Review: Secrets of the Sphinx (Pathfinder adventure path)

Okay, so I'm doing up reviews of the rest of the Mummy's Mask adventure path books from Paizo Publishing for their Pathfinder game.  This path is set in the part of their game world which is a fantasy version of ancient Egypt called Osirion.

This adventure is split into two parts: a sandbox hex crawl, then a huge dungeon.  The hex crawl locations were great, lots of variety to keep the players guessing and challenged about what's coming next.  Among the encounters are several interesting NPCs who could re-appear in later adventures if you wanted.  One possible problem with the hex crawl, typical to all hex crawls, is what to do if the players take it into their heads to go totally in the wrong direction and off the map.  I guess that's where the GM's creativity comes in.  The big dungeon, which is actually inside of a huge sphinx, is quite a challenge.  The encounters in here are also quite varied and will keep the players challenged and entertained (even if they don't survive). 

The book also has two extra small encounter areas which can be added to the hex crawl or any adventure.  There is a great section on curses to inflict on the PCs, a set of monsters which I actually liked this time, a bit of fiction (part four), and new items.  The major NPCs get extensive write-ups in a section at the back, which is very handy for GMs to reskin them for re-use later.  The art was excellent, as it has been in the previous three Mummy's Mask books.  I'm glad to see them continue applying ancient Egyptian themes successfully in the NPCs and creatures.  I have six of Paizo's adventure paths and this one compares very well to the others.  Some I buy just for the ideas, but I would actually run this one if I got the chance.

Bottom Line: yes, this was worth the money and I can recommend buying it if you're at all interested. 

Neo School Hack: Combat Maneuvers

The original Old School Hack rules didn't specifically cover some areas (because, well, it's old school).  One of these is the various attacks or combat maneuvers other than normal weapon attacks.  Games like Pathfinder and D&D have a lot of specific rules for these--probably too many rules.  But here are some ideas on handling them in OSH.

• Bull Rush: just make a Brawn vs. Brawn check
• Disarm or Sunder: attacker makes a normal weapon attack roll (but declared before rolling as disarm or sunder) versus a Cunning check by the defender
• Feint: attacker first must win a Cunning check against the defender's Awareness check; if win that contest, then follow with an attack roll with +1 bonus; if fail then defender gets immediate free counterattack (no bonus)
• Grapple/Toss/Drag/Push/Pull: just make a Brawn vs. Brawn check
• Breaking on-going Grapple/Toss/Drag/Push/Pull: make a Brawn vs. Brawn check to muscle out, or a Cunning vs. Daring to wriggle out

A megadungeon concept based on Sword Art Online

Okay, so I just finished watching the first two story arcs of the anima Sword Art Online.  As an anime it was okay, but I wasn't really excited about it.  Anyway, the basic idea of the first story arc is that fully immersive virtual reality gaming becomes a reality and the main game is called Sword Art Online.  The catch is (spoiler alert!) that the person who programmed the game has rigged it so that once you log in you cannot log out and if anyone attempts to remove your VR helmet while you're in, it will kill you.  The only way out for the trapped players (whose real bodies end up on life support in the meantime) is to beat the game--all 100 levels of it.  But another catch is that if your character in the game is killed, your VR helmet will kill the real you.

A game based directly on SOA doesn't appeal to me and in practice the real-life part outside the game wouldn't really affect play at the table.  But it gave me some ideas for a megadungeon, who which I'd add a bit of City of Ember for extra flavor.

The setting is that players live in an underground city-state, sealed there for ages for some reason (lots of scope for campaign deep background) but now their little world is dying/collapsing/etc.  Someone finds a secret way out, maybe revealed by the gods/ancients who put them there in the first place or whatever.  But this way out only leads into the big megadungeon which was actually out there all along without anyone knowing about it.

So they have to clear a path through the huge megadungeon to get their people out.  This doesn't mean they have to clear the entire thing, just create a safe path to the outside.  Monsters have to be killed, enemy groups neutralized, and friends and allies made.  The collapse of their home area provides a constant time pressure to get on with it.  In the archives of their little world will be many clues to the huge dungeon, most of which were previously thought to be mere legends and myths.  Some will mention the various intelligent peoples/races, some the monsters, some particular regions of the dungeon, and several the "promised land" which might lay beyond.

