WRITING DEVELOPMENT

Carrie Harris Clark Valentine

EDITING LAYOUT & GRAPHIC DESIGN
Amanda Valentine Fred Hicks
ARTWORK
Dani Kaulakis, Jacqui Davis
ART DIRECTION BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
Marissa Kelly Chris Hanrahan
PROOFREADING MARKETING
Sophie Lagacé Carrie Harris
INDEXING PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Rita Tatum Sean Nittner
REVIEWING PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT
Brian Engard, Leonard Fred Hicks, Chris Hanrahan
Balsera
PLAYTESTING
Adam Ultraberg, Aden R, AJ Siebert, Andrew Savin, Brandon Paul,
Brian “Voodooking” Rosenberger, Brittany A. Williams, Carla Lincoln,
Chris Aumiller, Chris Czerniak, Chris Nolen, Christopher Reed,
Chrysanthemum Rosenberger, David B. Semmes, Deanna Hardin,
Dennis D. Rude, Doyce Testerman, Dustin McCarthy, Eric Driggs,
Fury Heart, Gareth Anderson, Hoodwinx, Jaiden DeLong, Jake Linford,
Jenn Scott, Josh Coquat, Josh Culbertson, Josh Marcus, Joshua Kronengold,
Kaitlin Rosenberger, Kaity Grimm, Kara, Karl Felix-Gimbernard, Kass Fireborn,
Kaylee Testerman, Krazny Veshov, Lisa “Dr. Cthulhupunk” Padol, Llerkw,
Lou Anders, Lou Anders, Mary Rosenberger, Nicholas Barabach, Nika Zeitlin,
Nikoli Rosenberger, Octavia Rosenberger, Pat Miller, Paul Stefko, Robin Duncan,
Ryan Gigliotti, Salem Rosenberger, Victoria Loveday, William Vaughn Wright
 An Evil Hat Productions Publication
www.evilhat.com • [email protected]
@EvilHatOfficial on Twitter
facebook.com/EvilHatProductions

Young Centurions
Copyright © 2016 Evil Hat Productions, LLC.
All rights reserved.

Young Centurions is based on Fate Accelerated, Fate Core, and

Fate by Clark Valentine, Leonard Balsera, Ryan Macklin, Brian
Engard, Mike Olson, Fred Hicks, and Rob Donoghue.

Material also included from “Fate Boosts Revisited” found at

ryanmacklin.com, © 2014 Leonard Balsera and Ryan Macklin, and licensed for
our use under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license.
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

First published in 2016 by Evil Hat Productions, LLC.

10125 Colesville Rd #318, Silver Spring, MD 20901.

Evil Hat Productions, as well as the Evil Hat, Fate Core, and Young Centurions
logos, are trademarks owned by Evil Hat Productions, LLC. All rights reserved.

Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-61317-121-9

Printed in the USA

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or

transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
recording, or otherwise, without the prior express permission of the publisher.

That said, if you’re doing it for personal use, knock yourself out.
That’s not only allowed, we encourage you to do it.

For those working at a copy shop and not at all sure if this means
the person standing at your counter can make copies of this
thing, they can. This is “express permission.” Carry on.

This is a game where people make up stories about wonderful, terrible,

impossible, glorious things. All the characters and events portrayed in this work
are fictional. Any resemblance to real people, events, movies, early 20th Century
Midwestern America, young adults with amazing gifts, robots, martial
arts societies, schoolyard bullies, racing tractors, or evil masterminds is
purely coincidental, but kinda hilarious. We pinky-swear promise.
 TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION 5
The Centurions Awaken…. . . . 6 How Do You Play?. . . . . . . . . 11
What Is This Thing?. . . . . . . . . 9

CHAPTER 1:
THE WORLD OF THE YOUNG CENTURIONS 13
What’s This About?. . . . . . . . . 14 Other Good & Bad Guys. . . . 30
What’s a Pulp Hero?. . . . . . . . 14 Overview of the World in
What’s a Spirit?. . . . . . . . . . . . 15 the 1910s. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
What’s a Shadow?. . . . . . . . . . 25

CHAPTER 2:
MAKING A CHARACTER 41
Ready to Get Started? . . . . . . 42 Approaches. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Write your High Concept Stunts and Refresh. . . . . . . . . 48
and Trouble . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 Animal Companions and
Another Aspect. . . . . . . . . . . . 45 Robot Friends. . . . . . . . . . . 50
Name and Appearance. . . . . . 47 Character Complete! . . . . . . . 51

CHAPTER 3:
PLAYING YOUNG CENTURIONS 53
Get Playing!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 Roll the Dice, Add Your
Dice or Cards. . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 Bonus. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Outcomes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 Decide Whether to Modify
Actions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 the Roll . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Choose Your Approach. . . . . . 63 Check the Outcome, and Go!.66

CHAPTER 4:
CHALLENGES, CONTESTS, AND CONFLICTS 67
Pulling It All Together . . . . . . 68 Contests. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Challenges. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 Conflicts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

CHAPTER 5:
OUCH! DAMAGE, STRESS, AND CONSEQUENCES 73
I’m Hit! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 Giving In. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
What Is Stress?. . . . . . . . . . . . 75 Getting Better: Recovering
What Are Consequences?. . . . 75 from Stress and
Campaign Ratings and Consequences. . . . . . . . . . . 77
Appropriate Consequences. . 76 Mentors:
What Happens When I Get Taking One for the Team. . 78
Taken Out?. . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
CHAPTER 6:
ASPECTS AND FATE POINTS 79
What Are Aspects and Fate What Do You Do With
Points? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 Aspects? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
What Kinds of Aspects Are Composing Good Aspects . . . 85
There?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81 Boosts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86

CHAPTER 7:
STUNTS 87
What Are Stunts?. . . . . . . . . . 88 Century Stunts. . . . . . . . . . . . 90
Creating Stunts . . . . . . . . . . . 88 Stunt Packages. . . . . . . . . . . . 91

CHAPTER 8:
CHARACTER ADVANCEMENT 101
Growing Up. . . . . . . . . . . . . 102 Milestones. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102

EXAMPLE OF PLAY 105

CHAPTER 9:
BEING THE GAMEMASTER 113
The GM’s Jobs. . . . . . . . . . . 114 Build Scenarios and Run
Running Games with Kids. . 115 Game Sessions . . . . . . . . . 121
Set a Campaign Rating. . . . . 118 Play Mentor Characters. . . . 123
Help Build Campaigns. . . . . 121 Play the Bad Guys . . . . . . . . 125

CHAPTER 10:
GAME RESOURCES 127
Hellllp!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128 Sample NPCs. . . . . . . . . . . . 139
Story Hooks. . . . . . . . . . . . . 128 Some Final Inspiration. . . . . 149
Sample Player Characters. . . 131

INDEX 151
INTRODUCTION
6 Introduction

THE CENTURIONS AWAKEN…

Jackson “Jet” Black was skipping stones. Actually, he was throwing the
stones at an imaginary group of black robed priests who were trying to stop
him from taking the equally imaginary sacred idol. Jet was an adventurer,
but only in his head. In real life, he was the kind of scrawny kid who always
got picked last.
“That idol belongs in a museum,” he muttered, with a squint that he
thought looked tough.
He would have fired off another missile, taking out the head priest, and
then made a daring escape up along Strather’s Creek, but he heard someone
coming. He launched himself into the Hiding Place, underneath the arch-
ing roots of a large oak, and peered out.
Eugene Falks, the leader of Nebraska Township’s most nefarious gang,
chased Billy Block along the opposite bank. Billy was only eight, much
smaller than Eugene, and destined to lose the race. Within moments,
Eugene had tackled him, flipping him over with a teeth-rattling shake.
“You looked at me funny!” Eugene shouted at the smaller boy. “I saw you.
You were makin’ fun of me!”
“No, Eugene!” babbled Billy, desperate with terror. “Honest, I didn’t.”
“Liar!” Eugene grabbed a handful of rocky mud and smeared it into the
smaller kid’s hair. Billy bucked and squealed in pain. “Don’t you lie to me.”
Jet Black had had enough. He wasn’t much bigger than Billy, and there
was no way he could win an altercation against Eugene. The neighborhood
bully was way too fast to be outrun. Intervening was stupid, but it was right.
Jackson Black would have run away, but Jet Black? That was a hero’s name,
and it was his.
He made his careful way out of the Hiding Spot and walked closer,
unwilling to give away the secret that had so often kept him safe. Only
when he was away from the entrance did he call out, “Hey! Falks! Why
don’t you pick on someone your own size, you big bully?”
Both Eugene and Billy stared at him in shock for a moment, and then
the race was on. Jet lost, except that Billy got away, so he’d really won. He
couldn’t help but grin as he faced off against the larger boy, holding up his
fists. This felt like the beginning of something amazing. For the first time in
his life, he felt like a real hero, and he wanted more.

“It must be interesting, to travel about and see so many things,” said
Nadya Petulengro, tilting her head to beam up at the soldier, so out of place
in his uniform amidst the bright colors of the circus where she worked.
“Oh yes.” The soldier basked in the attention. “We’re on our way to
Warsaw next. I hear it’s very pretty.”
“Sssh!” One of his buddies elbowed him. “Those orders are secret. What
are you doing?”
“She’s harmless!” protested the soldier. “I just… She’s nice.”
 Introduction 7
“Oh, I won’t tell anybody,” said Nadya gravely. “I know how to keep a
secret. But you should probably go, or you’ll miss the show under the big
top. Our elephant has some new tricks today!”
She smiled and waved as the soldiers moved on, but as soon as they’d
gone, the smile slipped off her face. The Germans were moving into Poland.
It felt like disaster, the kind she should warn someone about, if only she
knew someone to warn. Maybe the Ringmaster? It was probably futile, but
she had to try.
At that moment, her eyes caught the man standing just outside Cartagena’s
Wagon of Elixirs and Tonics. His hair was slick perfection, his suit immacu-
late. And expensive. On any other day, she would have thought him a mark.
But instead, her heart leaped with nervousness. She remembered that face
from other cities. Rome. Turin. Thessaloniki.
Perhaps he just loved circuses. Perhaps he wanted to join. But she knew
deep in her heart that neither of these things were true. He was following
someone.
He was following her.
Their eyes met, and Nadya felt her cheeks flame. She’d been alone in
the world ever since her family died, along with the rest of her Romani
clan. The Ringmaster had taken her in, and she was grateful for that, but
sometimes the loneliness stung. But she’d never felt as alone as she did now,
facing down this mysterious figure with his mysterious goals.
She turned away, stumbled over her own feet, and allowed herself a single
glance at the man in the crowd. His beady eyes followed her every move.
His fingers drummed an impatient rat-a-tat on the wheel of Cartagena’s
wagon.
It was time to run.

“You’re grounded!” yelled Mrs. Silver. “For forever!”

Her evening gown was splattered with mud and rain; the perfect place
settings for that night’s dinner party sat under a pile of broken glass. Mack
perched in the middle, his hands bleeding from the tough climb and the
fistfight at the top. But it was useless to tell his mother about the manser-
vant with the gun—the one who had been sitting on the roof next to the
skylight since lunchtime, waiting for the ambassador to arrive for the party.
He’d spotted the would-be assassin while climbing trees in the orangery and
tried to tell her, but the only thing she’d been concerned about was the rip
in his trousers. He didn’t know why he’d bothered; Mother never listened
to him. So he’d dealt with the problem himself. He was tall for twelve, and
good with heights. Too bad he’d gotten thrown through the window for his
trouble.
He didn’t regret it. But he wished, just once, that his parents would listen.
That they’d put him before their precious reputations. But they just thought
of him as a screw-up. A black sheep. An embarrassment. He wished, and
not for the first time, that he could just leave.
Then again, why couldn’t he?
8 Introduction
“No, Mother,” he said. “I’m leaving. And you can’t stop me.”
He walked away as she sputtered in the background, but he wasn’t even
listening. He felt free for the first time in his life, and he vowed that no one
was going to cage him again. The world awaited him, and he was ready to
take it all in, black-garbed assassins and all.

The baby was fussy. This might have been because he was hungry, or
maybe because his sister, Sally Slick, had just rushed in covered in streaks of
blood and plaster dust. He took one look at her and burst into tears. The
rest of her brothers, clustered around the living room, launched to their
feet in alarm.
“What happened?” demanded Isaiah.
“Who do we need to beat up?” added Wil, his fists already clenched.
“It’s fine,” said Sally, waving them all back into their places. “No need to
panic.”
“One of her inventions must have exploded again,” said Henry, knowingly.
She stopped, tilted her head, and stared him down. It would have
worked on most people, but brothers tend to be immune to even the best
stare-downs.
“It was another pair of Steel Syndicate goons. I keep telling them to leave
me alone, but they don’t listen. So this time,” she said grimly, “I made them
listen.” She paused for effect, but her conscience made her add, “I didn’t
hurt anyone, though. I’m not that kind of girl.”
“Sally, come here, please.” Ma’s voice called from the kitchen, a tone that
allowed no quarrel. The Slick boys exchanged wide-eyed looks. Their sister
was going to get it.
Sally gulped, but squared her shoulders and went to face her fate bravely.
Ma sat at the empty kitchen table, her hands folded before her.
“Ma,” said Sally, not really sure excuses would work but willing to try.
“Honest, I didn’t do anything wrong. They tried to snatch me off the road,
but I was prepared.”
“Hush, baby. That’s not it.” Mrs. Slick took a deep breath. “I’ve decided
that if this is who you are, we need to embrace it. And you need schooling
if you’re going to go haring off into danger on a weekly basis.”
“Schooling…?” Sally blinked. “I don’t think there’s a school for danger.”
“I’ve found you a teacher,” said Ma, ignoring her. “He’s going to give you
lessons to make sure you come back to us safe.”
A tall, cloaked figure appeared, as if by magic, from the darkened corner
of the kitchen, near the icebox. Sally couldn’t keep from shuddering as
she glimpsed the featureless mask that spread across his face. This was her
teacher? She tried to imagine him clapping erasers and couldn’t.
“I am the Grey Ghost, Sally,” he said in a voice that was surprisingly
youthful. “I’m here to teach you about what you are.”
“What’s that?” she asked.
“You’re a Centurion. And it’s your job to save the world.”
 Introduction 9

WHAT IS THIS THING?

Young Centurions RPG is a pick-up-and-play roleplaying game about teenage
pulp heroes. It’s got adventure! Thrills! Chills! And other things you’d say
like a movie voiceover guy! If you’ve ever wanted to experience an adventure
à la Young Indiana Jones, this is your opportunity to do so without any close
encounters with snakes.
This game is designed to be rules minimum and story maximum. The
focus should be on the characters and the world and the fun, not on look-
ing up the specific rules for tractor racing at nighttime. You can still race
tractors at night if you want (and who doesn’t?) but our goal is to make
that tractor race easy to tell and fun to play out, unburdened by lots of rules.
The Young Centurions rules are based on Fate Accelerated Edition; if
you’ve played that game, you’ll see a lot of familiar elements. (Want to cut
right to the chase, FAE experts? “New Stuff for Fate Accelerated Edition
Veterans” on page 43 will bring you up to speed quickly.) But you don’t
need to be an experienced gamer to play, because we’ve included the basics
you need to get started. And if you’re an RPG expert, this is an ideal game
for introducing your stubborn holdout friends who’ve never played or for
introducing your favorite geeklings to the hobby. Plus, it’s a fun, quick
pick-up game for times when you’re low on prep.

Gathering Supplies
Here’s what you need to get started:
➧➧Three to five people. One is the gamemaster, often
abbreviated as GM. The rest are players. More about
that later.
➧➧Fate Dice or a Deck of Fate. Fate Dice are a set of
four six-sided dice with two + sides, two - sides,
and two blank 0 sides. You might also find them
in stores under the name Fudge dice. The Deck of
Fate is a stack of cards if you prefer picking a card
to rolling dice.
➧➧One character sheet per player. You can download
them from www.evilhat.com.
➧➧Index cards, sticky notes, or paper—anything you
can write short notes on and put in the middle of
the table for everyone to see.
➧➧Fate tokens. You can use anything—poker chips,
beads, pennies, bottle caps, etc. You’ll need about
30 or 40.

NOT GONNA BUY NEW DICE

If you prefer, you can use four regular six-sided dice. Just
read a 5 or 6 as +, 1 or 2 as -, and 3 or 4 as 0.
10 Introduction

Choosing a Gamemaster
If you’re new to gaming—and you have one or more experienced players in
your group—you might want to let one of the experienced gamers run the
game. GMing is a lot of fun and worth learning to do, but it’s a lot to learn.
We recommend that new gamers and young gamers start out as player char-
acters whenever possible.
If everyone in the group is new to gaming, the person who chooses to be
the gamemaster needs to read this entire book from cover to cover. Make
sure you’re comfortable with the rules and familiar with the setting before
the first session. You don’t need to have the book memorized, but you want
to be able to find rules quickly and to make good educated guesses when
you don’t have time to look things up.
 Introduction 11

Kid Gamers
We want Young Centurions RPG to be accessible to gamers of any age or
experience level, because it seems silly to make a game about kid heroes
and then only let grownups play it! So we’ve tried to make this the kind
of game that both kids and adults can enjoy. You might use it to introduce
your kids to the hobby, or if you’re an electronic gamer looking to take a
peek at tabletop, or if you’re new to gaming altogether. Not only is tabletop
gaming a load of fun, but it also encourages creativity and critical thinking,
and sometimes it has talking apes in it. Really, you can’t go wrong with
talking apes.
So, anyone can play this, right? Well, not exactly. You do need a few basic
skills. If you’re reading this right now, chances are you probably have them,
but let’s take a look anyway:

➧➧You need to be able to read and write to play this game. It’s hard to
make decisions about your character if you can’t read the sheet.

➧➧You need to be able to sit through an entire movie if you want to play
a full gaming session. If that seems too long, consider hitting pause in
the action and taking breaks.

➧➧Kid gamers should have parental permission to play. Upsetting parents

is never a good idea.

HOW DO YOU PLAY?

To put it simply, roleplaying games are all about telling stories. Each player
creates a character, the gamemaster sets the stage, and you work together to
tell the story of what happens when the characters go on their latest adven-
ture. The dice (or cards) help determine how things turn out. Good dice
rolls mean success, but sometimes poor rolls are even more fun to play. We
talk about the rules in lots of detail starting on page 54.
Before you get started, read through this book and learn more about
the Young Centurions RPG. This is the world your story takes place in. It’s
important that everyone in your group is familiar with this world and with
the basic rules of how the game works. The gamemaster has a little extra
work to do learning how to moderate (“run”) the game, and there are some
GM-specific sections in this book to help you do that. You only need to
read them if you intend to run a game.
After that, it’s time to get started! Adventure awaits!
12 Introduction

YOUNG CENTURIONS, FATE CORE,

AND FATE ACCELERATED EDITION
If you want to learn more about the rules for Young Centurions, or
are curious about using the same rules to play games in other settings,
check out Fate Accelerated Edition (FAE) and Fate Core System, both
available from Evil Hat productions: www.evilhat.com. The PDFs are
pay-what-you-want (including free!). Young Centurions is based on the
FAE rules. Fate Core System is full of discussions about why the rules
work the way they do and how to get the most out of them. If
you love roleplaying game systems, take a look!
 CHAPTER 1:
THE WORLD OF THE
YOUNG CENTURIONS
14 Chapter 1: The World of the Young Centurions

WHAT’S THIS ABOUT?

Young Centurions RPG is a game about pulp heroes between the ages of 13
and 18 during the early 1900s. It’s part of the Spirit of the Century uni-
verse—Spirit of the Century tells the story of these same heroes during their
prime crime-fighting days during the 1930s. Shadow of the Century covers
their decline during the bleak yet flashy 1980s. But here, we’re focused on
where these heroes came from. Kids can make a difference, and in this game,
they take center stage.
In the game, your characters are Spirits—young pulp heroes. These teens
and tweens are just beginning to come into their powers and taking the first
steps on their mission to save the world. The history of the world they live
in is very similar to ours…with a few very notable changes (for more, see
“Overview of the World in the 1910s” on page 34).

WHAT’S A PULP HERO?

“Pulps” were magazines and books full of adventure fiction published in the
late 1800s and first few decades of the 1900s. The term “pulp” comes from
the cheap paper they were printed on.
Featuring genres like science fiction, westerns, adventure thrillers, and
many more, pulps often featured larger-than-life heroes who performed
incredible feats of daring. Think about characters like Indiana Jones, Lara
Croft, Zorro, Captain America, Katniss Everdeen, Batman, Captain Kirk,
or even Dora the Explorer—if you know about any of them, you have a
pretty good idea of what a pulp hero is.
 Chapter 1: The World of the Young Centurions 15

WHAT’S A SPIRIT?
To put it simply, the Spirits are the good guys. Also called Spirit Centurions,
they’re born at the stroke of midnight on the cusp between December 31st
and January 1st at the beginning of each new century. Each Centurion
represents a specific ideal that defines their era. You know those labels
that historians slap in textbooks—it was an “age of progress” or an “era of
technological advancement,” things like that? Those are the kinds of ideals
we’re talking about. So you might have a Spirit of Progress or a Spirit of
Technology. And when it comes to their ideals, Spirits truly embody them.
In fact, they can accomplish amazing, almost superhuman things when it
comes to their given ideal.

IDEALS AND ASPECTS

The ideal your Spirit embodies is described on your character
sheet as something called an aspect—a word or phrase that
describes something really important about your character.
We talk about aspects on page 80.

Not every child born on the first day of the century is a Centurion, and
the ability doesn’t seem to be inherited. Children of Spirits aren’t more
likely to be Spirits themselves—which is probably a good thing since the
baby would be born on Mom or Dad’s 100th birthday! And each ideal can
be duplicated. In the early 1900s, there are many documented Spirits of
Progress, for example. Progress (or bravery, or creativity, or any other ideal)
takes many forms, and those forms are reflected in the makeup of each
generation of Centurions.
Around puberty, Spirits begin to manifest their abilities in earnest,
although most of them don’t realize there’s anything strange going on at
first. We’re not talking superpowers here—they can’t fly or shoot laser beams
out of their eyes. But they have incredible luck and/or skill. For example, a
Spirit of Ingenuity would be abnormally ingenious. She might be able to
build a gadget to meet any need, even going so far as to invent an airplane
engine in Pa’s old cow barn. As she grows into her powers, what used to
be idle tinkering now results in amazing inventions. A Spirit of Optimism
might be able to find his way out of the most dire situations, when all hope
is apparently lost. And so on. They aren’t superhuman. They’re the people
who always happen to be at the right place at the right time to stand up for
what’s right. They’re at the forefront of scientific discoveries, political peace
treaties, hostage rescues…any place where a hero is needed to lead the way.
16 Chapter 1: The World of the Young Centurions
Sometimes a Centurion’s ideals get them into trouble just as much as they
get them out of it. A girl who embodies the Spirit of Exploration might be
able to find her way out of a maze full of punji sticks and hostile foes, but
she also can’t resist going into the maze in the first place, despite knowing
the dangers. In fact, a Spirit finds it very difficult—even uncomfortable—
to act against their ideal.
Centurions make things happen, often because they give in to the urge
to press the unlabeled red button or investigate the mystery. They might
not be the ones on the front pages of the newspapers, but they’re the ones
in the background who set things in motion. Sometimes they even do it on
purpose!
All in all, Spirits are people who push the limits. They’re like Indiana
Jones; they can get shot at, thrown into a pit of snakes, beaten up, dragged
behind a car, and thrown off a plane…and still get up and make wisecracks.
These are the people who are always in the right place at the right time, and
they’ve got the moxie, skills, and sometimes the blind luck necessary to
come out on top. And in Young Centurions, they happen to be kids.

Sally Slick, Spirit Centurion: Sally Slick, a farm

girl from Illinois, is a Spirit of Ingenuity. She
spends most of her days at school, helping
Ma in the kitchen, or racing tractors with her
brothers. But in her spare time, she sneaks
out to Pa’s old crib barn and invents things.
Many of them work. Others—like the Hair
Trimmifier—are better left unmentioned. At
13, she dreams of running off to the city to
learn to be an engineer. The next year, she
invents the jet engine and thwarts a crim-
inal syndicate. A teenage Sally eventually
leaves home to do her part in the war, but
she never forgets that she’s fighting for
the family she left behind.
 Chapter 1: The World of the Young Centurions 17

Yup, They’re Kids

The events of Young Centurions take place during the years 1913-1918,
which makes our Spirit heroes between the ages of 12 and 17. That’s right;
they’re kids. And as kids, they’re at a real turning point. On one hand,
their Spirit abilities are really starting to manifest—when you combine the
upheaval of puberty with sudden urges to invent things/buy an airplane
and explore the Yukon/start investigating the crimes reported in the local
newspaper, it makes the teen years extra exciting. But they’re also still deal-
ing with real world kid problems. That boy down the street might be just a
neighborhood bully or he might be a spy for the criminal underworld. Or
both.
Some Centurions can’t resist the call of adventure and leave home early;
Jet Black lied about his age to enlist in the military at the age of 17. Others
don’t really have what many of us would call a “typical” childhood; Nadya
Petulengro was a Romani traveler and spy for the Allied Forces. But that
doesn’t mean their home life isn’t important—those family ties and child-
hood experiences are part of what drives them to do great things. And that
is what Young Centurions is all about—those moments when heroism is
born and the homes those new heroes go back to. If they’re lucky, that is.
While they’re still at home, a Young Centurion has to go to school or
work and deal with the same things most teens have to deal with. They
might have just saved the world, but that doesn’t mean they won’t be
punished if they’re not home for 8:00 supper. And just as their abilities
make them a homing beacon for astonishing adventures, they also attract
drama in their everyday lives. It’s as if the strands of fate twist around them,
making them the focal point of problems that need fixing. So a teenage
Spirit might find herself fighting a school bully one day and fencing with
a criminal mastermind the next. To most people, that might seem kind of
strange; to them, it’s just life.

THE MORE YOU KNOW

For more information on what life was like for kids and teenagers
in the early 1900s, go to page 39 and read the creatively titled
“Coming of Age in the 1910s.” GMs can find advice about
age-appropriate challenges and opponents on page 118.
18 Chapter 1: The World of the Young Centurions

The Century Club

Every hero has a home base for operations, or they should! Batman has
the Batcave. Superman has the Fortress of Solitude. The Centurions are no
exception; many of them belong to the Century Club. This super-secret
organization can trace its official existence back to the early 1700s, although
it was probably in play long before that. The purpose of the Century Club
is to fight the shadows that threaten each century, both literally and fig-
uratively. (More information on Shadows with a capital S can be found
in “What’s a Shadow?” on page 25.) The organization locates, trains, and
coordinates the activities of Spirits all around the world.
The Century Club has a main chapter house, where the most senior
Spirits work to identify threats to world peace and prosperity and to coordi-
nate a response. The original main chapter house was located in Paris until
a fire consumed it in 1769. At the time of Young Centurions, it’s in London,
but there are smaller chapter houses located throughout the world. Chapter
houses provide all kinds of services. They offer sleeping and training facil-
ities, equipment such as aeroplanes, automobiles, and weaponry, legal and
financial services—anything a Centurion needs to help them continue to
serve the forces of good.
All of those services need someone to run them, especially at a time when
all of the Spirits are either really, really old or very young, as is the case in the
world of Young Centurions. That’s where the Century Retainers come in.

The Century Retainers

The Retainers are the backbone of the Century Club. Most people believe
the Century Club is a service and social club, similar to the Masons, and yes,
many of its members are just normal people, looking to make a difference
with a few friends. But behind the scenes, a small percentage of members
are dedicated to making a bigger difference by fighting villainy and injustice
more directly. These Retainers work secretly to fight the Shadows and to
find and mentor young Spirits as they grow into their powers.
Without the support of the Retainers, the Century Club would fall apart
completely. This is especially true in the early years of each century—as in
the Young Centurions game. The previous Centurions are fading and the
new ones are children, and the Retainers must quickly locate and train the
next generation of heroes. Each century teeters on a balance between good
and evil, and it’s up to the Retainers to make sure the Century Club is pre-
pared to win that battle.
Sadly, Retainers don’t share the century-born powers of the Spirits.
However, their birth date—the first day of each decade—does gives them
unique skills, including divination, which makes them perfectly suited to
find new Centurions. Numerology is particularly popular, but other types
of divination can also be seen in chapter houses around the world. Various
Retainers read Ogham runes, tea leaves, and tarot, searching for clues to
the next conjunction where the fate of the century will be tested once again.
 Chapter 1: The World of the Young Centurions 19
One of the most important jobs of the Retainers is finding and mentoring
young Spirits. Spirits are giant trouble magnets—things just happen when
they’re around. Generally speaking, their innate abilities are more than
enough to solve the problem, but they’re still learning. They’re still young.
Sometimes they make mistakes, and those mistakes have consequences. It’s
the mentor’s job to protect their young charges from the worst of those
consequences until the Spirits are ready to stand alone. It’s also helpful to
have an adult on hand to help explain that no, Johnny doesn’t need to be
taken in by the truancy officer, because he’s on a day trip with his “uncle.”
At the time of Young Centurions, finding and recruiting new Spirits is the
highest priority of the Century Club, which means that the Retainers are
very busy indeed.

RETAINERS AS MENTORS
Retainers have a lot of jobs. They run the Century Club, scour the world for
evidence of Shadow activity, and locate new Centurions. Some Retainers
act as mentors to young Centurions, teaching them everything they need
to know to function in this new world. Mentors play an important part in
Young Centurions adventures—see page 123 for details on how to make
this vital role a part of the game rules.

Amandine Laclerque, Century Retainer:

On any given night, hundreds of thousands
of people listen to Amandine Laclerque’s
music on gramophones. Laclerque is one
of the most famous singers of the early
1900s, and the Frenchwoman travels all
around the world, performing in concerts
and even making an appearance or two in
moving pictures. Little does the general
public know that she’s actually a highly
ranked Retainer with unmatched skills in
ornithomancy—divination based on the
songs and flights of birds. Laclerque travels
with a pair of songbirds—and an assistant
whose only job is to care for them—and
she’s located many Young Centurions
based on the guidance her birds provide.
20 Chapter 1: The World of the Young Centurions

The Recruitment Process

Not all Spirits are recruited to the Century Club. It’s rare, but it happens,
so if you’d just like to make characters and send them off to adventure
without fooling with all this Century Club stuff, go for it! But if the idea of
inducting your young heroes into a secret society with seemingly unlimited
resources and a secret agenda sounds like fun, we’re right there with you.
The Century Club training process provides a terrific story hook to get a
group of very different Spirits together and give them a common goal.
If you’re interested in playing that out in your game, you have lots of
options. First, someone from the organization needs to locate the characters.
How could that happen in a game setting? Here are a few possibilities to
get you started:

➧➧The characters might be in the newspaper for doing something amaz-

ing like taking down the local crime lord. The Century Club scours
the papers and sends investigators out to look into potential recruits.

