[CCrusaders] Bert says, "Log on."

[CCrusaders] Taleslinger says, "Oh shoot, DST"

Peregrine disappears through an invisible gap in the MUD. You think you may have heard the sounds of chatting before the gap closed again.

[CCrusaders] Jota says, "Starting in 5-10 minutes."

[CCrusaders] * Zircon has joined the channel.

Cuddlepaws jumps on GM'S lap.

Jacob arrives from the east.

[CCrusaders] Peregrine says, "Yikes, I didn't realize it was starting an hour earlier"

[CCrusaders] * Cuddlepaws has joined the channel.

[CCrusaders] Jacob says, "So I (ggg) put together my character sheet, but I'm not sure about special effects for my power(s)."

[CCrusaders] GM says, "Yeah, DST just started, so it's just about 2pm."

[CCrusaders] Peregrine says, "thank God I thought to check"

Peregrine arrives at home.

[CCrusaders] Jacob | https://www.dropbox.com/s/ghknu240ehzoi3i/jacob.pdf?dl=0

[CCrusaders] Cuddlepaws says, "I may be slightly distracted for a few minutes, but it should work out"

Wanda arrives from the east.

[CCrusaders] GM says (to Jacob), "Excellent."

[slingergame] Wanda says (to GM), "It's only by sheer luck that I'm here on time."

[slingergame] Wanda says, "ilac"

[CCrusaders] * Wanda has joined the channel.

[CCrusaders] Wanda says (to GM), "it's only by sheer luck that I'm here on time instead of being an hour late"

[CCrusaders] * Eben has joined the channel.

[CCrusaders] GM exclaims, "Huzzah for sheer luck!"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "Hurrah indeed"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says (to Jacob), "woo, your character is cool"

[CCrusaders] Jacob says, "Thanks! It finally came together this morning, heh. LIterally just finished it."

[CCrusaders] GM exclaims, "I feel that the group character creation part of the session might take less time than I had anticipated!"

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "Heh."

[CCrusaders] Cuddlepaws says, "heh"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "aaha"

[CCrusaders] GM asks, "By the way, everyone has read rules intro comic, right?"

[CCrusaders] Jacob says, "Yeah"

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "mmhmm"

[CCrusaders] GM says, "And you've clearly all found the form-fillable character sheet."

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "I know every FATE thingy by heart (even watched Whil Wheaton muck his way through an entire session)"

[CCrusaders] Cuddlepaws says, "Yeah"

[CCrusaders] GM exclaims, "So! Welcome to Crownsford Crusaders!"

[CCrusaders] Wanda opens up his character sheet and gets ready to add Aspects.

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "My main problem is going to be that we've been playing house-modified FATE for too long."

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "But I think I got it."

[CCrusaders] Wanda says (to Eben), "yay, adoptive grandpa"

[CCrusaders] GM says, "At any point, feel free to interrupt anything I'm saying with questions or comments or whatever."

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "I have my origin story already thought out. Don't know what aspect will come of it, yet."

[CCrusaders] Cuddlepaws says, "I just noticed I've misspelt energy on my sheet"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "it's okay, you'll have to edit it anyway to add the Aspects."

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "also, for a second, I thought it read 'the feline psychotic'"

[CCrusaders] Jacob says, "Hee"

[CCrusaders] Cuddlepaws says, "That's later, in the 90s"

[CCrusaders] GM says, "To refresh on the rules, your rolls will all be based on your skills, and will be about overcoming an obstacle, creating an advantage, attacking or defending (which can be against things other than attacks). Aspects are short phrases describing things -- yourself, a situation, the game world, NPC's, anything, really. You can spend fate points to invoke them to get a +2 to a roll, to reroll, to add +2 to an enemy's opposition to their roles, to compel an aspect, or to declare a story detail related to an aspect."

[CCrusaders] Wanda asks, "Do we get to have a discussion about the story setting first?"

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "maybe you can remind us and demonstrate how the fate dice rolling works in here"

Wanda rolls Mediocre (0) + 4dF: +1 +1 +1 0 | Good (3)

[CCrusaders] Eben asks, "Oh, right, what room are the fate dice in?"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "In the Dire Trilobite Tavern"

Eben has arrived.

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "Type 'Fudge'"

Wanda rolls Mediocre (0) + 4dF: -1 0 +1 0 | Mediocre (0)

Cuddlepaws rolls Mediocre (0) + 4dF: 0 +1 -1 0 | Mediocre (0)

Jacob rolls Mediocre (0) + 4dF: 0 -1 -1 0 | Terrible (-2)

Zircon rolls Mediocre (0) + 4dF: 0 0 0 +1 | Average (1)

Eben rolls Good (3) + 4dF: +1 +1 -1 0 | Great (4)

[CCrusaders] GM says, "Compels are when an aspect causes a significant complication for a character. So you could decide that, because that bad guy is on fire, it makes sense that he should jump into the water instead of attacking you. And then spend a fate point to make that happen. (Or I refuse, in which case, the NPC has to give you back a fate point.)"

Zircon rolls ??? (4+3) + 4dF: 0 +1 0 +1 | Fantastic (6)

[CCrusaders] GM exclaims (at Zircon), "Good idea!"

[CCrusaders] GM says, "So let's say you're trying to sneak past a guard."

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "When you add your skill, you do 'fudge + [skill]' (i.e. 'fudge +3')"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "Yep."

[CCrusaders] GM says, "If you have Fair Stealth, that means you're at a +2. And if the guard doesn't have the Notice skill, they're at Mediocre by default, which is +0."

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "but your pants are on fire"

[CCrusaders] GM says, "So you would roll 'fudge +2', and they would roll 'fudge +0'."

GM rolls fu ge -sided dice: 1 | 1 + 2 = 3

[CCrusaders] GM says, "Er."

GM rolls Fair (2) + 4dF: 0 +1 +1 -1 | Good (3)

GM rolls Mediocre (0) + 4dF: 0 0 0 0 | Mediocre (0)

[CCrusaders] GM exclaims, "But, Zircon is right, your pants are on fire!"

[CCrusaders] GM says, "So you have the aspect 'Pants on Fire'."

[CCrusaders] Wanda asks, "Whose pants?"

[CCrusaders] GM says, "And the guard also has the aspect 'Professional Guard'."

[CCrusaders] GM exclaims (at Wanda), "Zircon's, apparently!"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "hee"

[CCrusaders] GM says, "So as the GM, I can choose to invoke both of those aspects -- your pants, and the guard's professional skills -- to get two +2's to my roll."

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "(giving you two fate points along the way)"

[CCrusaders] Cuddlepaws asks, "So, +4 ? They stack?"

[CCrusaders] GM says, "Bringing him up from a 0 to a 4. And since you rolled a 3, the guard notices you."

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "(unless they can be freely invoked)"

[CCrusaders] GM says (to Eben), "Right -- since the guard spent two fate points to invoke aspects against you, then *you* get those fate points."

[CCrusaders] Eben says (to Cuddlepaws), "They do indeed stack, which can be important, when we set up a bunch of freely-invokable aspects with the 'create an advantage' action, which then can be invoked all at once."

[CCrusaders] GM says, "(Oh, and to Wanda's earlier question, I just wanted to do a rules review before getting into the setting.)"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says (to GM), "cool"

[CCrusaders] GM says, "By the way, your attempt to sneak would have been an Overcome an Obstacle roll, because you were facing some kind of obstacle (you were at the wrong end of the hallway) and wanted to overcome it. The guard's roll was a Defend roll."

[CCrusaders] Eben asks (of GM), "Are attack-based consequences freely invokable once, or are they just aspects you can tag for a fate point?"

[CCrusaders] GM asks (of Eben), "What do you mean by 'attack-based consequences'?"

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "Like, if I attack someone and they take a consequence as a result."

[CCrusaders] GM says, "Oh, yes! They are freely invokable once."

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "(skipping forward to combat; sorry)"

[CCrusaders] GM says, "Hee. I'll catch everyone else up on that in a few minutes."

[CCrusaders] GM says, "There are also four possible results to a roll:"

[Crows-Nest] Wanda says, "*suspenseful pause*"

[CCrusaders] GM says, "If you roll less than the opposition, you fail and generally don't get to do what you're trying to do. If you roll the same, you tie, and typically get a partial version of what you want or succeed with a minor setback."

[Crows-Nest] Cuddlepaws paws die off the table.

[Crows-Nest] Wanda says, "hee"

[Crows-Nest] Jacob sprays the cat with a water bottle.

[CCrusaders] GM says, "If you roll higher, then you succeed! And if you roll at least *three* higher, you succeed with style! And get what you want plus a bonus."

[Crows-Nest] Eben asks, "Is a slinger wiki admin around? Can I be added to the 'you can edit some pages' list?"

Peregrine disappears through an invisible gap in the MUD. You think you may have heard the sounds of chatting before the gap closed again.

[CCrusaders] GM exclaims (at lps), "Done!"

[Crows-Nest] Eben exclaims, "Thanks!"

[Crows-Nest] GM exclaims (at lps), "Done!"

Peregrine arrives at home.

[CCrusaders] GM says, "So, I mentioned fate points earlier. You each start each session with a number of them equal to your 'Refresh', which defaults to 3 (unless you trade in some refresh during character creation). And you can get more fate points if either A) I spend a fate point to invoke an aspect against you, or B) I compel one of your aspects."

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "Wait, there's one other outcome: succeed at a cost."

[CCrusaders] GM says (to Eben), "Sure, sure, complicate things... :)"

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "You said there were four outcomes and listed three! ;-)"

[CCrusaders] GM asks (of Eben), "I listed fail, tie, succeed, and succeed with style?"

[CCrusaders] GM says, "But yes, when you're trying to 'overcome an obstacle', like sneaking down that hallway, and you fail your roll, you can choose instead to succeed at a significant cost."

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "Oh, right, carry on."

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "you succeed but now everything under your pants is on fire"

[CCrusaders] Cuddlepaws asks, "I, as a player, can also invoke aspects against enemies by spending a fate point?"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "Yes"

[CCrusaders] GM says, "In that case, if you wanted to succeed at a cost, I might decide that even though the guard heard *something*, he didn't catch you -- but to be safe, he decided to close and lock the security doors just after you want through, and now the rest of the part is on the other side."

[CCrusaders] GM exclaims (at Cuddlepaws), "Yup!"

[CCrusaders] GM says (to Cuddlepaws), "You can even use them to make their rolls harder. Say, if the bad guy is trying to climb a Precarious Cliff, and their opposition is +2, you can invoke that aspect to make it +4."

[CCrusaders] Cuddlepaws says, "I see"

[CCrusaders] GM says, "So, the two ways for you get get extra fate points are having me spend one to invoke an aspect against you (and this only applies if I spend the point -- if I get a free invoke, no dice change hands), or if I compel one of your aspects."

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "Also importantly, you can invoke aspects *after* you (or the NPC) rolls."

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "This is known as retroactive storytelling."

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "Or hindsight."

[CCrusaders] GM says, "E.g., Bruce Banner might have the aspect 'You Wouldn't Like Me When I'm Angry'. And he's presently trying to sweet-talk some NPC into helping him, but that NPC is being a bit of a jerk."

