point, he
may eliminate the effects of all Difficulty modifiers resulting from
the environment or the characteristics of the thing hes climbing
(so he can climb a slick, mostly flat surface in a rainstorm at much
less difficulty).

hush
Your talent with stealth may be extended to others who are with
you close by, provided that you travel as a group. As long as the
whole group stays with you and follows your hushed orders, you
may make a single Stealth roll for the whole group, using your Skill
alone. If someone breaks from the group, they immediately lose this
benefit and may risk revealing the rest of you if they dont manage
to pull off a little stealth of their own.
You cannot apply the benefits of other Stunts (besides Hush) to this
roll, though you may bring in your own Aspects (and possibly tag
the Aspects of those you are concealing) in order to improve the
result. The maximum number of additional people in the group
is equal to the numeric value of the characters Stealth score (so
someone with Fair (+2) Stealth and this Stunt would be able to use
his Skill for himself and two others).

Im On Top Of It
You may spend a Fate Point to go first in an exchange, regardless
of your initiative. If multiple people with this Stunt exercise this
ability, they go in turn of their normal initiative, before those who
dont have the Stunt get a chance to act.

115
(order #6167550)

If the exchange has already started, and you have not yet acted,
you may instead spend a Fate Point to act next, out of the usual
turn order.
This may only be done between characters actions, and cannot be
done as an interruption of any kind (so if you spend the Fate Point
to do this while someone else is acting, you must wait until theyre
done). Your character must not have acted yet in the exchange in
order to use the ability in this way.

International
The characters mastery of etiquette leaves him comfortable,
and even glib, in any situation. The character never suffers any
penalties or increased Difficulty from unfamiliarity with his
setting, making it easy to maneuver through local customs he
hasnt encountered before, and to cover up any gaffes with a laugh
and a sparkle in his eye.

lair

Requires Headquarters

The characters headquarters has three elements (rather than one).

linguist
Normally, someone may only speak a number of additional
languages equal to the value of his Academics Skill. With this Stunt,
your character may speak five additional languages.

lip Reading
The character may use Investigation to eavesdrop on conversations
he can only see. If the gamemaster would normally allow someone
to attempt to read lips, the Difficulty is reduced by 2; otherwise, you
may simply roll Investigation when others may not.

lock Master
The characters skill with improvisation when bypassing a lock or
similar contrivance is improved, so long as he has something that
could pass as a tool, such as a piece of wire. Characters with this
Stunt never suffer an increased Difficulty for lacking proper tools

116
(order #6167550)

C h a p t e r

1 3

A P P E n d I x

13

long Shot
For whatever reason, youre always able to take shots at a greater
distance than you should be able to. In your hands pistols, rifles
and other such weaponry reach an additional zone (or two, if the
gamemaster feels generous).

a P P E N D I x

on a Burglary roll, and when given proper tools, can defeat locks at
one time increment faster than usual.

Master of Disguise

Requires Clever Disguise and Mimicry

The character can convincingly pass himself off as nearly anyone

with a little time and preparation.
To use this ability, the player pays a Fate Point and temporarily
stops playing. His character is presumed to have donned a disguise
and gone off camera.
At any subsequent point during play the player may choose any
nameless, filler character (a villains minion, a steward on the
cruise ship, a police patrolman, etc.) in a scene and reveal that that
character is actually the Player Character in disguise!
The character may remain in this state for as long as the player
chooses, but if anyone is tipped off that he might be nearby,
an investigator may spend a Fate Point and roll Investigation
against the disguised characters Deceit. If the investigator
wins, the investigators player (which may be the gamemaster)
gets to decide which filler character is actually the disguised
player character.

Medic

Requires a Medicine Specialization Stunt for the Science Skill

The character is talented at delivering medical care in the field.

Normally, someone providing first aid can remove a check mark for
every two shifts gained on the roll (see p. 15). With this Stunt, every
shift removes a point of Stress. If the character rolls well enough to
remove more physical Stress than the victim is suffering, he may
even remove a Minor physical Consequence.

117
(order #6167550)

Mimicry

Requires Clever Disguise.

Deceit can be used to convince people you are someone you arent
but usually only in a general sense. You can seem to be a cop, an
author, et cetera, but you cant seem to be a specific person without
a lot of work (and an elevated Difficulty).
With this Stunt, you can easily imitate the mannerisms and voice of
anyone youve had a chance to studyremoving another potential
cause to have a disguise examined, or perhaps convincing someone
who cant see you that youre someone else even though youre
undisguised.
Studying someone usually requires only an investment of time and
not a roll of the diceat least half an hour of constant exposure.
This timeframe can be reduced, but will require an Empathy,
Investigation, or Deceit roll against a target of Mediocre, increased
by one for each step faster on the Time Increments table (p. 19).

