You will be part of a merchant vessel that is named the Raven. Your goal is to stay alive, avoid pirates and try not get eaten by the number of things that exist out in the world.

The game will feature more "roleplaying" and less rolling. Some rolling will happen throughout the course of the game and combat will happen through the course of the game but it will not be the main focus on the game.

The focus will likely be keeping your ship intact and upgrading it. The game will feature exploration of the other islands that exist in the "Yonder" and also navigating social situations.
This message was last updated by the GM at 17:50, Fri 08 Mar.

Game Engine: FATE Condensed

Refresh: 2

Rules knowledgee: No-knowledge required

Skill ladder:
+4 - 1
+3 - 2
+2 - 3
+1 - 4

Skills list
Academics
Athletics
Burglary
Contacts
Crafts
Deceive
Ride
Empathy
Fight
Investigate
Lore
Notice
Physique
Provoke
Rapport
Resources
Shoot
Stealth
Will
Survival

Academics: Mundane, everyday human knowledge and education, including history, sciences, and medicine. Academics stunts often refer to specialized areas of knowledge and medical skills.

Athletics: A measurement of physical potential. Athletics stunts focus on movement—running, jumping, parkour—and dodging attacks.

Burglary: Knowledge of and ability to bypass security systems, pick pockets, and generally commit crimes. Burglary stunts give bonuses to the various stages of committing a crime, from the planning to the execution and escape.

Contacts: Knowledge of the right people and connections that can help you. Contacts stunts give you ready allies and an information network wherever you go in the world.

Crafts: Ability to make or break machinery, build contraptions, and pull off MacGyver-esque feats of ingenuity. Crafts stunts let you have the gizmo on hand, give bonuses to building and breaking things, and provide justification for using Crafts in place of skills like Burglary or Academics under certain circumstances.

Deceive: Ability to lie and cheat convincingly and with aplomb. Deceive stunts might improve your ability to tell a particular breed of lie or help invent false identities.

Ride: Controlling vehicles under the most grueling circumstances, pulling wicked maneuvers, and simply getting the most out of your ride. Ride stunts can be signature maneuvers, a special vehicle of your own, or the ability to use Drive in place of a skill like Burglary or Academics under certain circumstances.

Empathy: Ability to accurately judge someone’s mood and intentions. Empathy stunts can be about judging a crowd, picking up on lies, or helping others recover from mental consequences.

Fight: Ability to excel at hand-to-hand combat, whether with weapons or fists. Fight stunts include signature weapons and special techniques.

Investigate: Deliberate, careful study and puzzling out mysteries. Use this to piece together clues or reconstruct a crime scene. Investigate stunts help you form brilliant deductions or piece together information more quickly.

Lore: Specialized, arcane knowledge that falls outside of the scope of Academics, including supernatural topics of one sort or another. This is where the weird stuff happens. Lore stunts often support practical applications of your arcane knowledge, such as casting spells. Some settings may remove Lore, replace it with a different skill, or combine it with Academics.

Notice: Ability to pick up details in the moment, spot trouble before it happens, and generally be perceptive. It contrasts Investigate, which is for slow, deliberate observation. Notice stunts sharpen your senses, improve your reaction time, or make you harder to sneak up on.

Physique: Raw power and durability. Physique stunts let you perform superhuman feats of strength, throw your weight around while wrestling, and shrug off physical consequences. In addition, a high Physique rating gives you more physical stress or consequence slots.

Provoke: Ability to push people to act the way you want them to. It’s coarse and manipulative, not a positive interaction. Provoke stunts let you push opponents into foolhardy action, draw aggression toward you, or scare enemies (assuming they can feel fear).

Rapport: Building connections with others and working together. Where Provoke is manipulation, Rapport is sincerity, trust, and goodwill. Rapport stunts let you sway the crowd, improve relationships, or build contacts.

Resources: Access to material things, not just money or direct ownership. It might reflect your ability to borrow from friends or dip into an organization’s armory. Resources stunts let you use Resources in place of Rapport or Contacts or give you extra free invokes when you pay for the best.

Shoot: All forms of ranged combat, whether guns, throwing knives, or bow and arrow. Shoot stunts let you make called shots, quick-draw, or always have a gun handy.

Stealth: Staying unseen or unheard and escaping when you need to hide. Stealth stunts let you vanish in plain sight, blend into crowds, or advance through shadows unseen.

