TEXT: Department Nine
  A roleplaying game about Destiny 
  by Nick Wedig
  A roleplaying game about Destiny 
  by Nick Wedig
  You work for the Fates, manipulating 
  people’s destinies to make sure every-
  thing goes according to The Plan.  But 
  you broke the cardinal rule of FATE’s 
  employees, and looked into your own 
  future.  
  Worse, you didn’t like what you saw 
  there.  Now, you’re trying to change 
  your own destiny, with your former 
  colleagues working to stop you.  
  This game works best with a small 
  group of players, some poker chips and 
  a writing surface where all game infor-
  mation is visible to everyone playing.  
  In particular, three or four players is 
  ideal, and five players is straining the 
  system.  A group of six or more should 
  split into two or more groups.
  Playtest Version 0.3
  8/5/2010
  Playtest Version 0.3
  8/5/2010
  
  This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 United States License. To view a copy of 
  this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/us/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 543 
  Howard Street, 5th Floor, San Francisco, California, 94105, USA.  
  Please let me know if you’re doing anything really cool with my game by emailing nickwedig@yahoo.com.
  Credits
  You Will Need:
  Three to five players, including yourself   
  (if  you have more, I propose splitting into two groups of  3)
  15 or so tokens per players.
  (Poker chips work well)
  20-30 stones of  two or three distinct colors
  (these need to be indistinguishable by touch, 
  something other than stones could work)
  An opaque bag
  (or hat or something to draw objects from at random)
  Five index cards or scraps of  paper per player
  (and writing utensils for filling things out)
  Changelog: Added additional Keyword categories, reduced randomness in character creation/building.  
  Eliminated obsolete legacy mechanics like Fate Manipulation and Divining the Future.
  
   
  Playtest version 0.3
  3
  1.1 Welcome to Department Nine and Prelimi-
  nary Briefing
  Congratulations on being hired to work for FATE‘s sub-
  division, Department Nine.  As you by now know, Fate is 
  responsible for the management and control of  the des-
  tinies of  every major lifeform on Earth, and has liaisons 
  with extraterrestrial life.
  Many new applicants have substantial questions con-
  cerning the nature of  FATE and why the division exists. 
  These questions will be answered in the “Questions From 
  New Recruits” section (see page XX).
  1.2 History of FATE
  FATE was founded centuries ago, after a mortal hero 
  slew [REDACTED], god of  [REDACTED].  After this 
  unfortunate tragedy, the gods of  Olympus 
  and associated anthropomorphic personifi-
  cations deemed it best to operate clandes-
  tinely thereafter.  Thus the Greek pantheon 
  removed itself  from Mount Olympus to an 
  undisclosed location.  
  In order to operate covertly, and to deal with 
  the growing number of  humans with rela-
  tively trivial destinies, the three Fates created 
  a cult of  holy priests, who were granted the 
  secrets of  destiny itself.  Their role was to 
  oversee mundane lives in the goddess’s stead 
  and to untangle snarls in the web of  desti-
  ny.  This team has since grown into FATE, 
  which we assure you is now a strictly non-
  denominational organization.  As the agency 
  has grown in size, so too have the regula-
  tions that agents must follow.  So please read 
  your agent’s manual very carefully, and remember: these 
  are people’s lives you are dealing with.
  1.3 Divisions of FATE
  The FATE agency is divided into three sub units, each 
  of  which is headed by one of  the Moirae, the goddesses 
  who control destiny.  These divisions are:
  •	
  Our	own	Department	Nine,	managed	by	Clotho.	
  Department Nine is in charge of  Beginnings: we put ev-
  ery piece of  a person’s life in place so their destiny can 
  play out according to The Plan.  A secondary role of  the 
  department is managing the past: sometimes past events 
  need to be hidden to hide the activity of  the gods  or 
  the relation between current events and the past needs 
  modified.  These modifications need to be careful, though 
  to avoid “Snarls”, which are Inconsistencies in the C/E 
  Thread.  Agents violating C/E is strictly prohibited.
  •	
  Department	Ten,	controlled	by	Lachesis,	moni-
  tors and regulates events as they progress.  They ob-
  serve critical events in history or a person’s life to make 
  sure everything is on track for the appropriate destiny. 
  Therefore, they are typically the first department to no-
  tice any potential Snarls in the C/E thread, which are 
  then reported to premonitors in the Division of  Prede-
  termination (q.v.) for verification.  If  the Snarl is a veri-
  fied Inconsistency, then a task force composed of  agents 
  from one or more departments is assembled to rectify the 
  situation.
  •	
  The	Division	of 	Predetermination,	is	under	At-
  ropos’s command.  Atropos’s section deals with endings, 
  destinies and deaths.  High rankings Fate Assignment 
  Agents in the department determine the eventual end of  
  every person.  Thereafter, it is up to the other depart-
  ments to make the determined destiny happen.  Premoni-
  tors from the Division of  Predetermination observe the 
  entire process, watching for Inconsistencies 
  that could unravel the Web of  Fate.  Because 
  their role concerns both monitoring peo-
  ple’s fates and the activities of  agents in the 
  field, the Department of  Predetermination 
  also contains the Internal Affairs section of  
  FATE.  
  1.4 Guide for New Recruits
  Many new recruits, especially the “mundane” 
  recruits , have questions about the FATE or-
  ganization, the world normally hidden from 
  the general public, and the jargon of  the as-
  sociation.  This guide is designed to help you 
  learn the things a veteran FATE agent takes 
  for granted.
  In general, nearly everything you knew about the world 
  before joining FATE is still true.  Chicago is still a city 
  in Illinois, the President still runs the United States 
  from the White House, cars still run on gasoline.  But 
  there is, behind all the public information, a layer of  
  reality where the sun rises because Apollo wants it to, 
  where the stars are each people you may need to visit 
  on a business call, where XXXXXXXXXXXXXX 
  XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX, and most im-
  portantly for you, where the destiny of  every sentient 
  being is controlled by three ancient women at FATE 
  HQ.
  [REDACTED]
  Introduction
  [REDACTED]
  
