The Intervention: CharGen Part 1

The players had settled on using a Greek gods/titans them for the superheroes, with everyone either being a descendant of, or a hero watched over by, a mythical figure. That’s the source of superpowers in the world, very Wonder Woman. What I settled on for system is a mild Spirit of the Century hack, with superpowers as Aspects and some changes to the phases.

Because only one other person in the group was familiar with Fate, I walked the group through character creation slowly, phase by phase. The first phase was mundane Back Story, how they grew up, their appearance and personality, nothing to do with powers or adventuring. They had to come up with two relevant Aspects. I was a good way to get them acquainted with the concept.

I hit upon the idea of explaining how aspects are used first, along with invoking, tagging, and compelling. I explained that if you hit on a good aspect you’ll immediately be able to think of at least one way each to invoke, tag, and compel it. That explanation got their head around it. As aspects are the hardest part of Fate for new players, it was smooth sailing from there.

Second phase was Origin Story, how they got their powers. I stated that none of these phases had to be chronological, so they could be born with powers. Two aspects in this phase can both describe powers, or relate to some event that shaped their personality or world view.  There was a lot of discussion, but people liked how aspects can describe a whole array of powers without making laundry lists. When in down, refer to an existing superhero, like “Man of Steel” for Superman-type powers, or refer to the god or titan they relate to.

Third phase was Defining Moment. We’re not starting with people who just became superheroes; they’ve been at it for a while. This can be when they first started fighting crime, or first met their nemesis, or some epic event they took part in. They realized that they weren’t just creating characters, but doing some worldbuilding. There was some discussion among players for creating shared defining moments, and some of this phase was tabled for further discussion next session.

Fourth phase was Faithful Friend. Rather than doing crossovers like Spirit of the Century, I went for a Panty Explosion vibe. Each player picks one other player character to be their character’s best friend, or a person they feel close to. It does not have to be reciprocal, which led to some interesting discussions and some complex relationships. It helped the soap opera feel. Some of the aspects that came out were powers or personality traits that stemmed from shared events; “this person helped me realize X” or “it was in that battle that I learned how to X”. Good stuff. Everyone worked out who their friend was, but we tabled working out shared backstory details.

Fifth Phase was Rival. Each player had to pick another player character that their character did not like, or even was enemies with. Perfect soap opera fodder. Again, it did not have to be reciprocal. It was great how players worked things out together, so they’ll be able to play in character and work against each other in character and not take it personally. Everyone worked it out, by mutual consent, and we tabled further discussion yet again so players can work out shared backstory in the next session.

Below are the cheat sheet and character sheet I created and handed out.

The Intervention: Rules PDF

The Intervention: Character Sheet PDF