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[Tack]

IC Thread
Setting: Low fantasy
-- If coarse language is an issue for you, I tend to indulge in it heavily, so beware.
Fate SRD (Shouldn't need it, but there for reference.)

Abstract:
BASICALLY this game will be starting off as an RP|G, and will eventually turn into a company/army simulator, with politics and finances to boot.
As with the real world, the bigger your company gets, the more macro you have to deal with, and the less micro you'll be able to indulge in.

Spoiler: Races (click to show/hide)

To start with- Magic is uncommon and kinda crummy. It consists almost entirely of charms, wards and the like- spells written on parchments or carved into items, making it virtually indistinguishable from folklore.
Depending on the magic, it will usually take a mixture of Lore and Will.

Humans (Playable):
Humans are one of the biggest contenders for geographical coverage for the basic reason of birthrate- something they are only beaten on by goblins. As with standard fantasy, they are the physiological 'average' from which we base all other fantasy creatures off.
Other than that, they are incredibly factitious, so nobody will immediately guess at a human's loyalties or reasoning.
They have two major factions, the kingdom and the states.
The states envelops the kingdom, which itself runs directly up against a mountain ridge. Whilst the states (or 'surrounds' as they are generally referred to by kingdom-dwellers) are a diverse and culturally tolerant place, the kingdom has a very heavy moratorium on the races which may pass through their lands (re: Humans, and ambassadors). In this sense, the states are a natural buffer zone, and hold the largest swathe of land as a collection of city-states with human leaders, but citizens of almost every race within.
The kingdom has a large wall surrounding it and a heavy standing army, but the city-states outside almost invariably hire mercenary companies to manage their constant infighting.

Goblins (Playable):
[-1 Physique|+1 Athletics]
Closer to fantasy Hobgoblins than any other stereotype. Standing usually a head shorter than a man, goblins are sinister and ruthless, and not nearly as stupid or cowardly as the various propaganda pieces would have people believe. Their tendency towards casual deceit and promotion-via-assassination makes them rather untrustworthy in the eyes of other races, however most goblins see it as a simple difference of culture, and the more worldly ones attempt to refrain from that sort of conduct when in neutral lands. Goblins are born in clutches, with the weaker members weeded out over the course of their maturity and forced out of the community.
They have a single small fiefdom located on the edge of the Human States, although the majority of their population will be found spread throughout the holds of other races. The rule of thumb is 'elegant and perilous', with major goblin families owning large vistas and ornate houses. Whilst other races aren't necessarily forbidden from roaming throughout the goblin lands, 'tourists' usually find their lack of knowledge regarding goblin culture is quickly made painfully (and usually violently) clear.

Ogres (Playable)
[-1 Athletics|+1 Physique]
Another race which differs from the fantasy stereotype. Ogres typically stand half-again the size of a human, and are intelligent and adaptable. Visually they look very similar to a large human, with a heavier musculature and small tusks. As proponents of a steadfast warrior culture, they are seen most often either within their reclusive ogreholds, or as members of mercenary companies, although some of the more shrewd members of the race can easily earn a living doing some of the less 'honorable' jobs such as construction or farmwork. Their military discipline is famous, and all-ogre companies are typically seen deploying in a tight square where their tower shields and heavy chopping blades can be put to good use, hacking and crushing the smaller races in front of them. Ogre vs Ogre fights, however, are uncommon and anticlimactic. Their great constitution allows them to suffer powerful attacks without damage, however the toll of shifting their hefty bodies finally gives way to fatigue, and, exhausted, the weaker party usually gives way and retreats, with few casualties having been inflicted on either side.
Whilst the Ogres don't have a country to call their own, singular holds are often found dotted around the landscape. Their large walls display their xenophobic tendencies, and attempting to sneak in to a foreign hold will warrant an impressive (and for the smaller races, usually lethal) punishment.

Elves (Unplayable):
Elves are extinct. Everybody knows it happened because of the dwarves, but nobody can pinpoint exactly How everyone knows, or what exactly happened.
Other than the odd ruin or scrap of art, there isn't much to tell about Elven civilization.

Dwarves (Unplayable):
The dwarves beat out all of the other races on two counts: Xenophobia and Pragmatism.
The two usually go hand-in-hand as the dwarves are currently the only race who have unlocked the secrets of firearms - a secret they put insane efforts into keeping from the other races. Access into a dwarfhold is laborious, reluctant, and extremely brief - in fact, any dwarfhold which has contact with merchants, or is below a 'defensible military population' is, under their laws, restricted from having gunpowder or firearms anywhere NEAR it. Dwarven mercenaries are extremely rare and is usually both incredibly expensive and designated non-fighting personnel, taking charge of construction and siege instead.
The locations of dwarfholds are generally only known by rulers, ambassadors and those merchants privileged enough to trade with them- strong and permanent steps are usually taken with trespassers of any kind.

