Month: October 2018

 

FATE: Modesty Blaise

 

Ex-criminal Superspies versus current criminal depraved supervillains thanks to Peter O’Donnell, Jim Holdaway and Enrique Badia Romero.

 

Draft 1.0  April 15, 2013 – Blue Tyson

 

SETTING

 

Pre-mobile phone modern.  Fancy radio communication is cool.  Sixties to eighties works nicely. Modesty Blaise is the retired ex-head of the criminal Network organisation, rising from wandering orphan at a very young age.  Blackmailed agreeable into helping out the British Secret Service by Gerald Tarrant she is officially a British citizen. Platonic best friends with Willie Garvin, turning his life around after pulling her out of prison. Previously her second in command the partners are ultra-competent and deadly adversaries, more than capable of taking on greater odds.  Stylish and sophisticated and witty, their adventures are brilliant in prose and comic. Allies and previously outdone enemies abound throughout the world.

 

ISSUES

 

Sir Gerald has a problem.  Again. The British Secret Service is still useless.

If it doesn’t involve a sociopathic, psychopathic or depraved supervillain we’ll be disappointed.

Too tough?  Target their friends.

Crime doesn’t pay if we disagree with it.

 

THE PLAYERS

 

Modesty Blaise

 

Ex-Crimelord

Retirement is boring

Willie, I Really Need You Now!

Orphan Out of Everywhere

No drugs!

Yes, I’ve got a place on this continent.

 

F: Incredible +4

A: Incredible +4

S: Good +1

E: Remarkable +3

R: Excellent +2

I: Incredible +4

P: Incredible +4

 

Resources  Incredible (+4)

Popularity  -Remarkable (-3)

 

Other Skills

 

Amazing (+5)  Leadership, Linguist, Kongo, Pistol, Quarterstaff, Survival

Incredible (+4)  Alertness, Contacts, Rapport

Remarkable (+3)  Intimidation, Weapons

Excellent (+2)  Burglary, Deceit, Drive, Empathy, Investigation, Lapidary, Pilot, Ride, Stealth

Good  (+1) Dance

Typical (+0)  Academics, Art

 

Stunts

 

Close At Hand, Face the Pain, Money Talks, Preemptive Grace, Quick Draw, Shot On the Run

 

Acrobat, Big Name, Cold Read, Con Man, Criminal Mind, Death Defiance, I Know A Guy Who Knows A Guy, Inner Strength, Martial Arts, Mental Blueprint, Signature Strike, Tripwire Sensibilities

 

Willie Garvin

 

Ex-Crimelord 2IC

Retirement is boring

What the Princess says goes

Don’t count the Princess out

A Girl In Every Port

No drugs!

I Do Own a Circus, Actually. Also, a Pub.

 

F: Incredible +4

A: Remarkable +3

S: Excellent +2

E: Remarkable +3

R: Excellent +2

I: Amazing +5

P: Remarkable +3

 

Resources  Remarkable (+3)

Popularity  -Remarkable (-3)

 

Other Skills

 

Unearthly (+7)  Knife

Amazing (+5)  Alertness, Rapport, Throw

Incredible (+4) Contacts, Intimidation, Quarterstaff, Rifle, Survival

Remarkable (+3)  Disguise, Empathy, Engineering, Linguist, Ride, Survival, Weapons

Excellent (+2)  Burglary, Deceit, Drive, Gambling, Leadership, Pilot, Ride, Stealth

Good (+1)  Academics, Science

Poor (-1)  Pistol

 

Stunts

 

Danger Sense [His Ears Prickle], Everybody’s Friend, Good Arm, Headquarters, Scary, Scientific Invention, Uncanny Hunch

 

Acrobat, Big Name, Cold Read, Con Man, Criminal Mind, Death Defiance, I Know A Guy Who Knows A Guy, Inner Strength, Martial Arts, Mental Blueprint, Signature Strike, Tripwire Sensibilities

 

Sir Gerald Tarrant

 

British Secret Service Chief.

I Must Have Modesty Blaise!

What’s a bit of blackmail between friends?

