# Let's play Fate! (Pen & Paper RPG) **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [June 8, 2008, 10:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-play-fate-pen-paper-rpg/452212 "2008-06-08T10:13:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![ArrMatey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/arrmatey/32/3522_2.png) [@ArrMatey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ArrMatey)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2008, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-play-fate-pen-paper-rpg/452212/181 "2008-06-22T15:40:14Z")
Hey guys, again, sorry for the late post; had to do a bit of a _wince_ total rebuild, computer-wise, and I’m just getting back up to speed. Still owe y’all a novel and some cross-over. Trust me, I’m working on it. Watching ‘Cast a Deadly Spell’ for inspiration. ---
**Author:** ![Omi\_no\_Kami](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a88e4f/32.png) [@Omi\_no\_Kami](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omi_no_Kami)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2008, 9:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-play-fate-pen-paper-rpg/452212/182 "2008-06-27T09:28:42Z")
I’m just checking in to ask people to PM their sheet once it’s finished… there isn’t much of a rush, but I’m waiting to polish the pre-vacation blurb until everyone has finalized their sheet. I have **Hoopy Frood** ’s sheet already, and if anyone else has already emailed it or PMed it, just tell me and I’ll try to find it. Otherwise, I’m looking forward to reading everyone’s final draft. ---
**Author:** ![NAF1138](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naf1138/32/3245_2.png) [@NAF1138](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NAF1138)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2008, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-play-fate-pen-paper-rpg/452212/183 "2008-06-27T16:47:08Z")
Hey Omi, sent you an email. Let me know what you think and if you need more (or a whole lot less). ---
**Author:** ![Omi\_no\_Kami](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a88e4f/32.png) [@Omi\_no\_Kami](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omi_no_Kami)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2008, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-play-fate-pen-paper-rpg/452212/184 "2008-06-27T23:16:28Z")
[QUOTE=NAF1138] Hey Omi, sent you an email. Let me know what you think and if you need more (or a whole lot less). [/QUOTE] I got your email **NAF** , and it looks perfect; the excessive drinking, in particular, will come in extremely handy in our first adventure. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![NAF1138](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naf1138/32/3245_2.png) [@NAF1138](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NAF1138)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2008, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-play-fate-pen-paper-rpg/452212/185 "2008-06-27T23:27:41Z")
[QUOTE=Omi no Kami] I got your email **NAF** , and it looks perfect; the excessive drinking, in particular, will come in extremely handy in our first adventure. 😃 [/QUOTE] GOOD! I was hoping I could have some fun with that. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Omi\_no\_Kami](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a88e4f/32.png) [@Omi\_no\_Kami](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omi_no_Kami)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2008, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-play-fate-pen-paper-rpg/452212/186 "2008-07-04T05:16:58Z")
Alright, I haven’t gotten all the character sheets yet so the intro is a little de-personalized, but I have to leave tomorrow morning and so I’ll post it as-is. Feel free to show up at the meeting point the text indicates and RP through introductions, planning, and the like, but remember that I won’t be back until late July to GM past that point. Anyway, I hope everyone likes it! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Omi\_no\_Kami](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a88e4f/32.png) [@Omi\_no\_Kami](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omi_no_Kami)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2008, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-play-fate-pen-paper-rpg/452212/187 "2008-07-04T05:18:36Z")
Challenge #1: They say that you can’t beat fate, but you can certainly try to avoid it with clean sneakers and a good running start. Sadly, given long enough fate will just learn to sneak up behind you, and that’s exactly what happens to a handful of unfortunate mugs in downtown Hollywood. They say a good detective novel ought to start with a locked room, a mysterious woman, or a dead body, but this particular yarn begins with a book. A cheap pulp detective novel, one that finds itself pushed under the doors and into the mailboxes of a seemingly random collection of rakes, dicks and ne’er do wells. Mobsters and Mugshots has been inked over the title space of each cheap, wrinkled cover, highlighting a colorful illustration of a running gunfight. The cover has a habit of changing if you look at it for too long, the setting shifting from docks, to alleys, to main street, and back again. What doesn’t change, however, are the