Fate Plus 6 - Space Colony PDF [PDF]

Zitiervorschau

Issue #6

SPACE COLONY

Exploring the unknown Creating the Future

How far can we get?

Roll One Die at a Time Fear in Your Hands

This issue is only possible thanks to the support of these incredible people on Patreon www.patreon.com/fateplus

Alexander Corbett Tom Lutz

FAIR

AVERAGE Jochen Linnemann Adam Joe Trzos Alex Clarke John Rogers Amazing Rando Jonathan Korman Anders Jonsson KP André alias DD Marcel Wittram Arthur Green Martin Deppe Ask Charly Leetham Matt Houck CH Fl Michael Bowman Charles Evans Mitchell Evans Chris Jahn Phil Groff Christian Häusler Rachael Hixon Christophe Fontaine Rob Meyers Daniel Gallant Robert Slaughter David Goodwin Serge Beaumont David Lawson Shain Edge David Morfin Simon White Don Arnold Stefan Feltmann Ernie Sawyer Steve Stone Evil Hat Productions Explorations of the Ethereal The Roach Thomas Balls-Thies Society Thor Sundqvist Filipe Ty Volpo Florian Werner William King Frédéri POCHARD Gustavo Campanelli

ISSUE 6 — 2019, JANUARY FÁBIO SILVA CONCEPT — WRITING — LAYOUT TRANSLATION DANIEL “JAN” FIRMINO | CEZAR CAPACLE WRITING CEZAR CAPACLE PROOFREADING

Fate Plus and Fate Adventures is © 2019 Pluma Press. Fate Plus and Fate Adventures and its texts are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License International. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/ licenses/by/4.0/ That is: use it at ease, but give the credits :) Read it here! When performing a work that uses something derived from this publication, attribute of the form follows “This work uses as base the article [article name] published by Fate Plus, Issue #6, by author [author name] and is licensed under a Creative License Commons Attribution 4.0 International. http: // creativecommons. org / licenses / by / 4.0 / The arts and layout belong to their respective authors and all rights to these elements are reserved to them. Contact them for use permissions. This work is based on Basic Fate and Fate Accelerated (found at http: //www.faterpg.com), which are products of Evil Hat Productions, LLC, created and edited by Leonard Balsera, Brian Engard, Jeremy Keller, Ryan Macklin, Mike Olson, Clark Valentine, Amanda Valentine, Fred Hicks and Rob Donoghue. and licensed under a Creative LicenseCommons Attribution 4.0 International. http://creativecommons.org/ licenses/by / 4.0 / The FATE CORE font is © Evil Hat Productions, LLC and is being used under permission. The four stock symbols were designed by Jeremy Keller

PREFACE

The future is coming. This issue has some articles with tips for you to create space exploration adventures and build colonies on other planets and moons. You will find an article about what this is and how a space colonization is performed with several examples of issues that will be the basis for creating your own adventures. Ideas to create a colony as an extra and make the adventures deeper and personal for the characters. Rules to roll one die at a time, coming up with a tense mood on your table, and an article on microbial life and the implications it can bring to the PCs. Are you ready to explore the universe? Our Fate is in your hands. +4 to all of you. Fábio Silva

CONTENTS Creating the Future .................................................. 6 An Interactive Colony .............................................. 13 Roll One Die at a Time .............................................. 18 Microbial Life in Space ............................................

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CREATING THE FUTURE HOW FAR CAN WE GET? By Fábio Silva The earth is on borrowed time. With the advent of the space age, it is inevitable to look for a new home. This can happen due to overpopulation, the lack of natural resources and so on. The quest for a safe and comfortable place in the distant space is one of the missions of renowned scientists. We need to hurry to find an alien planet that supports the complexity of human life. The PCs may be the first explorers to step on unknown soil, or they may be a team sent after confirmation of a habitable planet. Maybe they need to set up a new base or explore unfamiliar places in the new promised land. Endless possibilities! For your players, that day has come. Let’s rummage through the universe in search of a new home and explore unknown planets in this article that looks at some possible adventure ideas for a space colonization campaign.

