IDENTITY AND REFRESH
The Streets! Next on the character sheet is your Identity and Refresh sections.
Although a game like this using the FATE Core system is relatively
straight forward I thought it best to type up a quick guide for the players
to help organize what dials were adjusted for the system.
Basically CyberRun Street Punk (CRSP) is system hack for FATE
that is a mixture of Cyberpunk, Shadowrun, Bladerunner, Bright, etc.. It's
a near-futuristic dystopian mishmash of cybernetics, gang warfare,
heist/crime runs and maybe a little bit of optional street magic thrown in
if you want.
This should be a relatively short document since in true FATE Core
fashion most of the actual creative work for character features are done
by the players and not ahead of time by the setting. A few things like
cybernetics and magic will be laid out on the easiest way to make them
work.
So enjoy and lets do some shady stuff!
Make Your PC
Making a character for CRSP is similar to making a character from
the FATE Core Book. We'll go through each section to explain what
changes may or may not be made however.
RACE
Race is an optional choice for this system. Although you can fill it
out to mean what a real-world race would be by nationality or regional
lineage (American, Japanese, Swedish, etc..). It can also optionally be for
a selection of Fantasy Races if you want to do something like Shadowrun
or Bright:
• Human
• Elf
• Dwarf
• Orc
• Troll
There is a new skill called Spellcraft that represents your skill and
Identity is simply your name, street handle a brief description and if have
a registered SIN (System Identification Number).
The SIN is completely up to the player if the character has it or
not. Whether the character has a SIN or not acts like an extra Aspect the
GM can compel against.
If a character has a SIN it means they are more easy to track but
also have actual citizen's rights and can enter locations only a registered
citizen could. If a character is SINless then they are harder to track since
they are not in the system. However a SINless
character is not a registered citizen and thus has no
real rights in the system.
All PC's begin play with a starting Refresh of
3. As usual you can lower your Refresh by 1 to
grant yourself an additional stunt. You can do
this multiple times but you may never have a
Refresh lower than 1.
SKILLS
The next area to fill out are your skills.
All PC's in CRSP have the usual amount of
starting skills. One great (+4), Two good (+3),
Three fair (+2) and Four average (+1) skills.
The actual skill list is identical to the
normal FATE Core skill list with three
changes.
The Crafts skill has been renamed to
Hardware now only applies to physical uses of
machinery. Such as repairing, modifying,
mechanical manipulation, etc...
There is now a new skill called Software
that involves using computer interfaces, hacking,
writing software, etc... Software can be used to
attack and defend if in Digital Combat.
ability with manipulating the arcane forces of magic and the rituals
needed for it. This skill is not knowledge skill, but rather the active ability
to perform particular magical rituals or resist the drain of using another
skill magically.
STRESS TRACKS
As is usual the Physical and Mental stress tracks are adjusted
according to your Physique and Will skills. See the Fate Core book or SRD
to learn how this works. There are two new possible stress tracks.
MAGIC
The Magic stress track that represents how much innate power
you have left to keep casting spells. As you cast spells this stress track
can be possibly drained further and further. This stress track starts with
two available boxes and increases with the Spellcraft skill. More
about this is explained in the Magic section of this
book.
FIREWALL
The Firewall stress track that represents
how much protection you have left when
jacking into the Matrix before any Digital
Combat stress starts to eat away at your
Mental Stress. The Firewall stress track starts
with 0 available boxes but is not tied to a skill.
Instead you must take the stunts to unlock the boxes
(see the Stunts section). More about the Firewall stress track
is explained in the Matrix section of this book.
ASPECTS
There are no changes to how aspects are determined in CRSP. It's
suggested you go through the Phase Trio to help build the
connections between the PC's. Especially if they are on the more
criminal or shady side of the law since that connection may be
important to keep the group together.
If the fantasy races are being used, depending on the race
you are it might be creative to use some of the aspects to
represent your specific race. Especially with how you believe you
might be seen in society as a member of that race.
STUNTS
Stunts are similar to how you create them normally from the
FATE Core book and it's suggested to follow those particular guidelines
when creating stunts. There are a few special things to note about stunts
for CRSP however.
CYBERWARE
Not all cyberware needs a stunt. If you have hand razors or guns
on your forearms it's just assumed you can describe that and say that is
what allows you to use your basic Fight or Shoot attacks.
But if your character has any sort of cyberware that gives a little
extra advantage it's easiest to just represent it as a stunt. Here are a few
examples:
Dermal Plating: Your body is covered in plated body armour. You can
spend 1 FATE Point to use Physique with a +2 to defend against any
attack that would cause Physical Stress.
