Spark in Fate

Spark is a RPG with a specific world-building method. This is it adapted with nods to the Aspects idea of FATE. The goal is to create a game setting of interest to everyone that everyone has helped build.

Step 1: Pick a Favorite Media

pick one bit of media you'd like to see in game. This can be TV, movie, book, comic, play, song, poem, whatevs. Nobody else has to be familiar with it, it just needs to be something that speaks to you.

eg: Musketeers TV show

Step 2: Gather Inspirations

Each person explains what they find inspiring from their media. They can list more than one.

eg: Honorable Band of Brothers, High Court Intrigue

Step 3: Describe the Genre

From the inspirations that have been thrown out, figure out a genre for the game (supers, alternate history, fantasy, horror, etc.)

Step 4: Determine the Scale

Decide how epic or personal we want the game to be.

Step 5: Establish Facts

One person asks a question and one person gets to answer the question to establish the facts of the game world. Everyone asks two questions and answers two questions.

The best Facts are evocative, concise and specific. Feel free to create interesting names for people, places or events but you're not obliged to share them. Everyone can offer elaborations and suggestions to the Facts (be considerate of the quieter members), but the person answering has final say.

eg: Why do the nobles have so much power? Who is corrupting the nobility? Why do people avoid the city streets at night?

[Not sure I get this step. How is it different than sparks? Do we really want one person to create the fact of the world that others may not like? Almost feel like this can be skipped.]

Step 6: Create a Title

Give the game a name

Step 7: Create Sparks

Sparks are the countless potential problems that might explode at any moment and which adventures will be built around. They are the broad social, political, economic problems that could change or destroy the game world. Everyone creates two sparks.

eg: Scar Triad dominates the criminal underworld, Noblemen are disappearing at night,

Step 8: Select the Issues

Of the sparks, pick three to be:

• • Legacy Issue: This spark used to be dominate in the past. It still influences the game world, but it's mostly resolved.

  • Current Issue: This is the main thing threatening the status quo in the game world

  • Impending Issue: This is the main problem/threat on the horizon

For each of those, come up with an Aspect - what would be special if an adventure was focused on that issue. eg. If the issue was Zombie Apocalypse, then 'Destroyed Society' or 'Roving Marauders' might be aspects.

Step 9: Create Faces

Each issue should be represented by two different faces - One that supports it and one that is working against it. This could be a single individual or a group or organization. Give each Face a name, description, and a core skill. Each player claims at least one Face.

Step 10: Create Places

There are a number of unused Sparks from Step 7. For each of those, create a Place associated with that Spark. Give it a name, description, and aspect. Each player claims one.

Step 11: History?

Not in the rules but I'm adding: It seems like this describes a current world, but doesn't give much history or future. Maybe a game of Microscope is tied onto this to flesh that out? Maybe Microscope happens in the middle? Maybe the game needs no history.