[FATE] Venture City: Hold Back the Night

[HotsuSama]

A FATE CONDENSED SUPERHERO CAMPAIGN
APPLICATIONS CLOSED

- The city, as it was Venture City is a city five million people strong. It's a city that's embraced cutting-edge research and technology, right down to the bleeding-edge integration between privileged humans and technology. It also has a long history of crime and corruption, and the rule of corporations and business interests. Supers once existed as rare, exceptional beings, created by happenstance. Then the mega-conglomerate Mitsuhama Splice cracked the secret of the 'supergene' - a genetic marker that can be triggered to awaken latent superpowers in almost anyone. Targeted supergene therapy led to corporate supers acting on behalf of business interests, and sponsored heroes 'keeping the peace' in an exploitative environment where justice had been privatised. Any hero not part of this system was automatically a 'villain'. It was an especially bad time to be in Venture City if you were one of the have-nots. Then the tide turned. Upheaval Dissent and division escalated slowly until it spilled into the May Upheaval, a wave of chaos and change in Venture City that ripped the status quo apart. A combination of conflict between corporate and 'unsanctioned' supers, rebellion against corporate dominion, and power struggles amongst the old order created a massive paradigm shift. So much happened during the Upheaval that many details are murky, but the effects were seismic and still ongoing. Mitsuhama dissolved amidst internal strife and targeted attacks by vigilante heroes. Corporate secrets spilled into every public space. Exposes of human rights abuses became impossible for even corp-owned government bodies to ignore. Supergene therapy is already subject to new severe restrictions. The changing economic landscape is in the process of revolutionising the workforce in Venture City, with many wageslave employees finding themselves with new prospects. The city now It has been several months since the peak of the Upheaval. This is the point where things could continue to improve, or slip back into the bad old days through negligence or malice. The state of things is in flux. The corp dominion over the social order has a big gaping wound, but it's not dead yet. The kingpin of corporate power in Venture City may be dismembered, but it still lives on in enduring subsidies - and the power vacuum remains open for others to fill. Illegal supergene therapy still lives on through unregistered labs and off-the-books military projects. Many supers, both public and in hiding, are still figuring out their next moves - whether that be as a hero or an opportunistic villain. This game already has two 'Current Issues' defined, and more may be added when the game starts. When PCs are selected, we'll work together to define the more immediate 'Impending Issues' based on team and individual priorities.

 

ASPECTS
Current Issues - The Big Crises	A corporate power vacuum Illegal supergene therapy
Impending Issues - The Immediate Threats	TBC

- The call to action You are a super. How has that come about? Were you born with this power? Were you subjected to supergene therapy, either legal or illegal? Is your origin a little more exotic than that? Regardless, you are active in Venture City now, and you've fallen in with a group of like-minded supers, just like the independent super-squads of old before the city's main champions became corporate assets. And the city needs a team like you, now more than ever. Whether you're a constant paragon of virtue or come from a shady past, your intentions are ultimately good; you aim to see Venture City continue its rehabilitation and become a better place. The game Firstly, no, this isn't just a re-skinned The Boys. I'm deliberately aiming for a more optimistic tone with a touch of cyberpunk-lite. This game will use Fate Condensed with the Venture City content. If you're familiar with Fate Core but not Condensed, don't worry, they're almost exactly the same. Condensed is like a 1.5e. Very few significant changes from Core, but most notably stress has been simplified into single-shift boxes, and conflict initiative is elective instead of decided by skill rolls. I believe these changes benefit PbP Fate. With Venture City, in addition to your standard Fate character, you get extra aspects and add-ons to represent your powers and superhuman abilities. Venture City is a metropolis of contrasts, from the mega-rich corp bosses to the desperate masses just scraping by. Technology is slightly cyberpunk, with cybernetic limbs and genetic manipulation available. You have a lost of breadth to make a hero character. I aim to make this game as newcomer-friendly as possible. If you need a quick primer on what Fate actually is, this comic from Up to 4 Players is specifically about Fate Core, but it may help give you a general idea on Fate's general approach. And I'll be happy to answer specific queries. I'm expecting a 1/week posting rate at minimum. If you can't make a full post every week that's fine, but let me know if you expect any significant disruptions. I will be operating on the basis of making 1 'main' update at least once per week, and smaller bumps in between those main updates to carry conversations or respond to queries. I don't have a solid number on how many players I'll take. I plan to field at least a single team of 4-6 players. If I think I can swing a second team I might try to fill a couple of squads, but I'm keeping open-minded. I want players who aren't afraid to be proactive and take risks. Fate rewards those who push hardest (as long as they don't override the agency of other players in the process). Use those Aspects! Spend those Fate Points! You can be sure I'll pull out the compels to feed points back your way. I'll be trying to offer a variety of challenges based on the story that comes from the super-team's agenda - not every 'villain fight' will be a straight-out conflict.

