Hello, and welcome to this fan-made Fallen London RPG.

Before I get into the mechanics of the RPG, I would like to say a few things.

This game is based off of the Fate Core system, with some content from the Dresden
Files RPG, both of which are excellent games produced and sold by Evil Hat (© 2003 and
2010, respectively) Buy them at http://www.evilhat.com/store/. The setting is obviously
derived from the browser game Fallen London. Fallen London is © 2015 and ™
Failbetter Games Limited: www.fallenlondon.com. This fan-made RPG was made by
legally borrowing content under the Open Game License (OGL). This is an unofficial fan
work, made solely for individual enjoyment, and I am not attempting to monetize it in
any way.
This Fate RPG version of Fallen London was conceived of and written in 2015 by Kyle
Heidtman-Thayer, a.k.a. ancusohm. Editing and graphics by Chris Heidtman-Thayer.

Also, I’ve spent time on the forums and read a lot of information compiled by the fans. In
particular, I would like to thank Spacemarine9 for their excellent tumblr, which
provides information on lore and advice on game mechanics (http://saint-
arthur.tumblr.com/). However, my knowledge of Fallen London is still far from
complete. There are some questions that only the developers know the answer to.
Needless to say, I’m going to get some details wrong. If you disagree with how I’ve
portrayed anything, feel free to change the setting when you run the game.

I will provide summaries of various characters, factions, and peculiarities of the Neath.
However, I will not provide certain details about large portions of the setting for two
reasons. First, I want to keep things brief. Second, much of what I know of the setting
comes from Fate Locked content, which Failbetter Games prefers not be revealed.
Ultimately, this game depends on the Gamemaster being familiar with Fallen London…
or on the Gamemaster being willing to just make things up to fill in the details.

Okay. Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoy this RPG.

This RPG is divided into two sections. The first will cover game mechanics. The second
will serve as a brief overview and quick reference for setting details. The appendix
covers the legally required copyright notices.

Table of Contents

1. Mechanics
a. Welcome & What you need to play
b. The Basics
c. City Creation
d. Character Creation
e. Aspects
i. High Concept
ii. Trouble
iii. Phase Trio
iv. Playing With Aspects
f. Skills
g. Menaces
h. Assets
i. Stunts
j. Gear
k. Inventory
l. Templates
m. Powers
n. Advancement

2. Story
a. Brief History of Fallen London
b. Brief Note on Trade Goods
c. Regions of London
d. Important Locations in the Neath
e. Summaries of Connected Factions
f. Summaries of Other Factions
g. Notable Character List

Appendix: OGL Notice (a.k.a. Boring Legal Stuff)

WELCOME TO THE FALLEN LONDON RPG!
If you’ve never played a role-playing game before, here’s the basic idea: you and a bunch
of friends get together to tell an interactive story about a group of characters you make
up. You get to say what challenges and obstacles those characters face, how they
respond, what they say and do, and what happens to them. It’s not all just conversation,
though—sometimes you’ll use dice and the rules in this book to bring uncertainty into
the story and make things more exciting.

What You Need To Play

Getting into a game based on the Fate system is very simple. You need:

● Between three and five people. One of you is going to be the Gamemaster (or
“GM” for short), and everyone else is going to be a player. We’ll explain what
that means in a moment.
● A character sheet (included), one per player, and some extra paper for note-
taking. We’ll talk about what’s on the character sheet below. (GMs, any important
characters you play might have a character sheet also.)
● Fate dice, at least four, preferably four per person. Fate dice are a special kind of
six-sided dice that are marked on two sides with a plus symbol (+), two with a
minus symbol (-), and two sides are blank (0). You can get these dice from many
hobby and game stores, often under their original name, Fudge dice.
Alternatively, you can just use six sided dice (treating 1-2 = -, 3-4 = 0, and 5-6 = +).
● Tokens to represent Fate points. Poker chips, glass beads, or anything similar will
work. You’ll want to have at least thirty or more of these on hand, just to make
sure you have enough for any given game. You can use pencil marks on your
character sheet in lieu of tokens, but physical tokens add a little more fun.
● Index cards. These are optional, but I find they’re very handy for recording
aspects and additional inventory during play.
The Basics
This is a cut-down version for easy reading -- if something doesn’t make sense or you’d
like more examples, the Fate Core rulebook and the Dresden Files RPG: Your Story both
expand on the description of all the mechanics in this guide. They’re very helpful and
fun books -- Evil Hat’s a great place at which to throw some of your money!

In Fate, when a character must overcome a particular obstacle, the dice start rolling.
The GM needs to make a number of decisions regarding how this contest is going to be
resolved (static or dynamic and test or challenge) and then make a check of some sort.
The simplest and most common sort of check is the static test.

Static Tests

For a static test, the GM sets a fixed difficulty, then the player chooses an appropriate
skill, rolls the dice, and compares the outcome to the difficulty. For simple tasks, the
player needs to meet or exceed the difficulty set by the GM. While that is all that’’s
needed in situations where all that matters is the success or failure of the action,
sometimes the degree of success is very important. In those situations, the check is
rolled in the same way as any other static test, but the GM looks at the difference
between what the character rolled and what they needed. This difference is called the
Margin of Success (if the character succeeded) or the Margin of Failure (if the character
failed). Because a tie is a success, it is possible to have a margin of success of 0. The
simple rule of thumb is the larger the margin of success, the more significant the
success. The exact effect varies from case to case, but to give a few examples:
● Information Gathering -- Each point of MoS gives one additional fact.
● Physical Activities -- Greater MoS means the act was done with greater speed or
grace.
● Social Actions -- Greater MoS allows a longer lasting or deeper impression.
In general the MoS is broken down as follows:

MoS Degree Magnitude Duration

0 Minimal Negligible Instant

1 Competent Minor Momentary

2 Solid Moderate Scene

3 Significant Major Session

4 Perfection Overwhelming Long-term

Example Static Test: Jim needs to get to another rooftop within The Flit to get away
from some constables. The GM informs his player that there’’s a very wobbly, very
narrow bridge between the two, and it’’s going to take a Fair balance check to get over it
without slowing down. Finn has a Good Athletics skill, and he rolls --0+, which brings the
Good down to a Fair, which is enough to make his way across, but he gains no lead on the
constables due to the crossing’s hazardous nature making him slow down and be careful.
A greater MoS could have let him move across more swiftly or have the time to pull the
bridge behind him to slow down pursuit.

Static Challenges

While a test is a check which can be resolved in a single check, a challenge takes longer,
usually requiring multiple rolls to ultimately achieve a specific (usually quite high) MoS.
To accomplish this, successes are tracked on a challenge ladder, which looks something
like this:
Each time the character makes a check, they mark off a box of the appropriate MoS. If
all the boxes of a given level are marked off, they mark a box of the next level up. If
those are all full, mark the next up and so on. In this manner, it is possible to accumulate
enough small successes to complete a large project and achieve a MoS of 4 (or whatever
is required).

Customizing Challenges
While this system can be used to carve a model gun out of soap, it can also be used to
carve faces in Mount Rushmore. Obviously, the requirements for different challenges
can vary significantly. A challenge is made up of five parts: Difficulty, Complexity,
Fragility, Span and Recovery.
Difficulty is the target difficulty the player is rolling to beat. It’s important to note that
while this may be quite high, it does not have to be. Some tasks are not so much hard, as
simply time-consuming.

Complexity is the number and distribution of the boxes in the ladder. By default, the
ladder will look a lot like the sample (above); a very simple task may have fewer boxes,
while a very complicated task may have many more. Boxes need not be evenly
distributed; for instance, the steps could be a pyramid or an inverted pyramid. Uneven
distribution of boxes can be especially apt when there are outcomes from the
intervening steps. For example, the GM creates a challenge ladder for finding the
rumors in a given city. She puts a lot of boxes at the Solid and significant level, and ties
each one to a rumor the player’s will hear when they check it off.

Fragility is a measure of how well the task handles failure. Not all tasks are fragile, but
most at least have some sort of problem that arises from a MoF of 3 or 4. Most often,
fragility means that the MoF can be used to remove successes. By default, a MoF
removes a success from an equivalent MoS (if there are no successes at that level, keep
going up the ladder until one is found). For more fragile challenges, a failure may
remove the highest success, remove all successes, or even completely destroy the project
being worked on. Alternately, the effects of fragility may not directly affect the success
but instead have some sort of triggered effect.

Span measures how long the task takes in terms of how often a check may be made.

Recovery tracks how quickly the challenge recovers boxes. Span and recovery are often
tracked together for convenience. Challenges are most apt when they are required by
the difficulty of the task rather than the sheer scope. They are generally designed to
allow repeated effort to build up to a higher MoS, and thus an effect that could not
normally be accomplished. However, they are not as useful for modelling tasks that are
more about repetition and consistency, such as building a house. For such tasks, a series
of Static Tests may be more apt, simply keeping a count of successes until a total is
reached, possibly granting a bonus for a very high MoS on a given roll. The problem with
this method is that it can be staggeringly boring, especially if a lot of rolls are involved.
The GM is strongly encouraged to make the span as long as can be reasonably justified
to avoid massive die rolling extravaganzas.

Example: A Little Of The Old Poirot. The GM has a set of clues for the a crime scene,
and she builds them into a challenge. She sets the difficulty at Good, requiring the
Rapport or Investigation skills. She has 10 clues (five of which are physical, five of which
are personal), plus one secret (that could be found by either method), so she builds the
ladder with a heavy concentration on solids and significants, so each one will be worth 1
clue. She considers fragility -- a failure is unlikely to disrupt the ladder -- it’’s hardly
going to take away information already gained. Instead, she decides on a special
circumstance: On a MoF of 3 (which would be a Poor result), the character will either
offend someone and get no more witness testimony, or step on evidence and cause the
constables to shoo him away (depending on which skill is being used). Lastly, she
decides the span will be one afternoon -- this represents spending time establishing a
rapport with witnesses or carefully cataloging every detail in the scene. However,
criminal investigations are actively purused, so every day the player doesn’’t pursue this
challenge, the progress of the authorities (and any competitors) and growing coldness of
the case will cause a a box to become unchecked.

Option: Contests
While most conflicts between two characters are resolved dynamically (see below), when
two characters are doing the same thing, it’s often a good idea to have them both make
static tests against a given difficulty, and use the MoS to determine who does better.
This is most useful when it’s important to know how well each participant does. In the
case of ties (where a reroll is not appropriate), victory goes to the higher base skill.

Example: Who Buys Next? Hugh and Robbie are shooting bottles at Mrs. Plenty’s Most
Distracting Carnival to see who pays for the next round of drinks. Hugh has a Good Guns
skill, while Robbie’s is Fair. Hitting a bottle is an Average difficulty. Hugh rolls +00- for
a Good (MoS 2), but Robbie rolls a ++0+ for a Superb (MoS 4). Robbie wins, and in terms
of describing the scene, Hugh got a pretty good score, but Robbie managed to hit the
center bottle and make the pyramid tumble. Looks like Hugh is buying.

Why Dynamic?

While Static checks are appropriate when the character has no direct opposition, many
conflicts will be directly with another character. In those situations, both sides roll dice
and compare outcomes.

Dynamic Tests

As with static checks, sometimes all the GM needs to resolve a situation is the outcome,
but sometimes the margin of success or failure is important. In those situations, the
player makes a dynamic test, and considers the result as follows:

MoS Degree Magnitude Duration

0 Minimal Negligible Instant

1 Competent Minor Momentary

2-4 Solid Moderate Scene

5-6 Significant Major Session

7+ Perfection Overwhelming Long-term

Canny readers may notice that this table is very similar to the table for static tests,
except that the numbers used to determine the MoS are different, to reflect the greater
total number of dice being rolled.

Dynamic Challenges

Dynamic challenges are very similar to static challenges. The same considerations that
go into making a static challenge (Difficulty, Complexity, Fragility and Span —-- see
“Customizing Challenges” above) are used to create a dynamic challenge. The only
difference are the new numbers for measuring MoS. Dynamic challenges can be used to
model almost any sort of contest, from a footrace to a debate to a fencing match (see
“Combat” on page 36). Dynamic challenges are also appropriate when the character is
performing an action where a number of random factors can come into play. In those
situations, even if there is no direct opposition the GM may still roll dice -- in this case
the check is considered dynamic.
Example: The Chess Match. Two chess masters, Louis and Ferdinand, are in a tense
match that will decide the fate of a nation due to a risky wager by the Traitor Empress.
The GM wants to crank up the tension for this, so decides that checkmating the other
master is each character’s goal. Thus, she writes down two identical challenge tracks for
each character, representing the difficulty of overcoming their opponent, and the state
of the opponent’s board: MoS Ladder Notes: 0 Pawn Captured, 1 Knights and Bishops (-1
to the next roll), 2-4 Rooks (-1 for rest of match), 5-6 Queen (-2 for rest of match), 7+ King
(Checkmate) Fragility: None, Span: Each check is a few minutes and spans several
moves, Recovery: None

Each set of opposed skill checks does not represent a single pair of moves in the game,
but rather each significant moment in the game, which may be comprised of multiple
moves. Further, the GM rules that if the highest box checked off is a Moderate, the
target is at -1 for the rest of the challenge; if Major, the target is at -2 for the rest of the
challenge. A Minor loss should force a temporary shift in strategy, so that too gives a -1 --
but only to the next roll by the victim. The players begin to roll. In the first exchange,
Louis gets a moderate (MoS 2) success, which the GM narrates as having taken one of
Ferdinand’s rooks. It’s a bad result for Ferdinand this early in the match, and he’s at a -1
for the rest of the game. Ouch. In the next exchange, Ferdinand beats Louis by all of 1,
overcoming his early loss. The GM says Ferdinand has claimed one of Louis’ knights,
giving Louis a -1 to his next roll -- for the moment, Louis and Ferdinand will be on an
equal footing. Then, Ferdinand and Louis tie. The GM rules that they’ve traded pawns
after some tense maneuvering, and checks off a box on the lowest rung for each of them.
Following this, Louis is no longer at a -1, while Ferdinand is. Louis ends up rolling
extraordinarily well, while Ferdinand only hits the middle of his range -- Louis beats
Ferdinand by 5, depriving him of his Queen, and knocking him down to a -2. In the final
exchange, Louis’ luck and Ferdinand’s penalties conspire to give Louis a MoS of 5 again -
- but all Major boxes are filled up, and thus the result rolls into Overwhelming --
checkmate. Louis wins.