[CCrusaders] GM says, "So as the GM, I might suggest to him that this is the sort of situation where he might get mad and hulk out, which would probably ruin any chance of befriending this guy."

[CCrusaders] GM says, "If Bruce accepts that, then he gets a fate point! And he has to live with that complication (he can't try to RP or roll it away so it's not a problem for him)."

[CCrusaders] GM says, "Or, if he doesn't want that complication, he can *spend* a fate point to refuse it."

[CCrusaders] GM says, "(Also, if you think a compel is inappropriate or out of character, then say so! We'll tweak it until we all agree it's reasonable.)"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "nice"

[CCrusaders] Cuddlepaws says, "Sounds good so far"

[CCrusaders] GM says, "Eben also brought up combat earlier."

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "I will note that if you find Bruce often paying up to not hulk out, maybe Hulk isn't really the right character concept for him"

[CCrusaders] GM says, "Combat -- or 'conflicts' as Fate likes to call them -- involve everyone taking turns. In a physical conflict, the default rules has everyone going in order by highest Notice skill (but we can change that if we decide it's too predictable or otherwise unfun)."

[CCrusaders] Wanda says (to Zircon), "well, there's only a *finite* number of times he can refuse before he's compelled to hulk out"

[CCrusaders] GM says, "Space is divided up into 'zones' -- it doesn't matter exactly where you're standing at any point, just which zone you're in. E.g., 'in the front room', 'on the porch', 'in the yard', or 'out in the street'."

[Crows-Nest] Wanda says, "Just like in real stories."

[CCrusaders] GM says, "Provided there's no obstacle in your way, you can move up to one zone on your turn in addition to performing an action. If there is an obstacle, or if you want to move multiple zones, you can use your action for that (and it means rolling to Overcome an Obstacle)."

[CCrusaders] GM says, "For your action, you can Overcome an Obstacle, Create an Advantage, or Attack. And it's fine if, narratively speaking, you're actually doing a whole bunch of stuff -- running up onto the hood of a car, leaping off of it, springing out your claws, and landing on top of the bad guy's head, for instance."

[CCrusaders] GM says, "As long as it comes down to one rolled action (in this case, presumably an Attack using the Fight skill), be as creative as you want in the description."

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "woo"

[CCrusaders] GM says, "Create an Advantage is a particularly useful thing -- anything that you can think of that you could use a skill to do that would set up an advantage for you, you can do with this. And if you succeed, you create a brand-new Aspect on the situation, and you (or your friends) get to invoke it once for free."

[CCrusaders] GM says, "So you might use your Crafts skill to notice that the bad guys' car has a Weak Left Axle, and then on your next action, invoke that aspect for free to get a +2 to your Drive roll to force them off the road."

[CCrusaders] GM says, "(You can do this stuff outside of combat too.)"

[CCrusaders] Cuddlepaws asks, "Ah, so skills can actually shape the story world in a way?"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "That's the whole cool thing"

[CCrusaders] GM exclaims, "Yup!"

[CCrusaders] Cuddlepaws says, "Ah, I never quite understood that. Pretty cool."

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "Basically, anything that the GM hasn't described can be made up by the players, within reason"

[CCrusaders] GM says, "Also, when another character is trying to do something like that, if there's a logical way that you could defend against it, you can."

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "Different 'truths' might have different difficulty levels to create, so you'd say 'I want to use Crafts to notice a weakness in their car' and the GM says, "Sure, hmm, that's a difficulty of 2" or whatever."

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "(or you can always just spend a fate point to declare something.)"

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "(which doesn't take an action)"

[CCrusaders] GM says, "Say, if a bad guy is trying to climb up onto a desk to get the Higher Ground to attack you from, and you're in front of that desk, you can roll to Defend against that -- so instead of them just rolling against a flat number to create their advantage, you get to roll against them."

[CCrusaders] GM says (to Eben), "(And remember that spending a fate point to declare something requires that you tie it into an appropriate existing Aspect.)"

[CCrusaders] GM says, "When you roll to Defend like that, it counts as a part of their action; you still get to take your action as normal."

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "Also true."

[CCrusaders] GM says, "When you Attack, you'll usually use Fight (for melee attacks) or Shoot (for ranged attacks). (Of course, stunts/powers can change that up.)"

[CCrusaders] GM says, "Fight can only be used against people in your zone, and it's defended against with either Fight or Athletics, your choice."

[CCrusaders] GM says, "Shoot can be used against people a couple zones away (assuming you have an appropriate weapon, which you presumably do if you have the Shoot skill), and it's defended against with Athletics."

[CCrusaders] GM says, "If you succeed at an attack, the difference between your attack and their defense (the number of 'shifts', Fate calls it) is how much physical stress you deal."

[CCrusaders] GM says, "Can can absorb this by either A) checking off one (but only one) stress box on your character sheet, B) taking one or more consequences on your character sheet, or C) both."

[CCrusaders] GM says, "Each stress box has a number to say how much it can absorb, and likewise for consequences. So if you get hit for 3 stress, and you have a 3-point physical stress box free, you can check that to absorbe the hit."

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "Subtle point: the stress boxes are like literal boxes, with the number indicating how much stress it can contain. They are one-use only, so once you've put some stress in a box, you can't put any more even if there's room."

[CCrusaders] Wanda asks, "Am I right?"

[CCrusaders] GM says (to Wanda), "Correct -- at least, until that stress goes away and it becomes free again."

[CCrusaders] GM says, "You can't put any more in *that* box. But you can in your other boxes."

[CCrusaders] GM says, "(It's just a checkbox.)"

[CCrusaders] GM says, "(I'm not sure if that fully answered what you were asking?)"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "it does :)"

[CCrusaders] GM says, "If you don't have one free (maybe you already used that one), you could instead take a Mild consequence, to absorbe two stress, and then check off the one-point stress box to handle the rest."

[CCrusaders] GM says, "A consequence is an Aspect like any other, but it's a negative one, indicating injuries or similar conditions. Your enemies also get one free invoke on it. ANd likewise, you get a free invoke if you make an enemy take a consequence."

[CCrusaders] GM says, "Stress is basically short-term things, like getting tired out or slightly bruised or using up your luck for a really close miss, and it all goes away at the end of each scene."

[CCrusaders] GM says, "Consequences are longer term, and the more major the consequence, the longer it'll last."

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "Which is why, when a conflict goes nasty, you can concede it and choose how you lose, as opposed to being taken out altogether or suffering severe consequences."

[CCrusaders] GM says, "(We'll talk about recovering those once they come up, but it'll involve using difficult Lore checks for things like first aid, and those will be easier if you decide to take any Stunts to help. Or you can befriend an NPC doctor...)"

[CCrusaders] GM exclaims, "Indeed!"

[CCrusaders] GM says, "When you want out of a fight, you -- as the *player*, not necessarily the PC -- can concede."

[CCrusaders] GM says, "It means you lose the fight, but you at least get to lose it somewhat on your own terms."

[CCrusaders] GM says, "If the bad guys just infiltrated your base to steal your stuff, and are beating you up pretty badly, you might 'concede' to say that your character ran away through the escape tunnels."

[CCrusaders] GM says, "The bad guys still manage to overrun the place and steal everything, but at least you don't wind up beaten to a pulp and tied to a chair afterward."

[CCrusaders] GM says, "And if you do concede, you get a fate point as a consolation prize, plus an extra fate point for any consequences you took in the fight."

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "yay"

[CCrusaders] GM asks, "OK, I think that's all the rules review I can think of -- does anyone have any questions on that before we get into the setting?"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "Nope."

[CCrusaders] Jacob says, "Nope"

[CCrusaders] GM says, "(Or did I miss any questions from earlier?)"

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "I'm good for now I think"

[CCrusaders] Cuddlepaws says, "Nope"

[CCrusaders] GM says, "OK! So the setting in this case is largely already planned -- it's the city of Crownsford."

[CCrusaders] GM says, "It's in the northeastern US, and it's in a version of the modern world in which superheroes and villains exist."

[Crows-Nest] Eben says, "I was misremembering the name of the town as 'Cape [something]' and thought we would be the Cape Crusaders."

[Crows-Nest] Wanda says, "hah"

[CCrusaders] GM exclaims, "Big cities like New York or Tokyo have them. Smaller cities like Crownsford (pop. 100,000), not so much. But Crownsford has lots of mundane crime, and it's only a matter of time before it starts getting *super* crime too, so it's a good thing you guys are all about to become heroes!"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "Can we make suggestions? (if it's not annoyinf?)"

[CCrusaders] GM says, "While you're making your characters -- and right now, too -- I'd like to encourage you to suggest anything you'd like about the place. People you'd like to have exist in the city, places you want to have there, etc."

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "yay"

[Crows-Nest] Eben asks, "And there have been superheroes since the 30's or something?"

[Crows-Nest] Eben says, "(ilac)"

[CCrusaders] Eben asks, "And there have been superheroes since the 30's or something?"

[CCrusaders] GM says, "Yup. Gradually becoming more common over time."

[CCrusaders] Wanda asks (of Eben), "I was wondering. You must have been working for some sort of company, maybe one that's gone bankrupt recently and left a lot of (mad) engineers/scientists out of work?"

[CCrusaders] GM says, "So there were only a handful around the time of WWII, but nowadays, there are probably hundreds in the US alone."

[CCrusaders] Cuddlepaws asks, "And with all kinds of crazy superpowers, like Marvel /DC, or more subdued like Watchmen?"

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "That would be fine with me; sure. The other option I was thinking of for the company is that it turns out to be the shadowy force behind some villainous scheme."

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "The former, I guess."

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "But that could also work with a sudden round of layoffs."

[CCrusaders] Wanda exclaims (at Eben), "Great!"

[CCrusaders] GM says (to Cuddlepaws), "More like Marvel/DC, although most supers aren't *quite* so powerful as the top tier Marvel/DC ones."

[Setting the zoned flag.]

[CCrusaders] GM asks, "If the company still exists, do you want to name it, or should I?"

[CCrusaders] Eben asks, "So, no Superman, but probably an Iron Man and a Spiderman?"

[CCrusaders] Wanda asks, "I suggest Payne Industries?"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "(because of the pun)"

[CCrusaders] GM says (to Eben), "Yeah, that sounds about right."

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "Or Payne Technologies."

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "Either works for me."

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "Payne Tech, then."

[CCrusaders] GM says, "Excellent."

[CCrusaders] Cuddlepaws says, ""We bring the Payne!""

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "So, Crownsford's local technological company, Payne Tech, has recently gone bust, and there are a lot of disgruntled geniuses roaming the streets."

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "That sounds like a neat setup."

[CCrusaders] GM asks, "Has it gone bust, or did it just do a round of layoffs?"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "Whichever seems best."

[CCrusaders] Cuddlepaws asks, "Maybe there was an accident?"

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "Let's do the layoffs; it sounds more ominous."

[CCrusaders] GM exclaims, "OK!"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "yeah"

[CCrusaders] Wanda asks, "So, does this place have a uni or something?"

[CCrusaders] GM asks, "Sure! What's it called?"

[CCrusaders] Wanda asks, "Crownsford College?"

[CCrusaders] Cuddlepaws exclaims, "Go Parrots!"

[CCrusaders] GM says, "Excellent."