 

- Much of the city's districts, factions and persons of interest will be defined by the players and the campaign. This is a small starter of factions and NPCs that may be important. Player applications may draw from these details or introduce new ones. Factions Aegis: the most powerful private security firm in Venture City continues its contracts with little disruption - they were necessary to regain stability after the May Upheaval. In Venture City they're the biggest survivor of the old order. Cole Industries: a re-branded former subsidiary of Mitsuhama Splice that seeks to recapture the old megacorp's business influence in Venture City. It controls various research facilities but has been red-taped out of conducting legal supergene therapy. Neighbourhood Watch: a grass-roots network of vigilantes, unsanctioned supers and hard-edged community support. They were a major player in the May Upheaval and their former power has been decimated as a result. Now, the Watch mostly persists in small self-interested cells scattered across the city. Notable Supers Mayday: while not an actual super, Mayday has armour and weapons that make him deadly with launching firebombs and other incendiary devices with deadly effectiveness. Mayday was prolific during the May Upheaval, both for his support of the working-class protests and his tendency to leave massive collateral damage in his wake. He re-emerges regularly to conduct destructive raids on remaining megacorp buildings and assets. Roach: the street name for the tough-as-nails Omar 'Roach' Dorsett, a notorious underworld figure. Dorsett is suspected as being the mastermind behind a recent string of high-profile robberies, and investigators fear he's since used his ill-gotten gains to fund illegal supergene therapy. The circumstances of this therapy and what powers he might now have acquired are unknown. Solar Man: a heroic super once associated with Mitsuhama's privatised police force, capable of flight and control over light. He turned against his masters during the Upheaval, but has remained aloof ever since, effectively retiring from active superhero duty.

- A hero is born Use the template below to apply. (Fate is all about collaborative world-building - much of Venture City is left undefined for a reason. Feel free to add your own districts, events and key figures as part of your character application.) NAME / HERO NAME: Maybe you only have one name; maybe you have a civilian name and a heroic name. Either way, lay it out. HIGH CONCEPT: Who are you, in a single phrase or statement? (E.g. 'Last Son of Off-Brand-Krypton' or 'Wageslave–Turned–Drug Baron') This will be your most important aspect. Feel free to provide a little extra detail for framework if you like, as long as the aspect is there. TROUBLE: In a single phrase or statement, what causes you grief? Is it a super-rival or nemesis, a personal failing or vice, a debt to be paid? (e.g. 'Violent Mood Swings' or 'The Assassins Guild Never Stops Trying'). This is your next main aspect. Feel free to provide a little extra detail for framework if you like, as long as the aspect is there. BACKGROUND: Highlight something important about your hero's background, super-origins or personal story. I only need a small paragraph worth here. Also provide an aspect that ties back to this summary. (This will be one of your 'free aspects' - we won't worry about the rest just now.) PERSONAL DETAILS: Tell me what you look like (picture optional), what drives you and anything else noteworthy about your life or your motivations as a super. Again, it doesn't need to be a huge chunk of text - leave us wanting to know more! POWER/S: use the Venture City powers catalogue to determine your power/s. I don't need the full power suite yet if you're having trouble deciding, but if you can at least pick a power/s and a drawback, that gives me enough for the moment to know what kind of super you'd be. A quick guide on Venture City powers is below. If you can't find what you're looking for, just tell me what you'd intend with your character. If you want an example character, this stat block may help. What the heck is an aspect? An aspect is a truth. Aspects can describe characters, places or situations. Playing Fate involves monitoring these aspects, using them to learn more about your circumstances and options, and leveraging them for bonuses (usually through spending Fate Points to invoke, or trigger, a relevant aspect.) Aspects can also be compelled, which means they can introduce immediate complications and problems, but PCs can earn back Fate Points by accepting compels. If you're having trouble wording your aspects, don't stress! I don't need them perfected right away - I just want to know what's on your mind for your character. Maybe this page might give you some guidance. Otherwise, just give it your best shot and I might be able to offer a little feedback.   Power Guide By selecting a power from the catalogue (or proposing your own power if your choice is not there), you begin to build a power suite. When you pick a starting power, it comes with: its base bonus (e.g. an Athletics bonus when using Flight) 1 drawback (a power-specific Trouble Aspect) 1 collateral damage effect (a supercharged effect that comes with negative consequences) 2 special effects from the list here - these are extra options for when you succeed with style (i.e. beat the target number on a roll by +3 or more) options for enhancements (you don't start with these! But having the power unlocks them as purchasable options) In all these cases, pick from the power's available options or pitch reasonable alternatives to me if it doesn't match your interpretation of your power. You may also add a power theme - adding one base theme is free and only adds aesthetic, but it comes with more options for purchasable enhancements and collateral damage. You have three points to pick initial super-abilities. Your starting power will cost a point, and then each point can buy any one of the following: a new power with its base ability to add to your suite an enhancement for an existing power 2 more special effects to choose from on a success with style an improved special effect any additional power theme after the first theme (yes, a power can have multiple themes) For example, you might take the 'Elasticity' power, add the 'Eye of the Needle' enhancement for squeezing into tight spaces, and then couple it with the base power 'Natural Weapon' to become a stretchy assassin type. That would use up all your three free points. You could add a theme for free, such as 'Corruption' - it doesn't add anything mechanically yet, but it gives you extra options for enhancements. If you want to buy more, the cost will come out of the amount of starting In Fate parlance these are special moves and bonuses, such as '+2 to oppose attempts to grapple you' or 'Use Fight in place of Provoke when trying to physically intimidate someone'stunts you can have (which is 3), and then your Sometimes your Fate Point amount gets refreshed up to a set amount, default 3.Fate Point refresh value (which starts at 3). So theoretically you can splurge up to 8 points on starting powers and leave yourself with 1 refresh and no standard stunts. I would advise against going this far, as enticing as it sounds - don't reduce your refresh unless you understand what that means for your Fate Point usage!