➧➧The characters have run away from home, looking for adventure or
fleeing bad situations. The Century Club keeps a close eye on locations
that might attract kids on the run, like street gangs, traveling circuses,
or trains. A group of Spirits might converge on one of these locations
only to be recruited.

➧➧The Century Club sometimes sponsors contests to help locate Spirits,

and the player characters won! Their essays/inventions/drawings got
them invited to the city to claim their prizes, only to find that this is
actually a recruitment effort.

➧➧A Retainer from the Century Club has located the characters using
divination. But numerology and other divinatory abilities aren’t very
specific, so they’ve come to town looking for kids born on the right day.
And someone who does that might seem awfully suspicious…

Once a Spirit or group of Spirits is identified, the Century Club dis-

patches a new mentor to confirm their abilities, introduce them to the
Century Club, and attempt to recruit them. These mentors must work fast,
because unmentored Centurions can get into trouble even faster. Fate is
already leading them into danger, and they lack the understanding and
support necessary to survive it. They might also run into resistance from
parents who don’t understand what’s happening with their suddenly rebel-
lious kids. The Century Club can help kids deal with that transition, so the
quicker the better when it comes to recruitment!
 Chapter 1: The World of the Young Centurions 21
So how does the recruitment process work? There are many possibilities,
and each experience is different. Here are a few examples from the files of
the Century Club:

➧➧Sally Slick’s mother was concerned when her daughter started getting
tangled up in dangerous adventures. Ma Slick contacted the Jade Lotus,
a Chicago crime fighting organization that had helped the Slick family
in the past. They provided a mentor for Sally and her friend, Jet Black.
Their transition into the Century Club was an easy one since their
families supported them.

➧➧Nadya Petulengro was in Prague, working for a traveling circus, when

she realized that the same dark-suited man had been at her last five
shows. He’d noticed the way people—even enemy soldiers—confided
in her. A long and dangerous chase throughout Europe ended with the
man saving her life…and recruiting her as both a Centurion and an
Allied spy.

➧➧Mack Silver got pulled into the Century Club when he fell into
an adventure with Sally Slick and Jet Black. In this case, his fellow
Centurions recognized the spark in him and recruited him themselves.

➧➧Mitzy Powers, daughter of a newspaper editor, was always getting into

trouble by butting in on her father’s stories. When the famous singer
Amandine Laclerque came to town and agreed to an interview, Mitzy
tagged along as usual. Mitzy was surprised to find that the diva was
even more interested in interviewing her! Amandine hired Mitzy as
a maid and personal attendant for the summer, but the experience
turned out to be an introduction to the world of the Century Club.

FALSE POSITIVES!
It’s rare, but sometimes a Shadow (page 25) triggers a Retainer’s
divination. In 1901, birth records just aren’t that accurate, even in
developed countries, so if a baby is born near midnight, who knows
if the clock is a little fast or a little slow? The child’s birthdate might
get recorded inaccurately. And that’s to say nothing of places where
written birth records aren’t regularly kept!
In those cases, the Retainer doing the divination can’t be abso-
lutely certain that the young Spirit they’re looking after really is a
Spirit—they might be a Shadow!
22 Chapter 1: The World of the Young Centurions
Getting recruited for the Century Club can be an adventure in and of
itself, and it can happen anywhere. Century Club mentors can pose as reg-
ular townspeople, taking jobs as school teachers, mail carriers, or even the
creepy guy who looks after the town dump. Or they can be shadowy figures
watching from afar as in Nadya’s story.
The 1910s certainly weren’t as cautious as we are today, but as you can
imagine, strange people popping up suddenly and asking questions about
the neighborhood children still causes plenty of rumors. The Century Club
carefully selects and trains their field agents, but that doesn’t mean that slip-
ups never happen. There’s always at least one barrister on staff at the larger
chapter houses whose sole duty is to protect the field agents and bail them
out of jail if necessary…if the Spirits don’t get there to save him first!
The Spirits themselves might get a little nervous too. When the strange
new caretaker at the neighborhood dump starts following you and your
friends around, it can get scary. When first meeting a future mentor, the
Spirit might be intrigued, suspicious, frightened, wary…or any combina-
tion thereof. It’s tough to admit your deepest secrets to a stranger, and the
age difference only makes things worse. But as these relationships develop,
the Spirit usually begins to trust this strange adult, and then their training
can truly begin as they learn about the presence of Shadows and the ongo-
ing work of the Century Club.
Once the introduction has been made, the mentor slowly begins to intro-
duce his charges to the world of the Century Club. Imagine how exciting
it would be to learn that there’s a secret society dedicated to fighting evil…
and they want you to join! This situation can also make for some fun sto-
rylines such as:

➧➧The young Spirits are in trouble for some reason. Their family situations
might be bad, or they might be living on the streets or running with
a gang. For whatever reason, they move immediately into a Century
Club chapter house. These buildings might seem normal on the out-
side, but they conceal secret labs, hidden aeroplane hangars, and plenty
of crazy gadgets guaranteed to get a group of curious kids into a whole
new kind of trouble!

➧➧The kids are eager and willing to train, but their exploits have attracted
attention. Small time criminals, local bullies, or even the police are
determined to make them stop adventuring, and there’s no time for
book learning or careful explanations. They’re under attack, and the
mentor must teach even as they’re fighting for their lives, safety, or
freedom.

➧➧Something isn’t right at the local Century Club house. Things keep
going missing, and some of the equipment has been sabotaged. People
have even gotten hurt. Suspicion falls on the kids since they’re new to
the facility, and it’s up to them to find the real culprit and clear their
names.
 Chapter 1: The World of the Young Centurions 23
Regardless of how their recruitment goes, most kids take to the organiza-
tion like a duck to water. Finally, here are people who understand them, who
don’t talk down to them, and who take their crazy-sounding theories and
plans seriously. Not only that, but the Century Club is willing to provide
financial support, including a bed, food, and training. This is the oppor-
tunity to follow their dreams, and most Spirits jump at it. The rare ones
that aren’t suited to life in the Club—usually loners who aren’t comfortable
working in groups for whatever reason—are returned to their homes; but
unbeknownst to them, they’ll remain under surveillance for the rest of their
lives just to make sure they don’t leak secrets to the other side.
A small number of Spirits remain at the chapter house permanently—
usually the aforementioned street children, orphans, and other unfortunate
situations—but many Spirits return home, and knowing other Spirits who
live close by is an invaluable resource. Mentors often return to town with
their young charges, training in secret and providing additional security and
backup, until the Spirit is ready to leave home, usually sometime between
the ages of 16 and 18. Once they’ve recruited someone, the Century Club
doesn’t take a chance with them.
Once they’re old enough to leave home, most new Spirits choose to move
in to their local chapter house, which gives them a “job” and specialized
training to help them stand against the Shadows. Depending on their inter-
ests, a new Spirit might learn to fly aeroplanes, translate dead languages, or
pick locks. And when danger threatens, they’ll be on the front lines, putting
those new skills to the test.

Barbados Chapter House: Located in the British West Indies, the

Barbados chapter house is small but very active. The island itself is
tiny—less than 200 square miles. But it provides services to the entire
West Indies, sometimes to the local sugarcane farmers or to the tour-
ists that are beginning to visit via ship or aeroplane. Local Spirits and
their mentors might be called out one day to investigate accusations
of voudoun witchcraft among the locals and the next day to a cruise
ship mired on a mysterious coral reef that seemed to appear out of
nowhere…
The chapter house poses as a small private residential school that
offers scholarships to students based on merit, and recruits who live
at the Barbados chapter house receive a basic education. Spirits aren’t
permitted to go out on missions unless they have decent grades, and
no one wants to miss out on an opportunity to drive the boat! Because
of their oceanic environment and the lack of sufficient airfields, the
Barbados chapter house has three watercraft of varying sizes ready to
set sail at a moment’s notice. The senior mentor, Frederick Mulroney, is
an experienced sailor who requires all of his Spirits to study watercraft.
All in all, they do what they can to cover a vast area with a small number
of staff, but increased pirate activity has recently made this work par-
ticularly difficult. Luckily, as a British colony, they keep in close contact
with the London chapter house and can call in assistance if necessary.
24 Chapter 1: The World of the Young Centurions

Spirits of the 1800s

Spirits tend to be annoyingly healthy; they’re the
ones bounding around the house while the rest
of the family has the flu. As you might imag-
ine, this really irritates their relatives, but it also
means that Centurions tend to live abnormally
long lives and remain in very good physical con-
dition as they age.
That’s a good thing for the new crop of Young
Centurions, because it’s hard to learn how to be
a hero without someone to teach you. Of course
the mentors help, but they come with a different
skill set—often the information gathering, sup-
port systemy kind—and it isn’t quite the same
thing. Luckily, with each generation of Spirits, a
few manage to survive long enough to pass their
knowledge on to the Centurions who follow
them. These Spirits aren’t much into adventur-
ing any more, but they’re good for stories of the
“good old days” and readily serve as mentors for
their young protégés.

SPIRIT MENTORS
Two Centurions actively serving as mentors in
the early 1900s are Master Lingyu of Chicago
and the Grey Ghost of London.
Master Lingyu is the leader of the Jade Lotus,
a network of elders nestled deep in Chicago’s
Chinatown, dedicated to fighting the menace of
the criminal tong gangs. His skills as a Spirit of
Balance have helped to neutralize many simmer-
ing confrontations and promote safety on the
often-dangerous streets of Chinatown.
The Grey Ghost, Spirit of the Forsaken, pops
in and out of the main London chapter house
without warning, wearing his customary grey
mask. The few people who have seen his face
say that he’s only in his teens, but his style of
speech and his knowledge mark him as someone
who has had a long association with the Century
Club. He holds a place of prominence in the
organization’s leadership, but something still
doesn’t sit right about him. Perhaps it’s the scars
that line his neck underneath the edge of his
mask. People don’t survive wounds like that…
 Chapter 1: The World of the Young Centurions 25

WHAT’S A SHADOW?
If the Spirits were the only powers at play, the world would be a much nicer
place. But their good works are opposed at every turn by the actions of the
Shadow Centurions. Born on the last day of the previous century, these
December 31st babies seem to carry the weight of all the previous centu-
ry’s evils on their shoulders. If the Spirits are the embodiments of all that’s
great about each century, the Shadows are the previous century’s death rattle.
Calamity and strife follow them everywhere; they grow stronger the more they
feed their darker natures.
Shadows are the opposite side of the coin from Spirits, and as such they
share a lot of the same characteristics. Not every child born on the last day of
the century is a Shadow, and Shadows seemingly appear at random around
the world on that date. Like Spirits, Shadows represent a characteristic of their
age, only this time it’s a negative. A Shadow might represent a vice, like the
Shadow of Corruption, or they might embody the negative aspects of a virtue
gone out of control. For example, the Shadow of Progress might represent all
the bad things about rampant, uncontrolled progress, obliterating everything
in its path and consuming without heed for the future.
Shadows tend to be drawn to the criminal underworld, where they find
plenty of people who share their interests. But it’s a mistake to assume that
their activities are limited to darkened alleys and criminal syndicates. Shadows
aren’t always obviously bad guys, especially when they’re young. That little
girl with the starched pinafore and blonde ringlets might look like an angel,
but she could be pinching the other kids as soon as the grownups’ backs are
turned…or worse.
As with Spirits, Shadows have their own particular brand of bad that they’re
drawn to, and their skill sets tend to follow suit. The Shadow of Leadership
isn’t going to be a thick-necked goon; he’s the kid who leads the street gang
terrorizing downtown, and it’s practically impossible to resist his invitation to
join. He might grow up to become the leader of the local crime syndicate. He
might also grow up to become the mayor.
Some Spirits and Shadows share the same virtue, only the Shadow turns it
on its ear, revealing the darker side. Often, those that share the same virtue
find themselves in direct opposition. If there’s a Spirit of Leadership in the
same town, she’s destined to find herself in the direct path of that aforemen-
tioned gang and its leader, the Shadow of Leadership. Often, the outcome
of that confrontation affects the city as a whole…for good or for evil. As the
struggle between Spirit and Shadow progresses, it carries the fate of the cen-
tury along with it.
All in all, Shadows aren’t villains in the traditional sense. They don’t spend
most of their time building giant ray guns and dry washing their hands,
although they could if they wanted to. They’re just the kind of people who
enjoy sowing discord, and unfortunately, they’re particularly good at it. And as
with Spirits, the strands of fate twist around them, putting them into the ideal
places and times to spread the most mayhem. Confrontation between the two
is unavoidable, and it’s at those times that the fate of the century is determined.
26 Chapter 1: The World of the Young Centurions

Hunting Shadows
As you might imagine, it’s in the Century Club’s best interest to predict
the appearance of Shadows just as much as it is to find the new generation
of Spirits. These villains-in-the-making could be redeemed or, if necessary,
imprisoned before they cause serious harm if only the numerologists could
find them first. Unfortunately, even the most talented diviners can’t seem
to get a read on these illusive figures. It’s almost as if their very fates are
shadowed and obscured from sight.
Every once in a while, a Shadow triggers a Century Club Retainer’s div-
ination abilities. In those cases, there’s no way the Retainer can know for
sure if the youth in question is a Spirit or a Shadow—birth records are noto-
riously unreliable, and being a Spirit or a Shadow is an inclination rather
than an unchangeable destiny. Years of careful observation are required to
determine what steps the Retainer should take.

Margaret May, Shadow: Margaret May appears to be a perfect cherub.

Her father, an oil baron, often brings her to dinner parties and soci-
ety events, and on the surface, she’s nothing more than a well-bred
debutante in training. But underneath lies the heart of a Shadow of
Prosperity, the kind of girl who values material success above every-
thing else and will stop at nothing to ensure it. The overnight success
of May Petroleum Corporation
is a hot topic among business-
men, but none of them would
ever believe the truth—that the
company has grown so rapidly
not because of Mr. May’s busi-
ness sense, but because his
teenage daughter isn’t above
a little sabotage and black-
mail…or a lot of it.
 Chapter 1: The World of the Young Centurions 27

Yup, They’re Kids Too

As with the Spirits, it’s important to remember that the Shadows are also
kids, and they deal with the same things that regular kids do. They fight
with their siblings and refuse to eat their lima beans and do their homework.
They might love their families and learn sewing on Ma’s lap or help Pa
with the chores. Being a Shadow doesn’t mean they don’t have any redeem-
ing characteristics any more than being a Spirit means a kid is perfect.
Sometimes, that love for their family is what drives the Shadow to make the
wrong choices, to the heartbreak of everyone around them.
Particularly at the younger ages found in Young Centurions, Shadows
won’t command the respect necessary to function in large scale crime or to
influence local politics. Instead, their influence is often felt on the smaller
scale, growing larger as they mature and their reach extends. At twelve,
these are the kids who seem to poison every interaction, turn virtue to
vice in everyone around them, and leave tears in their wake. At eighteen,
in most cases they’ve honed those skills and are beginning to accumulate
followers intent on capitalizing on their success.

Shadow Organizations, or Lack Thereof

There’s no Shadow equivalent of the Century Club. Some Century Club
scholars have theorized that Shadows repel each other, almost like magnets
with similar poles. But Shadows have been known to work together, so that
can’t be true. Perhaps it’s more accurate to say that Spirits tend to be more
attracted to peace and order, whereas Shadows tend to thrive on chaos and
discord—not exactly the kind of environment that breeds long standing
relationships.
So while there isn’t much of a central organization for all Shadows—no
chapter houses or leadership body—young Shadows do work together in
small groups or one-on-one relationships to achieve a common goal. At
this point, they’re still developing their skills of deception and chicanery
and learning how to lead. As the century progresses, they’ll become more
organized, but right now that process is only beginning. That’s a good thing.
A street gang boasting one Shadow member is dangerous. Two is even more
so. A gang full of Shadows would be an apocalypse in the making.
Without an organization like the Century Club and the training it pro-
vides, most Shadows don’t even realize there’s anything atypical about
themselves, especially at a young age. They find their own corner of influ-
ence and exploit it, and may live their entire lives never hearing the word
“Shadow” applied to anything besides that thing they cast on the ground
when the sun’s out. But, just like Spirits, particularly promising young
Shadows are frequently picked up and groomed for success by mentors.
28 Chapter 1: The World of the Young Centurions

Shadow Mentors
Young Shadows who develop a significant level of influence often find
themselves at the center of attention in certain circles. While there’s no
Evil Century Club, there are still less scrupulous numerologists who, for
whatever reason, don’t see eye to eye with the Century Club and strike out
on their own. Some of them seek out Shadows to train. Although they don’t
have titles (since they don’t belong to any organization), they’re colloquially
referred to as Negatives. Negatives have the same divinatory abilities as their
Century Club counterparts, and they tend to serve as mentors for young
Shadows, moving into a sidekick or assistant status once the Shadow is
strong enough, like Alfred to a Shadow Batman. A strong Shadow/Negative
pairing is more than a match for a group of Spirit Centurions, and it’s wise
to beware of them.
Other lucky young Shadows might be mentored by one of the few 1800s
Shadows still around. Most of the elder generation is already gone, but a
few remain. Doctor Methuselah, the Shadow of Forever and a master of
mathemagic, was the undisputed leader of the 1800s Shadows, but this new
crop of kids in the early 1900s isn’t so interested in bowing down before
him. In this era of opportunity, there are too many chances for them to
strike out on their own. This hasn’t stopped him from continued recruit-
ment attempts, even donning disguises in an effort to recruit young Spirits
and corrupt them before they’re able to fully come into their abilities.

William Petoskey, Negative: William Petoskey is a churchgoing man

who kisses his wife and children before heading off to work in his
chemist’s shop each day. Portly, kind-faced, and balding, he certainly
doesn’t look like one of the world’s most skilled numerologists, an
opium dealer, or an amateur alchemist, but he’s all of those things.
Delivery boys leave his shop at all hours with bicarbonate of soda for
stomach upsets, opium deliveries for drug dens, and sometimes the
results of his latest alchemical experiments. He hasn’t managed to find
the secret of immortality yet, but that doesn’t stop him from trying.
But his numerological skills suggest he’s on the right track, and he has
a never-ending supply of delivery boys to practice his concoctions on…
 Chapter 1: The World of the Young Centurions 29

Switching Sides
It’s pretty tough to cross lines when the date of your birth so strongly influ-
ences your attraction to good or evil, but that doesn’t mean all Spirits are
trustworthy and all Shadows are malicious. Spirits can make mistakes; they
can be proud or willful. They can be led astray. And those kinds of actions
make it tough for the Century Club to trust them. Such is the case with
Rocket Red. By her birth date, this daughter of Soviet farmers should be a
Spirit Centurion, if the sparse and haphazard birth records can be trusted.
But difficult circumstances due to extreme poverty, combined with some
traumatic WWI experiences, have affected her badly…and toward the end
of the era covered by Young Centurions, the Century Club is watching her
closely, trying to determine where her loyalties lie. Fiercely independent,
she owes allegiance to neither side and trusts no one.
The opposite can also be true. Some young Shadows really try to be good
people, but no matter what their choices are, the outcomes end up twisted
and negative. It’s a hard life, and it’s usually only a matter of time before
that young idealist becomes a jaded Shadow adult and a seriously tragic
character.
Some Centurions are simply undiscovered by either side. In the early
years of the time of Young Centurions, this is often the case. There are many
factors at play and many Spirits for the Century Club to track down. In
1913, less than half of the estimated total number of Spirits has been iden-
tified, and about 15% are tentatively aligned with the Century Club. But
towards 1918, about 75% have been located, and about 50% are Century
Club members.
30 Chapter 1: The World of the Young Centurions

OTHER GOOD & BAD GUYS

Spirits and Shadows aren’t the only ones involved in the struggle between
good and evil. Regular people get caught up in these adventures too. Some
are just lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time (or unlucky
enough to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, as the case may be).
Others might work in law enforcement or on the other side of the law.
Either way, the chances are very good that our young heroes will end up
working with non-powered individuals. It’s a mistake to underestimate
them, particularly at this stage when non-powered adults have authority
over the Spirits and Shadows in development. All the fighting skills in the
world won’t help when the schoolmistress calls your parents in for a talk.
This situation can lead to a lot of complications for the growing heroes,
because by and large, the adults in their lives don’t believe their stories.
Imagine what would happen if Sally Slick told her teacher she missed
school because she was vanquishing a criminal mastermind. Would the
teacher believe her? Of course not! The teacher doesn’t understand, nor do
her parents. They’d assume Sally was lying, and on top of worrying about
retaliation from the criminal’s buddies, now she’d also have to contend with
extra chores around the farm. And that includes watching her baby brother,
so when the bad guys arrive, she has to keep him safe.
In short, the everyday things can take the wildest adventure from bad to
worse. This means that family members, friends, townspeople, and school
acquaintances can be just as important in a game of Young Centurions as the
people with the fun stunts. But there are also some interesting non-Cen-
turion groups that populate this world, and their influence can make or
break a Century Club mission. These groups may have one or two Spirit
or Shadow members, but they’re controlled by regular people. A few of the
key groups include:

Ars Scientia: Every year, scientists flock to Sweden for the announcement
of the Nobel Prize winners, but not the members of the Ars Scientia. These
scientists are dedicated to sciences not commonly accepted by the general
public. They converge on Geneva to share their findings in areas such as
numerology, alchemy, studies of lost civilizations like Atlantis, xenoarchae-
ology (study of aliens and alien civilizations), and other weird sciences.
This can make for an interesting meeting, because many Retainers and
Negatives are members of the society, and avoiding each other is impossible.
Towards the end of the Young Centurions timeline, they may also bring
along their young protégés, almost ensuring a confrontation when Spirits
meet Shadows. When they’re not attending the yearly conference, members
of the Ars Scientia may be found in their home laboratories, searching for
and sometimes making astonishing scientific breakthroughs, often well in
advance of their release to the general public.
 Chapter 1: The World of the Young Centurions 31

FAMOUS FIGURES YOU MIGHT MEET

Depending on their location, it’s entirely possible that the player char-
acters might meet someone destined for fame, or someone already
famous. Centurions do attract influential people, after all. Why not
give one of these historical figures a cameo in your game, or even
make them an NPC?
➧➧Sigmund Freud (born 1856, scientist)
➧➧Henri Matisse (born 1869, painter)
➧➧Harry Houdini (born 1874, magician)
➧➧Gertrude Stein (born 1874, author)
➧➧Mata Hari (born 1876, criminal)
➧➧Pancho Villa (born 1878, bandit)
➧➧Helen Keller (born 1880, activist)
➧➧Bela Lugosi (born 1882, actor)
➧➧Benito Mussolini (born 1883, politician)
➧➧Bessie Smith (born 1894, blues singer)
➧➧Babe Ruth (born 1895, baseball player)
➧➧Amelia Earhart (born 1897, pilot)
➧➧Alfred Hitchcock (born 1899, filmmaker)
➧➧Al Capone (born 1899, gangster)
➧➧Walt Disney (born 1901, filmmaker)
➧➧Louis Armstrong (born 1901, jazz musician)
➧➧Chuck Taylor (born 1901, basketball player, shoe endorser)
➧➧Carlo Gambino (born 1902, organized crime Boss of
Bosses)

The Jade Lotus: Chinatowns across the US have a seedy reputation—sadly,

many people associate them with shady deals in darkened corners. It’s true
that the criminal tongs are a constant threat, but the Jade Lotus keeps them
in check. This loose-knit organization is comprised of Chinese elders who
follow the Way of the Lotus, a lost Buddhist martial art. The Way of the
Lotus stresses balance among all living things, and its followers serve as
peacekeepers and unofficial police for their neighborhoods. They help shut
down drug dens, neutralize street gangs, and keep the sidewalks safe at
night. They also protect the people of Chinatown from the prejudice of the
local authorities when necessary. Most members of the Jade Lotus are old
holdouts from the 1800s, although a few new initiates do exist. Very few
of them are Spirits; Master Lingyu, the leader of the Jade Lotus in Chicago,
is an exception. He occasionally coordinates with the Century Club, and
sometimes mentors young Spirits.
32 Chapter 1: The World of the Young Centurions
Organized crime: In the 1910s, organized crime isn’t so organized, at least
not on a worldwide scale. The American Mafia doesn’t really come into
power until Prohibition in the 1920s. Instead, street gangs such as the Black
Hand or the Bowery Boys hold power over a small geographic area. This cre-
ates a prime opportunity for young criminals looking to solidify their power,
and many Shadows are attracted to these gangs. The United Kingdom is in
a similar state, with the crime scene dominated by gang activity, particu-
larly in Liverpool and Glasgow. The Bombay Underground in India won’t be
organized for another decade or so. The Sicilian Mafia is still relatively small
and known for cattle theft and fraud. The one exception is the Yakuza. Their
long history reaches all the way to the 17th century, and they’ve had plenty
of time to grow. At the time of Young Centurions, they’re entering a period of
power, led by Isokichi Yoshida from his power base on Kyushu Island.

Other Strange Creatures

Young Centurions is a pulp game, and that means it’s a world that sometimes
strains the limits of reality. This is a world populated by angry shopkeep-
ers and strict schoolmistresses and neighborhood bullies, but it’s also a
world where you just might meet a ghost, alien, or robot servant. Strange
things can and do happen, and when they do, they’re always game-changers.
Although most people aren’t aware, there are some strange groups working
in the shadows, such as:

The Creep: The Creep is an oddity even among oddities. Assassinated by

the Steel Don, he remained on earth as a ghost in an effort to protect his
family. Thanks to the efforts of Sally Slick, his ghost took over the body of a
primitive robot. The Creep, once a famous thief who could sneak in and out
of any building, now patrols the streets of big cities on a quest against the
growing crime families. He’s particularly sensitive to crimes against children
and women, since they remind him of the family he’s had to leave behind.
His glowing purple eyes seem to miss nothing, and his body, while not up to
Sally’s best design standards, is more powerful than ten humans put together.
The Creep is more than a match for any bad guy, and an incredible ally to
have under any circumstances.

Gorilla Khan and his conqueror apes: Gorilla Khan is a creation of Doctor
Methuselah, who used his powers of mathemagic to build up an army
of intelligent apes in the wilds of Africa. But after a while, Gorilla Khan
wasn’t content to follow Methuselah’s orders, and he revolted. Strangely,
Methuselah simply gave his creation freedom, surrendering the troops and
leaving the area. Gorilla Khan wasn’t content to stay at home, though, and
he’s started wandering the globe in a search for new regions to conquer. For
some reason, he’s very obsessed with the idea of Atlantis and puts most of
his efforts toward rediscovering the lost continent. But he maintains a strong
disdain toward humans and likes to capture them and use them as slave labor.
What Methuselah thinks of this is anyone’s guess.
 Chapter 1: The World of the Young Centurions 33

Le Monstre Aux Yeux Verts: Le Monstre is a Parisian crime lord known for
his brutal retaliation against anyone rash enough to oppose him. Gambling,
drug trafficking, and black market goods are only some of his criminal
enterprises, and nothing happens in Paris without his say-so. The time of
Young Centurions is his heyday, but sometime around 1918, one young
Spirit will stand up to him, and by 1920 le Monstre will acquire a metal
face of his own.

The Steel Don: The Steel Don wears a mask of living metal covering his
entire face. He was once in service to a powerful 1800s Shadow scientist, Dr.
Dorottya Balogh. Balogh conducted hundreds of experiments, not always
on willing victims. In fact, she idolized Victor Frankenstein from Mary
Shelley’s book, and wanted nothing more than to replicate those experi-
ments. After an explosion in her laboratory maimed the Don, Dr. Balogh
took the opportunity to experiment once again. Sadly, the agony of the
ordeal (both the explosion and the surgery afterwards) robbed him of his
sanity. Dr. Balogh’s health is now waning, which has left the Don free to
pursue his own goals, searching for a scientist who will build him an army
of steel servants with which to take over the world.
34 Chapter 1: The World of the Young Centurions

OVERVIEW OF THE
WORLD IN THE 1910s
The world of Young Centurions is an alternate history, which means that
most of the things that appear in our history books also happen in this
world, with some minor Spirit and Shadow related differences. The fol-
lowing is a taste of the most exciting bits that happened from 1912-1918,
along with some story ideas that suggest how the Century Club and/or
the Shadows might have been involved. Use or ignore these suggestions in
your game to your heart’s content. And certainly, if you have a group full
of history buffs, don’t stop with these ideas! Any historical event can be an
inspiration for a Young Centurions scenario, not to mention a fun way to
memorize details for your next history exam.
Overall, the 1910s were full of political upheaval, possibly due to the lack
of mature Spirits to help stabilize things. World War I is the most obvious
example, and you can read more about that on page 35. But this is a time
of change all over the world, not just in Europe and Asia. Here’s a small
sampling of important political events of this decade:

➧➧The establishment of the Republic of China in 1912

➧➧The foundation of the African National Congress, also in 1912
➧➧The Mexican Revolution, from 1910 to 1920
➧➧The Easter Rising in Ireland in 1916
➧➧The Bolshevik Revolution and Russian Civil War in 1917
But all is not political maneuvering and fighting over things; this is an
era of terrific progress in the sciences. Niels Bohr created the first model of
the atomic nucleus in 1913. The Panama Canal, an architectural wonder,
opened in 1914. And in 1915, Typhoid Mary was quarantined, leading to
advances in our understanding of how diseases are transmitted.
That progress trickled out to the populace very slowly. In the early 1900s,
you might have seen motorcars on the road side-by-side with mail carriers
on horseback. Rich folk would electrify a small area near their home, but
electricity hadn’t quite caught on yet and wouldn’t really take off until the
1930s. This was particularly true of rural areas—most farms weren’t elec-
trified until much later. It’s a very interesting time, particularly for young
kids who dreamt of all kinds of astonishing inventions and adventures that
suddenly seemed like they just might be possible.
But it’s also a time that’s home to some uncomfortable truths. Racism
and sexism were rampant. The Civil Rights Movements hadn’t happened
yet, and the Women’s Rights Movement was still underway. Prejudice was
widespread on both small and large scales. And a lot of things considered
 Chapter 1: The World of the Young Centurions 35
perfectly acceptable back then would make us wince now. You just didn’t
talk about the fact that Mr. Wilson got a little crazy with his fists when he
drank, not to mention the fact that he used all the money for booze so there
wasn’t money to buy shoes for the kids.
As with any bit of history, we encourage you to choose whatever is best
for your group and their comfort levels. If you just want a fun, fluffy game,
go for it! Dump all the ugly bits by the wayside and head straight for the
adventure. If you want to go more realistic, do that too. Just make sure that
your group comes to this decision together and is comfortable with it. It’s
no fun for anyone if the GM surprises the players with a boatload of preju-
dice when they were expecting a carefree quest story.