Spoiler: Game Mechanics (click to show/hide)

The system will be a heavily doctored FATE core, but if I'm doing my job right, you won't have to put effort into knowing or reading the ruleset.
The entire point of the system is that character development and world generation is incredibly player-based, and so there's many situations in which suggestions will be called from by the player population. The game will be incredibly freeform, including the titular mercenary activity. If you want to go out and earn cash as a carpenter for a bit, go ahead.
Whether all of the players belong to one company, or start competing companies, all are up to each player.
The win condition will be limited entirely by your own ambition.
Every player, however, will start within the same city-state, within the Surrounding States.

Management of a mercenary company will come down entirely to luck, cash and effort. Whether you wish to recruit members and pull the strings from afar, or forge out and smack heads personally will be entirely down to each individual character. The 'stats' of any company will be entirely dependant on what any player mentions. Discipline, equipment, whatever. If a player makes an attempt to improve it on their own company or sabotage it for another, that stat will magically appear as a guiding stat for all companies (unless it can be reasonably amalgamated into a different stat). After that it will come down to luck, and whatever skill you can 'sell' as corresponding to the action taken. Mooks will be provided, with different 'stock' statlines based on how much you paid for them and how selectively you recruited them. Army-based combat will probably get simplified based on exactly how much time I am willing to spend churning through 'fight' actions.

Player vs Player actions:
These will be pretty simple. FATE as a system is actually pretty clean with how easily you can up and smack another player. You want to have a brawl with your fellow man? Go ahead.
However, the single contention point is usually Diplomacy actions. After all, the 'Rapport' skill has to exist for a reason, right?
The way I'll usually play it is this- if a player wishes to convince someone else's character of something against the player's will, they can roll the relevant diplomacy checks for it.
HOWEVER, they will get a negative to that action depending on believability, how uncharacteristic it is, and, probably, how big of a dick move it is.
The two players will be free to haggle for a few rounds on exactly how high the modifier should be for that diplomacy check, before I step in and make a final call, and roll the result.

Spoiler: Intro to FATE (click to show/hide)

FATE is usually very story-based. However, the way I usually run it is much more based on fleshing out backgrounds, and then putting the wildly individual characters in an enclosed environment and seeing how the chips fall. So, that being said the most important and first part of the characters will be:

Aspects.
Aspects are basically a short phrase, which will generally point out a specific allegiance, proficiency, alignment or mindset - or all four if you're really tricky. Broad is good, although overly cheesetastic ones will be denied.
The two most important ones are the 'High Concept' and the 'Trouble'.
High Concept is something which sums up almost everything to do with your character. If someone can read that phrase then make a cursory guess at everything else your character is about, then you've done well.
"Disgraced Defender of the Realm"
"Punky Playboy"
"Wizard Private Investigator"
That kind of stuff. Race (and/or class) will almost always be featured in the High Concept.
Trouble is something which will the GM can have some fun throwing at you every now and then. It's almost always a character flaw, or a prevalent enemy, and is rarely used to benefit you.
"Spoiling for a fight"
"Compulsive liar"
"Rebel without a cause"
That kind of stuff.

After that, it's on to background aspects.
These usually revolve around things you've learned, organizations you've joined, or people you've met over the course of your history.
The easiest way to whip up three is to simply do a basic backstory.
- Who were your parents, how did you grow up?
(My parents were poor, I was sold to an orphanage and grew up solitary) - "Prefers to stand alone"

- How did you learn to do whatever it is that you do?
(I got in a lot of fights as a kid, and was recruited into a mercenary company before finishing school) - "Reading is for weaklings"

- A random point of trivia - why you're now where you are, whether anybody has influenced your life.
(The mercenary company I worked for made me pay outrageously for my 'training', leading to substantial debts) - "Owes big money to the red thorns".

Aspects have two major uses.
Firstly, they identify story points which a GM can push in order to get your character into some sort of crazy situation or quest. If your character is a big detractor of the nobility, and comes across a big ponce in the tavern, the GM can nudge your character into picking a fight with them, causing more interesting scenes.
Secondly, they are the easiest source of boosts in this game. To begin with, everyone will be getting a +1 on any skill check which corresponds to an aspect. So if the "Famous swordsman from the East" is in a sword fight, naturally they'll be quite skilled.
The best aspects, therefore, are ones which fit both the criteria. "Famous swordsman from the East" can give a +1 with swordplay, or rapport, but similarly some contentious story points can be brought up if you're recognized whilst trying to sneak into somewhere, or come across someone who hates easterners.