[HotsuSama]

Player	Hero	High Concept	Trouble	Background	Power/s	Status
Sirviantis	Morgan Matthews / Ion	Chemical engineering, but super!	Bad reputation!	Former super-wageslave freed by may upheaval	Energy Blast + Shielding + Flight	All fields filled
Tiger Basilisk	Werner Schmidt / Sharpseeker	Unhinged Metal Technician	My Friend is Out There Somewhere	What did They do to Me in the May Upheaval?	Machine Control + Harm (Super-form)	All fields filled
Touketsu	Faraday	A living electrical field!	I have no memory from before the blast...	Streetwise Allies	Energy Blast + Shielding (Electric)	All fields filled
Dylan Scott	Marcus Wilde / Garrett Marcus Sable / Primal	Zoology Professor and Seasoned Adventurer	Blacksheep of the Family of Big Game Poachers (Sable Family)	Luddite with an Unintended Social Media Following	Animal Control + Shape-shifting	All fields filled
Dunderklumpen	Skye Masterson / Blink	Teleporting novice hero	With this much confidence, who needs experience?		Teleportation (TBC)	In progress
Ursinorum	Herc Leopoldo / Gyges	Headstrong Strongman	I'm not good at being Good	A hero for my daughter's sake	Super Strength + Super Toughness	All fields filled
Mitsubachi	Aiko Shimizu / Agent Shinobi	Super Stealth Spy	Mortal enemies with Oni Corp and Mitsuhara	Former corporate "asset" now turning over a new leaf	Super Agility	All fields filled
Lightwielder	Jacob Salvestri / Dr Dawnlight	Energetic sword wielder	Too much focus on his cause	Enthusiast promoter of the good side of power	Natural weapon + Energy Blast + Super Agility	All fields filled
PopCultureBard	Vic Zapeda / Circuit	Cyborg Paparazzi from the Moon of Tomorrow!	If Earth History 101 was as interesting as my engineering classes I probably would've paid more attention	Nobody can bury a secret deeper than I can dig	Power Amp. + Power Null. (Technology)	All fields filled
psuedenim	Thomas Black / Trashman	Garbage Collector vigilante trying to be a hero of the people	Knows where the bodies are	Quick to determine good or bad. Good or bad is rather selfishly defined	Phasing + Illusion or Invisibility (Shadow)	All fields filled
ihinka	Lada Smith / The Highlander	An exiled Goddess, stripped of her divinity	I am cursed to always lose you!	I lost my Ava to the illegal supergene experiments. The responsible will pay!	Heal + Super Senses (Sight & Smell)	All fields filled
GleefulNihilism	Dr. Timothy Saint-James / Vox	Anarchist Turned Unwilling Leader	There's Nowhere For Me To Hide Now	The Instigator of the May Upheaval	Gadgeteering + Machine Control	All fields filled
mystwatch	Alphaeus Luna / Masked Warrior Actaeon	Ex-Enforcer Revolutionary	Severe and Brooding	A Past Erased	Super Toughness + Natural Weapon + and Super Agility (Super-Form)	All fields filled

 

Is Venture City in USA or Japan?

USA, vaguely East Coast.

I hope it's okay if I'm new to FATE Condensed.

100% okay. I want this game to be as newbie-friendly as I can make it.

if I choose two different powers (or more) do I have to also choose more drawbacks? Like, one for each power?

Extra powers can be layered on to your foundational power in the same suite. So only one drawback needed.

[Mitsubachi]

Gah just when I decided I could not possibly take on another game… this comes along! It’s FATE, it’s almost tailor made for me to reprise Aiko, and it is being run by the magnificent Hotsu-sama! There is no way I can miss an attempt to get into this.

Please count this as a placeholder.

Is Venture City in USA or Japan? (So I can get the background story right)

Mitsy

[HotsuSama]

Originally Posted by Mitsubachi

Is Venture City in USA or Japan? (So I can get the background story right)

Hi Mitsy!

Really, I should honour my motherland by putting the city on the Australian coast and subjecting you all to an emu invasion, but let's make it USA. I'll add Venture City to the time-honoured tradition of 'fictional cities that are just kinda somewhere along the East Coast'.

[Lightwielder]

Hi! Been wanting to play venture city for a long time. I would like to apply a medical student that took part in a clinic trial that gave him the ability to project a sort of lightsabers out if his body, which together with is enthusiasm for science makes him act also as a promoter for the positive aspects of nuclear energy , so he likes to save lives and use that influence to convey a message.. would that concept fit your game? im thinking the natural weapons power seems the most appropiate choice

[Sirviantis]

Originally Posted by Mitsubachi

Gah just when I decided I could not possibly take on another game… this comes along! It’s FATE, it’s almost tailor made for me to reprise Aiko, and it is being run by the magnificent Hotsu-sama! There is no way I can miss an attempt to get into this.

Mitsy

I know what you mean, earlier this week a GM warned me that they'd be slowing down the game pace, I should be able to get in on this!

I give you: Ion, yes, it's a concept I've used before, but I keep on refining it 'cause it's an itch I just can't scratch!