[CCrusaders] Eben exclaims, "Polly Wanna Sockem!"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "hee"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "Given Jacob's character, there are probably birds."

[CCrusaders] Wanda asks, "Maybe even a zoo?"

[CCrusaders] GM says, "Sure, sounds good."

[CCrusaders] GM says, "The setting also gets some aspects of its own -- and you can use them just like any other aspect when they come up. I'd like to provide two of those:"

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "One of those weird private zoos set up by an eccentric billionaire"

[CCrusaders] GM says, "'Crime Running Rampant' and 'The LEAD Initiative'."

[CCrusaders] GM asks (of Zircon), "Does the billionaire live in Crownsford?"

[CCrusaders] Jacob says, "There needs to be a public library, too. Because I have the "I've read about that" stunt :)"

[CCrusaders] Cuddlepaws says, "The Lucy Hawthorne Library"

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "His family lives on there but they're all super-reclusive and probably also eccentric"

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "Actually I guess it could be Payne"

[CCrusaders] GM says, "('The LEAD Initiative' being a mysterious anti-crime project that the government has been working on. Details, so far, unrevealed. But... Payne Tech is rumored to be involved somehow.)"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "Yeah, let's have a billionaire named Payne who's an obscure benefactor to the city."

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "I'd like to posit that local legend has it that the town's founder was a woman who was secrety a superhero, and that there's a statue of her in the town square."

[CCrusaders] Zircon exclaims, "She could be one of the Underground Railroad people!"

[CCrusaders] Cuddlepaws asks, "Like from the 1800s?"

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "Yeah."

[CCrusaders] GM asks, "Alright! Mina Payne, owner of Payne Tech, benefactor of the Payne Zoological Gardens, reclusive billionaire with a large etstae on the outskirts of town?"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "yay"

[CCrusaders] GM asks (of Eben), "Gool -- so, someone Crown?"

[CCrusaders] Eben says (to GM), "Works for me."

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "Maybe she was just a Tory."

[CCrusaders] Cuddlepaws asks, "Maybe make her a hero at the time, but problematic now?"

[CCrusaders] Cuddlepaws asks, "Like she fought off attacks by Native Americans or something?"

[CCrusaders] Wanda asks, "Catherine Crown?"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "Brave, tough, super-powered frontierwoman."

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "Capable of hitting a target miles away."

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "rumoured to have buried a hidden treasure somewhere around here... the Crown jewels"

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "ha ha"

[CCrusaders] Cuddlepaws says, "yay"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "hee"

[CCrusaders] GM says, "Ooh."

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "'Crowne', I'd say."

[CCrusaders] GM says, "OK."

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "But yeah, I like it."

[CCrusaders] GM says, "Sounds great."

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "We've got ourselves a nice place to live"

[CCrusaders] GM asks, "So, should we move on to the characters now?"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "Yeah"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "Shall I go first, since I have an origin story in mind? Or..."

[CCrusaders] GM says, "OK! So Fate makes a point of reminding us multiple times that Fate protagonists are: proactive, competent and dramatic. I suspect that will not be difficult for any of you."

[CCrusaders] Cuddlepaws takes catnap.

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "Heh."

[CCrusaders] GM says (to Wanda), "I'm going to go in stages -- so I'll do Aspects for everyone first, etc."

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "okay"

[CCrusaders] GM says, "Your Aspects are anything about your character -- they can be personality traits, personal philosophies, relationships with other people or places or things, physical characteristics, important posessions, things about your background or history, etc."

[CCrusaders] GM says, "The best aspects are both multi-faceted (so they can apply in multiple different situations) and two-sided (so they can both be used by you to get benefits on die rolls and against you in compels)."

[CCrusaders] GM says, "Your two main aspects are your High Concept -- the core concept of your character is -- and your Trouble, which is something that causes problems for that character."

[Crows-Nest] Eben says, "I started a notes page at https://docs.google.com/document/d/1zNOAIv3Cn0Og9cE7zgUAn6u13gwgV0cT5bkizs8FHY8/edit?usp=sharing"

[CCrusaders] GM says, "It can be something like a character flaw, but it could also be an enemy who's hunting you down, or a responsibility you have (e.g., 'Single Father'), or whatever."

[Crows-Nest] GM exclaims, "Ooh, excellent!"

[CCrusaders] Cuddlepaws asks, "I think we all already have those?"

[Crows-Nest] GM says, "Mostly -- but I want everyone to be open to tweaking stuff as we go along, if someone mentions something cool you want to incorporate."

[CCrusaders] GM says, "Mostly -- but I want everyone to be open to tweaking stuff as we go along, if someone mentions something cool you want to incorporate."

[CCrusaders] Cuddlepaws says, "Sounds good."

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "Cool."

[CCrusaders] GM exclaims, "And please, feel free to make suggestions to each other as we go!"

[CCrusaders] GM says, "No one is obligated to be directly connected to the other chracters, but if you *are*, all the better."

[CCrusaders] GM says, "So let's go around the room, and each of you can describe the basic concept behind your character, and then give a High Concept and a Trouble based on those."

[CCrusaders] GM says, "I think Wanda wants to go first :)"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "heh"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "My High Concept is 'Mutant Fire Spider In A Skin Suit', Trouble 'I Want To Be Human' (but I'm opent to suggestions)"

[CCrusaders] GM asks (of Wanda), "So, what kind of situations do you think would be good ones to compel a Trouble like that?"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "Well, I'm beginning to realize I'm not quite sure"

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "Heh."

[CCrusaders] GM says, "You might be able to tweak it a bit, then, to a version that's more useful to you -- since you want to give me chances to give you more fate points :)"

[CCrusaders] Cuddlepaws says, "I was thinking "This thing doesn't quite fit" may be a trouble"

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "I would imagine stuff like Hey good job team we just captured the evil super scientist, Von Spoopy"

[CCrusaders] GM asks, "In the meantime, why not tell us a bit more about Wanda?"

[CCrusaders] Zircon asks, "And then the evil doctor offers Spidergirl the chance to be a real girl and how could she resist?"

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "'Doesn't Understand Human Customs' might work, for social situations."

[CCrusaders] GM says, "Mmm, that sounds like a flexible one."

[CCrusaders] Cuddlepaws says, "I like that one"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "Eben's suggestion sounds good."

[CCrusaders] GM says, "(And I should note: you're still free to have wanting to be a human as a character trait even if it doesn't end up being a formal Aspect.)"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "cool"

[CCrusaders] GM says, "(You're not *limited* by your aspects.)"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "Well, I have Empathy as my best skill."

[CCrusaders] Wanda asks, "Is that consistent with not understanding human customs?"

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "Perhaps you understand why people do things; you just have trouble imitating it yourself."

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "It could be that you understand human emotions on a chemical level but not really society per se"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "aha"

[CCrusaders] GM says (to Wanda), "It could be -- maybe as an outsider, you can see human behavior more objectively, but have trouble interacting with them subjectively."

[CCrusaders] GM says, "Any of those interpretations would work, I think."

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "I like Eben's best."

[CCrusaders] GM says, "Excellent."

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "(Empathy is understanding other people; Rapport is getting *them* to like *you*.)"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "So that's my Trouble fixed."

[CCrusaders] GM asks, "Do you want to talk about Wanda's personality or background at all now, or do you want to wait until we get to the storytelling part of character creation?"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "Well, I was adopted by a police commissioner (Thomas Webb) and his skilled-at-making-stuff wife Martha (n�e Morris)"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "But the details will wait for storytelling."

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "I'm basically a mutated jumping spider, human-sized."

[CCrusaders] Wanda exclaims, "Now it's someone else's turn!"

[CCrusaders] GM asks, "Alright! Who's next?"

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "I can go."

[CCrusaders] GM exclaims, "Go for it!"

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "Eben is an Engineering Geek Grandfather with a Portal Gun, whose Trouble is 'Maybe if I tried it this way...' which I was imagining as feeling compelled to try new things in the heat of battle even when it's important, and things go awry as a result."

[CCrusaders] Cuddlepaws says, "hee"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "that's a nice Trouble"

[CCrusaders] GM says, "Good, good."

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "He's ex-military, having worked in Special Ops in the Vietnam War, where he was part of the team that managed to defeat the supervillain the Red Menace (which was the force behing the war, in this world)."

[CCrusaders] GM exclaims, "Nice!"

[Crows-Nest] Cuddlepaws says, "Unfortunately, they were then sent to prison for a crime they didn't commit"

[CCrusaders] GM asks, "Anything else, or should we move to the next player?"

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "After that, he got a job with Payne Tech and settled down here in Crownsford with he and his wife Frances (who was also ex-military), and had a bunch of kids."

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "One of which married the Crownsford police Commissioner Webb"

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "He's well-connected to various people, either through his old job or through relatives, and is having the time of his life bouncing through portals in his retirement."

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "<fin>"

[CCrusaders] Eben exclaims (at Wanda), "Indeed!"

[CCrusaders] Wanda asks, "Next player?"

[CCrusaders] GM asks, "I take it he was smart and retired before the layoffs?"

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "Yeah."

[CCrusaders] GM asks, "Who's up next?"

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "I think he retired almost a decade ago."

[CCrusaders] Cuddlepaws says, "I'll go"

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "Maybe his old boss was just let go."

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "Go, cat, go"

[CCrusaders] GM says (to Cuddlepaws), "You're up."

[Crows-Nest] (from Wanda) Cuddlepaws has another catnap.

[CCrusaders] Cuddlepaws says, "Cuddlepaws is a regular white cat, who gets her powers through a psionic helmet Eben build. Telekinesis, which is just swatting things on a larger scale, and Shields, which is just an extension of ego. Unfortunately, I'm "still a cat" underneath it all."

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "She needs no supervillain"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "(to slowly stroke her, I mean)"

[CCrusaders] Cuddlepaws says, "I imagine that troubles relates to stuff like being distracted by potential prey or a villian switching on his vacuum"

[CCrusaders] GM says, "Right, she has Eben for that."

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "hee"

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "Ha ha vacuum."

[CCrusaders] Cuddlepaws says, "I also deeply care about my humans and space spiders, but hell freezes over before I admit it"

[CCrusaders] GM says (to Cuddlepaws), "Excellent. <makes notes about a new villain, The Mighty Maid...>"

[CCrusaders] Cuddlepaws says, "ha ha"

[CCrusaders] Cuddlepaws says, "Yeah, that's it for now."

[Crows-Nest] Wanda says (to GM), "you might find this useful https://xkcd.com/1486/"

[CCrusaders] GM asks, "OK, Zircon or Jacob now?"

[CCrusaders] Jacob says, "I'll go"

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "compel The Box Fits, You Must Sits"

[Crows-Nest] GM says, "Ha ha."

[CCrusaders] Jacob says, "So Jacob is "good with animals", especially birds, but "bad with humans" (shy, awkward, brash, what have you). He's very book smart."

[CCrusaders] Cuddlepaws says, "Also, if I step through a portal, my fur gets electrostatically charged"

[CCrusaders] Jacob says, "Tall, slender, somewhat athletic and ok ina fight, but not very strong. Wears all black."

[CCrusaders] Wanda asks (of Jacob), "Is he okay with spiders?"

[CCrusaders] Jacob says, "Sure"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "aw"

[CCrusaders] Cuddlepaws asks, "Does he write short, dark poems?"

