What's going on in 2056?

If you'd prefer to get an idea of the issues swirling around the year our game will be set, I have two links for you.

This is the Shadowrun wiki entry for the year

Here's an alternate take, focus on fan-created issues like what's going on over in Hawaii

The Big List of Important Things Everyone Would Know:

It's an election year, the President of the United Canadian and American States and the office of President of the Confederated American States are both up for grabs.  In the UCAS, Thomas Steele and James Booth are running for re-election.  Both are running on the Technocratic ticket: Technocrats line up with the modern Democratic platform, are liberal and progressive and seek to find ways to stimulate the growth of technology and integrate it into modern society.

Thomas Steele was never voted into office, he was Vice President under Alan Addams.  When Addams passed away suddenly due to a heart attack in the middle of his term, Steele took over the presidency and tapped Booth, the former Secretary of State, to be his VP.

In the Confederated American States, Edna Wallace, the current President, is stepping down this year.  Wallace is a Southern Democrat and has served two successful terms in office - which are the term limits for President of the CAS.   The CAS saw its 20th Anniversary during the Wallace's second term in 2054.  Wallace is the first female President of the CAS and the first President to serve two full terms in office and is widely considered to be the most popular and successful President so far in the CAS, she is the 4th President to hold the office.  She's hand-picked her successor, Oliver Jackson.  Jackson is the current Director of the Department of Strategic Intelligence, or DSI.  He's widely considered to be a "shoo-in" win.

Japan is scheduled to hold the 2056 Olympics in Tokyo.  However, Japan (which has once again styled itself as an Imperial power) has become xenophobic and racist.  They exile any Elf, Dwarf, Ork or Troll to an island known as Yomi, Japanese for Hell.  Metahumans have no rights in Japanese society.  Several Metahuman athletes are boycotting the Games and calling on the IOOC to move the games to a different location with a better track record on metahuman rights.

Speaking of metahumans, the bill to grant a Social Identification Number and full citizenship to Dunkelzhan, the Great Dragon who awoke in Yellowstone Park, is currently moving through the UCAS legislature.  It is expected to pass, and would be the first time a Dragon has been granted citizenship in any country.

"Terrorist" attacks continue at several locations in both the UCAS and the CAS.  Most of these are chalked up as "domestic terrorism" and the news is focusing on new fringe groups popping up inside of modern society, as opposed to foreign groups.

We're close to having cyberlimbs

TV Tropes is the best thing ever

If you're planning on writing a FATE campaign, tvtropes.org is the best resource available to you.  Any of the tropes listed can be easily become Aspects and, like the FATE fractal the more you drill down, the more aspects you have to play with.

For example, we know Shadowrun is a mashup of Cyberpunk and Fantasy

Just looking at those two entries, we have a ton of Aspects we can choose to use when designing our setting and world.

Just looking at Cyberpunk, we have leads into a corruption, nihilism, cyberwear and so much more.  As I design New Orleans in 2056, I'm going to be pulling Aspects out of Tropes listed on the website, from the various trope pages I like.  

Check out:

City Noir

Vice City

Wrong Side of the Tracks

And the tropes that link off of those pages, to get an idea of what I mean and what I'll be using in the future.

Happy Gaming!

Sample Character: Archer

One of the features of this blog are sample characters created with the rules of Shadows of Fate.  These are separate from Archetypes which are a bundle of skills and Stunts that players are meant to flesh out and use.  Sample Characters are full creations of NPC or PC characters.

Archer

Archer was a character in my Shadowrun campaign I ran based in St. Louis.  The character was originally constructed by one of my players using the rules in Shadowrun, 3rd Edition.  I'm re-creating the PC using Shadows of Fate to provide an example of how the characters will be crossing over.

Archer, Male Human Face

Archer is  a Face / Hired Gun currently employed by Solomon Greene.  

High Concept: Human Face and Social Expert

Trouble: My former trainer is now my enemy

Background: I was an Angel ( a private company of hitmen and hired killers.  Ties into the Trouble listed above.  Archer's former Mentor and Handler, Gabriel, did not part with Archer on good terms)

Adult Life: Corporate Citizen fallen into a life of crime

1st Shadowrun:  You do not fuck with Mr. Greene.