Ion Name: Morgan Matthews A.K.A. Ion! High Concept: Chemical engineer, but super! Trouble: Bad reputation! Background: Former super-wageslave freed by may upheaval Morgan was born in that golden wage when gene manipulation wasn't unheard of in children, but before the shadowy world behind the cape was exposed as such. While still in her mother's belly her gene sequence was laid out, studied and manipulated. With the supergene activated it would be a surprise what her powers were. But in the early stages of medical tests Morgan showed no special abilities. She was dropped from the pool of candidates to continue monitoring. This left Morgan in the lucky position where she'd be surprised by her own powers. When she was four years old she'd managed to work out her abilities were uniquely suited to stealing sweets: She could telekinetically manipulate things while turning it intangible. When she discovered this, she was four years old had a big talk with her parents over becoming a superhero. But no parent could support their infant daughter going out alone in the dark, even if they were more than human. With her set of powers she was uniquely suited for thievery however: when Morgan was seven years old, she had her own super-costume made that marked her as "Ghost". She went behind her parent's back, stealing cats out of trees and liberating candy stores of their captive sweets. School droned on about climate change ad nauseam, and eventually Morgan started to get interested in solving this problem. She'd fight for the polar bears and wanted to do something but it wasn't too long before she got upset that she couldn't use her powers for that. Hero'ing just didn't have the same appeal anymore when all she wanted was to change the world. It took some work and some convincing, but eventually Morgan managed to get her hands on her own genetic sequence and the totality of the rapports about her supergene. Ghost snapped on her desk lamp and sharpened her pencils, using her hidden intelligence and super-determination to self-study and work out how to redesign herself to tackle this global problem. Soon she set herself the goal of adjusting the scale at which her powers operated, to be able to manipulate things on a molecular scale and just breathe carbon dioxide out of the air. She continued her work and reached out for help. It wasn't difficult to pursuade Matsuhama splice to help her out, Morgan was working on the questions that they never even thought to ask themselves: Could they modifying superpowers? The corporation aided her in calculating the theoretically necessary changes to her supergene, but wouldn't pay for the procedure themselves. Their idea behind that roadblock was to keep them from getting a bad reputation if this went wrong, while at the same time forcing Morgan to connect herself to a corporation. She needed to look no further than Venture Polymers, a million dollar corporation specialising in high-end and very technical plastics with a lot of funding for R&D. Morgan signed her name on a stack of contracts that ensured her schooling, and a job on their R&D team regardless of wether the surgery worked or not though she'd have to put in some extracurricular hours working for the company. This was at the start of the year that would become famous for the May Upheaval. Her parents still didn't like the notion of losing their daughter in this world of capes and contracts and forbade the surgery. So, as any hopeful 18 year old in this world that gobbles up the guileless would do, she ignored her parents and made the appointment with Mitsuhama Splice for the day after her birthday. Fortunately for Morgan, she was born in Febuary, and that wasn't too long anymore. The procedure went on without any unexpected developments, and when she woke from the genetic manipulation she found herself corroding and vaporising the bed on accident. It took a few days in a special containment chamber before she could go home. When she did she found what remained of her stuff on their front lawn. And so she called her sponsors, Venture Polymers were happy to provide her with an appartement but it was time to actually start working. For the first few weeks, that meant getting some control over her powers. After that, the company had her start a series of Viewtube videos promoting the company's new approach to solving polution. This new platform also gave her an audience that could help find new uses for her powers. The brunt of her time however was spent converting any air polution into harmless vapours and precipitates, countering the company's enormous pollution. In this time however, Ion found that many of the training transmutations she's done came undone on their own. This sat wrong with the young hero, who was quick to determine that her work on the smokestacks accomplished nothing but a green facade for the company. She went to her team, and explained the shortcoming in her superpowers. She was allowed to work on theorethically modifying her supergene, but got a lot less support in the pursuit. The company still had her neutralise the toxic vapours, and began heavily doctoring her social media. It took longer than Morgan would've liked to admit, but eventually Ion realised that the company was essentially keeping this knowledge from spreading. To keep Morgan silent and confined, Venture Polymers kept her working on the emissions, which had the added benefit of better PR and happier shareholders. Everyone knows where they were when they understood what the May Upheaval meant for them. Morgan was standing on a smokestack, her boiler room suit caked black from all the exhausts condensed on herself. She realised that this was most likely what her life would be from now on. Soon after she decided that she'd be more than a bird in a cage conjuring up subsidies and pools in the shareholder's backyards. She engineered the soot into plastic wings over a carbon fibre skeleton and took a dive. Either she'd die a normal person, or live a free superhero. Morgan only touched the ground a few hours later, and decided there and then to join the fight to expose all the heinous business activities going on behind the doors. The first act in this new campaign was to post a video exposing her own shortcomings and Venture Polymers, but when she tried to log in to the company account she found the password changed. Recently they'd uploaded a video denouncing Ion as the superhuman actively poluting the earth. Seeing where things were headed, Ion worked quickly, trying to hack into the mail accounts of her superiors, to get the Venture Polymers Viewtube account back and make her own video explaining her side. In the few minutes she had before she was kicked out of her superior's account she read some e-mails asking Mitsuhama Splice for the genetic backups of her supergene. By the