Will: Mental fortitude, the ability to overcome temptation and to withstand trauma. Will stunts let you ignore mental consequences, withstand the mental agony of strange powers, and hold steady against enemies who provoke you. In addition, a high Will rating gives you more mental stress or consequence slots.

Survival: Your ability to survive in harsh circumstances. This includes your ability to hunt game and identify creatures and plants in the wild.
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:38, Fri 08 Mar.

Races:

Six primary races exist in Aether.

Humans: Your typical fantasy races that has all sorts of backgrounds, heritages and abilities.
Heritage bonus:
Adaptable: Humans start with +1 to their refresh.

FaeBound: Once called Elves these beings changed and twisted into something else when the lands broke apart. Now they are guided by the Fae energies which repel the void energies of the other island nations. Faebound are often very reserved from the political dealings of other societies and prefer to stay to themselves.
Heritage Bonus: FaeBound start with one of the following stunts:
1.They're In the Trees. Basic wilderness survival includes a great deal of stealth. You may use Lore in place of Stealth as long as you are outdoors.
2.Arcane Expert. Gain a +2 bonus to create an advantage using Lore, whenever the situation has specifically to do with the supernatural or occult.
3.Mind of Steel. Magical mental influence is useless against your fortress-like mind! +2 to Will when using it to defend against supernatural mental attacks.

BeastBound: When the world split Dwarves, gnomes and halflings left a hole for civilized societies which has reverted to manly human but then half-human creatures started popping up. These hybrid creatures with both the features of man and beast eventually became common place among the other races. BeastBound gain advantages of their bestial heritage which come from five categories: Birds, Lizards and cats.
Heritage Bonus:
Gain one stunt based upon the category you picked for the animal you are. Ask the GM for advise.

VoidCallers: When the world split apart the lowest region would subcome to the void sickness and eventually their bodies would fade away into the Yonder. Some of these spirits managed to either take control of long lost golem like creatures or create their own armor that houses their spirit and gives them form.
Heritage Bonus: Pick one Stunt.
1.Determinate. Your astonishing determination allows you to push yourself beyond your physical limits. Use Will instead of Physique on any overcome rolls representing feats of endurance.
2.Armor of Fear. You can use Provoke to defend against Fight attacks, but only until the first time you’re dealt stress in a conflict. You can make your opponents hesitate to attack, but when someone shows them that you’re only human your advantage disappears.
3.Tough as Nails. Once per session, at the cost of a fate point, you can reduce the severity of a moderate consequence that’s physical in nature to a mild consequence (if your mild consequence slot is free), or erase a mild consequence altogether.

Goblins: Are your typical race of small green creatures. During the event goblins where one of the few bestial races to survival the great split. Orcs, Kobolds and Trolls all suffered the same fate as the more civilized races. Since then goblin society has evolved into less killing and more tinkering. Goblins tend to still have characteristics that are similar to tradition but are more widely accepted as one of the more civilized races.
Heritage Bonus: Pick one.
1. A Friend in Every Port. Whenever you enter a settlement, you may declare you’ve visited it before and roll Contacts against Fair (+2) opposition. If you succeed, you have a friend there who owes you one favor—nothing costly or life threatening. If you succeed with style, your friend will do any one thing for you that is within his power.
2. Better than New! Whenever you succeed with style on an overcome action to repair a piece of machinery, you can immediately give it a new situation aspect (with a free invoke) reflecting the improvements you’ve made, instead of just a boost.
3. Personalized Weaponry Engineering. Clever engineering can compensate for a lack of combat skill. Pick a broad category of weapon (e.g. swords, polearms, crossbows). When you wield a weapon of this sort that you have created yourself, you may attack with Crafts instead of Fight (for melee weapons) or Shoot (for ranged weapons). Such weapons will often include odd devices and unusual features that make their use very different from that of a normal weapon.

Earthshakers: Once giants in nature Earthshakers have come down in size standing much taller and heavier than common humans. These large creatures command a presence when they walk into a room. Earthshakers are tribal by nature often living outside of the remaining cities but some do prefer city life.
Heritage Bonus: Pick one.
1.Feel the Burn. You can push through incredible pain in order to reach your goal. You gain an additional mild consequence slot. This slot can only be used for physical harm.
2.Herculean Strength. +2 to overcome or create advantage rolls with Physique that involve lifting great weights.
3.Daunting Presence. +2 to create advantages similar to Daunted with Provoke
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:22, Fri 08 Mar.