2nd Shadowrun: I keep my word, no matter the cost

Skills

Great (+4):  Etiquette

Good (+3): Notice, Deceive

Fair (+2): Shoot, Will, Contacts

Average (+1): Lifestyle, Fight, Pilot, Intimidate

Stunts and Extras

Skillwires - Archer can select two additional skills at Average.  These skills may be changed at any time by spending a Fate Point.

Smartlink - You may use Shoot to Create an Advantage called Target Lock. You gain a number of Free Invokes equal to your Shifts on the roll.  You may share this Advantage and your free Invokes with any who also has a Smartlink or Image Link

Kinesthetic Mastery - Archer has both incredible skill and specialized augmentations that  allow him to notice body language and auditory queues when dealing with another person.  He may use his Etiquette to resist mental attacks and use of the Deceive skill and may use his Etiquette skill to Create an Advantage against anyone he interacts with socially.

Bone Lacing -  Archer's skeleton has been treated and is laced with titanium.  He has an extra Mild Consequence and once per conflict, he can spend a Fate point and "stage down" a consequence - from Severe to Moderate, Moderate to Mild and a Mild consequence can be ignored.

I am never lost - Archer has mapsofts constantly running in his headware and can display a map of any area at will in his field of vision.  These mapsofts are far more detailed than the standard 'softs most people use. As such, he's never lost and may spend a Fate point to declare an Aspect that affects the scene or location he is currently in ("Quick, follow me down the alley!  There's a Backdoor to a Warehouse this way!")

Refresh: 5

Magic and Spirits

Magic

Much like Decking and the Matrix, Magic is very simplified. Having an Aspect that includes Awakened allows use of Sorcery and Conjuring Skills to accomplish the Four Actions of FATE Core.

Sorcery is used for all things involving spells and general Magic issues. Conjuring is used for the summoning and banishment of spirits.

Like Shadowrun, Magic users fall into three groups: Mages, Shamans and Adepts.

Adepts are the easiest, as their Powers from Shadowrun are easily converted to FATE Stunts and Extras. We can also go beyond the book - anything you can conceive of for your Adept, we can turn into a Stunt.

For Killing Hands, for example, I model it this way:

Stunt: Killing Hands: When using Fight, you deal +1 Stress to a target, if your damage would be reduced below 1, you still inflict 1 Stress and gain a Boost. You may spend a Fate point once per scene to "stage up" any Consequence - Mild to Moderate, Moderate to Severe.

Mages or Hermetic Mages summon elemental spirits (if they summon at all) and use the Hermetic trappings to color their magic. Since they can't get the Totem Stunt, they can instead be part of Mystical Societies, or have Mentor Spirits they can turn to for guidance.

Shamans are more primal, tied to the Essence of the Earth. They summon Spirits that reflect their surroundings.

Sorcery 

Magic allows you to use the Sorcery skill to shape Mana in a way that you can use to Create an Advantage, Overcome an Obstacle, Attack a person or thing or Defend yourself from harmful spells and magical effects.

There are no spell lists. Magic-using characters are free to narrate the looks and effects of their spells however they see fit. Logical Aspects will be chosen based on narration. Outside of the scope of what can be done with Magic, the rules governing its use in this Hack are the same rules used to govern every other action in FATE Core, with this exception:

Magic always succeeds.

That changes our Four Outcomes from:

• Succeed with Style
• Succeed
• Tie
• Fail

To:

• Succeed with Style
• Succeed
• Succeed at Minor Cost
• Succeed at Serious Cost

Why the change? To model Drain.

Drain

Since we don't have a list of spells that give us Drain Codes and calculations, we need another way to model Drain. We're doing that in two ways. The first is, as you can see above, making Magic a two-edged sword. You cannot fail when casting a spell, but the costs can be quite high if the roll doesn't go your way. The second way we model Drain is:

If you do not match the difficulty when making a Sorcery or Conjuring Test, you must take the difference between the two as Stress. If the Difficulty of the test you were attempting is higher than your Sorcery or Conjuring, whichever is higher, the Drain is noted on your Physical Track. If it is equal to or lower than those ratings, it is noted on your Mental Track.