Skills.
Always do skills after aspects. It helps to know which skills might be aided by your aspects, but at the same time it can lead to very wooden characters.
Skill rankings work as a pyramid. You always have to have more lower-rank skills than higher rank ones.

Superb (+5)
Great (+4)	-
Good (+3)	-	-
Fair (+2)	-	-	-
Average (+1)	-	-	-	-

As you level up (no experience- it's dependent entirely on what you're doing, how well you're doing, clearing story arcs or if I feel generous), you'll get to add a new +1 skill to your repotoire, and in doing so push another skill further up the pyramid, if it is supported.
Rolling skills will be anywhere from -4 or +4, meaning that having rank 5 in a skill will make failure completely impossible for simple tasks such as throwing mud at a baby or tying two sticks together, but otherwise will have increasingly higher chances of failure.
"Crits" and "Fumbles" are rolled when your roll exceeds or falls short of the requirement by 3, at which point something spectacular (or spectacularly awful) will happen, however rolling par will give you the choice of either failing the action, or succeeding with an unexpected consequence.

Stunts:
Stunts are little quirks which give a boost to a certain skill, allow you to use one skill instead of another, or spend fate to use a skill in an unusual way. There's stunts on the site, but given the setting, people are fine to make their own.
Stunts are different to aspects.
Examples:
Phalanx Fighter: +2 to Fight rolls when allies are on either side
Experienced Horseman: Can use Ride instead of Empathy to gather information about horses' traits, but only when riding them.
Bullseye: Costs 1 Fate, can put a free advantage on a target you hit with a "shoot" attack, relating to a particular body part. Eg: "Pinned foot", "Bruised Throat"

Fate:
Fate is a special resource basically revolving around the personality of characters.
If it's important that you pass a specific roll, and your chatacter's got an aspect which suggests they'd be good at that stuff, then say you're gonna burn fate when you make the action, and it'll increase your success chance.

But the only way to get fate back is when I bribe you into doing things which are detrimental but in-character.

There's a couple of other ways to spend fate, like making assumptions about a place or person,
(E.G. "This guy's a dock thug, so I'm gonna burn fate to see if he's dimwitted.)
("We're in a warehouse, so I'm gonna assume there's a Crane-chain I can swing dramatically from")

Or for getting extra invokes on on aspects or advantages you've used up the invokes on.
(E.G. I know that Broken leg is only good for one invoke, but I wanna burn fate to kick it again, just to make sure he's not planning on getting up.")
-- Useful if you want help on a roll but don't have an aspect which you can trigger fate off.

Or, lastly, for dictating the actions of an NPC based on their aspects (better hit those empathy checks)
(E.G. "Dock Thug is dimwitted, so when my character gives a complicated reason for why he can't give any money, he probably will take about ten seconds to work it out, y'know, when I'm already at the other end of the alley")

Aspects given through consequences or creating an advantage, however, will get one Free invoke.
Free invokes and boosts you place on yourself or others can also be used to give you a +2 to a roll.
The difference between an Aspect and a Boost is the timeline. Boosts are one use only, and have to be used in the next round, after which they disappear.
Aspects will stick around, so anyone who feels like it can burn fate or roll skills to invoke them again and again.

Stress and Consequences:
Stress is how much bad stuff can happen to you before it starts taking a toll.
Stress comes in three forms: Physical, Mental and Social.
Physical stress being the near-misses and minor nicks of combat.
Mental stress being fear, rage or depression slowly building.
Social stress being loss of face, honor or respect causing resentment in those around you.

Sooner or later, that luck runs out, and you take Consequences. Consequences are negative aspects lasting a longer period of time, and sometimes requiring treatment before they'll heal. However, they aren't grouped into type like Stresses are.
"Arrow in the side" is a consequence, just as "Panicked" or "Wanted by the guard" are. All of them will negatively affect your play.

Stress and consequences both come in ascending checkboxes, 2|4|6, etcetera.
Upon getting hit, damage will be dealt, which will need to be bought off by taking stress and consequences. If you're unable to transfer over all of the damage, you're taken out.
A |2| stress box counts for 2 damage, just as a |4| coins for 4. However, damage will always have to be allocated, so a 1 damage hit can still 'cross out' a |4| damage stress box, if there isn't a |2| box available. Thus, even the weakest hits can end up causing a detrimental effect over time.
People with a high Will, Physique or Empathy will get extra boxes for their corresponding stress- or at even higher levels, an extra consequence box.