Backgrounds (Pick one for starting skills, then 5 extra skills, each background also comes with a trouble and stunt that must be taken):

ARCHAEOLOGIST
Trouble: I must save relics by all cost
Stunt: Relic Hunter. +2 to Investigate when you seek artifacts from ancient civilizations.
Athletics
Rapport
Investigate
Academics: Scholar
Investigate

ARISTOCRAT
Trouble: A fool and his money are soon parted
Stunt: Grease the Wheels. You can use Resources instead of Rapport in any situation where bribes will be accepted.
Resources
Rapport
Empathy
Ride
Academics: Scholar

ENCLAVE OFFICER
Trouble: In service of the Enclave
Stunt: Subtle Menace. You exude menace far in excess of your capability to act. Even bound and behind prison bars, you are so ripe with the promise of the awful things you could do that you're still scary. +2 to Provoke rolls when opposed by someone in a clearly superior position of power.
Shooting
Athletics
Provoke
Ride
Academics: Warfare

ASSASSIN
Trouble: I am constantly hunted for my line of work
Stunt: Quick Exit. A momentary distraction is all you need to vanish from the scene. Provided you are not in the midst of a conflict, you may roll a quick contest between your Stealth and the highest Notice in the room. If you succeed, the next time someone turns to look at or talk to you, you’re not there.
Athletics
Empathy
Stealth
Deceive
Shoot

COURTIER
Trouble: My mouth sometimes gets me into trouble
Stunt: Child of the Court. Gain a +2 bonus to any attempt to overcome obstacles with Rapport when you’re at an aristocratic function, such as a royal ball.
Empathy
Contacts
Ride
Provoke
Rapport

CRAFTER
Trouble:  One too many things in my pockets
Stunt: Mister Fix-It. You are talented at getting things repaired under time-critical circumstances. The time it takes for you to get something fixed is reduced by two shifts.
Athletics
Rapport
Notice
Crafts
Academics:Scholar

CRIMINAL
Trouble: I am my own worst enemy
Stunt: Bump and Grab. Your character is exceptionally skilled at taking advantage of distractions in order to make a quick grab. You may spend a fate point to attempt a simple Burglary action – such as picking a pocket, or palming an object – as a free action.
Athletics
Empathy
Stealth
Deceive
Burglary

DOCTOR
Trouble: I am bound by doctors Oath to help people
Stunt: Scholar, Healer. Can make physical recovery attempts with Academics: Medicine
Rapport
Empathy
Notice
Ride
Academics: Medicine

DUELIST
Trouble: I will defend a noble with my blade
Stunt: Parry Everything. Your hand-eye coordination is superb, and perhaps you could even deflect a bullet with your weapon. You may use Fight to defend against Shoot attacks. (The GM may limit this stunt by having it only apply to slower projectiles or those fired from another zone.)
Athletics
Empathy
Deceive
Ride
Fight

EXPLORER
Trouble: Curious to a fault
Stunt: The Power of Deduction. Once per scene, you can spend a fate point (and a few minutes of observation) to make a special Investigate roll representing your potent deductive faculties. For each shift you make on this roll you discover or create an aspect, on either the scene or the target of your observations, though you may only invoke one of them for free.
Athletics
Rapport
Investigation
Ride
Navigation

FARMKID
Trouble: A child of the open sky and not the cities
Stunt: Always Healthy/Strong Immune System. +2 to overcome rolls with Physique to resist disease.
Athletics
Rapport
Notice
Brawl
Ride

HUNTER\HUNTRESS
Trouble: Tunnel vision when in the hunt
Stunt: Called Shot. During a Shoot attack, spend a fate point and declare a specific condition you want to inflict on a target, like Shot in the Hand. If you succeed, you place that as a situation aspect on them in addition to hitting them for stress.
Shooting
Stealth
Survival
Notice
Ride

MERCENARY
Trouble: I always work for the highest bidder
Stunt: Anything Goes. Virtually anything can be a lethal weapon in your hands, as long as you can comfortably and casually lift it. You never need to spend a fate point in order to declare that an improvised weapon is close at hand, unless your surroundings have been deliberately prepared against this (such as a prison cell)
Athletics
Contacts
Provoke
Notice
Fight