A PLACE TO REST OR A NEW TORMENT Once a place compatible with human life is discovered, it is necessary to study whether the planet offers all the necessary resources to maintain our condition: adequate temperature, drinking water, natural resources to be explored, non-toxic atmosphere, etc. That’s because a planet that has life does not mean it will sustain our biological demands. New life forms can be more resilient and live FATE PLUS—ISSUE #5 + 0 -

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in temperatures or environments where it is impossible for humans to survive. It is also important that there is no intelligent life in the new home. Such colonization can destroy a culture or create conflicts and wars that threaten both races. There may be issues like Our natural resources are scarce or The future is in our hands who put ethical decisions in evidence. Aspects such as these pressure governments and bosses (or PCs) to make drastic decisions, but a war with aliens on their home planet with limited resources is not a smart decision (this is a great theme for the start of a campaign). When there is no intelligent life, it may be worth the risk of dwelling on a reasonably inhospitable planet, setting up colonies for study and exploration, or even improving the atmosphere if there is an equivalent cost-benefit. New resources, such as neverseen species and exotic minerals in abundance, are the trigger for dangerous exploration. In some cases, humanity will not move to a new dwelling place, but rather will send explorers and teams capable of extracting the resources from these new planets and moons, bringing that wealth back to Earth. An adventure can focus only on the exploration of a new planet, where players need to spread devices and sensors to check the conditions of water, weather, fauna, and flora to solve an issue such as Are there conditions to inhabit this planet? Or maybe players need to do something similar within the new star system: measure the star, asteroid routes, gas clouds or stellar dust, etc., as this can create Imminent cosmic hazards. There are threats that can arise when facing an unfamiliar environment, even if there is no villain. If the results are positive, or if the main risks are reduced (through one or more adventures where players solve some environmental issues) new teams will be sent to create specialized colonies. This team is composed by physicists, chemists, biologists, astronomers, geologists, among others, who will dig deeper into the planet. It is important to know what the possible effects of new microorganisms and diseases. Players can begin the adventure from

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Earth to study a planet that has been confirmed by a group of NPC explorers — or by the players’ previous characters. Issues like mutant zombie fungus, intelligent parasites or Treacherous Ecosystem can only be evaluated by a specialized team and not by explorers. Internal intrigues, suspense, and tension within the members of a team having their minds and bodies dominated by something strange, are intense subjects, although it seems cliché. New diseases can do worse than death: genetic and psychic mutations can create deformed monsters with superhuman abilities. PCs may be experts sent to study the new planet in depth— perhaps the previous PCs were the explorers. Issues like Mutant zombie fungus, Intelligent parasites, or Treacherous ecosystem require a group of specialists to study and solve them. Geological knowledge is required to study the risks of building in some locations. This is a time-consuming process, which gives GM time to create an intricate plot. Earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic disasters or landscape changes are recurring in such adventures. They may have earthquake scans that need to be set up before seismic shocks occur (a geologist can identify that this will happen soon creating the issue Our labs are at risk) or volcanic eruptions that need to be taken off course using explosives or specific machines. This, of course, will not be an easy task. Weather dangers, wildlife, betrayals, and unexpected events are frequent in such plots, where selfishness can spoil the mission—someone may betray the group just because they are afraid of dying in an unknown place in the corners of the universe. Astronomical threats are a real danger because no one knows the routes on a strange planet. Experts in this field are in spaceships that remain in orbit. They study the dangers of asteroids and meteors. Missions are like the previous ones: The PCs running up against time to prevent a Meteor collision on the ocean, for instance. Also, they study the planet’s orbit, how far from the star it rotates, and whether there are periods of the year when it gets too close or too

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distant, raising or dipping to temperatures unbearable for human life. Stellar heat waves are also a serious problem. In some cases, there may not be technology that can deal with the problem, and getting out of the way of whatever is approaching is the central theme of the adventure. Meteorologists can identify a climatic variation by studying the seasons (which will be completely different from what we have on Earth) or by searching places where humans can live. Since this takes time, setting up the initial lab can become a massive challenge after a few weeks. Physicists may find that the planet has Gravitational instability, chemists encounter Intelligent gases, and so on. The example issues presented above are not created for the PCs to solve and thus make the planet habitable. This is unlikely to happen. These issues may be the information that experts need to prove that the planet, while sustaining other forms of life, is a dangerous place for humankind—the Interstellar movie talks about this. That is, the adventures will be about characters coming out alive, instead of cleaning the planet of all threats—resolving those issues is possible, according to the technology and PCs skills, and this can also create incredible adventures. Just think what kind of adventure you want: hope for survival or hope for a better world. Remember that adventures like these will not focus on combat; creating advantage and overcoming obstacles will be the focus here. At times, players will face challenges in which a series of rolls will be required; they roll to climb and after that, they need to roll again to get the equipment in the right place inside a volcano while an earthquake shakes all the place, and now they must explain how they will get out of this situation while they roll the dice again. The GM must mediate these situations, always providing the opportunity for each player to talk between the rolls. Try not to make the game just a succession of rolls. Scenes like this can have more action than extensive combat.