[CCrusaders] Jacob says, "Haha"

[CCrusaders] GM says, "Cool."

[CCrusaders] GM says, "So Jacob will get along with at least half of the party."

[Crows-Nest] Jacob gives cuddlepaws a scritch behind the ears.

[CCrusaders] GM asks, "Anything else, or should we move on to Zircon?"

[CCrusaders] Jacob says, "I think that's it for now."

[CCrusaders] GM exclaims, "OK. Zircon, you're up!"

[Crows-Nest] Cuddlepaws says, "*purr*"

[Crows-Nest] Cuddlepaws says, "Everyone should also mention what their solo title was called"

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "Okay so. By day, Louis Lux is a stage magician sort of guy, of the Copperfield mold"

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "By night he is Zircon the Zorcerer, fighting crime with illusions! And such."

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "So he's kind of a cheat at being a stage magician."

[CCrusaders] GM says, "Ha."

[Crows-Nest] Cuddlepaws says, "haha, Zorcerer"

[Crows-Nest] Wanda exclaims, "Fleez, villainz, forz zou face ze Zorcerer!"

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "I'm not especially married either way to how magical or how scientific his powers are"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "He can be magical. It adds flavour to the power mix."

[CCrusaders] Cuddlepaws says, "Maybe there is a dark secret behind them"

[CCrusaders] Wanda asks, "A pact?"

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "yeah could be."

[CCrusaders] GM says, "Ooh."

[CCrusaders] GM asks, "How about his High Concept and Trouble?"

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "yeah so High Concept I'm thinking 'Light-bending Illusionist' about captures it"

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "Trouble: says 'Z' when he should use an 'S'."

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "heh"

[CCrusaders] GM says, "Light-Bending Illzionist."

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "for Trouble there are a couple of options I've been thinking over; either a 'truth-challenged; truth is a matter of opinion' sort of thing. Or 'reality-challenged; what is real? am I real??' more philosophical take."

[CCrusaders] Alex says (to Zircon), "Awwwk! Word on the street is that Real is a company full of jerks who wouldn't know a decent human interface design if it bit 'em in the ass, and they defully deserve to be crushed by Microsoft, which will be any day now."

[CCrusaders] Cuddlepaws says, "He's secretly a Sionist"

[CCrusaders] GM asks, "Mmm. Interesting. How would you see either of those being compelled? And which of those compels seems more fun to you?"

[CCrusaders] Wanda asks, "How about 'The World Isn't Real' or 'I Suspect Reality is an 'Illusion'?"

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "well... I think I might find myself more irritated than amused if Zircon keeps wandering off in the midst of battle"

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "Compelled by 'I think I'll let this hit me to see if it's real.'"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "okay, probably not a great idea"

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "And I do think it'd be fun to play someone who just reflexively lies to people for no good reason"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "yeah"

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "And it might explain why he got kicked out of Vegas"

[CCrusaders] GM says, "Hopefully whatever happened in Vegas will stay in Vegas! (Dun dun dun...)"

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "So I'm happy with Truth Is An Opinion for now but I'll keep one eye on it"

[CCrusaders] GM says, "Sounds good."

[CCrusaders] Wanda asks (of Zircon), "have you got a character sheet yet?"

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "I've got one on the go"

[CCrusaders] GM says, "The next stage of this is story-telling. It's the phase where you all make up your origin stories."

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "It could be cute if he kept getting in trouble with the law for petty things like not having a performer's license. 'A Thorn In Commisioner Webb's Side'."

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "locally; I'll upload it when it feels more firm"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "ok"

[CCrusaders] GM says, "I'd like you to write up something describing either how you got/discovered your powers, or how you decided you wanted to be a hero, or whatever best fits as how your character got their start."

[CCrusaders] Eben asks, "Got their start as a superhero, or got their start as having our super abilities?"

[CCrusaders] Eben asks, "Or both?"

[CCrusaders] GM exclaims (at Eben), "Either!"

[CCrusaders] Wanda asks, "I thought this was a three-stage thing: origin, discovery of powers, decision to fight crime?"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "(well, depending on the character, of course)"

[CCrusaders] GM says (to Wanda), "That might have been an earlier draft :)"

[CCrusaders] GM says, "I'll give you all a minute, and then we can go around the room sharing them."

[CCrusaders] Wanda asks, "So I can't tell the story of how I got adopted...?"

[CCrusaders] Wanda asks, "or cna I?"

[CCrusaders] Cuddlepaws says (to wanda), "Just tell us what you have before you burst"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "heee"

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "Yay"

[CCrusaders] GM says (to Wanda), "Sure, you definitely can."

[CCrusaders] Wanda exclaims, "Okay!"

[CCrusaders] GM says (to Wanda), "Whichever story you feels make a good 'start' story for your character."

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "cool"

[CCrusaders] GM says (to Wanda), "I think you probably want to go first again? :)"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "yay"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "Okay, so back in the time when Eben was still working at Payne Tech, there was a coworker of his, a Dr. Nichols, who worked in the biotechnology department."

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "This Nichols was conducting secret experiments which were rumored to involve unethical animal experimentation, raising them in captivity, etc."

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "He had an interest in spiders, scorpions, cockroaches, but also some mammals."

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "And Eben started getting suspicions that things were going out of hand, so he mentioned his concerns to his son-in-law, Commisioner Webb."

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "So one day the Commisioner got the warrant to search Nichols' lab with some of his men."

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "Nichols got angry, wouldn't let them in, and things started going wrong."

[Crows-Nest] Zircon says, "you cannae hae me monkeys"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "He started using fire bombs and trying to kill the Commisioner, and that's when one of his subjects, a giant female spider pregnant with eggs, intervened and tried to stop Nichols from hurting anyone."

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "In the mayhem, the lab was destroyed, Nichols escaped with one final fire bomb which would have killed the Commisioner had it not been for the spider jumping in the way and blocking the blast, protecting the Commisioner."

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "The spider had figured out that Nichols was the bad guy and the police would have rescued her. But too late, because she was mortally wounded."

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "Webb felt bad about the whole business, so salvaged the last (unbroken) spider egg still attached to the dead spider's abdomen, thinking to entrust it to the cares of the Zoological Gardens."

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "But the egg hatched when he got back home, and his wife immediately doted on it like it was her own child."

[Crows-Nest] Cuddlepaws says, "Spider mom, spider mom, does whatever a spider mom does."

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "And they eventually noticed that not only was she intelligent, she was also able to learn human speech."

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "So they decided not to give her to the Zoo, and Martha Webb (the Commisioner's wife) used her naturally inherited engineering talent to make special synthetic skin suits which would allow Wanda to take her place in the world without fear of being put away in a lab."

[Crows-Nest] Zircon says, "yeah, 'synthetic'"

[Crows-Nest] GM says, "Ha ha oof."

[CCrusaders] GM says, "Fantastic. I'm going to suggest that everyone ends their stories with something like '<end>', so I don't interrupt you before you finish :)"

[CCrusaders] Wanda asks, "I guess we get to tell other stories, too?"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "(like, why fight crime?)"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "(although in this case, with an adoptive dad like that...)"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "I'm done for now."

[CCrusaders] GM says, "There will be more stories :)"

[Crows-Nest] Cuddlepaws says, "WIth great skinsuits comes great responsibilities ... to fashion."

[CCrusaders] GM says (to Wanda), "Now I'd like you to look at that story, and find some part of it that would make a good Aspect."

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "Okay."

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "The 'Skin suits' thing is already in my High Concept. Do you want me to take that out, or is it okay the way it is"

[Crows-Nest] Zircon says, "'Suckled the milk of human kindness straight from the teat'"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "Because I think that the Aspect I gain from this story is going to stem my adoptive family"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "(stem from)"

[CCrusaders] GM says, "No, you can keep that there -- it makes your High Concept more flexible, so there are more things it's relevant to. It looks like there are lots of details in that story that you could add new Aspects based on."

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "Eben is my Pa could be good"

[CCrusaders] Wanda asks, "Or 'Family First'?"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "Or 'I Owe My Family Everything'"

[CCrusaders] GM says, "I like Family First."

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "Me too."

[CCrusaders] GM asks, "Cool -- who's next?"

[Crows-Nest] Cuddlepaws says, "I can go."

[Crows-Nest] GM exclaims, "Excellent!"

[CCrusaders] Eben asks (of Wanda), "Do you want Eben to have known about your spider nature, or did you mom keep that from me until now?"

[CCrusaders] Cuddlepaws says, "I can go, mine should be rather short."

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "*your"

[CCrusaders] Cuddlepaws says, "One dark and rainy night, when young Wanda was patrolling (and about to quit, because who commits crime in the rain?) she heard a meowing from a nearby tree."

[Crows-Nest] Zircon says, "haha Dagnab kids these days, with their hipping and their hopping and their being giant spiders"

[CCrusaders] Cuddlepaws says, "And in it sat a soaking wet white kitten with a bloody paw. Of course Wanda saved her ,and, since it was her first rescue, she kept her. She named her Kitty Cuddlepaws (Wanda was very young ... )."

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "aw"

[CCrusaders] Cuddlepaws says, "Many years went by and Cuddlepaws mostly lived with Grandpa Ebner. (The Webbs were allergic to cats). Then one day, Eben started wondering why the hell she would sit in front of the lab door and meow until she was let out, only to want back in a second later."

[CCrusaders] Cuddlepaws exclaims, "So Eben build her a psionic helmet, and to their surprise it not only made Cuddlepaws more intelligent, it also gave her superpowers!"

[CCrusaders] Cuddlepaws says, "And now Cuddlepaws occasionally (but reluctantly) takes part in superhero stuff."

[CCrusaders] Cuddlepaws says, "But mostly sleeps in a well cuishioned old Payne-Tech box in the lab. Also, she never told Eben why."

[CCrusaders] Cuddlepaws says, "<end>"

[Crows-Nest] Eben says, "I like that building a psionic helmet was just a side project of mine."

[CCrusaders] Jacob says, "Aw"

[Crows-Nest] Cuddlepaws says, "me too"

[Crows-Nest] Cuddlepaws says, "I imagine she was a side character in the comics until a new writer found something for her to do."

[Crows-Nest] Eben says, "Ha"

[CCrusaders] GM says, "..Yay."

[CCrusaders] GM says, "I trust that the 'reluctantly' part won't get in the way of joining in with the story, right? :)"

[Crows-Nest] Cuddlepaws says, "Nope"

[CCrusaders] Cuddlepaws says, "Nope"

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "I've put mine up in the notes doc, at https://docs.google.com/document/d/1zNOAIv3Cn0Og9cE7zgUAn6u13gwgV0cT5bkizs8FHY8/edit"

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "But for posterity, I'll paste what it is now:"

[CCrusaders] GM says, "And now, it's your turn to create an Aspect from some part of that."

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "(But I'll wait for aspect creation)"

[CCrusaders] Cuddlepaws says, "hmm"

[CCrusaders] Cuddlepaws says, "Does anyone else have an idea? Sort of blanking here"

[CCrusaders] GM says, "You could choose one relating to your relationship with Wanda."

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "It could be as small as Some People Are Allergic To Me"

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "I guess the hat is your high concept."