MERCHANT
Trouble: The love of money is the root of all evil
Stunt: Money Talks. You can use Resources instead of Rapport in any situation where ostentatious displays of material wealth might aid your cause.
Rapport
Empathy
Deceive
Resources
Provoke

ORPHAN
Trouble: I’ve got no roots
Stunt: Lie Whisperer. +2 to all Empathy rolls made to discern or discover lies, whether they’re directed at you or someone else.
Athletics
Brawl
Empathy
Stealth
Deceive

PERFORMER
Trouble: Personality that’s bigger than life itself
Stunt: Virtuoso/Artist. Choose a field of art, such as painting, composition, or singing. You get a +2 to all Rapport rolls relating to that art.
Athletics
Empathy
Rapport
Deceive
Notice

SKY PIRATE
Trouble: The open sky is the only place I am free
Stunt: Sky Legs. Your Athletics skill works unimpeded by conditions like storms, sky, or high wind while on board a ship.
Shooting
Deceive
Notice
Navigation
Burglary

PUGILIST
Trouble: Actions speak louder than words
Stunt: Brawler. You’re at home in any big old burly brawl, with multiple opponents and ideally some beer in you. When fighting a mob of nameless NPCs, you deal one additional stress on a successful physical hit.
Athletics
Brawl
Notice
Provoke
Fight

QUARTERMASTER
Trouble: My crew is my responsibility
Stunt: Captain’s Word. Once per scene, you may roll Rapport to command your crew as a free action.
Shooting
Rapport
Resources
Navigation
Academics: Warfare

SKY SAILOR
Trouble: Just following orders
Stunt: Rigging Rat. +2 to overcome with Athletics when climbing on board a ship.
Brawl
Notice
Navigation
Deceive
Fight

OUTCAST
Trouble: I’ve been kicked out of places
Stunt: One Person, Many Faces. Whenever you meet someone new, you can spend a fate point to declare that you’ve met that person before, but under a different name and identity. Create a situation aspect to represent your cover story, and you can use Deceive in place of Rapport whenever interacting with that person.
Fight
Deceive
Notice
Stealth
Survival

SERVANT
Trouble: You are bound to a person
Stunt: Not a Threat. Choose Deceive or Stealth when you take this stunt. When you create an advantage with that skill to make yourself as non-threatening or unobtrusive as possible, enemies will find other targets for as long as that aspect exists. As soon as you successfully attack someone, the aspect goes away.
Stealth
Notice
Ride
Deceive
Burglary

HERBALIST
Trouble: I like plants more than people
Stunt: Herbal Remedies. +2 to Lore rolls related to gathering plants suitable for treating the sick or injured
Notice
Investigate
Survival
Academics: Medicine
Rapport

SCAVENGER
Trouble: don’t mind if a do
Stunt: Five-Fingered Discount. Why buy what you can steal? You may use your Burglary skill instead of your Resources skill to “buy” things. Everything obtained this way has the aspect Stolen Property with one free invocation against you. The difficulty of an attempt to obtain something with Burglary may or may not be the same as the difficulty of an attempt to buy that same thing with Resources, at the GM's discretion. The time required may also vary.
Burglary
Brawl
Notice
Survival
Athletics

INQUISITOR
Trouble: People always lie
Stunt: The Power of Deduction. Once per scene you can spend a fate point (and a few minutes of observation) to make a special Investigate roll representing your potent deductive faculties. For each shift you make on this roll you discover or create an aspect, on either the scene or the target of your observations, though you may only invoke one of them for free.
Provoke
Fight
Investigate
Ride
Stealth

TEMPLAR
Trouble: I can justify anything for my religion
Stunt: Blessing. You gain access to blessing magic which is cast using empathy. Templars pray to their gods for blessings to bestow upon them, which requires approval from their god for their actions.
Empathy
Fight
Ride
Will
Athletics

ELEMENTALIST
Trouble: Every element has a weakness
Stunt: Elementalist. You gain access to the elementalist magic skill which is cast using Lore skill. Elemental magic requires the presence of the element to cast the magic and time.
Lore: Elementalism
Will
Notice
Athletics
Survival

ORACLE
Trouble: You know too much
Stunt: Seer. You gain access to Fate magic which is cast using Will skill. Oracles have limited control over their abilities and normally require a Fate point to be spent to use them.
Will
Rapport
Ride
Academics: Scholar
Empathy