Mister Fix-It
The character is talented at getting things repaired under timecritical circumstances. The time it takes to get something fixed by
the character is reduced by two steps. If the situation is already
operating on the fastest possible amount of time the Difficulty of
the repair effort is reduced by one.

Nobody Moves!
Any character can use Intimidation to perform a Block action
(see p. 54) to prevent foes in their current zone from moving to
another zone. Normally the gamemaster would impose penalties
if the character was attempting to block off more than one route
out of the zone, however a character with this Stunt reduces any
such penalties by the numerical rating of his Intimidation Skill (to
a minimum penalty of zero).

One hand on the Wheel

Driving while doing some other action normally results in a 1
penalty. With this Stunt, you dont suffer that penalty, regardless
of whether you are rolling Drive (driving is your primary action,

118
(order #6167550)

C h a p t e r

1 3

A P P E n d I x

13

Your Drive Skill can never be used to restrict another Skill, only
complement it.

a P P E N D I x

and the supplemental action is something minor), or rolling some

other Skill (youre taking some other primary action, but keeping
the vehicle on the road isnt all that challenging, allowing driving
to be the supplemental action).

One hit to the Body

The character can pay a Fate Point and ignore the effects of one
attack per game session.

One Shot left

That last bullet has a kind of magic to it. A character with this Stunt
may declare that he is on his last shot, and may make any single
Guns attack at +3.
This is the characters last shotits use means that theres no more
ammo, no holdout guns or the like. The only way the character is
going to be able to use his Guns Skill in the scene is if he takes an
action acquiring a new weapon or ammunition, which may not
always be possible.

Personal aircraft
You have a personal aircraft that you own or have the exclusive
right to fly. In all respects, this Stunt functions like the Custom Ride
Stunt (p. 110). Refer to that Stunt for details.

Photographic Memory
Requires Walking Library

If youve read it, you remember it. If the answer lies in something
youve read before (this must be reasonable), then any research
effort takes an additional two units less timestacked on top of
the benefit of Walking Library, this means that a half hours worth
of research in books youve already encountered can be resolved in
a minute, and a days worth covered in a mere hour.

119
(order #6167550)

Psychic
You are open to the strange and paranormalthough sometimes
that means letting in the Unpleasant Things from the Darkness and
other such nuisances.
Normally, a character may be called upon by the gamemaster to
roll Mysteries as a kind of paranormal Alertness Skill, to pick up
on the surface strangeness in a place. With this Stunt, you may
deliberately use your Mysteries Skill to gain some mystic or
terrible insight into the occult climate of an area, as if it were
Investigationusing a similar time-frame and gaining a similar
level of (paranormal) detail.
This also means that you may use Mysteries instead of Alertness
when surprised, if the origin of the surprise is in some way
supernatural, and can even use Mysteries as your initiative Skill
when locked in a conflict with otherworldly forces.
Used with this Stunt, Mysteries can give you access to information
that would normally be impossible to getthough the gamemaster
is under no obligation to give you that information in any clear
fashion. Muddled riddles and vague intimations are the mode of
the day.
There is an additional catch: Using this ability may open you up
to an unpleasant psychic attack by the presence or residue of
Unnatural Creatures that have touched the area but at least
youve learned something.

Quick Exit
A momentary distraction is all you need to vanish from the scene.
Provided you are not in the midst of a Conflict, you may make a
Stealth Test with a Difficulty of the highest Alertness in the room.
If you succeed, the next time someone turns to look at or talk to
you, youre not there.

Ready for anything

Requires Im On Top Of It

The characters senses are so keyed into minute changes that he

is able to respond more quickly to new details. The characters

120
(order #6167550)

C h a p t e r

1 3

A P P E n d I x

13
a P P E N D I x

Alertness Skill is considered to be one higher for purposes of

determining initiative (allowing someone with Superb Alertness
to have Fantastic initiative). This Stunt breaks ties whenever
facing opponents with the same initiative. This Stunt may be
taken multiple times, each time increasing the characters
initiative one step.

Scene of the Crime

The character has a strong visual memory, and whenever he revisits
a place where he has used Investigation before he may make an
immediate use of Investigation in a matter of seconds in order to
determine what has changed since he was last there, as if it were
an unusually detailed Alertness check.

Slippery

Requires at least one other Athletics Stunt

You gain a +2 to all attempts to defend against Pushing, Throw

or Knockback maneuvers, as well as any attempts to escape from
bonds.