So, if I have Sorcery 4 and I need to match a Fantastic test (6) and I only get a 3 after my roll, I'm going to be taking 3 Stress on my Physical Track. If I have a 4 Sorcery and I needed a 4 but got a 3, I'd take one stress to my Mental Track instead.

Now let's define those costs.

What are costs?

Straight out of FATE, in the section titled Making Failure Awesome:

Succeed at a Cost
You can also offer to give the PCs what they want, but at a price—in this case, the failed roll means they weren’t able to achieve their goals without consequence.
A minor cost should complicate the PC’s life. Like the above suggestion, this focuses on using failure as a means to change up the situation a bit, rather than just negating whatever the PCwanted. Some suggestions:

• Foreshadow some imminent peril. “The lock opens with a soft click, but the same can’t be said for the vault door. If they didn’t know you were here before, they sure do now.”

• Introduce a new wrinkle. “Yes, the Guildmaster is able to put you in touch with a mage who can translate the withered tome—a guy named Berthold. You know him, actually, but the last time you saw him was years ago, when he caught you with his wife.”

• Present the player with a tough choice. “You brace the collapsing ceiling long enough for two of the others to get through safely, but not the rest. Who’s it going to be?”

• Place an aspect on the PC or the scene. “Somehow you manage to land on your feet, but with a Twisted Ankle as a souvenir.”

• Give an NPC a boost. “Nikolai surprises you a bit by agreeing to your offer, but he does so with a wry smile that makes you uneasy. Clearly, Nikolai Has A Plan.”

• Check one of the PC’s stress boxes. Careful with this one—it’s only a real cost if the PC’s likely to take more hits in the same scene. If you don’t think that’s going to happen, go with another choice.

A serious cost does more than complicate the PC’s life or promise something worse to come—it takes a serious and possibly irrevocable toll, right now.
One way you can do this is by taking a minor cost to the next level. Instead of suspecting that a guard heard them open the vault, a few guards burst in the room, weapons drawn. Instead of being merely cut off from their allies by a collapsing ceiling, one or more of those allies ends up buried in the debris. Instead of merely having to face an awkward situation with Berthold, he’s still angry and out for their blood.
Other options could include:

• Reinforce the opposition. You might clear one of an NPC’s stress boxes, improve one of their skills by one step for the scene, or give them a new aspect with a free invocation.

• Bring in new opposition or a new obstacle, such as additional enemies or a situation aspect that worsens the situation.

• Delay success. The task at hand will take much longer than expected.

• Give the PC a consequence that follows logically from the circumstances—mild if they have one available, moderate if they don’t.

If you’re stuck for just how serious a serious cost should be, you may want to use the margin of failure as a gauge. For instance, in the vault-opening example, above—the one where the guards hear the PC and burst in the room—if the player failed their Burglary roll by 1 or 2, thePCs outnumber the guards. Not a tough fight, but a fight nonetheless. If they failed it by 3 to 5, it’s an even match, one that’s likely to use up resources like fate points or consequences. But if they failed by 6 or more, they’re outnumbered and in real dange

           The exact Cost will depend upon the situation, but should follow those rules.
Yes, that means that if you try to do something at an extremely high Difficulty and Succeed At Major cost, between the stress and the Cost you could be really hurt. That's magic in the Shadows for you

Astral Projecting And Assensing

All Mages and Shamans may project themselves into the Astral Plane, per Shadowrun. The rules don't change, just the setting. In order to be seen on the Material Plane, they must willingly gain the Aspect Materialized. This allows them to be seen and heard, but they are still unable to affect the Material realm.
A Mage may Assense and use their Investigate Skill to Overcome Obtacles or Create Advantages that are related to Astral or Magical Phenomena.

Conjuring

Spirits add a little complexity to our rules, but we'll keep it as simple as possible.
Both Hermetic Mages and Shamans can Summon Spirits. Mages must spend a number of hours equal to the Force of the Elemental Spirit they wish to call in ritual. Shamans Summon on the fly.