I would run it where there are several "promised lands" mentioned.  Some will require the party to actually go all the way there to confirm what it is, others will be revealed by clues found in different dungeon locations.  Also, the intelligent creatures/races of the dungeon will have their own legends, myths, and stories.  Some of those will confirm the information from the character's sealed world, some will offer different versions, some will be completely new.

I think this is actually a better start for a megadungeon than having the players outside delving in.  The problem with delving in from the little starting town or whatever is that there's always the distraction of wandering off to see the rest of the outside world.  And there's no pressure to get on with it.  They can totally take their time resting up, training, crafting, etc. and go down whenever they're fully rested and ready.  The "reverse dungeon" approach would work well for a megadungeon setting tailored for it.

The Journal of Katherine, Entry 61

I rested, but did not sleep.  Deep inside me, the Light is strong and I feel It renews my energies. 

Today, we return to the palace, and the captain of the guard tells us the Kalif left yesterday.  This is not correct.  He is lying.  We avoid a major confrontation, so we leave the palace grounds.  Brute tells me there are guards loyal to the Kalif, and other guards, rougher, that seem to take their orders from the captain.  Brute wants to meet the loyal guards where they can speak freely.

We wait until evening and go to the tavern, as Brute must meet with the guards. Trevor wants to celebrate.  He did provide the invisibility for us all to escape without being noticed.  As Brute starts talking to the guards, Trevor orders a fine wine where the barkeeper must fetch it from the back room.  A few coins transfer hands, and Trevor takes a sip from his glass.  I turn away from that scene of smugness to focus on the meeting.  There is smoke in the air, and a strange smell.  Then I begin to relax.  I don't hear much from Brute's talk with the guards, but I am in awe.  Brute has a natural way to converse with these guards.  It is effortless.

Then my mind returns to the orphanage.  We see Cass, bloody and hurt.  She explains that one of the three prisoners left.  She tried to restrain him and was hurt.  Ohm Uri runs towards the palace hoping to catch him.  We gather our selves for another night to slip into the palace.

We catch up to Ohm Uri, who found the man, dead on the ground.  This is just strange.  Maybe the palace guards found and killed him.

We quickly enter by the servant's gate, and make our way, with Cass' help, to find the Kalif.  When we find him he is in a charm, the same charm as the other man.  Then, he speaks.  The words do not come from him, but we hear his words in our heads...

The Journal of Katherine, Entry 60

Ohm Uri dashes past me and up the gentle slope of the passageway.  Brute and Kull continue to battle the monstrosity.  Cass and I move out of reach of it and find Trevor.  We survey the scene, which does not seem real.  Unconscious children lay all over the passageway.  Before we can think on what we should do, Ohm Uri starts pushing a wagon to roll towards us.  Is he mad, or has he an idea?  He must intend to guide the wagon into the monster.  But, he is waiting, he is holding the wagon back.  The children are in the way!  I help Cass and Trevor move the children to a safe place. 

Without thinking, I close my eyes, and the forbidden power is there, ready and waiting.  I mentally reach for it, and mold it with my hands.  I shape it into a force flying but motionless, above the ground.  We lay them on it, as many as we can.  Then I move them to wide spot of the passageway. 

Mindlessly, I continue to move all of the children out of the wagon's path.  We signal it is clear.  Ohm Uri is awkwardly trying to hold the wagon and get a torch from the wall.  If he stumbles, the wagon will roll over him.  I motion for him to come, and yell to him that I can set the wagon on fire.  Then in an unbelievable display of agility, Ohm Uri jumps into the wagon, steering it as it gains speed.  He bumps into the wall on the far side, sending sparks into the air.  He wants to keep it from steering into the children.  He passes us and jumps.