Smooth Recovery
While most characters with Resolve can keep things together
under stress, for your character it is second nature, allowing him
to regain his footing in the face of even the direst of outcomes
outside of physical conflict. This Stunt allows the character to take
one additional Major, social or mental Consequence (see p. 57) to
negate Stress to his Composure Stress Track allowing him to take a
total of four Consequences in a social or mental conflict.

Steel Determination
It is apparent to all around you exactly how far you are willing to
go in order to get what you want. You may, when you bluntly speak
your true intentions in a social interaction, trigger the effects of
this Stunt, immediately gaining a +1 bonus which applies to all
subsequent Intimidation or Resolve rolls, as well as any social
defense, in that scene. However, if you do this, you may no longer
use Rapport with the same audience, as you have peeled away the
faade of civility.

121
(order #6167550)

Subtle Menace
The character exudes menace far in excess of his capability to act.
Even bound and behind prison bars, the character is so ripe with
the promise of the awful things he could do that hes still scary.
This character may use Intimidation no matter what the power
imbalance in the situation is, and reduces any bonus his target may
have been awarded by the gamemaster for acting from a superior
position by 2 (to a minimum of +0).

Thump of Restoration
Requires Mister Fix-It

Sometimes a bunch of repairs can be bypassed with a good swift

thump. A character must spend a Fate Point to activate this ability,
and roll Engineering (with a Difficulty of Mediocre).
He then hits a device or other contraption that isnt working, and it
starts working immediately, regardless of the Difficulty rating to
repair it under time pressure.
It will continue to work for a number of exchanges equal to the
shifts gained on the Engineering roll. Once the time is up, the device
stops working again, and any efforts to repair it are at a one step
higher Difficulty (since, after all, you hit the thing).
If the character wishes to thump again, he may do so for another
Fate Point, but the Difficulty for the Engineering roll increases by
one on each subsequent attempt.

Tracker
Your character is Skilled at tracking, and can infer a great deal of
information from a trail. When studying tracks, the character may
roll Survival.
Each shift from this roll spent thereafter gives the character one
piece of information about the person or creature being tracked
(such as weight, how they were moving and so on). Normally,
Survival cant be used to track something, leaving such attempts
at a Mediocre default.

122
(order #6167550)

C h a p t e r

1 3

A P P E n d I x

13
A universal gadget is, essentially, a Gadget that you may design on
the fly, as if your character happened to have just the thing in
his bag.
This gadget follows the same design rules as the Gadget Stunt, but
is only allowed two Improvements, not three. Once defined, the
gadget is locked in for the remainder of the session. The benefit is
that you can define the gadget on the fly.

a P P E N D I x

universal Gadget

As with Gadget, you may take this Stunt multiple times giving a
larger pool of Improvements to assign to items on the fly.

Virtuoso
The character is a master of some specific form of artpainting,
composition, singing, conducting or playing music, or the like. The
character is a virtuoso in his field and recognized worldwide for his
Skill. Even if his actual Skill level is not high, he is still on the list of
the finest artists in the world, just not necessarily at the top of it.
The character receives a +1 knowledge bonus when performing his
art form. He may also pick a specialty (such as a specific instrument
or a specific school of painting) for which he receives a +1 specialty
bonus (stacking with the +1 knowledge bonus). When applicable,
the virtuoso may produce works of art one time increment faster
than they would normally take.
This Stunt combines Concentration and Specialization Stunts with
a Benefit (reduction of time to create works). This is a particular
concession that is made in response to how infrequent Art
performances are integral to the plot of a scenario.

Voices from Beyond

Requires Psychic

Given time to prepare and perform the ritual, the character may
perform a real, functioning sance to try to call out to spirits dead
or never living. A Mysteries roll must be made against a Difficulty
set by the gamemaster in order to cause a particular spirit to
manifest.

123
(order #6167550)

Summoned spirits are not under any sort of compulsion to be

cooperative, and may have their own agendas, but once summoned,
they may speak through the character with others in attendance. At
the gamemasters option, especially if the summoner gains Spin on
her Mysteries roll, the spirit may even manifest visibly.
Should the spirit be malicious in any fashion, or wish to escape the
summons, the character may use Mysteries or Resolve as his Skill
of choice when struggling with the spirit.

Walk the Walk

The characters travels have taken him to every corner of the world.
His familiarity with the streets and peoples of the world allow him
to function easily, at home and abroad. The character never suffers
any additional Difficulty from unfamiliar circumstances when
using the Contacting Skill.