   
  Playtest version 0.3
  4
  Terminology:
  Terms denoted Slang are not acceptable in formal de-
  partmental communications or field reports.  They are 
  included here only to assist in informing new recruits, 
  not because FATE or Department Nine approves of  
  their usage in any way.
  Agency, the: FATE.  Sometimes replaced with “the 
  Loom”	(q.v.) to differentiate FATE from other agencies 
  FATE employees have to deal with. Often used in speech 
  to avoid confusing FATE with an individual’s destiny.
  C/E or C/E Thread: the Cause/Effect threads that 
  connect events.  Used in the singular, it refers to all the 
  threads as a totality, as if  they were all a single thread.  
  Used in the plural, C/E Threads refer to all the various 
  causal relationships between events, people and objects. 
  Incautious manipulation of  the C/E Thread may lead to 
  Inconsistencies, and so require proper au-
  thorization and supervision.
  Creatures: Slang. Somewhat derogatory 
  nickname for sentient beings of  the non-
  human persuasion.  FATE and D9 have very 
  strict non-discrimination policies, regardless 
  of  age, gender, sexual orientation, religion, 
  morality, species, temporal paradoxes, mo-
  rality or diet.  FATE makes every effort to 
  accommodate non-humans in their special 
  needs.
  D9: Department Nine
  D10: Shorthand for Department 10
  DP: The Division of  Predetermination
  Gardeners: Slang. A very insulting nickname for agents 
  of  the Division of  Predetermination.  DP agents do not 
  like to be called this to their faces.
  Heroes: Slang. Humanoid agents or civilians who have 
  inherited genetically some of  the power of  from the 
  Men Upstairs.  Note that being a Hero does not actually 
  guarantee the moral character of  the sentient you are 
  dealing with.
  Inconsistencies:  When an event occurs further down 
  the C/E thread, but the cause has been removed, this is 
  an Inconsistency.  Inconsistencies are bad, and so need 
  to be avoided.  FATE agents are continuously monitor-
  ing the C/E thread for inconsistencies so agents can be 
  dispatched to deal with them.
  Loom, the: Slang. A term for FATE, often used as a nick-
  name or to preserve signal security.  Often used in speech 
  to avoid confusing FATE with an individual’s destiny.
  Mamas: Slang. Agents of  Department Ten.  D10 agents 
  have been known to threaten disciplinary action for us-
  ing the term.  The case of  Sutherland v. Aganippe is at 
  the time of  this printing still ongoing, so FATE and De-
  partment Nine are unable to comment on it.
  Men Upstairs: Slang. A collective term for the super-
  natural beings of  immense power formerly known as 
  the Olympian Gods.  Term is generally used regardless 
  of  Gender; though see The Women Upstairs (q.v.).  The 
  term “Gods” is frowned upon in both official and unoffi-
  cial contexts, as it implies a level or worship and sanctity 
  not necessarily appropriate to the being in question.
  Navel Gazers: Slang. Agents in charge of  destiny moni-
  toring.  Though the job of  these agents is quite im-
  portant to the functioning of  FATE, field agents have 
  been known to look down upon monitoring 
  agents.  We at D9 HQ request that you learn 
  to “get along” with your fellow agents, re-
  gardless of  their position or rank, thereby 
  making FATE a better place for all to work.
  Snarls: AKA Inconsistencies (q.v.)
  Spinsters: Slang. Agents from Department 
  Nine, using it is like teasing D9 agents.  
  Web or Web of  Destiny: the sum total of  
  C/E threads, interlinking everything on 
  Earth to everything else.
  Women Upstairs: Slang. The three Fates 
  specifically.  While the Men Upstairs (q.v.) 
  refers to all the various gods formerly known 
  to inhabit Mount Olympus, the “Women Up-
  stairs” refers only to the Fates, who are at the head of  
  this agency.
   