World War I
The Great War dominated this decade, beginning in July of 1914 and
ending in November of 1918. It’s a huge, complex, interesting topic—this
first world war really changed how wars were fought. New technologies
such as tanks, poison gas, flamethrowers, submarines, and fixed wing air-
craft changed the face of battle forever. And not only were there changes on
the battlefield, but at home as well. The scope of the war was so great that
it made permanent changes in the workplace as large numbers of women
took on jobs outside the home for the first time, picking up the duties men
left behind. The war also bred widespread mistrust throughout Europe and
America, with neighbors accusing neighbors of having Red sympathies. In
some places, the Red Scare became something close to a witch hunt, driven
by fear.
There are tons of story opportunities in which young heroes might make
a difference in the context of the war, provided that your gaming group is
mature enough to handle these topics and themes. (Advice on handling
more serious topics while gaming with kids can be found on page 118.)
If you plan to tackle a war-related campaign, it’s definitely worth reading
up on the history of the war—we recommend The First World War by John
Keegan for a thorough overview with plenty of photographs to help inspire
your campaign. Or head online to read the Spartacus Educational First
World War encyclopedia (http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/FWW.htm)
for a thorough summary of the war and descriptions of the various battles
to inspire you.
The Shadows have many opportunities to benefit from the Great War
and are almost certainly behind the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand
as well as many of the Central Power triumphs. Most of these plots are
assumed to be the work of Negatives or senior Shadows such as Doctor
Methuselah at the onset of the war, but towards the end of the conflict, the
young Shadows begin to take a larger part in the action, their actions always
opposed by the efforts of the new Spirits.
36 Chapter 1: The World of the Young Centurions

America in the 1910s

The United States was in a somewhat unique position compared to the rest
of the Allied nations. It was geographically removed from the war, and in
fact didn’t officially enter the conflict until near its end. The US sided with
the Allies after the Germans sank the RMS Lusitania in 1915, but they
didn’t send troops to fight until 1917. So, if you’re looking to steer away
from a WWI plot or subplot for your campaign, the USA presents a good
opportunity to do this.
And there’s plenty of interesting material here to fuel stories! Like the rest
of the world, the United States was also developing at high speed. Right at
the beginning of the century, we saw two new states added to the union
(New Mexico and Arizona, both in 1912), constitutional ratifications to
establish the income tax and election of senators (both in 1913), and the
establishment of the Federal Reserve (also in 1913). The government was
still being developed, and that left a lot of opportunities for people to influ-
ence the future of the country both for good and for evil.
The overall population was changing too. The first half of the decade
saw a lot of immigration as Europeans fled their war-torn homes, and they
suffered persecution and sometimes imprisonment during the Red Scare.
Women’s rights were on the rise as they were called to the workplace just
like women in Europe. Although women weren’t able to vote in the US
until 1920, the wheels were already in motion. In 1916, Jeannette Rankin
became the first woman elected to Congress.
The 1910s were also a time of progress within the US. There were projects
such as the construction of Grand Central Station, secretly funded by the
Century Club. The train station opened in 1913, setting the stage for Spirits
to travel more easily across the country to deal with threats. The Century
Club also supported the construction of Henry Ford’s first assembly line
in 1913, setting the stage for automobiles to be more accessible, again in
an effort to allow their young Spirits to expand their geographic influence.
 Chapter 1: The World of the Young Centurions 37

Story Ideas Based on Historical Events

Stuck for ideas? Consider using a historical event as a jumping off point for
your campaign, as we did in the following examples:

The Titanic: The Titanic sank in 1912. Everyone knows it hit an ice-
berg, but what they don’t know is that said iceberg was actually Gorilla
Khan’s floating arctic fortress. Khan is a hyperintelligent creation of Doctor
Methuselah with visions of world domination, and yes, he’s a primate. The
conqueror ape is searching for Atlantis, and he’s not going to let anything
stand in his way, not even an unsinkable ship. To date, his quest remains
unsuccessful, and he’s widening his search area. Now, the floating fortress is
approaching land. A team of scientists, unaware that the peaceful ice floes
are hiding hordes of hostile ape men, set out to investigate, leaving their
kids behind at base camp. When their parents are captured, it’s up to the
kids to rescue them…before it’s too late and those scientists end up getting
turned into ape chow.
38 Chapter 1: The World of the Young Centurions
The Assassination of Archduke Ferdinand: Archduke Franz Ferdinand of
Austria was assassinated in 1914. The whole thing was plotted by Serbian
military officials in their quest for independence from Austria-Hungary,
accidentally setting into action a chain of events leading to the Great War…
or so we’ve been told. In reality, the Archduke was only one of two intended
targets. The bombs set off in the motorcade, which missed the Archduke’s
car, were actually targeting a young girl in the first car. This Young Centurion
spy, Annaliese Feiersinger, had just reported to the Century Club that she
had important information vital to world peace. But it’s suspected that
Shadow agents, possibly under the direction of Doctor Methuselah, got to
her first. What had Feiersinger discovered? It’s up to her classmates at the
Academy of the Sacred Heart to find out. Unfortunately, their headmistress
may be playing for the other side, and opposes them at every turn. Will they
succeed in discovering the sensitive military information and getting it into
the right hands before the Headmistress locks them away for good?

One Last Golden Summer: It’s June 1918, and the young Spirits know that
come fall they’ll have two choices: be drafted into the army and go fight in
the trenches in France, or sign on with the Century Club as full Centurions,
with all the grown-up dangers that means. They have the summer to wrap
up all their loose ends here at home—time to expose the corrupt sheriff,
take down the 18th Street Gang, give that bully what he’s had coming to
him for the past four years, and get a smooch from that pretty girl or boy
at school.

Grand Central Station Turf War: Grand Central Station opened in 1913
and quickly became a hub of activity, with travelers and commuters coming
and going at all hours. Two rival gangs are trying to take control of this
prime bit of real estate, and a small group of Spirit kids (newsies, street kids,
children of shop keepers, etc.) are stuck in the middle. When the bad guys
are fighting each other, it’s bad enough, but then a silver-tongued Shadow
emerges to unite them. The combined gang is getting powerful…and fast.
It’s up to the Spirits to sabotage their efforts, turn the toughs against each
other, and save the station. But there’s a mighty powerful Shadow standing
in the way, and he isn’t about to give up control without a fight.
 Chapter 1: The World of the Young Centurions 39

Coming of Age in the 1910s

Back in the olden days, we used to have to walk to school barefoot and
uphill both ways… Just kidding. But seriously, this is a book about kids and
teenagers about a hundred years ago, and they led very different lives from
ours today. Probably the most obvious difference is that whole technology
thing. It’s hard for us to contemplate being a kid in a world without gaming
systems, computers, the internet, cell phones, or televisions. Radios didn’t
even become popular in households until around 1919. This meant that
kids had to come up with their own entertainments and spent most of their
time away from home—particularly away from parents and any chores they
might hand out.
Without all the electronic gadgets, kids made up their own games or
played with some simple toys we still see in stores today. Tinker toys, dolls,
jacks, and marbles were some of the most popular toys. Kids played tag,
hopscotch, clapping games like Mary Mack and Pease Porridge Hot, or
baseball. They collected baseball cards and Cracker Jack prizes and often
spent their pocket money on penny candies such as Tootsie Rolls, chocolate
buttons, and saltwater taffy at the local market or five-and-dime store.
But everything wasn’t fun and games. New laws required kids to go to
school until age 16, although they could work in addition to school, and
some schools in farming communities actually closed down for the harvest
since no one would show up. There was also a new minimum wage law
and in 1916 a child labor law, which meant that factories couldn’t employ
children for pennies a day. Because of these developments, kids were more
likely than ever to graduate from school with a basic education. But still,
kids were often employed part time—helping out at their farm, in factories,
as office couriers or runners, or selling papers as the infamous newsies.
Another major difference between kids’ lives today and those of kids in
the 1910s is supervision. Today, it’s much less common to see kids out
unsupervised. We live in an age of organized play dates, after school care,
and nightly clubs and activities. But back then, kids were frequently sent
out on their own. Mothers typically stayed at home (at least until the men
left for war, and then they were much more likely to be working), but that
didn’t necessarily include direct supervision of the kids. After a quick post-
school snack and any necessary chores, kids often left the house and didn’t
return until supper. They might roam the fields, play Capture the Flag at
the local dump, or throw marbles in the city alleyways. Overall, they had a
lot more freedom than modern kids do.
This is a time in history when it seemed like anything was possible. Pulp
magazines such as Adventure, Argosy, Blue Book, and Short Stories were
incredibly popular, with their tales of daring detectives and astonishing
archeologists on exotic adventures. Many kids imagined themselves in the
roles of their favorite fictional adventurers.
40 Chapter 1: The World of the Young Centurions

Technology in the Early 20th Century

A lot of the technological advancements we take for granted hadn’t been
invented at the time of Young Centurions. In game terms, you can stick with
history if you like, or—if a certain gadget or gizmo is necessary for your
plot—bring in a young Spirit with a knack for invention and let her go to
town. Here’s a brief listing of inventions and their official status in relation
to the Young Centurions timeline:

Already invented: The steam engine, cars, telegraphs, incandescent light

bulbs, sewing machines, steam ships, color photography, motion pictures

Invented during Young Centurions: Radio (in development throughout the

early 1900s, but the first radio broadcast wasn’t until 1920, so they weren’t
present in households), the zipper (1913), stainless steel (1916)

Invented later: Band-Aid, insulin, traffic signals, television, penicillin, jet

engines
 CHAPTER 2:
MAKING A CHARACTER
42 Chapter 2: Making a Character

READY TO GET STARTED?

Okay! Let’s talk about what makes a character in Young Centurions.
The Young Centurion you play has three major parts you need to think
about: aspects, approaches, and stunts. There are a couple of other little
things too, but for now just think about these three big ones.
An aspect is a word, phrase, or sentence that describes something cen-
trally important to your character. It can be a motto your character lives by,
a personality quirk, a description of a relationship you have with another
character, an important possession or bit of equipment, or any other part
of your character that’s vitally important. Aspects allow you to change the
story in ways that tie in with your character’s tendencies, skills, or problems.
Characters have six approaches that describe how good they are at solv-
ing problems and overcoming challenges. Each approach describes a way
that you can overcome a challenge (Careful, Clever, Flashy, Forceful, Quick,
or Sneaky) and is given a rating ranging from +0 to +3. These numbers are
added to your dice rolls when you try to do something that might fail.
A stunt is a special trait that changes the way an approach works for your
character. Generally, stunts give you a bonus (almost always +2) to a certain
approach when used with a particular action under specific circumstances.
 Chapter 2: Making a Character 43

CREATING CHARACTERS: THE

30-SECOND VERSION
1. Write two aspects (page 80): a high concept and a trouble.
2. Write another aspect.
3. Give your character a name and describe their appearance.
4. Choose approaches (page 63).
5. Set your refresh to 3.
6. You may write up to two more aspects and choose a stunt
(page 88) if you wish, or you may do that during play.

NEW STUFF FOR FATE ACCELERATED VETERANS!

If you’ve played Fate Accelerated Edition before, this section will seem
pretty familiar to you; it should, because Young Centurions uses the
FAE rules system. There are a few new additions; here’s where to find
them:

➧➧Spirit Aspects (page 44): Your high concept should reflect

your status as a Spirit, a Centurion in training.
➧➧Initiative and Going First (page 72): Who goes first in a
conflict depends on the action that led up to the conflict.
➧➧Boosts (page 86): How boosts work has been changed slightly.
➧➧Century Stunts (page 90): Young Centurions (and Shadows)
get one stunt that’s a bit more powerful than usual.
➧➧Adjustable Difficulty and Story Impact (page 64-65): Your
choice of approach may affect not only the difficulty of the task,
but may have further impact on events.
➧➧Mentors (page 123): Young Centurions have mentors who can
help them out of a jam.
➧➧Guns in Young Centurions (page 58): Guns frequently serve
different roles in stories about kids.
➧➧Campaign Ratings and Appropriate Consequences (page
118 and page 76): Keep your campaign’s stories right for
the age of the characters.
➧➧Expert Mooks (page 125): GMs have the option of
making some mook opponents particularly dangerous.
44 Chapter 2: Making a Character

WRITE YOUR HIGH

CONCEPT AND TROUBLE
The first step is to get an idea of what kind of character you want to play.
Play a character that you think is interesting and cool; your excitement about
your character will help everyone at the table have a good time, and that’s
the key to having a great game. You don’t need to have a complicated and
detailed description—start by describing your character in a single sentence
or phrase. Once you’ve figured that out, you can write a couple of aspects:
your high concept and trouble. This is where you start defining your char-
acter’s basic nature, her strengths and weaknesses.
Your character’s high concept neatly sums up your character, saying who
you are, what you do, what your “deal” is. It should also reflect your status
as an aspiring Centurion—choose an idea that you wish to embody, or make
your life’s purpose to protect or enhance. Sally Slick is the Spirit of Ingenuity.
Her high concept aspect could be Spirit of Ingenuity, or you might go
for something that’s a little more descriptive of how she expresses her inge-
nuity, such as Ingenious Inventor. As the Spirit of Courage, Jet Black
could have a high concept of Spirit of Courage, or maybe Courageous
in the Face of Danger sounds more appealing to you. Benjamin Hu’s high
concept might be Spirit of Mystery or Adventuring Scholar of the
Mysterious. Remember that more than one Spirit can embody the same
ideal.

The game group sits down to create their characters together. Amanda,
one of the players, thinks about the sort of character she’d like to play.
“I’m thinking of an inventor,” she says to everyone at the table. “A girl
who can build almost anything with parts she finds in the barn.”
Carrie, the gamemaster, wants to help clarify and refine the idea. “So,
a mechanic? Someone who can fix anything?”
Amanda considers that. “Yeah, I’m sure she’s the sort of person who
can fix anything, but I want to emphasize building new stuff, or making
old stuff better. She really shows off ingenuity, creativity with machines.”
Carrie grins. “Sounds like you have your Spirit there. The Spirit of
Ingenuity.”
“Perfect!” Amanda says, and writes Spirit of Ingenuity on her character
sheet as the high concept.

Once you’ve created a high concept for yourself, decide on the thing that
always gets you into trouble. It could be a personal weakness, or a recurring
enemy, or an important obligation—anything that makes your life compli-
cated. Examples like Bully Magnet; Punch First, Ask Questions Later;
Gotta Look Out for My Little Brother all create obligations, estab-
lish enemies, or suggest personality quirks that make things difficult for you
sometimes.
 Chapter 2: Making a Character 45

Why Would I Want Things to Be Difficult?

Why on earth would you want an aspect that makes things hard for you?
That’s a great question—it sure doesn’t seem to make any sense, does it?
Well, there are two big reasons you want to do this.
The first reason is that when you or the GM decides that something bad
happens to you because of your trouble aspect (or any other aspect used in
a negative way), you get a fate point. You can spend that fate point later
to get a bonus on a roll or do other cool things (more about that on page
83). Fate points make you powerful—you probably want to collect a
bunch.
The second reason is this: Have you ever read a book or seen a movie
where everything went right for the hero all the time? If you have, it was
probably a pretty boring story. It’s when everything goes wrong that things
get exciting. It’s OK! Let it happen sometimes. It doesn’t mean you’ve lost,
or you screwed up—this is your chance to be awesome when you fix the
problem.

Next, Amanda thinks about what’s going to cause trouble for her
Spirit of Ingenuity. “Maybe her inventions blow up all the time?” she
suggests, hoping the rest of the group can come up with a better idea.
Carrie shrugs. “Yeah, that’s trouble, but it’s not going to drive stories.
She has all these inventions that amaze people—what’s something
that could go wrong in a way that really changes the story?”
“What if people keep trying to steal her inventions?” Amanda says,
excited about the possibilities. “Maybe people want to take them and
sell them to the Kaiser’s army, or use them to take over the world, or
something?”
“Perfect,” Carrie says. Amanda writes Everyone Wants My Inventions
on the trouble line of her character sheet.

ANOTHER ASPECT
Next, compose another aspect. Think of something really important or
interesting about your character. Are you The Strongest Kid in My
Hometown? Do you have Deadly Aim with a Slingshot? Do you Talk
Too Much? Are you Filthy Rich? Get creative—what’s something really
cool about your character that sets them apart from other people?
If you like, you can use this aspect to establish that you have a mentor,
an adult (maybe a Centurion from the 19th century or a Retainer from the
Century Club) who can lend you a hand from time to time. Master Liu
Guides Me and Student of the Grey Ghost are great examples. Aside
from the usual compels and invocations, this aspect allows you to use the
rules about mentors taking consequences for you (page 78).
46 Chapter 2: Making a Character

But I Can’t Think of Anything!

Here are some questions that might get your imagination going. Don’t
worry if you can’t answer all of them—you just need a few ideas to get you
started.
What things define your character?
➧➧Is it where he grew up—on a farm, in the big city, traveling from place
to place?
➧➧Is it what she does with her time—a job, hobbies, school, social life?
➧➧Is it his family—wealthy or poor, close or distant, large or small?
➧➧Is it her future—her goals, dreams, or aspirations? What does she want
to do or be when she grows up?

If you’re still at a loss, see what ideas other people in the group have.
Maybe your character is connected with one of theirs—a friend, a classmate,
a sibling. That will give you a place to start.
If nothing is working for you, there are a few sample characters in
Chapter 10: Game Resources. Feel free to use them as inspiration or play
them as is!

Another player at Carrie and Amanda’s table is Harry, who’s thinking

of playing a Spirit who has lots of courage but is always underestimat-
ing risks—so he gets in over his head all the time. Amanda asks, “Harry,
how do our characters know each other?”
“What if they’re best friends? Maybe my character is always hanging
around your workshop,” Harry suggests.
Amanda nods. “Good idea. If you’re always getting in trouble,
maybe I end up bailing you out a lot?”
Carrie, the gamemaster, loves that idea. “That’s a great way to get
everyone involved in the adventure,” she says. “Amanda, what if your
third aspect is about that?”
Amanda pencils Harry’s In Trouble! on her character sheet. “I’ll
replace ‘Harry’ with your character’s name, once you think of it,” she
tells Harry.
That leaves two aspects blank, which Amanda decides she’ll fill in
during play.
 Chapter 2: Making a Character 47

NAME AND APPEARANCE

Describe your character’s appearance and give them a name. Remember
that Spirits come in all shapes, sizes, and colors—your hero doesn’t have
to look like you do in real life, and sometimes it’s more interesting if they
don’t! Be adventurous!
Give them a memorable name—you’re not going to play a boring charac-
ter, are you? Then don’t give them a boring name. Don’t worry if it’s a little
corny. These are pulp heroes we’re talking about. Think of something that
suggests action! Thrills! Danger!

True story! The original character of Sally Slick was created by a player
in the very first Spirit of the Century game ever played, back in the
early 2000s. A player thought of her grandmother, a smart, loving,
and loyal woman with a great sense of humor and the best pulp name
ever—Sally Slick—and named her player character after her.

APPROACHES THE LADDER

Now you get to choose the bonuses for your In Young Centurions, we use
approaches. Approaches are descriptions of a set of adjectives and num-
how you accomplish tasks. Everyone has the bers, called the ladder, to rate
same six approaches: a character’s approaches, the
result of a roll, difficulty rat-
➧➧Careful ings for simple checks, etc.
➧➧Clever
➧➧Flashy +8 Legendary
➧➧Forceful +7 Epic
➧➧Quick +6 Fantastic
➧➧Sneaky +5 Superb
+4 Great
Each approach is rated with a bonus. Choose +3 Good
one at Good (+3), two at Fair (+2), two at +2 Fair
Average (+1), and one at Mediocre (+0). You +1 Average
can improve these later. We talk about what 0 Mediocre
each approach means and how you use them -1 Poor
in Chapter 3: Playing Young Centurions (page -2 Terrible
54).
48 Chapter 2: Making a Character
Your approaches can say a lot about who you are, especially the approaches
you rate highest (+3) and lowest (+0). Here are some examples:

➧➧The Brute: Forceful +3, Careful and Flashy +2, Sneaky and Quick +1,
Clever +0
➧➧The All-Star: Quick +3, Forceful and Flashy +2, Clever and Careful
+1, Sneaky +0
➧➧The Trickster: Clever +3, Sneaky and Flashy +2, Forceful and Quick
+1, Careful +0
➧➧The Guardian: Careful +3, Forceful and Clever +2, Sneaky and Quick
+1, Flashy +0
➧➧The Thief: Sneaky +3, Careful and Quick +2, Clever and Flashy +1,
Forceful +0
➧➧The Swashbuckler: Flashy +3, Quick and Clever +2, Forceful and
Sneaky +1, Careful +0

Amanda thinks about how Sally approaches problems. She figures

that, as an inventor, she’s always looking for the clever solution, so she
writes +3 next to “Clever.” Next, she thinks about what Sally’s great-
est weakness might be. Sally’s personality is already taking shape
in Amanda’s mind, and she decides that Sally would avoid sneaking
around and being deceitful. She’s a straightforward person who tack-
les challenges head-on. So she writes +0 next to “Sneaky,” reflecting
that Sally is out of her element in those situations.
Next, Amanda decides that Sally prefers Flashy and Quick to being
Forceful and Careful, so she puts +2 next to Flashy and Quick, and
gives Forceful and Careful +1.

STUNTS AND REFRESH

A stunt is a special trait that changes the way an approach works for your
character. Generally, stunts give you a bonus (almost always +2) to a certain
approach when used with a particular action under specific circumstances.
We’ll talk more about stunts in Chapter 7: Stunts (page 88), including
the special Century stunt that Spirits and Shadows are entitled to choose.
Choose one stunt to start, or you can wait and add a stunt during the game.
Later, when your character advances, you can choose more.
Your refresh is the number of fate points you begin each game session
with—unless you ended the previous session with more unspent fate points
than your refresh, in which case you start with the number you had left last
time. By default, your refresh starts at three and is reduced by one for each
stunt after the first three you choose—essentially, your first three stunts are
free! As your character grows and changes, you’ll get opportunities to add
to your refresh. Your refresh may never go below one.
 Chapter 2: Making a Character 49

How Many Stunts?

By default, Young Centurions suggests choosing one stunt to start with.
If this is your first time playing a game based on the Fate system, you
might find it easier to pick your first stunt after you’ve played a bit so you
have a chance to figure out a good one. Write your stunt on your character
sheet during or after your first game session.
On the other hand, if you’re an experienced Fate gamer, you might notice
that your character is entitled to three free stunts before it starts costing you
refresh. In that case, let the least experienced member of your game group
be your guide; if someone is new to the game and only takes one to start
with, that’s what everyone should do. If you’re all experienced and you want
to start with more powerful characters, just take all three to start and off
you go.

The game group together decides that each player should choose one
stunt now, at character creation. Amanda thinks about a cool way to
demonstrate Sally’s tinkering. “I imagine that she’s the sort of person
who always has a gizmo or gadget on hand. She always has just the
right thing to get her out of a jam,” she says.
“How about a stunt that gives you something that gets rid of a sit-
uation aspect (page 81),” Harry suggests. “What kind of gizmo
would do that?”
“We don’t have to decide that now,” Carrie says. “It can be any sort
of device that makes sense at the time. Once per game session, you
can get rid of a situation aspect because you happen to have just the
right doodad on hand. Tell us what it is when it comes into play.”
“Oh, good idea,” Amanda says. “How about if I make it my Century
stunt (page 90) and I can invoke it twice per game session?”
“Works for me,” Carrie says. Amanda names the stunt “Wonderful
Toys,” and describes how it works on her character sheet. She makes
a note that Sally’s refresh is 3.
50 Chapter 2: Making a Character

ANIMAL COMPANIONS
AND ROBOT FRIENDS
If you see your character as having a faithful dog, or a crow that always
hangs around her, or a steam-powered mechanical man can help out in a
pinch, there are several ways you can represent this in the rules.

Aspect
You can represent your furry/ferrous friend by using one of your aspect
slots to declare her. It works, of course, just like any other aspect. Examples
could include Lady, My Trusty Black Lab or Gears Is My Mechanical
Helper.

Stunt
Compose a stunt that describes how your pet helps you. This could include
things like this:

Lady’s Nose: Because Lady my black lab has such a good nose, I gain +2
to Clever attempts to overcome obstacles and create advantages when I’m
tracking my opponents by scent.

Trusty Steed: Because Trigger is my trusty pinto, once per session I can
declare that he arrives at my location just in the nick of time, as long as I’m
outdoors and can whistle.

Fetch, Marvin!: Because Marvin the crow loves shiny things, once per
session I can send him to fetch a small item that I can see but can’t reach—
provided a bird could get to it.

Shielding Gears: Because Gears the Robot is made of metal, once per scene
when he is in my zone he can add +2 to my defend roll by getting in the way
of something attacking me.
 Chapter 2: Making a Character 51

CHARACTER COMPLETE!
And that’s it! You’re ready to start your life of adventure! If you haven’t done
it yet, talk with the GM and the other players about what sort of exciting
adventures you’d like to tackle. Finally showing the school bully that pick-
ing on the smaller kids isn’t going to happen anymore? Rescuing your best
friend’s mom and dad from the big city crime boss? Investigating what
dangerous contraption the inventor down the road is building in his barn
late at night when he thinks nobody can hear him?

Completing the Picture

Having a sense of what your character looks like can help you and the
other players more vividly imagine the stories you tell. Here are some totally
optional but fun ideas for getting into character:

➧➧Draw a picture of your character by hand or on a computer.

➧➧Put together a LEGO minifig that represents your character.
➧➧Find a photo of a character from a movie or TV show that looks like
your character.
➧➧Pick the actor you’d want to play your character if your game was a TV
show or movie.
➧➧Pick a theme song that you imagine playing in the background as your
character swings into action.
52 Chapter 2: Making a Character

Name

Sally Slick
Age & Description Refresh Current
Fate Points

3
APPROACHES ASPECTS
CAREFUL +1 Spirit of Ingenuity
High Concept

CLEVER +3 Trouble
Everyone wants my inventions
FLASHY +2
Harry’s in Trouble!
FORCEFUL +1
QUICK +2
SNEAKY +0
CENTURY STUNT
Wonderful Toys: Because I am such a skilled inventor, twice
per game session I can produce a device that eliminates a
situation aspect without rolling.
OTHER STUNTS
I can build THAT! Because I am an intuitive inventor, I gain +2
to Quickly jury-rig a device to create an advantage.
Little Miss Fix-It: Because I’m mechanically inclined, I gain +2 to
Cleverly overcome obstacles in repairing any device.

STRESS CONSEQUENCES
Mild
2
Moderate
4
1 2 3 Severe
YC Character Sheet ©2015 Evil Hat Productions, LLC.
May be printed and photocopied for personal use.
6
 CHAPTER 3:
PLAYING YOUNG CENTURIONS
54 Chapter 3: Playing Young Centurions

GET PLAYING!
Now it’s time to start doing something. You have to leap from one moving
train car to another. You must to search the entire library for that infor-
mation you desperately need. You’ve got to distract the guard so you can
sneak into the building. How do you figure out what happens? (Do you
learn better by seeing things in action? There’s an extended example of play
starting on page 106 that demonstrates the rules and concepts.)
First you narrate what your character is trying to do. Your character’s
own aspects provide a good guide for what you can do. If your aspects
describe you as a swordsman, draw that blade and have at it. If your aspects
say you’re an ace mechanic, get in the workshop and make with the fixing.
These story details don’t have additional mechanical impact. You don’t get
a bonus from your workshop or your sword, unless you choose to spend a
fate point to invoke an appropriate aspect (page 82). Often, the ability
to use an aspect to make something true in the story is bonus enough.
How do you know if you’re successful? Often, you just succeed, because
the action isn’t hard and nobody’s trying to stop you. But if failure pro-
vides an interesting twist in the story, or if something unpredictable could
happen, you need to break out the dice.

TAKING ACTION: THE 30-SECOND VERSION

1. Describe what you want your character to do. See if someone or
something can stop you.
2. Decide what action you’re taking: create an advantage, overcome,
attack, or defend.
3. Decide on your approach.
4. Roll dice and add your approach’s bonus.
5. Decide whether to modify your roll with aspects.
6. Figure out your outcome.
 Chapter 3: Playing Young Centurions 55

Telling Stories Together

In Young Centurions, all the people at the table, GM and players alike, are
responsible for telling the story. When you make a decision for your char-
acter (or for one of the NPCs, if you’re the GM), think about two things.
First, put yourself in your character’s shoes and think hard about what
they would do—even if you can tell it’s not a good idea. People sometimes
make poor decisions. Don’t be afraid to make a poor decision for them on
purpose.
Second—and this is really important—think about the story that’s being
told. Think about the choice that would make that story even better: more
interesting, more exciting, funnier. Would a certain choice give another
player’s character a chance to be awesome? Strongly consider making that
choice.
That’s how you tell great stories together—by not being afraid for your
character to make mistakes, and by making choices that make the story
more interesting for everyone at the table—not just you.

DICE OR CARDS
Part of determining your outcome is generating a random number, which
is usually done in one of two ways: rolling four Fate Dice, or drawing a card
from a Deck of Fate.

Fate Dice: Fate Dice (sometimes called Fudge dice, after the game they were
originally designed for) are one way to determine outcomes. You always roll
Fate Dice in a set of four. Each die will come up as -, 0, or +, and you
add them together to get the total of the roll. For example:
-+0+ = +1 +++- = +2
+-00 = 0 -000 = −1
If you don’t have Fate Dice, see “Not Gonna Buy New Dice” (page 9)
for how to use regular six-sided dice instead.

Deck of Fate: The Deck of Fate is a deck of cards that copies the statistical
spread of Fate Dice. You can choose to use them instead of dice—either
one works great.
The rules for Young Centurions are written with the assumption that
you’re rolling Fate Dice, but use whichever one your group prefers. Anytime
you’re told to roll dice, that also means you can draw from the Deck of Fate
instead.
56 Chapter 3: Playing Young Centurions

ACTIONS & OUTCOMES:

THE 30-SECOND VERSION

C Create an advantage when creating or discovering aspects:

$$ Fail: Don’t create or discover, or you do but your opponent (not

you) gets a free invocation.
DD Tie: Get a boost if creating new, or treat as success if looking for
existing.
## Succeed: Create or discover the aspect, get a free invocation on it.
JJ Succeed with Style: Create or discover the aspect, get two free
invocations on it.

C Create an advantage on an aspect you already know about:

$$ Fail: No additional benefit.

DD Tie: Generate one free invocation on the aspect.
## Succeed: Generate one free invocation on the aspect.
JJ Succeed with Style: Generate two free invocations on the aspect.
O Overcome:

$$ Fail: Fail, or succeed at a serious cost.

DD Tie: Succeed at minor cost.
## Succeed: You accomplish your goal.
JJ Succeed with Style: You accomplish your goal and generate a
boost

A Attack:

$$ Fail: No effect.
DD Tie: Attack doesn’t harm the target, but you gain a boost.
## Succeed: Attack hits and causes damage.
JJ Succeed with Style: Attack hits and causes damage. May reduce
damage by one to generate a boost.

D Defend:

$$ Fail: You suffer the consequences of your opponent’s success.