Walking library
The characters prodigious reading has paid off in spades, and he
is able to recall minute details from even the most obscure literary
works. The character is always considered to have a library on
hand of a quality equal to his Academics skill, enabling him to
answer questions with a base Difficulty less than or equal to his
Academics skill, using nothing other than his brain and some time
for contemplation.
Additionally, any research performed by this character in a
real library automatically takes one unit less time (see Time
Consuming Tasks on p. 18), and any libraries with a quality less
than his Academics skill do not limit the Difficulty of the question
asked, as they normally would.

Winnings
The character wins more than he loses, and is often flush with cash.
Once per session, he may use Gambling instead of Resources to
represent these winnings, so long as he hasnt recently experienced
a loss. The player must provide a quick one-sentence explanation
of what the resource is and how he won it when using this Stunt.

124
(order #6167550)

C h a p t e r

1 3

A P P E n d I x

13
Requires Psychic

There are patterns to things that are not always obvious, even to
the wise.
This character looks in the right places, and hears the right things.
Once per session, when he is not otherwise occupied, he may
request an omen from the gamemaster, and roll Mysteries against
a target of Mediocre. The gamemaster will use the results to guide
her decision about how obscure the information gained is. It may
be as arcane as a snippet of a riddle, or as mundane as news that a
strange shipment is coming into the docks at midnight.

a P P E N D I x

Words on the Wind

Wrestler

Requires a Lifting & Carrying Specialization Stunt for the

Might Skill

The character is a trained wrestler. The character may use his

Might Skill instead of Fists in combat.
This is effectively a Skill Switch Stunt but with no reduced scope
of effectiveness, instead a prerequisite is imposed in the form of
another Stunt.

125
(order #6167550)

Example Minions
Security Guards
Scope:
Quality:
Quantity:
Stress:
Advances:
Gear:

Physical
Average (+1)
4 groups of 3 (+1 bonus per group)
|
|
|
(1 box per Minion)
Strength in Numbers x4
Club, Handgun

These are the stereotypical low level guards providing security to a

bank, science facility or casino. The handgun may not be appropriate in
some countries (e.g. the United Kingdom).

Faceless Scientists
Scope:
Quality:
Quantity:
Stress:
Advances:
Gear:

Mental
Fair (+2)
One group of 6 (+2 bonus)
|
|
|
|
|
(2 boxes per Minion)
Communication, Quality,
Strength in Numbers x2
PDA, clipboard, white lab coat

These Minions represent the lab-coat wearing scientists who the

villain can coerce into brute force hacking nuclear missile launch
codes and military satellites, or who a hero can call on for aid in
thwarting such attempts.

126
(order #6167550)

C h a p t e r

1 3

A P P E n d I x

13

Scope:
Quality:
Quantity:
Stress:
Advances:
Gear:

Social
Average (+1)
One group of 6 (+2 bonus)
| | | | |
(1 box per Minion)
Keeping up, Strength in
Numbers x2, Summonable
Cameras

a P P E N D I x

Celebrity hanger-ons

These are the entourage and ever present fans who follow in the wake of
a media celebrity and who also have the back stage passes and VIP tickets
to keep up. They can be a potent force in thwarting attempts to engage
socially with the celebrity, or even another member of the entourage.
Luckily they can be Taken Out with a witty put down, or a menacing
glare. In an historical game, the same sort of Minions could represent a
Kings courtiers (minus the cameras!)

Example Companions
Bodyguard (Sidekick)
Scope:
Quality:
Skills:

Stunts:
Stress:
Advances:
Gear:

Physical
Good (+3)
Good (+3) Endurance
Fair (+2) Intimidation
Average (+1) Drive
Brawler
(2 extra for Endurance Skill)
Consequence, Quality x2, Stunt
Handgun, Kevlar Vest

This companion is a surly bodyguard, who can fight off multiple

attackers, take a bullet, glare menacingly at the shooter and still drive
his charge away from danger.

127
(order #6167550)

helicopter Pilot (Sidekick)

Scope:
Quality:
Skills:
Stunts:
Stress:
Advances:
Gear:

Physical
Fair (+2)
Fair (+2) Pilot
Average (+1) Engineering
Flying Jock, Personal Aircraft
Quality, Stunt x2, Summonable
Handgun

A personal helicopter pilot for the villain, who can arrive in a minute
and whisk his patron away even faster. Pilot Skill Tests are made with
a +3 bonus (+2 for Pilot Skill +1 for his Personal Aircraft).

Personal advisor (aide / assistant)

Scope:
Quality:
Skills:
Stunts:
Stress:
Advances:
Gear:

Mental and Social

Fair (+2)
Fair (+2) Empathy
Average (+1) Rapport
None
Independent, Keeping up,
Quality, Scope
Mobile Phone, PDA, Laptop

This is a smart and socially savvy advisor who can assess his patrons
verbal sparring partners and provide general assistance. He is always
at his patrons side, unless instructed to undertake tasks independently.