To know about the currently skipped stuff, refer to the Fate SRD.
I'll later be attempting to summarize that information here.

Equipment:
FATE doesn't actually have a system in place for how heavily armed and armored your character/henchmen are.
Therefore, I've decided to include a pair of equipment aspects into your character design.
These will essentially function as normal aspects, except they'll be simple, and devoted to only two concepts- your favored weapon and your level of armor. See:
Favored Weapons: Hunting Knife and Throwing Knives.
Armor: Muffled leather.
If you get into a situation where these types of weapons and armor would make your situation better or worse, then they can be triggered like aspects would as per normal.

Spoiler: The skill table (click to show/hide)

Tables are hard.

Skill	Overcome	Advantage	Attack	Defend
Fight	X	X	X	X
Shoot	X	X	X
Provoke	X	X	X
Athletics	X	X		X
Physique	X	X		X
Will	X	X		X
Empathy	X	X		X
Notice	X	X		X
Investigate	X	X
Stealth	X	X		X
Burglary	X	X
Rapport	X	X		X
Deceive	X	X		X
Contacts	X	X		X
Crafts	X	X
Ride	X	X		X
Lore	X	X

Overcome: Can I use it to pass a skill check?
Create an Advantage: Can I use it to put free invokes on people or scenes?
Fight: Can I use it to put stress and consequences on someone?
Defend: Can I use it to oppose someone else's checks?

Watch this space.
Currently: Pre-game night of fun and introduction.

[Tack]

Reserved for world info.

Spoiler: Kingdom (click to show/hide)

Array

Spoiler: Surrounds (click to show/hide)

Towns
City of Aurelar[/b]
Big


City of Dashness
City of Chasms
Maze of Moving Bridges
Fortified, Yet Complacent

Town of Reridge
Swampbound Archipelago
Difficult to Navigate
Thriving Underground

Places of note
Teeth of Tenshu

Spoiler: Goblin fiefdoms (click to show/hide)

Spoiler: Eastern Wilderness (click to show/hide)

[Tack]

Reserved for company info.

[Tack]

Spoiler: Character Sheet Template (click to show/hide)

Name:
[/b]Race:[/b] (Human or Goblin)
Gender:
Bio:

High Concept:
Trouble:
-
-
-


Equipment Aspects:
Weapons:
Armor:
(Starting gear is usually rough or shoddy)

Skills (Free to leave blank during the start of the game)
Great (+4)
-
Good (3+)
-
-
Fair (2+)
-
-
-
Average (1+)
-
-
-
-

Stunts
-
-
-

Current Characters:

OOC Thread

Spoiler: Name: Larok Ar'grush (click to show/hide)

Race: Ogre
Gender: Male
Bio: An excellent specimen of the fine Ogre species, Larok grew up in a relatively small stronghold along a lake. He learned fishing as a hobby, but never took to it, since it was time-consuming and didn't accomplish anything except making lots of neat little toothpicks.
Larok is also completely bullheaded and doesn't stop working on a task until the job is done. ...Ever. Or he dies. So far that hasn't happened.
Deciding once he was of age that he should put his talent for swordsmanship to use, as the stronghold's militia was full enough anyway, he worked for months without stopping to save up enough gold and start a company.

Fighter from the Hills
Unnecessarily Obstinate
- Real Ogres Use Swords!
- Unshakeable Will
- I Pity The Weak

Equipment Aspects:
Weapons:
Armor:

Skills:
Great (4+)
- Physique (+5)
Good (+3)
- Fight
- Provoke
Fair (2+)
- Investigate
- Will
- Deceive
Average (1+)
- Rapport
- Empathy
- Notice
- Athletics (+0)

Stunts
- Shrug it off - You can use Physique to defend against Fight attacks made with fists or blunt instruments, though you always take 1 shift of stress on a tie.
-
-
Stress:
Physical: [1][2][3][4]
Mental:   [1][2][3]

Consequences: [2][4][6] - {2}

Spoiler: Name: Nabih Shahin Al-Safi (click to show/hide)

Race: Human
Gender: Male
Bio: Born in a trading clan, Nabih was one of Sahid Al-Safi's and Naleiya Al-Safi's few children. Given a good education thanks to his parents' stable financial conditions and the advantages of their profession, Nabih turned out to be a bright kid with a good measure of curiosity and creativity. Saleiya was responsible for most of the couple's accounting and also a rather spiritual woman moderately versed in the arts of magic, which she taught Nabih and a few of his siblings. Meanwhile, Sahid was the face of the operation and a man with a dream; while mankind was more numerous than most races and a formidable force due to it, the man was an admirer of dwarven engineering and was consequently sore about human inability to craft so much of what the xenophobic, stout race was able to create. He wanted human technology to stop complacently feeding off trading and antiquated notions and move forward, without any assistance if necessary.