   Terminology
  
   
  Playtest version 0.3
  5
  Introduction:
  Welcome to Department Nine: a roleplaying game about 
  destiny.  How should I describe this game?
   
  Take the classical idea of  Fate, complete with 
  three goddesses who administer to Beginnings, Middles 
  and Ends. After a few centuries, the Fates found it tax-
  ing to administer the destinies of  every single person on 
  earth, so they created FATE, a group of  priests to ad-
  minister over mundane lives. Over the centuries, FATE 
  has become increasingly large and bureaucratic. It is 
  dominated by petty paper pushers, centuries old dogma 
  and a belief  in the rigidity of  destiny.  Any spark of  the 
  vibrant, personal or human in the organization has long 
  since gone out.
   
  The player characters are agents of  FATE who 
  broke the cardinal rule of  the organization: they checked 
  their own future, and they didn’t like what 
  they saw. Now they have gone rogue (overtly 
  or covertly) and are working to change their 
  future. They still have the skills the Depart-
  ment taught them, but changing events can 
  attract the attention of  FATE agents.  Can 
  they save those things they hold dear, and 
  make things better?
   
  Each player will take turns starting 
  a scene, where one or more player characters 
  try to accomplish something.  The player of  
  that character will describe their actions, and 
  possibly spend some points from their pool 
  to succeed at their action.  Other players can 
  start a conflict to take control of  the scene. 
  conflicts are driven by a combination of  auc-
  tion and drawing colored stones out of  a hat 
  (or opaque bag).  Many of  the scenes will 
  drive the player characters closer to facing their final fu-
  ture, at which point they will need to stop that fate or fail 
  and face the consequences.  For each time you failed to 
  stop the events leading up to your fate, changing the fate 
  itself  will be more difficult.
   
  Each player has a Flag, which identifies what that 
  player wants to see happen in the game.  Flags automati-
  cally reward players for introducing those elements into 
  the game.  In addition, one Flag is built into the system, 
  to encourage adversity and conflict.  It will help direct 
  the game towards a satisfying climax, I hope.
   
  Character Creation:
   
  To create your character, first you need to create 
  a set of  Keywords. Keywords are used as creative spurs 
  to build characters from. This is like a free-association 
  game: pick a category and come up with a detail, image 
  or idea that relates to that category.  Write that concept 
  or phrase on an index card.  Do this six times, picking a 
  different category each time. 
   
  There are twelve categories, but you only need to 
  write six Keywords. So pick categories that appeal to you 
  and that spur on your creativity.  Once you’ve come up 
  with a more specific image or idea and written it down, 
  the category itself  will no longer matter (don’t write 
  that on the card, just your more specific version).
  The categories are:
  •	Action Adventure – You know, like a big 
  Hollywood blockbuster with explosions and 
  stuff.
  •	Bureaucracy – Department Nine is a giant, 
  ancient organization full of  obtuse rules and 
  obscure regulations
  •	 Espionage – you’re secret agents doing 
  highly classified work, here
  •	 Family – family relationships make for 
  compelling gameplay
  •	Time Travel – What sorts of  paradoxes 
  arise from knowing the future?  What hap-
  pens if  you can change the future?
  •	 Mistakes – Confusion, accidents and 
  wrongful assumptions make for excellent 
  comedy and tragedy both.
  •	Myth – as in ancient Greek myths and the 
  gods and monsters associated with them
  •	Neo-Noir – The classic crime drama updated to mod-
  ern sensibilities
  •		Paranoia – Who do you trust?  What secret motives 
  and shady dealings lurk beneath the surface of  Depart-
  ment Nine?
  •	Precognition – You can know the future.  How does 
  that change your behavior?
  •	Romance – Always a good motivation.  Who do you 
  love?  Why do you love them?
  •	Tragedy – You’re trying to evade a terrible fate, right? 
  What horrific things lurk in the near future?
   