Commonalities between Spirits

All Spirits share these things, regardless of anything else they are.
Resistance to Normal Weaponry: The Shadowrun rules use the word Immune but that's a little too strong for system, since we are using Aspects and Aspects are Always True. So, we'll change the wording to reflect how the rules really work. Spirits are highly resistant to Normal Weapons - Firearms and Melee weapons. They reduce any incoming Stress by 2 and ignore any Mild Consequences created by these sources of Damage. That means that Spirits are very resistant to 4 shifts or less of Normal Damage - they reduce it by 2 Automatically, can take the remaining 2 as a Mild Consequence and then ignore that Consequence.

That means that teams without Magical Backup will need to work together to Create Advantages and use them collectively to land a hit with a lot of Stress on the Spirit in order to damage it with normal weapons.

Spirits all have Will equal to their Force which they use to resist Magic Damage and Weapons damage that most other characters would use Athletics to Dodge.
Spirits cannot act independently, they must be given instructions. A mage may spend a Fate Point to give them the Aspect Independent which gives them the ability to act on their own.

Spirits are either only on the Astral Plane or they may willingly gain the Aspect Materialized to affect things outside the Astral Plane

Elemental or Hermetic Spirits must be summoned via ritual, as noted above. When summoned, they have 3 services available. If a Magician Succeeds with Style during the Summoning, they may add to those services.

All Elementals are Weak to their opposing Element, and increase all incoming Stress by 2 when it comes from a Source they are Weak to.

Nature or Shamanic Spirits

Are summoned on the fly. They are Aspected towards the domain they are called from and may not leave, as per Shadowrun rules. They also have three services when summoned and those services may be added to, as noted above.

Summoning a Spirit

The Magician names the Force of the Spirit he is attempting to Conjure and makes an Overcome test against a Difficulty equal to the Force of the Spirit.
Spirits above Force 6 cannot be summoned on the fly, even if they are Nature Spirits. Spirits of this level of power require long, complicated rituals that must be followed exactly. With the number of Skills and Aspects a Force 8 Spirit can start with, they begin to take on their own personalities. At this point, instead of just general, nameless Flame Elemental, you are calling upon Emberwind, Denizen of the City of Brass or Coyote's Howl. Spirits of this nature have their own will, desires, plans and needs.
The Spirit Materializes with the following, based on their Force:
Skill points equal to their Force that may be divided among as many skills as necessary. Often, a Spirit only needs one Skill at its highest level. These skills can be free-form: for example, a Force 4 Fire Elemental only really needs the Skill Burning Things (essentially, Fight and Shoot wrapped up in one specific skill) to reflect its nature and allow it to use its powers to affect the environment and characters.
If the mage succeeds with Style, he may place an additional Aspect on the Spirit and gain a free Invoke on that Aspect.
Spirits have a number of Aspects equal to their Force, divided by 2, minimum 1.
For low-Force spirits, this Aspect will simply be what they are - A Watcher Spirit, for example.
A Force 4 Fire Elemental has two Aspects - Fire Elemental and Searing Hot, for example. It could be Big or Unquenchable or anything else you can imagine that fits into the concept of the Spirit.
Spirits can absorb a number of Stress equal to their Force before dissipating.
Starting at Force 4, a Spirit can sustain and Mild Consequence. At Force 6, they can take a Mild and and Moderate Consequence. Spirits have to be Force 7 or greater in order for their Materialized forms to be able to sustain a Serious Consequence.

Combat with a Spirit

The best way to defeat a Spirit is to attack it with Sorcery. Spirits can also be attacked in close quarters but instead of using the Fight skill, characters must use their Will skill instead, as their force of personalty counts for far more than their kung-fu (Unless you have a special stunt, like a Physical Adept with Spirit Hunter that allows them to use their Fight in this conflict or something similar).

Attempting to damage a Spirit with Firearms or other Normal weapons is covered above.
Conjuring can be used to Banish a Spirit by making an Overcome roll equal to the Spirit's Force. Conjuring can also be used to take over a Spirit by trying to Overcome the mage controlling the Spirit. A Contested Conjuring roll is made. The winner maintains control.

Loosing control of a Spirit

If the Mage who is in control of a Spirit is killed or rendered unconscious, the Spirit immediately gains the Aspect Uncontrolled and is under the control of the GM. Most of the time, the Spirit will take advantage of this option to flee, but angry or vindictive Spirits may use this opportunity to take revenge on the person who summoned or controlled them.




