Okay, I think we're good to go ahead and get started with creating the game now.
For those who are new to FATE,
here is a link to the webpage where you can buy the rulebook OR download it officially free of charge. I strongly recommend reading the first section to start out with, it will help you get a good feel for how the game is going to be played. The character sheet spread is particularly good for giving you an overview for how your character operates, which is explained in good detail later in the book.
A main thing to remember is that at least compared to D&D, this will have more of a feel of collaborative story telling than normal. This is evident in the first step that we have for getting the game under way: Setting/City creation. Coming up with the world we are to play in is something for us all to undertake. We do have some stuff set already; this campaign will be in a modern city and will focus on mystery and have some elements of the supernatural in it. Past that, nothing is set in stone yet.
So first, we need to agree on a city to have the game based in. Ideally, it would be a city that we could all feel decently familiar with putting ourselves into, something you're familiar with or could be familiar with without too much effort. Probably means that a major city somewhere in the USA is best with the players we have here, though we could always try something else if anyone has any good ideas. It would also help a city if it had a lot of rumors or unexplained events in its history that we could then turn into story hooks.
I had so far been thinking of doing Nashville, TN, solely because I've lived there for a good portion of my life and would be able to draw upon a good bit from experience and driving around to locations here. It's not one you see on TV as much as most, but it's big enough to be a good playground I think. Definitely throw up another suggestion if you feel like you might have a really good one.
And once we agree on that, the next step would be to get some Setting's Big Issues talked about. I think we're looking for a more complex world, so probably getting 3 of those would be good. The goal there is to talk about either some overarching themes we want to go along with the story, or to name some imminent threats that we're going to have to deal with. And then later, we'll get to writing down some places and faces.
Also, go ahead and start thinking of a general character idea. As long as it fits inside those realms of modern/mystery/urban/maybe-supernatural or so, anything is fair play. You'll notice as you read through the rulebook that it doesn't have a lot specifically written out for a lot of subsystems, which is fine. The FATE system is set up that between the aspects/skills/stunts/consequences/fate points systems, we can emulate most things that we might want, and can even throw left over stuff in the Extras space if we need to. So if you have some ideas for something you want to be able to do that you don't see a close way to have happen in the rules already there, that's okay, think through how you want it to work and talk to me, and we'll figure out a way to make it work for you. I'm already talking to Mardoc some over chat about how to get a Magic/Evocation system in place, so go ahead and talk to me whenever.
PS: Also, if there's a general idea for the world that doesn't fit into any of the above that you want to make sure is included that might be out of the setup's common tropes("Let's have some crossover with modern-style superheroes in this world too"), or something that would be common to the trope you think it would be fun to work around not having here ("Let's have supernatural elements, but no supernatural species like werewolves or vampires"), go ahead and put it up, and we can make that a rule of the world if no one raises any major issues with it.
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So in summary, for now:
1) Download the rulebook, read at least the first section and how they describe setting creation.
2) Help agree on a city to set the game in, any suggestions you might have are welcome, if not I'll probably go for using Nashville.
3) Start thinking of overarching themes or imminent threats you want to have around in this campaign.
4) Start thinking of your character idea, and let me know if you wanna be able to do something that's not in the book.
a) Anything uncommon you want in the story, or anything common you want to ban, mention it, and we'll see if everyone's fine with it.
Hope that's not too much for now.