The sorcery energy waits impatiently for me, a second time, and jumps at me when I think about it.  In an uncontrolled push, I thrust it to the wagon.  With a will full of rage, I think of the people that died to feed this creature's appetite, I think of the children possessed by it, I think how can the Kalif be so diabolical to harbor a creature like this.  The raw power, in seconds, tears into the wagon, breaking splinters off, making it an uncontrolled rolling mass of wood, metal and liquid fire.  It leaves a burning trail as it smashes into the creature, creating a huge fireball, and sending it back to the depths of its home.  I had forgot that Brute and Kull were still fighting the monster.  We run into the room, and find them safely behind the gong.

We take the children up the pathway to a second wagon, and we carefully place each child in it.  Trevor waves his hands in strange gestures, says words that I don't understand, and strangely cannot remember.  Then, all of us, including the children and the wagon disappear.  Ohm Uri makes a timely diversion, which confuse the guards and they open the gate in confusion.  This is our queue.  We steer the wagon right past the guards.  Ohm Uri gets up, running in the opposite direction from where we are going.

When we return to my orphanage, and I have my two acolytes get my other students from the temple.  I am exhausted.  We unload the children, putting them safely under blankets to keep them warm.  Kull makes swift work of turning the wagon into firewood to keep the chill away.  Brute checks on Veronica.  When my students return, they take control of the children, and of the saved prisoners.  Time will help them heal.

I retire to a corner of the room and record the events.  Upon reading my journal, I sob, dripping tears on the parchment.  Twice, I broke my vow not to use It.  The first time, was to help.  The second, was to destroy.  My anger used the power in rage.  What fate is for me at my temple, when I tell them?

Long Ride to a Short Death, an adventure for Neo School Hack

Now that I've done some design work for Neo School Hack, I thought it only proper that I do a beginner adventure (sorry, no boxed set).

The adventure begins with our heroes relaxing together at a small riverside trading post.  They arrived here yesterday to await the post coach which will take them to the market town of ut-Frienne inland north of here.  The region between the river and the town is deserty wilderness and travel with other people by coach is much safer and faster than going it alone on foot.  A major combined festival and market day is starting at ut-Frienne tomorrow and the party member plan to attend.  It's a great place to have fun, buy items outside of the usual, meet interesting people, join in religious parades, and make lucrative arrangements.  [The players can decide whether they all came here together or arrived from separate places and got acquainted while waiting here.  They also can decide on what their individual reasons are for traveling to ut-Frienne.]

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

While they relax on the veranda overlooking the river a river barge arrives, apparently one of the regular packet boats which travel up and down making deliveries and carrying passengers.  A few scruffy sailors are on deck and the old man who runs the trading post, Postmaster Battu, sends his young son Yanny down to help with the ropes.  However, one of the sailors leaps onto the small dock and holds a knife to Yanny's throat.  More pirates swarm up from the hold where they were hiding.  The leader of the river pirates, for that is what they really are, demands that the postmaster bring out his strongbox or the boy dies.  The fat old postmaster begs the heroes to rescue the young fellow.

River Pirates
Captain Sa-granet: AC 10, HP 3, 2d10 attack/sword, dagger, small shield, leather armor; treasure: 2d10 gp
Pirates (minions, two for each party member): AC 8, HP 1, 1d10 attack/sword, dagger, small shield; treasure: 3d6 gp

The post coach arrives from ut-Frienne just before noon.  Tierre the driver and Marchamp the guard, outlanders both, bring in a large wooden box with packages and scrolls mailed from the market town.  Two remarkably similar merchants in purple turbans alight and get their luggage and baskets of something from the back of the coach. [The two merchants, Ju-thoth and Chu-thoth, are wizards as well as merchants.  If the party asks, they have a spare scroll with the spell Darkvision which they will sell for 300 gp.]  The driver and guard each grab a quick mug of ale and it's back on the coach to return towards ut-Frienne; the players must pay 1 gp for the two-day ride.  [If asked, the two (human) coachmen are quite ready to regale the party with tales of the dangers ahead, most of which are greatly exaggerated but none totally fictitious.]

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The countryside is desert, but varying from sandy flats, to dunes, to scrub land, to cactus forest.  About two hours after leaving the post a band of masked marauders on camels gallops out of a cactus grove and heads for the coach, clearly intent on robbery or worse.