DD Tie: Look at your opponent’s action to see what happens.
## Succeed: Your opponent doesn’t get what they want.
JJ Succeed with Style: Your opponent doesn’t get what they
want, and you get a boost.
 Chapter 3: Playing Young Centurions 57

OUTCOMES
Once you roll your dice, add your approach bonus (we’ll talk about that in
a moment) and any bonuses from aspects or stunts. Compare the total to
a target number, which is either a fixed difficulty (page 122) or the result
of the GM’s roll for an NPC. Based on that comparison, determine your
outcome:

$$ You fail if your total is less than your opponent’s total.

DD It’s a tie if your total is equal to your opponent’s total.
## You succeed if your total is greater than your opponent’s total.
JJYou succeed with style if your total is at least three greater than your
opponent’s total.

Now that we’ve covered outcomes, we can talk about actions and how the
outcomes work with them.
58 Chapter 3: Playing Young Centurions

GUNS IN YOUNG CENTURIONS

What’s more dangerous than a bad guy? A bad guy with a gun. It’s a
staple in all sorts of adventure fiction for the antagonist to pull a gun and
start shooting at some point in the story. But in Young Centurions stories,
the heroes are kids—teenagers, but still not adults. Young Centurions is
not intended to be a game where kids get shot. Your game is your own,
but we encourage you not to use it that way. As several people said in
Sally Slick and the Steel Syndicate, you don’t shoot kids.
Let’s be perfectly clear that we’re talking about stories here. Real life
does not care one little bit about script immunity or narrative conven-
tion. Getting hit by real-life bullets will leave you maimed or dead. But
in stories, guns do more things—and more interesting things—than just
inflicting harm on people. We can still make use of them, so let’s talk
about what guns represent in stories.
First, when someone pulls a gun, it’s a signal that they mean busi-
ness. Playtime is over. Things just got real. Whatever you want to call it.
It’s a way to signal to your players that big, serious things are about to
happen—and somebody better do something! It looks like he’s about to
shoot that guy, what do you do?! You can’t just wait to see what happens;
you need to act right now. Doktor Proktor’s ray gun in Sally Slick and the
Steel Syndicate is a great example of this—when he tried to use it on Sally
on the train, it sparked the other train passengers to action.
Second, they represent power. This can be an equalizing or defensive
power in the hands of a protagonist, or an oppressive, even evil power in
the hands of a bad guy. The person with the gun quite literally calls the
shots, you defy them at your peril.
Third, science-fictiony ray guns can represent unknown technology or
mystery. What will that thing do—is it a freeze ray? A magnetizing gun?
Guns like this can be used more freely than regular firearms, because
their effects are more fantastical and appropriate to the sort of adventure
story that Young Centurions is designed to create.
So how do you apply these ideas to your game? Let’s talk mechanics.
 Chapter 3: Playing Young Centurions 59

We suggest that you don’t use consequences (special aspects that rep-
resent injuries or other ways you’ve been harmed by conflict, see page
75) related to gunshot wounds. As we said before, Young Centurions is
not intended for making stories about kids getting shot. (Consider bend-
ing this a little as the heroes approach adulthood, especially if the Great
War is important in your game.) The simple solution to this is that you
just don’t allow guns to be used to make direct attack actions. Instead,
they can be used to create an advantage, to overcome an obstacle, and, in
limited circumstances, in defend actions.
CCreate an Advantage: Simply pulling a gun introduces a situa-
tion aspect like Look Out! He Has a Gun!, or something similar.
Additionally, you might use a gun to create advantages like Held
at Gunpoint, Covering Fire, or Hail of Bullets. Super science
ray guns might apply aspects like Frozen, Modified Memory, or
Stunned. If someone really wants to make an attack by shooting at
someone, let them try with the understanding that success will act
like creating an advantage.

OOvercome an Obstacle: You could overcome an obstacle by shoot-

ing out a lock, cutting a rope from across a room, or setting off a stack
of TNT across a field.

DDefend: This probably won’t come up all that much, but if you get
creative you can do things like stop someone from running through
a door, forcing them to overcome an obstacle against your defend
action if you spray bullets at the doorway.

AAttack: Yes, yes, we just said you shouldn’t do this. But you might
have a creative player want to do something like shooting a chain
that holds up a chandelier, dropping it on a target; that’s an
attack, but not one where the bullets cause the damage.
60 Chapter 3: Playing Young Centurions

ACTIONS
So you’ve narrated what your PC is trying to do, and you’ve established that
there’s a chance you could fail. Next, figure out what action best describes
what you’re trying to do. There are four basic actions that cover anything
you do in the game.

CCreate an Advantage
Creating an advantage is anything you do to try to help yourself or one of
your friends—in fact, creating a useful advantage is the main way characters
help one another. Taking a moment to very carefully aim your experimental
lightning gun, spending several hours doing research in the school library,
or tripping the bully who’s about to punch your friend—these all count as
creating an advantage. The target of your action may get a chance to use the
defend action to stop you. The advantage you create lets you do one of the
following three things:

➧➧Create a new situation aspect.

➧➧Discover an existing situation aspect or another character’s aspect that
you didn’t know about.
➧➧Take advantage of an existing aspect.
For more on aspects, see page 80.

If you’re creating a new aspect or discovering an existing one:

$$ If you fail: Either you don’t create or discover the aspect at all, or
you create or discover it but an opponent gets to invoke the aspect for
free. The second option works best if the aspect you create or discover
is something that other people could take advantage of (like Rough
Terrain). You may have to reword the aspect to show that it benefits
the other character instead of you—work it out in whatever way makes
the most sense with the player who gets the free invocation. You can
still invoke the aspect if you’d like, but it’ll cost you a fate point.

DD If you tie: If you’re creating a new aspect, you get a boost (page 86).
Name it and invoke it once for free—after that, the boost goes away. If
you’re trying to discover an existing aspect, treat this as a success (see
below).

## If you succeed: You create or discover the aspect, and you or an ally
may invoke it once for free. Write the aspect on an index card or sticky
note and place it on the table.

JJ If you succeed with style: You create or discover the aspect, and you
or an ally may invoke it twice for free.
 Chapter 3: Playing Young Centurions 61
If you’re trying to take advantage of an aspect you already know about:

$$ If you fail: You don’t get any additional benefit from the aspect. You
can still invoke it in the future if you’d like, at the cost of a fate point.

DD If you tie or #succeed: You get one free invocation on the aspect for
you or an ally to use later. You might want to draw a circle or a box on
the aspect’s note card, and check it off when that invocation is used.

JJ If you succeed with style: You get two free invocations on the aspect,
which you can let an ally use, if you wish.

OOvercome
You use the overcome action when you have to get past something that’s
between you and a particular goal—picking a lock, escaping from handcuffs,
leaping across a chasm, flying a biplane through a thunderstorm. Taking
some action to eliminate or change an inconvenient situation aspect is usu-
ally an overcome action; we’ll talk more about that in Chapter 6: Aspects and
Fate Points (page 80). The target of your action may get a chance to use
the defend action to stop you.

$$ If you fail: You have a tough choice to make. You can simply fail—the
door is still locked, the mook still stands between you and the exit, the
enemy fighter plane is still On Your Tail. Or you can succeed, but
at a serious cost—maybe you drop something vital you were carrying,
maybe you suffer harm. The GM helps you figure out an appropriate
cost.

DD If you tie: You attain your goal, but at some minor cost. The GM
could introduce a complication, or present you with a tough choice
(you can rescue one of your friends, but not the other), or some other
twist. See “Succeed at a Cost” on page 189 of Fate Core System for more
ideas.

## If you succeed: You accomplish what you were trying to do. The lock
springs open, you duck around the mook blocking the door, you
manage to lose the alien spaceship on your tail.

JJ If you succeed with style: As success (above), but you also gain a
boost (page 86).
62 Chapter 3: Playing Young Centurions

AAttack
Use an attack when you try to hurt someone, whether physically or men-
tally—throwing a punch, shooting a tranquilizer gun, or yelling a blistering
insult with the intent to hurt your target. (We’ll talk about this in Chapter
5: Ouch! Damage, Stress, and Consequences on page 74, but the important
thing is: If someone gets hurt too badly, they’re knocked out of the scene.)
The target of your attack gets a chance to use the defend action to stop you.

$$ If you fail: Your attack doesn’t connect. The target parries your sword,
your shot misses, your target laughs off your insult.

DD If you tie: Your attack doesn’t connect strongly enough to cause any
harm, but you gain a boost.

## If you succeed: Your attack hits and you do damage. See Chapter 5:
Ouch! Damage, Stress, and Consequences (page 74).

JJ If you succeed with style: You hit and do damage, plus you have the
option to reduce the damage your hit causes by one and gain a boost.

DDefend
Use defend when you’re actively trying to stop someone from doing any
of the other three actions—you’re parrying a sword strike, trying to stay
on your feet, blocking a doorway, and the like. Usually this action is per-
formed on someone else’s turn, reacting to their attempt to attack, overcome,
or create an advantage.

$$ If you fail: You’re on the receiving end of whatever your opponent’s

success gives them.

DD If you tie or #succeed: Things don’t work out too badly for you; look
at the description of your opponent’s action to see what happens.

JJ If you succeed with style: Your opponent doesn’t get what they want,
plus you gain a boost.
 Chapter 3: Playing Young Centurions 63

CHOOSE YOUR APPROACH

As we mentioned in Chapter 2: Making a Character (page 42), there are
six approaches that describe how you perform actions.

➧➧Careful: A Careful action is when you pay close attention to detail and
take your time to do the job right. Lining up a long-range arrow shot.
Attentively standing watch. Disarming a bank’s alarm system.

➧➧Clever: A Clever action requires that you think fast, solve problems,
or account for complex variables. Finding the weakness in an enemy
swordsman’s style. Finding the weak point in a fortress wall. Fixing a
clockwork robot.

➧➧Flashy: A Flashy action draws attention to you; it’s full of style and
panache. Delivering an inspiring speech to your army. Embarrassing
your opponent in a duel. Producing a magical fireworks display.

➧➧Forceful: A Forceful action isn’t subtle—it’s brute strength. Wrestling a

bear. Staring down a bully. Casting a big, powerful magic spell.

➧➧Quick: A Quick action requires that you move quickly and with
dexterity. Dodging an arrow. Getting in the first punch. Disarming a
bomb as it ticks 3… 2… 1…

➧➧Sneaky: A Sneaky action is done with an emphasis on misdirection,

stealth, or deceit. Talking your way out of getting arrested. Picking a
pocket. Feinting in a sword fight.

Each character has each approach rated with a bonus from +0 to +3. Add
the bonus to your dice roll to determine how well your PC performs the
action you described.
So your first instinct is probably to pick the action that gives you the
greatest bonus, right? But it doesn’t work like that. You have to choose the
approach that matches how you described your action. You can’t describe an
action that doesn’t make any sense.
Would you creep through a dark room, hiding from the guards, while
being Flashy? No, that’s being Sneaky. Would you Quickly push that big
rock out of the way of the car? No, that’s being Forceful. The GM should
disallow the use of any approach that doesn’t make sense.
64 Chapter 3: Playing Young Centurions

BUT I CAN TOTALLY BUILD AN

IMPROVISED AIRPLANE WITH FORCEFUL!
Sometimes players, especially persuasive players, will be tempted to
look for ways to use their best approach in every situation, even when
it doesn’t make much sense.
Some of the time, this isn’t a problem. Of course characters would
look for ways to apply their best approaches; that’s what we all do
every day in real life. But FAE works to its best potential if you resist
that urge. Let the story you’re telling be your guide. It’s OK to
make a roll with a less than optimal bonus some of the time.

Different Difficulty for Different Approaches

At the GM’s judgment, the difficulty of an action can go up if the approach
you use isn’t well suited to the thing you’re doing—adding a +2 to the dif-
ficulty for non-ideal approaches, and +4 for downright inappropriate ones.
The GM may even declare that it’s impossible to use a particular approach
in some situations. Can you Forcefully move a huge stone? Well, yes, but
that’s doing it the hard way, so the GM will add +2. But if you get a board
to use as a lever (being Clever, in other words) it sure would be easier—no
penalty for that. Using Flashy, if your GM is very nice, is likely at a +4 pen-
alty, while Sneaky is probably out of the question.
 Chapter 3: Playing Young Centurions 65

Impact of Your Approach on the Story

Sometimes how your character solves a problem is interesting in ways that
go beyond that immediate problem. How you do something can make
other things easier, or can make them harder.
GMs can use your choice of approach to throw wrinkles into the story.
Sometimes it’ll help you (players, feel free to suggest ideas!), but sometimes
it’ll be a complication that’s a consequence of the approach you chose. Every
approach has ways it can help or hurt. Here are some examples.
Being Careful means you avoid making careless mistakes, and you notice
a lot of detail. However, taking care means taking time, and if you have
people chasing you, they’re probably going to catch up.
Clever is an extremely versatile approach, applicable to a lot of situa-
tions. If you’re being clever, you’ve analyzed the problem thoroughly and
aren’t likely to be taken by surprise by something unexpected. But it might
require some research or preparation, and if you fail a Clever action, that
might mean you’ve completely misjudged the situation, and you could find
yourself in some real hot water.
When you’re being Flashy, you’re attracting attention. People notice you.
This describes both the good and the bad things about it—don’t be Flashy
unless you want to be noticed, but even then you can’t guarantee all the
attention will be the sort you want.
Being Forceful can be noisy and attract attention you don’t want, but on
the bright side successfully being big and tough in front of other opponents
can frighten them into being more cooperative.
Sneaky actions are pretty much the opposite of Flashy—the whole idea is
not to attract attention. You’re being quiet, you’re being subtle, and people
won’t notice. It’s often slow going, however—if the clock is ticking, being
Sneaky uses up a lot of those ticks, and you might run out.
When you’re Quick you just react, you accomplish your task in a very
short time, and it often leaves you ready to react to other, unexpected chal-
lenges. The problem is you’re acting without thinking, which can lead to
careless mistakes or lack of attention to detail.

Jet Black is trying to open a locked door. He throws his shoulder into
it, rolls Forceful, and the GM describes it smashing off the hinges.
Unfortunately, the GM also declares that as Jet stumbles into the
room, he hears shouts in German coming from the next room—the
bad guys heard him and are calling for reinforcements!
66 Chapter 3: Playing Young Centurions

ROLL THE DICE,

ADD YOUR BONUS
Time to take up dice and roll. Take the bonus associated with the approach
you’ve chosen and add it to the result on the dice. If you have a stunt that
applies, add that too. That’s your total. Compare it to what your opponent
(usually the GM) has.

DECIDE WHETHER TO
MODIFY THE ROLL
Finally, decide whether you want to alter your roll by invoking aspects—
we’ll talk about this a lot in Chapter 6: Aspects and Fate Points (page 80).

CHECK THE
OUTCOME, AND GO!
Once you have your final result, compare it to your opposition’s result,
figure out your outcome, and the story moves on from there!
 CHAPTER 4:
CHALLENGES, CONTESTS,
AND CONFLICTS
68 Chapter 4: Challenges, Contests, and Conflicts

PULLING IT ALL TOGETHER

We’ve talked about the four actions (create an advantage, overcome, attack,
and defend) and the four outcomes (fail, tie, succeed, and succeed with
style). But how do you pull those together? (If you want to see an example
of how all of these things work together at the table, check out the example
of play on page 106.)
Usually, when you want to do something straightforward—swim across
a raging river, talk your way into an exclusive restaurant—all you need to
do is make one overcome action against a difficulty level that the GM sets
(page 122). You look at your outcome and go from there.
But sometimes things are a little more complex.

CHALLENGES
A challenge is a series of overcome and create an advantage actions that you
use to resolve an especially complicated situation. Each overcome action
deals with one task or part of the situation, and you take the individual
results together to figure out how the situation resolves.
To set up a challenge, decide what individual tasks or goals make up the
situation, and treat each one as a separate overcome roll.
Depending on the situation, one character may be required to make sev-
eral rolls, or multiple characters may be able to participate. GMs, you aren’t
obligated to announce all the stages in the challenge ahead of time—adjust
the steps as the challenge unfolds to keep things exciting.

The PCs are on a ship caught in a storm. To press on and get to their
destination despite the weather, the GM decides to present them with
a challenge. Steps in resolving this challenge could be calming pan-
icky passengers, securing loose cargo, and keeping the ship on the
right heading.
 Chapter 4: Challenges, Contests, and Conflicts 69

CONTESTS
When two or more characters are competing against one another for the
same goal, but not directly trying to hurt each other, you have a contest.
Examples include a tractor race, a public debate, or a chase along a crowded
city sidewalk.
A contest proceeds in a series of exchanges. In an exchange, every partic-
ipant takes one overcome action to determine how well they do in that leg
of the contest. Compare your result to everyone else’s.
If you got the highest result, you win the exchange—you score a victory
(which you can represent with a tally or check mark on scratch paper) and
describe how you take the lead. If you succeed with style, you mark two
victories.
If there’s a tie, no one gets a victory, and an unexpected twist occurs.
This could mean several things, depending on the situation—the terrain or
environment shifts somehow, the parameters of the contest change, or an
unanticipated variable shows up and affects all the participants. The GM
creates a new situation aspect (page 81) reflecting this change and puts
it into play.
The first participant to achieve three victories wins the contest.
70 Chapter 4: Challenges, Contests, and Conflicts

CONFLICTS
Conflicts are used to resolve situations where characters are trying to harm
one another. It could be physical harm (a fist fight with the local bully, bat-
tling a giant stompy robot, a racing tractor demolition derby), but it could
also be mental harm (a shouting match with your brothers, taunting a rival
classmate, resisting the powers of a psychic magician). For some ideas on
conflicts that don’t involve punching, see “Even More Story Hooks that
Don’t Focus on Violence” on page 130.

CONFLICTS: THE 30-SECOND VERSION

1. Set the scene.
2. Determine who goes first. The first player takes their turn
and decides who goes next.
3. Repeat 2 until everyone has one turn.
4. Repeat 2 and 3 until only one side of the conflict has
characters remaining.

Setting the Scene

Establish what’s going on, where everyone is, and what the environment
is like. Who is the opposition? The GM should write a couple of situation
aspects (page 81) on sticky notes or index cards and place them on the
table. Players can suggest situation aspects, too.
The GM also establishes zones, loosely defined areas that tell you where
characters are. You determine zones based on the scene and the following
guidelines:
Generally, you can interact with other characters in the same zone—or in
nearby zones if you can justify acting at a distance (for example, if you have
a ranged weapon). You can move one zone for free. An action is required
to move if there’s an obstacle along the way, such as someone trying to
stop you, or if you want to move two or more zones. It sometimes helps to
sketch a quick map to illustrate zones.

Minions are attacking the characters in a house. The living room is

one zone, the kitchen another, the front porch another, and the yard
a fourth. People in the same zone can easily throw punches at each
other. From the living room, you can throw things at people in the
kitchen or move into the kitchen as a free action, unless the doorway
is blocked. To get from the living room to the front porch or yard
requires an action.
 Chapter 4: Challenges, Contests, and Conflicts 71

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72 Chapter 4: Challenges, Contests, and Conflicts

Determine Who Goes First

Now that you’ve set the scene, it’s time to act—but someone has to act first.
The GM gets to say who goes first. To make this decision, she should think
about a few important things.
First, think about who is causing the action. Is there a particular person
who’s triggering it—someone who throws the first punch, someone who
hits the gas and sends the car zooming ahead? This might be a PC, or it
might be an NPC controlled by the GM. (When the GM goes, she acts for
all the NPCs at once, rather than each NPC getting an individual turn of
their own!)
If there’s no obvious single character initiating the action (such as when
escaping a fire or taking shelter from falling meteors), the GM can declare
that the character with the highest Quick approach goes first, using Careful
as a tiebreaker.
Some characters might have an aspect (such as Fastest Cowpoke in
Oklahoma) that suggests that they’re particularly fast. If so, that character’s
player may spend a fate point and go first. Other characters might have a
stunt that allows them to go first in conflicts a number of times per session.
If more than one character has aspects or stunts that suggest they go ahead
of everyone else, make sure all those players have a chance to go first—if not
in this conflict, then in the next one.

Who Goes Next

Once the first player takes their turn, that player (which might be the GM!)
decides who goes next. That player takes their turn, and they decide who
goes after them. It goes around like this until every player, including NPCs
controlled by the GM, has had a turn. This is the end of the first round, and
a new round begins. The player who went last in the previous round decides
who goes first in the next round (yes, they’re allowed to pick themselves!
Players tempted to force the GM to go last in the round may wish to keep
this fact in mind.)

INTERRUPTING THE ACTION

When a player is choosing who goes next, if the GM hasn’t had a turn yet
this round, she may interrupt the order and declare that she’s going next by
giving a fate point to the player who would have gone next. The GM takes
actions for all NPCs under her control, decides who goes next, and play
continues on from there.

Rounds Continue
Rounds continue happening until only one side has characters still in the
conflict because everyone else has conceded or been taken out (page 77).
 CHAPTER 5:
OUCH! DAMAGE, STRESS,
AND CONSEQUENCES
74 Chapter 5: Ouch! Damage, Stress, and Consequences
Name

I’M HIT!
When you’re hit by an attack, the severity of the hit is the difference between
Age & Description Refresh Current
the attack roll and your defend roll; we measure that in shifts. For instance,
Fate Points
if your opponent gets +5 on their attack and you get a +3 on your defense,
the attack deals a 2-shift hit (5 – 3 = 2).
Then, one of two things happens:
APPROACHES ASPECTS
➧➧You suffer stress and/or consequences, but you stay in the fight.
CAREFUL High Concept
➧➧You get taken out, which means you’re out of the action for a little
while.
CLEVER Trouble

FLASHY
STRESS AND CONSEQUENCES:
FORCEFUL THE 30-SECOND VERSION
QUICK
➧➧Each character starts with three stress boxes.
SNEAKY➧➧Severity of hit (in shifts) = Attack Roll – Defend Roll
➧➧When you take a hit, you need to account for how that hit dam-
CENTURY STUNT
ages you. One way to absorb the damage is to take stress; you can
check one stress box to handle some or all of a single hit. You can
absorb a number of shifts equal to the number of the box you
check: one for Box 1, two for Box 2, three for Box 3.
➧➧You may also take one or more consequences to deal with the hit,
by marking off one or more consequence slots and writing a new
OTHER STUNTS
aspect for each one. Mild consequence = 2 shifts; moderate = 4
shifts; severe = 6 shifts.
➧➧If you can’t (or decide not to) handle the entire hit, you’re taken
out. Your opponent decides what happens to you.
➧➧Giving in before your opponent’s roll allows you to control how
you exit the scene. You also get one or more fate points for doing
this!
➧➧Stress and mild consequences vanish at the end of the scene,
provided you get a chance to rest. Other consequences take
longer.

STRESS CONSEQUENCES
2
Mild
sprained ankle
X 4
Moderate

1 2 3 Severe
YC Character Sheet ©2015 Evil Hat Productions, LLC.
May be printed and photocopied for personal use.
6
 Chapter 5: Ouch! Damage, Stress, and Consequences 75

WHAT IS STRESS?
If you get hit and don’t want to be taken out, you can choose to take stress.
Stress represents you getting tired or annoyed, bumps and bruises, scrapes
and mildly hurt feelings—anything that stings at first but you forget about
after a few minutes. To measure stress, your character sheet has a stress
track, a row of three boxes. When you take a hit and check a stress box, the
box absorbs a number of shifts equal to its number: one shift for Box 1, two
for Box 2, or three for Box 3.
You can only check one stress box for any single hit, but you can check a
stress box and take one or more consequences at the same time. You can’t
check a stress box that already has a check mark in it.

WHAT ARE CONSEQUENCES?

Consequences are new aspects that you take to reflect being more seriously
hurt in some way. Your character sheet has three slots where you can write
consequences. Each one is labeled with a number: 2 (mild consequence),
4 (moderate consequence), or 6 (severe consequence). This represents the
number of shifts of the hit the consequence absorbs. You can mark off as
many of these as you like to handle a single hit, but only if that slot was
blank to start with. If you already have a moderate consequence written
down, you can’t take another one until you do something to make the first
one go away.
A major downside of consequences is that each consequence is a new
aspect that your opponents can invoke against you. The more you take, the
more vulnerable you are. And just like situation aspects, the character that
creates it (in this case, the character that hurt you) gets one free invocation
on that consequence. They can choose to let one of their allies use the free
invocation.

Let’s say that you take a really hard 4-shift hit. You check Box 2 on
your stress track, which leaves you with 2 shifts to deal with. If you
can’t, you’re taken out, so it’s time for a consequence. You can choose
to write a new aspect in the consequence slot labeled 2—say, Sprained
Ankle. Those final 2 shifts are taken care of and you can keep fighting!

If you’re unable to absorb all of a hit’s shifts—by checking a stress box,

taking consequences, or both—you’re taken out.
76 Chapter 5: Ouch! Damage, Stress, and Consequences

CAMPAIGN RATINGS AND

APPROPRIATE CONSEQUENCES
When you compose a consequence, pay attention to the campaign rating
(page 118) you’ve decided on for your campaign. We’ve outlined a few
suggestions below in two lists, younger and older: G-rated games probably
want to stick to the younger list, PG-13-rated games the older list. PG-rated
games work well choosing from either list, as you need to. Of course, you’re
free to use these as inspiration and compose your own.

EXAMPLE CONSEQUENCES
YOUNGER, MILD: OLDER, MILD:
➧➧I’m Embarrassed ➧➧Grounded
➧➧I’m Angry ➧➧Embarrassed
➧➧Everyone’s ➧➧Jealous
Laughing at Me ➧➧Confused
➧➧Kept After School to ➧➧Parents are Angry at Me
Clap the Erasers ➧➧Winded
➧➧Bumps & Bruises ➧➧Bloody Nose
➧➧Stubbed Toe/
Jammed Finger
➧➧Exhausted
YOUNGER, MODERATE: OLDER, MODERATE:
➧➧My Friends Are ➧➧Anxiety
Furious at Me ➧➧Nasty Rumors
➧➧Grounded ➧➧Parents Are Furious
➧➧Extra Chores ➧➧Frostbite
➧➧Sore Ankle ➧➧Minor Concussion
➧➧Bloody Nose
YOUNGER, SEVERE: OLDER, SEVERE:
➧➧Lost My Parents’ Trust ➧➧Severe Anxiety
➧➧Classmates Spreading ➧➧Criminal Record
Rumors ➧➧Intense Phobia
➧➧Cops Have Their ➧➧Crushing Headaches
Eye on Me ➧➧Fractured Leg
➧➧Seeing Stars ➧➧Heartbroken
➧➧Broken Arm
➧➧Terrified
 Chapter 5: Ouch! Damage, Stress, and Consequences 77

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN

I GET TAKEN OUT?
If you get taken out, you can no longer act in the scene. Whoever takes you
out narrates what happens to you. It should make sense based on how you
got taken out—maybe you run from the room in shame, or maybe you get
knocked unconscious.

GIVING IN
If things look grim for you, you can give in (or concede the fight)—but
you have to say that’s what you’re going to do before your opponent rolls
their dice.
This is different from being taken out, because you get a say in what hap-
pens to you. Your opponent gets some major concession from you—talk
about what makes sense in your situation—but it beats getting taken out
and having no say at all.
Additionally, you get one fate point for conceding, and one fate point for
each consequence you have when you give in. This is your chance to say,
“You win this round, but I’ll get you next time!” and get a tall stack of fate
points to back it up.

GETTING BETTER:
RECOVERING FROM STRESS
AND CONSEQUENCES
At the end of each scene, clear all of your stress boxes. Recovery from
a consequence is a bit more complicated; you need to explain how you
recover from it—whether that’s a hospital visit, taking a walk to calm down,
apologizing to your parents and accepting the punishment they deal out,
or whatever makes sense with the consequence. You also need to wait an
appropriate length of time.

➧➧Mild consequence: Clear it at end of the scene, provided you get a

chance to rest.
➧➧Moderate consequence: Clear it at the end of the next session, pro-
vided it makes sense within the story.
➧➧Severe consequence: Clear it at the end of the scenario (page 121),
provided it makes sense within the story.
78 Chapter 5: Ouch! Damage, Stress, and Consequences

Renaming Moderate and

Severe Consequences
Moderate and severe consequences stick around for a while. Therefore,
at some point you may want to change the name of the aspect to better
fit what’s going on in the story. For instance, after you get some medical
help, Painful Broken Leg might make more sense if you change it to
Hobbling on Crutches.

MENTORS:
TAKING ONE FOR THE TEAM
The wise mentor is an important part of adventure fiction about teenag-
ers. They do a lot of different things to help their young apprentices—they
teach, they offer opportunities, they provide resources that the youngster
wouldn’t otherwise have. One of the most important things they can do
is to help deal with the consequences when things don’t go the Young
Centurions’ way.
Let’s say you have a mentor (you, or someone in your party, has an aspect
or a stunt that declares that they have one) in the same scene with your
Young Centurion. Now let’s say that you take a consequence—a ceiling
beam in a burning building falls and hits you, dealing you a moderate con-
sequence. You can instead declare that your mentor takes the consequence
for you, subject to a few restrictions:

➧➧The players have to narrate how the mentor takes the consequence in a
believable way that fits the fiction (“My mentor dives above me, letting
the beam hit her in the back!”)
➧➧The consequence is stepped up by one category. Mild"Moderate,
Moderate"Severe, Severe"Taken out. (“That would be a moderate
consequence for me, so it’s a severe for her. Ouch!”)
➧➧The mentor has the same consequence slots as any other character;
so if, say, a moderate consequence slot is already full, they can’t take
another moderate. Also, a mentor’s consequences go away the same
way a player character’s do. (“My mentor does have her severe conse-
quence slot free, but this is going to take a long time to heal.”)
➧➧Each mentor can only do this once per session.
You can also do this after the fact, provided it makes sense. Let’s say you
get in a little trouble with the cops, and breaking & entering charges are
forthcoming. Maybe a mentor could have a little chat with the district
attorney and make the charges go away. But, now your mentor has a conse-
quence of I Owe the DA a Big Favor.
 CHAPTER 6:
ASPECTS AND FATE POINTS
80 Chapter 6: Aspects and Fate Points

WHAT ARE ASPECTS

AND FATE POINTS?
An aspect is a word or phrase that describes something special about a
person, place, thing, situation, or group. Almost anything you can think
of can have aspects. A person might be the Fastest Mechanic in New
York. A room might be On Fire after you knock over an oil lamp. After a
time-travel encounter with a dinosaur, you might be Terrified. Aspects let
you change the story in ways that go along with your character’s tendencies,
skills, or problems.
You spend fate points—which you keep track of with pennies or glass
beads or poker chips or some other tokens—to unlock the power of aspects
and make them help you. You earn fate points by letting an aspect be used
against you to complicate the situation or make your life harder. Be sure to
keep track of the fate points you have left at the end of the session—if you
have more than your refresh (page 48), you start the next session with the
fate points you ended this session with.

