Vat:Info

Schedule

Currently set for Tuesdays 6PM.

• August 7, (OFF 14)
• Beyond this will be determined according to semesterly schedule changes come August.

Players

• Daryl — 🎲 DM
• Randy — Joseph (remotely)
• Frank — Joe
• Remy — Pauline
• Mike — Koz
• Eric — Amiri
• Lindsay — Sophia
• JR — Steve

Character Generation

Character generation, aspect selection and general rules overview.

Campaign Themes

Theme: Tipping Point
Theme: Undiscovered Country
Threat: Armies of the Unknown

(Also suggested: Lingering Power, Powerful Folklore, Corruption, Mysteries of Technology)

Areas

Listed in descending number of votes: Pittsburgh, Southern California/LA, Eastern Europe/Moscow, NYC.

(Also mentioned: Detroit, Seattle, Space)

About VAT

The VAT (Vulnerability Analysis Team) is a non-governmental, private, for-profit organization that is independently subcontracted to solve "issues" or tackle projects, usually requiring specialties not possessed by the hiring agent, at a competitive rate. While it itself is relatively small and often agile, it generally has to work at the bureaucratic pace of its partners and suppliers.

Rules

Clarifications

Compelling a foe Example

Sophia just learned that a terrorist-sniper has the All about the money aspect and asks, "How much for you NOT to kill us?" Joe spends a fate point to compel it to restrict his defensive options, stating "The sniper's too busy coming considering the option seriously to dodge." This makes the sniper's dodge task merely a difficult dodge task (just dodge, no skill, and not doubled) because of his internal distraction.

Rolling up/down (Rule of 10/Rule of 1)

If you roll a 10, roll again and subtract a 5. If the result is greater than 0, add it to 10 and that's your result. (Set result up by multiples of 5 and repeat on another 10.) 10 [10], 10 [15], 10 [20], 7 [2] = 22. 10, 3 = 10.

If you roll a 1, roll again and subtract 5. If the result is less than 1, that's your result. (Set result down by multiples of 5 and repeat on another 1.) [This varies slightly from RAW -- but only in execution algorithm, not in spirit. I do this to make the roll up/down methods match.] 1 [1], 1 [-5], 1 [-10], 2 [-3] = -13. 1, 8 = 1. When the final result is 1 or less, the outcome could be catastrophic.

Jumping

A character may high jump (Strength x 10) inches and broad jump (Strength) yards. Double these numbers with a good running start.

Strength 5 jumps 15 feet long and 50 inches (4 feet) high. Again, this is a guideline/suggested limit -- not a hard rule.

Alterations

The following are alterations from Unisystem RAW (in addition to Aspects):

• Initiative will be D&D3 style -- rather than "declare, roll, then narrate" as written. (Subject to revisiting later.)
• There will be no called shots.
• Bullet types (armor piercing, etc) will not be used -- just normal ammunition. In fact (per suggestions in many books), bullet damage that exceeds armor will NOT deal extra-double damage. Shotguns are slugs only. This preserves many dramatic moments. Heroes take 4 shots instead of 1-2.
• Various extra combat actions are not open for use: stances, various automatic fire modes, in-depth martial arts and so on. These may be added back in later once the system is more familiar.
• "Drama points" will not be used. We will use Fate Points to fuel aspects, but they will be used ONLY to compel and invoke aspects.
• Multiple actions -- you'll get one free normal and defensive action per turn. If you take more than one of either, cumulative penalties apply until your next turn. The cumulative penalties will reduce at the rate of 2 per turn, not all at once. Additional actions will also consume additional endurance. Additional actions happen later in the turn.
  • Penalties may be reset to 0 by spending a turn doing essentially nothing. (Tentatively approved by Daryl.)
• You'll get one action and one defense every round no matter what you're doing. RAW only gives you this in melee. (If reverting initiative, this may disappear.)
• The Gift does not automatically allow seeing of magic/essence, nor does lack of The Gift prevent it. It helps, but it's not binary.
• Income dollar values (for Resources) are 60% of ConX given ones.

Advancement

At least initially, XP will be awarded as follows:

• 1 XP per case for attendance
• 1 XP per case recapped on the wiki -- spendable on (normal) skills improvements only
• 1 Fate point given to a communal pool per relevant location or face filled out on the wiki

Desire to acquire new qualities or to pay off drawbacks must be discussed with the GM first. Qualities, if acquirable, can only be taken at training intervals. Attributes also may only be raised at specific times in-game. Skills and powers can be trained normally up to 4 without discussion; beyond that may require training arrangements. [This paragraph needs serious rephrasing to get the tone and meaning correct.]

Please keep an "XP spent" log either in a comment on your character page or on your character's talk page. Again, attendance XP can be spent on anything; wiki XP only for on skills. (Skills being only normal skills. Supernatural skills such as Anguish, etc, require normal XP.)

Changing Aspects

You can freely adjust your aspects until (before) Case #4. After that, adjusting aspects will require a plot device. If you initiate the aspect change (ie, GM does not), it may empty or reduce your Fate point pool.

Aspects

Here. Full details on character generation page.

Concessions

Here. Why fight to the death? Concessions offer a take on surrendering or otherwise ending conflict without death. Keep this in mind during play.