[CCrusaders] GM says, "Or one about your helmet, or your relationship with technology."

[CCrusaders] GM exclaims (at Zircon), "Ooh, good one!"

[CCrusaders] Zircon asks, "or I Wonder What's In This Room?"

[CCrusaders] Cuddlepaws says, "Yeah I was thinking "It hasn't killed me ... yet""

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "Or 'Curisoity Never Killed Me'"

[CCrusaders] GM says, "I like that."

Cuddlepaws I'll take it!

[CCrusaders] GM asks, "OK, I think Eben is next?"

[CCrusaders] Wanda asks, "Didn't he already do his?"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "I think Jacob's next"

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "I did my general background, but not origin per se."

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "oh"

[CCrusaders] Eben | Eben was in Special Ops in Vietnam, as part of the largely-US-but-officially-UN force that went in against the Red Menace; a supervillain who had installed himself as ruler of Vietnam.  He was part of the team that managed to subdue the Red Menace in the end, by shooting him with an electro pulse gun (something he designed in tandem with Frances Kent, a scientist from Hanoi working with the UN at the time) that took out his power plate armor, that turned out to be a key component of his superpowers.  He returned to the US, married Frances, and started working for Payne Technologies, where he helped design a wide variety of gadgets that Payne would sell to the military or to the general public, to great acclaim.  Eben always had side projects going in his garage, including tinkering with the R.M.s power armor, which he had kept as a souvenir.  After retiring a decade or so ago, he turned his full attention to the odder features of the armor, and eventually worked out a way to repurpose some of the technology in it to create a Portal Gun.

[CCrusaders] Eben | Ebens had great fun with the gun, though hes tried to keep its existence mostly under wraps.  However, a few weeks ago, when out playing with it, he came upon [a crime in progress--maybe a getaway car running from his son in law?], and was able to thwart it!  This prompted him to come out of his garage and start paying attention to the wave of crime taking place in his home town, and has decided to put his engineering talents to work to stop it.

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "(ideas for what crime I thwarted welcome)"

[CCrusaders] Wanda asks, "You thwarted a bank robbery?"

[CCrusaders] Wanda asks, "prevented the robbers from getting away with the cash?"

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "Portalled the robber back inside the now-locked vault ;-)"

[CCrusaders] Wanda exclaims, "nice!"

[CCrusaders] Cuddlepaws says, "You portaled ... timing"

[CCrusaders] GM says, "Yay."

[CCrusaders] GM says, "So now it's your turn to create an Aspect."

[CCrusaders] Cuddlepaws asks, "Was the Red Menace killed or imprisoned or his body never found?"

[Crows-Nest] Zircon says, "turned out the Red Menace was really more of a metaphor"

[Crows-Nest] Cuddlepaws says, "And now he's intereferring in the Crownsford elections"

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "Oh, right--I was considering having the Red Menace having been extradited to the US, served his time, and is now retired in Crownsford himself, under strict regulators that keep him from having superpowers, and that Eben and he are friends."

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "The Red Menace Is Still Out There"

[CCrusaders] GM says, "Ha ha ha."

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "The Red Minor Inconvenience"

[CCrusaders] GM says, "The Red Menace Is Still Out There And We Play Bridge On Tuesdays."

[CCrusaders] Jacob says, "Yay"

[CCrusaders] Cuddlepaws says, "The greying menace"

[CCrusaders] Eben exclaims, "Hee!"

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "but look out for his protege, La Menace Rouge"

[CCrusaders] Wanda asks, "could be a Xavier/Magneto style relationship? a truce which might be broken if things go wrong?"

[CCrusaders] GM asks (of Eben), "So, which Aspect are you thinking of using from this story?"

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "I kind of like the Tuesdays one, actually."

[CCrusaders] GM says, "Excellent."

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "And using that for Contacts."

[CCrusaders] Wanda exclaims, "Nice!"

[CCrusaders] GM asks, "Alright, Jacob or Zircon?"

[CCrusaders] Jacob says, "I'll go"

[CCrusaders] GM nods.

[CCrusaders] Jacob | Abilities backstory: Jacob has always been a loner when it came to people, but he loved animals. His home life was not great, so he spent a lot of time at the public library or at the zoo. He especially liked the birds. He would talk to them quietly, as if they were people, and he'd make up conversations, until one day, he realized that they were in fact talking back to him. Soon, he no longer needed to even open his mouth to talk to them, he could have conversations all in his head. But it wasn't "all in his head" in that sense, because the birds knew things he did not, things which always turned out to be true. Once he discovered that he could talk to birds, he began to be able to sense their presence, even when he couldn't see them. But usually he could see them, because he always seemed to be constantly surrounded by the birds. He wished badly to be a bird, because their lives seemed so much more carefree than his, and one day, he pet a duck at the pond, and he was able to possess the creature for a short time. The time spent possessing birds improved his eyesight, to the point where he no longer needed glasses, and even beyond that, so that he could see and notice things that no other human could, including see in total darkness.

[CCrusaders] Jacob | As far as why he's a superhero: Jacob isn't the biggest fan of humans, especially those who are cruel to animals, and he started, as a teenager, to stalk (with the help of the birds who see all) and attack people (again.. sharp beaks and claws) who caused harm to animals, and even to other people, people like him, who were weak and quiet and who made good victims. He probably met Cuddlepaws sometime and that's how he got involved with the team, becoming more of a do-gooder and less of a vigilante. Though he's always going to be tough on bullies, because fuck bullies, man.

[CCrusaders] Jacob says, "<end>"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says (to Jacob), "Wow, that's neat considering my backstory of being a product of animal cruelty/experimentation"

[CCrusaders] GM asks, "Good, good. And now what Aspect would you like to make from that?"

[CCrusaders] Wanda asks, "Fuck Bullies, Man?"

[CCrusaders] Jacob says, "Yeah, I was thinking that :D"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "too crude, maybe"

[Crows-Nest] GM says, "Man, it's going to suck when it turns out that Zircon's hobby is vivisection."

[CCrusaders] Jacob says, "Otherwise, I'm not sure."

[CCrusaders] Cuddlepaws says, "'Breakfast Club fan'"

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "Tough on Bullies is all comics-code correct"

[CCrusaders] Jacob says, "Fair"

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "It's Not All In My Head! is pretty strong though"

[CCrusaders] Jacob says, "Hm"

[Crows-Nest] Cuddlepaws says, "I've heard it's a scream."

[CCrusaders] GM asks (of Jacob), "Which one do you think you want to go with?"

[CCrusaders] Jacob asks, "I think tough on bullies?"

[CCrusaders] GM says, "Sounds good."

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "Yay."

[CCrusaders] GM exclaims, "Zircon, you're next!"

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "Okay so young Louis grew up in the Payne Orphanage"

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "kinda got into scamming people and various cons"

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "Anyway late one night he's just hanging around a truck stop parking lot"

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "And this... shadowy guy comes up and makes him a deal. Louis signs a contract in blood."

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "He moves to Vegas, starts making a pretty good living as a stage magician, just out of nowhere."

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "But in the dark of the new moon he sometimes hears this guy's voice whispering in his ear, telling him to do things."

[Crows-Nest] Wanda says, "Things just got... *dark*"

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "One time he interrupted a mugging and kinda got caught so he needed to whip up a cover story fast, so he invented Zircon the Zorcerer and illusioned himself up a costume, basically all off the top of his head"

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "Then things went sour in Vegas for some reason. Zircon needed to lie low, so he moved back to Crownsford. Plays a weekly show at the casino."

[CCrusaders] Cuddlepaws asks, "So the mob is on his tail?"

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "Maybe! Anyway he kinda became known as a guy who could discreetly handle problems, either as Louis or sometimes Zircon would just show up."

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "So he doesn't 'fight crime' per se but he's available for hire."

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "If that works for people."

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "(end)"

[Crows-Nest] Wanda asks, "We are going to have to recruit this guy?"

[CCrusaders] Cuddlepaws says, "The cover of "Magician for Hire #56" is a sought after collector's item."

[Crows-Nest] Zircon says, "He might just show up 'for his own reasons'"

[Crows-Nest] Cuddlepaws says, "Ooooooh, I get it"

[Crows-Nest] Cuddlepaws says, "he's Tuxedo Mask"

[Crows-Nest] Zircon asks, "Is that some Anime thing?"

[Crows-Nest] Cuddlepaws says, "Sailor Moon"

[CCrusaders] GM asks (of Zircon), "Nice. And what Aspect do you want to build from that?"

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "I'm kinda digging that 'Sold His Soul' is not even his biggest problem, but that seems like it might be a bit abstract"

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "oh how about 'Wrote A Cheque His Ass Can't Cash'"

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "Most aspects you'll want to be able to tag at some point to give yourself a bonus to some action."

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "or 'Everyone Wants A Piece of Me'"

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "Though they can also be useful for the GM to tag to put you in trouble."

[CCrusaders] GM says, "Yeah, ideally, it'll be both."

[CCrusaders] GM asks, "Do any of those seem like they're things that you can make use of yourself?"

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "So maybe 'embraced by shadows'"

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "it's surprisingly-handy being soulless"

[CCrusaders] Cuddlepaws says, "*signed on the dotted line*"

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "So you can get a bonus to doing shadowy illusions, but also can be compelled by the voice or something."

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "hmmm I think maybe I'll run with 'Everyone Wants A Piece of Me' now that I keep looking at it"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says (to Zircon), "There's a Shadow Projection theme"

[CCrusaders] GM asks (of Zircon), "Alright -- so you're thinking you've got various enemies looking for you?"

[Crows-Nest] Cuddlepaws asks, "Does he know what evil lurks in the hearts of men?"

[CCrusaders] GM asks, "How do you foresee tagging that to your benefit?"

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "well moreso as Louis Lux, minor celebrity, getting into fancy restaurants"

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "Or when the giant spider is trying to grab me before I fall to my doom"

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "Oh, I can see that."

[CCrusaders] GM exclaims (at Zircon), "Ah, nice. Sounds good!"

[CCrusaders] GM exclaims, "OK, phase two: The Crossover!"

[CCrusaders] Wanda asks, "Crossover?"

[CCrusaders] GM says, "In this phase, you should pick one of the other PC's, and at the stories they told."

[CCrusaders] GM says, "Then choose some part of that story. It could be the main gist of it, or just a side detail."

[CCrusaders] GM says, "And think of a way in which that part of their story either involved you or affected you. It could be a direct involvement, or just some indirect effect that it had on your life."

[CCrusaders] GM says, "Something where either you helped with something, or caused a complication in that story, or where some part of it either helped or complicated things for you."

[CCrusaders] GM says, "As soon as one of you is ready to go, let me know."

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "Gee, I'm not involved in any of the other stories at all."

[CCrusaders] GM exclaims (at Eben), "Not *yet*!"

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "Okay I've got an idea"

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "(that was a joke--I'm explicitly mentioned in two of them!)"

[CCrusaders] GM says, "But the point of this phase is that you're *adding* that part of the story."

[CCrusaders] GM says, "Oh, ha, right."

[CCrusaders] GM says, "(Forgot whom I was talking to for a moment.)"

[CCrusaders] GM exclaims (at Zircon), "Alright, go ahead!"