In Summary

Any given check is going to be one of four types: static tests, static challenges, dynamic
tests or dynamic challenges. Static checks involve only the player rolling, while both the
player and GM roll for dynamic checks. Tests are resolved in a single check, while
challenges are resolved over the course of several rolls.

Static Dynamic

Test Only player rolls, only one roll. Player and GM roll, only one roll

Challenge Only Player rolls, multiple rolls Player and GM roll, multiple rolls.
Setting Difficulties

The following guidelines can be used for GMs looking to set difficulties for tasks. It’s
important to note that for many tasks, the difficulty is just the beginning. Most
significant tasks will be challenges rather than tests, and will require multiple successes
to accomplish their goal.

Assumptions About Difficulties

The baseline for these difficulties is based around the idea that a Superb skill represents
the practical apex of human skill -- transcending Superb is truly the stuff of epics and
legends. Not every game is going to hold that to be true, and if the ceiling moves up or
down, move the difficulties up and down an equal amount

Negligible Tasks (Poor) - These are tasks that should not require a roll. These tasks are
easily doable by anyone with the basic understanding of, and physical capability for, the
task at hand. These should almost never require a roll. Examples: Starting a car, turning
on an appliance, climbing a ladder, getting into a swimming pool. reading the headlines,
getting the punchline of a late-night monologue, popping microwave popcorn.

Simple Tasks (Mediocre) - This is the difficulty for most tasks that an ordinary person
could encounter on a routine basis. They are the sorts of challenges that can be
overcome without any real drama or struggle, provided the character is even faintly
competent. Examples: Driving a car in the rain, researching something with Google,
climbing a knotted rope, treating a sunburn, catching a ball, writing a business letter,
getting on a horse, cooking using a recipe, loading a gun, building a campfire.

Mundane Tasks (Average) - these are the sort of tasks that would challenge the average
person, but are handled regularly by experts and professionals. Someone with basic
skills might be able to perform this sort of task in a pinch, but not with any regularity.
Examples: performing CPR, researching something obscure in a library, playing in a
marching band, rescuing a drowning swimmer, splinting a broken arm, digging a well,
sewing a dress, cooking from scratch.

Difficult Tasks (Fair) - These are tasks that are pretty much entirely out of the realm of
a person with only basic training. These tasks are noteworthy enough that they are
rarely approached without taking proper care to make preparations. Examples:
Performing simple surgery, rebuilding a car engine, climbing a cliff face, juggling
knives, flying a small airplane.

Daunting Tasks (Good) - Even skilled professionals balk in the face of these tasks, and
it’s entirely possible for a person to go their whole life without ever facing a challenge of
this scope. Capability with this sort of task is indicative of a great deal of training or
natural talent (or both). Examples: Flying a fighter jet, performing open-heart surgery,
scaling the side of a building, cooking for a good restaurant, design an office building.

Staggering Tasks (Great) - Only the best of the best need apply - there are only a handful
of people in the world at any given time who could do this sort of thing with any sort of
consistency. Examples: Multiple organ transplant, climbing Mt. Everest, soloing for the
NYC orchestra, developing a new programming language, cooking for a Michelin-starred
restaurant.

Nearly Impossible Tasks (Superb) - At this level, it is possible to start doing things that
expand the very nature of the task at hand. Examples - Researching a new branch of a
science, composing a masterpiece.

The other important mechanics are Aspects and Skills, which have their own sections
later.
City Creation
High Level: Themes, Threats, and Faces

This section may seem odd to you. After all, you probably want to set the game in Fallen
London. Why do you need to create a city?

Because the wonderful people at Failbetter Games have created a very complex and
detailed world. While that works very well for the Fallen London browser game, the
world is a little bit too big for an RPG. Instead of trying to manage every single conflict
and scheme going on in Fallen London, I would recommend narrowing the focus by
filling out the City Sheet (High Level), a worksheet taken from the Dresden Files RPG.
A blank copy of the sheet is attached along with an example that has been filled out.

Speak with your group about what you would all find most interesting about Fallen
London, and collectively pick a total of three Themes or Threats that you would like to
focus on.

Themes are entrenched problems. They have been going on for a long time, and they not
going to change any time soon. An organization or individual can be behind the theme,
but the backer should not be easily beaten. (For example, Fallen London is slowly
succumbing to the predation of the Masters, which can be represented with the theme
“Every year, London loses a bit of itself”).

Alternatively, some themes are just a product of the environment with no true
supporters (For example, scheming and plotting has been going on in the Neath for
literal millenia, which can be represented with “Secrets have been piled atop secrets for
longer than human civilization”). It is probably best to pick a theme that is actually
present in Fallen London, although, opinions may vary over exactly which themes are
present. It’s a big game.

Threats are new problems. Some individual, organization, or even circumstance has
changed something in the city recently. These threats can be defeated much more easily
than themes. Unlike with themes, it is much more appropriate to invent new threats that
your group find interesting, even if that specific threat has not appeared in game.

For example, I personally have always been interested in the Far Khanate. I decided to
base a threat off the idea of the Gracious Widow making a play for power in London.
This attempt would put her in direct conflict with the Cheery Man’s criminal
organization (depending on player action, this conflict might escalate into a full-out mob
war). The players could also affect how Society, the Bohemians, and the Church react to
the influx of powerful foreigners who are mostly non-Christian (much less the right sort
of Christian. Sniff.). This threat has a chance of changing the status quo in London far
more than the browser game allows.

For each theme and threat, create a snappy aspect to represent the problem. For the
example themes and threat, the following aspects were chosen: Fallen Glory, Layers of
Secrets, and Charge of the Salt Horse.

Faces
At this point, you may decide to create faces to represent the themes and threats in your
game. Alternatively, you can wait to do this until after your group has created its
characters.

In short, faces are characters who, well, put a face on a more abstract problem. The faces
can be behind the problems, they may be emblematic of it, or they may even be
struggling against it. The important thing is to make them deeply invested in or symbolic
of the problem. In addition to their name or epithet, list their high concept, which you
create much like how you would create a high concept for a player character. You do not
need to come up with a specific number of faces for each theme or threat, but try to have
more than one. Feel free to use existing characters from the game. Alternatively, you
may invent new characters.

In the example, the faces of the themes and threats were mostly existing characters.
However, I invented the character of the Pirate Khan, a powerful figure from the
floating city of Khan’s Shadow. He views himself as the true son of Genghis, a mighty
warrior, unlike the Gracious Widow, who he regards as a pampered noble. The Pirate
Khan wants the Khanate to gain power in London, just like the Widow, but that does not
mean they will work together.

I created the character in order to give the Khanate faction more complexity and to
create opportunities for the players to act. The players could smooth things over
between the Pirate Khan and the Gracious Widow, creating one powerful Khanate
faction. Alternatively, they could try to protect London by actively pitting the Pirate
Khan against the Widow.

The Balance of Power

The Status Quo

The status quo in the Fallen London browser game is very complex and somewhat open
to interpretation. In order to make sure all the players and the Gamemaster are on the
same page, you should collaboratively briefly describe the supernatural and mundane
statuses quo.
In the example Supernatural Status Quo, the Masters are far and away the most
powerful faction in Fallen London. The other supernatural powers compete for scraps.
This status quo works for the example because it was designed so players would mostly
deal with mundane factions, like the encroaching Khanate. If your game focuses more on
supernatural conflicts, you may want to make supernatural factions more competitive
with the Masters.

In the example Mundane Status Quo, it is much less clear which faction has the most
power in Fallen London, which creates more opportunity for conflict. The example does
not even mention large numbers of factions because they are not intended to be major
players in the example game.

Movers and Shakers

The last part of high-level city creation is to fill out the chart describing how much
different factions know about the supernatural and how much they want to change the
situation. Different factions’ positions on the chart are very open to interpretation,
which allows you to tweak factions’ roles from game to game. The example chart is too
complex to describe in words, but I would like to remind you again that it depicts only
one interpretation of the knowledge and attitudes of the different factions. If your group
disagrees with something, change it.

NB: This chart comes from the Dresden Files RPG where some factions are completely
ignorant of the supernatural. In Fallen London, everyone knows the supernatural exists,
so it is either appropriate to put no faction in the top row, or to only place them there in
a relative sense (i.e. they necessarily have some knowledge by virtue of their very
presence in the Neath, but when compared to everyone else, they know nothing).

Locations and Faces

It is probably a good idea to set up ahead of time any location that characters will
frequently visit in game. Some of these places the characters may call home. Others may
be established neutral grounds. Still more, might be extremely dangerous areas filled
with people who would happily tear your characters limb from limb (yay!).

The Gamemaster can create interesting stories by forcing the players to venture into
dangerous areas or by threatening areas that are important to them or their allies. You
can keep track of these location on City Sheet (Locations) worksheet. You do not need to
come up with a location for every space on the worksheet, and you definitely do not
need to come up with them all ahead of time. If players keep returning to the same
place, add it to the sheet.

For each location, record its name and a brief description. Then decide on a theme or
threat for this location (it may differ from the theme or threats for the game in general).
Write down the idea behind the theme or threat and the relevant aspect’s name. Lastly,
come up with a face for the location, just like you came up with a face for the game’s
overarching themes and threats. You can keep track of the different faces on the City
Sheet (Faces) worksheet.

NB: It would be best to connect each location and face with at least one faction in Fallen
London.

One Last Note on City Creation

If your group wants, you could potentially set a game somewhere other than London
itself. Perhaps Port Carnelian? The Far Khanate? Or even further afield? Perhaps even a
game about a ship zailing the Sunless Sea (as though someone would play such a thing)?

You can create those areas much like you would set up the city of London. However,
there is less detail on locations outside of London, so your group will have to invent
more of the setting themselves.
Character Creation
Character creation is, ideally, very interactive, with the entire group creating characters
in the presence of the GM. The methods below can be adapted to a less group-focused
approach, but doing so loses many of benefits of the Fate approach. Character creation
consists of a small number of simple steps, as described below.

Before starting individual characters, your group needs to decide the campaign power
level.

Feet in the Water (6 refresh, 7 Skill points, 5 Asset points, 4 base Connection points,
skill cap at Great): At this level you are just getting started with your Neathy life. Highly
customizable templates aren’t going to be able to add much, so this is really the
“enhanced mortal” game — at most, you can do stuff that only the best of humanity can.
Typical characters might include mid-level professionals or talented amateurs.

Up to Your Waist (7 refresh, 9 Skill points, 6 Asset points, 6 base Connection points, skill
cap at Great): This level is the suggested floor for a lot of the templates—that point at
which you can actually be a functioning non-human PC or particularly talented human
professional.

Chest-Deep (8 refresh, 11 Skill points, 7 Asset points, 8 base Connection points, skill cap
at Superb): At this point, you’re playing with at least minor-league power. You’re a very
well-known professional in your field or a fairly strong non-human (suggested floor for
Devils).

Submerged (10 refresh, 13 Skill points, 8 Asset points, 10 base Connection points, skill
cap at Superb): You are a major-leaguer; refined customization and combination are
options for most templates, and Devils are a practical option. If you’re a human, you
either have acquired some supernatural juice or are one of the universally
acknowledged top members of your field in your mundane profession (think Jackie Chan
levels of fame as Martial Artists go).

To create a character follow these steps (which are elaborated on below):

1. Choose a Template
2. Choose a Name, High Concept, Trouble, and Phase Trio Aspects
3. Prioritize your skill groups, and note the corresponding number of stress boxes on
your character sheet.
4. Spend skill points to improve individual skills.
5. Spend your Asset points.
6. Buy stunts.
7. Play!
Step 1: Templates

Templates are used to allow players to make non-human characters or human

professionals. Each template has certain requirements and gives certain bonuses. They
each cost a number of Refresh Points. Buying a template (or a stunt) permanently
reduces the number of Fate points you start each session with. Stunts are described in
more detail in a later section.

The Templates section lays out the details on the provided templates.

There are non-human templates for Rubbery Men, Rattus Faber, Snuffers, and
Unfinished Men, and, in high-powered games, Devils. Please note that every non-human
race is subject to some degree of discrimination in Fallen London. If you are not
comfortable with that, please do not play one. The non-human races have various
supernatural powers that are elaborated on in the Powers section.

There is one sample Template for a Profession (Midnighter) -- each GM should decide
the Musts, Stunts, etc. for each Profession a given player is interested in, as there are too
many potential professions (especially for games set on the Zee, in the Khanate, etc.) for
it to be practical to create a full mock-up for each.

Step 2: Name, High Concept, Trouble, and Phase Trio Aspects

Please see the Aspects section for more details on this part of the process, and how
Aspects work in play.

NB: As far as names go in Fallen London itself, most characters have Adjective Noun
names, rather than given ones. While some original Fallen London characters’ names
work perfectly well for their High Concept (such as the Implacable Detective or the
Sardonic Music-Hall Singer), others don’t really work (the Gracious Widow, His Amused
Lordship). I suggest for ease of play you use more traditional naming schemes
(Given/Christian name and Last/Family name for Westerners) and save Adjective Noun-
ing for High Concepts and other Aspects.

Here’s a handy reference to Victorian England names to get you started:

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~poindexterfamily/OldNames.html

Remember that your High Concept must reflect your species if non-human, or your
profession if you have taken one.
Step 3: Skills

Skills in the Fallen London RPG are divided into four groups: Dangerous, Watchful,
Persuasive, and Shadowy. Each Skill Group contains certain skills. Some skills are in
multiple Skill Groups. The groups are below.