You earned a lot of fate points during your game session, ending the
day with five fate points. Your refresh is 2, so you’ll start with five fate
points the next time you play (because 5 is more than your refresh).
But another player ends the same session with just one fate point. His
refresh is 3, so he’ll begin the next session with 3 fate points, rather
than just the one he had left over.

How Many Fate Points Does the GM Get?

As GM, you don’t need to track fate points for each individual NPC. As a
guideline, you can start each scene with one fate point per PC in the scene.
As the players spend fate points, those tokens go into your supply for the
scene, giving you more flexibility.
 Chapter 6: Aspects and Fate Points 81

WHAT KINDS OF ASPECTS

ARE THERE?
There’s an endless variety of aspects, but no matter what they’re called they
all work pretty much the same way. The main difference is how long they
stick around before going away.

Character Aspects: These aspects are on your character sheet, such as your
high concept and trouble (page 44). They describe personality traits,
important details about your past, relationships you have with others,
important items or titles you possess, problems you’re dealing with or goals
you’re working toward, or reputations and obligations you carry. These
aspects only change under very unusual circumstances; most never will.

Spirit of Ingenuity; On the Run from the Cops; Attention to Detail; I Must
Protect My Brother

Situation Aspects: These aspects describe the surroundings that the action
is taking place in. This includes aspects you create or discover using the
create an advantage action (page 60). A situation aspect usually vanishes
at the end of the scene it was part of, or when someone takes some action
that would change or get rid of it. Essentially, they last only as long as the
situational element they represent lasts.

On Fire; Hidden Guards; Crowd of Angry People; Knocked to the Ground

Consequences: These aspects represent injuries or other lasting trauma that

happen when you get hit by attacks. They go away slowly, as described in
Chapter 5: Ouch! Damage, Stress, and Consequences (page 77).

Sprained Ankle; Fear of Spiders; Concussion; Self-Doubt

82 Chapter 6: Aspects and Fate Points

WHAT DO YOU DO
WITH ASPECTS?
There are three big things you can do with aspects: invoke aspects, compel
aspects, and use aspects to establish facts.

Invoking Aspects
You invoke an aspect to give yourself a bonus or make things a bit harder
for your opponent. You can invoke any aspect that you a) know about, and
b) can explain how you use it to your advantage—including aspects on
other characters or on the situation. Normally, invoking an aspect costs you
a fate point—hand one of your fate points to the GM (or to another player,
if you’re in conflict against them). To invoke an aspect, you need to describe
how that aspect helps you in your current situation.

I attack the robot with my baseball bat. This robot is Sluggish, so that
should help me.

I really want to scare this guy. I’ve heard he’s Scared of Mice, so I’ll
release a mouse in his bedroom.

Now that the guard’s Distracted, I should be able to sneak right by him.

This airplane is in really bad shape—but since I’m a Hotshot Pilot, I bet
I can land it.
 Chapter 6: Aspects and Fate Points 83
What does invoking the aspect get you? Choose one of the following effects:

➧➧Add +2 bonus to your total. This costs a fate point.

➧➧Reroll the dice. This option is best if you rolled really lousy (usually a
−3 or −4 showing on the dice). This costs a fate point.

➧➧Confront an opponent with the aspect. You use this option when
your opponent is trying something and you think an existing aspect
would make it harder for them. For instance, an alien goon wants to
draw his blaster pistol, but he’s Buried in Debris; you spend a fate
point to invoke that aspect, and now your opponent’s level of difficulty
is increased by +2. The GM can do this too, invoking the Slippery Ice
to make your sprint to safety harder!

➧➧Justify taking action. Aspects declare things about you that are always
true, and can sometimes give you justification for taking action you
otherwise might not be able to take. Because I’m Never Caught
Napping, I’d have a chance to notice the ninjas sneaking up on us.
Because I’m Tough as Old Tree Roots, I think I can try to shake off
this snake venom. Because I can Swim Like a Dolphin, I think I have
a chance to get across this raging river. Since you’re asking for a chance
to roll the dice instead of declaring that you succeed, you don’t need to
spend a fate point to do this.

➧➧Help an ally with the aspect. Use this option when a friend could use
some help and you think an existing aspect would make it easier for
them. You spend a fate point to invoke the aspect, and now your friend
gets +2 on their roll.

Important: You can only invoke any aspect once on a given dice roll; you
can’t spend a stack of fate points on one aspect and get a huge bonus from it.
(Exception: You can use more than one free invocation on the same aspect
on the same roll. Freebies are powerful.) You can invoke several different
aspects on the same roll, spending a fate point for each one.
If you’re invoking an aspect to add a bonus or reroll your dice, wait until
after you’ve rolled to do it. No sense spending a fate point if you don’t need
to!

FREE INVOCATIONS
Sometimes you can invoke an aspect for free, without paying a fate point. If
you create or discover an aspect through the create an advantage action, the
first invocation on it (by you or an ally) is free; if you succeeded with style—
page 57—you get two freebies. If you cause a consequence through an
attack, you or an ally can invoke it once for free. A boost (page 86) is a
special kind of aspect that grants one free invocation, then it vanishes.
84 Chapter 6: Aspects and Fate Points

Compelling Aspects
If you’re in a situation where having or being around a certain aspect means
your character’s life is more dramatic or complicated, anyone else at the
table (but usually the GM) can compel the aspect. Compels are the most
common way for players to earn more fate points.
There are two types of compels.

Decision compels: This sort of compel suggests that trouble might arise
because of a decision your character makes. A good decision compel
suggests a decision your character has to make, and some trouble or bad
outcome that happens because of it. They tend to follow this template:

You have ____ aspect in ____ situation, so it makes sense that you’d
decide to ____. This goes wrong when ____ happens.

If your character is In Charge of My Baby Brother, for example, you

may need to stay to protect the house from thieves rather than fleeing to
safety—and this gets you in over your head when trying to drive the thieves
off. If you have a Defiant Streak a Mile Wide, maybe you can’t help but
mouth off to the police detective when she questions you, so you get taken
home in the back of a police wagon and now you’re really going to get it
from your parents—or maybe even spend a night in the county lockup if
you’re 16 or 17 years old.

Event compels: Other times a compel reflects something happening that

makes life more complicated for you, using the template:

You have ____ aspect and are in ____ situation, so it makes sense that,
unfortunately, ____ would happen to you. Dagnabbit!

If you have Strange Luck, of course that invention you’re working on

accidentally sets the garage on fire. If you Owe My Cousin a Favor, then
your cousin shows up and demands that you do him that favor just when
it’s least convenient.

In any case, when an aspect is compelled against you, the person com-
pelling it offers you a fate point and suggests that the aspect has a certain
effect—that you’ll make a certain decision or that a particular event will
occur. You can discuss it back and forth, proposing tweaks or changes to the
suggested compel. Then you need to decide whether to accept the compel.
If you agree, you take the fate point and your character makes the suggested
decision or the event happens. If you refuse, you must pay a fate point from
your own supply and, if appropriate, explain how you avoid the negative
consequences suggested by the compel. Yes, this means that if you don’t
have any fate points, you can’t refuse a compel!
 Chapter 6: Aspects and Fate Points 85

Establishing Facts
The final thing that aspects can do is establish facts in the game. You don’t
have to spend any fate points, roll dice, or anything to make this happen—
just by virtue of having the aspect Ruddy Duck’s Pilot, you’ve established
that your character is a pilot and that you fly a plane named the Ruddy
Duck. Having the aspect Mortal Enemy: The Red Ninjas establishes that
the setting has an organization called the Red Ninjas and that they’re after
you for some reason.
When you establish facts of the setting this way, make sure you do it in
cooperation with other players. If most people want to play in a setting
without magic, you shouldn’t unilaterally bring magic into it through an
aspect. Make sure that the facts you establish through your aspects make
the game fun for everyone.

COMPOSING GOOD ASPECTS

When you need to think of a good aspect (we’re mainly talking about char-
acter and situation aspects here), think about two things:
➧➧How the aspect might help you—when you’d invoke it.
➧➧How it might hurt you—when it would be compelled against you.
For example:

I’ll Get the Steel Don Someday.

Invoke this to improve your chances when acting against the Steel
Don.
Get a fate point when your dislike for the Steel Don makes you do
something foolish to try to get him.

Hair Trigger Nerves

Invoke this when being extra vigilant and careful would help you.
Get a fate point when this causes you to be jumpy and be dis-
tracted by threats that aren’t really there.

Obviously, your trouble aspect is supposed to cause problems—and thereby

make your character’s life more interesting and get you fate points—so it’s
okay if that one’s a little more one-dimensional, but other character and
situation aspects should be double-edged.
86 Chapter 6: Aspects and Fate Points

BOOSTS
Boosts act a bit like aspects, but don’t have all the characteristics of aspects.
They’re temporary free invocations that happen when you get a momentary
benefit that isn’t lasting enough to be an aspect. You get a boost when you’re
trying to create an advantage but don’t succeed well enough, or as an added
benefit to succeeding especially well at an action (notably defending). You
invoke boosts just like you would a free invocation on an aspect—for the +2
bonus, reroll, or another effect that requires an invocation. As with aspect
invocations, you need to describe what’s happening that makes that boost
relevant to your action.
Once you invoke the boost, it goes away. They go away on their own
fairly quickly—usually after the next action when you could use them—so
use them as soon as possible! If you want, you can allow another character
to invoke your boost, though it needs to be relevant to their action and
something that could help them out.

Fighting off a bunch of goons, you grab a Glass Root Beer Bottle
that will survive one hit upside a goon’s head. If you can toss that
bottle to your buddy, you could allow your buddy to invoke the boost.
Otherwise, it might apply only to you.

Naming a Boost
When you earn a boost, give it a name like you would an aspect to help
you remember where the boost came from and how you can use it. Don’t
dwell on coming up with something clever, since it doesn’t last long. If
you’re struggling to name a boost, let it be unnamed and continue play-
ing—boosts aren’t worth stopping play to name. However, you still have to
keep track of the situation that created the boost, which some people find
difficult to remember without a name.

In My Sights; Distracted; Unstable Footing; Got You Surrounded

Remember that Boosts Are Not Aspects

Unlike aspects, you cannot compel a boost or pay a fate point to invoke a
boost (including invoking it against its owner—see “Having Your Aspects
Invoked Against You” in Fate Core System, page 81) or do other things that
manipulate aspects or that aspects affect. Any other rules that require an
aspect to exist or be used don’t count for boosts. Don’t let the fact that
they’re often given names mislead you.
CHAPTER 7:
STUNTS
88 Chapter 7: Stunts

WHAT ARE STUNTS?

Stunts are tricks, maneuvers, or techniques your character has that change
how an approach (page 63) works for your character. Generally this
means you get a bonus in certain situations, but sometimes it gives you
some other ability or characteristic. A stunt can also reflect specialized,
high-quality, or exotic equipment that your character has access to that
gives them a frequent edge over other characters.

CREATING STUNTS
There’s no definitive list of stunts that you pick from; much like aspects,
everyone composes their own stunts. There are two basic templates to guide
you in composing your stunts, so you do have something to work from.
The first type of stunt gives you a +2 bonus in a certain situation when
you use a particular approach. Use this template:

Because I [describe some way that you are exceptional, have a cool
bit of gear, or are otherwise awesome], I get +2 when I [pick one:
attack, defend, create advantages, overcome] when [describe a cir-
cumstance] and I’m being [pick an approach].

You can rearrange the wording in the stunt, of course, as long as all the
important bits of information are there: the way you’re exceptional, the
action, the circumstance, and the approach.
For example:

Smooth Talker: Because I am a Smooth Talker, I get +2 when I create

advantages when I’m in conversation with someone and I’m being
Sneaky.

Lover of Puzzles: Because I am a Lover of Puzzles, I get +2 when I

overcome obstacles when I am presented with a puzzle, riddle, or
similar conundrum and I’m being Clever.

World-Class Duelist: Because I am a World-Class Duelist, I get +2

when I attack when engaged in a one-on-one swordfight and I’m
being Flashy.

Bullet Proof Vest: Because I have an experimental Bullet Proof Vest,

I get +2 when I defend when attacked by gunfire and I’m being
Forceful.
 Chapter 7: Stunts 89

Sometimes, if the circumstance is especially restrictive, you can apply the

stunt to both the create an advantage action and the overcome action.

Experimental Jet Pack: When I use my Experimental Jet Pack, I gain

+2 to Quickly create an advantage or overcome an obstacle if flying is
both possible and helpful.

The second type of stunt lets you make something true, do something
cool, or otherwise ignore the usual rules in some way. Use this template:

Because I [describe some way that you are exceptional, have a cool
bit of gear, or are otherwise awesome], once per game session I can
[describe something cool you can do].

For example:

Well Connected: Because I am Well Connected, once per game ses-

sion I can find a helpful ally in just the right place.

Quick on the Draw: Because I am Quick on the Draw, once per game
session I can choose to go first in a physical conflict.

Speed of a Horse: Because I have the Speed of a Horse, once per

game session I can show up anywhere I want to, provided I could run
there, no matter where I started.

These templates are intended to give you an idea of how stunts should be
constructed, but don’t feel constrained to follow them exactly if you have a
good idea. If you’d like to read more about the construction of stunts, see
Skills and Stunts on page 85 of Fate Core System.
90 Chapter 7: Stunts

CENTURY STUNTS
Century stunts are special stunts with a bit more “oomph” than regular
stunts. All Young Centurions may take one as one of their first three stunts.
(Remember, GMs, that Shadows also get Century stunts.) The stunt you
write should have a thematic connection to your Centurion’s Spirit, which
should be part of your high concept aspect (page 44). If you’re the Spirit
of Silence, don’t take a Century stunt that gives you a bonus to Flashy
actions; Sneaky or maybe Careful would be more appropriate.
Century stunts fall into one of the same two categories as ordinary stunts.
The first type provides a bonus, but instead of providing a bonus of +2 it
provides a bonus of +3. The second type allows you to do something cool
more often, or more powerfully, than a similar ordinary stunt would. For
example:

Wonderful Toys: Because she is such a skilled and innovative inventor

and tinker, Sally Slick usually has a useful device that can help her out
of a jam. Twice per game session, she can use this stunt to eliminate
a situation aspect.

Oh, No You Don’t: Because he thinks of others before himself, Jet

Black gains +3 to any overcome and defend actions when he’s being
Quick and an ally or bystander (rather than himself) immediately ben-
efits from the action.

Wait, I’ve Read Something About This: Because he is so well read

in mysterious histories, twice per game session Benjamin Hu may
declare that he knows an obscure but helpful fact while searching
ancient ruins, exploring underground tunnels, or researching a curious
volume of forgotten lore.

Haymaker: Because she is a formidable pugilist, Amelia Stone gains

+3 to attack actions made with her hands or feet against living, unar-
mored targets, while she’s being Forceful.

What Was That Again?: Because Mitzy Powers is such a natural at

talking circles around people, she often leaves them flummoxed and
confused. She gains +3 to defend and overcome actions when she’s
being Flashy and verbally sparring with someone.

Prescience: Because I can sometimes see a short time into the future,
once per session, at the end of my turn, I may declare that my turn
was a premonition. Everything that happened during my turn did
not really happen, and I can take a different action instead. Any fate
points spent during that turn are returned to their original owners,
boosts and free invokes spent are restored, etc.
 Chapter 7: Stunts 91

STUNT PACKAGES
So you have a general idea of what kind of
Young Centurion you want to play, but you
don’t know how to pick stunts to represent her.
Not to worry, we’ve cooked up some examples
for you!

The Athlete
You’re a champion athlete, maybe a football
player or a hopeful to attend the new Olympic
Games or a shortstop who’s piqued the interest
of scouts for the New York Yankees. Or maybe
you excel outside of school—you could be a
scrappy boxer who fights at an L.A. gym, or a
free diver from the Bahamas, or any other sort
of physically gifted youth.

STUNT SUGGESTIONS

Strongman/Strongwoman: Gain +2 to
attempts to overcome an obstacle when you
need to break through a physical barrier while
you’re being Forceful.

Gridiron Reflexes: Gain +2 to defend actions

when you’re being Quick and you can leap out
of the way of an attack.

Stole Their Playbook: Gain +2 to attack

actions when you’re being Clever and you have
inside knowledge of your target’s tendencies
and habits.

Playmaker: Gain +2 to attempts to create an

advantage when you’re being Careful and you
can make a plan and put it into action.

Head Fake: Gain +2 to attempts to create an

advantage when you’re being Sneaky and can
physically feint your opponent.

Last Minute Heroics: Gain +2 to attacks

when you or an ally only has one consequence
slot remaining and you’re being Flashy.
92 Chapter 7: Stunts

The Inventor
Lots of people can build things. Some people can
build clever things. A few can build incredible things
under impossible circumstances—that’s you, the
inventor. Whether it’s constructing a functional gaso-
line engine from a pile of scrap you find in an old barn,
or sneaking into a university laboratory and construct-
ing a functional galvanic calculation machine, you can
build just about anything.

STUNT SUGGESTIONS

Blow It Up: You have or can improvise a device that

grants you +2 to attempts to overcome an obstacle
while you’re being Forceful, provided explosives or
hydraulics or some other sort of brute force would be
useful.

Made a Few Modifications: You can make a fast

modification to a vehicle you’re riding in to gain +2
to attempts to create an advantage while you’re being
Quick.

Calculation Devices: Use a small calculation device

of your own construction to gain +2 to overcome
actions made while being Clever, involving solving
puzzles or making scientific measurements.

Optics: You have a spyglass, binoculars, or some

other device that grants you +2 to overcome or defend
actions to spot hidden, sneaking, or faraway items.

Dampers: Your modifications grant you +2 to

attempts to create an advantage while being Sneaky,
provided you’re in a vehicle or using some other
machinery that you can quiet.

Spring Boots: You have spring-loaded boots that give

you +2 bonus to attempts to overcome obstacles that
can be surmounted by leaping, springing, or running
while being Flashy.

I Have Just the Thing: One per session, as a free

action, you may declare that you have a useful device
that will completely eliminate a situation aspect.
 Chapter 7: Stunts 93

The Scholar
There’s one in every class. The kid who reads not
only the assigned chapter, but the whole book.
And can cite which facts are less than accurate,
and argues that in the original Greek it really
meant something else. No matter what subject
you’re talking about, this kid’s read something
about it. That’s you. The scholar.

STUNT SUGGESTIONS

No, YOU Are Wrong: Gain +2 to attempts to

create an advantage when you’re being Forceful
and can browbeat someone with just how wrong
they are (whether or not they really are wrong).

Do the Math: Gain +2 to defend actions when

you can describe how you were being Quick and
did a fast mental calculation to know the optimal
moment and direction to dodge.

It’s Elementary: Gain +2 to overcome actions

when you’re being Clever and must figure out a
puzzle, solve a riddle, or otherwise reason your
way out of a tight spot.

Details Matter: Gain +2 to attempts to create an

advantage when you’re being Careful and your
deep knowledge of a subject reveals a detail that
you can take advantage of.

It’s a Trap: Gain +2 to attacks when you’re being

Sneaky and your knowledge of a particular envi-
ronment can help you attack from a position of
ambush or lay a trap.

Q. E. D.: Gain +2 to attempts to create an advan-

tage or overcome an obstacle when you’re being
Flashy and you publicly explain exactly why your
idea, theory, or plan is correct.

I’ve Read Something About This: Once per

session, you may declare that you know a conve-
nient fact that helps you in whatever predicament
you find yourself in. Talk with your GM about
what that fact is.
94 Chapter 7: Stunts

The Fighter
You’ve always been good in a scrap. Maybe
you learned at the feet of a great master, or
at the fists of your older siblings. Are you a
tough pugilist, whether Queensbury rules
or bareknuckle? Are you a practitioner of
one of the martial arts from the Far East,
little known in the West in the early 20th
century? Or are you a street fighter, scrap-
ping with a chain or a broken bottle or
whatever else you can get your hands on?

STUNT SUGGESTIONS

Haymaker: Gain +2 to attacks made as a

punch or a kick while being Forceful.

Lightning Parry: Gain +2 to Quick

defend actions made in hand-to-hand
combat.

Leverage Is Everything: Gain +2 to

defend actions when you’re being Clever
and can use your opponent’s hand-to-
hand attack against them.

Take Cover: Gain +2 to defend actions

against ranged attacks when you’re being
Careful and an aspect is present in the
scene that declares that cover is available.

Feint: Gain +2 to attempts to create an

advantage when you’re being Sneaky and
can fake or feint your opponent.

Swashbuckler: Gain +2 to attack actions

made with a hand-to-hand weapon when
you‘re being Flashy and do it with some
sort of swashbuckling derring-do, such
as swinging from a rope or leaping over
a table.

I Can Take It: Gain an additional mild

consequence slot.
 Chapter 7: Stunts 95

The Well-Connected Kid

Your network of connections is impressive, and
you know human nature well enough to make
the most of those connections. Maybe your
folks have money, power, connections, or all of
the above—and you know how to take advan-
tage of those resources. Maybe you survived
your childhood in the streets by learning what
makes people tick, and you can talk almost
anyone into helping you out.

STUNT SUGGESTIONS

Don’t Mess With Me: Gain +2 to attempts to

create an advantage by intimidating someone
while being Forceful.

First Impressions: Gain +2 to attempts to

create an advantage by acting Quickly and
making a positive first impression on someone.

Dry Wit: Gain +2 to attacks when you’re being

Clever and you make your target look foolish;
if you succeed with style, the target may not
even realize that you insulted them.

Cold Read: Gain +2 to Careful attempts to

create an advantage when you try to assess
another character’s aspects by observing them.

Silver Tongue: Gain +2 to Sneaky attempts to

overcome an obstacle by using lies and deceit.

Hey Did I Ever Tell You About…: Gain +2

to attempts to create an advantage when you’re
being Flashy and you try to distract or confuse
someone with irrelevant nonsense.

Call in a Favor: Once per session, you may

declare that someone owes you a favor. You can
call that favor in to get some secret informa-
tion, or a meeting with an important person
who wouldn’t otherwise give you the time of
day, or some other interesting and useful effect.
96 Chapter 7: Stunts

The Thief
You’ve been living a life of crime. Maybe you’ve
been pickpocketing, maybe committing petty bur-
glary to survive. You’re gotten very good at staying
hidden and getting into places you’re not supposed
to be, which are skills the Century Club finds
useful—provided you use your powers for good.

STUNT SUGGESTIONS

Bend Bars, Lift Gates: Gain +2 to Forceful

attempts to overcome an obstacle when you need to
remove a physical impediment in your way.

Quick Draw: Gain +2 to attacks made when you’re

acting Quickly in the first round of any conflict.

Casing the Joint: Gain +2 to attempts to create an

advantage when you’re being Careful and assessing
the aspects of a building, ruins, or some other area
that you intend to investigate.

Trapfinder: Gain +2 to attempts to overcome an

obstacle when being Careful and avoiding or deac-
tivating traps, snares, alarms, or other security
systems.

Pickpocket: Gain +2 to attempts to overcome an

obstacle when being Sneaky and attempting to sur-
reptitiously relieve another character of a small item
on their person.

Cat Burglar: Gain +2 to attempts to create an

advantage related to hiding, skulking, or being
stealthy while being Sneaky.

Snake Oil Salesperson: Gain +2 to attempts to

overcome an obstacle when pulling a public con
while being Flashy.

I Know Someone Who Has One of Those: Once

per session, you may declare that you know of just
the right location to rob or just the right less-than-
honest person to talk to in order to get a bit of
information or an item you’re looking for.
 Chapter 7: Stunts 97

The Country Kid

Maybe you grew up in the backwoods, hunt-
ing deer through the forests and across the
hills. Maybe you grew up on the farm, work-
ing hard outdoors every day and taking care
of livestock. You know how to get along
outside.

STUNT SUGGESTIONS

Raised on the Farm: Gain +2 to overcome

obstacles when you need to move or lift
heavy objects and you’re being Forceful.

Ears of the Fox: Gain +2 to defend actions

when you’re being Quick and you’re
ambushed or attacked by an unseen attacker.

Tracker: Gain +2 to overcome actions when

you’re being Clever and you track your
quarry through woods, fields, or other wild
areas.

Eyes of the Hawk: Gain +2 to attempts to

overcome obstacles or defend actions to spot
skulking or hidden targets when you’re being
Careful.

Camouflage: Gain +2 to Sneaky attempts to

create an advantage related to hiding, skulk-
ing, or being stealthy.

Alpha Wolf: Gain +2 to attempts to create

an advantage by cowing or intimidating ani-
mals when you’re being Flashy.

Outdoorsman/woman: Once per ses-

sion, your skill at outdoor survival lets you
shield yourself and your allies from situation
aspects that come from some routine envi-
ronmental challenge (such as Baking Sun,
Freezing Wind, Lost in the Forest). It
doesn’t eliminate that aspect, so you can
invoke it against your enemies if you have
an idea how.
98 Chapter 7: Stunts

The Psychic
It’s rare, but in the world of the Century Club,
some people are gifted with incredible mental
abilities beyond what is easily explained by
mundane science. Some can read people’s
emotions, some can see a few seconds into the
future, some can accomplish even more amaz-
ing and spectacular psychic feats. Others are
really good at faking it and have learned to use
their five senses to make people think they have
psychic abilities.

STUNT SUGGESTIONS

Iron Will: Gain +2 to defend actions against

non-physical attacks while you’re being
Forceful.

Sixth Sense: Gain +2 to defend actions to

stop attacks against allies while you’re acting
Quickly.

Lie Detector: Gain +2 to defend actions made

to detect lies when you’re being Clever.

Divination: Gain +2 to attempts to create an

advantage by reading signs and portents in the
stars, or in tarot cards, or using some other div-
ination practice, made while being Careful.

Mind Trick: Gain +2 to Sneaky attempts to

overcome an obstacle by making someone
believe something that isn’t true.

Stage Psychic: Gain +2 to attempts to create

an advantage, made while being Flashy, when
you make a show of predicting someone’s
fortune.

The Cavalry: Because you can sense when your

friends are in trouble, once per session you can
insert yourself into a scene in which an ally is
in serious danger (unless you’re in jail, stuck
on Mars, or otherwise physically incapable of
getting there).
 Chapter 7: Stunts 99

The Daredevil
Some people seem to have their sense of
self-preservation removed at birth. That’s
you. Maybe you’re a compulsive tree climber
or a kid who builds and flies her own rudi-
mentary airplanes or someone who cannot
go fast enough, whether on horseback, in a
motorcar, or downhill on skis.

STUNT SUGGESTIONS

No Fear: Gain +2 to Forceful hand-to-hand

attacks made against someone clearly bigger
and stronger than you are.

Can’t Catch Me: Gain +2 to defend actions

made while running and acting Quickly.

Well Chosen Footholds: Gain +2 to

attempts to overcome obstacles while climb-
ing or moving around at great heights and
being Clever.

Be Prepared: Gain +2 to Careful attempts

to overcome an obstacle that results when
you or an ally fails an earlier action.

Like You Belong There: Gain +2 to attempts

to overcome an obstacle when you’re being
Sneaky and trying to talk your way into a
dangerous place you’re not supposed to be.

Follow Me: Gain +2 to attempts to create

an advantage or overcome an obstacle when
you lead the way and you’re being Flashy.

We Few, We Happy Few: Once per ses-

sion, you can give your allies a pep talk and
remove all situation aspects and mild con-
sequences from yourself and your allies that
stem from fear.
100 Chapter 7: Stunts

The Performer
Performers come in all shapes, sizes, and talents. Maybe you’re a musician,
trained in an elite conservatory or self-taught on your grandparents’ back
porch. You might be a performer traveling the world with Circus Europa or
a Wild West show. Or perhaps you’re an actor or dancer, born to the stage
and to inspire emotions in your audience. Whatever your talent, you live
for the spotlight.

STUNT SUGGESTIONS
Aerialist: Because you’re at home thirty feet above the ground, you get +2
to any Careful overcome action related to swinging on a rope or swing,
balancing on a wire or ledge, or any other similar action.
Virtuoso: Because you’re a once-in-a-generation musical talent, gain +2 to
create advantage actions while being Flashy when you use your music to
create a mood. (Choose a particular instrument—or your voice—as your
area of expertise.)
Trick Shot Artist: Gain +2 to attempts to create an advantage when taking
a Flashy shot at something that is not a living creature. (Choose the tool of
your trade: rifle, bow & arrow, throwing knives, shuriken, slingshots, etc.)
Dancer’s Rhythm: Gain +2 to any Careful overcome action where perfect
timing is essential: roping a boat bobbing in a storm, leaping aboard a
moving train, throwing a package to an ally swinging on a rope.
Thespian: Because you’re a consummate actor, you have no penalty when
you attempt to impersonate someone much older than you, much taller or
shorter than you, with a radically different accent than you have, or the like.
Raconteur: Because you’re a storyteller, gain +2 to Flashy attempts to create
an advantage by telling a tale: create sympathy through a sob story, gain
trust by telling a series of great jokes, or distract someone with a long story.
Contortionist: Gain +2 to Sneaky overcome actions when escaping from
being tied up, squeezing through a tiny opening, hiding in a small space, etc.
Stage Magician: Gain +2 to Flashy overcome actions to palm objects, mis-
direct observers, make objects appear or disappear, and the like.
Animal Trainer: Because you’re a lion tamer (or elephant trainer or poodle
wrangler or what have you), gain +2 to Clever create an advantage or over-
come actions when trying to get an animal to do what you want them to do.
Trick Rider: Gain +2 to Flashy overcome attempts when you’re on horse-
back and you try to lasso something, jump a tall fence or a wide creek, stand
on the saddle, mount a horse while it’s running, grab an item (or person!)
from the ground as you ride past, etc.
 CHAPTER 8:
CHARACTER ADVANCEMENT
102 Chapter 8: Character Advancement

GROWING UP
A Spirit’s skills improve as they grow up and become more physically and
mentally capable. Life experiences accumulate and shape your personality.
Young Centurions reflects that with character advancement, which allows
you to change your aspects, add or change stunts, and raise your approach
bonuses. You do this when your character reaches a milestone.

MILESTONES
Stories in TV shows, comic books, movies, and even video games usually
continue from episode to episode, season to season. Young Centurions can
tell those kinds of stories; you play many game sessions in a row using the
same characters—this is often called a campaign—and the story builds on
itself. But within these long stories, there are shorter story arcs, like single
episodes of a TV show or single issues of a comic, where shorter stories
are told and wrapped up. Young Centurions can do that too, even within a
longer campaign.
In Young Centurions, we call those wrap-ups milestones—whether they’re
small ones for short stories, or really big ones at the end of many sessions of
play. Young Centurions recognizes three types of milestones, and each one
allows you to change your character in certain ways.

Minor Milestones
A minor milestone usually occurs at the end of a session of play, or when
one piece of a story has been resolved. Rather than making your character
more powerful, this kind of milestone is more about changing your char-
acter, about adjusting in response to whatever’s going on in the story if you
need to. Sometimes it won’t really make sense to take advantage of a minor
milestone, but you always have the opportunity in case you need to.
After a minor milestone, you can choose to do one (and only one) of the
following:

➧➧Switch the ratings of any two approaches.