time she was halfway through a heavyhanded attempt at explaining her superpowers' shortcomings and abusive past with Venture Polymers the stream was cut off. Personal Details: As befitting of a genius superhero, Ion's suit is as clever as she is and looks like it's from roughly two centuries in the future. It's a form fitting bodyglove reinforced with thick pieces of high durability plastic around her legs, shoulders forearms and body. What isn't covered by the white armor is decorated with streaks of red and blue on black. She wears an unbuttoned labcoat over her the suit, for the sole reason of looks. What looks like a lump on her back is actually storage for some rare and volatile chemicals for when the situation calls for it. But the suit is cleverer than it looks, at a thought she can manipulate it to produce wrist mounted flamethrowers, railguns, airbags, and that's barely even scratching the surface. While she could probably make a helmet, Ion prefers to go about her business unmasked, to make it easier to redeem herself in the court of public oppinion. Her looks aid in that regard: Her supple and unmarked face houses a rare combination of emerald eyes and copper hair. She leaves her red locks to frame her face and billow in the winds as a substitute for a cape. Her catlike eyes sit beneath somewhat thicker eyebrows, positioned on either side of a hawkish nose. Ion fights because she has to: Megacorporations like her Venture Polymers have gotten away with some pretty sick stuff. The average CEO has had plenty of time to rob the common folk of their eating money to build their pools and villa's. They've done enough damage to the world as is, now is the time for them to bleed! For justice, for the world, for vengeance. But Ion isn't completely consumed by her hatred for the state of the world as is. Yes, it's there, and no she wouldn't soon save a suit wearing, board member of "Oppulent inc." if it came down to it, but she does hope for a better world to rise from the ashes of the current status quo. She calculates how to best achieve it, and tries to guide the world through this phase of uncertainty. Morgan isn't all that great with expressing herself, which is further complicated by her aweful reputation. She often gets criticism for "working to wreck the environment", and while this isn't true and she'll preach to and expose other people and companies, she doesn't do as much as she could do herself. A small part of her never outgrew her "ghost" phase, which keeps her broad mind from seeing actions beyond the typical heroics. It's for this reason that she's mostly stopped trying to further hack her own superpowers to bypass the time limit on her transmutations. She's tough on others. Similarly she can also be tough on herself, although she tends to try and hide her own inadequacies behind jokes, lashing out when her displeasure becomes too much. This behaviour coupled with her otherwise quick wit can make her a bit difficult to befriend. But she's far from all negative. Ion's driving force is to avoid coming face to face with herself while still improving on herself. This personality engine has the problem of confining Ion in the transmutations she's learned practiced and perfected and experimenting only to expand her repertoire. However this same drive also motivates her to solve problems for other people, and quite often she'll try and gift her friends with the latest of her inventions. If you didn't have a supersuit before, you'll likely soon be wearing one Ion made, and if you were you'll likely soon find it outfitted with a thousand different gadgets and gizmo's to help you function better. Once engaged in her "problem-solving" mode, Ion quickly goes silent as she works on whatever project she's set herself to. The superhero doesn't easily let go of any problem she's really bitten in to, rather they linger in the back of her head, fermenting as they await for a brilliant inspiration. Whenever one occurs you can expect her to freeze up instantly and quickly get to work or at least try and write down her latest genius idea. She's still childishly hopeful, naive, rude and hypocritical and ultimately hopes and tries to solve all her problems on her own. But friends and allies find her to be dependable and inexhaustible in her endless pursuits to escape her own problems in those of others. Powers:Ion's Chemomancy, combined with her super-smarts, allows her a lot of freedom in using her powers. To the interested she'll explain about how she can shuffle atoms around to change molecules into different ones. If that doesn't bring a look of understanding she'll add: "Super-plastics, mega-explosives, chemtrails, if I can think it, I can test-fly it. I just need to have the right things handy." There's limits however, first every transmutation eventually reverses itself. Secondly she also can't transmute humans, even her own body is difficult. Finally she doesn't inherently know what everything is made up of, basing a transmutation on bad assumptions could be bad.   Starting power: Super intelligence Base Bonus: Basic Super Intelligence: You gain +2 to Will when working though puzzles, riddles, or other mentally absorbing tasks. In addition, you can answer complicated mathematical problems instantly. Drawback: Your powers are as versatile as they are complex and sometimes they trigger off of idle thought or your emotional states. When these accidents happen you wish you had something simpler. Collateral: Battle Plan: Your tactical mind has figured out exactly how a given conflict will shape up—you just need to remind your companions what to do. You can shout out a battle plan to give yourself and every ally in the scene the boost We’ve Planned for This. Unfortunately, doing so will give whomever you’re fighting a little insight into your tactics. Special effects: Mental recovery and Inflict Condition. Power: Energy blast Basic Energy Blast: You can fire a projectile of some sort, with a range of three zones, using Shoot. Power: Shielding Basic Shielding: With a moment’s concentration, you can erect a barrier between your zone and an adjacent zone, which lasts until the end of the scene or you will it away. This barrier is transparent, but no matter can pass through it. When someone attempts to attack through the barrier, or attacks the barrier itself, you intercept the attack, using Will to defend. If the attack succeeds, you may either take the shifts as mental stress or allow the barrier to shatter and take mental stress equal to half of the shifts, rounded down. You may erect multiple barriers, but each active barrier after the first reduces your Will roll to defend by one. Basic Flight: You can move vertically through the air as easily as moving along the ground. Use Athletics to overcome obstacles or create advantages related to flying.