Dangerous Watchful Persuasive Shadowy

Athletics Alertness Deceit Athletics

Guns Empathy Empathy Burglary

Intimidation Investigation Intimidation Deceit

Melee Lore Performance Investigation

Physique Scholarship Presence Sleight of Hand

Survival Survival Rapport Stealth

Descriptions on the usage of the various skills can be found later, in the Skills section.

Skill Group Prioritization

To create your character, prioritize the Skill Groups’ importance for your character. The
Skill Group you want your character to be best at gets a +3 bonus. The second-best Skill
Group gets a +2 bonus. The third-best gets a +1 bonus. The least-skilled group gets a +0
bonus.

By default, whenever you roll for a skill, you add that that skill’s Group Bonus to the
results.

Crossovers
Some skills are present in two skill groups. These are called crossover skills. If you have
a Group Bonus greater than +0 in two groups that contain the same skill, that crossover
skill gets a bonus equal to the greater Group Bonus + 1.

Menaces
The prioritization of the skill groups also determines how many stress boxes you get for
the different menaces. The four menaces (Wounds, Nightmares, Scandal, and Suspicion)
correspond to the four Skill Groups. The Menace that corresponds to the group with the
+3 bonus gets 4 stress boxes. The Menaces for the +2 group and the +1 group both get 3
stress boxes. The +0 group gives 2 stress boxes to its Menace. You will read more about
Menaces later.
Step 4: Skill Customization

You may improve the bonus for individual skills in Skill Groups. Depending on the
power level of the game, you will receive a certain number of skill points (7 skill points
at the lowest level). You may spend these skill points to improve individual skills.

To increase a skill bonus by +1 costs 1 point. To increase a skill bonus by +2 costs 3

points. However, if you have a crossover skill (which has a free +1 skill bonus),
increasing that skill bonus to +2 only costs 2 points.

NB: It is impossible to give a skill a bonus more than two points greater than that Skill
Group’s bonus.

Example: If you had +3 in Watchful, then Investigation would default to a +3 bonus. If

you wanted to improve Investigation to +4, it would cost 1 point; to +5 it would cost 3
points.
If you had +3 in Watchful and +2 in Shadowy, then you would roll Investigation at +4. If
you wanted to improve Investigation to +5, it would cost only 2 points.

Step 5: Assets

There are three types of assets: Resources, Notable, and Connections.

NB: In Fate and the Dresden Files RPG, Resources is a skill. In this RPG, it works a little
differently.

Depending on the power level of the game, you will receive a certain number of Asset
points (5 Asset points at the lowest level). You can spend these points to buy assets for
your character.

Resources and Notable each have an asset track (which works like a stress track -- the
more you spend, the more stress your asset is under).

However, there are 14 Connection asset tracks, one for each faction in Fallen London.
Each Connection track is only good for calling in favors with its corresponding faction.

Since Connections with individual factions are useful in fewer situations than Resources
and Notable, Connection asset boxes are also cheaper.

One Asset point buys one asset box of Resources or Notable, but one Asset point buys 7
asset boxes of Connections.

The max number of boxes per asset track depends on the power level of the game (The
max is 5 in a base-level game).
You may utilize your assets by checking off an empty asset box, which represents
various actions (i.e. liquidating some Resources, spending some of your Notable, or
calling in some Connections). Unlike stress boxes (which are elaborated on later), asset
boxes do not clear at the end of every scene. Instead, they clear at the end of each
session (if the Gamemaster feels that not enough time has passed, it can take even
longer for them to clear).

Example: If you have a character in a Feet In The Water base-level game, you could use
your 6 asset points to buy the following: 2 Resources stress boxes, 2 Notable stress boxes,
and 14 Connections stress boxes. At that power level, you get 4 Connection points for
free, so you would have a total of 18 Connection Stress boxes, which you could divide
into 4 stress boxes each for Society, Constables, Church, and the University; and 2 stress
boxes in Bohemians.

You can find more information about assets and how they work in the Asset section.

Step 6: Buy Stunts

Stunts change how certain skills are used. To buy a stunt, you must spend Refresh Points
(which permanently decreases the number of Fate points you get at the start of each
session). Descriptions on the usage of the various stunts can be found later, in the Stunts
section.

Step 7: Play

Congratulations! Your character is complete, and you are ready to play the Fallen
London RPG.

Keep an eye out for gear and loot, delicious friend!

Aspects
Almost anything can be an aspect as long as it is an important part of the character’s
story.

The central character attributes in the Fallen London RPG are called aspects. Aspects
cover a wide range of elements and define what makes your character unique—
basically, they describe the core of your character’s identity. (By contrast, skills, stunts,
and assets could be said to paint a similar picture of what your character can do, rather
than who they are.)
Aspects can be:
● ŠŠ Relationships (Mama’s Boy, Apprentice to the Gracious Widow)
● ŠŠ Beliefs (The Lord Is My Shepherd, Nothing Is Forever)
● ŠŠ Catchphrases (Can’t Keep My Mouth Shut, “It’s Not My Fault!”)
● ŠŠ Descriptors (Intrepid Reporter, Rugged as the Road)
● ŠŠ Pretty much anything else that paints a vivid picture of the character (Big Man
On Campus, Anger Is My Constant Companion)
NB: Props or Items as Aspects -- In regular Fate and Dresden Files games, Aspects may
be props (a la “My Mother’s Silver Pentacle”). In Fallen London, this is a little different.
This sort of thing is handled by Gear, which is discussed later on in its own section.

More than anything else, aspects are the players’ most explicit way of telling the GM,
“This is the stuff I want to see in the game.” If you pick an aspect like Thorn in the
Traitor Empress’s Side, then you should be able to expect that the GM will put you at
odds with Society and the functionaries of the Empress pretty regularly. GMs should
want players to use their aspects and should design the story of the game such that it is
based on and around the aspects the players have chosen for their characters. Players
should pick the aspects they want to use, and GMs should encourage them to choose
aspects that will be both interesting and useful.

The Rule of Three

As a rule of thumb when picking an aspect, think of three situations where you can see
the aspect in play. If you have one reasonably positive situation and one reasonably
negative situation out of that set, you’re golden! If the aspect’s uses are all negative or
all positive, you may want to reconsider how you’ve worded your aspect—try to put in a
little of what’s missing. Ultimately, though, one aspect that’s “all good” or “all bad” isn’t
much of a problem, so long as you have a good mix throughout your whole set. As an
example, something like Genius-Level Intelligence might seem like it doesn’t provide
very much in the way of negative output. So you might change the context of it a little
and reword that to Nerdier Than a Summerset Professor. You could still justify getting
the same advantages as the original aspect, and you could pick up some potential
negative uses in the social arena—maybe the character’s attempts at social interaction
are plagued by people perceiving him as just too nerdy, or no one ever takes them
seriously when they’re trying to intimidate or impress.

High Concept

Your high concept is a phrase that sums up what your character is about—what and who
they are. It’s an aspect, one of the first and most important ones for your character.
Think of this aspect like your job, your role in life, or your calling—it’s what you’re good
at, but it’s also a duty you have to deal with, and it’s constantly filled with problems of
its own. That is to say, it comes with some good and some bad. There are a few different
directions you can take this:
● You could take the idea of “like your job” literally, like Mistress Of A Most
Distracting Carnival.
● You could throw on an adjective or other descriptor to the job title to further
define your own take on the idea, such as the Implacable Detective.
● You could combine the job with how your character is connected to his family,
especially if their family is well-connected or well-known. This is seen with
Captivating Princess (Princess being both a job title and indication of being in the
royal family).

Trouble

In addition to a high concept, every character has some sort of trouble (which is also an
aspect) that’s a part of their life and their story. If your high concept is what or who your
character is, your trouble is the answer to a simple question: what complicates your high
concept?

Trouble has many forms, though it can generally be broken up into two types: internal
conflicts/personal struggles, and external problems. Both threaten the character or are
difficult to contain. Whatever form the trouble takes, it drives the character to take
action, voluntarily or not. A character that does not have some sort of recurring issue is
going to have a much harder time finding motivation, and that sort of character doesn’t
tend to have many reasons to go out and do the crazy things that make for adventure.
Without adventure, things would just be boring! Most characters have several troubles
they have to deal with, often reflected by the rest of their aspects (which you’ll select as
you create your character), but there is usually one core trouble that shapes the
character. This aspect will probably be the one most thoroughly exercised during play
(at least in terms of compels).

Trouble is a potent hook for the GM and players to draw on for ideas. As you think about
your character, try to figure out what kinds of problems you want your character to
continually deal with. Try to pick one that has no easy solutions— many may not have
solutions at all! Also, troubles are one of the major ways that characters get compelled,
which is important for getting Fate points back. So it’s to your advantage to play to your
character’s troubles in the adventure as much as you possibly can. (Troubles are like
giant red flags to the GM saying “Hey, pick me!”) To get a sense of the different forms
that troubles can take, consider some of the main
players in Fallen London:

Some external troubles are about the difficulties of being able to do your job or your
role in the first place—the sort that you have to live with rather than beat up—like a
Special Constable’s Corrupt Superiors. This has no easy solution, because it’s not
something they can just fix by kicking ass and taking names.

Some internal troubles are about your darker side and how that interferes with what you
need to be in order to live up to your high concept, like the Revolutionary Firebrand’s
Urgent Rage At The Establishment. This has no easy solution, because it’s about an
ongoing internal and external struggle, and minor victories and defeats abound.

Some troubles are hard to peg down between internal and external, like those that
involve loved ones. Often, they don’t even seem like troubles at all, until they’re
threatened. Such is the case with the Last Constable’s trouble Cheery Man’s Daughter.
These troubles do not have easy solutions, since no character is going to walk away from
those they love in their time of need.

Sometimes the trouble is something you bring down upon yourself, which also crosses
the line between internal and external. The Northbound Parlimentarian got herself into
trouble via being a Semi-Former Name Seeker. If she needs to warn away someone
Unaccountably Peckish, she can draw on her experience to try to convince them. Since
your trouble is an aspect, it’s something you should also be able to invoke, right?
Because we’ve been so focused on how this complicates your character’s life, it’s easy to
miss how a trouble also helps your character.
In short, your experience with your trouble makes you a stronger person in that regard.
Dealing with personal struggles leaves you vulnerable to being tempted or cajoled, but it
can also give you a sense of inner strength, because you know the sort of person you
want to be. External problems often cause trouble, but people do learn hard lessons
from the troubles they deal with. They especially learn how to maneuver around many of
the smaller issues their troubles present. When you’re setting up a trouble, it should be
the sort of issue that’s not going to paralyze the character completely. If the trouble is
constantly interfering with the character’s day-today life, he’s going to spend all his time
dealing with it rather than other matters at hand (like, perhaps, the current adventure).
There has to be some wiggle room between “continually” and “constantly.” You
shouldn’t have to deal with your inner conflict or external pressure at every turn—
unless that’s the core of what that particular adventure is about. Check in with your GM
if you’re unsure.
Phase Trio

Each phase is a section of your character’s background—the key events in his past that
form who he is. There are three in total, and each gives you an opportunity to define a
new aspect for your character. The first two (“Where Did You Come From?” and “What
Shaped You?”) can be done in either order. It’s the third (“What Was Your First
Story?”) that really supercharges this process, defining the initial adventure your
character “starred” in and anchoring relationships with the other characters in play.
Each phase will ask you to write down two things on the phase worksheet:

First, a summary of the general details of what happened in that phase of your
character’s life, known as the phase’s summary. A paragraph should suffice, but you can
write more if you’re inspired. Each phase will suggest different ideas for the summary.
Second, an aspect that reflects some part of that phase. The aspect can cover the general
vibe from the summary, or it can focus on some piece of it that still resonates with your
character in the present day. Some phases will suggest specific directions for their
aspects. And as with aspects, if you later come up with new ideas for a summary that
you’ve already written down, you can always come back and change it.

Where Did You Come From? questions to consider (you don’t have to answer each one):
● What nation is your character from?
● What region? What culture?
● What were his family’s circumstances like? (Rich? Poor? Scholarly? Isolated?
Pious? Political?)
● How big is the family? (Small? Average? Large? Very large?)
● What’s your character’s relationship with his family? (Loving and close? Volatile?
Non-existent?)
● How was your character educated?
● What were your character’s friends like?
● Did your character get into much trouble in his youth?

What Shaped You? questions to consider (again, none are mandatory):

● Who were the prominent people in your character’s life at this point? Does he
have enemies? Close and fast friends?
● How did your character’s high concept and trouble aspects shape him and the
events around him? (Assuming your character came into his high concept and
trouble by this point.)
● What were the most significant choices your character made?
● What lessons did this time period teach your character?

What Was Your First Story? question prompt (optional, intended to spark ideas):
When [something happens], [your protagonist] [pursues a goal]. But will [your
protagonist] succeed when [antagonist provides opposition]?
Playing With Aspects

Aspects represent elements of the character that are not reflected by their skills,
including things like the character’s advantages, disadvantages, connections and even
attributes. The exact form that aspects take in a game depends on the taste of the
players. At their simplest, they are a dramatic replacement for more traditional
attributes like strength or intelligence. Used to their full advantage, they can represent
the character’s ties to the game world in a manner that bears directly on play. In terms
of game rules, aspects are the main avenue by which you gain or spend Fate points for
your character. Fate points are a kind of currency that can be spent for bonuses, and
they are earned when aspects cause problems and complications for the character.

Here’s a summary of all the ways that aspects are used in the game:
● Invocation: Spend a Fate point, describe how one of your character’s aspects is
beneficial to him, and get either a +2 bonus or a reroll to a skill roll.
● Player-Driven Compel: Spend a Fate point and describe how one of your
character’s aspects allows you to make a declaration of fact about something in
the game.
● Compel: Either receive a Fate point when one of your character’s aspects works
to his disadvantage, or spend a Fate point to avoid that disadvantage.
● Free-Invocation: On any aspect you create or discover in a scene, get the first
invocation for free (as in, without spending any Fate points).