  Your keywords should be short, punchy and in-
  teresting.  You want someone to read the word and im-
  mediately get their brain firing based on all the cool ideas 
  they have for using it.  You also need to keep Keywords 
  vague in order to allow for maximum combination: if  
   Characters
  
   
  Playtest version 0.3
  6
  you’re too specific, then it’s hard to combine with some-
  thing else.
   
  Once everyone has written out six keyword 
  cards, take all the Keywords together and shuffle them 
  into a pile.  Deal out six to each player.  Now you will 
  look at the Keywords that you received. Pick one to help 
  determine your relationship with the player on your left, 
  and another to determine the relationship with the player 
  on your right.
  	
  Look	at	the	cards	that	you	received	and	the	cards	
  of  your neighboring players.  Figure out how to combine 
  those cards to describe what the relationship is between 
  your characters.  Talk with your neighbors and figure 
  out how “Bureaucracy – supervisor” and “Espionage – 
  Security cameras” fit together.  Are you hacking into the 
  security cameras to avoid your supervisor catching you 
  at something?  Or are you a security professional, super-
  vising the security cameras in the office?   
   
  Some keywords might be hard to 
  fit together if  they tie directly to specific 
  kinds of  relationships.  If  you have “Fam-
  ily – Mother” for the player on your left and 
  they have “romance – Mother”, then you 
  have two choices: A) steal from Oedipus Rex 
  and have an inappropriate romantic relation-
  ship with your own parent/child or B) decide 
  that the two Keywords apply to an NPC that 
  is relevant to both of  you.  In this case, the 
  NPC might be your mother and the other 
  PC’s lover, which still tells us something 
  about your relationship with the other PC. 
  If  you’re stuck, be creative, introduce NPCs 
  to triangulate, and ask for help from unin-
  volved players.  If  all else fails, ask the table 
  if  it’d be reasonable to pick a new pair of  
  Keywords to define your relationship.
   
  Now that we have relationships defined, we 
  should be getting a good idea what sort of  character 
  you’re playing.  Now you pick another Keyword card that 
  will define what sort of  Fate you’re dealing with.  The 
  term it provides might be something you want to stop or 
  avoid, or it may be something you hope to gain.  The card 
  may represent some relevant NPC, or it may represent 
  something you want you PC to become.  Think about the 
  card, and come up with a Fate that your character has 
  that you want to change in some way.
  The remaining three cards in your hand will be used to 
  frame scenes for your own character or for other charac-
  ters.  Think about how you’ll use these cards later on as 
  you pick relationship and Fate cards.
   Flags
  Note:
  Determining your Fate establishes a lot about 
  the tone of  your character and the game in 
  general. Establishing a silly Fate, like “Forced 
  to marry an ugly girl”, for your character sug-
  gests a silly game, in this example a romantic 
  comedy sort of  game. And that is fine, provided 
  the group as a whole wants that sort of  game. 
  Similarly, the Fate might be defined as “Chi-
  cago is destroyed by terrorists in a nuclear ex-
  plosion”, which suggests the game is a more ac-
  tion oriented game. Along with your Keywords 
  and Flags (which come in later), defining your 
  Fate is your primary way to set the tone and to 
  communicate mood to the other players. 
  Use your powers wisely: create a Fate you think 
  would be interesting to watch happen, and also 
  interesting to thwart.
  
   
  Playtest version 0.3
  7
  Flags:
   
  Finally, you need a Flag.  Your Flag is something 
  you, the player, want to see happen in the game.  (Your 
  character may or may not want it.)  You could define it 
  as something concrete, like “Ninjas” or “swordfights” or 
  “espionage tradecraft”.  Alternately, it might be some-
  thing more abstract, like “Hubris punished” or “player 
  characters failing” or “moral dilemmas”.  If  you go for 
  abstract, make sure it’s clear enough to everyone at the 
  table exactly what behavior matches the Flag.
   