Camel Marauders
Chieftain: AC 12, HP 5, 2d10 attack/sword and 2 javelins; mail shirt and small shield; treasure: 6d6 gp
Marauders (two, plus one per party member): AC 12, HP 2, 2d10 attack/sword and 2 javelins; mail shirt and small shield; treasure: 3d6 gp

[The marauders ride up alongside the coach and throw all their javelins at the coachmen and passengers.  If no one is killed or badly wounded by the time they are out of javelins they break off the attack and retreat back into the cactus grove--they enjoy a good fight, but not if it's a fair one.  The marauders have a camp of tents deep in the grove.  Along with ordinary camping supplies they have a chest with 150 gp in coins, a bit of amber with an irridescent green beetle in it (120 gp), and a Heal potion (heals 1 HP).]

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Late in the afternoon, some hours after the contretemps with the marauders, a short but intense thundershower sweeps through the area.  As it passes they spot their destination for the first evening of the trip: an old abandoned caravanserai.  However there is a flock of huge vile vultures swarming around several carcasses near the gate-less entrance.  The vultures are hungry and flocks of the vile variety are extremely aggressive towards interlopers.

Vile Vultures
(one per party member) 1 HP, AC 10, 2d10 attack/beak; treasure: none

The "meals" which the vultures were swarming are the body of a male civilized humanoid, probably half-elf, and his pack mule (Shairat Ulumu and Stinky).  The body has a shortbow, a quiver with arrows, an elven shortsword, 32 sp and 4 cp on it, an old glazed tile with an ochre-on-white design of a stylized demon face, and a map.  The mule has sacks and pouches with two dozen hardtack biscuits, three full water skins, a small tent, lantern, two blankets, 50 feet of rope, an old sledge hammer, a frying pan, and a map.  [Hand players the no-labels dungeon map.  Pro tip: use of a real dead mule as a fun prop for this encounter is not advised.]  Despite the rain shower it is easy to see tracks indicating that the dead guy came from the northwest, where there is a mile of open scrub land leading to a large cactus forest.

Night begins to fall and the coachmen bring the coach into the courtyard of the caravanserai.  The walls of the old place delineate a square about 100 feet on a side, lined on the north and south sides with the remains of several roofless buildings.  Although abandoned long ago [when the well ran dry] it still makes for a useful overnight stopping place.  The coachmen cut fronds of deaththorn from nearby and arrange them in a barricade at the gate.

In the night a gaunte creeps up outside the gate, attracted by the smell of tasty horses.  It sniffs around the site of the dead guy and mule then sits motionless and observes for a while.  If only one person is awake in the camp it will attempt to sneak in, subdue them (reduce to 0 HP), then carry them off to eat later.  It has no interest in battle and will flee if confronted by two or more opponents (unless one or both is very badly injured).

Gaunte
AC 14, HP 6, two 2d10 attacks/claws; treasure: may be skinned for a lovely pelt worth 100gp
Shadowblend (constant): the rich black velvety fur of the gaunte allows it to blend into darkness almost anywhere in uncanny fashion, allowing it to reroll any failed rolls against anyone trying to spot it in the dark.
- The gaunte is a solitary nocturnal creature.  Its appearance is rather like a tall (8 foot) humanoid black panther, with long arms and deep yellow eyes.  Gauntes are almost as intelligent as people, making them exceptionally cunning predators.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[If the party decides to follow the tracks to explore the dungeon on the map (which they should if they want to have any fun at all) the coachmen explain that they have to stay on schedule, but they will be back in four days.  Their route takes one more day to ut-Frienne, two days to go out and back to yt-Marbala, then one day returning from ut-Frienne en route to the trading post.]

The dead guy's trail leads northwest across the mile of scrubland to a cactus forest.  However, once in the forest the trail grows faint and peters out in a clearing.  There appear to be three possible traces continuing on from the clearing: one going northwest (with the craggy top of large jebel visible a couple miles beyond), one to the north, and one southwest (with the flat top of large jebel visible a couple miles beyond).

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Northwest trail: two miles of cactus forest and come to deep, narrow cleft in jebel which leads about 100 yards in to a small cave screened by dry brush.  A mother giant scarab is sleeping in the cave with her newly hatched swarm of hungry scarablings.