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "Wherein the dashing Martha Webb is getting all her synthetic skin chemicals from somewhere, and probably doesn't want a big paper trail leading right to her, so maybe she asked that weird Zircon if he could grease the skin wheels"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "ooooh I like this"

[Crows-Nest] Cuddlepaws says, "That somehow sounds utterly disgusting"

[Crows-Nest] Eben says, "'somehow'."

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "and Zircon is all, oh yeah sure I know a guy who knows a guy"

[Crows-Nest] GM says, "Hee."

Gunther has arrived.

[CCrusaders] GM says, "Nice."

[CCrusaders] * Gunther has joined the channel.

[CCrusaders] GM asks, "And (unless you're still storytelling! don't let me stop you), what Aspect would you like from that?"

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "hmm"

[Crows-Nest] Wanda says, "He gets the 'Greasy' aspect"

[Crows-Nest] Zircon says, "haha hey"

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "'know a guy who knows a guy' always works."

[CCrusaders] GM says, "Indeed."

[CCrusaders] Cuddlepaws says, "(Aside: is it okay if Aspects interact with each other?)"

inky has arrived.

[CCrusaders] Wanda asks, "'Shady Acquantainces'?"

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "(assuming you're taking Contacts at some level)"

[Crows-Nest] (from Jacob) Zircon says, "I bet you think I'm the greasy strangler, don't you?"

[CCrusaders] Eben says (to Cuddlepaws), "Sure."

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "sure I'll run with 'I know a guy who knows a guy' for now"

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "They're there for two reasons: one, to inform your roleplaying of the character, and two, as an excuse to spend fate points."

[CCrusaders] GM says, "Spend *and* receive."

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "so Wanda (or Eben, or anyone really) feel free to keep building on that or do your own thing"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "I'm still uncertain about my own Crossover. Seems like Jacob's story might be one possibility. But I'll think that over while someone else does their thing"

[CCrusaders] Cuddlepaws says, "Unless one of you wants to build on that, I have a seperate thing"

[CCrusaders] GM asks, "OK. Eben, Jacob or Cuddlepaws?"

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "Three! Three reasons. Inform your character, excuse to spend fate points, excuse to receive fate points, and as catch phrases to utter when playing... I'll come in again."

[CCrusaders] GM says (to Cuddlepaws), "Go for it."

[CCrusaders] Cuddlepaws says, "So remember when there was that guy who called himself The Engineer and build all these steam-powered robots that terrorized the city? And remember when Cuddlepaws was seperated from the team and chased down an alley by the Steam Dog? And remember how that weird bird guy used his friends to distract the dog so I could escape? Ever since then Cuddlepaws has been "A friend to birds of the city", a sort of uneasy truce where I don't prey on them and they occasionally help."

[CCrusaders] Cuddlepaws asks, "And maybe need my help sometimes?"

[CCrusaders] Jacob says, "Aw, yay"

[CCrusaders] GM says, "[Editor's Note: See issue #12 of That Weird Bird Guy.]"

[CCrusaders] Cuddlepaws says, "hehe"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "That weird bird guy needs a superhero name."

[CCrusaders] Cuddlepaws asks, "So that could totally be a two-way street?"

[CCrusaders] GM says (to Cuddlepaws), "Indeed."

[Crows-Nest] Jacob updates the wiki to say "Jacob, that weird bird guy"

[CCrusaders] GM says, "Very good, so I think that leaves Jacob and Eben to cross over."

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "and me"

[CCrusaders] GM exclaims, "Oh, right!"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "but I'm still stumped :("

[CCrusaders] GM asks, "We'll let the other two go, and if you don't have an idea by then, we can collaborate on something?"

[CCrusaders] Jacob says, "Ok, so, I was thinking that perhaps Jacob knew about Nichols and his experimentation and wanted to snoop and stop him, but did'nt get a chance, but he did kind of track what happened to the egg through his bird friends, and knows about Wanda and maybe has reached out to her, since she's not "like those other humans"."

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "nice"

[CCrusaders] Jacob says, "Also to please stop eating my bird friends, hehe."

[CCrusaders] GM says, "Cool. Ha ha."

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "heh"

[CCrusaders] GM asks, "And for an Aspect?"

[CCrusaders] Eben asks, "Maybe that's how Eben got tipped off?"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "oh interesting"

[CCrusaders] GM says (to Eben), "Ooh."

[CCrusaders] Jacob says, "Hm. I'm not sure? Something about trying and failing to save Wanda's mother and maybe feeling guilty about it. I don't know."

[CCrusaders] Cuddlepaws asks, "Maybe you found out that Wanda is really from Space and not a mutated Earth Spider?"

[CCrusaders] GM asks, "Hmm. 'Don't Want To Lose Another One'?"

[CCrusaders] Jacob says, ""A debt to pay" or something, or yeah, what you said."

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "or maybe Nichols Is Still Out There"

[CCrusaders] GM says, "(Or does anyone else have any suggestions?)"

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "Spiders Are Just Birds With Lots of Legs"

[CCrusaders] Jacob says, "It makes him extra protective of her and their friends."

[CCrusaders] Cuddlepaws asks, "'Unlikely Friendship' ?"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says (to Zircon), "hee"

[CCrusaders] Wanda asks (of Jacob), "that makes you, like, my adoptive big brother?"

[CCrusaders] Jacob says, "I like don't want to lose another one"

[CCrusaders] Jacob says, "Yeah maybe"

[CCrusaders] Eben asks (of Jacob), "So, maybe you watched for a while, and finally told Eben, but by then things had gone too far?"

[CCrusaders] Jacob says (to Eben), "Yeah"

[CCrusaders] Jacob says, ""Protective""

[Crows-Nest] Cuddlepaws asks, "Has Wanda's mom eaten her dad?"

[Crows-Nest] Jacob says, "Aw"

[CCrusaders] GM asks, "Alright. Which one are you going with?"

[CCrusaders] Jacob says, "Protective"

[CCrusaders] GM says, "Cool."

[CCrusaders] GM asks, "I think... Eben is next?"

[Crows-Nest] Wanda says, "knowing Nichols, she was probably artificially inseminated with chemicals"

[Crows-Nest] GM asks, "Does that make Nichols, in some sense, your father?"

[Crows-Nest] Zircon says, "artificial spider semen? Hold on, I know a guy"

[Crows-Nest] Wanda asks, "Kind of?"

[Crows-Nest] GM says, "Ha ha ew."

[Crows-Nest] Cuddlepaws says, "That's a question the comic examines in depths"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "I think Eben can go next? I'm still at a loss."

[CCrusaders] Eben asks, "I think I'm going to go with 'Adopted or not, you're all my kids,' since Eben is naturally very paternal. There's his granddaughter, of course, and the cat to whom he bestowed intelligence, but he also invites Jacob over for family dinners (and he sometimes even accepts). And maybe something with Zircon, too? Or does Zircon not want to be as adopted?"

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "hmmm that's a bit more complex than I want to nail down right now, I think"

[CCrusaders] Cuddlepaws says, "I think Zircon works well as the odd one out here"

[CCrusaders] Cuddlepaws says, "Bit like Spike on Buffy"

[CCrusaders] GM adds 'Fear of Commitment' to Zircon's Aspects.

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "Hee"

[CCrusaders] Wanda asks, "I think Eben should crossover with Jacob's story?"

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "but Eben can definitely unilaterally consider Zircon in that light if he wants to"

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "even if you're not my real dad"

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "OK, yeah, that'll probably develop as part of the campaign, then, as opposed to having been in place beforehand."

[Crows-Nest] Wanda says, "I suspect the real central character here is Commissioner Webb."

[CCrusaders] Eben says (to Wanda), "For yours, you can always just go with your existing role in Cuddlepaws's story."

[CCrusaders] GM asks, "Cool. So you're using that as the Aspect still, right?"

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "maybe Eben studied Jacob when he was developing the Helmet"

[CCrusaders] Eben says (to GM), "Yeah."

[Crows-Nest] Zircon says, "Zircon is that guy that we got when we bought up that smaller comics company so he's our IP but no one knows what to do with him"

[CCrusaders] GM says (to Wanda), "So, as Eben said, you are already in Cuddlepaws' story, so you could go with something based on that."

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "I figure I met Jacob when he told me about Nichols, noticed his loner-ish-ness, and has invited him over for dinner since ten."

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "er, since then."

[CCrusaders] GM says, "Or you could look at Eben's, story, perhaps -- his garage tinkering, or maybe a connection with the Red Menace's family..."

[CCrusaders] Jacob says, "Cool"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "hmhm"

[CCrusaders] Cuddlepaws asks, "I feel like we don't really have a cool villian yet, so maybe a crossover that involves one?"

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "You could separately naturally see/hear the shadow people."

[CCrusaders] Wanda asks, "Oh, from Zircon's story?"

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "Right."

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "Well you also have that unexplained wound, Cuddles"

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "Maybe you were just a ritual cat that The Man In Black used to find me"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "Nichols is still out there, too."

[CCrusaders] Cuddlepaws says, "Maybe I escaped from Nichols lab, and Wanda's mum saved me, too"

[CCrusaders] Wanda asks (of Cuddlepaws), "that means changing your story a lot?"

[CCrusaders] Cuddlepaws says, "Not really"

[CCrusaders] Cuddlepaws says, "Oh right, I would be much older"

[CCrusaders] Cuddlepaws says, "Nevermind"

[CCrusaders] Cuddlepaws says, "I like the ritual cat thing"

[CCrusaders] GM asks (of Wanda), "What do you think?"

[CCrusaders] Eben asks, "We could say that Wanda was chasing off some shadowy figures when she rescued Cuddlepaws?"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "aha"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "double crossover"

[CCrusaders] GM says, "Indeed."

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "I'm sorry for hesitating so much."

[CCrusaders] Wanda cogitates.

[CCrusaders] GM says, "That's OK. If you want, we can leave this Aspect blank, and you can fill it in later."

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "okay"

[CCrusaders] GM exclaims, "Alright. Then let's go to Phase 3!"

[CCrusaders] GM says, "In this phase, you get a choice. You can either pick another PC -- a different one, that you didn't pick before, and who didn't pick you -- and do another crossover, either based on their original origin story or on their crossover story..."

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "I've got another idea if I can light it up"

[CCrusaders] GM says, "...*or*, if you've got another story about your character that you'd really like to tell, you can use that instead :)"

[CCrusaders] GM exclaims (at Zircon), "Go for it!"

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "Okay so this is sort of a special issue; art is more stylized, and there's little-to-no dialogue"

[CCrusaders] Zircon exclaims, "But it's all Eben and Zircon, with Eben trying to bring science to bear on Zircon's powers, but the science just isn't resolving!"

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "And at the end everyone just shrugs and decides "Well, it's magic, innit""

[CCrusaders] Cuddlepaws asks, "Ebner is british now?"

[CCrusaders] GM says, "Poor Eben."

[CCrusaders] GM says, "So terribly frustrating."

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "Zircon is the lost heir of the British throne, I'm pretty sure he said once."

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "this special issue had a cameo appearance by Eddie Izzard"

[CCrusaders] GM asks, "Is 'It's Magic, Innit' the Aspect?"

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "yeah I reckon so. Or we can go with "It's Magic, Dagnabbit" if that fits better"

[CCrusaders] GM says, "I admit that does sound a bit more Eben-y, to me."