128
(order #6167550)

C h a p t e r

1 3

A P P E n d I x

free

FATE

Name

Player

Concept
Note: A character starts
with 8 Aspects.

Aspects

Note: A character starts with 10 Skills; 1 Great (+4),

2 Good (+3), 3 Fair (+2) and 4 Average (+1).

Skills

Superb (+5)

Great (+4)

Good (+3)

Stunts

Note: A character starts with

a maximum of 4 Stunts.

Fair (+2)

Average (+1)

Fate Points
Current

Base

Spending a Fate Point provides:

+1 to the total of any Skill Test
Power a Stunt if it is
particularly powerful.
Make a minor narrative declaration.
The gamemaster has veto power.
Spending a Fate Point in
combination with an Aspect:
+2 to the total of any Skill Test
Re-roll the dice

Equipment

(order #6167550)

The Ladder

Stress Tracks

Description

Rating

Legendary

+8

Epic

+7

Fantastic

+6

Superb

+5

Great

+4

Good

+3

Fair

+2

Average

+1

Mediocre

+0

Poor

Terrible

Abysmal

Physical
Mental
Consequences

2 Minor
4 Major
6 Severe
8 Extreme

A
Academics (Skill). . . . . . . . . . .32
Actions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53
Actual Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18
Advances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .73
Alertness (Skill) . . . . . . . . . . . .32
Ally. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .42
Ammunition. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .84
Appendix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
Armor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .85
Art (Skill) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32
Aspects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7, 20
Assessments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28
Assessments as Declarations .
29
Athletics (Skill) . . . . . . . . . . . .32
Attack and Defence Skills. . .49
Attacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .48
Automatic Fire . . . . . . . . . . . . .84

B
Base Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18
Benefit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .43
Binding (Stunt) . . . . . . . . . . . 102
Blinding (Maneuver) . . . . . . .52
Block Actions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .54
Bodyguard (Sidekick) . . . . 127
Body Toss (Stunt) . . . . . . . . 108
Brawler (Stunt). . . . . . . . . . . 108
Breaking Things. . . . . . . . . . . .36
Bump and Grab (Stunt) . . . 108
Burglary (Skill) . . . . . . . . . . . .32

C
Catch (Stunt) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
Celebrity Hanger-ons. . . . . 127
Character Development . . . .92
Chase Conflicts. . . . . . . . . . . . .76
Chase Example . . . . . . . . . . . . .82
Chase Points. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .79
Chases. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Chase Scenes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .78
Clever Disguise (Stunt) . . . 108
Cloak of Protection and
Healing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
Cold Read (Stunt). . . . . . . . . 109
Commissions (Stunt) . . . . . 109
Communication (Advance) .73
Companions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .71
Companion Types . . . . . . . . . .72
Compelling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23
Composure Stress Track. . . .10
Concentration . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41
Concept . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Concessions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .60
Conflicts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .47
Consequence (Advance) . . . .73
Consequences . . . . . . . . . . . . . .57

130
(order #6167550)

Contacting (Skill) . . . . . . . . . .33

Contests. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17
Contortionist (Stunt) . . . . . 109
Cool Hand (Stunt) . . . . . . . . 109
Creating Items . . . . . . . . . . . . .90
Creature Companion (Stunt) .
110
Customizing Stunts. . . . . . . . .43
Custom Ride (Stunt) . . . . . . 110

D
Damaging Equipment . . . . . .90
Danger Sense (Stunt) . . . . . 110
Deceit (Skill) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33
Declarations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29
Defense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .49
Defensive Driving (Stunt) 111
Dirty Fighter (Stunt) . . . . . 111
Disarming (Maneuver) . . . . .52
Do You Know Who I Am?
(Stunt) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Drive (Skill) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33

First Aid. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .62

Fists (Skill). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34
Five Minute Friends (Stunt) . .
112
Flawless Navigation (Stunt) . .
112
Flying Jock (Stunt) . . . . . . . 112
Framing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .47
Free Actions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53
Full Defense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .54
Funding (Stunt) . . . . . . . . . . 112
Fuses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .87

G
Gadget Improvements . . . . 104
Gadget (Stunt). . . . . . . . . . . . 112
Gambling Man (Stunt) . . . . .114
Gambling (Skill) . . . . . . . . . . . .34
gamemaster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Gloves of the Spider . . . . . . 106
Good Arm (Stunt) . . . . . . . . .114
Guns (Skill). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35