actors: the picture always seems to feature a tough, hardened gang of besuited wise guys having it out with a ragtag collection of assorted gentlemen. Sometimes there’s a lady, sometimes there are three, and sometimes one of the gentlemen begins to take on a striking resemblance to the reader. While the cover promises a fantastic adventure full of double-crosses, gunfights, and intrigue, the novel itself fails to deliver: if one flips through the book, they will discover that only the first several pages have been printed, leaving well over one hundred and fifty blank slips of paper bound in the cheap cover. The first pages read as follows: > [@Mobsters and Mugshots](#): > > Chapter One > > Tucked in a tiny corner of a dangerous-looking alley in southern Los Angeles is a significantly more dangerous looking pub called The 3am Special. A famous local watering hole lovingly named after the oddly effective combination of bad ventilation, cheap cigarettes, cheaper lightbulbs, and downright worthless clientele whose combined presence made it largely impossible to determine the time: while it was actually open 24 hours a day, the dive always tended to look like it was ten minutes from closing time. > > Naturally, it was a perfect place for the less licit members of the law enforcement community to hire extra hands: policework in LA was dangerous before the Incident, but now it could prove to be downright deadly. Rather than risking their own men and equipment, savvy sergeants and lieutenants took to hiring skilled, unaffiliated operators who were capable of taking care of business with their very own brand of force. > > One such lieutenant dominated the bar tonight, standing in the middle of the smoke-filled dance floor with a practiced slump and unenthusiastically reading from a file, his thick, noir-esque accent going unnoticed in a city that has recently seen far stranger things: “’ey, listen up you mugs! I gots a tell and youse gots ears, so quit wagging yer lips long enough so’s I can tell yer about this here contract! The Marcello Family has been an active representative of the Italian community for a great while, but as of late, Marcello enforcers have been almost criminally remiss in patrolling their underlings. The upper echelons of the family generally keep a low profile, but a small group has recently splintered off and established a bootlegging operation. They seem to have formed a partnership with a handful of Dwarven Brewers, god knows which set they came from. In any event, their product is good. In fact, it’s too damn good: not only does a sip of their swill burn your mouth and rot yer gut, two sips will induce mild hallucinations and three’ll put all but the hardiest fellow to sleep for at least half a day. Oh yea, and it blows up.” > > The lieutenant pauses here, glancing around the room dramatically before resuming his slump and continuing “We’re unable to determine the precise composition of the beverage, as every sample we’ve come into contact with has either exploded or knocked the investigator unconscious. We think there might be an issue with fumes in close spaces, so that’s something else to watch out for. > > In any event, we want this stuff gone. Blow it up, ship it out, drink it away for all we care, but we want the brewery located, the stores destroyed, the brewers detained or marginalized, and the masterminds taken out of the picture. Do what you need to do, don’t come knocking on our door, and we won’t come knocking on yours. I’s gots a file for any of youse who’re interested, and since it’s a high-risk caper I’ve got a damn nice reward. The eggheads back at R&D have assembled a toolbox for each participant, so anyone who signs up is gonna get this hatbox that’s just fulla crap which you might find useful.” > > The lieutenant raises a small, beaten-up hatbox at this, waving it vaguely for everyone to see as he continues “And that ain’t all, oh no: if any of you mugs actually survive this thing, we’re prepared to remunerate ya with a briefcase fulla cash and, wait for it- a real goddamn police badge. Perfect for any dumbass caper you lugs can think of. The serial number checks out, the name checks out, there’s even a paperwork trail attesting to yer long years of service. Sure, anyone with half a brain is probably gonna investigate ya if you go flashing that around, but it’ll probably be good for at least one or two cons before people catch on. And that, as we say, is that.” Having finished his speech, one that very few patrons were bored, impulsive, or desperate enough to listen to, the lieutenant paces out of the bar. Of course, this is more or less where the penny-filled sack of fate comes in to cudgel unwitting bystanders behind the ear and steals their wallet: having finished the narrative, each reader will find a dusty, sketchy police dossier on the Marcello family and a beat-up hatbox sitting by their feet, a note printed on the box in bright, ominous letters: The 3am Special, 11:30pm. Come alone, leave together. Each hatbox may be found to contain the following items: 1 exploding cigar 1 hip flask filled with what smells like whiskey 30 inches of coiled, slow-burning fuse A deck of playing cards A map of LA, with several Marcello properties circled. ---