  When someone does whatever your Flag asks 
  for, they will be rewarded.  Every Flag will start with 
  one token on it.  Each time a player does something that 
  fulfills another player’s Flag, they take all the tokens off  
  that Flag.  Every other Flag gets a token added to its 
  pile.
  Example: Alex, Belinda, Carl and David are 
  playing 
  Department Nine.  When Alex fulfills Belin-
  da’s Flag of  “mistaken identity” by confusing 
  the oncoming FATE agent for his PC’s ex-wife, 
  Alex takes the tokens that have accrued on the 
  Flag.  Alex, Carl and David each add one to-
  ken onto their respective Flags, Belinda gains the 
  pleasure of  seeing the Flag fulfilled.  The System 
  Flag also gains a token.
   
  So the idea is that the other players 
  will want to introduce things you like into 
  the game, increasing the fun for both in-
  volved.  You can change your Flag whenever 
  you like, provided you’re not doing it to be 
  a jerk.  How do you know if  you’re being a 
  jerk?  If  you change your Flag to avoid let-
  ting a player get the reward from hitting it, 
  that’s being a jerk.  If  someone protests to the change 
  because they wanted the tokens your Flag acquired, give 
  them a chance to hit the Flag, and then change it to what-
  ever you want.  
   
  If  you don’t have any tokens on the Flag, don’t 
  worry about it, and change your Flag as often as you’d 
  like.  If  you’ve got a bunch of  Tokens on your Flag and 
  no one’s going for it, change it until someone takes the 
  bait.  After all, having a bunch of  tokens on the Flag 
  means it’s been a long time since you got the sort of  in-
  put a Flag gives you.
   
  Naming a specific player or PC in your Flag (e.g., 
  “I want to see Jim’s PC caught by FATE agents”) creates 
  a strong potential for jerkiness, so use it carefully.  It’s 
  often better just to generalize the Flag (so “I’d like to see 
  a PC caught by FATE agents”).  No, you can’t hit your 
  own Flag.  This is a tool for collaboration, and you can’t 
  collaborate with yourself. 
   
  Really small groups should consider giving each 
  player two Flags.  This is only recommended for groups 
  of  three players, but it gives the players more options.  In 
  groups of  four or more you should have enough differ-
  ent potential goals that you don’t need additional Flags. 
  Once again, though, make this game your own.
   
  If  you ever hit two Flags in the same action, take 
  the chips off  of  them in whichever order you prefer.  
  The System Flag:
   
  To create some conflict and adversity, there is 
  automatically one Flag in play, which is pre-
  defined and unchanging.  It is:
  •	
  Win a conflict while portraying an 
  NPC which is opposing a PC.
   
  This System Flag acts identically to 
  the other, player defined, Flags, including 
  acquiring tokens as other Flags are hit, re-
  warding a player when they are fulfilled and 
  putting tokens on other Flags when it is hit. 
  It is only distinct because it is predefined and 
  unchanging.
   
  Once everyone has played the game a 
  couple times and has a good handle on how 
  things work, you might as a group do away 
  with or modify the System Flags.  Or you may decide 
  to create additional System Flags (any Flag that is pre-
  defined and not controlled by a specific player).   That’s 
  great: make the game your own.  But make sure you have 
  the discussion about  changing  the Flags before
  you start playing the game.
  System Flags
  
   
  Playtest version 0.3
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  Beginning the Game:
   
  Once you have created character and outlined 
  their Fates, you just need to write everything where ev-
  ery player can see it, and distribute three starting tokens 
  to each player.  This is their initial pool of  points they 
  can spend (in Fate Manipulation or in Conflicts).
   
  It is helpful to have all the player’s Fate and re-
  lationships written out where everyone can see them. 
  Write them on the index cards.  Or write them on a large 
  sheet of  paper, or a chalkboard, or a dry erase board, or 
  on a parking lot using sidewalk chalk.  Whatever you 
  want, as long as the information is publicly accessible. 
  Similarly, you might want to each Player’s Flag written 
  where everyone can see them.  We used more index cards, 
  and stacked poker chips on the cards as other Flags were 
  hit.  But you could use coins, glass beads or any other to-
  kens you want instead of  poker chips, and write Flags on 
  anything, so long as everyone can see them, 
  and they can be easily modified.  So don’t tat-
  too your Flags on your chest or anything, 
  okay?
   