At the start of a game, you’ll place aspects on your character as part of the process of
character creation. Starting player characters (PCs) have five aspects, including one
aspect each for their high concept and their trouble. These aspects are effectively
permanent, though they can change over the course of time. In addition, during the city
creation process you will have also placed aspects on the setting in which the game takes
place—these work just like character aspects do, defining the most important features
and elements that make the city unique.
You will also encounter temporary aspects during the course of play. These aspects
might be placed on your character to describe momentary changes of condition or
circumstance (Off-Balance, Broken Nose), or they might be placed on an environment to
highlight elements that might come into play during a scene (Pitch Black, On Fire,
Uneven Terrain). Typically, you will use your skills to create or discover these aspects
during play.

The Value of Aspects

Here’s a little secret -- the real measure of how powerful an aspect is can be found in one
simple thing: how interesting it is. Interesting aspects are going to come up more often,
and are more likely to grant reroll and provide Fate points. Take an enemy for example -
- not only do you get Fate points for him showing up and messing things up, you also get
to invoke the aspect when you’re fighting him. It’s a serious win. Interesting aspects are
also easier to invoke, because they tend to make more sense. If a character has been
trained by a religious order with a clearly defined dogma, he’ll get rerolls for the
appropriate skills, but he can also invoke the aspect when he’s defending that dogma (or
gain Fate points when he suffers for following it). Compare that to a merely generic
Priest aspect and the advantage should become clear. This also emphasizes a really key
point. Aspects are not just what define the character, they are what are important to the
character. If you take your Mom as an aspect, she may provide a direct route to
invocation for skills that you learned from her, but you could also invoke her for darn
near anything if you’re fighting to protect or rescue her. One last secret -- there’s nothing
to keep PCs from taking each other as aspects. This is a win-win situation, since the
whole game benefits from the stronger connections between the characters, and the
player in question gets an aspect that’s likely to see lots of use.

Limitations
An aspect may limit actions and choices. If your character would normally have a
number of choices in a particular situation and acting in accordance with his aspect is
going to make more trouble for the character and limit those choices, that’s grounds to
compel the aspect. It’s important to note that an aspect may dictate the type of action
when compelled this way, but it usually won’t dictate the precise action, which is always
the player’s decision. In this way, compelling the aspect highlights the difficulty of the
choices at hand by placing limits on those choices, using the idea of the aspect to define
(or at least suggest) those limits.

Complications
An aspect may also complicate a situation, rather than directly limiting your character’s
choices. If everything would be going along normally and the aspect makes things more
difficult or introduces an unexpected twist, that’s grounds for a compel. In some cases,
complications may suggest that certain consequences are mandated, such as failing at a
particular action without a skill roll—perhaps your character would succeed at a defense
roll against a Deceit action, but his Gullible aspect is compelled, forcing a failure if you
accept.

GM-Driven Compels
Some compels are used to directly drive the story in one way or another and, as such, are
really the province of the GM. A good GM will want to use the aspects of the PCs to
create adventures and provide the basis for scenes. This means that sometimes an aspect
may add a complication “offscreen,” such as when the GM decides to use a character’s
personal nemesis as the villain for a session or to give the character an unpleasant
responsibility or assignment. She might also use a character’s aspect to justify a
particular “hook” for a future scene. When this happens, it counts as a compel. GMs
should not rely on a player’s particular response to this kind of compel to drive a plot—
remember, the purpose of a compel is to create drama, not force people into things.
Keep in mind that a player can always negotiate the terms of a compel—he might have
an even better idea for a dramatic way to start a scene or move the story along. You can
also negotiate compels -- by spending a Fate point, the character can delay or alter a
compel (or, rarely, avoid it) and, in return, the GM can offer a second Fate point to
“buy” the player’s willingness to go along with the original compel.

Fate Points

Players may use Fate points in a number of ways. Not only are they used for compels (for
or against), they may also be spent to receive +1 on any roll. This may be spent before or
after the roll, or even after any aspects have been invoked. Only one point may be spent
in this fashion, unless it’s countered (see below). They may also spend a Fate point for
minor narrative control of a situation. Common uses for this include finding a convenient
item, knowing someone in a particular town, or showing up at just the right moment in
another scene. Effectively, this expenditure allows the player to take the role of GM for
a moment. The GM has full veto rights on any such expenditures, in which case the point
is not spent. More often than not, this sort of expenditure of Fate points is an attempt by
the players to keep things moving. It’s more fun to just assume you have the tool you
need in your bag than to have to catch a coach back from the Forgotten Quarter, visit
the Bazaar, and then travel back. As a GM, if the expenditure lets people continue to
have fun without breaking anything, it should generally be allowed. It’s also important
to consider how reasonable the player’s request is. If it’s really no stretch at all,
spending a Fate point shouldn’t even be necessary. Fate points are really for use in that
narrow spectrum between completely logical and GM ruling.
Fate points may also be spent to cancel someone else’s expenditure of a Fate point. If
this happens, both Fate points are spent, but the person who spent the original point
may spend another point to try again. This process can repeat as many times as people
are willing to spend the points.

How Much Power Should Players Have?

Granting the players any degree of narrative control may seem like an odd idea to GMs
who have not encountered it before. As such, exactly how far it goes is almost entirely
based on the GM’’s comfort level. GMs are welcome to ignore this option entirely, but I
strongly encourage GMs to at least give it a try. Even something so simple as allowing
players to spend a Fate point to have the right item in their backpack can be very
satisfying for everyone involved. As far as we’re concerned, there’s no limit on how far
this power can extend. It’s possible to give players broad narrative power with this
mechanic, allowing them to use Fate points to create plots and NPCs and generally
complicate stories. If that sounds like fun, give it a try -- the only real limitation should
be that it’s done so everyone has more fun. If the players are spending Fate points and
things are becoming less fun as a result, it’s time to tone things down a notch.

Additional Uses of Fate Points

Fate points can be viewed as small “votes” you can cast to get the story to go your way,
within certain guidelines. We’ve already talked about simply adding 1, and we’ve talked
about using them to arrange minor circumstance. Here are a few other ideas that you
may want to consider using in your game.
• You can spend one Fate point to take the camera for a monologue. You can’t interact
with anything else during this time period; you’re making a speech. At the same time,
since you’re monologuing, you won’t be interrupted. Keep it short and sweet, but
have fun with it. This is television or cinema. And yes, villains can do this as well --
how else do you figure they can manage to make their exit threats without the heroes
stepping on their lines? This effect generally only lasts for a few sentences. However,
the rest of the room is required to be quiet while you do it.
• You can spend two Fate points to give someone else a +1 to one of their rolls, even if
they’ve spent a Fate point to give themselves a +1 already, providing that you can
reasonably give them some sort of in-character assistance. You can’t do this more
than once for a particular given roll, though. If a friend of yours needs a +2, you’ll be
able to spend two to give them +1, and a third party will have to spend two to give
them +1 as well!
• In combat, you can spend one Fate point to switch positions with someone else, even
if it isn’t your turn, so long as it’s reasonable you could quickly change positions,
without having to roll against a skill for maneuvering (good for trading off
opponents). In combat, you can spend one Fate point to take a wound (a hit) instead
of someone else, even if it isn’t your turn, so long as it’s reasonable you could
interpose yourself, without having to roll against a skill to maneuver.
• A point may also be spent for a fortuitous arrival -- if a character is going to arrive as
some undetermined point, the player may spend a point for them to arrive at a
particular moment.
Skills
If Aspects define who a person is, Skills define what he can do and how he defends
himself. Some skills are straightforward, like a Used Soul Salesman’s Deceit and his
capability to establish a Rapport. Others are more open, like His Amused Lordship’s
ability to get what he needs through his Presence and Intimidation. Almost every time
you need to do or react to something, you’ll be rolling one of your character’s skills and
adding that skill’s rating. Any skills your character doesn’t have listed default to their
Skill Group’s total bonus.

Dangerous Watchful Persuasive Shadowy

Athletics Alertness Deceit Athletics

Guns Empathy Empathy Burglary

Intimidation Investigation Intimidation Deceit

Melee Lore Performance Investigation

Physique Scholarship Presence Sleight of Hand

Survival Survival Rapport Stealth

The details on skill group prioritization are described in character creation.

Skill Descriptions

Alertness: Alertness is a measure of your character’s passive awareness—his ability to

stay on his toes and react to sudden changes in his environment. In short, it is the
perception skill to notice things that you are not looking for. High Alertness characters
strike early in a fight, tend to pick up on details of a scene simply by entering it, and are
rarely surprised, a la bodyguards, outdoorsmen, and sneaky criminals. Qualities include
avoiding surprise, combat initiative, and passive awareness.

Athletics: Athletics measures your general physical capability (though not raw strength -
- that’s Physique). Athletics covers running, jumping, climbing, and other broadly
physical activities you might find in a track and field event. Characters with high
Athletics move further, faster, and more surely than the rest of us, making it difficult to
catch or hit them in a fight—think of athletes, soldiers, and outdoorsmen. Activities
include climbing, dodging, falling, jumping, sprinting, etc.

Burglary: The ability to get past or overcome security systems, from watchmen to locks,
falls under the auspices of Burglary. This also includes knowledge of those measures and
the ability to assess them. Without a lucky break, a criminal with only Stealth and
Deceit will find himself limited to small-time thievery, while one who adds Burglary to
his repertoire will soon be pursuing bigger targets. Characters with a high Burglary skill
include burglars, private eyes, and even some cops. Activities include casing, actual
burgling, infiltration, and lockpicking.

Deceit: Deceit is the ability to lie. Be it through word or deed, it’s the ability to convey
falsehoods convincingly. Characters with a high Deceit can easily seem much different
than they actually are. They are masters of misdirection and they paint a sheen of
seeming truth over the darkest lies. High Deceit characters include grifters, spies, and
politicians. Talents include disguises, cat-and-mouse verbal tactics, and putting forward
a false face (assists Rapport as social defense).

Empathy: Empathy is the ability to understand and guess what other people are thinking
and feeling. This can be handy if you are trying to spot a liar or you want to tell someone
what that person wants to hear. It’s also useful for keeping up your guard during a social
conflict. Characters adept at Empathy are very perceptive about people and their
motives and often end up as quiet masters of a social scene. They can include reporters,
gamblers, and psychologists. Qualities include reading people, being a shoulder to cry
on, social defense, and social initiative.

Guns: Sometimes you just need to shoot things. Thankfully, there’s a skill for that. With
a gun, you can shoot up to two zones away—possibly three or more, if it’s a rifle.
Unfortunately, without a gun at hand, the skill isn’t much use (but having skill points in
it prevents having to expend Resources to initially obtain one). Characters with a high
Guns skill are masters of death; as a result, it’s rare to encounter one who doesn’t have a
healthy respect for the dangers inherent in bringing out the weapons. Such characters
include policemen, soldiers, assassins, and hunters. Elements include aiming (to create a
temporary aspect and thereby improve a roll), general gun knowledge, and gunplay.
Other distance projectile weapons can use an existing Guns skill at a -2 penalty unless
they are supported by a Stunt, or a player can rename Guns to, for example, Bows at
character creation for no penalty (but no skill at Guns, either).

Intimidation: Intimidation is the skill you use for producing a sudden, strong, negative
emotion in a target— usually fear. With high Intimidation, you exude menace, choose
exactly the right words to chill others to the bone, and get people to lose their cool in an
instant. Bodyguards, mob enforcers, and “bad” constables have high Intimidation.
Tactics include the brush-off, interrogation, provocation, social attacks, and threats.

Investigation: Investigation is the ability to look for things and, hopefully, find them.
This is the skill you use to actively look for something—like searching a crime scene or
trying to spot a hidden enemy that you know is somewhere near. Characters with a high
Investigation discover the most hidden clues; when they focus their attention on
something, they can perceive details more fully and deeply than others. These people
include private investigators, reporters, and constables. Activities include
eavesdropping, examining (a scene, a piece of evidence, the veracity of a fact, etc.), and
surveilling.

Lore: Lore represents your occult knowledge. While everyone in the Neath is aware that
there is more to the world than the surface might guess, many have no clue as to the
depths of its secrets. For the observant, though, Lore allows them to gain useful insight
into the arcane elements of the Neath. With a high Lore skill, you can pick up on
mystical happenings that are nigh invisible to others, know and discover magical
particulars when it comes to bribing monsters, and cause strange things to happen.
Mystics, monsters, and Scholars of the Correspondence have high Lore skills. Disciplines
include the Correspondence, Honey (yellow and red), the Fingerkings, the Masters,
Name-Seeking, etc. Multiple disciplines require multiple ranks in Lore (e.g. knowledge
of both the Masters and the Fingerkings requires at least +2 Lore).

Melee: The Melee skill is your ability to hold your own up close and personal. With
specialized training (represented by taking stunts), this may include the practice of a
more disciplined kind of fisticuffs, such as martial arts. Characters with a high Melee are
experts at hand-to-hand and armed combat. They include bouncers, thugs, and knife
fighters. Styles include bar brawling, close-combat defenses, Queensbury Rules,
swordplay, knife fighting, and club (or knuckleduster) wielding. Multiple weapon styles
require additional ranks, e.g. being talented with both your bare fists and a sword
requires at least +2 in Melee.

Performance: Performance represents your overall artistic ability, covering the gamut of
endeavors that involve putting creative works before an audience (painting, dance,
music, writing, and some elements of acting). This includes knowledge of composition as
well as the performance itself. Characters with a high Performance are incredibly
creative individuals, able to create poetry extemporaneously, dance well enough to
make one’s heart soar, or put on an acting performance that will bring a crowd to
standing ovation. They include actors, visual artists, and musicians. Qualities include art
appreciation, composition, creative communication, and playing to an audience. Multiple
categories of wildly different pursuits require multiple ranks, such as talent in both
contemporary dance and oil painting requiring a +2 in Performance.