As you can see, there's a lot of room in here to add things on. Enchanting, use of the Materialized Aspect in fun and unique ways. I leave it up to you to flesh it out in further detail, if you'd like.

The Matrix

Decking and the Matrix

Or, how I burned the BBB to ashes and learned to love the Matrix

This and Magic are the biggest slash-and-burn parts of my hack.

My Matrix is Wireless, a'la Shadowrun 4th Edition.

Having a Decker Aspect and the Computer Skill allows you to access the Matrix and do awful, terrible things within it.

Systems

Systems have a rating on the Ladder. Most systems are Average (go figure, right?) but secure networks will be rated at Great (+4) or higher. Systems rated higher than Great are rare and full of valuable paydata, most likely. Systems higher than Fantastic (+6) are super rare and cross into Ultra-violet territory. That means, unless specified, everything within the system uses the system's rating as its rating. Grey ice trying to track a Decker? If the system is Superb, so is it and any relevant skills it needs.

IC - Intrusion Countermeasures - provide Passive Resistance equal to their rating when applicable, they only roll when providing Active Opposition, of course. That means that, for most PC Deckers, a majority of the Matrix will be an open playground, requiring really no rolls to accomplish anything they want - until they reach a Secured system. Hacking the scrolling marquee in front of a building is child's play for most deckers. Hacking the System that controls the traffic grid to re-route a convoy to an ambush spot however, will require work.

Cyberware is built to offer some protection against hacking and as such always starts at the character's highest possible skill rating +2. That means, for my default campaign, the System Rating for Cyberware is Fantastic (+6). Military-Hardened Cyberware would be Legendary (+8) when that Aspect is invoked.

Matrix Actions and Combat

The traditional rules have an assortment of actions you can do in the Matrix. We're going to have four - Attack, Defend, Overcome an Obstacle and Create an Advantage. All of them use your Computer Skill.

The Advantages your create or Obstacles you Overcome can either be based in the Matrix or in the Meat-world. Overcoming a Matrix Obstacle might be sneaking past IC or fooling a system into giving you Admin rights. Overcoming a physical Obstacle in the Matrix could be unlocking a door or taking control of an automated turret.

IC can either affect your Mental Stress Track or, if Black IC, your Physical Stress track.

If you are Taken Out in the Matrix, you are unconscious in the real world, unless Black Ice is involved, in which case it can kill you.

We're going to break IC down into three categories and give each a Goal that it will attempt when engaging or engaged by a Decker.

White IC

White IC isn't interested in attacking the Decker or his 'deck. They want to create Aspects on the Decker's Matrix Persona. The first Aspects they want to create would be things like Intruder or Access not Allowed. If the Decker doesn't leave the system (or make the IC think they've let the system) White IC will call out to Grey IC which has the ability to nullify an Intruder and White IC will also alert any active personnel monitoring the System. Any Aspects White IC lands on a Persona should add to the difficulty of any Actions the Persona undertakes. Left on its own, the White IC will nail a Persona with so many Aspects that they are unable to do anything on the system, which is what blocks most "normal" Matrix users. Try to log in and put in the wrong password? The screen that pops up telling you your password is incorrect is a piece of White IC that has Denied Access to you. Supply the correct password and it will remove the Aspect from you.

Grey IC

These programs have the ability to inflict Mental Stress over the Matrix by amping up the ASIST signal cyberdecks use to create virtual reality in your head. They want to Create Aspects, but more than that, they want to Log you off. Grey Ice only shows up once an Alarm is tripped, usually by White IC. Some high-security systems don't have White IC, they start with Grey. In that case, the thing that trips the alarm is immediately going to try to force you to log off.

Once Grey IC begins to engage you in Matrix Combat, it will not stop unless you jack out, leave the system or it forcibly renders you unconscious. You may Concede the conflict at any time, doing so forces you out of the System and gives you the Aspect Dumpshock but prevents the worst part of the conflict - the Trace. If Grey IC renders you Taken Out in a Matrix Conflict, it forces you out of the system, logs your identify information it can steal from your 'deck and creates the Aspect Traced! The authorities know at least where your now unconscious body is and are closing in to arrest you for the crimes you committed or attempted to commit.