➧➧Rename one aspect that isn’t your high concept.
➧➧Exchange one stunt for a different stunt.
➧➧Choose a new stunt (and adjust your refresh, if you already have three
stunts).

Also, if you have a moderate consequence, check to see if it’s been around
for two sessions. If so, you can clear it.
 Chapter 8: Character Advancement 103

Significant Milestones
A significant milestone usually occurs at the end of a scenario (page 121)
or the conclusion of a big plot event (or, when in doubt, at the end of every
two or three sessions). Unlike minor milestones, which are primarily about
change, significant milestones are about learning new things—dealing with
problems and challenges has made your character generally more capable
at what they do.
In addition to the benefit of a minor milestone, you also gain both of the
following:

➧➧If you have a severe consequence that’s been around for at least two
sessions, you can clear it.
➧➧Raise the bonus of one approach by one.

RAISING APPROACH BONUSES

When you raise the bonus of an approach, there’s only one rule
you need to remember: you can’t raise an approach bonus
above Superb (+5).

Major Milestones
Major milestones should only occur when something happens in the cam-
paign that shakes it up a lot—the end of a big story arc, the final defeat of a
main NPC villain, or any other large-scale change that reverberates around
your game world.
These milestones are about gaining more power. The challenges of yester-
day simply aren’t sufficient to threaten these characters anymore, and the
threats of tomorrow will need to be more adept, organized, and determined
to stand against them. Achieving a major milestone confers the benefits of
a significant milestone and a minor milestone. In addition, you may do all
of the following:

➧➧Take an additional point of refresh.

➧➧Take an additional stunt (optional, costs a point of refresh if you
already have three stunts).
➧➧Rename your character’s high concept (optional).
EXAMPLE OF PLAY
106 Example of Play
It’s the summer of 1915, and four young Centurions—Sally Slick, Jet
Black, Nadya Petulengro, and Mack Silver—have been on the trail of
a young inventor who they suspect is a Shadow. He’s created a collec-
tion of automatic articulated walkers (we’d call them robots, but that
word wasn’t invented until 1920!). These machines can break down the
sturdiest walls, and have been used to smash through vaults in three
different banks this month. The young Centurions have tracked him
down to a warehouse on the outskirts of Chicago, hoping to discover
who he’s working for.

Carrie (the GM): A clock tower somewhere in the distance rings out eight
o’clock. You’ve crept up toward the warehouse. There’s a door around
the side.
Amanda (playing Sally Slick): Are there any windows?
Carrie (GM): Yes, but high enough up that you’d have to climb to look in.
Harry (playing Jet Black): Sounds good to me; there’s got to be something
I could climb to get up there.
Kit (playing Nadya Petulengro): Hang on a minute, let’s take a look
around. Is there any sign of a burglar alarm or anything? I’m going to
take a look.
Carrie (GM): Make a roll—sounds like you’re being Careful.

Carrie knows there’s a burglar alarm there, so she treats this like a create
an advantage action (page 60) attempting to discover an aspect
(page 81) of Burglar Alarm. If there wasn’t an alarm, a successful
create an advantage action would let the PCs know that.

Kit (Nadya): [rolls dice, adds her Careful bonus] I got a +3!
Carrie (GM): You succeed! You spot a wire attached to the window that
runs to an iron bell—a burglar alarm.

Carrie writes Burglar Alarm on Window on a slip of paper and places

it on the table.

Carrie (GM): You’ll probably set it off if you climb up there.

Chuck (playing Mack Silver): I’m tired of all this sneaking around. The
alarm’s not attached to the door? Perfect. Let’s get in there and see what’s
what. I’m going to run over to the door. Is there a window in the door?
Can I see what’s happening?
Carrie (GM): It’s a solid wooden door. You’ll have to open it to see anything.
Amanda (Sally): Okay, Sally really doesn’t want you to just charge in there,
but I think it would be awesome.

Don’t be afraid to make “bad” decisions that make things fun for every-
one! (page 45)
 Example of Play 107
Chuck (Mack): Oh yeah, in we go. I’m going to open that door and run
in. Carrie, given that I’m Fiercely Independent, do you think this is
worth a fate point?

For more on character aspects, see page 81.

Carrie (GM): Sure is!

Carrie hands Chuck a poker chip. This is a compel (page 84) of

Mack’s aspect Fiercely Independent, because he’s playing one of his
aspects in a way that’s going to get them into trouble!]

Carrie (GM): Mack, you step into the warehouse.

Kit (Nadya): I’m right behind him.
Carrie (GM): Okay. You’re in an office. There’s a drafting table with papers
all over it. There’s an office chair and a lit kerosene lamp and a couple of
pencils and lots of other office stuff. A doorway leads out into the rest of
the warehouse. A voice calls from the next room: “Who’s there?”
Chuck (Mack): Dang, he heard us.
Harry (Jet): Like you didn’t know that would happen.
Carrie (GM): So what do you guys do? Nadya and Mack, you’re in the
office. Jet and Sally, are you coming in too?
Amanda (Sally): I think we should hang back for a minute. Let’s make sure
this guy doesn’t sneak out the back.
Harry (Jet): Good idea. We’ll run in if you need us.
Kit (Nadya): I’m going to see if any papers look even vaguely interesting.
One of ’em’s gotta give us a clue who’s sponsoring this little mad scientist.
Harry (Jet): Good idea.
Chuck (Mack): I’ll go see who’s doing all the yelling. I step out of the office,
into the warehouse.
Carrie (GM): Okay. Nadya, you pick up a bunch of papers, one of them
looks like it has an address written on it. You don’t have time to read the
details, but at least you have it. Mack, you walk out into the warehouse
and see a teenager standing over a workbench full of parts, equipment,
and tools. He’s holding a smoking acetylene torch and is pulling off a
welding mask. In the corner of the room stands a six foot tall iron mon-
strosity, with two huge hydraulic legs—it’s one of the articulated walking
machines. “Who are you? What are you doing here?” he yells at you.
Chuck (Mack): We’re here to take you down! Uh… Nadya? Where are
you?
Kit (Nadya): In the office. Collecting the evidence. Remember? The evi-
dence? What we came here for?
Chuck (Mack): Oh, right.
108 Example of Play
Carrie (GM): The young Shadow points at you, Mack. “Walker, take care
of the intruder!” With a belch of steam, the hulking machine begins to
walk toward you. It’s much more nimble than you imagined it would
be. It looks like it’s planning to kick you through the wall. A conflict is
starting [page 70]. Mack, we’ll say you go first [Initiative, page 72].
What do you do?
Chuck (Mack): Oh, crud. Nadya, in a little trouble here… I don’t think I
can take this thing on my own. I’ll do my best to stay out of its way until
I have some help.
Carrie (GM): How?
Chuck (Mack): I guess I leap out of its way when it gets close. Is that
Quick?

Descriptions of approaches are on page 63.

Carrie (GM): I think so. Make a roll.

Chuck (Mack): [Rolls dice, adds his Quick bonus] Aw yeah, I get +5.
Carrie (GM): Great! You succeed with style.

This is a create advantage attempt to create a situation aspect (page

81). Typically +2 is enough to succeed, but Chuck succeeded with
style (page 57).

Chuck (Mack): Sweet.

Chuck writes Nimble Defense on a slip of paper and adds two circles
which represent the two free invocations you get when you succeed with
style. He plans to use these to aid his defend rolls against the walking
machine.

Chuck (Mack): Um… So I guess the walking machine would go next

[Initiative, page 72].
Carrie (GM): Makes sense to me. The machine tries to kick at you.

Carrie rolls and adds the walking machine’s Forceful.

Carrie (GM): This is an attack action [page 62]. I get +5. Give me a
defend action [page 62]!
Chuck (Mack): Okay! I’ll dive out of the way, I guess that’s Quick—oth-
erwise it wouldn’t make sense for me to use that advantage I just created.

Chuck rolls the dice, adds his Quick.

Chuck (Mack): I only get +4. I’ll use one of my free invocations [page
83] of Nimble Defense, which adds +2, for +6.
 Example of Play 109
Chuck crosses off one of the circles on the aspect.

Chuck (Mack): Mack dives out of the way!

Carrie (GM): Okay. The young Shadow just observes, expecting the walker
to pummel the stuffing out of you, Mack. Everyone in the conflict has
had a turn, so a new round starts. Nadya, if you want in, I think you’d
come in now, papers in hand.
Kit (Nadya): Okay. This thing is pretty cumbersome, isn’t it? I’m thinking
my best bet is to trip it. I’m going to dart in and out and hope to be fast
enough not to get clobbered.
Carrie (GM): Cool. You’re being Quick, right? Make your attack.
Kit (Nadya): [Rolls dice, adds Quick bonus] I get +4 total.
Carrie (GM): The walking machine relies on its Forceful to defend—it just
tries to barrel through your trip. [Rolls dice] Oh, I rolled horribly. Only
+2, even with the bonus.
Kit (Nadya): Yes! That’s a 2-shift hit—my +4 minus its +2.

Shifts are discussed on page 74.

Carrie (GM): Sure is.

Carrie checks off the second box on the walker’s stress track.

Carrie (GM): Okay, Nadya dives at the walker’s legs, pulling at the delicate
knee joint, and rolls out of the way. The walker teeters out of balance and
clangs against the wall, knocking some of its copper tubing loose. Steam
spews everywhere. Kit, who goes next? [Initiative, page 72.]
Kit (Nadya): Mack, for sure.
Chuck (Mack): Oh, I am going to rip this thing apart. Can I jump on top
of it?
Carrie (GM): You could try, but it’s steam powered and lots of it is dan-
gerously hot.
Chuck (Mack): Okay, never mind that. I think Nadya has the right idea.
I’ll try to knock it down. It looks pretty top-heavy, right? I should be able
to tip it over. Can I do that Quickly?
Carrie (GM): That’s a create an advantage action, but it sounds to me like
you’re being Clever.
Chuck (Mack): Yeah, I can see that. [Chuck rolls dice, adds Clever bonus.]
Ouch. I got a -1.
Carrie (GM): The walker defends Forcefully—it can just kind of sit there
and dare you to push it over. [Carrie rolls, adds Forceful bonus.] I get a
+1. Sorry Mack, not enough. But you’re only two away, if you could find
an aspect to invoke you’d tie it…
110 Example of Play
Chuck (Mack): [Looks at meager stack of fate point chips] Hmm… Nah,
I think I want to hang onto them for later.
Carrie (GM): Okay. Who goes next?
Chuck (Mack): Sally, Jet, you guys want in?
Amanda (Sally): We’ll continue covering the back door in case the Shadow
makes a run for it.
Chuck (Mack): Okay, then the walker goes.
Carrie (GM): The walker thinks Nadya is its biggest threat, and will try to
stomp you. [Carrie rolls an attack.] I get a +6!
Kit (Nadya): I’ll try to feint away from it. That’s Sneaky, I think. [Rolls dice,
adds Sneaky bonus.] Oh dear. That’s a -2. Uh oh. An 8-shift hit? Ugh.
No, I can’t do this. I’ll spend a fate point to reroll.

For what fate points can do, see page 80.

Carrie (GM): Which aspect are you invoking?

Kit (Nadya): [Kit looks over her character sheet.] Nadya’s Past Makes Her
Cautious. I don’t think she’d walk into that kind of a blow.
Carrie (GM): Yeah, that works.
Kit (Nadya): [Rolls dice again.] Oh, no! It’s a little better, but not good
enough—I get a 0. That’s a 6-shift hit. I need to take a moderate conse-
quence (page 75), which knocks it down to a 2-shift hit. [Kit checks
off the 2nd stress box on her stress track.] What should the consequence
be?
Carrie (GM): What if the machine kicked you right in the ribs? You’re
winded with Bruised Ribs.
Kit (Nadya): Okay. [Kit writes Bruised Ribs as the moderate consequence
on her sheet.] You know, I can’t take another solid hit like that. How
about I concede? I’ll be out of the fight, trying to catch my breath.
Carrie (GM): Hm… No, not enough. A concession has to hurt. How
about you drop to the ground to catch your breath, while the papers you
were holding go flying and the Shadow grabs the one with the address
written on it?
Kit (Nadya): Argh! Okay, I’ll take it.

Concessions are on page 77. Carrie gives Kit two poker chips—one
fate point for conceding, one for taking a consequence in this conflict.

Carrie (GM): Great! So, the Shadow goes next. He grabs that paper and
runs out the back door.
Harry (Jet): Just what we were waiting for!
 Example of Play 111
Carrie (GM): Right. Inside, there’s still the walking machine and Mack
left—well, Nadya too, but she’s safe because she conceded; the walking
machine won’t touch her.
Chuck (Mack): I am so out of here.
Kit (Nadya): Hey! Leaving me behind?
Carrie (GM): No, the two of you can escape back through the office if you
like. Sally and Jet deserve some spotlight for a bit. So, Sally and Jet, you’re
watching the back door, right?
Amanda (Sally): Yup! Do we see the Shadow?
Carrie (GM): You sure do. You’re watching the back door, and hear some
yelling from inside the warehouse, then some clanking and machinery
noises. Suddenly the back door bursts open and a kid about your age
comes sailing out. He’s carrying a paper and heading down the alley at a
full run. What do you do?
Harry (Jet): Take off after him!
Amanda (Sally): Heck yeah!
Carrie (GM): Okay! This is a contest [page 69], so we’ll all make
overcome actions [page 61]. It’s a flat out footrace, so I think that’s
Forceful for everyone.
Harry (Jet): Why isn’t that Quick?
Carrie (GM): Because there isn’t any nimbleness or agility or quick think-
ing needed here—this is raw leg power at first. Maybe you can think of a
way to work Quick in next round.
Harry (Jet): Gotcha—Forceful it is!
Carrie (GM): Okay, Sally and Jet, let me know what you get. [Lots of dice
are rolled.]
Amanda (Sally): +2.
Harry (Jet): Zero.
Carrie (GM): +1 for the Shadow. That’s one victory for Sally. Next exchange!
You’re in an alley, twisting and turning.
Amanda (Sally): I’m going to duck into a side alley and try to head him off.
I think that’s Clever, right? [Rolls dice, adds Clever bonus.] +3!
Harry (Jet): I’ll try to cut a corner or two, trying to be as Quick as I can.
[Rolls dice, adds Quick bonus.] +1. I think I need new dice.
Sally (GM): I get a +1 also, so Sally wins again. That’s two victories for her;
one more and she catches him! Next exchange.
Amanda (Sally): +2.
Harry (Jet): +2 too. Heh.
112 Example of Play
Carrie (GM): I also get a +2. Which means nobody gets a victory, but a twist
happens [page 69]. Let’s see… Okay, as you chase the Shadow through
an intersection, a policeman spots you. The Shadow yells, “Officer, help!
They’re trying to rob me!” And the policeman takes off after you.
Amanda (Sally): Uh oh.
Carrie (GM): Next exchange! You’re out of the alley, back into the street.
Harry (Jet): No way I’m going to catch this guy. Can I do something to
help Sally?
Carrie (GM): Sure! What do you have in mind?
Harry (Jet): I want to grab a big rock and throw it at the Shadow’s feet. Is
that a create an advantage action?
Carrie (GM): Yes! Sounds like you’re being Clever, too—so make a roll, try
to get +2.

Guidelines for setting difficulties are on page 122.

Harry (Jet): [Harry rolls dice, adds Clever bonus] I get a +3!
Carrie (GM): Cool. Jet, you grab a stone from the ground and chuck it at
the Shadow. It hits right at his feet, and I think he’s Stumbling. Sally,
you can invoke that for free.

Create an advantage actions are discussed on page 60.

Amanda (Sally): +2, and if I invoke that aspect it’s a +4!

Carrie (GM): Ouch! I get a zero. Sally, you catch him!
Amanda (Sally): Yes! I tackle him from behind, both of us tumbling to the
street.
Harry (Jet): Can I grab the paper as I run up to them?
Carrie (GM): Sure can! But that’s when the cop arrives…

And they continue to play out the scene, as they try to convince the cop
that the Shadow is really the bad guy here. Will they succeed? Or will
the cops take them home for the biggest punishments of their young
lives? And will Nadya and Mack figure out what happened to them?
 CHAPTER 9:
BEING THE GAMEMASTER
114 Chapter 9: Being the Gamemaster

THE GM’S JOBS

The GM has many responsibilities, such as presenting the conflict to the
players, controlling NPCs, and helping everyone apply the rules to the sit-
uation in the game.

WHAT DOES THE GM DO?

The GM has a variety of responsibilities, including:

➧➧ Set a Campaign Rating (page 118)

➧➧ Help Build Campaigns (page 121)
➧➧ Build Scenarios and Run Game Sessions (page 121)
➧➧ Play Mentor Characters (page 123)
➧➧ Play the Bad Guys (page 125)

Let’s talk about the GM’s jobs.

 Chapter 9: Being the Gamemaster 115

RUNNING GAMES WITH KIDS

As we’ve said before, Young Centurions is intended to be a game that both
kids and adults can play. And kids help create terrific, exciting, unexpected
game sessions. If you’re GMing for a group that includes young children (or
adults who haven’t grown up yet!), there are a few tips and tricks that can
make the game more fun for everyone:

➧➧Shorter is better: Keep scenes and games short and to the point, with
plenty of action to keep young players engaged.

➧➧Extra stuff to do is never a bad thing: Provide something small for

young players to fiddle with other than their dice and notecards. This
is particularly important when the action moves to another player.

➧➧Break it up: Take frequent breaks for food, stretching, and running
around in circles.

➧➧Guide, don’t railroad: Very young children can come up with ideas
best suited for a slapstick cartoon. That’s fine if your game is set in
that world, but if not? It’s up to you to help guide them to a more
appropriate action. Use a lot of “what if ” questions, such as, “What do
you think will happen if you light the teacher’s hair on fire with your
new invention? Could she get hurt? What else could you do with it to
make a distraction?”

➧➧Show and tell: Any game can benefit from visual aids like maps, but
these tools are particularly handy to help young kids picture the action
of a large scale combat.

➧➧Make failure interesting: It can be frustrating for anyone when the dice
aren’t cooperating, and it’s easy to get discouraged. Kids in particular
might need a little extra attention when they fail. Point out how their
failure made the game more interesting: “If you hadn’t triggered that
trap, we never would have found the secret room. That information
is worth a sprained ankle, don’t you think?” Of course, this approach
requires you to make sure that failure is interesting!

Those suggestions are handy for just about everyone, but particularly for
youngsters. At the end of the day, gaming with young children is about
being flexible and giving them a say in where the game goes. Often they’ll
take you to places you’ve never dreamed of!
116 Chapter 9: Being the Gamemaster

How Do Grown-ups Fit into This Game?

Ultimately, this is a game about kids, but adults still have an important role
to play. Adult NPCs are an important tool for gamemasters. Eliminating
them entirely from the game is a bad idea because then there are fewer pos-
sible consequences for the player characters. Giving them too much power
isn’t great either, because adults tend to take charge when kids are involved.
Regardless of how you choose to use them, remember that the adult
NPCs are only the supporting characters. Whenever possible, the Young
Centurions should be the ones with the power to make a difference. By
making sure that their choices and actions impact the direction of the game,
you can help keep them in the driver’s seat (even if they aren’t old enough
for a license).
Here are a few thoughts on how to keep the balance:

ADULTS AS PARENTS
Obviously, parents are some of the most important people in a child’s life.
If the characters live at home, find a way to create some space for the kids
to act without Mom and Dad breathing down their necks. Give the parents
aspects like “Why Won’t the Baby Sleep?!” or Long Hours at the Farm
to help keep them busy…and to create potential story complications later.
That baby just might start crying at the wrong time, and Pa might be out
on the South Field at the exact moment the smugglers try to use it as a
landing strip.
If the characters don’t live at home, does someone else care for them?
Aspects can help define that relationship. A caregiver with “They Don’t
Pay Me Enough to Take Care of These Brats” will have a very different
relationship with the characters than one with Will Give Anything to
the Orphans of Sacred Heart.

ADULTS AS NEUTRAL PARTIES

Neutral parties are particularly useful in keeping the violence level under
control. The Steel Don’s goons might be vicious killers, but they aren’t likely
to hurt a bunch of kids in front of a crowd because they don’t want that
kind of attention. And if they do anything menacing, the onlookers are
likely to come to the rescue of a kid in trouble. If you’re trying to keep
the violence level down to G or PG (see page 118 for more on ratings for
your game), consider setting your combat scenes within sight or earshot of
potential onlookers to keep things in check.
Adult NPCs can also be used to make things a little harder on the Spirits.
Grown-ups won’t hesitate to interfere when they think kids are up to no
good. If you need to make a task harder, complicate it with the presence
of the neighborhood busybody or a cop walking his beat. Not only do the
characters need to complete the task, but they need to do so without arous-
ing suspicion of the adult in charge.
 Chapter 9: Being the Gamemaster 117

ADULTS AS ALLIES
Grown-up allies—including mentors and Retainers from the Century
Club—can easily overbalance a game, so use them sparingly. The easiest
way to limit their influence is to give them aspects that define other respon-
sibilities they have to take care of. Master Lingyu might be powerful, but
he has also taken a Solemn Vow to Keep the Streets of Chinatown
Safe, and sometimes that promise might take him away from the characters.
Amandine Laclerque has So Many Students She Can’t Remember All
Their Names, and if two of them get in trouble at the same time, someone’s
going to have to deal with things on their own. This forces the characters to
solve their own problems, with the mentor only popping up to help when
he or she is needed.

ADULTS AS ADVERSARIES
In the real world, grown-ups tend to have more power than kids. They’re
usually physically stronger, more knowledgeable, and more independent
than kids. They have resources—money and possessions—that children
lack. When creating an adult bad guy, one of the first questions to ask is
whether or not the kids can in fact defeat him. In stories that are rated G
(and some PG—more on campaign ratings in the next section), the bad guy
usually gets it in the end, which means making him somehow vulnerable to
the young heroes. He might be Wanted by the Police or have Enemies
in the Syndicate who are eager to oust him from power. Then it’s up to
the characters to discover these weaknesses and exploit them to bring the
villain to justice.
But if the story is rated PG-13, the adversary just might escape. Doctor
Methuselah in particular is famous for getting away scot-free almost every
time. When facing him, the characters can still succeed by foiling his plans
to sink Manhattan or by capturing some of his most trusted subordinates,
but they’re not likely to bring down the mastermind himself.
118 Chapter 9: Being the Gamemaster

SET A CAMPAIGN RATING

You can do a lot of different things with your Young Centurions game. Stories
can range from simple, straightforward adventures in which good is good
and evil isn’t, or they can delve into complex narratives in which everything
is painted in shades of grey and it’s hard to know right from wrong. They
can be gritty war stories, complete with guns, or small town dramas with
more suspense than violence. You can paint a realistic picture of a time full
of racism or rewrite history with an eye to equality. That’s a lot of choices
to make, but we’ve made it easy to tailor the game to your comfort level
through a handy dandy campaign rating system. Young Centurions games
can start as early as 1913, when all the young Spirits and Shadows aren’t
even teenagers, and can be set up through 1918, just before they all come
of age. Depending on the maturity of your group and what you’re looking
to accomplish with your story, you can pick the age that best appeals to you.
The easiest way to do this is to
pick the rating that will work best
WHAT OUR RATING for your group of gamers. These
LETTERS MEAN ratings are just like the ones you’d
see in the movies (in the USA, at
G: Suitable for children of all ages. least): G, PG, or PG-13. We don’t
PG: Intended for older children not offer an R rating as a matter of
quite 13. course, because we’re talking about
PG-13: Suitable for ages 13 and up. kid heroes here.
R: Ages 17+ only, please. Once you’ve picked the rating for
your game, there are some guide-
lines to help make that happen,
including suggestions on character age, game topics, and how to deal with
issues like romance and violence.
What if you’re interested in running a campaign based on a particular
historical event that happens in 1913, and it definitely isn’t rated G? Well,
you’ve got a few options. You can play jiggery-pokey with the date and
move it so your characters are older. You can skip or tone down the more
mature bits so that it doesn’t feel wrong to send your 12-year-old characters
into the middle of them. Or you can decide that sometimes kids as young
as 12 have to deal with things that kids their age shouldn’t have to deal
with. Likewise, if your young gamers want to play older characters, you
might want to use the campaign rating that matches your youngest play-
er’s age instead of the age of the characters. In short, these aren’t absolute
rules. They’re just a starting point to help you develop a story that will be
appropriate for your gamers, particularly if you’re playing with children. If
these issues don’t apply to you, then don’t worry about the campaign rating!
 Chapter 9: Being the Gamemaster 119

Choosing the Appropriate Rating

If you know anything about childhood development, you’ll realize that
we’ve really simplified things for Young Centurions. This guide is for setting
the maturity rating of your game, not a study guide for your adolescent
development class. In real life, kids tend to be a lot more varied; if you
prefer, you can make adjustments to the campaign rating to make things a
little more realistic.

G RATING
Character Age: 12 or 13
Years in Game: 1913-1914
Teen Development: Early stages of puberty complete with mood
swings and rapid body changes. Feelings of invincibility. Can get
frustrated by lack of independence but still listens to parents.
Romance: Very little romance—characters are generally more inter-
ested in adventure than in dating. The opposite sex may still be
“icky.”
Violence: Minimal violence such as fistfights or other non-fatal,
minor damage encounters. Think cartoon violence—very little
blood, most of the violent bits edited out or glossed over.
Story Suggestions: Linear, fast-paced stories. Challenges can be large
(Locate the missing idol!) or small (Figure out who stole the lunch
money!). Bad guys are clearly bad and are ultimately brought to
justice. Get the parents out of the way through work, travel, or
illness. Mentors are very present/involved.

PG RATING
Character Age: 14 or 15
Years in Game: 1915-1916
Teen Development: Begins to be more concerned with appearance,
attractiveness, and reputation. Often looks for a mentor outside of
the family. Rebels against parents and other authority figures.
Romance: Budding, innocent romances might appear in the game.
Think cases of puppy love or crushes, or maybe a first date.
Violence: Characters get into situations in which serious injury is pos-
sible, but not usually life threatening. Think comic book violence.
Story Suggestions: Morality starts getting a little murkier, and
villains aren’t so obvious (perhaps there’s a figurehead or a red her-
ring). More problem-solving for characters and choices of how to
act. Parents may get in the way of action. Consider adding a
subplot to the campaign.
120 Chapter 9: Being the Gamemaster

PG-13 RATING
Character Age: 16 or 17
Years in Game: 1917-1918
Teen Development: Begins to settle down emotionally as physical
changes slow. Begins to rebel less and show more confidence. Shows
concern and planning for future success.
Romance: Might have a boyfriend or girlfriend. Goes to dances or
on dates. Romantic interests may serve the story as hostages, allies,
or villains.
Violence: High stakes action in which damage can be done, and
characters even risk death. Think action movie violence. Guns
and other weaponry might appear (see “Guns in Young Centurions”
on page 58 for advice on including guns in stories with young
protagonists).
Story Suggestions: Lots at stake in a complex, multi-layered story.
Characters may be faced with tough choices in which there is no
good option. Villains may escape or be untouchable. Parents
may be a resource or ally for characters.
 Chapter 9: Being the Gamemaster 121

MORE RESOURCES FOR LEARNING

HOW TO BE A GM
Being a GM and running games can seem intimidating and difficult
at first. It’s a skill that takes some practice to master, so don’t worry—
you’ll get better the more you do it. If you’d like to read more about
the art of GMing Fate, there are several chapters in the Fate Core
System that you should check out; Running the Game (page 177),
Scenes, Sessions, and Scenarios (page 225), and The Long Game
(page 251) are particularly helpful.

HELP BUILD CAMPAIGNS

A campaign is a series of games you play with the same characters, where
the story builds on what happened in earlier sessions. All the players should
collaborate with the GM to plan how the campaign will work. Usually this
is a conversation among all of you to decide what sort of heroes you want
to play, what sort of world you live in, and what sorts of bad guys you’ll
encounter. Talk about how serious you want the game to be and how long
you want it to last.

BUILD SCENARIOS AND

RUN GAME SESSIONS
A scenario is one short story arc, the sort of thing you might see wrapped
up in one or two episodes of an adventure television show, even if it’s a
smaller part of a bigger story. Usually you can wrap up a scenario in one
to three game sessions, assuming you play for three or four hours at a time.
But what is a scenario, and how do you build one?

Scenarios
A scenario needs two things: A bad guy with a goal, and a reason the PCs
can’t ignore it.

➧➧Bad guy with a goal: You’ve probably figured this out already. The
campaign’s main opposition, or one of his allies, is probably your bad
guy.
➧➧Something the PCs can’t ignore: Now you have to give the PCs a
reason to care. Make sure the bad guy’s goal is up in the PCs’ faces,
where they need to do something about it or bad things will happen to
them, or to people or things they value.
122 Chapter 9: Being the Gamemaster

Running Game Sessions

Now that your bad guy is doing something the PCs will pay attention to, it’s
time to start them off. Sometimes the best way to do that, especially for the
first session of a new story arc, is to put them right in the action. Once the PCs
know why they should care about what’s going on, you just get out of the way
and let them take care of it.
That said, there are a bunch of tasks the GM needs to perform to run the
session:

➧➧Run scenes. A session is made up of individual scenes. Decide where the

scene begins, who’s there, and what’s going on. Decide when all the inter-
esting things have played out and the scene’s over.
➧➧Adjudicate the rules. When some question comes up about how to apply
the rules, you get final say.
➧➧Set difficulties. You decide how difficult tasks should be, and whether
some approaches can’t be used at all in some circumstances.
➧➧Play the NPCs. Each player controls their own character, but you control
all the rest, including the bad guys.
➧➧Keep things moving. If the players don’t know what to do next, it’s your
job to give them a nudge. Never let things get too bogged down with inde-
cision or because they don’t have enough information—do something to
shake things up.
➧➧Make sure everyone has a chance to be awesome. Your goal isn’t to defeat
the players, but to challenge them. Make sure every PC gets a chance to be
the star once in a while, from the big bad warrior to the little sneaky thief.

SETTING DIFFICULTY LEVELS

When another character is opposing a PC, their rolls provide the opposition in
a conflict, contest, or challenge. But if there’s no active opposition, you have
to decide how hard the task is.
Low difficulties are best when you want to give the PCs a chance to show
off and be awesome. Difficulties near their approach ratings are best when
you want to provide tension but not overwhelm them. High difficulties are
best when you want to emphasize how dire or unusual the circumstances are
and make them pull out all the stops.