[HotsuSama]

Originally Posted by Lightwielder

Hi! Been wanting to play venture city for a long time. I would like to apply a medical student that took part in a clinic trial that gave him the ability to project a sort of lightsabers out if his body, which together with is enthusiasm for science makes him act also as a promoter for the positive aspects of nuclear energy , so he likes to save lives and use that influence to convey a message.. would that concept fit your game? im thinking the natural weapons power seems the most appropiate choice

Seems good to me as a basic concept! And yes, depending on the nature of the 'lightsabers' it does sound like a 'natural weapon' power. You could also use 'Item Summoning'.

[Tiger Basilisk]

Hello! I hope it's okay if I'm I tried running a FATE Core game once, but it fell through before we got started.new to FATE Condensed. Here's my application. I would say it is complete, but please let me know if there are any issues!

BASICS NAME: Werner Schmidt HERO NAME: Sharpseeker HIGH CONCEPT: Unhinged Metal Technician TROUBLE: My Friend is Out There Somewhere

BACKGROUND Werner was a simple man, who did his hours as a minimum wage technician without complaint. A year and a half ago, he was mildly positive about the supers flying around. They maintained the peace, and kept the little people like him safe. Then a random video recommendation pulled him into a rabbit hole. Over the course of a week, Werner turned into a staunch detractor of the system in Venture City. He was ready to rant all about the corporate hands controlling the strings of the government, and how inherently problematic the existence of privately contracted supers was. On the receiving end of these rambles was his closest friend, Jefferey Becker, who worked as a physiologist with a research company under Mitsuhama. Jovial debate turned into bitter disagreement as the months passed, and the men, inseparable since childhood, eventually stopped meeting. Werner's first thought was of his friend when news broke of the May Upheaval. Unable to contact the man, he rushed into the riots and the rubble to get any indication, any implication, that Jefferey was safe and sound. In the chaos, a mysterious group picked Werner off the streets, alongside other warm bodies like him. He struggled in vain to get away as he was put through a biological process so disorienting and painful, that he lost all memories of the event save for the face of the head supervisor. When he was returned to the streets, he was a changed man. He spent the following months locked away in his tiny, dark apartment, tending to the bizarre scars on his body and the burning static in his mind. When he finally pulled himself out, the city had changed its tune just a bit, and this time it resonated with him like never before, in more ways that one. ASPECT: What did They do to Me in the May Upheaval? In the chaos of those days, somebody was running a new, unregulated kind of supergene therapy on unsuspecting folks. But why? Is there someone secretly planning a takeover, and is Werner a pawn of theirs?

PERSONAL DETAILS Werner Schmidt has always been somewhat unkempt. His hair is a mess, and his beard is scraggly. On a good day, he doesn't look attractive. The horror of May changed his mannerisms to fit, with random shivers and a twitching in his left eye. Werner holds on to the principles he gained after realizing the messed up state of Venture City. He is willing to use his powers to reduce further the grip of corporations over the city. However, his biggest motivation in working with the other supers and breaking into megacorp buildings is to find his childhood friend, Jefferey Becker. He maintains a belief that his friend is still alive. He will prioritize this goal above all else if given a choice. Werner feels a sense of guilt towards Jefferey, due to what their final interactions had been like.

POWERS Werner can release a chaotic array of hundreds of metal spikes, some resembling antenna, from all over his body. They are varied in length and thickness, from little hairs to arm length stingers. These spikes allow him to communicate with and assert control over machinery around him. His appearance in this form is ghastly, and coming in contact with him can be highly injurious.   The way I ended up thinking about my character's powers, I like the collateral effect Overload from Machine Control, and the drawback Grotesque from Harm. Is it possible to use the Grotesque drawback for the starting power as Metal Horror? Assuming this works, I've built my character's power set as follows. Theme: Super Form Basic Super-Form: Your power isn’t always active; instead, you need to take a moment before battle to change form. Converting to your super-form requires an action, but while you’re not super it’s impossible for anyone or anything to detect that you have a power at all. Starting Power: Machine Control Basic Machine Control: You can control machines up to one zone away without touching them. Most machines won’t resist you at all, but something computerized will put up Fair (+2) opposition, and more complex and powerful computers will offer greater opposition; you use Empathy to overcome this opposition. You can only make a machine do something it’s capable of; while you couldn’t make a toaster float, for instance, you could make a car drive itself. You gain +2 to Empathy when telling machines what to do. Machine Language: You can communicate with machines psychically, although their intelligence is limited by their capabilities. For example, a toaster couldn’t tell you who all has passed through the room, but it could tell you if someone has made toast recently. Drawback: Metal Horror: The various metal spikes protruding from your body make you a terrifying sight. Collateral Damage: Overload: You can make any electronic device overcharge itself to the point where it violently explodes. This counts as a Fantastic (+6) attack against everyone in the same zone as the exploding device. Special Effects: You can split your shifts between two different yet related actions, adding a +1 to each action.Extra Action, You add an aspect to the target, which you can invoke once for free.Inflict Condition Power: Harm Basic Harm: By maintaining skin-to-skin contact with another person for a moment, you deal them 2 physical stress. Additionally, when you intentionally attack a target without using weapons, add 2 physical stress to the result.

[Jasontheswift]

Definite interest, I'm thinking of making basically a Mortal Kombat power set character in this. Would that be an acceptable fit in this universe ?

[HotsuSama]

Originally Posted by Tiger Basilisk

Is it possible to use the Grotesque drawback for the starting power as Metal Horror?

Yup, that's fine by me!

Originally Posted by Jasontheswift

Definite interest, I'm thinking of making basically a Mortal Kombat power set character in this. Would that be an acceptable fit in this universe ?

My knowledge of Mortal Kombat lore only goes up to MK4 back in the PS1 days, but I don't recall any characters there who would be considered especially OP in this setting. Even the elder gods would have plausible power sets like 'Energy Blast + Electricity Projection' or 'Weather Control'.

[Dylan Scott]

A Supers Game? definitely interested. Not familiar with FATE system or Venture city so please accept this as a placeholder while i study up and see what inspiration hits

[Ursinorum]

I also planned to start a FateCore game years ago but it fell apart before it began, so I kinda forgot everything..

Kinda divided between two concepts, question: if I choose two different powers (or more) do I have to also choose more drawbacks? Like, one for each power?

[HotsuSama]

Extra powers can be layered on to your foundational power in the same suite. So only one drawback needed.