Black IC

Black IC isn't supposed to even exist. Its status is quasi-legal at best. They're the nukes of the Matrix world - believing someone possesses and uses Black IC to protect a system should deter most people from even trying to hack it. Sometimes, it's not even rumored to be there and shows up as a nasty surprise. Find Black IC in an otherwise innocuous system can be a real shocker. Black IC is the type of Program that is most often found with a higher rating than its system. That mom-and-pop Stuffer Shack System the Mob's using as a front may look so tasty, but you can bet even though it's an Average system, the Black IC guarding the paydata is gonna be at least Superb.

Black IC isn't subtle. It leaves the Aspect creation to White and Grey IC. It isn't interested in forcing you to log off, it's interested in killing you. It does this by creating Passive Opposition to any attempt to leave the system. Once it has its hooks in you, you need to succeed against the Black IC rating to leave the Matrix, otherwise it will hold you in place and fry your brain. Conceding on this battle keeps you from dying, but automatically creates the Traced! Aspect along with any Physical consequences it creates. Being Taken Out by Black IC but not killed results in the Severe Consequence of Brain Burned, the effects of which are left up to individual groups to determine.

Other Deckers

When engaging other Deckers in Matrix Combat, the rules that govern Matrix Combat are similar to physical Conflict. Initiative is still determined by Notice. In most cases, Matrix combat affects the Mental Stress Track - unless special, deadly programs are used. These programs are very illegal. Matrix combat is meant to be as tense and narrative as Physical Conflict. Deckers can create Advantages, Attack each other, maneuver, just like physical opponents can. While you may be able to set the warehouse On Fire to use the smoke as cover, in the Matrix, you could cause a Memory Leak to create the same idea - a mess of conflicting data (smoke) to hide behind and the threat of imminent collapse.

Use your imagination and have fun!


And that's pretty much it. The rest of it is narrative details, but that's the nuts and bolts of how the Matrix runs in Shadows of FATE.