Leg Boosters: You have short burst rocket boosters on your legs that help
you with jumping great distances. Gain a +2 to Athletics when Jumping.
Titanium Bone Lacing: You've laced your skeleton with titanium making
you a lot tougher against certain types of stress. Gain a +2 when resisting
any sort of bludgeoning or blunt-force stress.
Wrist Rocket: You have a single rocket propelled grenade in your arm.
Once per scene you can use it to gain a +2 to a Shoot attack.
DECKER
Although anyone can attempt use computers from an external
device only those with the cyberdeck stunt can actually fully access the
Matrix. These people are known as Deckers. It is also suggested to take
the Hardening stunts:
Cyberdeck: You have an implanted Cyberdeck. A device that wirelessly
allows you to partially or fully jack into the interconnected world wide
matrix. While fully jacked into the matrix you gain a +2 to all rolls made
involving the Matrix due to your connected speed but you there are
consequences. Firstly, your body is not inert and you no longer have real-
world senses about what is happening around it. Secondly, your mind
can now be directly attacked from within the matrix which can be
decidedly dangerous.
Hardening: You increase the number of available stress boxes in your
Firewall stress track by 1. You can take this stunt up to four times.
RIGGER
Having a built in Rig means that you can mentally control devices
such as drones. In order to do this you must have the CyberRig stunt as
listed below. Riggers can then spend stunts on drones. Several example
drones will be given later in this book. Depending on the quality of the
drones they can cost more than 1 stunt. The drone is an integral part of
who the character is, so even if the drone is 'destroyed' it's expected the
rigger has the ability to rebuild the drone.
CyberRig: You have a piece of cyberware that is specifically designed to
allow you to control vehicles and drones. As long as you have ownership
of a drone you can now use your action to remotely control a drone.
Also this stunt allows you to use Software instead of Drive for any rig-
capable vehicle.
MAGIC
You can not by default cast magic or
use the Spellcraft skill. The below stunt
unlocks the ability to use magic for any
character. Thus they now have access to the
Spellcraft Skill and Magic stress track.
Magic User: You are a magical being of some
kind. A learned street wizard, a wise shaman
or maybe some sort of focused adept who
enhances their body with the arcane. For
more about how magic works please refer to
the Magic section of the book.
Familiar: You managed to tie yourself to a
small familiar of some kind. A tiny animal, a
miniature dragon, a little elemetal, etc.. See
the magic section for more information on
your familiar and it's stats.
If for some reason the familiar dies you can
spend a FATE Point to instantly re-summon it
with restored stress tracks.
FINAL TOUCHES
About now you should be pretty much complete. Some other
things you might want to think about is if the character has any notable
items such as their own vehicle or signature weapons. There's no
equipment system so these would be just generic items that would allow
you to use the appropriate skill.
If you want something special or above and beyond the GM may
ask you to attempt to purchase it in game with a Resources check.
Difficulties for obtaining certain items can scale up very quickly which is
why you want the rewards for doing Jobs and Runs in the first place!
But for now you should have at least the basics to use your skills
and at least a basic living area (like an apartment with common
amenities).
The Matrix
At one point the interconnected web of communications on our
planet became so complex that it grew into the powerful network
that we call The Matrix.
The Matrix is the interconnected network for the entirety of all
devices on the planet in one way or another. The Matrix can be
reached wirelessly by anyone with a personal device or a
cyberdeck.
When on the job it's not unusual for deckers to be wirelessly
affecting local devices even while in the middle of a firefight or
tense situation. Sometimes they'll yell for someone to protect
them while they fully jack in just so they can receive that extra
edge.
The primary skill used in the Matrix is of course Software.
Whether it's creating an advantage by making a helper program,
directly hacking through a passworded protection or attempting to
destabilize a Bot or other Decker through a digital attack.
Stress done via Software on a Decker, System or Bot is considered
Mental Stress, however the Firewall stress track can be used to
absorb it as well as the Mental stress track. The Mental stress track of a
System or Bot represents the stability of it's core programming.

Magic
For those that can do magic it can be a powerful and wonderful
tool. However it can also be extremely taxing and a magic user can not
keep it up forever.
If you have the Magic User stunt chosen, then you have unlocked
the ability to use magic.
SKILL BASED MAGIC
If you have done so then you can choose to use magic in place of
mundane means when rolling a skill check. You still use the appropriate
skill but you get a +2 to the roll. Optionally you may also limit yourself by
stating the maximum you will let yourself roll on the skill.
