Fernando Rosales, Desperado's page

Hi! Sorry about the absence. As I've noted in other campaign threads lately, my computer got a virus and I needed to reformat. I've done so, and now I'm getting ready for work. Expect a LONG post after work tonight.

Just got home from work. Gonna read, then post some stuff.

Hmm... On the one hand, yeah, that sounds scary. Free invocations for every action with Shoot = a lot. On the other, I guess it really depends on what everyone else's Bargain Stunts look like. If his stunt is more powerful than normal stunts but in the same power range as the other Bargain stunts, that's not a bad thing.

Maybe there's a limit on how many times it can provide free invocations a scene?

Heck, it could be...

Deadly Gun: If you succeed with style with Shoot, you can give the target a minor consequence. In addition, successful Shoot actions using your cursed gun may also create a fire-related Aspect with a free invoke twice per scene.

--Or you could make it once per scene, instead. Or thrice? That's still a lot of potential free invokes throughout the day to use to burn people alive, right? (And the fact that Huey only needs to shoot a building to set it on fire is pretty darned great.) But Twice is probably fine, making it at once powerful and giving the benefit of Huey's original idea.

We could adjust it so that you only gain a free invoke on Mild Consequences (which you'd get the most out of anyway), instead of your opponent. Then maybe we could also add a flat 1 armor against physical damage.

That's probably all we need, honestly. So, how does this sound...

BARGAIN STUNT
"We're Gonna Need a Bigger Gun": You are harder to kill than most people, mostly because you're already dead. You have 1 Armor, and when suffering a Mild Consequence your opponent does not gain a free invoke. Instead, you gain the free invocation, representing the revelation that such damage really doesn't hinder you as much as your opponents might expect.

COMMON STUNTS
Grand Entrance: You may use Stealth to produce a greater variety of advantages than other characters whenever the skill is being used for some sort of impressive, daring, or stylish appearance. For instance, you might be able to gain the aspects Mysterious Charm or Shock and Awe.

Provoke Violence: When you create an advantage on an opponent using Menace, you can use your free invocation to become the target of that character’s next relevant action, drawing their attention away from another target.

Popular: If you’re in an area where you’re popular and well-liked, you can use Charm in place of Contacts. You may be able to establish your popularity by spending a fate point to declare a story detail, or because of prior justification.

I think he's saying you could take Steady Lads as a Common Stunt and Unnaturally Born Leader as your Bargain Stunt.

On We'll Need a Bigger Gun:

I REALLY like the idea and your notes on how we can represent damage to Fernando differently than to other characters. Combined, they definitely represent how I think Fernando's Bargain should affect him during play. It allows both for comedy, heroism, and some dark moments. (And I frankly expect someone to get the bright idea to blow him up with a cannon at some point.)

I feel like a modified Armor of Fear would be more powerful (since avoiding damage is better than taking it on purpose), but there's something super flavorful about getting free invokes for my own injuries - Fernando could have his arm fly off, then invoke that to pick it up and club the other guy with it (Fight). Or he could use Riddled With Bulletholes to give himself a bonus on Menace with his one free invocation. Honestly, that sounds pretty badass.

To be clear: while the enemy can't gain a free invocation via the Consequence I gain, they can still invoke it and gain a bonus against me, right?

And a final note: this would ONLY apply to Physical consequences, right? Mental attacks and some magic would still have their full effects, I'd assume, though a fire-breathing demon might not find its fire is very effective against El Caballero Rojo (and so might still provide him with a free invocation)? I'd assume there'd be a lot of GM discretion here.

I'm interested in what others have to say, but I personally would like to try it out.

On Unnaturally Born Leader:

So, that sounds like it makes Orland REALLY good at providing others with opportunities to succeed. It definitely would give him a clearly defined role in the group...

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I really want to see what Serra, Nora, and Amaziah have in mind for their bargain stunts.

Also, is it possible to gain new stunts through play, or no?

I'd love to see what your idea was for Fernando's bargain stunt before I decide, GM. Then I'll listen to discussion and choose between that or a modified Armor of Fear (which I'd find a new name for).

Yeah, that sounds pretty good, actually. Grand Entrance could allow for a lot more different advantages to be created with Stealth, but only when first entering a given scene. Potentially, this would let me do things like create a Mysterious Charm Aspect, or maybe to give enemies negative Aspects like Shocked?

As for my Bargain stunt, I'm thinking... It should either be A) something akin to Armor of Fear, as you suggested, or B) something that lets Fernando lose limbs and such in a fight (negative aspects?) in return for avoiding stress.

I just imagine this fight going on where Fernando is wrestling someone, and then they snap his arm off. There's a pause. "This is awkward," he says, before pulling out his gun and shooting the guy in the leg. Of course, he'd need a way to reattach his limbs after such conflicts (perhaps as part of the stunt?).

As far as the entrance goes, I'm considering things that might come out of a Zorro film: yelling out an introduction after appearing on top of the scaffolding of a new building, throwing his hat a bad guy from stealth and letting him catch it - realizing what's about to happen - before he fires his revolver to scare or wound him, jumping down from rooftops, appearing on a wealthy maiden's balcony at night with a rose in hand, and generally making surprising, unexpected entries. I was hoping for something that could be used both in social and combat situations somehow, but either something to the Grand Entrance easier to do or that tacks a benefit onto doing it.