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CARRYING EQUIPMENT An adventure can occur while traveling to the new planet. PCs need to be prepared for contingencies (the Alien movie shows us that). The crew may be in suspended animation, with only a few of the commanders or technicians waking up every so often for regular maintenance of the spacecraft before going to sleep again (the movie Passengers provides some inspiration for such adventures). Either way, a mothership is needed to transport people, equipment, food and probably the entire structure of bases, houses, and buildings that will be mounted on the new planet. Something like this can be as extensive as the largest city in the world and can provide good ambience for horror plots. Awakened before time, Something walks inside our ship, Communication problems, Ghost machine are issues that can yield a campaign. All the main functions of such ships are controlled by computers. Getting them turned against humans, preventing some from awakening, or even creating risky situations, is like fighting an invisible enemy — it can be anywhere. Alien species in gaseous form, or in real form as in the movie Alien, invading the place and bringing the problem directly to where the players are. The greatest risk is something happening that compromises not only the life of the crew but the mission of the ship. If equipment is prevented from operating properly, there is a risk that colonization will not be possible, and worse: there will be no possibility of a return. If someone important dies, the same can happen.

BEHIND THE CURTAINS Not everybody can afford an expedition like that. Multi-billiondollar companies and the government are the main patrons of such expeditions. Each will have their own reasons for it, but without the resources of such an institution, it is impossible to carry out colonization—on the other hand, missions can become the pursuit of selfish goals, thanks to the monopoly. FATE PLUS—ISSUE #5 + 0 -

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In apocalyptic times (The Earth is dying; Overpopulation is an imminent catastrophe; Severe climate change), the search for a new home may be altruistic at first (We are the last hope), but the motivations become twisted when people in charge gain power (We own the new world!). In some cases, a planet is strategically positioned along the way, aiding in long journeys. There are sites that serve for the exploration of biodiversity and mining, creating farms that produce food, or extracting resources that will be transported back to Earth. On these planets or moons, buildings, houses, airports, roads, and spaceports can be built. The government or company in charge must ensure that there will be enough resources for a return trip, as well as to circumvent most of the unforeseen events — some of which can be very serious. This may require sending more than one team at different times (both could be made up of players’ characters living different adventures) — the first one to set up the base and the next one to take resources periodically and bring in what is explored. This gives us ideas of adventure. Depending on the purpose of the mission to which the PCs will be a part of, the types of characters may be miners, physicians, scientists, commanders, or the military.

BIOGENETIC The human body is fragile. It does not have natural defenses or weather protection. If the adventure happens in the future and genetic modifications are common, PCs can adapt their body to meet the requirements of a new planet. Skin and eyes resistant to sunlight on planets of high temperature, or even a carapace or scales; fur or extra fat layers to resist cold; night vision, claws, and fangs as a natural defense. If the gravity of a location is different, it is important to modify bones and muscles to better withstand the environment.

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These features can be created as aspects as this makes character creation simple. Cat eyes, Bearskin, Iron bones, etc. are aspects that speak for themselves. An aspect represents a truth about something: just include it in the character’s sheet and everyone will assume that you are able to use this feature in a way that makes sense. You only need to create these details as stunts or extras if it becomes the focus of the adventure (mutant characters using their abilities to survive in, or modify, a hostile environment). +

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AN INTERACTIVE COLONY OUR GREATEST ACHIEVEMENT By Fábio Silva The survival of a colony depends on the resources available and their replenishment. An adventure of space colonization may be about specialists facing the difficulties of founding a base. With the rules of this article, your group of players will create their own colony and face the challenges to maintain it.

THE COLONY FRAME During colony creation, the GM and the players will talk about the details and difficulties that characters went through to build the colony. Imagine that every new aspect created, approach chosen, new stunt or any element included in the colony sheet was a building step—GM, let players describe each step of the building, whenever they add a new element. ASPECTS Just three aspects are needed to create a colony. Follow the steps for character building and it will work just fine: High Concept: This aspect defines what its function is; why it was created. A single colony can have several sectors (medical, greenhouse, rest, etc.), as they are necessary for the maintenance

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of the colony and the lives that inhabit it. The High concept of a colony should be about the reasons it was built in the first place, not just what a sector is able to provide. Exploration of minerals and study of biodiversity; Creation of farms and food production; Expansion of colony and creation of the first city. After creating the aspect Exploration of minerals and study of biodiversity, one of the players says “The colony was financed by the government to supply the ores of the earth, which are running out. But behind the curtains, they want to know what biodiversity resources they can exploit “; everyone agrees and they move on to the next aspect.