Giant Scarab
AC-14, 4 HP, two 2d10 attacks/claws; treasure: none

Scarab Beetle Swarm
AC-8, 4 HP, 3d10 attack,biting swarm
- Swarm/constant: it takes a lot of work to kill off a swarm of small critters; -2 to hit with non-magical ranged and melee weapons.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

South west trail: three miles of cactus forest, ambush by guardian cactus sprites (small humanoid intelligent cactus people) on the way, then up a winding path to a Painted Stones Shrine atop the jebel to an elemental dust devil.

Cactus Sprites
AC 10, HP 2, 2d10 attack/spears; treasure: necklace of shiny rocks (1d10 gp)
Ouch, Spikey (constant): cactus sprites are covered in inch-long cactus spines which cause 1 wound to anyone grappling with them.
- there will be one sprite per player character

Elemental Dust Devil
AC-12, HP 8; treasure: 2 matching yellow gems (5d10 gp)
Gravel Storm/constant: the dust devil is a constantly whirling cloud of dust and gravel; anything in a 10 foot radius must make a Daring save or take a wound and be blinded for one round.
Rock Toss/focus: the devil forms a heavy rock and tosses it up to 50 feet; does 2 wounds

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

North trail: one mile of cactus, then a very ancient tomb with the stone door recently smashed open by an old sledgehammer (by the dead guy); see the Forgotten Tomb below.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Forgotten Tomb of Ra-Nefesh IV

[Doors: all the doors in the tomb are large, heavy, and made of bronze with a fairly clever lock.  Each door is AC 14 with 3 HP, but light weapons and pokey/stabbing or slicing weapons cannot do significant damage.]

Portico: Two life-sized stone statues of lions on platforms flank an open doorway on a now roofless portico.  A pair of stone doors lie in ruins, smashed open quite recently.

Shersher (animated stone lions)
AC 14, HP 3, two 2d10 attacks/claws; treasure: none
- Shersher are magical statues place to protect places; the two here will activate only if someone tries to leave with the royal signet amulet from the Royal Crypt of Ra-Nefesh IV .

Antechamber: This room is dominated by a large statue (10' tall)  of Ra-Nefesh IV.  The faded wall frescoes show Ra-Nefesh IV living in power and luxury as a lord over servants, soldiers, slaves, and captives.

West Hall: this wide, dusty hallway has frescoes on both walls, showing a funeral procession of mourners, headed away from the antechamber.  There are a few scattered human bones on the floor.  [Trap: a floor tile halfway down the corridor has a lever under it which triggers dart tubes in the ceiling when stepped on.  An Awareness check can spot the trap.  If triggered, all creatures in a 10' x 10' area must make a Daring save to avoid being hit (for 1 wound).]

East Hall: this wide, dusty hallway has frescoes on both walls, showing a soldiers marching in formation, headed away from the antechamber.  There are a few scattered human bones on the floor.  [Trap: a 20' section of the floor halfway down the corridor has poison dust instead of normal dust, which is stirred up as creatures walk over it.  An Awareness check can spot the trap.  If triggered, everyone in the section must make a Brawn save or take one wound that round and another the next round.]

West Ossuary: this large hall has a high arched ceiling and six stone pillars, flooded to a depth of 3 feet, probably by seeping groundwater.  The walls have multiple rows of large slots with bones piled in them.  There are also bones on the floor to a depth of 2~3 feet.  These are probably the bones of the mourners at Ra-Nefesh IV's funeral who were depicted in the frescoes in the hallway.  The water and piled bones restrict movement to half normal walking pace.  [Two rounds after a living humanoid enters the room, skeletons will arise from the bone piles and attack. Initially two will arise for every living creature in the room, plus one more each round that they remain in the room.  The skeletons will not leave the room and collapse back into bones once an hour has passed with no living creatures in the room.]