  Throughout the text, I tend to use 
  tokens, chips and points pretty interchange-
  ably.  (Stones are something separate and 
  specific and used in Conflicts.)  There should 
  be a big pile of  chips in the center of  the 
  playing field, so everyone can grab them as 
  appropriate.  There’s no theoretical limit on 
  how many chips can be placed on a Flag on 
  in a player’s pool, so I’d suggest ten to twen-
  ty chips per player need to be in this pile.
  Scene Framing:
   
  Starting at random, each player will take turns 
  playing a Keyword card from their hand and framing a 
  scene based on that card’s Keyword. These scenes will be 
  events that lead up to a character’s final Fate: if  they can 
  change things here, then they will find it easier to change 
  their final fate. Framing a scene can include describing 
  the setting, timeframe and situation in which characters 
  find themselves.  This can be as simple as stating “I want 
  to see Mr. Adrastus have to fight a monster that FATE 
  agents sent after him.”  Or it could be much more com-
  plicated and specific, tying together multiple plot threads 
  and characters.  You can frame scenes for other player’s 
  characters, if  you want.  After you describe the scene and 
  one player character that is involved, every player not yet 
  involved can choose to be present in the scene, provided 
  they can justify their character’s presence.
   
  Feel free to invent any non-player characters 
  that you feel are appropriate to the scene.  The non-play-
  er characters (NPCs) can be controlled by anyone at the 
  table, and can switch control from scene to scene.  When 
  you frame the scene, offer the NPCs to any player not 
  currently involved, to see if  they wish to play them.
   
  If  there are no more Keyword cards left to draw, 
  it is time for the PCs to begin facing their final Fate.
  Playing NPCs:
   
  Often, a scene will call for a non-player charac-
  ter to be present.  The player framing the scene gets to 
  declare what NPCs are present (though they should be 
  open to suggestions from other players).  
   
  If  possible, an NPC should be roleplayed by a 
  player whose PC is not in the current scene. 
  If  there are multiple players not in the cur-
  rent scene, one can volunteer, or you can de-
  cide to take turns, randomly or whatever you 
  want.  Just make sure the NPC gets played 
  by someone.
   
  Any time you agree to roleplay an NPC 
  for a scene, you gain one token for your pool.  
  This is to encourage roleplaying NPCs, and 
  to keep everyone involved, even if  their PC 
  is not present.
   
  If  all players currently have a PC in-
  volved in the scene, then anyone can volun-
  teer to play the NPC(s).  It’s ultimately the 
  responsibility of  the scene framing player to 
  see that NPCs get played by someone.
   
  Portraying an NPC and winning a conflict as one 
  will automatically hit the System Flag, and earn you a 
  reward.  
  Scenes
  
   
  Playtest version 0.3
  9
  Conflict Resolution:
   
  Conflict works by a process called sortition.  It’s 
  like drawing lots, and was used as the basic of  Athenian 
  democracy in the golden age of  Greece.  Stones of  two 
  or more colors will be put in an opaque bag.  One will be 
  drawn out of  the bag at random, and which color it is 
  will determine who wins the conflict.
   
  Other things than stones might work, like may-
  be poker chips, so long as they’re visually distinguish-
  able but not distinguishable by touch.    But I’ll call them 
  stones simply because that gives me a convenient term for 
  description.  You’ll want at least three colors of  stones, 
  with about 12-20 (?) stones of  each color, and a bag big 
  enough to hold nearly all the stones.  Four or more col-
  ors would be helpful.  You can purchase glass beads and 
  the like at craft stores, or pay twice as much for the same 
  thing packaged as life counters for Magic the Gathering. 
  You could use the same sort of  counter as 
  you use for the general tokens, but it’ll avoid 
  some minor issues if  you use separate things 
  for each.
   
  A conflict has begun because at 
  least two people disagree about how some-
  thing should turn out.  Each of  those people 
  chooses one color of  stone and places a stone 
  of  that color in the bag, describing how they 
  begin their conflict.  
   
  At this point, anyone can spend chips 
  from their pool and narrate in facts to aid one 
  side or another.  They can’t narrate in facts 
  that decisively end the conflict altogether, but 
  they can add additional details and complica-
  tions.  So in a fight scene, “I punch him hard” 
  is fine, but outright narrating the death of  
  your primary opponent is not.  Killing him would decide 
  the conflict instead of  adding more detail and excitement 
  to the conflict. (Killing minor NPCs and henchmen is 
  probably okay if  you want a more action-oriented game.) 
  Save the big decisive moves for when we reach the end 
  of  the conflict.  Your group can probably sort out what is 
  kosher and what is not for themselves.  
   
  If  there’s a lot of  confusion and people talking 
  over one another, you can go around the circle in turn, 
  each person getting a chance to narrate events and spend 
  points in turn (starting with one of  the two main op-
  ponents, I guess).  But most of  the time, you can just say 
  that stuff  is happening and spend your points on it.  The 
  order that stones go in the bag doesn’t really matter any, 
  so just say stuff  that happens as you get cool ideas on 
  what to do. 
   