Trouble: This aspect can be something internal (Systemic failures; Unexpected Errors), external (Earthquakes), human (Emotions close to the surface) or anything else that can bring problems to the PCs. For the trouble, the group creates an aspect of Systemic failures. One of the players suggests “during the colony creation, there were some deaths by accident and this shook some professionals, so the structure is not in its best shape.” Another player adds “I like it! And some may even say that the place is haunted, that’s why these failures have been happening! “ Everyone loves the idea.

Mystery: This aspect may be related to the crew, the colony, the obscure purpose behind its construction or the place where it was built. Since it is an enigma, it is important to be an aspect that does not define truth, but rather a doubt. Because we are exploring the unknown, we cannot know everything about what surrounds us. Someone hides something; This colony has secret compartments; Nonsense missions; Strange things surrounding us. For mystery, the group defines Nonsense missions, because they are intrigued by having to suddenly stop their activities to obey strange orders from their superiors. One of the players suggests “during the colony construction, we have included

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some rooms that we cannot access”. This intrigues everyone at the table and that’s a great idea.

APPROACHES

IS THE COLONY MANNED?

Even if you are playing Fate Core, it makes sense to use This is crucial. If the characters approaches to the colony are alone during the missions, all because the actions of the local the characteristics of the colony base are linked to a group of (aspects, approaches and stunts) people or machines. The colony should reflect the equipment and has three approaches: Careful, machines. The Careful approach Investigative, and Powerful. of the colony may reflect statePlayers can choose to perform of-the-art equipment in medical a roll using their own skills or care, food, safety equipment, approaches or use the colony etc., while the Powerful approach approaches. The initial values ​​of can reflect anything from these approaches are +3, +2 and exoskeletons to weapons. If the +1. base has a team in addition to the Careful: The colony has characters, then these people also everything it takes to maintain assist the PCs whenever they are the lives of its crew and to invoking an aspect, activating a complete their missions in stunt or using one of the colony the safest and most efficient approaches to act. It’s all a matter way possible. You can use of perspective. the colony Careful approach whenever you are trying to heal a physical consequence, through treatment, or a mental one, through rest or treatment, or when you need to perform a delicate mission or task. Investigative: The colony has labs, computers, tools and specialized teams that help PCs research stuff. You can use the Investigative approach when you try to discover something about the fauna, flora, geology of the new planet, or when conducting research that requires accurate results.

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Powerful: The colony has exploration and defense equipment that help lift, climb, or destroy whatever is in your path. Use the colony Powerful approach when you need to explode something, move a large amount of weight, or attack something in your way. When using a colony approach for a roll, the time to get the expected result may vary. For example, using the colony Careful to treat a character’s injuries has quick results, as the colony has equipment and doctors who will perform the job as efficiently, fast and comfortably as possible. However, using the colony Investigative approach to try and figure out the code to get into a room may be time-consuming, as the character may need to consult people or information in the database to try and accomplish this task. Sometimes using your own skills or approaches is the fastest and most efficient way to achieve something. The players choose +3 for Careful because they think about the safety of its crew, +2 in Investigative because it is a research colony, and +1 in Powerful—it has few resources for exploration since this is an analysis colony. One of the players says, “the base was set up in a strategic place, so they do not have a lot of exploration resources.” During an investigation mission, the exploration ship mysteriously starts to fail. One of the players says “as I am riding, I want to make a roll using the Careful approach of the colony. I want to ask for information and synchronize the maps to find the best spot for an emergency landing. “ The GM accepts the explanation and asks him to roll the dice. As they walk through an exotic forest, a player declares, “I want to roll with my Investigation skill to see if these plants exude anything toxic. Using the colony Investigative approach can take more time than we have. “

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STUNTS The colony stunts represent its capacity to help the professionals who live and work there. They must be more powerful than a common stunt, limited to once per scene or once per session. A colony has two initial stunts. Players decide to create a life-sustaining stunt that goes like this “Medical Care: Once per session, a character can heal a mild or moderate consequence or begin the healing process of a severe one.” Everyone agrees and they create the next one related to research “Specialists: once per scene, PCs can create or discover an aspect of something that is being studied with a free invocation, if they have time to use the colony tools” Everyone likes it and one of the players adds “when the colony was finally done, there was no party, but we created a memorial for all those who died during construction.”