WARLOCK\WITCH
Trouble: Made a deal with the devil
Stunt: Ritualist. You gain access to Ritual magic which is done through Lore skill. Ritual magic requires a deal with a devil and time to cast spells.
Lore: Rituals
Will
Academics: Pick one
Fight
Provoke

SHAPESHIFTER
Trouble: Sometimes I lose control
Stunt: Shapeshifting. You gain access to Shapeshifting magic which is done through Will skill. Shapeshifting requires time to change shapes.
Will
Athletics
Survival
Brawl
Empathy

Wlydling
Trouble: Dangerous energy flows through me
Stunt: Wyld Magic. You gain access to Wyld magic which is done through Lore skill. Wyld magic will have random effects applied to the casting which can benefit or hurt the caster, wylding magic also requires spoken words to cast.
Lore: Wyld
Academics: pick one
Will
Brawl
Rapport


---

work in progress backgrounds

AIRSHIP CAPTAIN
Shooting
Rapport
Notice
Navigation
Academics: Warfare

AIRSHIP OFFICER
Deceive
Notice
Navigation
Academics: Warfare
Shoot

SOLDIER
Shooting
Provoke
Notice
Academics: Warfare
Fight

SPYMASTER
Contacts
Stealth
Notice
Deceive
Burglary

BARD
Shooting
Rapport
Empathy
Contacts
Ride

KNIGHT ERRANT
Brawl
Provoke
Ride
Academics: Warfare
Fight

PRIEST
Trouble:
Stunt:
Empathy
Contacts
Ride
Academics
Deceive
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:47, Tue 12 Mar.

Magic:

A quick word about magic in this game. Fate is not kind to magic. There are many solutions but at the end of the day it ends up being more or less decided by the player. Magic by default will be decided by deciding the flavor of magic you want. There are five realms, there is one more realm that is not shown on here but it will be talked about in play called void.

Elementalist
Blessing
Fate
Rituals
Shapeshift

None of these are traditional magic sets with the exception of Elementalist. Throwing fireballs and casting magic missile are possible but not something that commonly happens. Instead magic is more or less reserved for great spells of magic or cantrips.

Cantrips are minor spells which fall into two categories minor effects or bonuses or minor damage 1-2.
Arcane spells are spells which moderate effects or bonuses or moderate damage 3-5.
Legandary spells are spells which have legendary effects or bonuses or damage 6-8.

Each realm comes with limitations to the spells.

Elementalist must have the elements by them or with them and time to cast the spells. The bigger the spells the longer the spell takes.

Blessing requires praying to a god or religion to gain favor typically in the form of bonuses.

Fate requires Fate points to be spent to alter Fate itself which can both change the game and tell the player facts.

Rituals require time and negotiation with void spirits to curse or bless people. The spirits can often trick the ritualist and require things of them.

Shapeshifters also require time depending on what they are changing into they are often limited to the creature or person they are turning into. This can be done faster but generally won't copy all the features of the person or creature.

Void not mentioned takes parts of the persons humanity. VoidCallers on the old hand still retain their humanity even after being consumed by the void sickness.

As you can see each of these give you and idea of how that magic works. There are no hard and fast rules when it comes to magic but if you expect this game to run like D&D, you will be sorely mistaken. While magic is not something that can be very powerful, it is rarely used in the open. Much less to do mundane acts similar to thinks like open lock, teleporting or even conquering food.
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:06, Fri 08 Mar.

FAQ:

Why did you pick the system as FATE?
A lot of people do not like the system of Fate but to be honest this game is most going to be roleplaying freeform with a mix of Fate thrown in. Fate is the easiest game to just use for roleplaying rather than a combat simulator.

What is the vibe of the world?
Organized chaos. Things are not your common fantasy settings. Yes, it has airships. Yes, it has magic. It has guns, swords and everything in-between but it's a battered world that is sitting on the edge of the blade because of the void and the great event. I like to think of this world as a cross between common fantasy and 7th Sea.

What if I don't know the rules of FATE?
That's alright. I can help you with learning them. I am also including a variety of sources that can help you get started. You really don't even need to own the books. Remember it's mostly role playing and not roll-playing.

Player resources:

https://fate-srd.com/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70njl8wahRA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=547Kcz9F5Gg