Difficulty Guidelines:

➧➧If the task isn’t very tough at all, give it a Mediocre (+0)—or just tell the
player they succeed without a roll.
➧➧If you can think of at least one reason why the task is tough, pick
Fair (+2).
➧➧If the task is extremely difficult, pick Great (+4).
➧➧If the task is impossibly difficult, go as high as you think makes sense.
The PC will need to drop some fate points and get lots of help to succeed,
but that’s fine.
 Chapter 9: Being the Gamemaster 123
OPTIONAL RULE: APPROACH-RELATED TARGET NUMBERS
Some challenges don’t lend themselves to using certain approaches. A big,
heavy door will resist attempts to smash through it Forcefully or Quickly.
Sneaking through a dark room doesn’t lend itself to acting Quickly (and
you really can’t be Forceful or Flashy at all). When trying to gain control
of a runaway cart headed toward a cliff, you don’t have time to be Careful.
These challenges are resistant to those approaches. If a character tries to use
one of those approaches to overcome it, add +2 or more to the difficulty
level. See “Different Difficulty for Different Approaches” on page 64 for
more.
You might think that the reverse situation is also true—a dull-witted
guard could be easily outsmarted by a Clever approach, meaning the diffi-
culty should be lower, right? That situation is already handled by letting the
PCs discover the aspect Dull-Witted on the guard, and invoke it for +2
to their roll if it’s relevant.

PLAY MENTOR CHARACTERS

One or more of the PCs may have an aspect or a stunt that declares that
they have a mentor. If they do, talk with those PCs’ players about what sort
of character they have in mind for their mentors. Is it a wise old Centurion
from the previous century, like Grey Ghost or Master Liu from Sally Slick
and the Steel Syndicate? Is it a protective parent, or maybe an older sibling?
A Retainer or other important member of the Century Club?

The Roles that Mentors Fulfill

The relationship the mentor has with the PCs affects how they do these
things, but mentors play three primary roles in Young Centurions stories:

➧➧Mentors provide information and advice. Mentor characters are

an important source of information for young Spirits, especially
when they’re new to the Century Club. Mentors might have access to
the Century Club’s considerable resources (libraries, connections to
knowledgeable people, etc.) as well as their own life experience. When
one of the PCs doesn’t know what to do, a talk with their mentor can
clarify things.
➧➧Mentors come to the rescue. When the PCs get in trouble, mentors
can help. Sometimes this comes in the form of a PC spending a fate
point to declare that their mentor lends a hand. Sometimes it’s when
the mentor takes a consequence for the PC (page 78).
➧➧Mentors give a nudge. Sometimes in roleplaying games, the players
don’t know what to do next. This is when a mentor can come along
and give them a firm nudge in the right direction to get the action
moving. Maybe this comes in the form of information or advice, like
we talked about earlier—but maybe the mentor gets into trouble, and
the PCs have to act fast to bail them out.
124 Chapter 9: Being the Gamemaster

Retainer Divination
Century Club Retainers frequently serve as
mentors for young Spirits. Most Retainers can
read signs, omens, or patterns to help answer
questions or predict the future. Since Retainers
are non-player characters, their divination abil-
ity primarily serves a narrative role in Young
Centurions games. Here are some guidelines for
integrating it into your game to move the story
forward.
Primarily, divination is a way for you to get
mentors to the right place at the right time. If
the mentor hangs around all the time, being all
grown-up and in charge, the characters never
have a chance to be independent. But there
are times when the characters might need the
mentor to appear in the nick of time to help out
(and maybe acquire a consequence in the pro-
cess). Divination provides a handy way to make
that happen.
Divination can also help to move the story
along when the characters are stuck. You can
use it to provide an essential piece of infor-
mation or to present a puzzle. However, the
answers received aren’t always clear. Sometimes
they’re riddles. Sometimes they’re flat out wrong.
Sometimes no pattern appears, indicating that
the future is too uncertain to be foreseen. Mixing
up the quality of the answers will keep the char-
acters from relying on this ability too much.
While most Retainers are numerologists, there
are many types of divination you could use in
your games. Here are just a few:
➧➧Capnomancy: reading signs in smoke
➧➧Cleromancy: drawing or casting of lots,
Ogham runes, dice, etc.
➧➧Scrying: gazing into reflective objects like
crystal balls
➧➧Taromancy: reading Tarot cards
➧➧Theriomancy: interpreting animal behavior
➧➧Uranomancy: reading the sky
 Chapter 9: Being the Gamemaster 125

PLAY THE BAD GUYS

When you make a bad guy, you can stat them out exactly like the PCs,
with approaches, aspects, stress, and consequences. You should do this for
important or recurring bad guys who are intended to give the PCs some
real difficulties, but you shouldn’t need more than one or two of these in a
scenario.

Mooks
Other bad guys are mooks—unnamed toughs or monsters or goons whose
purpose is to make the PCs’ day a little more difficult, but they’re designed
to be more or less easily swept aside, especially by powerful PCs. Here’s how
you create their stats:
1. Make a list of what this mook is skilled at. They get +2 to all rolls deal-
ing with these things.
2. Make a list of what this mook is bad at. They get −2 to all rolls dealing
with these things.
3. Some mooks are experts. If this one is, think of one thing this mook is
an expert at; they get +4 to that action.
4. Everything else gets +0 when rolled.
5. Give the mook an aspect or two to reinforce what they’re good and bad
at, or if they have a particular strength or vulnerability. It’s okay if a
mook’s aspects are really simple.
6. Mooks have zero, one, or two boxes in their stress track, depending on
how tough you imagine them to be.
7. Mooks can’t take consequences. If they run out of stress boxes (or don’t
have any), the next hit takes them down.

Groups of Mooks
If you have a lot of low-level bad guys facing the PCs, you can make your
job easier by treating them as a group—or maybe a few groups. Instead of
tracking a dozen bad guys, you track three groups of four bad guys each.
Each of these groups acts like a single character and has a set of stats just
like a single mook would:
1. Choose a couple of things they’re skilled at. You might designate “gang-
ing up” as one of the things the group is good at.
2. Choose a couple of things they’re not so good at.
3. Give them an aspect.
4. Give them one stress box for every two individuals in the group.

Fate Core has a way of handling this, called mobs (Fate Core System, page
216); feel free to use that option if you prefer. Note that it may lead to very
strong mobs, unless you start with extremely weak mooks—if you want to
give your PCs a serious challenge, this could be one way to do it.
126 Chapter 9: Being the Gamemaster

SCHOOLYARD BULLY
Bully; Cowardly Without Backup
Skilled (+2) at: Frightening other students, weaseling out of
trouble, breaking things
Bad (-2) at: Planning, studying
Stress: None (first hit takes them out)

FLYING ACE
Swaggering Self-Confidence; My Bright Red Triplane
Expert (+4) at: Flying
Skilled (+2) at: Spotting faraway objects
Bad (-2) at: Resisting being goaded and baited
Stress: 2

HOMICIDAL ALIEN ROBOT

EXTERMINATE; Limited Power Supply
Skilled (+2) at: Exterminating
Bad (-2) at: Everything else
Stress: 1

GANG OF GOONS
Axe Handles & Crowbars
Skilled (+2) at: Ganging up, scaring innocent people
Bad (-2) at: Thinking ahead, fighting when outnumbered
Stress: 2 (4 goons)

FLYING MONKEY SQUADRON

Fly, My Pretties, Fly; Monkey Business
Skilled (+2) at: Flying, making a horrible mess
Bad (-2) at: Doing things monkeys can’t do
Stress: 3 (6 flying monkeys)
CHAPTER 10:
GAME RESOURCES
128 Chapter 10: Game Resources

HELLLLP!
Do you want to play but don’t have the prep time? We’ve got your back.
Need some story ideas to get you started? We’ve got your back. Do you
want to skip that whole character generation thing and play? WE’VE GOT
YOUR BACK. This section is full of materials you can use to leap into an
adventure right now, with a minimum of prep time.

STORY HOOKS
First, let’s plot like a supervillain on steroids! Here are some story ideas that
you can pop right into your campaign.

The Apothecary Murders

Campaign Rating: PG-13

The characters are employees at the Daily Globe newspaper for the summer
when they start hearing reports of masked teenagers becoming murderously
violent before collapsing with seizures. The cub reporters decide to inves-
tigate. They learn that some of the teens have muttered “Petoskey” before
falling unconscious. The characters can get involved in the action by tag-
ging along to interview witnesses (or sneaking off to interview them on
their own), researching the word “Petoskey,” and by visiting some of the
teens in the hospital. There are various ways that the characters could learn
that “Petoskey” refers to Petoskey’s Apothecary and Sundries where all of
the teens have worked as delivery boys. Investigation of the shop shows all
manner of boys entering and exiting at all times of the day, which is normal,
but many of the boys don’t look well. Who’s employing these kids? What’s
making the teens turn violent? What dire schemes might be at work?

KEY LOCATIONS
The Daily Globe offices
Aspects: Reporters Everywhere; Hustle and Bustle; Dim Lighting;
Slippery Tile Floors

Petoskey’s Apothecary and Sundries

Aspects: Traps!; Dangerous Chemicals; Clutter Galore; Shelves
of Glassware

NON-PLAYER CHARACTERS
William Petoskey
Approaches: Careful: Good (+3), Clever and Sneaky: Fair (+2), Flashy
and Quick: Average (+1), Forceful: Mediocre (+0)
Aspects: All in the Name of Science; Closet Alchemist; Proper on
the Outside
 Chapter 10: Game Resources 129

Upstairs/Downstairs
Campaign Rating: PG

The May Mansion appears to be the ideal place to work as a maid or a stable
hand or a chauffeur—easy work, lavish surroundings, and a master who’s
barely home to make a mess. The Young Centurions are somehow tied to
the downstairs employees—they could be an employee-in-training, related
to an employee, or perhaps they work as a delivery person. The Mays fre-
quently throw lavish parties, but something always goes wrong. A guest’s
jewelry is stolen, scandalous secrets are revealed, incriminating letters go
astray. Margaret May, Mr. May’s only daughter, is preparing for her debu-
tante ball, which promises to be the most elaborate party the Mays have
yet thrown. Already things have started to go wrong. The horses escape
and trample the gardens; a fire breaks out in the piano conservatory. Owen
Jones, the son of the former butler who was dismissed in disgrace, is behind
the current mischief. He’s out for revenge, convinced that Margaret com-
mitted the previous crimes and framed his father. Now the real question
becomes which one of them is the villain and which one is the victim?
Someone should be turned in, but who? And will the authorities believe the
word of a few lowly servant kids?

KEY LOCATIONS
May Mansion Upstairs
Aspects: Opulent; Immaculate Housekeeping; Spacious Rooms

May Mansion Downstairs

Aspects: Not Enough Space; Secondhand Furniture; Servant
Bells Everywhere

NON-PLAYER CHARACTERS
Margaret May (character stats on page 141)

Owen Jones
Approaches: Clever: Good (+3), Careful and Sneaky: Fair (+2), Flashy
and Forceful: Average (+1), Quick: Mediocre (+0)
Aspects: Vengeance for My Father; My Middle Name Is Charming;
Sucker for a Pretty Face
130 Chapter 10: Game Resources

Old Man Jenkins

Campaign Rating: G

When Old Man Jenkins moves to the PCs’ small town, tongues start wag-
ging. The guy is just weird. He lives in the junkyard in a ramshackle shack
made out of old tin sheeting, he smells like he hasn’t showered in years, and
he has a habit of constantly muttering to himself. The neighborhood kids
immediately latch onto him, making him the butt of pranks and dares, and
the ultimate dare is to enter the shack and take something that belongs to
the strange old man. But when one of the player characters takes the dare,
Old Man Jenkins catches him or her, and he doesn’t seem as crazy as people
make him out to be. When a trio of men with a fancy automobile and
swanky suits arrive in town, looking for an escaped convict by the name
of Herbert Jenkins, it seems impossible that it could be the same person.
When the men discover Old Man Jenkins’ shack, they blow it up. It turns
out that the seemingly crazy old man is actually a scientist, and they want
his latest invention. Can the Young Centurions hide him and throw the bad
guys off his trail?

KEY LOCATIONS
The junkyard
Aspects: Rickety Piles; Jumbled Mess of Stuff; Smelly; Dangerous
Objects

Old Man Jenkins’s shack

Aspects: Ramshackle Construction; What’s All this Stuff?; Smells
Like Wet Dog

NON-PLAYER CHARACTERS:
Old Man Jenkins
Approaches: Clever (good +3), Careful and Forceful (Fair +2), Sneaky
and Quick (Average +1), Flashy (Fair +0)
Aspects: “My Inventions Are Only for Good!”; Lives in His Own
Head; “Eureka!”

Even More Story Hooks

that Don’t Focus on Violence
It’s easy to default to story lines that lend themselves to violent solutions—
just look at most TV shows and movies. Here are some plot ideas that might
require a different approach.
 Chapter 10: Game Resources 131
Mysteries to be solved: Perhaps someone is stealing carburetor technology
at the tractor races, and the characters uncover a nefarious plot to build
some kind of dangerous device. Or the prize money for Best Garden is
missing, and people suspect the PCs—how do they clear their names when
they’re under suspicion? What if the city council is corrupt, and it’s up to
the PCs to figure out what they’re up to and expose them? Or even worse,
what if someone spiked the punch at the community dance WITH MIND
CONTROL POWDER?

Environmental dangers: The PCs could be faced with a burning building,

and they’re the only ones on the spot to get people out safely. Or an animal
from the zoo or the circus might be on the loose. What if the grownups are
all sick, and the PCs have to get the Spanish flu serum from the city in time
to save everyone? Perhaps you could tell a survival story where resources are
scarce—maybe the PCs live on the street or there’s a food shortage. Or the
danger could be more personal if the new railroad is expected to go right
through the PCs’ secret hangout in the woods.

Friends and family need help: Many stories begin with a friend in need.
Perhaps they’re facing eviction from their home. Or maybe a new immi-
grant, fleeing from the war, needs a home, immigration papers, or a job.
There could be a big exam at school that everyone must pass, and the PCs
need to make sure everyone gets the grade they need, or bad things will
happen.

SAMPLE PLAYER
CHARACTERS
Sometimes you just want to get to the game, or maybe you want to base
your campaign off of one of the ideas presented above. Either way, if you’re
not interested in creating characters, feel free to take any of the following
and use them as player characters.

YOUNG CENTURIONS ABROAD

There are Centurions (and evil to fight) across the globe, so there’s
no reason to restrict yourself to games set in the United States.
Nadya Petulengro (page 135), who tours the world with the
Circus Europa, can fit in games in many places. Amelia Stone
(page 137) calls Paris home, while Benjamin Hu (page
138) misspent his youth in Hong Kong.
132 Chapter 10: Game Resources

Sally Slick, Scrappy Inventor

Sally, the Spirit of Ingenuity, is the only girl in a household of six boys, so
she’s learned to be tough. With her best friend and next-door neighbor Jet
Black, she spends most of her free time building devices in her workshop.
Her prized invention? Calamity the racing tractor. It’s never been beaten, a
fact that really bothers her brothers. Sally’s no stranger to adventure after
an altercation with the Steel Syndicate in 1914. Sally is fiercely protective
of her family and friends and will go to any lengths to help them. She
also tends to be very confident when it comes to her inventions, which
can sometimes get her into trouble. After all, they don’t always work as
planned…

SALLY SLICK
High Concept: Spirit of Ingenuity
Trouble: Everyone Wants My Inventions!
Other Aspects: “Jet’s in Trouble!”; In the Nick of
Time; The Grey Ghost Is My Mentor
APPROACHES
Careful: Average (+1) Forceful: Average (+1)
Clever: Good (+3) Quick: Fair (+2)
Flashy: Fair (+2) Sneaky: Mediocre (+0)
STUNTS
Wonderful Toys (Century stunt): Because I am
such a skilled and innovative inventor and tinker,
I usually have a useful device that can help me out
of a jam. Twice per game session, I can use this
stunt to eliminate a situation aspect.
I Can Build THAT!: Because I am an intuitive
inventor, I gain +2 to Quickly jury-rig a device to
create an advantage.
Little Miss Fix-It: Because I’m mechanically
inclined, I gain +2 to Cleverly overcome obstacles
in repairing any device.
STRESS 3
CONSEQUENCES
Mild (2):
Moderate (4):
Severe (6):
REFRESH: 3
 Chapter 10: Game Resources 133

Mack Silver, Black Sheep

You know that saying “born with a silver spoon in his mouth”? That saying
might be based on Mack Silver, the Spirit of Freedom. He was born into
money and all the privileges that come with it, but due to his wild ways, he
never quite fit in with his family’s high society crowd. After he ruined one of
his mother’s garden parties by falling through the roof of the conservatory,
there was a huge row, and teenage Mack left home without looking back.
He fell in with a traveling performance troupe, using his natural charm and
swagger to bring people to their shows, all the while saving up his wages for
his dream purchase—an aeroplane. With a plane of his own, he wouldn’t
need to jump off buildings in order to fly…

MACK SILVER
High Concept: Spirit of Freedom
Trouble: Gotta Prove Myself to the Silvers
Other Aspects: Girl Magnet;
Fiercely Independent; Heart of Gold
APPROACHES
Careful: Mediocre (+0) Forceful: Good (+3)
Clever: Fair (+2) Quick: Average (+1)
Flashy: Fair (+2) Sneaky: Average (+1)
STUNTS
Escape Artist (Century stunt): Because I’m
always looking for a way out, I always have an
escape plan in mind. Twice per game session, I
can use this stunt to create an advantage to help
me get out of a sticky situation.
Fast Friends: Because I’m so charming, I gain +2
to create an advantage when I meet someone for
the first time.
Scrapper Extraordinaire: Because I’m deter-
mined to protect myself, I gain +2 when I
Forcefully attack in a fistfight.
STRESS 3
CONSEQUENCES
Mild (2):
Moderate (4):
Severe (6):
REFRESH: 3
134 Chapter 10: Game Resources

Jet Black, Underdog

Jet Black, Spirit of Courage, has always been an underdog. He’s smaller than
the other boys, and his infatuation with magazine action heroes makes him
a bit of a misfit. But Jet’s always had what some people might call an over-
developed sense of justice, and he doesn’t really care what the odds are. He’s
the first one to stand up for what he thinks is right. When his best friend
Sally Slick gets into a bit of trouble, he’s right there with her, and he doesn’t
hesitate to strap her latest invention to his back to aid their escape. During
that first flight with a prototype jetpack, Jet discovers one place where his
size doesn’t matter—the sky. Later, when he moves to the big city and even-
tually joins the Allied Forces, Jet never forgets where he came from, and he
always stands up for those smaller than him.

JET BLACK
High Concept: Spirit of Courage
Trouble: Can’t Back Down from What’s Right
Other Aspects: Amazing Jetpack!; Sally’s My
Best Friend; Calm Under Pressure
APPROACHES
Careful: Average (+1) Forceful: Mediocre (+0)
Clever: Fair (+2) Quick: Good (+3)
Flashy: Fair (+2) Sneaky: Average (+1)
STUNTS
Oh, No You Don’t! (Century stunt): Because I
always think of others before myself, I gain +3
to any Quick action to overcome or defend
when an ally or bystander immediately bene-
fits from the action.
Skilled Aerialist: Because I practice so much,
I gain +2 to overcome obstacles while per-
forming Flashy aerial stunts with my amazing
jetpack.
Unstoppable: Because I’m so agile, I gain +2
to Quick defense moves while running or
fleeing.
STRESS 3
CONSEQUENCES
Mild (2):
Moderate (4):
Severe (6):
REFRESH: 3
 Chapter 10: Game Resources 135

Nadya Petulengro, Romani Traveler

The Romani travel throughout Europe, rarely settling in one place for long.
This is the ideal situation for a spy, and the Century Club has provided one
in Nadya Petulengro. Nadya, a Spirit of Charisma, can charm just about
anyone. Even the most reserved people eventually give way to her ready
smile and friendly chatter, and she makes friends wherever she goes. Nadya
usually travels around with the Circus Europa, since her family is gone.
She won’t say what happened to them, but based on her reaction whenever
they’re brought up, it can’t have been good.

NADYA PETULENGRO
High Concept: Spirit of Charisma
Trouble: Shady Family History
Other Aspects: There Are No Strangers, Only
Friends I Haven’t Met Yet; My Past Makes Me
Cautious; Well Traveled Girl
APPROACHES
Careful: Fair (+2) Forceful: Mediocre (+0)
Clever: Fair (+2) Quick: Average (+1)
Flashy: Good (+3) Sneaky: Average (+1)
STUNTS
Do Me a Favor (Century stunt):
Because I’m so good at getting
people to like me, I gain a +3
to Cleverly overcome obstacles
when I’m asking for a favor.
I Know a Fellow: Because I’m
so friendly and well-traveled, I
automatically have a contact in
any city or town.
Cult of Personality: Because I’m
such a people person, I gain +2
to create an advantage when I
make a Flashy attempt to sway
a crowd.
STRESS 3
CONSEQUENCES
Mild (2):
Moderate (4):
Severe (6):
REFRESH: 3
136 Chapter 10: Game Resources

Mitzy Powers, Wannabe Investigator

Most young kids ask questions, but they’re nothing compared to Mitzy
Powers. This Spirit of Truth has been asking non-stop questions ever since
she learned to talk, and her summers spent with her dad, the editor of the
Daily Globe, have only made things worse. Mitzy knows she’s ready to
write her own stories and interrogate witnesses and everything, if only her
dad would let her go. But he keeps sending her to the typist’s room instead,
telling her that’s the appropriate place for a lady. If only she could get her
dad to listen, but he’s the one person she can’t seem to communicate with.
Rebellion is the only option, but it risks her relationship with the person
whose respect she values most.

MITZY POWERS
High Concept: Spirit of Truth
Trouble: Curiosity Killed the Cat
Other Aspects: Like a Dog with a Bone;
“I’ll Prove It to You, Dad.”; Amandine
Laclerque Is My Mentor
APPROACHES
Careful: Fair (+2) Forceful: Average (+1)
Clever: Fair (+2) Quick: Average (+1)
Flashy: Mediocre (+0) Sneaky: Good (+3)
STUNTS
What Was That Again? (Century stunt): Because
I’m such a natural at talking circles around
people, I often leave them flummoxed and con-
fused. I gain +3 to defend and overcome actions
when I’m being Flashy and verbally sparring with
someone.
Eagle-Eyed: Because I have good attention to
detail, I gain +2 when I Carefully overcome
obstacles searching an area.
Think It Through: Because I’m logical to the core,
I gain +2 to Cleverly overcome obstacles when
faced with a logical problem.
STRESS 3
CONSEQUENCES
Mild (2):
Moderate (4):
Severe (6):
REFRESH: 3
 Chapter 10: Game Resources 137

Amelia Stone, Parisian Pugilist

Amelia, the Spirit of Justice, is the daughter of an African opera singer and
a disowned American banker. She and her parents live in Paris in near pov-
erty among other impoverished artistic freethinkers. Her neighborhood,
Montmartre, is ruled with an iron fist by le Monstre. After a terrifying
run-in with him, Amelia has been learning the art of Savate so she will be
better prepared to defend herself and those she loves when le Monstre strikes
again. Young Amelia is romantic and idealistic, but by her late teens, she’s
already lost everything and is determined to protect others from the same
heartbreak.

AMELIA STONE
High Concept: Spirit of Justice
Trouble: Can’t Abandon a Person in Trouble
Other Aspects: Fists of Stone; “I’ll Get You,
le Monstre!”; My 1911 Indian Motorcycle
APPROACHES
Careful: Mediocre (+0) Forceful: Good (+3)
Clever: Average (+1) Quick: Fair (+2)
Flashy: Fair (+2) Sneaky: Average (+1)
STUNTS
Haymaker (Century stunt): Because I am a for-
midable pugilist, I gain +3 to attack actions
made with my hands or feet against living,
unarmored targets, while I’m being Forceful.
Two Wheel Artist: Because I am a motorcycle
ace, I gain +2 to overcome obstacles while I’m
being Flashy on a bike.
I’ll Save You: Because I can’t stand seeing people
helpless, once per session I may perform some
daring action that automatically removes a situ-
ation aspect when I’m trying to rescue someone.
STRESS 3
CONSEQUENCES
Mild (2):
Moderate (4):
Severe (6):
REFRESH: 3
138 Chapter 10: Game Resources

Benjamin Hu, Boy of Mystery

Benjamin Hu has always been a curious and adventuresome lad, the kind
that constantly gets into trouble and runs afoul of secret societies. Benjamin
became involved with the occult as a former errand boy for the Three
Harmonies Society of Hong Kong, but he fled when he discovered their
evil intentions, taking half of their library in his knapsack. Since then, he’s
been on the road, trying desperately to disappear, and they’re trying just as
desperately to get him back. After all, he knows too much, and that knowl-
edge has only fueled his thirst for more.

BENJAMIN HU
High Concept: Spirit of Mystery
Trouble: Dangerously Curious
Other Aspects: Arcane Library in My Knapsack;
Always Thinking Ahead; Hunted by the Three
Harmonies Society
APPROACHES
Careful: Good (+3) Forceful: Mediocre (+0)
Clever: Fair (+2) Quick: Average (+1)
Flashy: Average (+1) Sneaky: Fair (+2)
STUNTS
Wait, I’ve Read Something About This (Century
stunt): Because I’m so well read in mysterious
histories, twice per game session I may declare
that I know an obscure but helpful fact while
searching ancient ruins, exploring underground
tunnels, or researching a curious volume of for-
gotten lore.
Alertness Is My Middle Name: Because I’m always
paying attention, I can never be surprised by
an attack. I act first in any physical or mental
conflict.
Code Breaker: Because I’m so good at reading
patterns, I get +2 to Cleverly overcome obstacles
presented by codes and puzzles.
STRESS 3
CONSEQUENCES
Mild (2):
Moderate (4):
Severe (6):
REFRESH: 3
 Chapter 10: Game Resources 139

SAMPLE NPCS
Whether you need mentors, young Shadows, or full villains, here are some
characters to get you started.

The Grey Ghost, Spirit Mentor

The Grey Ghost is a mysterious figure who almost literally haunts the
London chapter house, wearing a grey mask to hide his features. This Spirit
of the Forsaken appeared at the house in 1912—a young kid sporting a scar
on his neck that seemed like it should have been fatal. But this kid knew
things about the Century Club that no one but the innermost circle knows,
and after a lengthy interrogation, the Club was forced to consider his claim
that he has memories of a life spent in service to the Century Club…in the
1800s. He remembers few details about who he was—or at least that’s what
he says—but he remembers many useful things that help him train the next
generation of Spirits. Still, he’s plagued by paranoia and uncertainty and
has begun to insist on wearing a mask at all times, convinced that he’s been
reincarnated for some reason and fearful that one of his old enemies might
recognize his face.

THE GREY GHOST

High Concept: Spirit of the Forsaken
Trouble: Khan Can’t Know I’m Still Alive
Other Aspects: Works in the Shadows; Surfacing Memories of Yore;
Loner to the Core
APPROACHES
Careful: Good (+3) Forceful: Average (+1)
Clever: Average (+1) Quick: Fair (+2)
Flashy: Mediocre (+0) Sneaky: Fair (+2)
STUNTS
In the Nick of Time (Century stunt): Because I have vowed that the
young Spirits under my care will never be abandoned as I was, I keep a
close eye on them. Twice per game session, I can arrive just in time to
help a Spirit who has taken me as his or her mentor.
Unseen Shadows: Because I naturally avoid people, I gain +2 to create
advantages when Sneakily arriving or leaving a scene.
Impossible to Trap: Because I always Carefully plan my escape, I gain +2
to overcome any attempts to trap or restrain me.
STRESS 3
CONSEQUENCES
Mild (2):
Moderate (4):
Severe (6):
REFRESH: 3
140 Chapter 10: Game Resources

Clara Belle, Ringmaster

of the Circus Europa
Clara Belle is a rarity—a female ringmaster of a traveling circus. She’s
worked hard to get where she is, and it shows in her workaholic tendencies.
Ringmaster Belle works harder than any other member of the circus, and no
job is too dirty for her to pitch a hand. She’s fiercely protective of her circus
and its people, and the resulting family environment attracts the best per-
formers in their fields. But there’s more at stake here than roasted peanuts
and dancing bears. Clara Belle secretly works for the Century Club. She’s a
recruiter and mentor for young Spirits who are attracted by the adventure
and excitement offered by the circus. And woe betide the Shadow who tries
to mess with her young charges.

CLARA BELLE
High Concept: Circus Ringmaster
Trouble: All Work, No Play
Other Aspects: The Century Club Has My Back;
No One Messes with the Circus Europa;
Secret Cleromancer
APPROACHES
Careful: Mediocre (+0) Forceful: Fair (+2)
Clever: Fair (+2) Quick: Average (+1)
Flashy: Good (+3) Sneaky: Average (+1)
STUNTS
Dice Are Nice: Because I’m a natural at read-
ing the dice, I get +2 to create advantages by
Cleverly reading the future when I’m throwing
my bone dice.
Back, Foul Beast!: Because I spent years taming
the circus animals, I get +2 to defend with my
whip while being Flashy.
The Show Must Go On: Because I am determined
to keep the circus up and running, I get +2 to
Forcefully overcome obstacles that will interfere
with an ongoing performance.
STRESS 3
CONSEQUENCES
Mild (2):
Moderate (4):
Severe (6):
REFRESH: 2
 Chapter 10: Game Resources 141

Margaret May, Ruthless Debutante

Margaret May, daughter of an oil magnate, has it all. This Shadow of
Prosperity wouldn’t have it any other way. Her family’s success—and her
subsequent status in high society—means everything to her. Refined,
soft-spoken, and polite to a fault, she doesn’t seem like the kind of girl
who would be interested in more than ballroom dancing and tea room
etiquette, but she has a mind for business and a ruthless streak a mile long.
Her father’s biggest rival for a lucrative land deal dropped out of the bidding
unexpectedly, and no one knows that’s because prim and proper Margaret
blackmailed him. The offices of a rival of May Chemical unexpectedly
burnt down thanks to her scheming. She can be a generous and thoughtful
friend, but it’s not wise to cross her.

MARGARET MAY
High Concept: Shadow of Prosperity
Trouble: Without May Chemical, I’m Nothing
Other Aspects: Backstabber; Appearances Are
Everything; Apple of Daddy’s Eye
APPROACHES
Careful: Fair (+2) Forceful: Average (+1)
Clever: Good (+3) Quick: Mediocre (+0)
Flashy: Average (+1) Sneaky: Fair (+2)
STUNTS
I Always Get My Way! (Century stunt): Because
I’m so bent on getting my way, I’m difficult to
sway when it comes to something I really want.
Twice per game session, I can automatically
overcome an obstacle of Good (+3) or lower
using sheer willpower.
Softly Spoken Threats: Because I’m not afraid to
exploit my status in secret, I gain +2 to create
advantages when I Carefully threaten someone
one-on-one.
Manipulate the Numbers: I might be young, but
I’ve spent years learning finances at my daddy’s
knee. I gain +2 to overcome a numerical or geo-
metric problem.
STRESS 3
CONSEQUENCES
Mild (2):
Moderate (4):
Severe (6):
REFRESH: 3
142 Chapter 10: Game Resources

Charlie Smith, Gang Leader

Living on the streets of a big city isn’t easy, unless you’re Charlie Smith. He
ran away from home at nine years old, and instead of starving or freezing
like so many runaways, this Shadow of Leadership walked right into the
territory of the most ruthless gang in town, the Black Hand, and took over
before anyone quite realized what was happening. Under his direction, the
Black Hand went from being mere nuisances to complete terrors. Local
businesses pay them to go away, and woe to the business owner who refuses
to pay up. The Hand also runs dog fights and betting rings, and they make
good money off of them. In fact, they’re so successful that they’ve attracted
the attention of some grown up crime organizations. But Charlie is nothing
if not shrewd, and he won’t give up control of his boys to anybody. Because
he knows all too well that you can’t trust anyone but yourself.