His parents' teachings and interests rubbed off on Nabih as he grew into a capable, intelligent man with a dream. Too many dreams, actually; whether it was due to his passion for crafting, knowledge or magic, he began to piece together mechanisms even during his sleeping hours, turning him into a lucid dreamer with an objective. Learned and feeling comfortable about his own intellectual baggage, he managed to loan the necessary sum of money to start a mercenary organization, benefiting from the clan's nature to not be drowned in interest and/or threats. Why a mercenary organization? To be safe you need how to wage war and he's realized technology like firearms are a game-changer in the field of battle. In Nabih's opinion, having a body of warriors to field-test any improvements on military tech is less risky than giving them out to strangers.

Nabih is a young-faced inventor and magic practitioner as well as an accomplished trader, partially due to the right connections in his clan and out of it. He's bronze-skinned and has a slightly wide, straight-cut nose between emerald eyes. He prefers to wear the traveling clothes of his people, pants and shirts complimented by robes and headscarves to protect against the sun and elements. The trading clan he's part of is one of the few that established themselves in a section of the Surrounds generations ago to create an outpost for the wandering caravans of his people.

High Concept: Steel Wizard of the Forge
Trouble: No Lore By Man Untouched
-True Traders Haggle
-Formal Bearing and Education
-Clan and Connections: Assets & Debts

Equipment Aspects:
Weapons: Worn Scimitar and crossbow
Armor: Sturdy Cloth

Skills:
Great (4+)
-Crafts
Good (3+)
-Contacts
-Lore
Fair (2+)
-Athletics
-Rapport
-Will
Average (1+)
-Empathy
-Investigate
-Notice
-Physique

Stunts
-Bloodline of Bargain: +2 bonus to Rapport when used to haggle.
-Extensive Network: Gain a +2 bonus to Contacts when using it to Create an Advantage to know the perfect purveyor of specific goods or services.
-Inventor's Insight: Inventions created by succeeding with style gain an (extra) useful Aspect or Stunt.

Stress:
Physical: [1][2][3]
Mental:   [1][2][3]

Consequences: [2][4][6]

Spoiler: Name: Ghaminia Al-Haral (click to show/hide)

Race: Human
Gender: F
Bio: When Nabih turned fourteen, his parents got him a bodyguard and servant - one to be dedicated to him rather than a general house servant. It was fashion at that time for them to be female - less obtrusive, more likely to be underestimated... and often nicer on the eyes, too.

So it was that Ghaminia entered Nabih's life - she was a few years older, and while it was never explained where she had come from, she was a quiet and omnipresent figure in his background. She tended to his hurts when his experiments went amok, and assisted when needed - mainly with her prodigious physical strength.

A quiet, tall woman, she has a tendency to blend in to surroundings. Her skin is dusky, her features plain - aside from the claw-marks that trace down the right side of her face. She's trained in grapples, and a brutal, close range fighting style with a pair of karembit knives. A tiger skin is draped over her shoulders, with the head forming a hood she can pull up over her own. Besides the knives at her waist, she has another woven into her hair, and two small straight blades concealed at her calves. Her flowing silks do a good job of hiding the thin-yet-sturdy armour beneath.

She also knows how to move silently and pick locks... her past was not a gentle one, nor on the right side of the law. By becoming a servant, her old life was abandoned. Her old name was abandoned when she went into servanthood, but in some drinking dens the name "The Silent Tiger" is still whispered...

High Concept: loyal strongwoman bodyguard with a bloody past.
Trouble: Ghosts of the past
-
-
-

Skills:
Great (4+)
- Physique
Good (3+)
- Stealth
- Fight
Fair (2+)
- Notice
- Provoke
- Burgalry
Average (1+)
- Ride
- Will
- Craft
- Decieve

Stunts
-
-
-

Equipment
Weapons: Knives for every occasion.
Armour: Concealed Lammelar.