Physique: Physique is a measure of pure physical power, be it raw strength or simply the
knowledge of how best to use the strength you have. Physique is for lifting, moving, or
breaking things. You can use the skill to add a measure of physical power to the efforts
of another skill. Characters with a high Physique are not supernaturally strong, but they
can still bend, break, and lift things that are normally beyond the capabilities of
everyday people. They include thugs, furniture movers, and wrestlers. Aptitudes include
breaking things, exerting force, lifting things, and wrestling.

Presence: Presence is a measure of social toughness— whether or not you’ll flinch and
lose face in front of others, and how your image stands up to scrutiny and/or attack.
Characters with a high Presence carry themselves with a quiet confidence no matter the
situation, and when they speak, others stop and listen. They include military officers,
mob bosses, politicians, and lawyers. Facets include command, charisma, leadership, and
reputation.

Rapport: The flipside of Intimidation, Rapport is your ability to talk with people in a
friendly fashion, make a good impression, and perhaps convince them to see your side of
things. Any time you want to communicate without an implicit threat or attempted
deception, this is the skill to use, making it appropriate for interviewing or making
friends. Characters with a high Rapport can make strong first impressions and they
make easy, friendly conversation in any social scene. They include politicians, reporters,
and “good cops.” Aptitudes include chit-chat, closing down, first impressions, opening
up, and social defenses.

Scholarship: General knowledge breaks down into two camps: mundane and
supernatural. Lore covers the latter and Scholarship covers the former. Scholarship
operates as a catch-all skill for most kinds of regular, everyday, “book” knowledge with
a few practical applications out in the field as well. Characters with high Scholarship
may be adept at technology and research, well-versed in the sciences and liberal arts,
and good at performing first aid (provided they have experience with it). They include
star students, professors, and game show contestants. Disciplines include all standard
academic subjects as well as a more general ability to find answers, use mechanical
devices, determine minor facts, provide exposition, and do research.

Sleight-of-Hand: Sleight-of-Hand is the ability to hide in plain sight. While generally

covering the secretion of small objects upon a person, it can extend to serving as a
distraction to cover a teammate’s activities or otherwise redirecting a person, group, or
crowd’s attentions onto a preferred target. Characters with a high Sleight-of-Hand skill
are extremely dexterous and have a light touch. They include pick-pockets, stage
magicians, and emcees. Practices include distraction/misdirection to hide small objects,
planting something on a target, pick-pocketing, and stage magic.

Stealth: Stealth is the ability to remain unseen and unheard. Directly opposed by
Alertness or Investigation, Stealth covers everything from skulking in the shadows to
hiding under the bed. Characters with a high Stealth are like ghosts, passing through the
shadows with only the barest whisper of sound. They include burglars, assassins, and
sneaky kids. Activities include ambushing, hiding, shadowing, and skulking.

Survival: Survival is the skill of outdoorsmen, covering hunting, trapping, tracking, fire
building, and a lot of other wilderness skills. Characters with a high Survival skill are
adept at riding horses, can survive nearly indefinitely by living off the land, and can
track a man in the wilderness for days. They include hunters, scouts, and soldiers.
Abilities include animal handling, camouflage, riding, scavenging, and tracking.
Menaces, Stress and Consequences

Menaces

Each skill group has a corresponding menace. The group bonus determines how many
stress boxes you get per menace. The Menace that corresponds to the group with the +3
bonus gets 4 stress boxes. The Menaces for the +2 group and the +1 group both get 3
stress boxes. The Menace for the +0 group gets 2 stress boxes.

Stress

Gaining Stress
Characters generally gain stress through one of two ways.

First, a character, may fail to defend against another character’s attack. A physical
attack could give you Wounds stress, but there are non-physical attacks. A character
could attack your reputation and give you Scandal or Suspicion Stress, depending upon
how they do it. Some creatures, notably Devils, can attack your mind, giving you
Nightmares stress.

Second, a character may gain stress by failing certain skill roles. If you try to use
Athletics to sprint somewhere and fail, you may gain Wounds stress to represent your
exhaustion. If you try to use Lore to recall how to fight a terrifying creature and fail, you
may gain Nightmare stress to represent your fear. If you use Presence to make a bold
public declaration and stumble over your words, you may gain Scandal. If you use
Stealth to try to sneak away from a crime scene and fail, you may gain Suspicion.

Ultimately, it is up to the Gamemaster whether or not failing a particular roll will

generate stress. As a general guideline, the greater the Margin of Failure (MoF) the
more appropriate it would be to give someone stress. For example, if you fail to climb a
wall by a large MoF, the GM may rule you hit your head and gained Wounds stress.

NB: Although characters generally gain stress in the menace that corresponds to
whichever skill they were using, the GM can rule that you would gain a different type of
stress, if the situation calls for it. For example: Using Presence to defend a criminal may
attract the attention of the constables, creating Suspicion, not Scandal. Attempting to
sneak past a trap may set it off, inflicting Wounds rather than Suspicion.

Stress Boxes
Regardless of how you acquired stress, when you receive it, you must check off a stress
box equal to the MoF. If someone hit you for 1 stress you must check off the 1st stress
box. If they later hit you for 3 stress, you would check off the 3rd stress box, but you
would leave the 2nd stress box blank.
If you receive stress equal to a box that you have already checked off, instead check off
the next higher box. If, during a particularly unpleasant night, someone inflicted 3
points of scandal on you and you already had the 3rd box checked off, you would then
check off the 4th box.

At the end of every conflict, all of your stress boxes will clear. You can uncheck any you
have checked. The one exception to this rule is if the next conflict starts immediately, in
which case you have no time to recover

If you wish to reduce the amount of stress you receive, you may take a consequence,
which is described below. If you ever receive more stress in a track than you have
available stress boxes, then you are taken out of action, which is described below.

Consequences

Stress is a transitory thing, but sometimes conflicts will have lasting effects on a
character -- serious injuries, embarrassments, phobias, and the like. These effects are
collectively called consequences, and they are a special kind of aspect.

Any time a character takes stress, he may opt to take a consequence to reduce the
amount of stress received from the attack. The exact nature of the consequence depends
upon the conflict. An injury might be appropriate for a physical struggle, but an
emotional state might be apt for a social one. Whatever the consequence, it is written
down under the stress track.

Normally, the player taking the consequence gets to describe what it is, so long as it’s
compatible with the nature of the attack that inflicted the harm. The GM arbitrates the
appropriateness of a consequence and there may be some back and forth conversation
before settling on one. The GM is the final authority on whether a player’s suggested
consequence is reasonable for the circumstances and severity.

There are four levels of consequence severity, each of which cancels out a greater
amount of stress from an attack. Consequences may not be taken after the fact to cancel
stress already recorded on a character’s stress track. Consequences linger for varying
lengths of time after appropriate justification is established to begin recovery ŠŠ

Mild consequences cancel out 2 stress. They last for one scene after recovery starts.
Think of things that are bad enough to make you say “Walk it off/ rub some dirt in it!”
(Examples: Bruised Hand, Nasty Shiner, Winded, Flustered, Distracted.)

Moderate consequences cancel out 4 stress. They last until the end of the next session
after recovery starts. Think of things that are bad enough to make you say, “Man, you
really should go take care of that/get some rest.” (Examples: Belly Slash, Bad First
Degree Burn, Twisted Ankle, Exhausted, Drunk.)

Severe consequences cancel out 6 stress. They last for the next scenario (or two to three
sessions, whichever is longer) after recovery starts. Think of things that are bad enough
to make you say, “Man, you really need to go to the ER/get serious help.” (Examples:
Broken Leg, Bad Second-Degree Burn, Crippling Shame, Trauma-Induced Phobia.)

Each character may take one of each severity (though some stunts and very high skills
may increase the number of consequences that can be taken at a certain severity); once
the consequence slot is used, it cannot be used again until the current consequence is
removed. Multiple consequences can be “stacked” at a time, combining their rating for
the purposes of absorbing an attack. So instead of taking a severe consequence to cancel
6 stress, a player might take a mild (2 stress) and a moderate (4 stress) which would add
up to cancel 6 stress.

When your character takes a consequence, remove the appropriate amount of stress
from the attack. If that reduces the stress to zero or below, you absorb the hit
completely. If there is any stress left over, you need to mark it on your stress track. So, if
your character gets hit for 5 stress and you decide to take a moderate consequence,
you’re left with a 1 stress hit. Keep in mind that the normal rules for taking stress apply
for this—empty boxes get filled in, filled boxes “roll up” to the right.

Also keep in mind that, because a consequence is an aspect, it can be invoked and
compelled like any other aspect. Opponents with Fate points will take advantage of this,
because invoking a consequence to help win a fight is very easy to justify. Further, the
attacker that inflicted the consequence gets one free invocation on it (which he may give
to an ally), just like aspects placed by a maneuver.

Extreme Consequences: The Last Resort

If your character is in extremely dire straits, and it’s really, really important to stay in
the fight, there is one last-ditch option you have available. This is called an extreme
consequence, but it’s set apart from the others because it operates as more of a plot
device than a normal consequence and isn’t affected by any of the normal rules for
recovery. You can only have one extreme consequence at a time, and the slot will only
ever clear with a major milestone or every three scenarios, as you prefer (see
Advancement).

When you use this option, you can cancel out 8 stress from any attack. In exchange, you
must delete one of the five aspects from your character sheet and replace it with an
aspect that reflects the outcome of the attack. That’s right— taking this level of
consequence changes who your character is on a fundamental level. Because of this, you
should reserve it for the greatest of sacrifices or the most heinous of traumas—for those
times when you absolutely must push to the bitter end and have no other choice.
There are a few other limitations to extreme consequences:

Your high concept cannot be changed as a result of an extreme consequence, unless the
attack in question is deliberately targeting that aspect. In other words, you can’t change
Secret Snuffer Celebrity unless the attack is specifically trying to permanently reveal
your Snuffer nature.

You cannot change your trouble aspect as a result of an extreme consequence.

No amount of supernatural healing or other abilities can speed up the recovery of an

extreme consequence, and you cannot take another extreme consequence until after the
next major milestone in the game, regardless of your powers.

The new aspect is effectively treated as one of your permanent aspects. Even when your
extreme consequence slot resets, the consequence aspect remains on your sheet—it
doesn’t just go away or reset your old one. You might rename the aspect during a
subsequent minor milestone (see Advancement), but you’d have to justify the renaming
as something that reflects how the experience changed your character. You can’t just
say, “Well, it’s been three scenarios, so I want my old aspect back.”

Getting Taken Out of Action

If you don’t have any stress or consequences left to buy off all the shifts of a hit, that
means you’re taken out. Taken out is bad—it means not only that you can’t fight
anymore, but that the person who took you out gets to decide what your loss looks like
and what happens to you after the conflict. Obviously, they can’t narrate anything that’s
out of scope for the conflict (like having you die from shame), but that still gives
someone else a lot of power over your character that you can’t really do anything about.

Character Death
So, if you think about it, there’s not a whole lot keeping someone from saying, after
taking you out, that your character dies. If you’re talking about a physical conflict where
people are using nasty sharp weapons, it certainly seems reasonable that one possible
outcome of defeat is your character getting killed. Sure, in the Neath, people normally
recover from death, but nothing stops your opponents from mutilating your corpse so
thoroughly you’ll never rise again.

In practice, though, this assumption might be pretty controversial depending on what

kind of group you’re in. Some people think that character death should always be on the
table, if the rules allow it—if that’s how the dice fall, then so be it.
Others are more circumspect, and consider it very damaging to their fun if they lose a
character upon whom they’ve invested hours and hours of gameplay, just because
someone spent a lot of Fate points or their die rolls were particularly unlucky.

We recommend the latter approach, mainly for the following reason: most of the time,
sudden character death is a pretty boring outcome when compared to putting the
character through hell. On top of that, all the story threads that character was connected
to just kind of stall with no resolution, and you have to expend a bunch of effort and
time figuring out how to get a new character into play mid-stride.

That doesn’t mean there’s no room for character death in the game, however. We just
recommend that you save that possibility for conflicts that are extremely pivotal,
dramatic, and meaningful for that character—in other words, conflicts in which that
character would knowingly and willingly risk dying in order to win. Players and GMs, if
you’ve got the feeling that you’re in that kind of conflict, talk it out when you’re setting
the scene and see how people feel.

At the very least, even if you’re in a hardcore group that invites the potential for
character death on any taken out result, make sure that you telegraph the opponent’s
lethal intent. GMs, this is especially important for you, so the players will know which
NPCs really mean business, and can concede to keep their characters alive if need be.

Unaccountably Peckish: The Worst Menace

You may have noticed a row of boxes on your character sheet labeled “Peckish.” This is
your Unaccountably Peckish stress track.

Stress boxes in this track are checked off when you make certain spectacularly bad
choices, particularly those connected to a certain individual.

It is a hunger that can never be sated. An obsession that destroys all. A need to go to the
well, to journey North, to find the Name.

These check marks never fade. They just increase, one after another, until they reach
the 7th box.

Do not let them go beyond the 7th box. What is the Name?

You may only spend consequences on this stress under the following conditions. If fewer
than 4 boxes are filled, you may spend a Moderate consequence to reduce the number of
filled boxes by 2. If fewer than 6 boxes are filled, you may spend a Severe consequence
to reduce the number of filled boxes by 3.
If the 6th box is ever checked off, there is no longer any way to reduce the number of
filled boxes.

You can never again be free of the hunger. What is the Name?

The first time the stress goes beyond the 7th box, you may spend an extreme
consequence to ward off the inevitable. Doing so will not reduce the number of filled
boxes. It will only spare you the consequences. Once. Only once. And never again.

WHAT IS THE NAME?

If the stress goes beyond the 7th box and you have already used an extreme consequence
to buy a little time (or if some strange spore of madness drives you to not take an
extreme consequence), you will experience a fate more terrible than you can imagine,
and then it will get bad.

