Constellations

[Patchy]

Dear Sir or Madam,

It is the greatest honor for any parent to have their child be given the opportunity to protect the Federation. We are pleased to inform you that your child has been accepted at Heinlein Station's School of Stellar Warfare. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary steps to secure your space in the school.

Term begins on 1 September. We await your response no later than 25 July.

Yours sincerely,

Rear Admiral Chance Hudson
Chancellor of Heinlein Station

It has been 15 years since the end of the Cyber Uprising, an attempt by cybernetic supremacists to overthrow the democratic Federation lead by the first cyborg ADAM. Killing or converting the other cyborgs, the Cyber Uprising brought the Federation to its knees as humanity struggled against the augmented foe. Finally defeated in the Battle of the New ISS, ADAM was forced to flee the solar system into dark space.

Fearful of his eventual return, the School of Stellar Warfare at Heinlein Station was set up taking in students from every corner of the world to train into elite soldiers. But with so many years having past since the war people have begun to relax and turn soft. Completely unaware of the threat that looms from beyond our sun.

----

Well it took four months but I have finally gained a new idea to try out. Welcome to Constellations an AC taking heavy inspiration from Ender's Game and Harry Potter. We will be running with FATE rules as per the usual. By this point I assume you all know enough about it, but if you need assistance find me on AChat. There is no magic in the game, +4 ladder is being used along with 3 stunts (unless you wish to sacrifice refresh for more).

Character Sheet:

Spoiler :

[b]Name:
Gender:
Age:[/b] (13-16) depending on if you skipped grades or started education a bit late

[b]Description / Appearance:[/b]

[b]Personality & History:[/b]

[b]Refresh:[/b] 3
[b]Fate Points:[/b] 3
[b]Physical:[/b] 1[] 2[]
[b]Morale:[/b] 1[] 2[]
[b]Consequences:[/b]
Mild (2):
Moderate (4):
Severe (6):

[b]Aspects:[/b]
High Concept:
Trouble:
Aspect:
Aspect:
Aspect:

[b]Skills:[/b]
Great (+4):
Good (+3):
Fair (+2):
Average (+1):

[b]Stunts:[/b]

Skill List

Spoiler :

Athletics - The Athletics skill represents your character's general level of physical fitness and nimbleness.
Contacts - Contacts is the skill of knowing and making connections with people. Networking.
Crafts - Crafts is the skill of working with machinery, or in this game: making things in general.
Deceive - Deceive is the skill about lying to and misdirecting people.
Empathy - Empathy involves knowing and being able to spot changes in a person's mood or bearing. It's basically the emotional Notice skill.
Fight - The Fight skill covers all forms of close quarters combat. For its ranged counterpart, see Shoot.
Investigate - Investigate is the skill you use to find things out, it revolves around concentrated effort and in-depth scrutiny.
Lore - Knowledge is the skill of education and intelligence, a very flexible skill.
Notice - The Notice skill is a counterpart to Investigate, representing a character's overall perception, ability to pick out details at a glance, and other powers of observation. It also effects your turn order like initiative.
Physique - The Physique skill is the counterpart to the Athletics skill in that it represents pure brute strength. Fair gives an extra physical slot and Great gives another one.
Provoke - Provoke is the skill about being a jackass at someone and eliciting negative emotional response from them
Rapport - The Rapport skill is all about making positive connections to people and eliciting positive emotion. It's the diplomacy skill.
Drive - The Drive skill will mostly effect your skill with a jetpack, covering more complex maneuvers in 0G.
Shoot - The counterpart to Fight, Shoot is the skill of using ranged weaponry, either in a conflict or on targets that don't actively resist your attempts to shoot them (like a bull's-eye or the broad side of a barn).
Stealth - The Stealth skill allows you to avoid detection, both when hiding in place and trying to move about unseen.
Will - The Will skill represents your character's general level of mental fortitude. Fair gives an extra moral slot, and Great gives another one.

AC will be hosted here. We run on Tuesdays since Scars is now dead.

 

[Patchy]

Reserved, feel free to post.