**Author:** ![Omi\_no\_Kami](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a88e4f/32.png) [@Omi\_no\_Kami](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omi_no_Kami)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2008, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-play-fate-pen-paper-rpg/452212/188 "2008-07-04T11:16:33Z")
Alright, I’m leaving now to catch a plane… I’ll be back in about 3 weeks, after which we can hopefully start. ---
**Author:** ![Omi\_no\_Kami](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a88e4f/32.png) [@Omi\_no\_Kami](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omi_no_Kami)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2008, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-play-fate-pen-paper-rpg/452212/189 "2008-07-08T06:20:15Z")
Wow, I just got back (2+ weeks early, I know… long story). Is anyone still awake? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Hoopy\_Frood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hoopy_frood/32/8452_2.png) [@Hoopy\_Frood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hoopy_Frood)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2008, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-play-fate-pen-paper-rpg/452212/190 "2008-07-08T11:28:17Z")
And I didn’t even get a chance to compose my first in-game post yet. I figured I had least had a couple weeks… ---
**Author:** ![ArrMatey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/arrmatey/32/3522_2.png) [@ArrMatey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ArrMatey)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2008, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-play-fate-pen-paper-rpg/452212/191 "2008-07-08T14:26:50Z")
Still here… Sort of need a refresher on what the heck I’m doing, though. ---
**Author:** ![Omi\_no\_Kami](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a88e4f/32.png) [@Omi\_no\_Kami](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omi_no_Kami)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2008, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-play-fate-pen-paper-rpg/452212/192 "2008-07-08T15:07:45Z")
Ahhh, okies… take your time then, we haven’t officially started. And everyone feel free to PM/post with any questions you have. ---
**Author:** ![NAF1138](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naf1138/32/3245_2.png) [@NAF1138](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NAF1138)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2008, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-play-fate-pen-paper-rpg/452212/193 "2008-07-08T15:13:24Z")
Well, welcome back. I also wasn’t expecting to start quite so soon, so I am not quite ready either. But now that you are back I will get working. Would you be opposed to opening a seperate “game” thread once we get things started and keep this one for an “out of game” thread (Like we have for the D&D games)? It might make things less confusing. ---
**Author:** ![Hoopy\_Frood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hoopy_frood/32/8452_2.png) [@Hoopy\_Frood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hoopy_Frood)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2008, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-play-fate-pen-paper-rpg/452212/194 "2008-07-08T18:58:52Z")
This is my opening color. If you open a separate game thread, I’ll repost it there. _Screech BOOM Screech BOOM Screech BOOM Screech BOOM_ The Mountain Goat stirred in his bed as the pounding and screeching awoke him from a restless sleep. It felt like someone with a literal axe to grind was also banging on a bass drum inside his cranium. That someone _screech_ no doubt went by the name of Jack Daniels _BOOM_, a man with whom the Goat had become fairly well _screech_ acquainted with the previous night. _BOOM_ It had been a rough caper he had finished up two nights ago _screech_, but very lucrative, enough so that the Goat could take a few days off and just relax. _BOOM_ Or at least, that was the plan, _screech_ but the best laid plans of mice and men and all that, _BOOM_ since apparently the workers for the company building the new high rise next door to his apartment complex _screech_ had called an end to their strike at some point yesterday, and the construction had once again begun. _BOOM_ _RAT-A-TAT-A-TAT-A-TAT-A-TAT_ Ahhh, life in L.A. “I really got to get a new place to live” mused the Goat as he stumbled his way out of bed and threw on his bathrobe. Staggering his way to the window he closed it rather ungently. While this action didn’t have the desired effect of completely shutting out the sound of his hard-hatted neighbors, it at least muffled them a bit. _screech_ _boom_ _rat-a-tat-a-tat_ However, there was still the little matter of Jack and his machinations. For that, the Goat stumbled his way in a half asleep and fully hungover stupor to his medicine cabinet in his bathroom and pulled out a bottle of Advil. He then had a thought flash into his mind about the studies that have shown how excessive use of ibuprofen can be damaging to the liver, though not to the point that excessive use of Tylenol can. Why this thought decided to hijack his though processes at this moment was unknown to the Goat, but he gave up trying to understand himself a long time ago. Besides, it couldn’t be worse than the after effects of ol’ Jack. Popping three Advil and washing them down with