+

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ROLL ONE DIE AT A TIME FEAR IN YOUR HANDS By Cezar Capacle Have you ever seen yourself in a situation during a Fate session in which solving with a single overcome roll sounded “meh”, but on the other hand you did not have enough arguments to create a Challenge or a Contest? Yeah, me too. So, I ended up thinking of a simple solution, which does not require any changes to the rules, but which is capable of solving situations with a single roll with the excitement of Challenges: I will call this Dramatic Action, borrowing part of a term from Savage Worlds. And to perform a Dramatic Action, you just need to roll one die at a time. This simple idea occurred to me as I was reading the World of Adventure The Crisp Line (if you enjoy transhumanism, I highly recommend it). At a certain point in the book, they explain how you should roll to make an improvement in your mutation. Basically, it is a clinical or surgical procedure to change your cells. This is all solved with a single roll (or at most two, if you want two different improvements) When I read this, I was slightly disappointed. It seemed to be a dramatic situation and sometimes a key point in a character’s personal narrative—something too important to be solved with a simple roll. On the other hand, the situation was not a Challenge. Fate tells us that a Challenge must be a series of actions to solve a problem, but that each of these actions must use a different skill to deal with the situation. Obviously, this is not the case, and I do not think it makes sense to break this rule and ask for several rolls of the same skill. That would be boring and against Fate mood. FATE PLUS—ISSUE #5 + 0 -

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That’s when I thought: what if we had something between a simple roll and a Challenge or a Contest? What if we still only had one roll, but rolled one die at a time? “What’s the fun of it?”, you may be wondering. I explain. Fate dice have the advantage of not being numeric. That is, a simple look at the plus, minus or blank symbol gives us the instant notion of something good, bad or neutral, without you having to compare with tables or target numbers. This means that, with each roll of a single die, even though you do not yet have the notion whether you will succeed in your action or not, you already have an idea if things are going well or badly on your roll. From there, it seems easy to translate this visual sensation into the narrative. What if each die rolled, one at a time, represents the stages of action or each of the sub-actions that make up a Dramatic Action? If you roll a plus, you tell how things are going well; if you roll a minus, the GM describes how things get complicated; and if you get a blank face, you and the GM describes how the situation seems undefined. At the end of the action, after the fourth and final die is rolled, add your skill or approach and complete the description of your Dramatic Action, considering the final result. Note that it is still only a single action in a single roll, but in fiction, this can easily portray the drama of things going almost right or almost wrong. This strategy can work in several situations. I will list some of them below and I think it will be easier to understand the concept. NEGOTIATIONS This is an example for any situation that involves arguments and trying to get someone to do something for you. Each die rolled may represent a slight variation in a merchant’s mood, a guard’s suspicion, an informant’s goodwill, or a respondent’s resistance. GM: Okay, you find the merchant at the back of the store, fiddling with his stock.

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Jeff: I’ll try to get him to trust us and start to talk. GM: Well, this will require a Good (+3) Deceive. He’s not important enough for us to make a Contest, so let’s make it a Dramatic Action, ok? Roll one die at a time. Rolls + Jeff: I’ll tell him “Some sources tell me that the Scarlet Stone is in your hands!” Roll 0 GM: The merchant says, “I’m sure it’s all rumors.” Roll GM: “Now get out, I have a lot to do here, and you are disturbing my business.” Roll + Jeff: I’ll show him the badge on my necklace, “Are you sure you do not want to help a Mountain Brother?” This was my last die and I have +2 in Deceive. That’s enough for a draw. What happens? GM: He lowers his eyes when he sees the Fellowship of the Mountain symbol, but you have the impression that he is still hiding something or scared of something. He points to the back of the store where there is a closed door and says “Come with me. But only you. I’ll show you where the Stone is.” What do you do?

FIGHTS When characters are trying to hurt each other, you can use the Conflict rules present in Fate Core. This is not the point here. Dramatic combat actions are situations that would involve few blow swaps (or even a single blow, depending on the case) against nameless NPCs that otherwise could be eliminated with a simple Overcome roll, but in this case, they can offer a more intense narrative. After rolling the fourth die, resolve shifts, stress, and consequences as usual. FATE PLUS—ISSUE #5 + 0 -

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GM: When you enter the dimly lit warehouse at the back of the store, you notice the merchant’s anxiety. He is sweating and trembling. Suddenly, he pulls out an ornate knife from his waist and points it in your direction, “I cannot let you take the Stone! They will come after me! “, and he makes a move towards you. Jeff: Gee, I’m going to end this guy! My Fight is +4. GM: We do not need a Conflict, you can see that he’s weak; he’s just desperate. But let’s do a Dramatic Action. You need a Fair (+2) to defeat him. Roll your first die. Roll GM: Although he is unskilled, the attack took you by surprise, and your reaction was delayed. Roll + Jeff: I recover from the shock quickly and grab him by the wrist, twisting his arm, “Drop the knife or you’ll get hurt.” Roll + GM: The merchant lets out a muffled cry, and you see his fingers begin to lose their grip. Jeff: I twist his arm again and ask, “Who are they? Who is threatening you?” (By now, Jeff already knows he will succeed in the roll. Still, the next roll can color the scene in different ways) Roll GM: The merchant feels his arm about to be broken, but it looks like he will not give you anything else. He writhes and rests his knee on the floor, dropping the knife. Since you have Fight +4, you have succeeded in your action with two-shift, which is enough to get him out of action. He is on the floor, moaning in pain, and at the bottom of the shelf you see a slight glow of the Scarlet Stone. What do you do?