Stress:
Physical: [1][2][3][4]
Mental:   [1][2][3]

Consequences: [2][4][6]

Spoiler: Name: Riskiss Malodie (click to show/hide)

Race: Goblin
Gender: Female
Bio: Riskiss was born, like all goblins, to a large family. In her case, the family was wealthy and established, in Dashess, the heads of the household being Krafit Malodie and his mistress, Retuin Sihil. She never much enjoyed pushing and shoving her way to the top of the pack, nor indeed did she very much like being there. Too stressful, with her siblings and cousins always trying to find ways to pull her back down or put her in her place. Besides, she didn't have the brawn for physical confrontation, and it was so much easier to just get other people to do it for her. Especially her brother, Kars. Kars had always been nice to her. He was generally quiet and kind, for a goblin. He was very easy to manipulate. But as she kept him in place at the top of the pack, never seeming to step out of line, as she found her niche in the struggle, she felt worse and worse about doing so. She began working on other people, so he could be himself more. It was nice, to see someone who wasn't utterly ruthless in the lead, for once. Relaxing, almost. Eventually she tried to ease herself back; attachments were dangerous, if you thought about it. And it was alright, for a while; she dealt with threats that might get him cast out, and enjoyed life in the Malodie manor.

But inevitably the good ends. Kars was not ruthless enough to stay strong on his own. His elders knew that. When Riskiss was away to conduct one of the first business deals she was meant to for the house, he made a mistake. The price he paid, was, of course, his position as a member of the house. A few weeks later when Riskiss returned, her good mood was broken by learning of her brother's exile. She cared for the rest of her family, of course, had close friends...but they were not her responsibility. Kars was. And now he was gone. Soon she was gone too. Riskiss knew how to play people. (Unfinished)

High Concept: Upper-Crust Puppet-Master
Trouble: Power Brings Only Grief
- There Is Such A Thing As Being Too Clever...
- Power Lies in Lying and Laying
- Killing Is For Ruffians And Imbeciles

Weapons: Nicked Dagger
Armor: Old Reinforced Silks

Skills
Great (4+)
- Rapport
Good (3+)
- Contacts
- Deceive
Fair (2+)
- Stealth
- Empathy
- Lore
Average (1+)
- Will
- Notice
- Investigate
- Provoke

Stunts
- Dulcet Tones: +2 to first impression Rapport roll.
- White Lies: Can use Deceive to boost a Rapport (?)
- 'Spy Networks' Sounds So Unrefined, Darling: Can use Contacts in place of Investigate in areas with networks built up.

Stress:
Physical: [1][2]
Mental:   [1][2][3]

Consequences: [2][4][6]

Spoiler: Name: Oliver Travis (click to show/hide)

Name: Oliver Travis
[/b]Race:[/b] Human
Gender: Male
Bio: Sergeant Travis. Bit of a legend among the men-at-arms and dogs of war. They say he was killed in battle, but nobody believes that. Ol' Olly would eat himself to death before dying in battle! Oh, sure, the paunch might give you a bit of a bad first impression, but believe me, Olly Travis is one of the most dangerous soldiers there is. He's too smart to get killed by some kid with a sword.

Oliver Travis, a country farmer, enlisted in one of the Royal Regiments when he was only a teenager. He can hardly remember which war, or how old he was. Ol' Olly was born to be a soldier, and he never looked back. "Combat valor" won him a promotion to sergeant-at-arms, and he spent years, decades even serving whichever monarch still had a head on their shoulders. Oh, the kings and knights liked to think they were in charge, but when Olly spoke, the men listened.

The accepted story is that Sergeant Travis died in combat. Others say that some blue-blood noble was giving his men suicidal orders, and he put a crossbow bolt in his visor. It wasn't the first officer Travis killed to save his lads, but it was the last. He should've been executed, but a handful of friends in high places owed Olly a favor or two. Now, the old soldier is out on the street, living a lie. And he needs money.

High Concept: Born Soldier, Forced Deserter
Trouble:
-Born to March
-Looking After the Lads
-Cast Out


Equipment Aspects:
Weapons: Old Arming Sword
Armor: None. (Oliver had to sell off his old armor, since it was too obviously that of a soldier.)
(Starting gear is usually rough or shoddy)

Skills (Free to leave blank during the start of the game)
Great (+4)
-
Good (3+)
-
-
Fair (2+)
-
-
-
Average (1+)
-
-
-
-

Stunts
-Back In...: Bonus to any Contacts check that involves the military.
-Drill Sergeant Nasty: +2 to Provoke attacks against any military-trained/disciplined character.
-This is an Emergency: Create an Advantage bonus to take control of any group of panicked or confused people.