a glass of water, he went into the kitchen and put on a pot of coffee. There was no way he was getting back to sleep at this point, so he might as well wake up properly. Lacking anything better to do while waiting for the Mr. Coffee to finish Mr. Dripping through Mr. Filter holding Mr. Folgers into Mrs. Pot, he wandered downstairs to the front entrance to check the mail. Opening up the box he found the usual assortment of bills, flyers, and “You could already be a winner!” mailings. Then he noticed the copy of Mobsters and Mugshots. Upon cursory examination of the cover, it appeared to be little more than a specimen of the type of dimestore novels one might find in the used comic bins of a pawnshop or on the discount rack at a hobby store. Never having even heard of the thing, much less ordering a copy, he looked at the mailing label. Sure enough, it was addressed to himself, Alan J. Reyes and at his current address. “Looks like I’ve got something to do today after all: figure out where this came from. Maybe the publisher’s a local.” Closing the mailbox he opened to what he thought would be the copyright page from which he could find the publisher, but apparently the book lacked one. All that was inside it was chapter 1. He started reading, and was perplexed to find that all that existed was chapter 1. Before he even got a chance to puzzle this out, his landlord came in from her morning jog. “Good morning, Alan.” “Oh, good morning, Alice.” “You’re up early, and it looks like you had a rough night?” “A couple of the guys from work hit the late-night bars last night to celebrate a new contract. The night wasn’t the problem. It’s the morning after. And apparently the builder strike is over.” And as if to punctuate that statement, there was a resounding _BOOM_ from next door. “Yeah, sorry about that. Not much I can do, I’m afraid. It’s too bad you can’t switch to the dayshift. It would definitely make your life easier.” “Yeah, it probably would. Oh, well, not much I can do. Have a nice day.” “You, too.” And with that she lingered a bit to meet his eyes as she unlocked the door to the landlord’s apartment on the first floor. As he returned the glance while closing the mailbox and following that up with an attempt to head back to the apartment, he almost tripped over the package that mysteriously appeared at his feet. He could have sworn it wasn’t there earlier. “Don’t forget your package,” Alice chimed. “Ummm…I don’t think it’s mine,” replied the Goat. “Sure it is. The mailing label even has your name on it.” At this point, the Goat was trying to decide if he should just run back upstairs and go back to bed and wait for himself to wake up for real this time, or to look down at the package and confirm what Alice told him. He then realized that his just standing there pondering this dilemma was probably making him look like an idiot in front of Alice, so he picked up the box and read its label. Sure enough, it, too, was addressed to him. “What do you know, it is mine. I don’t recognize the return address, though. I wonder who it’s from.” “Probably some hot little thing you took home one night,” Alice threw out. “I wish!” exclaimed the Goat. “Uhhh…that is…I mean…I should go back to my apartment and find out where this address is from. Have a nice day.” And as Alice’s “You too” floated up the stairwell, the Goat was out of sight. It wasn’t like the Goat to be rendered speechless like that, especially around women. But Alice was different. When it came to Alice, he had a tendency to become an idiot. Alice Haynes was a little younger than the goat and had it all: looks, brains, an intriguing personality, and legs that went all the way up. Rumor has it she once had potential for a lucrative modeling career, but she gave all that up when her father died. She was tired of the glitz industry and decided to go into real estate with her share of the holdings her father had left in his will. She liked the location of this building, so she decided to become its manager as well. The Goat quickly developed a thing for her, and it was pretty apparent that if he had asked her out on a date, she would take him up on the offer, but the Goat had seen too many relationships go sour when business and pleasure were mixed. No, as long as he lived here, they would have to be content with their mating dance being limited to these little awkward exchanges in the vestibule. Fortunately, the Goat had been saving up for a down payment on a condo, and he would probably have enough within a year or, maybe, two at the most. Once he was out of here, he could finally make his move. He just hoped it wouldn’t be too late. But thoughts of Alice soon retreated to the back of his mind as he returned to his room and addressed the issue of the address. Googling the address he found that the package was mailed from the very same bar mentioned in Mobsters and Mugshots: The 3 AM Special. “Well, I doubt it’s a bomb,” he pondered out loud as he removed the brown paper from the outside of the hatbox and opened it. Seeing the contents and recalling the story, a chill ran down his spine. Never being one to resist getting to the bottom of a mystery, particularly one that might have a lucrative result in the solving, The Goat decided that a trip to The Special would be in order for tonight. “Looks like I’m going to have to put off that mini-vacation after all.” The rest of the day was spent nursing his hangover and playing solitaire with the shiny new deck of cards that came in the package. He figured it would take about 30 minutes to get to The Special, so he hopped in the Escape Goat around 6:00 P.M and drove off to the bar. This would give him a few hours to case the joint both inside and outside. One never goes into a potential business arrangement unprepared after all…. Note: The Goat will at this point use his Burglary skills to case the area surrounding the bar and spend at least an hour or two indoors before the meeting to case the inside and make note of the clientele. ---