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EXPLORATION This category involves all sorts of situations where the characters are focused on finding information, details, clues, supplies, paths, or anything else that tells them what to do next. GM: Okay, you managed to get into the secret section of the library, hiding the Scarlet Stone in Ganor’s turban. And now, what are you going to do? Ganor: I need to find some connection between The Raven Order and this Stone in some of these ancient manuscripts. GM: Well, it’s a dimly lit room, smelly, tight, and with hundreds of books, scrolls and tomes stacked and uncatalogued. Also, you should only have a few minutes before the watchman notices the movement in the restricted area. Looks like an Investigate Superb (+5). Let’s do a Dramatic Action. Ganor: Wow. My Investigate is only +2. This is going to be interesting. Roll + Gain: Cool. I move the manuscripts stack that seems more time-bound, or more hidden. I’m looking for some aggressive handwriting, which relates to the crows’ personality. Roll + Ganor: Great, I think I’m getting hot. I throw away some of the less important documents and records and open the way through some volumes. I take the Stone out of my turban and compare its shape with drawings on maps and letters scattered in the back of the room. Roll + Ganor: Woo-hoo! I think I’m almost there! GM: It seems that you finally found a book written by the Order of the Raven. There is a mention of the Scarlet Stone ...

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Ganor: ... but since the roll is not over, I do not think I can figure out what it is, right? GM: Right. You still have one more die to roll. Ganor: Do I really need to roll? It’s so good the way it is now! GM: Don’t even try, smart pants. Roll it! Roll Ganor: Ooooooh, I knew it! GM: Haha. I don’t think the calligraphy of the Order of the Raven is familiar to you. You spend some time looking at the Stone and comparing it to the manuscripts, but maybe that’s not the text you’re looking for. It looks more like a fable than some actual explanation. While you are absorbed in your research, you hear footsteps in the hallway. From the silhouette of an overcoat, you realize that it is not a simple watchman. He is a member of the Order of the Raven! What do you do?

And there it is! Without the need to change any rules, just rolling one die at a time and alternating rolls with narrative, you can give an extra flavor and drama to tests that would otherwise have been solved with just one roll of the four dice. I hope this tip helps you spice up your next sessions! Tell us any other ideas you come up with to use Dramatic Actions in your adventures! +4 for everyone! +

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MICROBIAL LIFE IN SPACE THE TRUTH IS OUT THERE By Daniel “Jan” Firmino Interest in microbial life is critical to understanding the Origin of Life and the Colonization of other planets. It is understood that microorganisms possess strength and ability to survive in most harsh environments to life in general. On Earth, there are several records of diseases originating from microorganisms that share less than 5% of their genes with the rest of terrestrial life, which supports the theory of microbial life on other planets.

EXOMICROBIOLOGIST The theory of spatial microorganic life provokes interest and rises speculations regarding the interaction of humans with these unknown microorganisms—to what diseases and alterations are we susceptible? To answer this question, we have the Exomicrobiologists, that is, biologists specialized in microorganisms found in the vastness of outer space, be they from planets or celestial bodies of irregular orbits. Exomicrobiologist Characters: To choose the profession Exomicrobiologists, the player must use their High Concept to define their profession or create one that represents their skill and knowledge in the area but must not exceed the limit of the character’s initial Aspects. At the GM’s discretion, the player might need to choose a Lore specialization.

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Character Example Aspects: Everything should be analyzed in the smallest details; Sit down here, I want to examine you; Do not touch that! Skills: Lore Great (+4), Notice and Empathy Good (+3). Deceive and Investigate Fair (+2) and choose one more Skill. Choose 4 Skills with Average (+1). Stunts: Identify IPSD: Whenever the Exomicrobiologist discovers an aspect related to the IPSD of a patient being examined, they receive two free invocations for this aspect. Avoid Contamination: Once per arc, if the Exomicrobiologist is exposed to some form of contamination, they may completely ignore the contamination.