Ebb and Flow (Stunt) . . . . . 111

Effect. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15
Effort. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Empathy (Skill) . . . . . . . . . . . .33
Empowered Casting (Stunt) 99
Empowered Spell
Casting (Improvement) . 104
Endurance (Skill). . . . . . . . . . .33
Engineering (Skill) . . . . . . . . .34
Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11, 84
Escalation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24
Example Aspects . . . . . . . . . . .27
Example Companions . . . . 127
Example Magic Items . . . . . 105
Example Maneuvers . . . . . . . .52
Example Minions . . . . . . . . . 126
Example Stunts. . . . . . . . . . . 107
Example Summoned Creatures
103
Exchanges. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .48
Exotic Poisons. . . . . . . . . . . . . .67
Explosions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .64
Explosives. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .87
Extras . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .68

Hat of Disguise . . . . . . . . . . . 106

Headquarters (Stunt). . . . . .114
Helicopter Pilot (Sidekick) 128
Hold Your Action . . . . . . . . . . .54
Home Away From Home
(Stunt) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
Hook . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25
Human Spider (Stunt) . . . . 115
Hush (Stunt). . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

F
Faceless Scientists. . . . . . . . 126
Failure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Falling. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .63
Fast Acting Poisons. . . . . . . . .66
Fate Point Expenditure . . . . .43
Fate Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19
Feel the Burn (Stunt) . . . . . 111
Fire. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .64

I
Im On Top Of It (Stunt) . . . 115
Independent (Advance). . . . .73
Initiative . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .48
Inscribe Glyph (Stunt). . . . . .99
International (Stunt) . . . . . 116
Intimidation (Skill). . . . . . . . .35
Investigation (Skill) . . . . . . . .35
Invoking. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20
Invoking for Effect . . . . . . . . .21

K
Keeping up (Advance) . . . . . .73
Knockback (Maneuver). . . . .53
Knowledge Difficulty. . . . . . .30
Knowledge Tests . . . . . . . . . . .30

L
Ladder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Lair (Stunt). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
Laser Sight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .85
Leadership (Skill) . . . . . . . . . .35

13

M
Magic. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .95
Magical Wand . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
Magic Items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
Maneuvers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .50
Master of Disguise (Stunt) 117
Medical Attention . . . . . . . . . .62
Medic (Stunt). . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
Melee Weapons. . . . . . . . . . . . .84
Might (Skill). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36
Mimicry (Stunt) . . . . . . . . . . 118
Minion Chase Point Cost . . . .79
Minions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .69
Minus Die . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Miscellaneous Equipment . .91
Mister Fix-It (Stunt) . . . . . . 118
Mixed Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . .70
Modifiers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16
Movement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .55
Mysteries (Skill). . . . . . . . . . . .37

N
Named Characters. . . . . . . . . .75
Nobody Moves! (Stunt) . . . 118

O
On Demand Fuse . . . . . . . . . . .87
One Hand on the Wheel (Stunt)
118
One Hit to the Body (Stunt)119
One Shot Left (Stunt) . . . . . 119
Orcs Bane Sword . . . . . . . . . 105

P
Passengers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .81
Personal Advisor
(Aide / Assistant) . . . . . . . 128
Personal Aircraft (Stunt) . 119
Photographic Memory (Stunt)
119
Physical Stress Track . . . . . . .10
Pilot (Skill) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37
player . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Plus Die . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Poisons. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .66
Power Aspects . . . . . . . . . . . . .95
Psychic (Stunt) . . . . . . . . . . . 120
Pushing (Maneuver). . . . . . . .53

Q
Quality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .69
Quality (Advance) . . . . . . . . . .73
Quantity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .69
Quick Exit (Stunt) . . . . . . . . 120

R
Ranged Weapon Accessories85
Ranged Weapons . . . . . . . . . . .84
Rapport (Skill) . . . . . . . . . . . . .37
Ready for Anything (Stunt)120
Recovery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .61
Refresh Rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11
Refusing a Compel. . . . . . . . . .24
Reinforcements (Trick). . . . .80
Research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31
Resolve (Skill). . . . . . . . . . . . . .38
Resources (Skill) . . . . . . . . . . .38
Rite of ... (Stunt) . . . . . . . . . . 100
Road Hazard (Trick). . . . . . . .80
Roleplaying . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

