Fate Game: Formerly Familiar

Hi everybody,

So I had a flash of inspiration for a Fate Game and decided to try running my first game here. It is set in a generic fantasy world of my own design and players will take on the role of some of the most overlooked characters of fantasy tropes...FAMILIARS! That's right, all of those furry, feathered and scaled companions will become the heroes of their own adventure, and you can help them!

OK...that was getting a little to "Saturday Morning" but its not far off. I am taking inspiration from the old D&D cartoon and mixing in a little Mouse Guard flavour to run a light hearted and hopefully fun romp. The PCs will be tiny creatures in a big world. Come check it out.

Never done a Fate game before but would be interested in trying. Care if a complete newbie signs on?

We all start somewhere. Please do. And don't hesitate to ask questions. I will point out that Fate is "pay what you want" online or available at fate-srd.com in website form.

We're using Fate Accelerated for this game, correct?

Basically. Its a bit of a hybrid of Core and Accelerated because the character sheet here is set up for Core not Accelerated. The major difference (As I see it) is Core has two types of Stress and Accelerated only has one. If something doesn't make sense let me know and I will try to explain.

O this looks cool. Got room for a Faun?

Edit: I've played FAE once, when I ran a Star Wars game for some friends while at a con, but I am still 9/10 FATE n00b.

I'd like to post some ideas in the forum that you've created, but don't have permission. I think I still have to be accepted into the game.

As long as we can come to an agreement on one point in particular...
In my head cannon, faun are more or less human sized. I base this on the Greek myths of satyrs & fauns taking young maidens away after parties, and it was generally described as bodily carrying them off against their will. A familiar, again, in my head cannon, has to be much smaller. Like...small enough to sit on a shoulder or fit in a pocket. Ravens and cats represent the largest real-world example of creatures I would consider "suitable for a PC. The idea of a faun, a fun loving forest spirit with a penchant for getting drunk is not a problem...just the size.

Then I remembered Disney's Hercules movie and Phil the faun voiced by Danny DeVito. He was pretty short. Nearly as small as I would call appropriate. So if we can agree that you will play a goat-horned and goat-legged creature no taller than say...knee high on an average human, then yes a faun would make a good Fantastic type familiar.

Agreed?

Sorry about that szemely! I don't know if I got a notification of your application. You are approved now!

I typed Faun (and was thinking knee-high sized) but then started thinking Fawn, i.e., tiny deer. Now I'm torn.

There are some species of gazelle...or deer or something in my local zoo that I would say are perfect. Either way!

I've been lurking the site for a bit and this concept sounds really fun, so coming out of the shadows. Never tried Fate but listened to some actual plays. Sent my application for the game. My first idea for a character was a version of the Ioun Wyrd familiar with a mauler archetype from pathfinder if that sounds OK for the setting.

THEMeeple - The concept of Ioun Stone familiar is great. At first glance people will assume Earth elemental, but you will be more magical. You also seem to be in the position of choosoling the Fantastic or Homunculus Type, so that's cool. The only hang up I have is in the write up of Mauler Archetype, but I think we can work around these issues.

issue #1 - No speaking. In a "normal" face-to-face game I would say no to a PC that can't communicate with others PCs. In a play-by-post we can be more creative. Either way I want you to consider this fact. We can either ignore this limitation or play it up as a cool feature, but you have to be able to communicate with the other PCs somehow. Describe how your PC's actions communicate your ideas, but put your ideas into words for the players to read.

issue #2 - "Battle form" - growing at will is a problem because one of the concepts for this game is that you are small creatures in the big world. I think this can be used as a stunt, either by spending a Fate Point or putting the Once per Session limit on the stunt. We can talk more about it if you decide to continue with this idea.

Overall I like it, so welcome aboard.

Hello, I would like to join, too. I really like the ideas and I am willing to fill niches that are not yet set. On the other hand I haven't played Fate yet but listend to a ton of Fate actual play podcasts. I woul really like to try it. I think I could fit in with only a little guidance.
I have several character ideas...
I'm thinking of an animal familiar with spy/scout speciality. Maybe a raven or a cat.
Or even a cockatoo to make human interactions easy? With a little telepathy or mind control? I could go really crazy on that idea...
All in all something that guarantees some laughs that has some kind of weirdness :-)

BTW: Your character build instructions are extremely detaild and easy to follow if you know only a little of the Fate specific terms. Well done!

Here is a first experiment:

Coco Nuts

High Aspect
Mindblowing Cockatoo who was his masters receptionist

Trouble
(Slightly) coocoo

Aspects
Imitation is the game
Vicious beak

Skills
Careful (+1)
Clever (+4)
Flashy (+3)
Forceful (+0)
Sneaky (+1)
Quick (+2)

Extras
Because Coco is a mindbender he/she can
- tell if you are lying,
- implant suggestions
- read feelings
- understand all languages

Stunts
Charm Human/Monster (once per session)
Human interaction specialist (+2 on cleverly overcoming in human interactions)
Perfect voice imitation (for 1 fate point perfectly reproduce previously heard sentence)

Background/Notes
* His mistress was the local witch specializing in healing mental issues with powerful telepathy and mind control
* Her cockatoo served as receptionist
* In some strange magical accident the mind of the mistress was completely wiped out leaving her a helpless hull
* Coco still lives with her in a small hut
* It is unclear if the humans help the old helpless lady out of kindness or are somewhat mentally steered to do so by her faithful familiar or both.
* Coco knows the mind and soul of the mistress is gone, he felt the bond break. But he still feels loyalty to the mindless remains.

I'd like more detail on how the Charm Monster Stunt would work mechanically in game. If you have thoughts please include them. If you want help I'd be happy to make suggestions. Over all this looks pretty good.

Charm Monster: I thought much like the D&D spell. It is a first level spell there. For some time the charmed being believes the caster is his best friend and would do anything for the character that he would do for a good friend. The creature has to be intelligent enough to have friendly feelings. (to make monsters peaceful) You can't charm anything that does not understand the concept of friendship. So you may tame a wolf or rabid dog for a time but not give it orders. that only works for intelligent creatures.
Golems, insects, slimes etc. cannot be charmed...
Any attack on the target breaks the spell. Any request thet the target would not do for a good friend breaks the spell.
The target may or may not feel decieved after the effect wears off. Thats the DMs desicion.
Since it is a once per session thing I'd like to be able to charm both humanoids and monsters wich are separate spells in D&D


Here is the definition form D&D 3rd E:
Charm Person: Range: Close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels), Target: One person, Duration: 1 hour/level -- This charm makes a humanoid of Medium-size or smaller regard the character as a trusted friend and ally. If the creature is currently being threatened or attacked by the character or the character's allies, however, he receives a +5 bonus on his saving throw.
The spell does not enable the character to control the charmed person as if the person were an automaton, but the subject perceives the character's words and actions in the most favorable way. The character can try to give the subject orders, but the character must win an opposed Charisma check to convince the subject to do anything he or she wouldn’t ordinarily do. (Retries not allowed.) A charmed person never obeys suicidal or obviously harmful orders. Any act by the character or the character's apparent allies that threatens the charmed person breaks the spell. Note also that the character must speak the person’s language to communicate the character's commands, or else be good at pantomiming.

BTW: Please accept me into the game so we can move tis to the appropriate game thread :-)

My apologise chocokiko. I don't seem to be getting notified when people apply to my game and I didn't think about that until you mentioned it. Perhaps I will submit a question or check the FAQs. You are approved now.

I'm in, thanks :-)