Character Creation

Character Creation
Aspects
Shadows of Fate characters will have six Aspects by the time character creation is finished.
Those are:
1. A High Concept - This is your Archetype, generally. This is the thing your character is. When your Fixer calls someone for a job, your High Concept Aspect is probably what you're listed as in his phone. Dwarf Rigger, Elven Discple of the Paths, Former Troll Pit Fighter, Best Face in the biz. If you're going to be something other than Human, it's usually called out in your High Concept. Races are Aspects that provide access to a specific Stunt, but the Aspect costs nothing have.
2. A Trouble - Just like in Fate Core, this is something your character is dealing with that can't be taken care of easily.
3. Backgroundn - Where did you come from? Who were your parents? What was your early life like? Did you live a neo-tribal life after the Great Ghost Dance, so now you are Never Lost in the Wilderness? Are your parents movers and shakers, were you Born with Silver Spoon in Your Mouth? Did you see your parents murdered in front of you, and now you're consumed with a Burning Need for Vengance? Pick one Aspect based on how your character grew up.
4. Adult Life - What did you do before you started running the shadows? Are you a Former Company Man or a Former Police Detective? Did your street sam Work for some unnamed government Alphabet Agency or See too much in the Euro Wars? How did your decker get his cyberdeck - was he a Gifted Prodigy or Get Sick of the Corporate Life? Maybe something bad happened to drive you into the dark, maybe you were Betrayed or you Had Nowhere Else to Go? For Magic-using characters, between Background and Adult Life, they need to pick up the Aspect Awakened, when you first gained access to manipulate Mana. Usually this will have another Aspect tied to it, like Was on the Dean's List at MIT&T or maybe, for a Physical Adept, it happened when you Killed someone in a Fight Pick an Aspect that represents your entry into Adulthood or past life.
First Shadowrun - Co-starring with: - As Fate Core. Shift character sheets to the person next to you. Both of you gain an Aspect in this stage, based on the story of your first run together.
Second Shadowrun - Co-starring with: - Once more we shift, everyone gets someone new to co-star with an both get a new Aspect based on this second run.
This allows PCs to start with several Aspects to draw on and compel from and with each character having a pre-existing relationship with two other characters at the table. I believe this best represents the opening of the campaign - PCs will know each other and be able to vouch for each other as they come together to work together for the first time.
Refresh
Everyone starts with 10 Refresh. This is reduced by taking Stunts. There are no free stunts in my Hack. Players may take up to seven Stunts if they wish, though I'm expecting most people to end up with five refresh and five stunts
Skills
Characters, per FATE Core, start with the Skill Pyramid. One skill at Great (+4), two at Good (+3), three at Fair (+2) Four at Average (+1) Everything else at Mediocre.
There are two Exceptions to this.
1. Computer In order to advance Computer beyond Mediocre, the character must have the Decker Aspect. Everyone knows how to use computers in 2056, there's no real difficulty in it, nothing that would require a roll greater than 0. Anything beyond that is the realm of the experts, who use the Code of the Matrix to do things normal users can't even dream of. Can you hack the FBI? I sure can't, but someone with Computers: Average can - even if they probably shouldn't.
2. Sorcery and Conjuring In order to raise Sorcery or Conjuring above Mediocre - in order to be able to interact with these skill in any meaningful way - the character must be Awakened. Normally, characters are assumed to be Mediocre (+0) in any skill they do not possess. In this case, characters are not considered to have a score in these skills at all, unless they are Awakened. There should be no reason why a mundane character should ever make a roll with these skills.
Here is our Skill List:
Athletics
Body - Physique by another name
Biotech
Burglary - which includes Electronics. The knowledge to break into any secured facility or safe.
Computers
Conjuring
Contacts
Deceive
Demolitions
Empathy
Etiquette - Rapport, renamed.
Expertise - takes the place of Lore. Your expertise within your given field.
Fight
Investigate
Notice
Provoke
Lifestyle - Resources, renamed.
Shoot
Stealth
Will
20 Skills. Using our Skill Pyramid, your character will have ranks in 10 of these 20. Our PCs are, as is usual in Fate, pretty competent individuals.
Stunts
Stunts cost one refresh each. Rather than create an extensive list of cyberware, my choice is to ask the question, "What do you want your character to be able to do?" and use that information to craft Stunts as appropriate.
I have, however, decided to create some Stunts that players can choose. These stunts are tied to racial Aspects, so only members of that Race can select the following Stunts.
Human - Lucky: Once per scene, when spending a Fate point to alter a roll, you may instead of re-rolling or adding to, change all of your blanks to pluses.
Troll - Strength and Size: You gain +2 on any rolls that involve your Strength or when using Body to overcome any physical obstacle your tremendous strength and might can be applied to. You also have dermal armor, which reduces all incoming stress you receive by 1. If you reduce stress to 0, your opponent still gets a Boost to use against you.
Ork - Tough and Fierce: While not as strong as Trolls, Orks are stronger than any other race and receive a +1 to Strength related rolls, as above. In addition, Orks are stereotyped as being quick to anger and aggressive. When you choose to play into that sterotype (or if you just plain are the stereotype) you gain +2 to Provoke rolls to intimidate or harass someone.