 

[Dem Taqat]

Name: Maxim Morein
Gender: Male
Age: 15
Description: A pale, dark haired young man, Maxim has a lanky frame on which his Heinlein uniform never seems to quite be properly displayed. His cold blue eyes and sharply defined features seem austere, and are improved little more by his smiles than by his scowls.
Bio: Maxim was born in Moscow in the closing days of the Cyber Uprising. With his mother having to spend long hours working, Maxim spent most of his early years in the company of Andrei, a brother one year older than him. However, as the two aged this relationship became increasingly dysfunctional, with Andrei taking advantage of the numerous opportunities available to taunt and belittle the younger Maxim. Maxim watched with envy as his brother seemed to achieve every success; not just in school, but also his sporting and social life, and with each new height reached Andrei never missed an opportunity to remind Maxim of their relative accomplishments.

So Maxim worked, pushing himself to try and reach Andrei's heights and consistently falling short. When Andrei was accepted into Heinlein station, Maxim was met with a brief moment of despair; of fear that Andrei had finally done something he would not be able to match. When the testing came for his entry, he knew that it was now or never, and in the end it was an achievement based on the single area on which he and his brother had never had a chance to compete. Although the rest of his results were mostly borderline, Maxim displayed an instinct for maneuvering in zero-gravity that his assessors knew was exactly what Heinlein Station was looking for. And although Maxim did not know it, it was the first time he had ever scored higher than his brother.

Refresh: 3
FATE: 6

High Concept: Audacious Scrapper
Trouble: Not A Diplomatic Bone
Aspect: Skill, not Strength
Aspect: I Will Surpass Andrei
Aspect: Fortuna's Fickle Favour

Skills:
Great: Drive
Good: Crafts, Provoke
Fair: Athletics, Fight, Lore, Stealth
Average: Investigate, Notice, Physique, Will

Stunts:
Never Where They Expect: Maxim gains a +2 bonus to Fight rolls, so long as he has access to a relevant unused Drive advantage
Constructor Chaos: When creating an environmental situation aspect, Maxim gains a free invocation of the created aspect
Sarcastic Riposte: Maxim may use Provoke in place of Will to defend against verbal attacks, so long as he can come up with a response


DT

 

[Celticfury]

Name: Cassandra Carmichael
Gender: Female
Age: 15

Description / Appearance: Cass is a tall girl with an lean, muscular build. Her short cut, blonde hair frames a near ever present cheerful face, with sky blue eyes and a small scar on her right cheek.

Personality & History: Since she was able to walk, Cassandra's life was centered around the military. Her father was one in a long line of military personnel who had served the Federation since its inception, and he himself had served faithfully during the Uprising, and well after it had ended. Immersed in the military lifestyle, she spent her time in the gym and shooting range, more so than the playground, honing her body and her skills with the hope of one day joining the ranks herself.

Though even as her, her social life suffered greatly. As a member of the Federation's military, her father was often being redeployed to new areas, with Cassandra finding herself uprooted and replanted frequently. As a result, she developed a rather carefree attitude, taking what life threw her way in stride. Why worry about making friends or when you wouldn't see them in several months anyhow?

So when Cassandra heard she had been accepted into the School of Stellar Warfare, she jumped at the opportunity. The chance to finally prove herself had finally arrived, and with few ties among her peers, there was little reason to hesitate.

Refresh: 3
Fate Points: 3
Physical: 1[] 2[] 3[]
Morale: 1[] 2[] 3[]
Consequences:
Mild (2):
Moderate (4):
Severe (6):

Aspects:
High Concept: Tumultuous Tomboy
Trouble: Mischief Maker
Aspect: A Military Brat in Search of Home
Aspect: Nothing Fazes Me!
Aspect: I Can Handle the Heavy Lifting

Skills:
Great (+4): Shoot
Good (+3): Physique, Deceive
Fair (+2): Notice, Will, Fight, Athletics
Average (+1): Rapport, Lore, Contacts, Drive

Stunts:
-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.
-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.
-Rain of Lead: +2 to create advantage rolls with Shoot when you create an aspect relating to suppressive fire.

 

[Red_Spy]

Name: Pham Van Tuan
Gender: Male
Age: 14

Description / Appearance: Black buzz cut hair and brown eyes. Fairly tall and slender. Usually sports a friendly face, though it grows agitated during work in the academy.

Personality & History: Born roughly nine months after the end of the Cyber Uprising, Phan Van Tuan was born into a family that fought hard to earn the peace. His mother, Le Thi Hong, was a decorated officer in the military who served valiantly in the Federation's attempt to crush the uprising. Even in peace did the recognition she earned help her new family, for because of it they would secure themselves a comfortable life.