[Tack]

OK! Currently in the early Suggestion Game bit. I'm hoping to get some input creating the finer details of our map.
So!

The city-state everyone currently resides in:

Name?
Big-Small? (Give it a 1-10, 1 is hamlet, 10 is metropolis/capital)
Is it built on/around a something?
Which races currently are common, rare, and/or hold sway here?

[Rolepgeek]

Name: Dashess
Size: 5-6
Location: Spans two steep cliff faces. At the 'rear' of a valley, fed by and overlooking the farms that use the river farther downhill, where it widens to actually be useful. Though the majority of the buildings are, of course, on top of the cliffs or built into their side, it is nonetheless referred to as the City of Chasms by those who know of it.
Races: Mostly humans and goblins; ogres aren't very common. Something about the number of bridges makes them uncomfortable. While humans are the majority, as in most cities, goblins hold a surprising amount of sway, though their antics are only tolerated in isolation, as the upper ranks get nervous when the humans get nervous -  not without good reason, either...

[Kashyyk]

Name: Reridge
Size: 4 (due to the terrain though, is actually a collection of hamlets around a small town)
Location: the majority of Reridge is marshland or submerged mangrove,  warm and humid. Non-intelligent life is abundant,  but the ground is poorly suited for construction. Hills and plateaus dot the area however, providing much drier and sturdier places to build. The source between these islands can be anywhere from trends of metres to several kilometers. The major plateau is home to Reridge,  initially called Red Ridge due to the distinct coloration of the ground it stood on.

[Tack]

Ok- may as well use both.

We have the City of Dashness, known as the City of chasms for its intriguing terrain, with the enormous dwarven-built cogworks at the back, harnessing the power of the waterfall to power its labrynthian mass of moving bridges, to allow traffic and ships to pass uninhibited. Because of this extraordinary terrain, the military infrastructure is Fortified, Yet Complacent, believing no outsider would bother attacking.
Sadly this means their mercenary companies are all rather small, with those holding the prized guard contracts being rather lazy and overfed, whilst other mercenary companies are over eager, and maybe a little desperate.

Behind the city lies the noted "Tenshu Teeth", a range of jagged and difficult to cross mountainlands between the surrounds and the goblin fiefs. Despite the inhospitable terrain, the closeness to the homeland explains the larger than normal goblin population. Further down the river, past many leagues of farmland, lies the marshy delta, and the Town of reridge which sprawls upon it.

This Swampbound Archipelago is a mass of tiny hamlets and villages surrounding a single hub. Movement is usually via bridges, but those who are braver, or more desperate, can choose to take a more direct route through the mangroves. This naturally makes the town proper incredibly difficult to navigate, as well as encouraging an insidious thriving underground population. Any number of abandoned or sunken towns can turn out to be the hideout of some band or another of smugglers, cutthroats, or even one of the more suspicious of the mercenary companies.

[Tack]

So- we have towns. (If someone can be bothered to make a third in the area, it'll save me a bit of trouble.)
Next! Competition! What mercenary companies are active in the two towns?
1. Registered or unregistered? (A registered company is able to take open contracts from the town. Unregistered companies are usually too small, illicit, or haughty)
2. Size? (Keep in mind the size and scope of the cities when you make this. Between 10 and 100 is good for all but the city-vs-city companies.
3. Majority race?
4. Principles/Standing contracts?

[SOLDIER First]

ptw

[Tack]

Ok- time's passed too far.
The price for me making these up is that players will need to pass the relevant checks to know more.

Extra towns:
City of Veracim. East. Size: 7
Border Fortress Raskenvess. West. Size: 3

Known Dashness guilds:
Kite Arms co.

Known Reridge guilds:
Marshland Conclave
Reridge People's Army

From here the rest of the world will fall into place as I settle the quests.

PLAYERS.
Character sheet is simple to begin with-
Just give Name, gender and short bio. Most specifically where you came from, and how you earned enough money to start a mercenary company (Costs approximately a years hard labor wages.) debts and inheritance should go in an aspect.
Then, Five aspects, bolded.