Skeleton Mourners (minion)
- Creepy Undead/encounter: On first meeting, Commitment check or freeze for a turn
AC 10, HP 1, 1d10 attack/clawed bony fingers; treasure: small gold trinket (1d6 gp)

East Ossuary: this large hall has a high arched ceiling and six stone pillars.  The walls have multiple rows of large slots with bones piled in them.  There are also bones on the floor to a depth of 2~3 feet.  Scattered in amongst the bones are helmets, spears, and shields.  These are probably the bones of the soldiers at Ra-Nefesh IV's funeral who were depicted in the frescoes in the hallway.  [Two rounds after a living humanoid enters the room, skeletons will arise from the bone piles and attack. Initially two will arise for every living creature in the room, plus one more each round that they remain in the room.  The skeletons will not leave the room and collapse back into bones once an hour has passed with no living creatures in the room.]

Skeleton Soldiers
- Creepy Undead/encounter: On first meeting, Commitment check or freeze for a turn
AC 10, HP 1, 2d10 attack/spear, shield; treasure: small gold helmet badge (1d8 gp)

Hall of Noble Pillars: This room is a massive ceremonial funeral hall.  At the south end is a large (20') richly painted and gilded statue of royal pharaoh Ra-Nefesh IV.   It faces down between two rows of thick pillars carved to look like noble lords and ladies, males on the east and females on the west.  [Trap: nobles were strictly segregated by gender at court functions.  If a male humanoid enters the west half of the hall or a female one the east half of the hall then they must pass a Commitment save or be teleported back to the Portico.  Also, four mummified priests wander here still fulfilling their sacred oath to protect the tomb from defilers and the unrighteous.  They will attack anyone carrying a gold trinket or badge from either ossuary and anyone not of LN alignment.  There are 50% more priests than party members.]

Mummified Priests
AC 12, HP 3, 2d10 attack/mace; treasure: a polished silver skullcap (100 gp) and matching bracelets (25 gp each)
- Creepy Undead/encounter: On first meeting, Commitment check or freeze for a turn
- Bonecurse (focus, encounter): casts a curse on one victim (30' range); if victim does not pass a Commitment save their bones warp for one day (24 hours), causing a -2 to all rolls for physical activity during that period.

Tranquil Grotto: This round, domed room has a deep pool of beautifully clear water in the center.  Lovely frescoes on the ceiling depicting the smiling goddess Hathor surrounded by rosy clouds.  [Trick: a drink of water from the sacred pool bestows +1 Commitment; a person may receive this benefit only once per day.]

Chamber of the Ancestors: this rectangular room is entirely lined with slabs of blue-and-white marble, giving the impression that it is floating amongst the clouds.  Halfway down the room a statue stands in an alcove on either side.  The statues are of fierce armored sebeki (crocodile people) warriors with spears and shields.  The rest of the room is blocked off by a hanging tapestry showing condemned souls burning in lakes of hell fire.  [Trap: the tapestry is a warning to those who would continue on and desecrate the final resting place of Ra-Nefesh IV.  The statues will blast anyone getting between them with magical frost (Commitment save or take 1 wound from each statue).  The magicked marble statues are AC 16 with 3 HP.  Their magic cold attack can be neutralized by casting any fire-based spell on them or casting any water-based spell on them in reverse.  The tapestry is also deadly: anyone touching it (even if wearing gloves, etc.) must make a Brawn save or be paralyzed for one week by the poison dust on it.]

Royal Crypt of Ra-Nefesh IV: This room contains a large stone sarcophagus of dark gray granite containing the mummy of the pharaoh.  The walls and ceilings are completely covered in frescoes of the finest quality showing the pharaoh enjoying the afterlife in grand style.  In each corner is a tall bronze urn.  If anyone disturbs the sarcophagus or the urns the mummy of the pharaoh will push off the massive stone lid and attack any living creatures.  He will pursue throughout the tomb, but not leave it.

Royal Pharaoh Ra-Nefesh IV
AC 12, HP 10, 2d10 attacks/heavy mace (2 wounds); treasure: magic +1 heavy mace, 4 bronze urns with 250gp each, royal signet amulet (gold and carnelian, 500gp), 1d6 ancient historical scrolls (50gp each)
- Creepy Undead/encounter: On first meeting, Commitment check or freeze for a turn
- Mummy's Curse/encounter: all opponents nearby must make Commitment save or -2 to all rolls until the mummy is destroyed
- Touch of Death/constant: the mummy may attack with an open hand (in addition to a normal attack with mace); if successful, victim must pass a Commitment save or the mummy drains 2 HP from the victim and adds them to its own HP
- Bonecurse/focus, encounter: casts a curse on one victim (30' range); if victim does not pass a Commitment save their bones warp for one day (24 hours), causing a -2 to all rolls for physical activity during that period.