Though he respected his mother, growing up Tuan shied away from her service. He was content with running races with his fellow school children and hanging out after class, not preparing to follow in his mother's footsteps. Even more than that something struck him as odd about his mother's war stories, though it would be a while before he figured out exactly what. As he got older he started talking to Farrokh, an officer who served alongside Hong and remained a family friend since. Farrokh was not fond of Hong's romanticized picture of war and when Tuan started to express concern over following his mother into service Farrokh took it upon himself to teach the child his views on war. While he viewed the war almost a decade ago as necessary, Farrokh took a much more cautious stance to the general concept. War was to be avoided and it if were to take place, suffering must be kept to a minimum.

Talking to Farrokh was all that he needed. While he wouldn't tell his mother this, Tuan began to regard himself as a pacifist. He dreaded serving like his mother wanted. But, as they say, mother knows best, and when it came time to apply to the School of Stellar Warfare Tuan found himself in a position where he couldn't say no. Maybe Farrokh recently getting a position as an instructor there would help alleviate the situation some?

Refresh: 3
Fate Points: 3
Physical: 1[] 2[]
Morale: 1[] 2[] 3 []
Consequences:
Mild (2):
Moderate (4):
Severe (6):

Aspects:
High Concept: Scion of a Demanding War Hero
Trouble: Conscientious Objector
Aspect: Overbearing Hospitality
Aspect: Farrokh Taught Me Everything
Aspect: Swift Feet but Weak Arms

Skills:
Great (+4): Rapport
Good (+3): Athletics, Contacts
Fair (+2): Crafts, Drive, Notice, Will
Average (+1): Deceive, Empathy, Investigate, Lore

Stunts:
Accidental Attack: When you succeed on a defense roll with Drive against Fight, you may spend a fate point to force your opponent to attack another of your enemies in the same zone with the same attack roll.
Have Mercy: +2 to Rapport when trying to end a losing fight via truce.
I Think I Know Someone: Can use Contacts in place of Investigate when Tuan knows someone with expertise in the field of the investigation.

 

[Lighthearter]

Name: Evangelina "Eva" Nunes
Gender: F
Age: 16

Description / Appearance: Evangelina stands just below two metres tall, with tanned skin and green eyes that alternate from cheer to contemplation and finally livid crossness in the span of seconds. Her hair is lustrous and long, free-falling over her shoulders when she isn't in action and bound in a loose, "I-did-this-because-I-had-to" braid that nearly reaches her waist when she is. Her features show the influence of her French father, but in the rest of her figure she takes after her mother: lithe, athletic, and prone to a thoughtless favoring of her left leg that either hints at an old injury or simply a distant mind.

Personality & History:

Spoiler :

Evangelina's father was French and her mother was Brazilian: an exciting combination if it weren't for the fact that they hated each other with a passion by the time she was four years old. They split, and the impact on Eva's self-worth was fairly evident early-on. She took to school as an escape from home, and during her time studying in Sao Paolo, she used a natural gift for reading the emotions and intents of others to wheedle her way into the highest of school social circles. By the time she was fifteen, Eva was a mover and shaker in her little world, even as her parents punted her back and forth like a volleyball, fighting equally over who got more time with her and who should spend less on her care.

Not that it mattered. Eva's father was and is rich and well-connected, being one of the Representatives from South America. He paid for anything she ever wanted, telling her repeatedly that she was the best thing in his life...and would be, so long as she didn't let her grades slip.

She did. Her father was furious when he found out, despite her Herculean efforts to hide the truth. With his daughter's path to prestigious education now all but lost, he fell back on the one thing he could do to prepare for her future: he pulled every string he could to get Eva recruited for Heinlein Station. Obviously, he succeeded, for which Eva has never been able to forgive him.

Armed with no particular military knowledge, barely the most basic of 0G skills, and her experience as the alpha girl of school cliques, Evangelina Nunez arrives on Heinlein Station angry at life, her father, herself, and everyone else in practically equal measure. Maybe this is the chance she needs to show her legitimate brains and skills?

Or maybe it's just another way to disappoint her father...