  Each time you narrate in a new event, you need 
  to do two things: spend one point from your pool and 
  place a colored stone in the bag.  At the end of  the con-
  flict, one stone will be pulled at random from the bag to 
  determine the winner, so having more stones of  a certain 
  color helps that side’s chances of  winning.  (See below 
  for concluding a conflict.)
   
  If  you don’t have any poker chips in your pool, 
  you can suggest things to other people but your word 
  doesn’t carry any narrative weight.  The only way to 
  make your statements actually be narrative truth is to 
  spend chips.
   
  Each time you narrate, the details you describe 
  need to be new and interesting.  Don’t get repetitive.  If  
  you say “The rock is too big for you to move” one turn, 
  adding “It’s really, really big” the next isn’t sufficiently 
  different.  Perhaps you should instead describe how it is 
  a slippery rock, or how it’s hard to find a place to push 
  it from or something.  Make sure every time 
  you spend a stone, that you’re introducing 
  something new into the game for other peo-
  ple to work with.
   
  Most of  a conflict will consist of  the 
  two main opponents narrating events for 
  their own favor.  Sometimes, other people 
  may want to aid a certain side in a conflict, 
  so other players are free to narrate and add 
  stones to the bag for either side.  If  you’re 
  particularly impressed with a player’s narra-
  tion or cool idea, feel free to spend chips to 
  aid their side as well, as a reward for their 
  general awesomeness.  Or if  you just feel 
  that one side really should win for whatever 
  reason, you can add stones of  their color (by 
  spending your chips).  Of  course, you should 
  still add a detail for every stone put in the 
  bag, so that other people have more details to build on.
   
  Eventually, people will be out of  ideas to narrate 
  or they will be unwilling to spend more tokens on this 
  conflict.  At this point, the conflict has ended, and we 
  need to know who wins the final narration for it.  Some-
  one should mix the bag of  stones around and draw one 
  out.  Whichever player had that color stone then has won 
  the conflict.  They get to describe the final outcome of  
  the conflict.  (Note that they don’t need to describe good 
  or bad things for their PC, just that they get final say in 
  what happens.)  They explain how the conflict comes to 
  a close, and what the outcomes are for the various people 
  involved.
   
  The rest of  the stones should get removed from 
  the bag and made available for use in later conflicts.
   Conflicts
  
   
  Playtest version 0.3
  10
  Multisided Conflicts:
   
  Sometimes you’ll get three players who want in 
  on a conflict.  Sometimes you have multiple people op-
  posing the same person.  Sometimes everyone is opposed 
  to each other.  If  you have a bunch of  people in conflict, 
  you need to discuss whether this is all the same conflict, 
  or if  there are multiple conflicts to be done in serial for-
  mat.
   
  If  you have three or more participants each with 
  their own desires, you’ll need to have three or more col-
  ors of  stones to put in a bag.  Beyond that detail, three 
  sided conflicts run the same as two sided ones: you pay 
  tokens to narrate facts and put stones in the bag.  
   
  If  a player is pushing for the same outcome as 
  another player, it may be simpler to have one be the pri-
  mary participant in the conflict and the other person be 
  assisting them.  In this case, the assistant 
  would not get their own color of  stones: 
  they would be paying to place stones of  the 
  primary participant’s color in the bag.
    
  Ending a Scene:
   
  After a conflict or fate manipulation ends, any 
  players not involved in the conflict can choose to end 
  the scene and then we go back to taking turns framing a 
  new one.  If  another player later wishes to return to that 
  scene, that’s great, you can pick up where you left off, like 
  the intercutting between battles in a Star Wars movie.
   
  If  everyone is involved in the conflict, or if  there 
  is no conflict in a scene, end a scene by group consensus. 
  Propose to end a scene, and if  everyone else agrees, move 
  onto the next one, possibly coming back to that scene.
  Haruspicy
  
   
  Playtest version 0.3
  11
  Ending the Game:
   
  As the game progresses, you character will face 
  the events leading up to their Fate.  They will try to deal 
  with these Causes one way or another, and try to ma-
  nipulate destiny to make the event turn out differently. 
  If  you are unable to change these events when they oc-
  cur, then these events become “locked in”, and impossible 
  for a FATE agent to change.  Having failed to change a 
  Cause event will make it harder for a PC to change their 
  Fate in the final scenes of  the game.
   