You will be betrayed. You will be broken. You will be devoured. You will be drowned.
You will die. And you will continue to suffer. And you will continue to suffer and you
will continue to suffer. And you will suffer and you will suffer and suffer and suffer. And
you will know the Name.

… a reckoning will not be postponed indefinitely.

Assets
The three types of assets are: Resources, Notable, and Connections. Each type of asset
has one asset track, except for the Connections asset which has 14 tracks.

The number of boxes you have in each asset track represents how much of that asset you
have.

A large number of Resources asset boxes means you are filthy rich.

For example, if you need to purchase a vast quantity of gunpowder for no particular
reason (that you would tell the constables), you would need Resources.

A large number of Notable asset boxes can mean that you are either famous or infamous
(and you have an entry in Slowcake’s Exceptionals to prove it), but either way your
reputation is a very useful tool. Generally speaking, if you don’t have an appropriate
connection, you can use Notable instead.

For example, if you needed to speak to a Reclusive Duke, but you have no connections
with Society, then you could simply present yourself at his door, knowing he would not
turn away a guest such as you, if you have enough Notable.

The Connection asset differs from the other two types in that there is an asset track for
each major faction in Fallen London (14 tracks total). These asset tracks represent how
well-known and well-liked you are by the various factions. You can call on your
connections for favors when necessary. However, not every faction can help in every
situation.

For example, if you need to hide from the Constables, the Criminals could lead you to
one of their safehouses, but if you need a letter of introduction sent to a Reclusive Duke,
you would need Connected points in Society.

You may utilize your assets by checking off an empty asset box, which represents
various actions (i.e. liquidating some Resources, spending some of your Notable, or
calling in some Connections). Doing so does not permanently deplete your asset. It
merely limits the amount you have to work with right now. If you’ve spent all your cash
on gunpowder, you won’t have enough available to buy a yacht for at least a few days.

Unlike stress boxes (which are elaborated on above), asset boxes do not clear at the end
of every conflict. Instead, they clear at the end of each session (if the Gamemaster feels
that not enough time has passed, it can take even longer for them to clear).
Stunts
Just enumerating a person’s skills doesn’t quite give you the full picture of what he’s
capable of. Most people have little tricks, advantages, or knacks that they pull out when
they need a bit of something extra. The Regretful Soldier finds new and exciting ways to
get wounded without going down. Poor Edward can shake a man twice his size to his core
just by saying “Good morning.” The Violet-Eyed Waif can steal the shoes right off your
feet. These little knacks are called Stunts.

What Stunts Do
Stunts exist to provide guaranteed situational benefits. These benefits might be the
result of special training, unique (but non-supernatural) abilities, or something that’s
just innately cool about your character. A stunt may grant a character the ability to use
a skill under unusual circumstances, using it in a broader array of situations than
normal, substituting it for another skill, or using it in a complementary fashion to
another skill. A stunt might allow a character to gain an effect roughly equal to two
shifts used in a specific way or to otherwise grant other small effects. Put more simply,
stunts allow the usual rules about skills to be bent—or even broken. Some stunts may
have prerequisites (other stunts or even aspects). Particularly potent stunts may also
require the use of a Fate point to be activated. In general, a character should not take a
stunt tied to a skill he does not have at least at Average level.

To remain a PC, no character may take a combination of stunts that would reduce his
refresh to zero or below. Characters that have gone beyond this limit have, for all
practical purposes, lost their freedom of action, thus becoming tools of the game’s story
(i.e., NPCs) rather than protagonists (i.e., PCs). In the case of mortal stunts, the
character is constrained by what he’s made of himself; for supernatural powers, he’s lost
access to free will due to the obligations of rank or position. In general, it’s
recommended that non-supernatural characters spend about half their refresh on stunts,
but this is just a recommendation.

You and your GM can work together to create new stunts. Common stunts include
moving a talent from one skill to another (e.g. a character who can use Performance in
place of Deceit when lying about his past during a speech) or extending an existing
talent by speeding it up or making it easier (e.g. charming an entire party of people
through only a few moments of conversation each) Try to avoid adding multiple stunts to
buff a single skill -- their ability to stack should be more like 1+1 = 1.5.

For a really great list of pre-made stunts, check The Dresden Files Role-Playing Game:
Your Story.
Special Fallen London Stunts
A few special notes about stunts in the Fallen London RPG.

The Scholarship skill has a special stunt called “Medical Training.” This stunt allows a
character to role Scholarship to treat a character’s wounds. At low levels, it represents
basic first aid knowledge. At high levels, it may represent being a trained surgeon.

The Lore skill has a Specialist stunt. This stunt can be taken multiple times. Each time
you take the stunt, you must pick a type of Lore (like, the Masters, Fingerkings, Sorrow
Spiders, Law & Light, and Name-Seeking). You get a +1 to Lore rolls on that topic.

The “Scholar of the Correspondence” stunt is Lore stunt that works a little differently
from other stunts. In order to write and use the Correspondence. You must have this
stunt. If you do not have the stunt, you can still roll Lore to know things about the
Correspondence. But, in order to read and write in the Correspondence, you must have
this stunt.
NB: Reading the Correspondence is very difficult and dangerous. Writing it is even
more so.
Gear

Introduction

Gear is the generic term used for items that give a bonus to skill rolls. There are three
big rules about gear.

First, there are six types of gear: Hats, Clothes, Gloves, Weapons, Boots, and
Companions. Your character may use only one item of each type at same time.

Second, gear only helps when it makes sense for it to do so. Using a Nevercold Brass
Ring to improve your Presence with Devils makes sense. Using a Nevercold Brass Ring
to improve your Presence with the Church does not.

Third, gear can be lost, broken, stolen, or otherwise rendered inoperable. Common sense
applies here. Getting covered in mud would not hurt a knife (unless it was left to rust),
but it would ruin a dandy’s suit.

Acquiring Gear

You may acquire gear through either your background or your assets.

Background
You may spend a Fate point and declare that you possess an item of gear that is
appropriate for a character with your background. Each item may provide a +2 bonus to
the skill of your choice (within reason).

For example, it can be assumed that one of the Cheery Man’s enforcers has a club or a
large knife (+2 Melee) or that a bon vivant has a charming outfit (+2 Presence)

NB: You cannot declare that you have a given item on your person if the situation would
make it impossible. If your character were disarmed and stripped naked, you could not
spend a Fate point to declare that they suddenly had a weapon or clothing. However,
you could declare they had those items at their house.

Assets
You may check off asset boxes to acquire a particular item of gear. For every +1 bonus
to a skill, you must check off 1 box of Connections (assuming you have a relevant
connection) or Notable to borrow an item. It costs double that to keep an item.

For example, it would cost 2 boxes of Connected Constables to borrow a bloodhound (+2
investigation), but it would cost 4 boxes of Connected Constables in order to keep the
hound.
If you promise to return an item to your connections and fail to do so, it will anger them,
which will generally cost you more boxes of Connected then if you had just bought the
item. If that would be more boxes than you have available, the remainder will pass on to
the next session.

If you used your Notable to convince a scholar to let you borrow a particularly useful
book (+2 scholarship), it would cost 2 boxes of Notable. If the book were then stolen from
you, the GM might rule that cost you an additional 3 boxes of Notable. If you only have 4
boxes available, then even after your Notable boxes clear, you will still have 1 box used.

You can spend Resources to purchase an item, but you must buy the item outright,
paying 2 boxes per +1 to a skill.

Last Word on Gear

Again, the item bonus may only be added to a skill when it makes sense. A fancy hat
may improve your rapport with Bohemians, but, if anything, it will distance you from
downtrodden factory workers. An incredibly detailed book of anatomy will help with
surgery, but it will be of no benefit in researching other lands.

You may think that weapons are overpowered because non-weapons work in only certain
situations, but weapons work everywhere. However, you must remember that people
routinely check for weapons. They very rarely ask you to disrobe.
Inventory

Introduction

Characters in Fallen London possess some items that do not improve a skill (meaning
that these items are not gear). Characters are simply assumed to have the basics: paper,
pencils, pants. If your character wishes to purchase something particularly expensive or
a particularly large quantity of something inexpensive, they must spend Resources.

A character might receive items in payment, or they may simply walk away with a few
choice pieces hidden in their pockets. In the inventory section of your character sheets,
you can record these rewards, but you do not need to be specific. The relative value of
the reward is recorded as a number that is typically between 1 and 10.

For example, Sarah the Dauntless Monster Hunter recently cleared out the carnivorous
fungi that plagued the fields of the Frenetic Vinter. In thanks, the vinter gives Sarah a
large amount of wine. Sarah’s player would then write “Crates and Crates of Middling
Wine (+5)” in the inventory section of their sheet.

NB: The number is only typically between 1 and 10. In some extreme cases, like trying to
represent the sheer number of rats that belong Spacemarine9’s character in the Fallen
London browser game, you would write “Ridiculously Enormous Nigh-Uncountable
Horde of Dead Rats (+20).”

Using Inventory

Inventory can be used in two ways: exchanging it for temporary boxes of resources or
special events.

If exchanging for Resources, your character may act as if they had an additional number
of available Resource boxes equal to the number in parentheses in the item’s
description. If those additional resource boxes are not used by the end of the session,
they disappear (as money is wont to do).

If using for special events, you may exchange the item for a unique benefit. These
benefits depend a great deal on the situation. Particular groups may be particularly
desperate for specific items. Giving them what they need could give you a bonus to many
Persuasive skills. Alternatively, if the item is of high enough value, it might be exchange
for rare and powerful gear. Inventory could also be used to advance a character’s goal.

The possibilities are too complex and too varied to provide concrete rules. Instead, the
player and the GM must agree on what seems appropriate It is important for the GM and
player to keep in mind not only the value of the items, but also how it will be received.
Example: Sarah the Dauntless Monster Hunter is on a quest to aid her old friend the
Nearly-Starving Artist. Sarah decides to display the artist’s work at a party she throws
for a group of Bohemians. At the party, she exchanges her “Crates and Crates of
Middling Wine (+5)” for the temporary aspect “Brought Drinks for Everyone (And Their
Friends).” The GM decides this aspect plus a few points of Connected Bohemians is
sufficient encouragement for the guests to express their gratitude by purchasing the
Nearly-Starving Artist's work. If Sarah had tried to throw a party for members of high
society, who prefer quality over quantity, the GM would have decided the wine was not
nearly as pleasing to the guests, forcing Sarah to spend other assets or make better skill
roles. Sarah would have been better off if she’d had “One Case of Excellent Wine (+5).”

In another example, if Fallen London were experiencing a famine, Spacemarine9’s

character in the browser game could exchange his aspect “Ridiculously Enormous Nigh-
Uncountable Horde of Dead Rats (+20)” for the aspect “Fed the Entire Population of
London Double-Rations for a Month.” Spacemarine9’s GM decides that this gives him a
gargantuan bonus to encourage the no-longer-starving masses to do… basically anything.
Templates

Rubbery Men

Description:
Rubbery Men look like a bizarre combination of squid and human. Most inhabitants of
London know very little about the Rubberies except the following: they have a city
called Fluke Street deep beneath the city, they have lived there for a very long time,
and they import a great deal of peculiar amber to London, only to buy it all back later
on. Rubberies can be found in many different professions in London, especially at the
Docks, where their aquatic nature makes them quite useful. Some Rubbery Men have
managed to become wealthy and relatively respectable, but, in general, prejudice has
kept them to the lower social strata in London. As far as most Londoners know, Rubbery
Men have no real culture of their own, instead focusing on trying to mimic and
assimilate into human society. But who knows their true plans and motivations?

Musts:
You must choose a High Concept that reflects your race (ex: Exemplary Rubbery
Industrialist, Squid-Faced Sneak-Thief, or Rubbery Revolutionary).

Rubbery Men are quite comfortable underwater. They have the Aquatic power (-1
Refresh).

Their inhuman nature makes it very difficult for those unfamiliar with Rubbery Men to
read their expression or body language. They have the Inscrutable Squid Face power (-1
Refresh)

Rubbery Men are incapable of speaking any human language or even making most
human sounds. At most, they can make a strange ululation. You may only communicate
to non-Rubbery Men with notes, and you suffer a penalty to persuasiveness (+1 Refresh).

Options:
For some peculiar reason, some Rubbery Men differ from their fellows in both
appearance and ability. For an additional cost, you may take some extra powers. Some
Rubbery Men have impressively muscular forms (Inhuman Strength, -2 Refresh). Others
have remarkably keen senses and a vaguely canid appearance (Echoes of the Beast, -1
Refresh). Other still are astonishingly adept at climbing seemingly smooth surfaces
(Spider Walk, -1 Refresh)

Important Skills:
Shadowy skills are generally useful to Rubbery Men in that they help them escape their
persecutors, especially stealth. Additionally, their Inscrutable Squid Face makes them
quite adept liars. Other Rubbery Men prioritize Dangerous and Watchful skills. Because
of their natural handicap, few focus on Persuasive skills.

Minimum Refresh Cost: -1

Rattus Faber

Description:
Rattus Faber are a race of talking rats, with human intelligence, and opposable thumbs.
They generally wear clothing to help distinguish them from their unintelligent cousins.
Their small bodies make them expert craftsmen and spies. Despite their size, some are
exceptional fighters, like the dreaded Scuttering Squad.

Musts:
They must have a High Concept that reflects their race (ex: Scuttling Squad Veteran,
Rat Clockmaker, Rat About Town).

The largest Rattus Faber at most a foot tall, this makes them quite adept at sneaking
and picking up on the little details. They must take the Tiny power (-0 Refresh)

Like unintelligent rats, they have an extremely good sense of smell. They must take the
Echoes of the Beast power (-1 Refresh).

Additionally, they have claws and teeth that can be quite deadly despite their size. They
must take the Claws power (-1 Refresh).

Options:
Rattus Faber may acquire any human stunt, but they have no optional unusual powers.