Refresh: 3
Fate Points: 3
Physical: 1[] 2[]
Morale: 1[] 2[] 3[]
Consequences:
Mild (2):
Moderate (4):
Severe (6):

Aspects:
High Concept: Centre of the Clique
Trouble: Friends Are Tools
Aspect: People Are Open Books And I Love To Read
Aspect: Daddy's Darling, Daddy's Shame
Aspect: Not So Ditzy When It Counts

Skills:
Great (+4): Empathy
Good (+3): Rapport, Provoke
Fair (+2): Deceive, Investigate, Athletics, Will
Average (+1): Notice, Drive, Contacts, Lore

Stunts:
Exploitative Witch ~ When using Empathy to notice a peer's weakness, Eva gains a free invocation of the created aspect.

You Know I Know ~ If Eva has created an aspect on an opponent that has not been used, she also gains a +2 defensive bonus against that opponent.

My Father Will Hear About This ~ Eva gains +2 on any Rapport roll made against faculty members except the Chancellor.

 

[Patchy]

Well, you've all nearly been murdered for the first time in this patchyAC so that means...

SIGNIFICANT MILESTONE

This entails a lot of things the minor ones you can check via the link. The important bit for y'all is that Players gain one additional skill point, which you can spend to buy a new skill at Average (+1) or increase an existing skill by one rank. Now there exist limitations on this as advancement is based on your ladder:

x ....................x x
x x ......---/---> x
x x x ...............x x x
X = Placeholder for skill
Your current ladder as seen above cannot be advanced as shown due to your second +3 skill not having a "base" under it in the form of a +2 skill. Skills can only move up when they have "support" from the rank under their new tier as shown below.
x ....................x
x x .......------> x x x
x x x x ............x x x

Clear as mud right? Just know that you can only get a new +1 skill at this point.

***Note: You will not be getting a significant milestone every time I try to murder you. That would get ridiculous.

 

[Celticfury]

Adding Drive at Average (+1). Also changing Do You Even Lift? to I Can Handle the Heavy Lifting

 

[Dem Taqat]

Certain people might also want to recall that a minor milestone allows you to rename a non-high-concept aspect if you aren't happy with the ones you have now, although admittedly I don't know if this applies to troubles. You similarly have the option of replacing a stunt.

Minor Change: Replaced the average skill Empathy with Investigate
Significant Change: Gained Lore as an average skill

DT

 

[Patchy]

although admittedly I don't know if this applies to troubles.

It doesn't specify but I will treat troubles the same as high concepts and only allow a change at a major milestone.

 

[Red_Spy]

Adding Drive at Average (+1)

Same.

 

[Patchy]

We are now past the first half of the first year. 3-4 missions remain until the first year ends.

One of the way's we're marking this is another: SIGNIFICANT MILESTONE (if you need a refresher just look like five posts above.)

Please either state changes in thread or PM me what you are modifying.

 

[Patchy]

Another point of note: Starting next week until September I wont be able to run Tuesdays at the regular time. Wednesdays, Fridays, and Weekends are still open. Please inform me which you would prefer.

 

[Dem Taqat]

My preferences for scheduling here are somewhat dictated by Agency's schedule. If that remains unchanged I would greatly prefer a weekend date to avoid having missions running two nights in a row. If there is change there then any of the proposed dates should be acceptable to me.

Minor Change: Replaced the average skill Deceive with Physique
Significant Change: Increased average skill Lore to fair level

DT

 

[Patchy]

Lighthearter: Agency on Wed and Constel on Sunday IS the only possible route

These sound like the changes that are being made, right now its unclear if we'll run this Sunday or do a mini break till next sunday. Will be sure to let you know by saturday so you have 24hr notice.

 

[Patchy]

Celt and LH have not updated their character sheets yet. Please do so at least 24 hours before mission.

 

[Celticfury]

Sorry about that, things have been a bit busy.

Minor Change: Changing aspect "Military Brat" to "A Military Brat in Search of Home"
Significant Change: Increase Athletics from Average (+1) to Fair (+2)

 

[Patchy]

Will be absent tomorrow due to camping in preparation of eclipse. Game will be postponed.

 

[Patchy]

Thinking about doing a year 2. Thoughts?

 

[Dem Taqat]

If you have an idea for the plot and all that, and we can get most of the players into a workable timeslot, I'd be all for it.
DT