[CCrusaders] GM asks, "Cool, who's next?"

[CCrusaders] Cuddlepaws says, "I have something"

[CCrusaders] GM asks, "Yeah?"

[CCrusaders] Cuddlepaws says, "it's also a special issue, mostly dialogue less. In a dark room, there's a pentagram full of blood, and the edge of the frame hints at dead white cats. There are men in robes, chanting."

[Crows-Nest] GM adds a '-13' to our PG rating.

[CCrusaders] Cuddlepaws exclaims, "While nobody's watches, the distraught mom cat pushes open the cage that someone forgot to close properly and pushes her last kitten out. The kitten escapes through a broken window, cutting her paw in the process. But the shadow people are after it!"

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "dang"

[CCrusaders] Cuddlepaws says, "It flees up a tree, and when Wanda comes, they move away. "One of them says : "It's just a kitten. I won't even remember. We can always get another one." The last frame is a close up of the kitten in Wanda's arm. Oh. She does remember. Aspect: "Unfinished business""

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "Revenge is always a good Aspect to have."

[CCrusaders] GM says (to Cuddlepaws), "Nice."

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "if you want another Aspect for the setting: 'We can always get another one'"

[CCrusaders] Cuddlepaws says (to zircon), "Nice."

[CCrusaders] GM asks, "OK, who's up next?"

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "For me, I think I'm going with 'I can build something to fix this!', going with both the psionic helmet I randomly made for the cat, but also in the Nichols Incident, I was trying to build something to get into the lab after he barricaded himself in, but things went wrong before I could make it work/finish it."

[CCrusaders] GM says, "Cool."

[CCrusaders] GM asks, "That leaves... Wanda and Jacob?"

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "So I'm great at building things, but I'm also likely to externalize problems that are probably actually interpersonal, etc."

[CCrusaders] Jacob says, "I don't really know. Hm."

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "Well, there was that one time in high school when Wanda discovered she could wield fire, and accidentally destroyed her skin suit while using the toilet."

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "Surely the birds have been gossipping about the giant spider running around town"

[CCrusaders] GM says (to Wanda), "Ha ha whoops."

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "Wanda destroyed that toilet. Ewww."

[CCrusaders] Jacob says, "Hahaha"

[Crows-Nest] Cuddlepaws says, "halp im covered in rats"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says (to GM), "In order to hide this, she escaped out the window, and tried to sneak back home using her wallcrawling and agility."

[CCrusaders] GM says, "As one does."

[CCrusaders] GM asks, "What Aspect would you like to create from this?"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "She ended up getting home safely, of course, and the Comissioner covered up the incident using his contacts."

[CCrusaders] GM says, "(Whoops, didn't mean to interrupt!)"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says (to GM), "There are several: I Tend To Make A Mess, My Adoptive Dad Covers For Me, etc"

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "That was just a promo for the upcoming Spidernado movie"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "hahah"

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "Dear Reader, I Destroyed That Toilet"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "hee"

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "'Do *Not* Go In There!'"

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "heh"

[CCrusaders] GM says, "Aw."

[CCrusaders] GM asks (of Wanda), "Which do you think would be the most fun to tag and to get compelled with?"

[CCrusaders] Wanda asks, "Wardrobe Malfunction?"

[CCrusaders] GM says, "(Or if you'd like, you can grab two of them here, to fill in the earlier Aspect you were unsure of.)"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says (to GM), "oh neat"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "I take 'Wardrobe Malfunction' (my skin suits tend to get damages at unlikely moments, and sometimes my fire powers go off without warning)"

[Crows-Nest] Cuddlepaws says, "Wanda is just full of metaphors for puperty"

[CCrusaders] GM asks, "OK -- are you thinking that you might be tagging that when you're willing to sacrifice your skinsuit in order to use your powers more effectively?"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "and my second Aspect would be 'Commissioner Webb Covers For Me' (my adoptive father secretly aids me with his police contacts while overtly hunting me as a vigilante/pest/monster)"

[Crows-Nest] Zircon says, "that's puberty for puppets"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says (to GM), "yeah, that a swell"

[CCrusaders] GM exclaims, "Sounds good!"

[CCrusaders] GM asks, "So I think everyone has their five aspects now, right?"

[CCrusaders] Jacob says, "Ok, here's a thing. Jacob has been trying, with the help of the birds, to track down Nichols, but he's mostly gotten broken leads here and there. But he's quite certain he's still out there, being a dick to animals and people alike. And he thinks Zircon could help him, what with knowing all sorts of shady people, but Zircon has been giving him the brush off."

[CCrusaders] GM says, "(Oh, sorry!)"

[CCrusaders] Jacob says, "S'ok"

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "Beat it, kid"

[CCrusaders] Jacob says, "And for an aspect, uh.."

[CCrusaders] Jacob says, "Aw :'("

[CCrusaders] GM says, "If he adds an 'I work alone', you know you'll be buddies for life."

[CCrusaders] Jacob says, "There was an aspect suggested earlier that "he's still out there", and Jacob is a bit obsessed with this idea, but not sure how that would play into other things well"

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "anything like People Just Ignore Me can be good"

[CCrusaders] Jacob says, "Oh yeah"

[CCrusaders] Jacob says, "Hm."

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "Forever Unobtrusive"

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "Flat Broke if you want to go in that direction"

[CCrusaders] Wanda asks, "Homeless Tramp?"

[CCrusaders] Jacob says, "Flat broke sounds good, and I'll remove resources from my skills"

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "My heart is dark and empty, like my wallet"

[CCrusaders] Jacob says, "Since I didn't have a story for that"

[CCrusaders] GM asks, "Is Flat Broke something that you can use to your benefit?"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "Well, if he's flat broke, he's not going to be a target for crime"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "Since he has nothing of value"

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "He knows where all the best places to publicly urinate are"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "He knows all the homeless in the city"

[CCrusaders] Jacob says, "I think he's good at figuring out other ways to get what he wants (not just stealing)"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "aha"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "that sounds good"

[CCrusaders] GM says, "Sounds good."

[CCrusaders] Wanda says (to GM), "Just a note: what's cool about 'Commissioner Webb Secretly Covers For Me' as an Aspect is that it can lead to conflict with 'Family First' since he might get in trouble trying to help me, and I'd feel guilty for that."

[CCrusaders] GM says, "Ah, yes, indeed."

[CCrusaders] Wanda asks, "So that's our Aspects all sorted?"

[CCrusaders] GM says, "I think so! The next part of character creation I want to do is Stunts. And specifically, Powers."

[CCrusaders] Wanda has all her powers in place.

[CCrusaders] GM says, "Stunts in Fate are extra little abilities that your chracter has. Regular Stunts are usually things like a bonus to a particular skill in specific situations, or being able to use a skill in certain situations where it wouldn't apply, or anything of a similar power level to that. And you normally get three stunts, and have the option to trade in one or two of your Refresh for additional ones."

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "I've been wondering whether to keep Teleportation as my main thing, or whether to make it my main subsystem under Gadgeteering instead."

[CCrusaders] GM exclaims, "But of course, as superheroes, you get access to some extra special stunt-based things: superpowers!"

[CCrusaders] GM says (to Eben), "I was surprised to not see Gadgeteering on your list."

[CCrusaders] GM says, "Superpowers can be purchased using stunts (and refresh), and you also get an extra three bonus stunts that can only be spent on powers."

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "Yeah, it's the difference between Teleportation with a Technology theme vs. Engineering with a Teleportation synergy."

[D&D] GDorn says, "in the 'Too Many Vecnas' campaign, I have an idea that the PCs will end up in an alternate universe that's been 'colonized' by a Vecna from a fictional mid-90s SSI game."

[CCrusaders] Eben asks, "So you can potentially spend up to 8 points on stunts/powers?"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "Yep."

[CCrusaders] GM says, "Every hero gets a Power Suite, a set of related abilities that are all narratively related. Occasionally, a hero might have two suites, if they have a second set of unconnected powers."

[D&D] GDorn says, "I'm trying to think of clues to drop to suggest to the players that they're now in a computer game, at least partly."

[CCrusaders] GM says, "E.g., Spiderman's super strength, wall crawling, spidey senses, etc. are all part of the same power suite. Even though they're listed as separate powers in the rules, they're all part of his having been bitten by a radioactive spider."

[D&D] inky asks, "monsters respawning?"

[D&D] GDorn says, "some ideas I currently have: completely arbitrary wandering monsters that appear when the party moves, time is meaningless (unless they 'rest')"

[CCrusaders] Cuddlepaws says, "I feel like I've already done this part"

[D&D] GDorn says, "ooh, that's a good one, too"

[CCrusaders] GM says, "On the other hand, he also has his web shooters, which let him swing around as if he were flying or trap people in webbing, which is unrelated to his radioactive blood, so they count as a second suite."

[D&D] Cuddlepaws asks, "Monsters only having a front?"

[D&D] GDorn says, "I want to start with the less weird and progress to blatantly obvious"

[CCrusaders] GM asks (of Cuddlepaws), "Has everyone finished their already?"

[D&D] Gunther says, "read up on the shit the old wizardry and m&m games did"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "I've done mine."

[CCrusaders] Jacob says, "I'm good, yeah."

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "I know the basics, unless I switch out Gadgeteering."

[CCrusaders] GM says, "(And if anyone wants to revise theirs right now, feel free to!)"

[D&D] inky says, "npcs with limited dialogue"

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "Any opinions on that? I feel like with the stories so far, maybe I should switch."

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "I feel mostly okay on my powers; a little shaky on my mundane stunts"

[D&D] GDorn says, "I thought about the auto-scaling, but I want this section to play out very quickly and the PCs are way out of level"

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "Since I keep making random things for people."

[CCrusaders] Jacob says, "I don't have special effects for my powers, because i didn't understand that"

[CCrusaders] GM asks (of Zircon), "OK. What are you shaky on?"

[D&D] inky says, "I think in ultima underworld the crpg addict was saying there's a thing where all anonymous npcs of a particular type have the same brain"

[CCrusaders] GM says (to Jacob), "Ah, OK. I'll explain."

[D&D] inky says, "so like if you meet generic orc 1, then later if you meet generic orc 2 it'll say "oh, you again""

[D&D] GDorn says (to inky), "when SSI-Vecna realizes the PCs are from another universe, he's going to follow them out and start corrupting their universe, which will result in the NPCs they already know getting turned into 2-dimensional videogame characters"

[CCrusaders] GM says, "When you make a roll, and you succeed at that roll by at least 3 shifts (i.e., you roll at least three higher than the number you're rolling against), that's called succeeding 'with style'."

[CCrusaders] GM says, "Ordinary, if you succeed with style, you get a special bonus: if you're rolling to create an advantage (which normally lets you create an Aspect and get one free invocation on that aspect), you can instead get *two* free invocations."

[D&D] GDorn says, "but I can use the flat NPC dialogue within the 'game' as well"

[CCrusaders] Jacob says, "Mostly I'm not sure what sort of special effects (based on their examples) make sense with my powers, I guess."

[CCrusaders] GM says, "If you're rolling to overcome an obstacle or defend, when you succeed with style, you get a 'boost' -- which is kinda like a very temporary Aspect. You can invoke it once for free, then it goes away."