Thanks, @Serra. I forgot about Discovery entirely, though I remember that conversation. And yeah, the one thing that comes to mind is I could drop Armor of Fear and make the undead bargain somehow be a strong defensive ability? But again, fairly new to the system, so not sure how to go about that, or if I should keep both.

EDIT: Another bit of skill and stunt related mumbling: if I remove Armor of Fear, that opens up a slot for creating a stunt related to derring-do, or perhaps making a Grand Entrance of some kind. But what skill would be good to go along with Grand Entrance? I'll chew on that and its effects, but I'm interested in veteran opinions.

And since nobody else seems to have Stealth, I think I may make it a +3 instead of a +2, swapping it with Brawn. Thoughts?

Out of curiosity, I see that Notice isn't listed, but only parts of it are in Survival. Did the rest of Notice become part of another skill?

I think my main skills will be Provoke (+4), Charm (+3), and Brawn (+3). I'll take the Popular stunt so I can use Charm in place of Contacts in areas Fernando is well liked. My +2's are in Speed, Fight, and Stealth. My +1's are in Shoot, Gamble, Grit, and Survival.

In a fight, I expect Fernando to use Speed to close in, Provoke and Brawn to defend himself, and then a combination of Fight, Brawn, Provoke to bully enemies into submission. He can shoot with his revolver, but he's not very good at it anymore.

Armor of Fear and Provoke Violence should make him fairly good at the bullying thing.

Alternatively, I could swap Charm and Stealth so that Fernando doesn't step on your shoes too much, Tumbler.

EDIT: Argh, actually I just peered at Nora's alias and this makes their combat skills very similar. Maybe I'll go with Shoot instead of Fight after all, to better give some differentiation. Again, trying not to step on anyone's shoes. And I suppose I might as well take Occult somewhere, since it'd make sense given Fernando's new, err, condition that he'd DEFINITELY try to research...

EDIT 2: Yeah, in the spirit of trying not to make Fernando's setup too similar to other characters, I'm changing his skills to be as follows: Menace +4, Charm +3, Brawn +3, Stealth +2, Shoot +2, Speed +2, Occult +1, Grit +1, Gamble +1, and Survival +1. Animals are probably still spooked by him, but he's remained a fair shot with a revolver. He's studied the Occult ever since he realized his condition, but he still doesn't know much. That'll probably change soon.

Also, I think I'll make my +4 Provoke, and I'll take these two common stunts related to it:

Armor of Fear - You can use Provoke to defend against Fight attacks, but only until the first time you’re dealt stress in a conflict. You can make your opponents hesitate to attack, but when someone shows them that you’re only human your advantage disappears.

Provoke Violence - When you create an advantage on an opponent using Provoke, you can use your free invocation to become the target of that character’s next relevant action, drawing their attention away from another target.

This would let Fernando essentially be the scary skeleton desperado that makes bad guys want to shoot him over other people.

Oh, I see what you mean - we're treating 3's as +'s, 2's as =, and 1's as -'s. Okay, I understand now. I was very confused for a moment.

I'll use 4d3-8. That seems easier to remember.

As far as the game's focus / aspects...

Well, we have our Bargains, right? And the cost involved is we sold our souls. I'm pretty sure everyone who realizes that will want their soul back somehow, so one of the central focus points would probably be that. So, perhaps one of the Impending Issues is Sold my Soul.

Looking at the cast chosen, we have a few characters with themes revolving around heroism. Orland has done wrong and wants to atone for that; Huey just wants his chance to be a big damned hero; Fernando gave up his soul and the joys of Heaven because he felt it was the heroic thing to do; and Nora is described as wanting to atone and bring justice to the West. So, I feel like we need to be in a place that's rife with opportunities for Heroes to bring their different ideas as to what 'Justice' is. This has to be a particularly lawless stretch of territory.

Also... I feel like we have an awesome opportunity in the Transcontinental Railroad (which has only recently been built in this setting, having been constructed in 1869). This railroad is changing how the west operates, and we could even be living in a town situated near it (or on it). It also provides such opportunities as having newcomers arrive via train, or having bad guys try to raid the train, etc. It would also potentially give us plenty of opportunity to have Chinese and Irish folk around, and could finally also serve as an important lifeline to the town that needs to be protected.

I'm going to start building Fernando. I think I'll use Myth-Weavers and link his sheet in my alias.

GM, what do you envision for Fernando's Bargain Stunt? I'm thinking it's a straightforward "undead/hard to kill" type of stunt. But as I'm fairly new to FATE, I'm not sure what a good effect would be.

Well, having thought on it, I think I'll go with Option 2: the daylight and moonlight will reveal his nature, so he tries to stick to places of total darkness when he can, and he'll wear something akin to a candy skull mask most times, so I'll hopefully get the best of both worlds.

I'm thinking that some people think El Caballero Rojo is dead, some think he's still active, and some are pretty sure they've both heard about his death and heard about him being active. There's a lot of confusion about what's going on there, and most are willing to assume he's a copy-cat of the original. Whatever the case, the law still wants him, both in Mexico and in the western U.S.

And yeah, I think I'll make Infamous and Noble Desperado his high concept.

And, and his 'real' form is definitely a skeleton.

EDIT: Also, I feel it's only fair to note that I'm a COMPLETE NEWB to this system. I've never played it before, though I was going to play a Dresden Files game at one point that never got off the ground (thus why I already know a bit about creating good concepts). I'll be reading the SRD and the book for Fate Core, but I may need to be yelled at occasionally.