Dwarf - Stubborn and Clever: You gain +2 on Will rolls to resist someone asking you to do something you don't want to do or to change your mind about something. When working with machines or building something, Dwarves gain +2 on their Engineering rolls.
Elf - Quick and Charismatic: You gain +2 to Notice when determining who goes first in Combat and a +2 to overcome Social Obstalces
What's not covered in the Stunts: The stunts are meant to represent the things each race is especially known for. Not every Troll is going to be super strong, but if you pick the Troll Stunt Strength and Size, we know your troll is. Just like every Elf isn't Charismatic, or not Every Human is Lucky. Furthermore, Every Elf can see in Low Light conditions as if it was day, and Dwarves and Trolls share Thermographic vision, letting them see in the dark. What happens if you choose not to pick up Strength and Size for your Troll, but you're in a situation in which having Troll strength would be useful? You can still pay a Fate Point to call upon your Troll Aspect - Trolls are big, and do tend to be at least as strong as the strongest Human. Having the Stunt gives you access to that part of being a Troll all the time, for no Fate points - you chose to spend Refresh on it instead. Not taking a Racial Stunt will not limit your character, it just means your character doesn't fit the stereotype.
Post about Stunts
Stunts
The Madness of No Lists - Other than the racial Stunts listed above, I've decided to refrain from creating a list of pre-made stunts. You could easily take each individual piece of Cyberware and turn it into its own Extra or Stunt. I've decided, due to how much work would be involved, to decline from doing that. Instead, the question "what do you want your character to be able to do, or what would they be really good at?" will determine how Stunts are crafted for the character.
Example: Human Street Samurai
What do I want my Street Sam to be able to do, what is he good at? He should be good at shooting. I want him to have some cyberware that makes him stronger, faster and tougher. These are really the cornerstones of the "Samurai" in Shadowrun. Let's model some stunts!
There's a well-known piece of cyberware that helps with Shooting - the Smart Link. As a stunt, the easiest thing would be to stick with the straight +2 to Shoot rolls, that would be fine, but let's also add something to it that gives our cyberware more impact than just a bump to a roll.
Stunt: Smartlink You may use Shoot to create the Aspect Target Lock on a target. You gain a number of Free Invokes on this Aspect equal to your shifts on this roll. You may share this aspect with anyone else on your team who has the cyberware to process it, they do not share in your free invokes.
Now, let's work on Stronger:
Stunt: Cyberlimbs One or more of your limbs has been replaced with a cybernetic prosthetic. You add +2 to any rolls related to your strength and when using Fight, you inflict one stress on all ties, along with a Boost.
Faster:
Stunt: Wired Reflexes You have superconducting fiber-optics replacing some of the major portions of your nerve trunks. You may always go first in a Conflict, if someone else has a Stunt or Extra that allows them to go first, you use your Notice skill as normal to determine turn order. In addition, you may spend a Fate point to take another action during your turn. If someone else has this ability, turn order is determined by Notice, as usual
and Tougher: but
Stunt: Subdermal armor You haignve semi-flexible armor plating under your skin. You reduce all incoming Stress by 1 and once per scene you may ignore a Mild Physical consequence.
There's four stunts that I feel really nails what I want this character to be able to do. There's another 2 or 3 stunts left over to flesh out anything else the player would like. Things like cyberspurs can be included in the cyberarm stunt (I feel they are, with the ability to do stress on ties, but I could be convinced otherwise) or made into their own stunt if the effects warrant. The point is to leave the Stunt/Extra creation up to player and GM so that they can sculpt the effeect to match the idea. If I wanted my cyberlimbs primarily for smuggling, the Cyberlimb stunt I would create would have different wording and a different effect than the one above.
These Stunts are also Aspects that can be Invoked or Compelled, as well, if something having to do with them arises in the story.
As a brief aside, cyberware is hackable by a decker. We'll get to that when we get to the Decking Rules.
Example: Ork Gator Shaman Magical Stunts! Once again, "What do you want your character to do, what is special about them?"
I want a Shaman who is tied to Gator, who is good at sneak attacks and has a big bite on his combat spells.
Stunt: Gator Totem As a follower of Alligator, you gain his ability to hide. Any spell you cast that can be described as an Illusion gains a +2 Benefit. Any Aspects you create with your illusions are harder to detect than normal - +1 level on the Ladder. So, if you create a Good illusions Aspect Invisibility, your tie with Gator makes that Aspect resist attempts to see through it as if it was Great.
Stunt: Attacking from Surprise Just like Gator, you prefer to close in on your prey. When take them down with one savage attack. Anytime you can attack someone who does not know you are there, you add +2 shifts to your damage roll. Once per scene when doing this, you may spend a Fate Point to "stage up" a Consequence - Mild to Moderate, Moderate to Severe, Severe to Taken Out.
It is My Very Favorite Spell A generic stunt that gives +2 when using your Very Favorite Spell, whatever that happens to be. In this case, we have a named spell, Fireball for instance. Usually, we keep spells unnamed, using the Four Actions to determine what the mage is attempting and using Aspects to describe any lasting effects. In this particular case, this tells us this Mage loves to cast a particular Spell and when they do, they get a bonus.
That's the idea. Stunts are tailored to the character, rather than forcing your character to adopt something with a static bonus.