[Touketsu]

Faraday Name: True identity is currently unknownFaraday High Concept: A living electrical field! Trouble: I have no memory from before the blast... Background:   Faraday's life is a mystery... to himself as much as others. His first memory is waking up in the smoldering ruins of a destroyed power plant with not so much as a name to put to himself. A bit of digging around showed that this wasn't just some accident; all around him were the bodies of fallen supers and what appeared to be armed mercenaries. But mercenaries for who? Were they fighting the supers? Why, and why here? ... and why was electrical energy coursing over the surface of his body as his tension rose? It took the man a while to come to grips with his situation. He had no idea why he'd been the one superpowered person lucky enough to survive whatever had happened, but with signs of a major conflict abound, it seemed risky to poke his head up looking for help when the same people who had killed the others might very well be looking to finish him off too. Ultimately, the disaster he'd walked away from though was simply one drop in the bucket that was the May Upheaval. The next two months of the survivor's life mostly consisted of hiding out in tunnels or under bridges, doing the best he could to scrounge up food and information. In that time, he was able to assemble a rough understanding of the conflict that was tearing Venture City apart; corporate power vs open rebellion from the empowered "lower class"... and plenty of innocents caught in the middle. Surprisingly, Venture City's homeless population thrived in the chaos, relying on one another for food and safe places to hunker down. They didn't even seem to mind the sparking, dark-haired, scraggly amnesiac in their numbers. After an old man living out of a van coined the nickname "Faraday", it stuck, and he started going by it ever since. Eventually, Mitsuhama Splice was dissolved, and the conflict ravaging Venture City settled. Faraday developed a better grasp of his powers and how to control them, which made it easier for the man to blend in amongst regular people (minus the insulated clothing and mask he wore most of the time). He moved into a shelter, and with no new clues available as to who he had once been, the man found himself with an uncertain future open to be whatever he wanted to make it. It didn't take much thought; there was still plenty of bad people out there in hiding, looking to take advantage of people who couldn't defend themselves. Hell, even the corporate elites responsible for all this were still skulking about in the shadows... and it just didn't make sense for a man with powers like his to sit by and give them a chance to hurt more people. Aspect: Streetwise Allies Faraday forged a real bond with several members of Venture City's homeless population during his time living amongst them on the streets. Failing everything else, he knows he still has friends in the city's hidden places. Personal Details:   Faraday is an athletically built, 5' 11" man in his early thirties, with raven black hair and streaks of white at the front. While he often wears an insulated mask out in the field, his unique hair and piercing green eyes make him very easy to pick out of a crowd. He dresses in dark, layered tactical clothing and a hooded jacket, all lined with insulation to keep the electricity comprising his body from harming those around him by accident. At a glance, Faraday seems like a very serious and solitary man, his natural caution a byproduct of his checkered and perilous history. Beneath the solemn exterior lies a passionate, caring individual ready to do whatever he can for those who need help. To his allies, Faraday can occasionally come off as somewhat of a "Dad friend", trying to keep them safe and looking out for their wellbeing (the first time Faraday's gruff voice asks, 'have you had enough to eat today?', is a bizarrely wholesome experience to say the least).

Powers Powers: Faraday can channel the electricity in his body both offensively and defensively, hurling bolts of lightning at opponents, or creating energy barriers to fend off attack. Starting Power: Energy Blast (1 point) Additional Power: Shielding (1 point) - Enhancement: Semi-Permeable Shield (1 point) Theme: Electricity Projection Drawback: You Need a Mask to Protect Those Around You. - You don’t have true control over your blasts: energy pours out of you non-stop, but you have safety equipment to hold it in check until you need to fire. Collateral Damage Effect: Charged Shot Special Effects: Mental Recovery, Extra Action

[Dylan Scott]