After you complete the roll you suffer a draining effect from using
your magical abilities. Treat this as if the skill roll you just did was an
attack against you dealing Magic stress. You then defend with your
Spellcraft skill.
Example; Jackknife decides she wants to throw a bolt of fire at
someone. She has a Shoot skill of +2 and Spellcraft of +3. She has already
cast some spells previously in the combat and knows her Magic Stress
track is running low so she decides to limit her attack to a maximum of
+4 just in case.
She rolls her magical shoot (+4) and gets ++0+ for
a total of +7! But she limited her self and so only gets +4 instead.
That means she now has +4 of magical drain she needs to deal
with so she rolls her Spellcraft (+3) and gets -0-+, for a total of +2
to defend. Good thing she limited her roll because that means she only
takes 2 shifts to her magical stress track (4 drain - 2 Spellcraft to resist).
You can also use magic to add an effect that you normally would
not be able to do. Such as a minor effect like a small arc of lightning
between two drones to a major effect like a huge fireball that blasts
everyone and everything in an entire Zone!
Minor and Major effects create an additional +2 or +4 shifts of
Magical stress that need to be resisted respectively. Discuss with the
GM/group if someone would be a minor or major effect.
NON-SKILL BASED MAGIC
Some magic may not directly involve a skill. Like being able to fly,
or using a clairvoyant ability to see into the next room. The drain of
these abilities depend on how complicated or powerful the magical
effect was. You can discuss with the group if the effect was a Cantrip,
Minor, Major or Epic in scale.
CANTRIP
Cantrip's are extremely minuscule magical effects that often have
little use beyond fascinating onlookers. Uses could be cleaning a small
stain, temporarily changing the colour of a piece of cloth, making a coin
appear in the other hand, creating a small spark, etc.. Cantrips have no
magical stress associated with them.
MINOR
Minor effects are a little more potent then cantrips and have
some actual use to them while still not greatly affecting much around
them. Such as creating a small light source, summoning water to douse a
flame, closing and locking a door from a distance, levitating a small item,
etc... Minor effects cause +2 shifts of Magical stress.
MAJOR
Major effects are the uses of magic that start to become
impressive in scale. Lifting a car into the air, flying, creating a magical
barrier for an hour, lighting up a city block, making all the plants in the
park bloom, open every unlocked door and window in a building, etc...
Major effects cause +5 shifts of magical stress.
EPIC
Epic effects are truly spectacular effects that can also be
incredibly dangerous to pull off. Lifting a Building, diverting a river,
changing the weather, resurrecting someone, etc... These effects can be
large scale and mean a lot however an Epic use of magic does cause +12
shifts of magical stress and if the character is Taken Out due to an Epic
magic use the only option is “They Die”.
ANTI-MAGIC
There are two facets to anti-magic. Counterspelling and Tapping.
Both of these can be done by anyone with the Magic User stunt.
COUNTERSPELLING
When one magic user see's another magic user attempting a
magical effect they can spend 1 Fate Point and attempt to counterspell.
The magic user that is counterspelling rolls their Spellcraft skill. If they
are counter spelling a Skill Based Magic then they reduce the target's roll
by the total shifts they got.
Example; Jackknife see's a shaman about to try and freeze her
friend with an attack spell. The shaman had rolled a total of +5 shifts
with his shoot. Jackknife rolls her Spellcraft (+3) and gets ++-0 for
a total of +4. That lowers the shaman's shifts to a total of +1 which
makes it much easier friend to defend against!
If the magic user is counterspelling a non-skill based magical
effect then the casters just roll opposed Spellcraft.
TAPPING
Tapping is the ability to try and drain away a magic user's
reservoir of magical ability. This can only be done by someone with the
Magic User stunt to someone that has a Magic stress track. The attacker
uses her Spellcraft skill as the attacking skill and the defender uses his
Spellcraft to defend. All stress created is to the Magical stress track.
THE ASTRAL
Anyone with the Magic User stunt can do two things regarding
the Astral.
They can peer into the astral. This allows them to see magical
auras for active spells and magical items. It also allows them to see any
creatures or astral projections that are around but not visible in the
physical world although you can not interact with them unless it's
magically.
Secondly they are able to fully project themselves into the astral
plane, their bodies become inert and helpless in the physical world.