Review: Fate Accelerated Edition

Okay, so I'm usually drawn to rules heavy rules-complete games like Pathfinder or D&D 3.5.  And as a player I prefer lots of stuff on my character sheet to work with.  But as a GM I tend to run things in a more rule-light fashion, even with crunchy rule sets.  And so I'm always forcing myself to check out rules-light games because they're more the Real Me.  The game Atomic Robo recently caught my eye, which led me to check out the underlying rules, the Fate system, and so last night I bought the "extra light" version of Fate, Fate Accelerated Edition (in pdf form).

Fate Accelerated Edition is only 50 pages, including covers, index, character sheet, and quick-reference sheets.  You can read the whole thing very quickly.  It can serve as a quick intro to the Fate system in general (my purpose for buying it) or a stand-alone set of nice simple rules.

My first read-through, admittedly late at night on a Friday when I was falling asleep, left me very confused about Aspects and a bit worried about the blank slate approach to character creation.  This morning, after a good night's sleep, healthy fruit-and-veggie breakfast shake, and not-healthy-at-all energy drink, it all became much clearer, although I'm still a bit worried about the whole blank slate thing.

To create your character you come up with an overall High Concept, like Orphaned Farmboy from Desert Planet with Unusually High Midichlorian Count.  Then pair it with Trouble, which is something which will recur to your disadvantage, like More-Man-Than-Machine Guy with Exceptionally High Midichlorian Count Insists on Being My Dad.  Then you add three to five Aspects which are more specific, like Born to Pilot a Landspeeder.  All those are created completely "blank slate" out of your noggin, which is super if you're into that and good at it but will present a struggle for people who are not.

Next is the crunchiest bit and that is allocating bonuses to six Approaches: Careful, Clever, Flashy, Forceful, Quick, and Sneaky.  You get a fixed set of bonuses to allocate to these, ranging from +3 to +0, in order to give actual mechanical bonuses to your character's personal style of doing things.

Finally we're back into fuzzy, blank slate territory with creating Stunts.  These are a bit like feats or class attributes in Pathfinder in that they give a mechanical +2 bonus but only for more specific situations.  You can start with up to three with no penalty.  Here, at least, there is a good "mad-libs" style template where you fill in the blanks to create the stunts.  The examples here are very useful.

Each character gets three Fate points, which refresh at the start of each session of play.  However, you can trade those refresh slots in for more Stunts.  For instance, you could have four Stunts (three free, plus one paid for with a Fate point refresh slot) and only two refresh slots.

Also, all characters get three Stress boxes, which are your "hit points" but in a much more general sense.  These can be physical, mental, social, emotional, spiritual, or whatever.  When you're in a contest where you could accrue stress, the amount by which the "attacker's" roll exceeds yours is how many stress points you take.  But there is the option of taking some level of Consequence instead of a stress point.  These last for a varying period and apply some negative condition, like "Splitting Headache" or "Bawling My Eyes Out" or "Spurting Stump", which you make up on the spot according to the circumstances.

Now for actual play.  Each turn/round you have four basic action types to choose from:
create an advantage, overcome something, attack, or defend.  In each case you pick the appropriate Approach, roll your set of four special Fate dice (d6s, each marked +, +, <blank>, <blank>, -, -) to generate outcomes from +4 to -4, add the Approach bonus, and add a Stunt bonus if one applies.  If the outcome isn't high enough you can spend a Fate point for +2, or to invoke an Aspect.  There may be consequences, especially if you invoke an Aspect.

And that's basically it.  I think it's a great little set of rules--and did I mention the pdf is Pay What You Want?  Overall I'd greatly recommend it, with the caveat that if you or your players are not very good at making stuff up out of thin air it might not be for you.