INFECTIOUS AND PARASITIC SPACE DISEASES – IPSD The Exomicrobiologists denominated IPSD all the infectious and parasitic diseases from microorganisms found in space, and Morbo is the name a sick person receives. The symptoms and signs of IPSD are fever, headache, fatigue, vertigo, drowsiness, runny nose, malaise, cough, abdominal and chest pain, watery eyes, skin, neck stiffness, convulsions, fainting, and ,coma. In Fate, the IPSD has six stages. Each stage represents a phase that the character will suffer, and a roll is required to try to minimize the effects. Each phase shown below indicates which roll is required to go through it. Some phases do not require rolls. Infection: Several IPSD present aggressive symptoms soon in

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the infection stage. This phase represents the primary damage that affects the patient’s body, causing physical stress. To avoid infection and initial damage, they’ll need to roll Physique in Fate Care or Careful in FAE against a difficulty equal to the Virulence of the IPSD. On a failure, the effects of the infection are applied. Incubation: Period between the Contagion until the moment the symptoms begin to manifest—Immediate, Hours or Days. Some IPSD may require a Physique or Will roll in Fate Core or Careful in FAE against a difficulty equal to its Virulence, to know if the disease is able to incubate in the host body. In case of failure, the effects of incubation are applied. Symptoms: The temporary aspects that the character will receive due to the actions of the IPSD, such as a rash on the skin, bleeding, fever, nausea, insanity, insomnia, and so on. To avoid the symptoms and damage, they must roll against a difficulty equal to the IPSD Virulence. In case of failure, the effects of the symptoms are applied. Some symptoms appear in the course of days. Each new day, new symptom or a new phase of evolution requires a new roll. Virulence: Represents the difficulty and complications of medical treatment. The simplest IPSD always has difficulty +2, while the more violent ones reach +6. The shifts of the roll weaken the IPSD. If all the stress (see below) of the IPSD is filled, the illness is cured and no longer evolves, unless the character fits into the situations of transmission again, as shown below. Transmission: It describes how a person can get an illness. Stress: How resistant the disease is. When treatment is initiated, or the character’s body reacts, they roll Physique or Will (depending on the circumstances) in Fate Core or Careful in FAE, against the difficulty determined by the Virulence.

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EXAMPLES OF IPSD Blood Tears We got off the ship at 10:30 am Earth time, we followed the exploration guidelines and began to recognize the area. Planetoid XOO14L, called Red Planet, has bioluminescent underbrush. During the quality and atmospheric reconnaissance tests, a huge red cloud moves in our direction, against the strong winds, and performing random movements. The tests confirm that the air is breathable, and the team engineer removes his helmet, breathing in the fresh air of the planet. In a matter of seconds, the red cloud envelops him and the skin on his face begins to show lesions of a second-degree burn. We take refuge in the ship. The doctor gives first aid and the engineer is quarantined. It was four days of frightening visions. During the quarantine, he was aggressive as the disease advanced through his body, sprouting disgusting bubbles. Blood poured from his eyes. Only on the evening of the fourth day that we had rest when the engineer died. We are now confined to the ship, while the red cloud continues nearby, watching us. Scientific Name: Sanguis Illae Lacrimae Common Name: Blood Tears. Infection: Skin burns that cause a mild physical consequence. Incubation: None. The effects are immediate and aggravated with the passing of the days, culminating with the death of the infected on the fourth day, if they don’t receive medical care.

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Symptoms: 1st Day: The contagion phase is applied; Situation aspect Aggressiveness and the character receives a Red Die* for physical actions. 2nd Day: Several pustules appear all over the body; Situation aspects Aggression, Foul skin, and Blurred vision and they receive two Red Dice* for physical actions. Day 3: They begin to bleed through the ears and mouth; They receive a moderate consequence; Situation aspects Aggression, Foul skin, and Blurred vision and they receive three Red Dice* for physical actions. Day 4: They get a severe consequence that represents multiple organ failure. Virulence: Difficulty Good +3 to understand it and create a cure or an attack in time. On a success, the character manages to heal in two days, success with style in one day and in case of success at a cost, this is negotiated between the player and the group. Stress: 3 Transmission: Air. * Red and Blue Dice, Fate System Toolkit p. 72.