[D&D] GDorn says, "I also had the idea that the SSI-Vecna is the only self-aware character in that universe, but the players will probably assume at first that he's just a program, too. But he starts messing with the rules of the game as soon as the PCs start abusing the game logic."

[CCrusaders] GM says, "But with Special Effects, you have the option to forego that usual benefit when you succeed with style using your powers, and instead get one of these."

[CCrusaders] GM says (to Jacob), "OK, let's take a look at the list of suggested options..."

[D&D] GDorn says, "like, there's a multi-stage battle at the 'end' which arbitrarily spawns more monsters when the last monster of the previous stage dies, and the PCs can abuse that by capturing the last monster but not killing it"

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "I took Extra Action as one of my special powers, but don't actually know how it works; it just seemed thematically appropriate."

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "maybe something like 'instead of your power targetting a bird, it instead targets a whole flock of birds'"

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "One With The Flock"

[CCrusaders] Jacob says, "Yeah, extra action sounds cool, and maybe extra movement, can both go with super sense (sight). And mental recovery and something else for animal control."

[CCrusaders] GM says, ";..Jacob One of the options is 'Extra Movement'. You could say that when you succeed with style at getting birds to help you, you can also get them to pick you up and carry you a couple of zones away in the process."

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "nice"

[D&D] GDorn says, "I was just going to have that endgame battle, and not develop the SSI game further, but it might be more fun to play it straight at first, with the PCs' arrival triggering the start of the SSI game's plot."

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "You just lightly run across a bunch of birds"

[CCrusaders] Jacob says, "Hehe"

[CCrusaders] GM says, "Or Inflict Condition, if you're sizing up an enemy or trying to see something about them, then when you succeed with style, you could also add an Aspect for something about them that you've noticed with your super senses."

[CCrusaders] Jacob says, "Yeah, ok, I'll take extra movement for that one, too."

[CCrusaders] Jacob says, "Hm."

[CCrusaders] Jacob says, "Ok, I'll think about it."

[D&D] GDorn says, "I could even do something extremely hamfisted, like how in Curse of the Azure Bonds, the PCs are stripped naked to fix the power balance issues from being imported from the prior game."

[CCrusaders] GM says, "And you can also think of something new to add here, if there's something of a similar power level that you think would fit your powers better."

[CCrusaders] Cuddlepaws says, "Oh, I had a question"

[D&D] GDorn asks, "what other awful tropes would help clue them?"

[CCrusaders] GM asks, "Yes?"

[CCrusaders] Cuddlepaws says, "My shielding has the special effect mental or physical recovery"

[CCrusaders] Cuddlepaws asks, "Would that only work on myseld or also others?"

[CCrusaders] GM says, "I think just yourself."

[D&D] Cuddlepaws asks, "Weird waiting times between dungeon levels?"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says (to Jacob), "For superhero names: Raven, Blackbird, Mockingjay, are all suggestions you might like to look into"

[D&D] GDorn says, "haha"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "(since you're all dressed in black)"

[CCrusaders] Jacob says, "Yeah, I was thinking Raven, but oh god is that stereotypical."

[CCrusaders] Jacob says, "He's so goth."

[D&D] GDorn says, "the world could fade to black and be replaced with a completely different-looking space when battles happen"

[CCrusaders] GM says (to Cuddlepaws), "So, e.g., if something attacks your shield, and you hold off that attack *really* well, then you can decide that you've actually shaken off the mental strain you took earlier the last time the shield was attacked."

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "Mockingjay works with the fact that he's called... *Jay*cob"

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "you mean"

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "Ravyn"

[Crows-Nest] Jacob says, "I met a Ravyn recently..."

[Crows-Nest] Jacob dies.

inky might have been the Drizzt of werewolves or something.

[CCrusaders] GM asks (of Zircon), "Oh, you were asking about stunts, weren't you?"

[D&D] GDorn says, "it's not subtle, but I don't think that alone will give away the plot"

[D&D] GDorn says, "(I always think my clueing is way, way more obvious than it actually is)"

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "Yeah so there's a Deceive one about when you meet someone that you've met before but in a different identity which looks good"

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "I'm kind of thinking about something around Resources to reflect that he doesn't really have money, but he sure spends like he does"

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "maybe a once-per-session +2 to Resources and then he's Tapped Out or Pawned the TV Again or whatever"

[CCrusaders] GM says, "Hmm. That sounds reasonable."

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "How many times did Zircon manage to pawn the same TV? What a con."

[CCrusaders] GM says, "Somehow he keeps managing to get it back between sessions! No one knows how."

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "And maybe one for +2 to Lore about cultists and magic and stuff"

[CCrusaders] GM says, "Also, you're free to spend as many of your stunts on powers as you want, by the way."

[CCrusaders] GM says, "So you can have three regular stunts, or you could have fewer and have more superpowers."

[CCrusaders] GM says (to Zircon), "That one sounds great."

[CCrusaders] GM asks, "OK, is everyone basically set for powers and stunts?"

[CCrusaders] Cuddlepaws says, "yep"

[CCrusaders] GM says, "The next topic is Skills."

[CCrusaders] Jacob says, "Yeah"

[CCrusaders] GM asks, "The list of skills is at https://fate-srd.com/fate-core/default-skill-list -- does anyone have anything they think we should be adding or changing there?"

[CCrusaders] GM says, "I'll point out that these are fairly generic skill names. For a modern setting, when it says 'Crafts', that includes modern mechanics and engineering stuff, and 'Lore' includes academic knowledge in general (so also science, history, etc.)."

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "I think it's comprehensive."

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "No quibbles."

[CCrusaders] Zircon asks, "does Lore also cover superhuman history or is there a Secret History sort of skill/thing ?"

[CCrusaders] GM says, "Everyone will get one Great skill (+4), two Good skills (+3), three Fair skills (+2) and four Average ones (+1). Anything you don't take will be assumed to be at Mediocre (+0)."

[CCrusaders] GM says (to Zircon), "I'd call that Lore, but secret knowledge would probably have a higher opposition number you have to roll against."

[CCrusaders] Cuddlepaws says, "So I took DRIVE, assuming I can do that with Telekinsesis."

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "Sounds good"

[CCrusaders] Jacob says (to Cuddlepaws), "I was wondering about that :D"

[CCrusaders] GM asks, "For the skae of not overlapping, I'd like to make sure everyone has a separate peak skill. So could everyone say what they want their Great skill to be?"

[CCrusaders] GM says (to Cuddlepaws), "Makes perfect sense to me."

[CCrusaders] Jacob says, "I went with Investigate"

[CCrusaders] Cuddlepaws exclaims, "Atlethics!"

[CCrusaders] Wanda exclaims (at GM), "Empathy!"

[CCrusaders] Cuddlepaws says, "Captain Plan- nevermind"

[CCrusaders] GM says, "Oh, also, a special note about certain skills: Will and Physique also give you extra stress boxes."

[CCrusaders] Jacob asks, "Are those the white ones?"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "yep"

[CCrusaders] GM says, "Normally, you have two physical stress boxes and two mental ones (numbered 1 and 2, and able to absorb 1 and 2 stress respectively)."

[CCrusaders] Eben asks, "I have a question about stunts: I'm making 'Speedy thing Goes in; speedy thing goes out' as a Stunt that means I can add an aspect 'falling'/'speedy'/ etc. to the thing going through the portal. Would it make sense to be able to have my second stunt/power 'terminal velocity' (where I can place new portals where flying things are going to land) be 'can double the effectiveness of the falling/speedy aspect of something'?"

[CCrusaders] GM says, "If you have Physique at Average or Fair, you get a third physical stress box. If you have it at Good or Great, you get a fourth one. (If you have it at Superb, you get an extra physical Mild Consequence, but that'll have to wait until you guys level up a bit.)"

[CCrusaders] GM says, "And likewise for Will and mental stress."

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "(generally, trying to tie this in to the actual mechanics of this game, instead of the mechanics of Portal ;-)"

[CCrusaders] GM says (to Eben), "Heh. Reading and thinking right now..."

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "okay, I'm up at https://stirgessuck.files.wordpress.com/2018/03/zircon.pdf"

[CCrusaders] GM asks, "By 'double the effectiveness', do you mean giving you an extra free invoke on the Aspect?"

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "Yeah, I think so."

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "Or else make it a single +4."

[CCrusaders] GM says, "I think that's something you could probably do with that same original stunt."

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "Well, that obviously works for me ;-)"

[CCrusaders] GM says, "Since it seems like you're effectively just making it Speedy and then making it Speedy again."

[CCrusaders] Eben nods.

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "I could use a stunt if I wanted a +2 on the second action, perhaps."

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "Ludicrously-Speedy"

[CCrusaders] GM asks, "It sounds like you've all got your skills more or less lined up already as well?"

[CCrusaders] GM says, "Although I think Zircon listed Resources twice."

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "d'oh"

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "I'm not that resourceful"

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "one of those should be Contacts hold on"

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "Also I'll Average-up in the hitbox skills"

[CCrusaders] GM asks, "So I'm going to declare a short break while everyone finishes anything they need to on their sheets and gets updated copies of them them uploaded. I'll be AFK for a moment, but let me know when they're all up, and if you have any questions, I'll address them when I get back. We'll resume at 6:15?"

[CCrusaders] Jacob says, "Ok"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "cool"

[CCrusaders] Cuddlepaws says, "works for me"

[CCrusaders] Eben asks, "What time is it now?"

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "(there)"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "6:09 PM EDT"

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "in 6 minutes"

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "Thanks."

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "Okay, fellow PCs, here's what I've got for my skills: I have Empathy (+4), Provoke & Athletics (+3), Notice & Fight & Physique (+2), Will & Deceive & Resources & Contacts (+1)"

[CCrusaders] Cuddlepaws says, "For me, it's 11 pm"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "Me too."

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "4pm here"

[CCrusaders] Wanda says, "What a tangle of timezones."

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "Now you're thinking with timezones"

[CCrusaders] GM asks, "Back at my keyboard -- it looks like some of the sheets haven't been updated yet -- does anyone need more time?"

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1h88N6VTO6dtQ2RVzk1tqx4NdA5PNyShAjpXcoVjhU8M/edit?usp=sharing if we want to compare skills to see if we're missing something we think we might need."

[CCrusaders] Zircon says, "mine moved to https://stirgessuck.files.wordpress.com/2018/03/zircon1.pdf"

[CCrusaders] Wanda exclaims (at GM), "sheet updated!"

[CCrusaders] GM says (to Eben), "Good idea."

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "OK, new sheet uploaded."

[CCrusaders] GM asks, "I think Cuddlepaws' sheet is still in need of an update?"

[CCrusaders] Cuddlepaws says, "Whoops"

[CCrusaders] Eben says, "I see we're going to walk everywhere."

[CCrusaders] GM says, "I am going to be deeply amused if Cuddlepaws ends up being the best driver in the group."

[CCrusaders] Cuddlepaws says, "Try now"

[CCrusaders] GM says (to Cuddlepaws), "Yay, thanks."

[CCrusaders] Cuddlepaws says, "Sorry for the delay"

[CCrusaders] GM says, "No problem."

[CCrusaders] Cuddlepaws says, "I did not click okay"