 While in the astral they can see anything else in the astral and
they are able to move around in their astral form at great speeds. They
can also perceive everything in the real world as if it was a colourless
textureless environment. Thus they could see a computer screen, but
they couldn't see what was actually being viewed on the display.
While projecting astrally you can not affect the physical world in
any way, not even through the use of magic. You can affect any
creatures, objects or other astral-projections on the astral plane, but
only through the use of magic. Magical Stress due to Drain while
projecting astrally is reduced by 2 shifts.
Some creatures (like Spirits) can affect the physical world from
the Astral.
FAMILIAR
A familiar is a completely self-willed entity but it can receive
commands from it's master.
A familiar begins with two aspects (one of which must be it's High
Concept). It has a 0 Refresh, two +1 skills, physical and mental stress
tracks of 1 box each and no stunts. You can spend further stunts on your
familiar to increase a skill by +1, grant it a stunt or to increase it's Refresh
by 1.
If a skill were to raise it's physical or mental stress it does so at
the adjusted lower amount. So a Physique of +1 or +2 would allow the
familiar to have 2 stress boxes instead of the 3 that an actual character
would receive.
All familiars have some sort of ground movement and can not
exist for an extended period of time underwater. You can choose for
your familiar to also have either the ability to fly or the ability to swim
and exist underwater.
Drones
Drones are small robots that are directly controlled by a rigger. A
rigger can also command a drone to complete a task on it's own, a
drone's skills are usually much smaller than the rigger's would be.
When building a drone it begins with two aspects (one of which
must be it's High Concept). It has a 0 Refresh, two +1 skills, physical and
mental stress tracks of 1 box each and no stunts. You can spend further
stunts on your drone to increase a skill by +1 or grant it a stunt. Drones
can not have a Refresh higher than 0.
If a skill were to raise it's physical or mental stress it does so at
the adjusted lower amount. So a Physique of +1 or +2 would allow the
drone to have 2 stress boxes instead of the 3 that an actual character
would receive.
A drone can have any one form of movement; Ground, Flight or
Underwater.
Rewards
One of the big draws in many cyberpunk genre games is the
rewards for the jobs. Often in the form of money. But since FATE doesn't
have an equipment system or money what can we do? No problem there
are still LOTS of rewards we can give out (and I'm not just talking about
milestones).
REWARD CARDS
When completing a job one of the simplest rewards to give out is
money. But since their isn't an actual money system what I like to do is
give out Wealth Cards. These are one use boosts of +2, +4 or +6 to the
Resources skill.
Another type of reward card is favour with a particular group of
people. This type of card would give you a +2, +4 or +6 one time to a
rapport skill with that particular person or group.
Reward cards are a simple and straightforward way to reward
players for a job well done, and since they're expendable you don't have
to worry about them sticking around.
EQUIPMENT STUNTS
Equipment stunts are temporary stunts that a character has as
long as they have that special piece of equipment. Although there is no
actual equipment system, these special stunts represent special pieces
of equipment that allow a character to get more out of it than normal.
Maybe it's a fine-tuned maglock key that gives you a +2 to
hardware when disabling a lock. Maybe it's a helicopter so you can fly.
Maybe it's a set of goggles that tell you someone's response vitals so you
can use notice instead of empathy to tell emotions. Get creative!
Also don't be afraid to make the equipment a limited use stunt.
Maybe it has a limited number of special charges or ammo. Or it can
only be used so many times before it breaks. You want them coming
back for more.
MISC REWARDS
There are tons of way to reward players. New official ranks or
positions of power in their organization (if there is one). Maybe member
ship into an organization. A New base of operations. Introduction to a
new important NPC, etc...
Final Notes
That should be enough of a system hack to let you play a
cyberpunk/shadowrun style of rpg using FATE. It's not overly fancy, but
it's straightforward and it works. The real fun comes from playing the
game itself and letting the players tweak out the details.
I do have two suggestions when fine tuning the system dials for
the game. Firstly when countering stress I think it's best to let them
combine up to two stress boxes and a consequence. I know a lot of
people seem to prefer to keep it to one stress box, but you want these
characters to feel pretty tough (so that you can put them against
overwhelming odds).
Secondly to help balancing things you might want to limit the
number of invokes, boosts, etc.. you can add at once from various
sources on to one skill check. That's one of the difficulties that FATE can
have.
It's great to let the players succeed, but the last thing you need is
for some of the harder things to become easy. You don't want your
group of streetmages doing epic level magical effects every tuesday
night for funsies because they were able to stack a billion bonuses on
their rolls each time.
Have fun, do some crime, run the shadows and good luck!