The Dominant Beings I do not know what’s happening to me. Since last night, I’ve been feeling strange. The space station party was cool, I made out with that Russian guy, but in the morning my skin was tingling as if something was moving through the flesh, and I felt a strong pressure on the back of my neck. The feeling of lethargy is dwindling, giving rise to euphoria and strong sexual desire. My heart beats, it seems like it’s going to explode. I hear voices every day. At first, I could not understand them, but now they make sense: they are stories of past ages, of ancient planets and civilizations, an immeasurable

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knowledge that consumes my mind ... I surrender completely, plunging into this vastness, becoming one with this ancestral being. Scientific Name: Ordo Oculus. Common Name: The Third Eye. Infection: A parasite that is transmitted through body fluids, it causes only a nuisance (no harm). Incubation: On the third day after the infection, the parasite has already moved to the base of the host’s brain, assuming physical and mental control of them. They get the aspect Uncontrollable impulses. Symptoms: Day 1: The host shows fever and drowsiness; aspect Lethargy. Day 2: The host becomes a proactive and cheerful person. They also begin to hear voices, strange and incomprehensible whispers; situation aspect Euphoric and paranoid. Day 3: Tentacular Eye: Tentacles arise from the mouth or from wounds through the body and from its pinnale, an eye gushes out. Virulence: Difficulty Great +4 to understand it and create a cure or an attack in time (in case of success, the character manages to heal in two days, one day in success with style, and in case of success at a cost, this is negotiated between the player and the group). If the parasite is not removed until the seventh day, there is no longer any possibility of a cure, the parasite and the host have become a single being. Stress: 4 Transmission: Body fluids.

Stars Dust We were on a patrol near the lunar colony, when the beautiful spectacle of a meteor shower began. The celestial

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bodies fell in the quadrant adjacent to the colony, forming a dust cloud that covered the solar star. We were enveloped in a stellar dust storm. We returned to the base and went through the decompression and cleaning of our exploration suits. But despite the care we took, the soot went in and spread in the rooms through the ventilation ducts. The nightmare began: everyone began to itch intensely, tearing their skin and stammering “Scratch, scratch and scratch!”. When I felt the irritation run through my arm, I did not think about it and immediately cut it off. But such an attitude was in vain: the urge to scratch continued. Scientific Name: Insanire Scabere. Common Name: Itchiness of Madness. Infection: Skin irritation that causes two shifts of physical stress. Incubation: None. The effects are immediate. The microorganisms cause irritation on the skin and the target begins to feel an unbearable itch. Symptoms: An uncontrollable itching invades the character’s mind, causing two mental stress some time after the infection. Some may even tear the skin off with their own nails and cut off parts of they won body to quell the intense urge to scratch; situation aspect Insanity. Virulence: Difficulty Superb +5 to understand it and create a cure or an attack in time (in case of success, the character can heal in three days, two days if successful with style, success at a cost is negotiated between the player and the group). If the disease is not stopped, it causes a mild consequence each day. Stress: 3 Transmission: Physical Contact.

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USING IPSD IN YOUR ADVENTURES IPSD provides excellent conflicts, either as motivational elements, in which the GM develops the whole adventure centered on the consequences of contamination and the search for a cure or as implications that provide a dramatic burden to the events of an ongoing campaign. Avoid using too much IPSD in your adventures. Remember that microbial life should be an element that causes strangeness. Describe the illnesses, but do not define them; instigate the PCs to explore and try to understand what is happening. The scene and scenario aspects are essential to keep the mood of mystery and the feeling of doubt. Some examples that can convey this sensation: Contaminated laboratory; Ghost spaceship; Strange SOS Call; Bloody bodies; Disgusting odor and presence. Remember to create the adventure in order to present the IPSD as a direct consequence of the PCs actions.

ADVENTURE SEEDS Slaves of the invaders; Controlled thoughts A virus can be used by an alien race to enslave inferior beings. Are we the chosen ones?; The only way to salvation A religious sect believes that only the chosen can keep parasites in their bodies. Hidden in deep and dark space; Who can be contaminated? Ruins of an unknown planet hide parasitic beings in hibernation waiting for a host.

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Dangerous and essential exploration; The danger is subtle The insides of a cave are filled with crystallized viruses. An invisible killer; A space cemetery on expansion Bodies floating through space and no one knows where they are from. Can we breathe freely?; An unknown species The planet’s atmosphere is filled with mold spores. Diseases are evolving; Is someone behind this? Explorers, afflicted by terrestrial diseases, have their symptoms aggravated by radiation from cosmic rays and traditional medical cares have no effect. A curse of the gods?; We need to stop the infection! A metal sphere, coming from space, falling on the planet releases microorganisms, altering the native life nearby. Uncontrolled leaking; Who is attacking us? Fungi begin to infest the colony’s ventilation ducts and the released spores cause nausea and insomnia. We must control the ravages!; We do not know the effects of these microorganisms! An explosion in the laboratory spreads microorganisms in the ship’s sheds.

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What were these people exposed to?; There is something obscure happening here! The commander of a prison spaceship calls a team of exomicrobiologists to synthesize a cure, as all detainees are afflicted by an unknown disease. +

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