Spoiler: Aspects (click to show/hide)

Aspects are basically a short phrase, which will generally point out a specific allegiance, proficiency, alignment or mindset - or all four if you're really tricky. Broad is good, although overly cheesetastic ones will be denied.
The two most important ones are the 'High Concept' and the 'Trouble'.
High Concept is something which sums up almost everything to do with your character. If someone can read that phrase then make a cursory guess at everything else your character is about, then you've done well.
"Disgraced Defender of the Realm"
"Punky Playboy"
"Wizard Private Investigator"
That kind of stuff. Race (and/or class) will almost always be featured in the High Concept.
Trouble is something which will the GM can have some fun throwing at you every now and then. It's almost always a character flaw, or a prevalent enemy, and is rarely used to benefit you.
"Spoiling for a fight"
"Compulsive liar"
"Rebel without a cause"
That kind of stuff.

After that, it's on to background aspects.
These usually revolve around things you've learned, organizations you've joined, or people you've met over the course of your history.
The easiest way to whip up three is to simply do a basic backstory.
- Who were your parents, how did you grow up?
(My parents were poor, I was sold to an orphanage and grew up solitary) - "Prefers to stand alone"

- How did you learn to do whatever it is that you do?
(I got in a lot of fights as a kid, and was recruited into a mercenary company before finishing school) - "Reading is for weaklings"

- A random point of trivia - why you're now where you are, whether anybody has influenced your life.
(The mercenary company I worked for made me pay outrageously for my 'training', leading to substantial debts) - "Owes big money to the red thorns".

Aspects have two major uses.
Firstly, they identify story points which a GM can push in order to get your character into some sort of crazy situation or quest. If your character is a big detractor of the nobility, and comes across a big ponce in the tavern, the GM can nudge your character into picking a fight with them, causing more interesting scenes.
Secondly, they are the easiest source of boosts in this game. To begin with, everyone will be getting a +1 on any skill check which corresponds to an aspect. So if the "Famous swordsman from the East" is in a sword fight, naturally they'll be quite skilled.
The best aspects, therefore, are ones which fit both the criteria. "Famous swordsman from the East" can give a +1 with swordplay, or rapport, but similarly some contentious story points can be brought up if you're recognized whilst trying to sneak into somewhere, or come across someone who hates easterners.

Skills can either be done now for those familiar with FATE- or filled in as the story progresses.


Name:
Race: (Max one ogre player)
Gender:
Bio:

High Concept:
Trouble:
-
-
-

Spoiler: Skills and Stunts (Free to leave blank during the start of the game) (click to show/hide)

Great (3+)
-
Fair (2+)
-
-
Average (1+)
-
-
-

Stunts
-
-
-

Equipment Aspects:
Weapons-
Armor-
(Starting gear is "dull" or "shoddy" usually)

[SOLDIER First]

Spoiler: WIP, pls don't let this die (click to show/hide)

Name: Larok Ar'grush
Race: Ogre
Gender: Male
Bio: An excellent specimen of the fine Ogre species, Larok grew up in a relatively small stronghold along a lake. He learned fishing as a hobby, but never took to it, since it was time-consuming and didn't accomplish anything except making lots of neat little toothpicks.
Larok is also completely bullheaded and doesn't stop working on a task until the job is done. ...Ever. Or he dies. So far that hasn't happened.
Deciding once he was of age that he should put his talent for swordsmanship to use, as the stronghold's militia was full enough anyway, he worked for months without stopping to save up enough gold and start a company.

Fighter from the Hills
Unnecessarily Obstinate
- Real Ogres Use Swords!
- Unshakeable Will
- I Pity The Weak

[Tack]

So, how'd Larok end up in a bridge town like Dashness?
I'll accept "unshakeable will" for why he doesn't show the typical Ogre trepidation for the narrow footing- but the town has to have something to offer.

Spoiler: Aspect Ideas (click to show/hide)

Also, the "Never gives up" Trouble aspect will be more easy to play with if it's a bit more broad, something like "Unnecessarily Stubborn" or something, so it can be used against you in social encounters, too. But you'll have to beware, as "impatient" and "never gives up" is a deadly combo, which could easily lead to massive tantrums. Fishing must have been Rough.
Other than that, it's looking really good- although "Comprtent swordsman" is a little lacklustre. I'd say tie it to talent or pride, and if possible, use it to make your character more "sword-exclusive".
"Real Ogres use Swords" or "Spurned talent for swordsmanship" are both nice and double-edged.
Some inspiration for your fifth aspect- you're a more-unshakeable, more-stubborn member of a race which are basically Spartans- so you could perhaps have a little bit of fame (or infamy) in the area around your home-hold, or could even have had a minor rank in the militia before you left?

Edit: On second though, Unshakeable Will would probably be better off as a standard aspect.
The High Concept needs to be more like a declaration of Race and Class.

[Kashyyk]

Posting to reserve a spot

[GiglameshDespair]

How specific are skills?