  Once everyone has played out the Keyword cards 
  from their hand, you have reached the end of  the game 
  At this point, the other players decide by voting which 
  PCs avoid their fate and which do not.   
   
  Pause for a moment, and consider which PCs 
  have managed to change the causes of  their fates.  Con-
  sider which PCs you feel empathy towards 
  and which you feel deserve their failure.  De-
  cide for yourself  which PCs in your mind 
  should succeed or fail, based on whatever 
  criteria you want. Now you have to allocate 
  your tokens from your pool, splitting them 
  between the PCs of  the other players.  You 
  can divide your tokens up however you want: 
  perhaps one PC gets all your tokens, or per-
  haps they are split evenly between two PCs, 
  or you throw a single token off  to a PC be-
  cause he explained well how he worked to 
  avoid his fate.
   
  When everyone is done writing 
  down their votes, everyone reveals where 
  tokens are going.  If  a PC received enough 
  tokens from the other players, then they 
  succeed in avoiding their fate. If  the other 
  players spent at least five on a given character, that PC 
  can avert his or her Fate.  If  not, then the PC has failed 
  and their dreaded Fate comes true.  Go around the table 
  once more, with each player narrating for their own PC 
  how they manage to change their fate or how they suffer 
  through their fate.
  Example: Nick’s PC is the corrupt bureaucrat, is finally fac-
  ing his Fate, which is “being caught and punished for his il-
  legal activities”.  He has just emerged from a wrecked car after 
  a badly botched – but exciting – car chase.  FATE’s agents are 
  on his tail, so he ducks into a nearby Olive Garden™ restau-
  rant . Nick failed to avert one of  the causes of  his fate– that 
  same car chase.  But Nick makes a compelling argument to the 
  other players about why his character should survive, and the 
  vote reveals that he got the needed 6 tokens. Inside the Olive 
  Garden™, Nick’s PC pulls one last ditch fate manipulation to 
  coincidentally find a spare restaurant employee uniform, which 
  he quickly dons and uses as a disguise to escape pursuit.
  Another Example: Adam’s PC failed to stop the bumbling 
  politicians and counterterrorism officials ignoring warning 
  signs, and was unable to stop the bomb reaching Times Square, 
  so when he is sitting in Times square trying to defuse a bomb, 
  Adam needs at least seven tokens to change his destiny.  Un-
  fortunately, Adam only receives six chips in the final vote, so 
  the bomb goes off, killing Adam’s PC and many more innocent 
  civilians. 
   
  After everyone has had a scene dealing with their 
  fate, you can go around the table once more to describe 
  each character’s epilogue.  Just a brief  description of  
  what happens to the character will do.  If  they defeated 
  their Fate, describe a happy ending for them.  If  they 
  failed, describe a tragic one.
  Example: Amber’s PC, Agent Odysseus, succeeded in chang-
  ing his Fate of  “My family does not recognize me when we 
  are reunited”, so he is able to rejoin his wife and 
  children.  Amber narrates how after finding Od-
  ysseus and the happy reunion, Odysseus retires 
  from FATE and finds a job that doesn’t require 
  leaving his family on any sort of  business trips, 
  ever again.
  Another Example: Adam’s PC, Mr. Adras-
  tus, failed to stop the bomb exploding in Times 
  square.  This doesn’t stop Adam from narrating 
  an epilogue for his character, though, as he de-
  scribes the funeral for his character, how FATE 
  posthumously court martials him and how Mr. 
  Adrastus’s family never finds out why he was at 
  Times Square that day.
   
  And that’s the entire game.  You could 
  reuse some or all of  the player characters 
  again, if  their situation allows for it, but the 
  game should create a self  contained story, so you would 
  be just as well off  creating all new characters.  Or some 
  of  your group could reuse a character, whereas others 
  might choose to make new characters.
  Example: The second time Nick and Amber decide to play, 
  Adam cannot make it to the game.  But Nick and Amber are 
  joined by additional players Dan and Geoff.  Amber decides 
  her character from the first game has finished his story, and so 
  creates an entirely new character.  Nick likes the situation his 
  first PC finds himself  in: on the run from FATE with a small 
  amount of  cash from fixing horse races.  He thinks that would 
  make a good place to start the second game.  Dan and Geoff  
  both also create new characters, obviously.  Though Nick’s PC 
  returns from a previous game, he does not start with any par-
  ticular benefit.
   Denouement
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Department Nine.pdf