Important Skills:
Their small size and keen senses gives them a natural talent for Watchful skills. Most
acquire Shadowy or Dangerous skills to help avoid or confront threats (additionally, the
Athletics skill is very useful for climbing things like stairs and table legs).

Minimum Refresh Cost: -2

Snuffers

Description:
Mysterious creatures from the Elder Continent that eat candles and harvest human
faces. Londoners know little about them. In fact, most believe they are only a myth.
However, there is a reason the government forces all prisoners and staff in the New
Newgate prison to wear masks at all times.

However, the people of Presbyterate are very familiar with Snuffers (having shared a
continent with them for centuries). Presbyterates generally believe they have a religious
duty to kill Snuffers. Do try to avoid them.

Musts:
Your High Concept must reflect your race (ex, Many-Faced Spy, Secret Snuffer
Celebrity, Candle-Eating Scholar).

You have the ability to literally wear the face of another human… after you cut it off.
You have the Mimic Form (Snuffer Variant) advantage. This ability normally costs two
refresh points, but since Snuffers must kill and skin a person (and presumably hide the
body!), the power costs only -1 Refresh.

NB: This power does not work on Clay or Unfinished Men. It does allow you to wear the
face of a Devil, it does not allow you give off intense heat like them, which can give you
away.

Options:
Snuffers may acquire any human stunt, but they have no optional unusual powers.

Important Skills:
Persuasive and Shadowy Skills are extremely important to Snuffers. Those skills
improve their ability to mimic a human and avoid detection… and subsequent execution.

Minimum Refresh Cost: -1

Unfinished Men

Description:
The deformed ‘children’ of the King With A Hundred Hearts. True Clay Men are nigh-
mindless servants, placidly obeying their orders. Only the Unfinished, those Clay Men
who emerged ill-formed have the spark of true free will. The Unfinished are widely
feared because, while they sometimes lack a limb or even a face, they most often lack a
conscience.

Most Unfinished Men attempt to pass as their peaceful cousins. However, a few like the
infamous Jasper and Frank, have such powerful backers that they can flaunt their true
nature.

Musts:
Your High Concept must reflect your race (ex: Unfinished Detective, Phyllosilicate
Fantasist, Rough-Sculpted Spy).

Unfinished Men and Clay Men alike have extraordinary strength. They must take the
Inhuman Strength power (-2 refresh).

While they are not truly made of clay, their bodies are so tough, they might as well be.
They must take the Inhuman Toughness power (-2 refresh)

However, they are exceptionally slow healers. They must take the Slow Healing
disadvantage (+1)

Options:
Hypothetically, a Clay Man or Unfinished Man might get an exceptionally large fleck of
its father’s power, making it even stronger and tougher than normal. These incredibly
rare individuals would only be appropriate for high power campaigns.

Important Skills:
Their natural abilities make Unfinished Men exceptional fighters. They typically learn
Dangerous skills to make them even more lethal. However, some Clay Men acquire
Persuasive or Watchful skills. Unfortunately, they tend to be quite bad at Shadowy
skills, probably because it’s hard to sneak about when you are enormous hulk that
weighs several hundred pounds.

Minimum Refresh Cost: -3

Devils

Description:
Shortly after the Fall, London invaded Hell. It went poorly.

Now, Devils freely walk through London; they openly hunt humans for sport in the
Forgotten Quarter and every year send a new harvest of souls back to Hell. They had
some kind of revolution in their homeland. The victors exiled the former aristocracy of
Hell, installing in their place an elaborate bureaucracy.

Devils are perhaps the only race more mysterious than Rubbery Men. All Londoners
know about them for sure is that they have an endless hunger for souls, although no one
is quite sure what they do with them. They are supposedly wicked, amoral scoundrels to
a one. However, there are a few who seem so generous, caring, and kind. Some wonder
could it be that, deep down, they have a fleck of goodness? Or is it just another ploy?

NB: Even relatively weak Devils (like those presented here) are only appropriate for
Players in very high power campaigns.

Musts:
You must choose a High Concept that reflects your race (ex: Used Soul Salesman,
Damsel-ish Deviless, Col. James Apoidea of the 14th Infernal Rifle Squad).

Devils are terrifying creatures, with inhuman strength and toughness (-2 Refresh each).

They sport fangs and claws, and are fuelled by an internal fire so hot their very tears
scald flesh. They must take the Claws power (-1 Refresh)

Perhaps their most terrifying power is their words. Sometimes frightening, sometimes
charming, sometimes perhaps even loving. But always, their words dig into your mind.
They must take the Silver-Tongued Devil power (-1 refresh).

Options:
A few Devils might be even stronger, tougher, or (gasp!) better manipulators. However,
even the weakest Devils are just barely playable. Even more powerful Devils would be
too strong for even the highest powered campaigns.

Important Skills:
Individuals Devils can benefit from and specialize in any group of skills. Most strive to
be at least a little Persuasive.

Minimum Refresh Cost: -6

Profession (Sample): Midnighter

Description: The Midnighter performs the unconfessed rites of St. Joshua; the secret
ministrations of midnight, the holy transition of the owned to the unowned and the
unseen to the seen. He has made the unknown known, and toppled an invisible throne.
The most Watchful of all possible spies, the Midnighter has transcended the mere
machinations of the Great Game and understands the careful interplay of truths, lies,
and secrets as the motions of a great and sacred dance. His work facilitates this endless
interplay, both natural to and essential for the ongoing function of the very world.

Musts:
Submerged power level, any prior Profession must have been Agent or related (if
applicable), and you must choose a High Concept that reflects your profession (ex: Sun-
scorched Midnighter, Acquisitive Bishop to Spies, Jovial Tender of St. Joshua’s Shrine)

The Midnighter’s understanding of the spiritual significance of secrecy gives you access
to unique Lore. St. Joshua’s Secrets, -2 Refresh, grants a +2 bonus to Lore (you may take
2 new Lore specialties or deepen an existing Lore specialty).

Spies are the Midnighter’s flock, the Great Game your cathedral. Shepherd of Spies, -2
Refresh, grants +4 to Connections: Great Game (and player may reassign other
Connection points if this takes you over 8 total in Great Game).

Quiet whispers are always welcomed in the halls of the Shuttered Palace and beneath St.
Cyril’s domes. Well-placed Secrets, -1 Refresh, gives +2 to Connection to either Society
or The Church, or +1 to both.

The veils of irrigo around the shrine you maintain frighten the uninitiated. Irrigo Veils, -
1 Refresh, grants +1 to Intimidate. This can take you over the skill cap.

Options:
Some Midnighters seek altogether more hazardous secrets, and sacrifice the health of
their minds in pursuit of that most hazardous script, exchanging -2 Refresh for Lore: the
Correspondence. Some are said to be so talented at disguises and well-placed irrigo
lamps that they can become entirely other people for a brief while, increasing their
Persuasive might at the cost of their free will (-2 or more). Others can melt entirely into
the shadows to stalk truths (-2).

Important Skills:
A very high Watchful is unquestionably essential. Most find that being Shadowy enough
to elude pursuit or Dangerous enough to crush it to a pulp helps prevent any unfortunate
unmaskings.

Minimum Refresh Cost: - 6

A Note On Creating Professional Templates

A good professional template generally obeys the following format:

Description: A brief paragraph on the nature of the profession.

Musts: Power level, prior profession (if any), and the high concept must be related to
profession.
Several Stunts, usually at -1 or -2 refresh each, which make the profession useful.
Potentially a Stunt at a -0 to add color or at +1 that mitigates the Refresh cost of the
profession via imposing some sort of Catch (time of day restrictions, abnormal
sustenance requirements, difficulty communicating with outsiders, etc. Make sure a
Catch is inconvenient!)

Options: Several paths for further advancement and specialization within the profession,
each at a refresh cost (usually -1 or -2, more for more exceptional powers).

Important Skills: Which Skill Groups are essential to successful functioning, and which
Skills within those groups should be prioritized, as needed.

Minimum Refresh Cost: How much the template, with just the musts, costs.

Generally, I recommend checking this list http://fallenlondon.wikia.com/wiki/Profession

and using the profession description, attribute bonuses, item rewarded, and weekly
payment’s commentary as jumping-off points when RPG-ifying the profession.

Tier 1 professions are suitable for Feet In The Water power level campaigns, Tier 2 for
Up To Your Waist, Tier 3 for Chest-Deep, and Tier 4 for Submerged.

If a player wants to play a given profession from the Fallen London browser game (or
wants to create an entirely new one, such as Khan’s Right Hand or Salty Zee Captain),
he should discuss the idea with the GM and the GM will take point on creating the
template, in accord with the above outline, and with commentary from all the players to
come up with the most interesting (and playable) Stunts possible.
Powers
This section describes power possessed by non-human races in the Fallen London RPG.
It is not appropriate for a human Player Character to have one of these powers, unless
they have an exceptionally good justification and/or it is a high-power game and they
have the appropriate profession.

A human Player Character could hypothetically take one of the disadvantages, but I
would discourage them doing so because it complicates the game and makes it more
vulnerable to min-maxing.

NB: Gamemasters, feel free to give these powers or other abilities to some rare Non-
Player Characters. You may also invent your own powers based on these abilities. For
example, you could double (or even triple) the cost and bonuses of Inhuman strength to
represent the awesome strength of a Lorn Fluke.

You can get more examples of powers from the Dresden Files RPG rulebook (in Your
Story).

Summary

Advantages
Aquatic Claws Echoes of the Beast Inscrutable Squid Face Tiny
Inhuman Strength Inhuman Toughness Mimic Silver Tongued
Devil

Example Professional Advantages (described in the Midnighter Example Template):

St. Joshua’s Secrets, Shepherd of Spies, Well-Placed Secrets, Irrigo Veils.

Disadvantages
Mute Slow Healing

Details

Advantages
Aquatic [–1]
Description: You’re an underwater creature, with the benefits that come from that.
Effects:
● Can’t Drown: You never take stress or consequences from drowning (this is not
the same as an immunity to choking or other means of suffocation).
● Easy Swimming: You get a +2 to athletics roles when swimming
Claws [–1]
Description: You have claws, fangs, or other natural weapons that let you add damage
when attacking with your “bare” hands. Unless you have the ability to conceal your
nature or change your shape your claws are always visible.
Effects:
● Natural Weapons: You have claws (or something similar), which give you +2 to
damage, increasing the stress dealt by two on a successful Melee attack, when you
use your claws.

Echoes of the Beast [–1]

Description: Some part of you is a beast, an animal—often due to shapechanging
abilities, being a Rattus Faber, or something else. This brings along the benefits of that
animal’s senses. You must pick which animal when you take this ability. For Rattus
Faber, the animal is always rats.
Effects:
● Beast Senses. Whether in human form or otherwise, your senses are strongly
tuned in a fashion fitting a particular type of beast (you must specify the senses
when you take the ability, based on what the beast is known to have). Whenever
it seems reasonable that you’d have some sort of beast-born advantage of the
senses (for example, a keen sense of smell while making an Alertness or
Investigation roll), you get a +1 on the roll.
● Beast Trappings. You are able to do one minor thing that normal people can’t do,
related to the abilities of your beast-kin. This might be tracking by scent (for a
Rattus Faber or a predator), finding your way around while blind or in total
darkness (like a bat), or hiding in plain sight (like a chameleon). This ability
works like a sub-talent from another skill. Alternately, you can choose a talent
that already exists and create a circumstance under which you gain a +1 on the
roll that fits your beast kinship. For example, you might say that, because you’re
kin to leopards, you gain a +1 to Stealth when barefoot.
● Beast Friend. You may achieve at least an instinctual understanding (if not actual
communication) with beasts of a similar type. Add +1 to any skill role dealing
with those animals.

Inscrutable Squid Face [-1]

Description: You have the face of a Rubbery Man, which is infamously hard to read by
those unfamiliar with your kind.
● Poker Face. Characters unfamiliar with Rubbery Men suffer -2 penalty when
trying to read a Rubbery Man’s emotions or discern if they’re lying. (This does
not help you display false emotions, just makes it harder to read true emotions).

Tiny [–1]
Description: You’re very small, or able to become very small at will if you’re a
shapeshifter—at the very largest, you’re dwarfed by even a small human child.
Effects:
● Fragile. You have -1 Wounds stress box
● Hard to Detect. You gain +4 to Stealth attempts to remain hidden.
● Small is Big. Being small, you’re much better at picking up on very small details,
gaining a +2 to any perception (Alertness, Investigation) rolls needed to spot
them.
● Wee. Your ability to manipulate objects and other uses of the Physique skill are
considered relative to creatures of your small size, rather than human sized.
(Since most difficulties are determined for humans, this will usually impose a
penalty between –2 and –4, or in some cases, forbid the use of Might at all.)
● You will also have to make athletic roles to do simple tasks like climbing into a
human-sized chair.
● When your size is a factor in combat, you can only inflict 1 Wounds stress per
attack (but this could be improved by damage bonuses from weapons and the
like). However, you gain a +1 to Athletics when trying to dodge physical attacks.

Inhuman Strength [–2]

Description: You are able to lift more and hit harder than the average human can, due to
your supernatural heritage.
Effects:
● Improved Lifting. Whenever lifting or breaking inanimate things, you gain a +3 to
your Physique skill roll.
● Superior Strength. Whenever you are using a skill other than Physique and
superior strength could conceivably help with the task, you get a +1 to your roll
● Hammer Blows. With attacks that depend on muscular force (most Melee attaks),
you are at +2 to damage, increasing the stress dealt by two on a successful hit.