**Author:** ![Omi\_no\_Kami](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a88e4f/32.png) [@Omi\_no\_Kami](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omi_no_Kami)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2008, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-play-fate-pen-paper-rpg/452212/195 "2008-07-08T19:17:28Z")
[QUOTE=NAF1138] Well, welcome back. I also wasn’t expecting to start quite so soon, so I am not quite ready either. But now that you are back I will get working. Would you be opposed to opening a seperate “game” thread once we get things started and keep this one for an “out of game” thread (Like we have for the D&D games)? It might make things less confusing. [/QUOTE] No, I think that would be a good idea. I originally posted the brief intro bit with the idea that as people finalized their characters they’d be able to work out introductions, so once I have all of the finished sheets and everyone tells me that they’re ready to go, I’ll start a new thread and re-post the opening color. ---
**Author:** ![Omi\_no\_Kami](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a88e4f/32.png) [@Omi\_no\_Kami](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omi_no_Kami)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2008, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-play-fate-pen-paper-rpg/452212/196 "2008-07-08T19:56:27Z")
Oh, and Hoopy, we’re not officially playing, so I’ll write you up a dice-backed version when we formally start, but Mountain Goat’s observations kind of help set the scene: While the inside of the _3am Special_ tends to exude a type of concealed, mildly inebriated menace typical to such places, the entrance is quite unassuming: the bar itself is located underground, having been constructed in the basement of a Chinese laundry whose owners are likely unaware of or apathetic to the bar’s existence. The public entrance is a small, moldy wooden door that opens to a narrow flight of stairs. No signs or obvious markings advertise the bar’s existence, but it’s a well-known local watering hole and place of business: those who need to know about it do, and those who don’t rarely wander in to bother the clientele. The surrounding neighborhood is a seemingly random collection of assorted low-rent businesses, chief among which are laundries, cheap restaurants, and motels. One building in particular, however, stands out among the rest: built directly across from the run-down bar, straddling tenements to either side, is an extremely glitzy pawn shop known as _The Jagged Ace_. The outside of the building sports a fresh coat of paint, the sign is bright, reasonably new, and very elaborate, and rubberneckers would note that the plush carpets and ornate wooden paneling visible in the entryway seem out of place, especially considering that the display window features the usual medley of cheap guns, radios, and musical instruments. Mountain Goat is taking the time to actually case the environs, which will give him enough time to notice something unusual: although the rest of the buildings on _The Jagged Ace’s_ block host the usual cheap merchants, the shopkeepers themselves seem unusually alert and suspicious. ---
**Author:** ![NAF1138](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naf1138/32/3245_2.png) [@NAF1138](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NAF1138)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2008, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-play-fate-pen-paper-rpg/452212/197 "2008-08-01T21:59:32Z")
Hey, So are we still doing this? I had almost forgotten about it. I got crazy slammed personally and still will be for a few more days, but life should calm down for me soon. Is everyone still in? ---
**Author:** ![Omi\_no\_Kami](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a88e4f/32.png) [@Omi\_no\_Kami](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omi_no_Kami)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2008, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-play-fate-pen-paper-rpg/452212/198 "2008-08-01T22:08:03Z")
I’m still in; I’ve just been waiting for everyone else to chime in and confirm that they’re still interested and available. ---
**Author:** ![Hoopy\_Frood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hoopy_frood/32/8452_2.png) [@Hoopy\_Frood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hoopy_Frood)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2008, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-play-fate-pen-paper-rpg/452212/199 "2008-08-02T05:00:13Z")
I’m still in. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-play-fate-pen-paper-rpg/452212.md?page=9)