CHARLIE SMITH
High Concept: Shadow of Leadership
Trouble: Wanted by the Law
Other Aspects: Just Me and My Boys;
Racket Runner; Vicious in a Crunch
APPROACHES
Careful: Mediocre (+0) Forceful: Good (+3)
Clever: Fair (+2) Quick: Fair (+2)
Flashy: Average (+1) Sneaky: Average (+1)
STUNTS
Home Turf Advantage (Century stunt): Because
I’m so well prepared, it’s tough to catch me off
guard when I’m in my element. Twice per game
session, I can automatically create an advantage
if I’m within my gang’s turf.
Well-oiled Machine: Because my boys and I work
so well together, I gain +2 to attack or defend
maneuvers when in a combat with members of
my gang.
Not Me, Officer!: Because I’ve had plenty of prac-
tice lying, I’ve gotten very good at proclaiming
my innocence. I gain +2 to overcome obstacles
when trying to escape blame or punishment.
STRESS 3
CONSEQUENCES
Mild (2):
Moderate (4):
Severe (6):
REFRESH: 3
 Chapter 10: Game Resources 143

Jared Brain, Kid Psychic

Jared Brain did not grow up in a happy home. His life as the only black boy
in a small Southern town was full of bullying, prejudice, and loneliness. To
make things worse, his parents resented his bad lungs, poor overall health,
and habit of pulling their worst thoughts from their head and using them to
get what he wanted. When he ran away, they didn’t even try to follow him.
Jared joined the circus, hoping to find other true psychics who might teach
him control over his unreliable psychic abilities, but what he found was
something completely unexpected. Something that would lead him down
a dark, dark path indeed…

JARED BRAIN
High Concept: Shadow of Truth
Trouble: My Mind Is Strong, But My Body Weak
Other Aspects: Unreliable Psychic Abilities;
Driven to Success at All Costs;
The Only One I Trust Is Me
APPROACHES
Careful: Fair (+2) Forceful: Mediocre (+0)
Clever: Good (+3) Quick: Average (+1)
Flashy: Average (+1) Sneaky: Fair (+2)
STUNTS
Flash of Insight (Century stunt):
Because my psychic powers are power-
ful but intermittent, twice per session
I can discover an aspect by reading the
mind of another character.
The Best Way to Win a Fight Is to
Avoid It: Because I’m always alert to
danger, I get +2 to Carefully create
an advantage allowing me to escape a
confrontation.
Liar, Liar: Because I have a natural
poker face, I get +2 to Clever attempts
to overcome obstacles by telling an
untruth.
STRESS 3
CONSEQUENCES
Mild (2):
Moderate (4):
Severe (6):
REFRESH: 3
144 Chapter 10: Game Resources

Doctor Methuselah, Master Mathemagician

Little is known about Doctor Methuselah, and all of the information that
is known is suspect. Methuselah is a master of mathemagic, the secret equa-
tions that rule the universe, and as such he has some mastery over time.
Certainly, he doesn’t seem to age, and records of his activities go back as
far as the 1700s. He claims to be even older—thousands of years old, in
fact. Methuselah pops in and out of society at random points, sometimes
in disguise, pursuing goals that seem completely unrelated. In recent years,
he’s created Gorilla Khan, conqueror ape, and set him loose to conquer the
wild lands of Africa. Perhaps he believed the secret to the Eternity Equation
could be found in those lands. With that equation and true immortality in
his hands, he would be unstoppable.
We’ve deliberately left Doctor Methuselah unstatted except for some
aspects, because he’s Doctor Bleeping Methuselah! There are no limits to
what he can do, which is rather scary when you think about it.

DOCTOR METHUSELAH
High Concept: Shadow of Immortality
Trouble: Limitless Ambition
Other Aspects: Master Mathemagician;
Strange Formulas & Arcane Equations;
Planning the Long Game
OTHER
You can’t cause him direct physical harm, but
assume that he provides at least a Fantastic (+6)
challenge when you attempt to overcome an
obstacle or create an advantage against
him, before he invokes any aspects.
 Chapter 10: Game Resources 145

Gorilla Khan, Conqueror Ape

Gorilla Khan was created by Doctor Methuselah in an Antarctic labo-
ratory—he is the Doctor’s first and greatest triumph in giving human
intelligence to apes. Khan was intended to be a tool of the Doctor’s own
plans for world (and time) domination, but eventually they had a falling
out. Reports vary as to whether the Doctor simply abandoned Khan and
his ape army, or if they rose up and overthrew him. Khan has occupied
Atlantis at various times in its history, and has also been known to launch
operations out of the old Antarctic base where he was created. Because
he’s an ape, Khan’s allies and enemies frequently underestimate what he’s
capable of. Khan has demonstrated a surprising capacity for installing his
ape agents across the globe; they’ve shown up as mafia-men, soldiers, crooks,
revolutionaries, and more. Only the lowest-ranking ones end up “under-
cover” with traveling circuses.

GORILLA KHAN
High Concept: Conqueror Ape
Trouble: Those Meddling Kids!
Other Aspects: In Rage I Find Strength; Countless
Minions; Underestimated by All
APPROACHES
Careful: Average (+1) Forceful: Great (+4)
Clever: Good (+3) Quick: Fair (+2)
Flashy: Good (+3) Sneaky: Fair (+2)
STUNTS
Unconquerable Khan: Because the Conqueror may not be
conquered, once per session I can throw off all attackers near
me, pushing them back one zone and removing one situation
aspect they’ve placed on me.
Undefeatable Khan: Because I am the Undefeatable Khan, once
per session I may ignore all the stress dealt by a single attack.
Cunning of a Beast: Because I have the cunning of a beast, I
get +2 to Cleverly create advantages based on my established
plans.
More Than Just an Ape: Because I am more than just an ape,
once per session I may invoke my Underestimated by All
aspect for free by describing how my foe has misjudged my
capabilities or intentions.
STRESS 3
CONSEQUENCES
Mild (2):
Moderate (4):
Severe (6):
REFRESH: 2
146 Chapter 10: Game Resources

Le Monstre, the Green-eyed Monster

In Paris lives a beautiful green-eyed man who is a patron of the arts, a
connoisseur of the opera, a charming and flirtatious gentleman who loves
the finer things in life. And yet he is also the criminal mastermind whose
name strikes fear into the hearts of all who hear it: le Monstre aux Yeux Verts.
He is currently perfecting his Distillations of Emotion—pure liquefied
emotions drained from unwilling or unknowing donors—which enable
him to manipulate and control the emotions of anyone sprayed with the
distillation.
He is obsessed with Amelia Stone, and by 1920 the burns on his beautiful
face are hidden by a pig iron mask.

LE MONSTRE
High Concept: Paris’ Monstrous Criminal Mastermind
Trouble: My Mask Hides a Wounded Heart
Other Aspects: My Contingencies Have Contingencies;
Corrupter of the Innocent; Deep Pockets in Dark Places
APPROACHES
Careful: Good (+3) Forceful: Average (+1)
Clever: Great (+4) Quick: Fair (+2)
Flashy: Fair (+2) Sneaky: Good (+3)
STUNTS
Three Steps Ahead: Because I am three steps ahead of everyone
else, once per session I may create two situation aspects with free
invokes because I have prepared for just this contingency.
Master of the Underground: Because the tunnels under Paris are
my domain, twice per session I can disappear when in Paris with-
out a trace—unseen and untrackable—if I successfully create an
advantage while being Sneaky.
Distillations of Emotion: When I Cleverly attack using my
Distillations of Emotion, I get +2 to the attack; on a success-
ful attack, the target gains an aspect reflecting the emotion I
imposed on them.
Le Monstre aux Yeux Verts: Because the name le Monstre strikes
terror in hearts throughout Paris, I get +2 to Forcefully overcome
obstacles by instilling fear.
STRESS 3
CONSEQUENCES
Mild (2):
Moderate (4):
Severe (6):
REFRESH: 2
 Chapter 10: Game Resources 147

The Steel Don, Metal-faced Mobster

The Steel Don is the leader of the Steel Syndicate of Chicago. But this
is no ordinary mob gang in the making—the Steel Don has been taking
advantage of the inventions of Doktor Proktor. Between Proktor’s new
“robots” and the living metal that makes up the left half of his face, the
Steel Don has taken the city by storm. His megalomania—and his need
for revenge against anyone he imagines has wronged him—make him a
formidable opponent. It’s not wise to refuse one of his recruitment pitches,
and he’s more than willing to recruit youngsters. He has a tendency to order
everyone around—not just people who work for him—and they have a
tendency to listen, because everyone knows not to cross the leader of the
Steel Syndicate.

THE STEEL DON

High Concept: Leader of the Steel Syndicate
Trouble: Anger Makes Me Craaaazy!
Other Aspects: Frankie Ratchet Is My Right-
hand Man; Robot Army at My Service; My
Face Is Living Metal
APPROACHES
Careful: Mediocre (+0) Forceful: Good (+3)
Clever: Average (+1) Quick: Fair (+2)
Flashy: Fair (+2) Sneaky: Average (+1)
STUNTS
Steely-eyed Glare: Because my metal face is so
menacing, I get +2 to Forcefully create an advan-
tage through intimidation.
I Know Your Price: Because I’m so good at reading
people’s weaknesses, I get +2 to Cleverly over-
come obstacles when trying to bribe or coerce.
Toys of the Doktor: Because Doktor Proktor sup-
plies my gadgets, once per session I may attack
using Doktor Proktor’s Clever approach of
Great (+4).
STRESS 3
CONSEQUENCES
Mild (2):
Moderate (4):
Severe (6):
REFRESH: 3
148 Chapter 10: Game Resources

Doktor Proktor, Crime-world Inventor

Doktor Proktor is well known throughout the criminal underworld as the
man to go to for strange devices and weird creations. His robot army took
the Steel Syndicate from small-fry gang to Chicago’s most prominent crime
network. His ray guns are the stuff of science-fiction fantasies. The good
Doktor doesn’t seem to care what his inventions are used for, only that he
has the funding and freedom to pursue whatever projects he likes. No one
knows where he came from or how old he is. But sometimes he shows signs
of power and cunning beyond that of a simple mad scientist—there’s been
some speculation that he’s a Shadow of Ingenuity. But that’s impossible.
Isn’t it? At any rate, there’s more to this villain than meets the eye.

DOKTOR PROKTOR
High Concept: Mad Scientist
Trouble: No Social Skills
Other Aspects: Hidden Past, Mysterious
Future; Unburdened by Morals; Arcane
Creations Are My Specialty
APPROACHES
Careful: Fair (+2) Forceful: Average (+1)
Clever: Great (+4) Quick: Good (+3)
Flashy: Good (+3) Sneaky: Fair (+2)
STUNTS
Out-of-the-Box Inventions: Because I’m a natu-
ral at weird science, I get +2 to Cleverly create
an advantage by jury-rigging a device to give it
arcane abilities.
Fixer Upper: Because I can easily see how
machines work, I get +2 to Quickly overcome
obstacles while repairing a device.
Science Is Dangerous: Because I have a knack
with weird mechanical weaponry, I get +2 to
Flashy attacks made with my inventions.
Doddering Fool: Because I’m good at playing
dumb, I get +2 to defend by being Sneaky
while being questioned by the authorities.
STRESS 3
CONSEQUENCES
Mild (2):
Moderate (4):
Severe (6):
REFRESH: 2
 Chapter 10: Game Resources 149

SOME FINAL INSPIRATION

Need a little more inspiration to get into the right mindset for Young
Centurions? Have some young gamers who aren’t quite grasping the differ-
ences between life in the 1910s and today? Check out one of the books or
movies listed below! Some are set during the early 1910s, some were written
during that time period, and others just have that awesome pulpy adven-
ture feel that characterizes the game.

Books for Young Readers

➧➧Sally Slick and the Steel Syndicate by Carrie Harris
➧➧Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld
➧➧The Secret Garden by Francis Hodgson Burnett
➧➧Peter Pan by JM Barrie
➧➧Hattie Big Sky by Kirby Larson
➧➧Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool
➧➧Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbit
➧➧Johnny Graphic and the Etheric Bomb by D.R. Martin

Books for Mature Readers

➧➧The Dinocalypse Trilogy by Chuck Wendig and Carrie Harris
➧➧Khan of Mars by Stephen Blackmoore
➧➧King Khan by Harry Connolly
➧➧Stone’s Throe by C.E. Murphy
➧➧The Pharaoh of Hong Kong by Matthew Cody and Brian Clevinger
➧➧All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque
➧➧Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak
➧➧Tarzan of the Apes by Edward Rice Burroughs
➧➧The Shadow by Walter B. Gibson
➧➧Doc Savage by Lester Dent
➧➧The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Volume III by Alan Moore

Movies for Young Fans

➧➧Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
➧➧Young Indiana Jones
➧➧A Little Princess
➧➧Mary Poppins
➧➧Pollyanna
➧➧Three Amigos
➧➧The Goonies
150 Chapter 10: Game Resources

Movies for Mature Fans

➧➧Raiders of the Lost Ark
➧➧Bolero
➧➧East of Eden
➧➧Finding Neverland
➧➧Flyboys
➧➧King Solomon’s Mines
➧➧Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow
➧➧The Mummy
Wherever your inspiration comes from, we hope your visit to the world of
Young Centurions is full of pulp-tastic, kid-centric, world-saving fun!
 Index 151

INDEX
actions, 54, 60-62 Black, Jackson “Jet,” 6, 17, 44, 65,
interruption of, 72 90, 106-112, 134
justification for, 83 boosts, 60, 86
adults Brain, Jared, 143
as adversaries, 117
as allies, 117 campaigns, 102
as neutral parties, 116 building, 121
as parents, 116 campaign ratings, 76, 117-120
advantage, see create an advantage cards, see Deck of Fate
America (1910s), 36 Careful, see approaches
animal companions, 50 Centurions, 8, 15-24
Apothecary Murders, The, 128 See also Spirits
approaches, 47-48 Century Club, 18-23, 36
Careful, 63, 65 mentors and, 20-22
challenges resistant to, 123 recruitment process for, 20-22
choosing, 63-64 Spirits and, 22-23
Clever, 63, 65 Century Retainers, see Retainers
difficulty of, 64 Century stunts, 43, 90
example in play, 108 challenges, 68
Flashy, 63, 65 chapter houses, 18, 23
Forceful, 63, 65 characters
impact on story, 65 advancement of, 102
Quick, 63, 65, 108 appearance of, 47
raising the bonus of, 103 aspects, 81, 107
Sneaky, 63, 65 completion of, 51
Ars Scientia, 30 creation of, 42-52
aspects, 44-46, 50, 80-86 naming, 47
compelling, 84 sheet for, 160
composing, 85 Circus Europa, 135, 140
creating, 60 Clever, see approaches
discovering, 60 compel, 84, 107
establishing facts, 85 concessions, 77, 110
invoking, 82-83 conflicts, 70-72, 108
known, 61 consequences, 59, 74-75, 81
Atlantis, 37, 145 campaign ratings and, 76
attack, 59, 62, 108 example in play, 110
mentors and, 78
bad guys, 30-33, 125-126 mild, 75-77
with a goal, 121 moderate consequence, 75-78,
important or recurring, 125 110
Belle, Clara, 140 recovery from, 77
Black Hand, 32, 142 severe consequence, 75-78
152 Index
contests, 69, 111 Gorilla Khan, 32, 37, 144, 145
create an advantage, 59, 60-61, 106, Green-eyed Monster, see Le
112 Monstre aux Yeux Verts
Grey Ghost, 8, 24, 123, 139
decision compels, 84 guns, 58-59, 120
Deck of Fate, 9, 55
defend, 59, 62 helping, 83
dice, 11, 55 high concept, 44
Fate dice, 9, 55 hit, severity of, 74
rolling, 66 Hu, Benjamin. 44, 90, 131, 138
rerolling, 83
difficulty, 64, 122-123 ideals, 15-16
example of setting in play, 112 initiative, 72, 108-109
divination, 18-21, 124 invocations, free, see free
invocations
environmental dangers, 131 invoking aspects, 82-83, 85, 110
event compels, 84
exchanges, 69, 111-12 Jade Lotus, 21, 24, 31

facts, establishing, 85 kid gamers, 11, 115

failure, 54, 57, 60-62
making interesting, 115 Laclerque, Amandine, 19, 21,
Fate dice, 9, 55 117
fate points, 45, 77, 82-85, 110 ladder, 47
earning, 80 Le Monstre aux Yeux Verts, 33,
spending, 80 137, 146
fate tokens, 9
Flashy, see approaches Master Lingyu, 24, 45, 117, 123
Forceful, see approaches May, Margaret, 26, 141
free invocations, 60-61, 83, 108 mentors, 19-24, 45, 117
Fudge dice, 55 Belle, Clara, 140
as characters, 123
game sessions, 122 Grey Ghost, 8, 24, 45, 123,
gamemaster (GM), 9, 11, 106-12 139
adjudicating rules, 122 Master Lingyu, 24, 45, 117,
choosing, 10 123
fate points and, 80 roles of, 123
job of, 114 as Shadows, 27-28
keeping things moving, 122 taking consequences for Young
playing non-player characters, Centurions, 78
123-125 Methuselah, Doctor, 28, 32, 35,
resources for, 121 37-38, 117, 144, 145
running scenes, 122 mild consequence, see
setting difficulties, 122 consequences
giving in, 77 milestones, 102-3
going first, 72, 108-109 mobs, see mooks
 Index 153
moderate consequence, see Retainer, 18-21, 30, 45, 117, 123
consequences divination by, 124
mooks, 125 Laclerque, Amandine, 19, 21,
expert, 125 117
Flying Ace, 126 as mentors, 19
Flying Monkey Squadron, 126 recruitment process and, 20
Gang of Goons, 126 Shadow divination and, 21
Homicidal Alien Robot, 126 robot friends, 50
groups of, 125 Rocket Red, 29
Schoolyard Bully, 126 rounds, 72

Negatives, 28, 30, 35 scenarios, 121

Petoskey, William, 28, 128 scene setting, 70
non-player characters (NPCs), scrying, 124
116-117, 123-126 severe consequence, see
samples of, 126, 139-148 consequences
Shadows, 18-19, 21, 25
Old Man Jenkins, 130 age of, 27
outcomes, 57, 60-62 hunting, 26
overcome, 59, 61, 111 mentors, 27-28
pairing with Negative, 28
Petoskey, William, 28, 128 working together, 27
Petulengro, Nadya, 6-7, 17, shifts, 74-75, 109
21-22, 106-112, 131, 135 Silver, Mack, 7-8, 21, 106-112,
players 133
number of, 9 situation aspects, 81, 108
sample characters for, 131-138 Slick, Sally, 8, 16, 21, 30, 32, 44,
skillset of, 11 47, 52, 90, 106-112, 132,
playing, 54-55 134
example of, 106-112 Sneaky, see approaches
political events, 34 Spirit Centurions, see Spirits
Powers, Mitzy, 21, 90, 136 Spirit mentor, see mentors
Proktor, Doktor, 58, 147, 148 Spirits, 14-24
pulp, 14 age of, 17
hero, 14 aging, 24
magazines, 39 aspects, 43-44
health of, 24
Quick, see approaches Steel Don, The, 33, 85, 116, 147
Steel Syndicate, 147, 148
ray guns, 58 Stone, Amelia, 90, 131, 137, 146
recruitment process, 20-23 story hooks, 128-131
refresh, 48 storytelling, 11, 55
stress, 74-75
recovery, 77
track, 74-75
154 Index
stunts, 42, 48, 88-89
Century, 90 List of Characters
companions as, 50 Young Centurions (PCs)
creation of, 88-89 Jet Black, 6, 17, 44, 65, 90,
number of, 49 106-112, 134
packages, 91-100 Benjamin Hu, 44, 90, 131,
See also List of Stunts at end of 138
index Nadya Petulengro, 6-7, 17,
success, 56-57, 60-62 21-22, 106-112, 131, 135
success with style, 56-57, 60-62, Mitzy Powers, 21, 90, 136
108 Silver, Mack, 7-8, 21, 106-112,
133
taken out, 74-75, 77 Sally Slick, 8, 16, 21, 30, 32,
tie, 56-57, 60-62 44, 47, 52, 90, 106-112,
trouble, 44-45, 85 132, 134
turn order, 72 Amelia Stone, 90, 131, 137,
twist, 69, 112 146
NPCs
Upstairs/Downstairs, 129 Clara Belle, 140
Jared Brain, 143
world overview, 34-40 Gorilla Khan, 32, 37, 144, 145
Grey Ghost, 8, 24, 123, 139
zones, 70-71 Amandine Laclerque, 19, 21,
117
Le Monstre aux Yeux Verts, 33,
137, 146
Master Lingyu, 24, 45, 117,
123
Margaret May, 26, 141
Doctor Methuselah, 28, 32, 35,
37-38, 117, 144, 145
Old Man Jenkins, 130
Owen Jones, 129
William Petoskey, 28, 128
Doktor Proktor, 58, 147, 148
Rocket Red, 29
The Steel Don, 33, 85, 116,
147
Mooks
Flying Ace, 126
Flying Monkey Squadron, 126
Gang of Goons, 126
Homicidal Alien Robot, 126
Schoolyard Bully, 126
 Index 155

List of Stunts
Aerialist, 100 Fixer Upper, 148
Alertness Is My Middle Name, Flash of Insight, 143
138 Follow Me, 99
Alpha Wolf, 97 Gridiron Reflexes, 91
Animal Trainer, 100 Haymaker, 90, 94
Back, Foul Beast!, 140 Head Fake, 91
Be Prepared, 99 Hey Did I Ever Tell You About…,
Bend Bars, Lift Gates, 96 95
The Best Way to Win a Fight Is to Home Turf Advantage, 142
Avoid It, 143 I Always Get My Way!, 141
Blow It Up, 92 I Can Build THAT, 132
Bullet Proof Vest, 88 I Can Take It, 94
Calculation Devices, 92 I Have Just the Thing, 92
Call in a Favor, 95 I Know a Fellow, 135
Camouflage, 97 I Know Someone Who Has One
Can’t Catch Me, 99 of Those, 96
Casing the Joint, 96 I Know Your Price, 147
Cat Burglar, 96 I’ll Save You, 137
The Cavalry, 98 Impossible to Trap, 139
Code Breaker, 138 In the Nick of Time, 139
Cold Read, 95 Iron Will, 98
Contortionist, 100 It’s Elementary, 93
Cult of Personality, 135 It’s a Trap, 93
Cunning of a Beast, 145 I’ve Read Something About This,
Dampers, 92 93
Dancer’s Rhythm, 100 Lady’s Nose, 50
Details Matter, 93 Last Minute Heroics, 91
Dice Are Nice, 140 Le Monstre aux Yeux Verts, 146
Distillations of Emotion, 146 Leverage Is Everything, 94
Divination, 98 Liar, Liar, 143
Do Me a Favor, 135 Lie Detector, 98
Do the Math, 93 Lightning Parry, 94
Doddering Fool, 148 Like You Belong There, 99
Don’t Mess With Me, 95 Little Miss Fix-It, 132
Dry Wit, 95 Lover of Puzzles, 88
Eagle-Eyed, 136 Made a Few Modifications, 92
Ears of the Fox, 97 Manipulate the Numbers, 141
Escape Artist, 133 Master of the Underground, 146
Experimental Jet Pack, 89 Mind Trick, 98
Eyes of the Hawk, 97 More Than Just an Ape, 145
Fast Friends, 133 No Fear, 99
Feint, 94 No, YOU Are Wrong, 93
Fetch, Marvin!, 50 Not Me, Officer!, 142
First Impressions, 95 Oh, No You Don’t, 90
156 Index
Optics, 92 Strongman/Strongwoman, 91
Out-of-the-Box Inventions, 148 Swashbuckler, 94
Outdoorsman/woman, 97 Take Cover, 94
Pickpocket, 96 Thespian, 100
Playmaker, 91 Think It Through, 136
Prescience, 90 Three Steps Ahead, 146
Psychic, 98 Toys of the Doktor, 147
Q.E.D., 93 Tracker, 97
Quick Draw, 96 Trapfinder, 96
Quick on the Draw, 89 Trick Rider, 100
Raconteur, 100 Trick Shot Artist, 100
Raised on the Farm, 97 Trusty Steed, 50
Science Is Dangerous, 148 Two Wheel Artist, 137
Scrapper Extraordinaire, 133 Unbeatable Khan, 145
Shielding Gears, 50 Unconquerable Khan, 145
The Show Must Go On, 140 Unseen Shadows, 139
Silver Tongue, 95 Unstoppable, 134
Sixth Sense, 98 Virtuoso, 100
Skilled Aerialist, 134 Wait, I’ve Read Something About
Smooth Talker, 88 This, 90
Snake Oil Salesperson, 96 We Few, We Happy Few, 99
Softly Spoken Threats, 141 Well Chosen Footholds, 99
Speed of a Horse, 89 Well Connected, 89
Spring Boots, 92 Well-oiled Machine, 142
Stage Magician, 100 What Was That Again?, 90
Stage Psychic, 98 Wonderful Toys, 90
Steely-eyed Glare, 147 World-Class Duelist, 88
Stole Their Playbook, 91
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or online at www.evilhat.com/dice The Deck of Fate
Dice Results The Ladder
Result = Dice Roll + Approach Bonus
+ Bonuses from Stunts
+8 Legendary
+ Bonuses from Invoked Aspects +7 Epic
+6 Fantastic
Outcomes +5 Superb
Versus Opponent’s Result or Target Number:
$$ Fail: Your result is lower +4 Great
DDTie: Your result is equal
## Succeed: Your result is higher by 1 or 2 +3 Good
JJSucceed with Style: Your result is higher by 3 or +2 Fair
more
+1 Average
Setting Target Numbers 0 Mediocre
• Easy Task: Mediocre (+0)—or success without a roll.
• Moderately Difficult: Fair (+2). -1 Poor
• Extremely Difficult: Great (+4). -2 Terrible
• Impossibly Difficult: Go as high as you think makes
sense. The PC will need to drop some fate points and
get lots of help to succeed, but that’s fine.

Turn Order Types of Aspects

• GM decides based on the narrative Character Aspects
who goes first. • Written when you create your
• If nothing is obvious, use the character.
character with the highest Quick • May be changed when you reach a
approach, with Careful as tie- milestone.
breaker; also check aspects and
Situation Aspects
stunts.
• Established at the beginning of a
• Then each player chooses who goes
scene.
after their turn until everyone has
• May be created by using the create
had a turn.
an advantage action.
• All NPCs go on the GM’s turn.
• May be eliminated by using the
overcome action.
Approaches • Vanish when the situation ends.
Boosts
• Careful: When you pay close atten-
• May be invoked once (for free), then
tion to detail and take your time to
they vanish.
do the job right.
• May be eliminated by an opponent
• Clever: When you think fast, solve
using an overcome action.
problems, or account for complex
• Unused boosts vanish at the end of
variables.
the scene.
• Flashy: When you act with style and
panache. Consequences
• Forceful: When you use brute • Used to absorb shifts from success-
strength. ful attacks.
• Quick: When you move quickly and • May be invoked by your opponents
with dexterity. as if they were situation aspects.
• Sneaky: When you use misdirection,
stealth, or deceit.
Actions Aspect Use
CCreate an advantage when
creating or discovering
• Invoke: Spend a fate point to get
a +2 or a reroll for yourself, or to
aspects: increase difficulty for a foe by 2.
$$ Fail: Don’t create or discover, or • Compel: Receive a fate point when
you do but your opponent (not an aspect complicates your life.
you) gets a free invocation. • Establish facts: Aspects are true.
DDTie: Get a boost if creating new, Use them to affirm details about
or treat as success if looking for you and the world.
existing.
## Succeed: Create or discover the
aspect, get a free invocation on it. Stress & Consequences
JJSucceed with Style: Create or • Severity of hit (in shifts)
discover the aspect, get two free = Attack Roll – Defense Roll
invocations on it. • Stress Boxes: You can check one
stress box to handle some or all of
the shifts of a single hit. You can
CCreate an advantage on an
aspect you already know absorb a number of shifts equal to
about: the number of the box you check:
$$ Fail: No additional benefit. one for Box 1, two for Box 2, three
DDTie: Generate one free invocation for Box 3.
on the aspect. • Consequences: You many take
## Succeed: Generate one free invo- one or more consequences to deal
cation on the aspect. with the hit, by marking off one or
JJSucceed with Style: Generate two more available consequence slots
free invocations on the aspect. and writing a new aspect for each
one marked.
OOvercome: • Mild = 2 shifts
$$ Fail: Fail, or succeed at a serious • Moderate = 4 shifts
cost. • Severe = 6 shifts
DDTie: Succeed at a minor cost. • Recovering from Consequences:
## Succeed: You accomplish your • Mild consequence: Clear it at
goal. the end of the scene.
JJSucceed with Style: You accom- • Moderate consequence: Clear it
plish your goal and generate a at the end of the next session.
boost. • Severe consequence: Clear it at
the end of the scenario.
AAttack: • Taken Out: If you can’t (or decide
$$ Fail: No effect. not to) handle the entire hit, you’re
DDTie: Attack doesn’t harm the taken out and your opponent
target, but you gain a boost. decides what happens to you.
## Succeed: Attack hits and causes • Giving In: Give in before your
damage. opponent’s roll and you can con-
JJSucceed with Style: Attack hits trol how you exit the scene. You
and causes damage. May reduce earn one or more fate points for
damage by one to generate a giving in.
boost.

DDefend: Mentor Consequences

$$ Fail: You suffer the consequences • There must be narrative justi-
of your opponent’s success. fication for a mentor to take a
DDTie: Look at your opponent’s consequence for a PC.
action to see what happens. • The consequence taken is one
## Succeed: Your opponent doesn’t level higher—if it would be mild,
get what they want. the mentor takes a moderate
JJSucceed with Style: Your oppo- consequence.
nent doesn’t get what they want, • A mentor can only do this once
and you get a boost. per session.
 Name

Age & Description Refresh Current

Fate Points

APPROACHES ASPECTS
CAREFUL High Concept

CLEVER Trouble

FLASHY
FORCEFUL
QUICK
SNEAKY
CENTURY STUNT

OTHER STUNTS

STRESS CONSEQUENCES
Mild
2
Moderate
4
1 2 3 Severe
YC Character Sheet ©2015 Evil Hat Productions, LLC.
May be printed and photocopied for personal use.
6