Inhuman Toughness [–2]

Description: You’re unusually tough and have incredible fortitude. You’re able to take
more punishment than a normal human can.
Effects:
● Hard to Hurt. You have Natural Armor: 1. Any time you receive a physical attack
that would deal Wounds stress, the amount of stress you take is reduced by 1.
● Hard to Kill. You have two additional boxes of Wounds stress capacity

Mimic Form [–2]

Description: You are able to mimic the appearance of another, given the right materials
to work with: ideally a piece of their flesh, some strands of hair, a patch of skin, or a vial
of blood. (Mortal monster-hunters, take heed!) Skills Affected: Deceit, others.
Effects:
● Take Form. You may take on the form, voice, and other seemings of another
individual, provided you have possession of something significant of theirs—the
better the object, the more convincing the copy. You roll Deceit at +4 to fool
 others if your mimicked appearance is close to perfect; the bonus decreases
significantly if you don’t have the right “fuel.”
● Snuffer Variant [+1]. This is the power possessed by Snuffers. It costs one fewer
refresh points than the normal skill (for a total of -1), because this advantage
requires you to physically remove the face of anyone you wish to impersonate

Silver-Tongued Devil [-1]

Description: You have an unnerving ability to influence minds, using only your words.
Effects
● Influence. Whenever you make a social attack that deals 2 or more Nightmares
Stress, you may spend a Fate point to force the target to take a mild consequence
instead.
● Greater Influence. Whenever you make a social attack that deals 4 or more
Nightmares stress, you may spend a Fate point to force the target to take a
moderate consequence instead.
NB: New consequences, like all new aspects, can be invoked once for free. This free
invocation can be used to compel the target.

Spider Walk [–1]

Description: You can climb on things the way a spider would.
Effects:
● Like a Spider. While climbing, you may treat any surface, no matter the angle, as
being no more difficult than climbing up a vertical surface with plenty of
handholds. Ceilings? No problem.

Disadvantages
Mute [+1]
Description: You cannot communicate verbally. At most, you can make inarticulate
shrieks.
Effects
● Can’t talk. You can only communicate in-character through written notes.
● Failure of the Written Word. Pausing to write notes robs your words of some of
their effect. Social skills suffer -1 penalty. This penalty does not apply if you’ve
had time to write your statement ahead of time (ie in a letter or on a sign).

Slow Healing [+1]

Description: Your wounds heal much more slowly.
Effects
● Old Wounds. If you ever take a Mild or Moderate Consequence to absorb Wounds
stress, that consequence will take longer to clear. Mild Consequences will clear
at the end of the session. Moderate Consequences fade after three sessions.
Advancement
Your characters aren’t going to remain static through the entire campaign. As their
stories play out, they’ll have the chance to grow and change in response to the events
that happen in play. The conflicts they face and the complications they overcome will
alter your sense of who they are and push them toward new challenges. In addition to
your characters, the game world will change also. You’ll resolve threats as you play, or
change the face of a location, or make such an impact on the world that one of the issues
may need to change. We’ll get more into world advancement later. Character
advancement in Fate comes in one of two flavors: either you can change something on
your sheet to something else that’s equivalent, or you can add new things to your sheet.
The opportunities you get to do this are collectively called milestones.

Defining Milestones

A milestone is a moment during the game where you have the chance to change or
advance your character. They’re called milestones because they usually happen at
significant “break points” in the action of a game—the end of a session, the end of a
scenario, and the end of a story arc, respectively. Usually, those break points
immediately follow some significant event in the story that justifies your character
changing in response to events. You might reveal a significant plot detail or have a
cliffhanger at the end of a session. You might defeat a major villain or resolve a plotline
at the end of a scenario. You might resolve a major storyline that shakes up the
campaign world at the end of an arc. Obviously, things won’t always line up that nicely,
so GMs, you have some discretion in deciding when a certain level of milestone occurs. If
it seems satisfying to give out a milestone in the middle of a session, go ahead, but stick
to the guidelines here to keep from handing out too many advancement opportunities
too often.
Milestones come in three levels of importance: minor, significant, and major.

Minor Milestones
Minor milestones usually occur at the end of a session of play, or when one piece of a
story has been resolved. These kinds of milestones are more about changing your
character rather than making him or her more powerful, about adjusting in response to
whatever’s going on in the story if you need to. Sometimes it won’t really make sense to
take advantage of a minor milestone, but you always have the opportunity if you should
need to. During a minor milestone, you can choose to do one (and only one) of the
following:
● Switch the rank values of any two skills, or replace one Average (+1) skill with
one that isn’t on your sheet.
● Change any single stunt for another stunt.
● Purchase a new stunt, provided you have the refresh to do so. (Remember, you
can’t go below 1 refresh.)
 ● Rename one character aspect that isn’t your high concept.

In addition, you can also rename any moderate consequences you have, so that you can
start them on the road to recovery, presuming you have not already done so.

This is a good way to make slight character adjustments, if it seems like something on
your character isn’t quite right—you don’t end up using that stunt as often as you
thought, or you resolved the Blood Feud with Edmund that you had and thus it’s no
longer appropriate, or any of those changes that keep your character consistent with the
events of play. In fact, you should almost always be able to justify the change you’re
making in terms of the game’s story. You shouldn’t be able to change Hot Temper to
Staunch Pacifist, for example, unless something happened in the story to inspire a
serious change of heart—you met a holy man, or had a traumatic experience that made
you want to give up the sword, or whatever. GMs, you’re the final arbiter on this, but
don’t be so much of a stickler that you sacrifice a player’s fun for consistency.

Significant Milestones
These usually occur at the end of a scenario or the conclusion of a big plot event (or,
when in doubt, at the end of every two or three sessions). Unlike minor milestones,
which are primarily about change, significant milestones are about learning new
things—dealing with problems and challenges has made your character generally more
capable at what they do. In addition to the benefit of a minor milestone, you also gain
both of the following:
● One additional skill point, which you can spend to buy a new skill at Average (+1)
or increase an existing skill by one rank.
● If you have any severe consequences, you can rename them to begin the recovery
process, if you haven’t already. When you spend your skill point, it’s worth one
step on the ladder. You can use it to buy a new skill at Average (+1), or you can
use it to increase an existing skill by one step on the ladder—say, from Good (+3)
to Great (+4).

Major Milestones
A major milestone should only occur when something happens in the campaign that
shakes it up a lot—the end of a story arc (or around three scenarios), the death of a main
NPC villain, or any other large-scale change that reverberates around your game world.
These milestones are about gaining more power. The challenges of yesterday simply
aren’t sufficient to threaten these characters anymore, and the threats of tomorrow will
need to be more adept, organized, and determined to stand against them in the future.
Achieving a major milestone confers the benefits of a significant milestone and a minor
milestone, and all of the following additional options:
● If you have an extreme consequence, rename it to reflect that you’ve moved past
its most debilitating effects. This allows you to take another extreme consequence
in the future, if you desire.
 ● Take an additional point of refresh, which allows you to immediately buy a new
stunt or keep it in order to give yourself more Fate points at the beginning of a
session.
● Advance a skill beyond the campaign’s current skill cap, if you’re able to, thus
increasing the skill cap.
● Rename your character’s high concept if you desire.

Reaching a major milestone is a pretty big deal. Characters with more stunts are going
to have a diverse range of bonuses, making their skills much more effective by default.
Characters with higher refresh will have a much larger fountain of Fate points to work
with when sessions begin, which means they’ll be less reliant on compels for a while.
GMs, when the player characters go past the skill cap, it will necessarily change the way
you make opposition NPCs, because you’re going to need foes who can match the PCs in
terms of base competence so as to provide a worthy challenge. It won’t happen all at
once, which will give you the chance to introduce more powerful enemies gradually, but
if you play long enough, eventually you’re going to have PCs who have Epic and
Legendary skill ratings—that alone should give you a sense of what kind of villains
you’ll need to bring to get in their way. Most of all, a major milestone should signal that
lots of things in the world of your game have changed. Some of that will probably be
reflected in world advancement, but given the number of chances the PCs have had to
revise their aspects in response to the story, you could be looking at a group with a much
different set of priorities and concerns than they had when they started.

World Advancement

The characters are not the only ones who change in response to events in the game.
Player characters leave their mark on locations (and their faces) with their passing.
Things that were crises and major issues at the start of a game get addressed, resolved,
or changed. Things that weren’t major problems before suddenly blossom with new
severity and life. Old adversaries fall to the wayside and new ones rise.
GMs, when the players are changing their characters through milestones, you should
also be looking at whether or not the aspects you originally placed on the game during
game creation need to change in response to what they’ve done, or simply because of
lack of use. Here are some guidelines regarding each milestone.

For Minor Milestones

● Do you need to add a new location to the game, based on what the PCs have
done? If so, come up with some NPCs to help give more personality to the location
and add an issue to the place.
● Have the PCs resolved an issue in a location? Get rid of the aspect, or maybe
change it to represent how the issue was resolved (In the Shadow of the Cheery
Man becomes Memories of Broken Glass, for example).

For Significant Milestones

 ● Did the PCs resolve an issue that was on the whole game world? If so, remove (or
alter) the aspect.
● Did the PCs create permanent change in a location? If so, create a new issue to
reflect this, for better or for worse.

For Major Milestones

● Did the PCs create permanent change in the game world? If so, give it a new issue
to reflect this, for better or for worse.

You don’t need to make these changes as precisely or as regularly as the players do—if
anything, you should be as reactive as you can. In other words, focus on changing those
aspects that the player characters have directly interacted with and caused the most
change to. If you have aspects you haven’t really explored yet, keep them around if you
think they’re just waiting their turn. However, you can also change them in order to
make them more relevant to what’s going on in the moment, or simply to give the PCs
more of a sense of being in an evolving world. Also, keep in mind that if the PCs remove
an impending issue, another one must arise to take its place. Don’t worry about this
immediately—you need to give your players a sense of enacting permanent change in
the game world. But after a while, if you notice that you’re low on impending issues, it’s
probably a good time to introduce a new one, whether on the game world as a whole or
on a specific location.

Dealing with NPCs

Remember, GMs, when you add a new location to the game world, you want to add at
least one new NPC to go with it. Sometimes, that might mean moving a person from a
location you’re not going to use anymore. Likewise, when there’s a significant change in
an issue for a location or the game world, you need to evaluate if the current NPCs are
sufficient to express that change. If not, you might need to add one, or alter an NPC you
have in a significant way—add more aspects or revise existing aspects to keep that
character relevant to the issue at hand. Most of the time, it should be pretty obvious
when you need a new face for a location—when the old one dies or is somehow
permanently removed from the game, or is boring now, it’s probably time to change
things up.

Recurring NPCs
There are essentially two ways to reuse NPCs. You can either use them to show how the
PCs have grown since they started, or use them to show how the world is responding to
their growth.
With the former, you don’t change the NPC, because that’s the point— the next time the
PCs meet them, they’ve outclassed them, or they have new worries, or they’ve somehow
grown past that NPC, who remains static. Maybe you even change the category they’re
in—where they were once a main NPC, now they’re a supporting NPC because of how
the PCs have grown.
With the latter, you allow the NPC to advance like the PCs have—you add new skills,
change their aspects around, give them a stunt or two, and otherwise do whatever is
necessary to keep them relevant to the PCs’ endeavors. This kind of NPC might be able
to hang around as a nemesis for several story arcs, or at least provide some sense of
continuity as the PCs become more powerful and influential.
Story
A Brief History of Fallen London

On Valentine’s Day in 1862, an enormous colony of bats swarmed over London. The city
plummeted miles beneath the Earth, landing in an impossibly large cavern known as the
Neath. The denizens of London somehow survived, but they were universally terrified at
the sudden change. In the fall, somehow the very city was rearranged, so no one could
find their way. There were riots, which led some to discover firsthand that, in this new
land, death was not permanent. They could die and rise again, and this knowledge only
caused more chaos.

In stepped the Masters.

They wore hooded cloaks that covered everything but could not conceal the inhuman
shape of their bodies. They spoke to the crowd with strangely high-pitched voices, and
they brought order.

The Masters had strength and resources and knowledge, unlike the Londoners. The
Masters slowly extended their power over the city. The Queen, now called the Traitor
Empress, may still technically rule, and her government may manage things in London
from the day to day, but everyone knows who truly runs the city.

The Londoners soon discovered they had some new neighbors. For they now shared the
city with fearsome looking Rubbery Men, intelligent talking rats (called Rattus Faber),
and talking cats. Worst of all the creatures they encountered are the Devils. Cruel,
ruthless, and endlessly lusting for souls, Devils prey on humans, sometimes tricking
them out of their soul other times just hunting them for sport.

In 1868, London struck back against the Devils and launched an invasion of Hell. It
failed utterly. The only survivors were purchased with still more souls. Now, Devils walk
freely through London. Hell has its Brass Embassy and trades with London. Some
humans declare their loyalty to Hell by wearing brass rings.

While the Neath held horrors, Londoners discovered it held some wonders too. They
quickly became acquainted with Prisoner’s Honey, a subsistence that can physically
transport a person into their dreams. Bohemians latched on to this new delight, and
many succumbed to addiction.

Decades passed, and London adapted. Vinters learned to make wine out of mushrooms.
The poor acquired a taste for rats. Londoners made do without the horses that are far
too expensive to feed, coming to rely on enormous golems called Clay Men. The
Constables enforced the Masters’ new order. The Admiralty managed to establish a
small handful of fragile colonies. The Docks began to ship goods to and from new shores,
like the Carnelian Coast and the Presbyterate. Criminals smuggled new contraband, like
boxed sunlight and red honey. The twin universities, renamed Benthic and Summerset,
developed a number of new courses of study to research the peculiarities of the Neath.
The Bible was “revised” to account for the new realities of the Neath, although some
members of the church, like the Bishop of Southwark, never forgave Devils for existing.
Spies still come down the Cumaen Canal to play their Great Game. Old folks learned to
expect to be shipped off to the Tomb Colonies when they grew too frail.

However, some did not accept this new world order. A new breed of Revolutionary
arose, dedicated to casting down the Masters, and ushering in the Liberation of Night.

Now, London approaches the 20th century, and certain facts are known but not fully
understood.

● London is the fifth city to be stolen by the Masters. There will be seven.
● To the west lies Hell. