Here is a love letter I wrote for a player (Sonia, the Bull) who was checking into a F.A.T.E.
Here is a love letter I wrote for a player (Sonia, the Bull) who was checking into a F.A.T.E. facility to see if they can help her build safeguards against her mental programming from the sinister organization that gave her powers. F.A.T.E. is the equivalent organization in our universe to S.H.I.E.L.D. or A.E.G.I.S.
___
Dear Sonia,
Time to meet F.A.T.E. Hope you survive the experience.
Agent Kimura—close-cropped hair, businesslike, familiar from the Titanfall Meadow adventure—escorts you to a F.A.T.E. facility nicknamed “The Dorm.” It’s housed in an old Art Deco train station that looks something like this (https://media.cntraveler.com/photos/54e76199560f0bf2218e5c35/master/w_820,c_limit/9-cincinatti-courtesy-cincinatti-museum-central.jpg). As far as the public knows, the building has been repurposed as a boring postal service processing and distribution center, but that’s just a front. This place houses battalions of F.A.T.E. agents, as well as superpowered individuals who’ve entered F.A.T.E. custody for special observation, training, or their own protection.
Para-militarism, macho posturing, grim humor—some parts of this remind you of the gang back in Central America. The bureaucracy here is less familiar, and more grating. Seems like you can indeed sign out, but you have to give the support staff on duty a reason for leaving and an ETR. “Just to get some fucking space” doesn’t count as a reason, but the Salvatores do. You wonder if that’s just because the team made a very public debut and is having a moment in both the news cycle and in celebrity coverage (mostly speculation about whether Adonis is dating any of you). Could they be waiting to “disappear” you till your team is out of the limelight?
You’re assigned a bottom bunk in a barracks. You eat in a mess hall with a large swath of Dorm occupants. You have sessions on alternating days with scientists and psychics investigating the Forge programming. And yes, in those sessions, there’s a rookie F.A.T.E. trainee standing by with a fire extinguisher in case things go badly. Outside of that, you have access to training rooms like the pool, the gym, and a special room for testing heavy weaponry where you can specifically practice your powers.
How well is life going for you here? Let’s find out. You’re here to pave the way for Aislin to be deprogrammed more safely and swiftly. You think of your time here as a sacrifice. Role +Savior, that is, +1.
On 10+, choose two perks and one complication.
On a 7–9, choose two perks and two complications.
On a Miss, mark potential, choose one perk, and two complications.
Perks:
*You bond with and/or find sympathy from a F.A.T.E. overseer. Tell us about him/her, including name, rank, and why he or she is invested in Sonia.
*With help from F.A.T.E. scientists and psychics, you develop a mantra that should (hypothetically) give you some protection against Forge trigger words. What is the mantra? What’s one of its limitations?
*F.A.T.E. considers it it’s job to keep tabs on all extranormal phenomena: heroes, villains, unaligned supers, etc. By chatting up F.A.T.E. personnel, you learn something about another character Sonia has encountered. What do you learn? Take +1 forward against that character.
Complications:
*You manage to antagonize one of the scientists or psychics working with you. Tell us who, how, and in what petty payback they take.
*During one of your deprogramming sessions, a traumatic flashback reveals some new memory of time with the Forge. Tell us about the memory (which may still be a bit scattered and uncertain). Mark an appropriate condition.
*F.A.T.E. gives you an onerous rule or restriction that you must abide by. This could be a subdermal chip, or could be more of a behavioral restriction. What is it?
Whew! A F.A.T.E.-full time at The Dorm. Godspeed, Sonia.
Off, off to adventure,
Your Gamemaster