S
Sample Stunts by Skill . . . . 107
Scene of the Crime (Stunt) 121
Science (Skill) . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38
Scope (Advance). . . . . . . . . . . .73
Security Guards . . . . . . . . . . 126
Shotgun! (Trick). . . . . . . . . . . .80
Silencer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .85
Silent Casting (Stunt). . . . . 100
Skilled (Advance). . . . . . . . . . . 74
Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8, 28
Skill Switch. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .42
Sleight of Hand (Skill) . . . . . .39
Slippery (Stunt) . . . . . . . . . . 121
Slow Acting Poisons . . . . . . . .67
Smooth Recovery (Stunt) . 121
Sorcery. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95, 96
Sorcery (Stunt) . . . . . . . . . . . . .97
Sorcery Stunts . . . . . . . . . . . . .97
Sources of Injury . . . . . . . . . . .63
Specialization . . . . . . . . . . . . . .42
Spell Casting (Improvement) .
104
Spin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16
Stealth (Skill) . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39
Stealth Skill Modifiers. . . . . .39
Steel Determination (Stunt) . .
121
Sticky Aspects. . . . . . . . . . . . . .51
Still Casting (Stunt) . . . . . . 101
Store of Energy
(Improvement) . . . . . . . . . 105
Strength in Numbers
(Advance). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Stress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .57
Stress Track . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10

Stunt (Advance) . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Stunt Pre-requisites . . . . . . . .43
Stunts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9, 41
Stunt Templates . . . . . . . . . . . .41
Stunt Toolbox . . . . . . . . . . . . . .46
Subtle Menace (Stunt) . . . . 122
Success . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Summonable (Advance) . . . . 74
Summon Greater
Entity (Stunt) . . . . . . . . . . . 102
Summoning . . . . . . . . . . . 95, 101
Summoning Stunts . . . . . . . 102
Supplemental Actions . . . . . .55
Supporting Characters . . . . .68
Survival (Skill) . . . . . . . . . . . . .39

a P P E N D I x

Lifting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36
Linguist (Stunt) . . . . . . . . . . 116
Lip Reading (Stunt). . . . . . . 116
Lock Master (Stunt) . . . . . . 116
Long Shot (Stunt). . . . . . . . . 117
Long Term Care . . . . . . . . . . . .63

T
Tagging. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21
Tagging for Effect . . . . . . . . . .22
Taken Out . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .59
Temporary Aspects . . . . . . . .51
Test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13
The Last Pursuer (Trick) . . .80
Throwing Explosives . . . . . . .65
Throw (Maneuver) . . . . . . . . .53
Thump of Restoration (Stunt)
122
Time Consuming Tasks . . . . .18
Time Increments . . . . . . . . . . .18
Timer Fuse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .87
Tracker (Stunt) . . . . . . . . . . . 122
Tricks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .80

U
Universal Gadget (Stunt) . 123

V
Variable Summons (Advance)
74
Vehicles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .87
Virtuoso (Stunt) . . . . . . . . . . 123
Voices from Beyond (Stunt) . .
123
Voluntary Compels . . . . . . . . .24

W
Walking Library (Stunt) . . 124
Walk the Walk (Stunt) . . . . 124
Weapons (Skill) . . . . . . . . . . . .40
Winnings (Stunt) . . . . . . . . . 124
Words on the Wind (Stunt)125
Workplaces. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .89
Wrestler (Stunt). . . . . . . . . . 125

Z
Zones. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .47

131
(order #6167550)

