Custom Extras

The next steps would be picking Skills and Stunt. Because this series is dragging on a bit I am going to do that off camera, and you can see them in the links to the finished characters when I build the index. We know enough about each character from their High Concept, Trouble, and Phase Trio, to figure out who knows, and can do, what. 

What we are going to focus on next is Extras. Extras in many ways are the out come of the original game concept. If the game is high fantasy it could include magic systems. If the game is sci-fi it could tell us about the ship the PCs call home. 

This is a modern fantasy game with an animal theme, in a setting where magic is considered wildly dangerous. 

While the Fate Core book has any number of examples of Extras none of them really fit in with our needs, so that leaves us with the fun task of developing our own.

There are a useful series of questions (Fate Core pg, 271 "Creating and Extra") to help us figure out what we are trying to create.

1. What elements of your setting are appropriate for Extras?
2. What do you want the Extra to do?
3. What character elements do you need to fully express the Extra's capabilities? 
4. What are the cost or permissions to have an Extra?

Answering these questions will go a long way to writing the Extra so lets just take them in order.

1. The magical illness that gives animal traits. 
2. The Extra should provide useful, gameable, advantages that are themed through the Animal Aspect.
1. Example, Aspect: Excellent Night Vision
3. To express the double edged nature of Extra it will use stress  boxes with any over flow going to consequences or  off of a humanity tracker.
4. Having the illness and an Animal Aspect are the Permissions necessary for the Extra.

What I am envisioning is a series of progressively more powerful animal themed powers each costing a higher degree of testing of self control or physical resistance. Failure on rolls will lead to stress and consequences. So the PC's will need an additional set of stress boxes specifically for the use of powers. Consequences work the same as they would if the character had taken some sort of damage. If there is any over flow past the last consequence box it will be taken out of a  5 point humanity tracker. 

The three levels of powers would be:

1. Senses of the Beast. The PC's sense change to that corresponding to their animal aspect.
1. difficulty Fair
2. Body of the Beast. Gain advantages of your animal aspect in a physical way, such as warm fur or vicious claws.
1. difficulty Good
3. Power of the Beast. Gain a supernatural quality that is attributed to the animal in folk lore or myth.
1. difficulty Great

With the exception of the Humanity Tracker there is no need to reinvent the wheel. The player will simple evoke a level of power, make an immediate resistance check with physique or willpower. Passing that check allows them to add an Aspect to their character that corresponds with the power level for 1 scene. Failure cost means he has lost control of the Beast and must take either stress from his physical stress track, his mental stress track, or his Animal stress track. Any over flow becomes a Consequence, and is handled as normal. If he doesn't have enough Consequence track to cover the cost he will loose one point from his humanity track and gain a new trait to represent the loss. This trait should cause some problems, but it may also be positively evoked if circumstances allow. For example they may sprout grey hair all over like a wolf, which could socially be awkward, but may allow for an asset to hiding when invoked. 

Once all five points of the Humanity Track are filled the character goes permanently feral and becomes an NPC. 

I had considered raising the resistance difficulties after every point of Humanity loss, but I came to the view that would be punitive, and wouldn't really be fun. I don't want the characters to wash out. I want them to have to weigh the benefit verses risk of using extraordinary power.

And that I believe, aside from character sheets, finishes this quasi tutorial. It was great fun creating something new and sharing with all of you. To those that have read this far, thank you.

W.D. 

(P.S
I don't feel 100% about the writing here and may pull it down for a retooling, but it is better to post something you feel 80% good about, than to never finish, and this bit of fun was dragging on. Next stop on the game exploration front, maybe my favorite TTRPG Mage the Ascension)