 

F: Typical +0

A: Good +1

S: Typical +0

E: Good +1

R: Excellent +2

I: Excellent +2

P: Remarkable +3

 

Resources  Incredible (+4) [In government capacity, otherwise Excellent (+2)]

Popularity  Excellent (+2)

 

Other Skills

 

Incredible (+4)  Bureaucracy, Contacts, Espionage

Remarkable (+3)  Deceit, Intimidation, Investigation

Good (+1)  Guns, Stealth

 

Stunts

 

Center of the Web, Expert Staff

 

Weng

 

Houseboy

Reformed druggie

Quite happy in this job, thanks very much

 

F: Typical +0

A: Typical +0

S: Typical +0

E: Good +1

R: Good +1

I: Good +1

P: Good +1

 

Resources  Good (+1)

Popularity  Typical (0)

 

Other Skills

 

Excellent (+2)  Administration, Drive

 

John Dall

 

Billionaire businessman

Occasional boyfriend of Blaise

 

F: Good +1

A: Good +1

S: Good +1

E: Good +1

R: Excellent +2

I: Good +1

P: Excellent +2

 

Resources  Amazing (+5)

Popularity  Remarkable (+2)

 

Other Skills

 

Incredible (+4)  Bureaucracy

Excellent (+2) Guns, Leadership

Good (+1) Ride, Pilot

 

Stunts

 

Center of the Web, Fantastically Rich

 

Steve Collier

 

Retired mathematician and textbook author

Psychic Investigator

Ex-Lover of Blaise

Husband of Dinah

 

F: Typical (+0)

A: Typical (+0)

S: Typical (+0)

E: Typical (+0)

R: Good (+1)

I: Good +1

P: Typical +0

 

Resources  Typical +0

Popularity  Typical +0

 

Other Skills

 

Excellent (+2)  Academics, Mathematics, Mysteries

Good  (+1)

 

Dinah Pilgrim

 

Blind Diviner

Ex-Lover of Garvin

Wife of Steve

 

F: Poor (-1)

A: Poor (-1)

S: Typical (+0)

E: Typical (+0)

R: Typical (+1)

I: Excellent +2

P: Good +1

 

Resources  Typical +0

Popularity  Typical +0

 

Other Skills

 

Mysteries (+2)

 

Stunts

 

Fortuneteller, Secrets of the Arcane

 

Doctor Giles Pennyfeather

 

Adverse Conditions Medical Genius

Bumbling Goofball

 

F: Poor (-1)

A: Typical 0

S: Typical +0

E: Typical +1

R: Typical +0

I: Good +1

P: Typical +0

 

Resources  Poor (-1)

Popularity  Typical (+0)

 

Other Skills

 

Excellent (+2)  Medicine

Good (+1)  Science

 

Stunts

 

Doctor, Medic, Surgeon

 

ADVENTURING

 

Most definitely a Spirit of the Century via Shadows of the Century style game.

 

TWO PLAYERS

 

A perfect two player scenario team, Blaise and Garvin can be easily Compelled into whatever outlandishly led super spy or crime scenario Tarrant can come up with for them to solve.  The most likely abduction victims in their oeuvre are detailed above, for added spice. Others include Tarrant’s 2IC and Maude, an operative they have worked with in the field before.

 

ONE PLAYER

 

The ‘needs the other’ Aspects can be used in there is only one PC.  Got to get to the other.

 

THREE PLAYERS

 

Or if three players, an abduction victim attempting to use their brains to survive until Blaise and Garvin can get there.  Then surviving to escape with them.

 

MORE PLAYERS

 

A possibility is a support team for the two heroes, particularly competent local talent, ex-Network members or others provided by Tarrant to assist in a particular caper that could be on the level of a standard FATE Core beginning character.  Which the players could design and based on what they come up with, the actual scenario can then be designed aorund them.

 

THE LADDER

 

Being a big Marvel Super Heroes fan from way back, this is how I like to think:

 

Value    Adjective

 

+13 Cosmic 5 (Class 5000)

+12 Cosmic 3 (Class 3000)

+11 Cosmic 1 (Class 1000)

+10 Legendary Z (Shift Z)

+9  Legendary Y (Shift Y)

+8    Legendary X (Shift X)

+7    Unearthly (Epic)

+6    Monstrous (Fantastic)

+5    Amazing (Superb)

+4    Incredible (Great)

+3    Remarkable (Good)

+2    Excellent (Fair)

+1    Good (Average)

+0    Typical (Mediocre)

-1    Poor

-2    Feeble (Terrible)

-3    Awful 0 (Shift 0)

-4    Abysmal

 

FASERIP – basic human attributes

 

Physique is split compared to Core, into a Strength component and an Endurance component, the latter of which should be used for the Stress track.  Reason is native intelligence.

 

Fighting (Fight)

Agility (Athletics)

Strength

Endurance

Reason

Intuition (Notice)

Psyche (Will)

 

secondary

 

Popularity is a measure of charisma, reputation and public influence. If you like, bad people can have a negative popularity ladder equivalent.  Supervillains, mass murderers, ruthless thugs in The Ball, etc.

 

Popularity

Resources

 

REFERENCES

 

Modesty Blaise: Wikipedia – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modesty_Blaise

The Complete Modesty Blaise Dossier – http://www3.sympatico.ca/jim.pattison/modesty/