Permission to copy, modify and distribute this file is granted

solely through the use of the Open Gaming License, Version
1.0a. This material is being released using the Open Gaming
License Version 1.0a and you should read and understand the
terms of that license before using this material. More information on the Open Game License can be found at www.opengamingfoundation.org or www.wizards.com/d20.
OPEN GAME LICENSE Version 1.0a
The following text is the property of Wizards of the Coast, Inc.
and is Copyright 2000 Wizards of the Coast, Inc (Wizards).
All Rights Reserved.
1. Definitions: (a)Contributors means the copyright and/
or trademark owners who have contributed Open Game
Content; (b)Derivative Material means copyrighted material including derivative works and translations (including
into other computer languages), potation, modification,
correction, addition, extension, upgrade, improvement,
compilation, abridgment or other form in which an existing
work may be recast, transformed or adapted; (c) Distribute means to reproduce, license, rent, lease, sell, broadcast,
publicly display, transmit or otherwise distribute; (d)Open
Game Content means the game mechanic and includes the
methods, procedures, processes and routines to the extent
such content does not embody the Product Identity and is an
enhancement over the prior art and any additional content
clearly identified as Open Game Content by the Contributor,
and means any work covered by this License, including translations and derivative works under copyright law, but specifically excludes Product Identity. (e) Product Identity means
product and product line names, logos and identifying marks
including trade dress; artifacts; creatures characters; stories, storylines, plots, thematic elements, dialogue, incidents,
language, artwork, symbols, designs, depictions, likenesses,
formats, poses, concepts, themes and graphic, photographic
and other visual or audio representations; names and descriptions of characters, spells, enchantments, personalities,
teams, personas, likenesses and special abilities; places,
locations, environments, creatures, equipment, magical or
supernatural abilities or effects, logos, symbols, or graphic
designs; and any other trademark or registered trademark
clearly identified as Product identity by the owner of the Product Identity, and which specifically excludes the Open Game
Content; (f) Trademark means the logos, names, mark, sign,
motto, designs that are used by a Contributor to identify itself
or its products or the associated products contributed to the
Open Game License by the Contributor (g) Use, Used or
Using means to use, Distribute, copy, edit, format, modify,
translate and otherwise create Derivative Material of Open
Game Content. (h) You or Your means the licensee in terms
of this agreement.
2. The License: This License applies to any Open Game Content that contains a notice indicating that the Open Game Content may only be Used under and in terms of this License. You
must affix such a notice to any Open Game Content that you
Use. No terms may be added to or subtracted from this License except as described by the License itself. No other terms or
conditions may be applied to any Open Game Content distributed using this License.
3. Offer and Acceptance: By Using the Open Game Content
You indicate Your acceptance of the terms of this License.
4. Grant and Consideration: In consideration for agreeing
to use this License, the Contributors grant You a perpetual,
worldwide, royalty-free, non-exclusive license with the exact
terms of this License to Use, the Open Game Content.
5.Representation of Authority to Contribute: If You are
contributing original material as Open Game Content, You
represent that Your Contributions are Your original creation
and/or You have sufficient rights to grant the rights conveyed
by this License.

132
(order #6167550)

6. Notice of License Copyright: You must update the COPYRIGHT NOTICE portion of this License to include the exact
text of the COPYRIGHT NOTICE of any Open Game Content
You are copying, modifying or distributing, and You must add
the title, the copyright date, and the copyright holders name
to the COPYRIGHT NOTICE of any original Open Game Content you Distribute.
7. Use of Product Identity: You agree not to Use any Product
Identity, including as an indication as to compatibility, except
as expressly licensed in another, independent Agreement
with the owner of each element of that Product Identity. You
agree not to indicate compatibility or co-adaptability with
any Trademark or Registered Trademark in conjunction with
a work containing Open Game Content except as expressly
licensed in another, independent Agreement with the owner
of such Trademark or Registered Trademark. The use of any
Product Identity in Open Game Content does not constitute
a challenge to the ownership of that Product Identity. The
owner of any Product Identity used in Open Game Content
shall retain all rights, title and interest in and to that Product
Identity.
8. Identification: If you distribute Open Game Content You
must clearly indicate which portions of the work that you are
distributing are Open Game Content.
9. Updating the License: Wizards or its designated Agents
may publish updated versions of this License. You may use
any authorized version of this License to copy, modify and
distribute any Open Game Content originally distributed under any version of this License.
10 Copy of this License: You MUST include a copy of this
License with every copy of the Open Game Content You Distribute.
11. Use of Contributor Credits: You may not market or advertise the Open Game Content using the name of any Contributor unless You have written permission from the Contributor to do so.
12 Inability to Comply: If it is impossible for You to comply
with any of the terms of this License with respect to some or
all of the Open Game Content due to statute, judicial order,
or governmental regulation then You may not Use any Open
Game Material so affected.
13 Termination: This License will terminate automatically if
You fail to comply with all terms herein and fail to cure such
breach within 30 days of becoming aware of the breach. All
sublicenses shall survive the termination of this License.
14 Reformation: If any provision of this License is held to be
unenforceable, such provision shall be reformed only to the
extent necessary to make it enforceable.
15 COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Open Game License v 1.0 Copyright
2000, Wizards of the Coast, Inc. Fudge System 1995 version
19921995 by Steffan OSullivan, 2005 by Grey Ghost Press,
Inc.; Author Steffan OSullivan. FATE (Fantastic Adventures
in Tabletop Entertainment) 2003 by Evil Hat Productions
LLC; Authors Robert Donoghue and Fred Hicks. Spirit of the
Century 2006, Evil Hat Productions LLC. Authors Robert
Donoghue, Fred Hicks, and Leonard Balsera. Starblazer Adventures 2008, Cubicle 7 Entertainment Ltd. FreeFATE
2009 R Grant Erswell.
END OF LICENSE
Open Content
The text of the Legal Information section of this document
and the Open Game License version 1.0a itself are not Open
Game Content. Instructions on using the License are provided
within the License itself. All of the rest of the text in this document prior to the Legal Information, above, is Open Game
Content as described in Section 1(d) of the License.
Product Identity
This publication contains no Product Identity,

(order #6167550)