Venture City Stats Name: Marcus Wilde / Garrett Marcus Sable / Primal Fate Points (Refresh): 3 (3) High Concept: Zoology Professor and Seasoned Adventurer (Wilde Adventures/Wilde Tribe/Wild Hunts) Trouble: Blacksheep of the Family of Big Game Poachers (Sable Family) Relationship: To be Defined Aspect 1: Luddite with an Unintended Social Media Following Aspect 2: Appearance: Standing at 5' 10 tall, Marcus displays the outward appearance of a bland simple university professor, from a distance the man appears normal and at home in an academic setting, with dark brown hair and a neatly kept beard, rich brown eyes hidden behind nondescript glasses. up close however, people who cared to look would see that his eyes had an almost predatory animalistic look in them, sharp and always watching, his body hidden behind his mundane attire was solid and lithe like an animal, his movements smooth and silent. it was easy to mistake this bland "clark kentish" persona as a different person to the rugged adventurous host of "Wilde Adventures" who wore much more practical outdoorsy clothing and lost the glasses when out in the field. you could almost say that when he needed to Professor Wilde could become almost...Primal Background: Adjunct Professor of Anthropolgy and Zoology for the University of Venture City, Marcus Wilde, while technically am american citizen was actually born and raised in Namibia, South Africa. The youngest son of who he grew up believing to be ecologists and zoologist, Garret as he was known then grew up to develop a love for nature, animals and native cultures which became his life's passion and future career. Much to the displeasure of his family who he later learnt were actually criminals and big game hunters exploiting the animals and peoples of Africa to become very wealthy. Much of his childhood was spent with the tribes of Namibia and his best friend Sana, the american boy was such a presence amongst the people of the Bantu Kavango people that he was practically adopted by them and when Sana became a man and undertook his manhood ceremony, Garrett did as well. It was during this experience that he ingested the hallucinogenic herbs and potions of the Bantu and had his body painted in "magical" symbols before spending several days in the bush waiting for the spirits to name him a man. What Garrett (and the world) didn't know at the time was that the combination of herbs and lotions used could have an amazing effect on a very small percentage of people, and was actually a natural version of the Super-gene manipulating formula developed by Mitsuhama In Garrett this resulted in him developing the ability to communicate and eventually possess animals. He felt the closest kinship to canines, but his abilities spanned the entire animal kingdom. in time he discovered that he could dissolve his body into a spirit mist and take possession of dogs with a touch and even more amazingly he soon found that he could physically transform into any creature he could imagine, both currently alive and extinct. He would have been happy to have spent the rest of his life roaming the wilds of Namibia with his friends and family, both human and animal but he made the mistake of revealing his new found gifts with his family. It was at that point he discovered the Sable families dark secret. His parents only concern was wealthy and power and their sons ability to shape-shift was their golden goose, in their eyes they could charge clients whatever they wanted to attempt to hunt supposedly extinct creatures, or they could sell the rare "Namibian Lion" for an extortionate amount of money, just to have the lion disappear and escape its new home after they had collected their fee. Garrett of course used his gifts to do just that, disappear and escape, this time from his family and he fled to America and assumed a new name. a simple man with a dislike of technology and a love of nature he found himself drawn to academia and with his new abilities and his childhood amongst the tribes of Namibia found it child's play to gain doctorates in Anthropology and Zoology and gained a job at a small university on the east coast, splitting his time between classes and field expeditions with his students. It was during one of these expeditions that he relented to his students constant badgering and allowed them to record his lesson, a lesson which would inadvertently gain him some small amount of fame as during the lesson the class stumbled upon a brown bear and her small cubs. Garrett, who was then using the name Marcus Wilde, used his abilities to defuse the situation and instructed his students what to do, forgetting that he was being recorded. with no one hurt he called the field trip off and everyone returned home, professor Wilde returned to work and forgot all about the incident until a week later when he was shown a View-tube video by one of his students. Wilde Adventures was born. It seems that the student who recorded the lesson saw himself as a film maker and he created a fictitious wilderness nature show using the footage of Professor Wilde handling the bear. It became so popular that the dean of the university thought it would be great publicity for the university if Wilde Adventures has some more episodes and with a great deal of coercing and promises of tenure, Marcus was convinced to film other videos of animal encounters. This sparked a rise to minor celebrity for Marcus as Wilde Adventures was soon followed by Wild Hunts, Wilde Tribes and the Wilde World as he expanded his videos to use as teaching aides for his classes and to raise awareness to Ecological Issues and Conservation. It was this fame which resulted in him being poached by Venture City who offered him an Adjunct Professors position at their much more prestigious university, one he gladly accepted, if only because he had realised that as his celebrity grew on the internet he was more likely to be found by his family, Venture City with its multitude of genetically enhanced individuals seemed like the perfect place to hide out. But before he had a chance to settle into his new role, the May Upheavals happened and the publicity of super powered individuals dried up, his smoke screen gone Skills: Great (+4): {Will} Good (+3): {Rapport},{Academics} Fair (+2): {Lore},{Notice},{Investigate} Average (+1): {Fight},{Physique},{Stealth},{Athletics} Stunts: Doctorate of Zoology: +2 to Academics to identify animal genus and understand/predict behaviour Physical Stress: [] [] [] [] Mental Stress: [] [] [] [] [] [] Consequences: (2, Mild) [] (4, Moderate) [] (6, Severe) [] Power Suite Description: You can walk with the animals, talk with the animals, and fight with the animals on your side. Drawback: Your connection to the minds of animals works both ways: their psyches rub off on you, and you need to contend with Overwhelming Animal Instincts. Your transformations aren’t perfect; whenever you return to human shape, some animal features remain until a new Animal form is selected. You Don’t Look Quite Human. Special Effects: You recover from all physical stress when transforming back from animal form.Physical Recovery, You add an aspect to the target, which you can invoke once for free. Intellectual Increase to Animals he communicates with while talking.Inflict Condition Power: Animal Control Basic Animal Control (Canine): Choose one favoured type of animal. You may communicate with favoured animals of this type as if they were human NPCs, although their understanding of the world is limited. In addition, you gain a +2 bonus to Rapport when asking an animal of that type to do something for you. Zoological Polyglot: You may speak to any animal as if it were a human NPC. However, your bonus to Rapport only applies to your favoured type of animal. Collateral Damage Effect: Direct Control: If you can touch an animal of your favoured type, you can possess it. Your body turns to smoke and pours into the animal, and you gain an aspect with the same name as the animal. This may frighten or unnerve the people who saw you disappear, or you might cause damage by maneuvering an unfamiliar body. The effect lasts until you end it or at the end of the scene. When the effect ends, you return to your original body and lose the animal aspect. Power: Shape Shifting Basic Shape Shifting: You can change your form into that of any creature. You can use Will to create an advantage of Creature Form. The opposition is generally Fair (+2), though it increases for particularly large or small shapes and for complex transformations like a swarm of bees. Your new shape persists until you decide to end it or get taken out Master Shapeshifting: You gain +2 to Will when attempting to change your shape. Rapid Shapeshifting: Changing your form is nearly instant; it does not take an action. Collateral Damage Effect: Stegosaurus: You can turn yourself into an armoured dinosaur or similarly unstoppable juggernaut, unfazed by anything around you. You can only hold this form for a few minutes, though, and you’re sure to crush everything around you. While armoured, you gain +2 to defend rolls and can knock down obstacles like thick concrete walls just by walking through them.