Fate Hack - The Phaser Chase

Love is in the air this month. I love being able to read some of the other great Fate Core settings with the rest of the backers. This month's hack offers a chance to play Young Starfleet Officers in Love. +Filamena Young's White Picket Witches catches the feel of a CW soap opera perfectly. Mix that with the young, hotblooded officers from the J.J. Abrams Star Trek reboot, and you've got a recipe for drama, love and loss at Starfleet Academy.  Will your first experience with Romulan ale cost your 4.0? How will you handle the Kobayashi Maru? What happens when you and your true love get postings on different ships?

The Phaser Chase begins after the jump!

Additional uses: This hack works well for Your Favorite Trek just as well, be it Original Series, Next Generation or Star Fleet Battles. It also can be further tweaked for Your Favorite Wizard School, Superhero School for the Gifted, or Crazy Anime High School.

Aspects

Canon

Who is your character? A Driven Vulcan? A Brilliant Maverick? An Enthusiastic Freshman? Use two words to describe your character's core concept. 

Washout

What will plague your character at the academy? Are you A Child of Two Worlds? Your Klingon Temper? Will you stop Chasing Skirts long enough to concentrate on your studies?

Past

Cadets come from all around the galaxy to learn at the Academy. Those experiences shape you before you join the best and brightest. Were you a Troubled Youth? An Orphaned Survivor? Did you Turn Down A Scholarship On Your Homeworld to join Starfleet?

Future

Everyone attending Starfleet Academy has a goal in mind. The experiences you have here mold you to the officer you'll be some day. Are you Chief Engineer material? Will you someday be Captain of the Enterprise?  Perhaps you'll return to be a Warp Field Instructor at your alma mater.

Casting

What young, hip actor plays the part? 18-25. Check out imdb if you don't know a lot in the range of the actors. Even using a "-type" is good enough, since casting directors use it all the time.

A Note on Aliens

Choosing to play a non-human character is as simple as including the name of your species in an aspect. Choosing a well-known species allows the table to quickly judge when an aspect drawing on your heritage can be invoked or compelled. Choosing a brand new species allows your table to explore a new heritage and culture. Why do you hope to be the First Hierallan Ship's Doctor, anyway?

Assets

Assign Ratings to your Assets as normal. Split 20 points between Brilliant, Classy, Dangerous, Powerful, Savvy, Sensitive and Treacherous.

Lessons

Lessons are stunts that you've learned because of past experiences. They come off of your characters refresh. You start with one for free and can take up to two more.

Lessons are grouped by the colors of Starfleet uniforms. Your free stunt should probably be related to your Future aspect but it doesn't have to be. After all you could go to school to be an Engineer and discover how much you like command.

Red: Operations, Security, Engineering

Three-Dimensional Thinking: Gain a +2 when using Savvy to outmaneuver an opponent.

I'll Hold Her Together Myself If I Have To: Gain a +2 when using Dangerous to protect your friends at cost to yourself.

Teal: Science, Sensors, Medical

Publish or Perish: Gain a +2 when using Treacherous against an alien rival

I Feel Your Pain: Gain +2 when using Sensitive to soothe a wounded friend

Gold: Command, Helm, Navigation

I Can Do This!: Gain +2 when using Brilliant to do something for the first time

Officer Material: Gain + 2 when using Classy while in a dress uniform

Standing Sets

Instead of Places of Power, everyone builds Standing Sets. Some of them are Ensemble Sets where public scenes happen. Your group should probably have at lease one place where they all hang out, like The Quad or The Starlight Club. It could also be The Class You All Have Together, The Lab, or even the Shuttlecraft. 

Some of them are Personal Sets that are important to one person. Each player should have one set that is unique to their character. Perhaps it's their Dorm Room, or their Studying Tree or Meditation Chamber. This is your characters home turf where they process the wild life of being a Starfleet Cadet.

Ensemble sets are built most like Places of Power. They get a name, an Aspect (here named Atmosphere), and three Assets. Personal sets only have Atmosphere. The character its attached to gets one free invoke on it during a game. The Personal Atmosphere may also be compelled to have a scene between characters set there without the control of the owner. This allows for scenes like the furtive meeting of star-crossed lovers under the tree where the officer away on maneuvers first kissed the woman now kissing his best friend.

Build one Personal Set for each character and at least one Ensemble Set.

Antagonists

Antagonists are built as normal. Look to aspects for ideas on opposing characters. Scholastic rivals, impossible professors, ex-lovers and jealous civilians all flow from your characters background or possible future.