So I finally shared the thought I've been kicking around about hacking Fate for "righteous criminals exacting their revenge-type stories." These variations on Spirit of the Century's five phases owe a lot to a post by Leonard Balsera, among other things. The following is excerpted from an email I sent to my gaming group's list explaining what I'd like to run if people didn't want to play GHOST/ECHO at one of the tables tonight:

The five phases -The Past, The Means, The Motive, The Opportunity, The Life- are an exercise in world building as well as character building. The default, space-piratey setting has plenty of wiggle-room for player details, but we could go into the game with a totally blank slate, too.

Characters end the phases with five Aspects.

Phase 1: The Past establishes the context for player action; MacGuffins and high-concepts emerge here. In the default setting, some dimensional accident sunders human-settled space into two pocket universes for a few hundred years. When the regions merge back together, the unique technologies of one side are in high demand in the other and vice-versa. There's a war and other details, but that's the gists of the Order the default pirates' activities disrupt.

Your characters' Aspect from this phase usually describes what connections they have - who and what are important to them. Players also come up with a World Aspect that describes the established Authority figures -mentors, parents, employers- they'll soon be working against.

Phase 2: The Means is all about you. What did you have going for you? What did the future hold?

Character Aspects from this phase might be some kind of identifying, descriptive trait. The players also discuss World Aspects that represent potential allies.

Phase 3: The Motive is when it all came crashing down. Why and how were you targeted? What have you lost? How did you get away?

A Character Aspect from phase 3 will probably establish long-term goals for the character. World Aspects describe how the Authority maintains its power or how it's corrupt.

Phase 4: The Opportunity describes getting the group together and the first blow you deal to the Authority. In the default setting, it describes your first heist, stealing a ship.

Character Aspects from this phase are totally up in the air. They might connect you the object of your first heist, and a connection to another player-character or to the player-characters in general is encouraged.

Phase 5: The Life is about how you fit into criminal world and what makes you different from common crooks and from the Authority. The players come up with some kind of code or Principles that sets them apart; some lines they won't cross.

Phase 5 Character Aspects are about the kind of stuff do you see happening to this character most often. If we were playing a longer-term game, you'd also help the GM construct an Adversary, a foil that somehow rejects both the corruption of the Authority and the Principles of the players.

Did I miss any tricks here? Is shoe-horning everyone into the victim camp too artificial, or do you think players will happily subvert that convention and make characters who aren't obviously wronged? Where


I'll post the rest of my departures from Spirit of the Century (polyhedral dice, truncated "skill" list, etc.) tonight or tomorrow, and let you know if we actually give it a spin.

Finally, how have I not known about Josh Roby's blog? He writes good things!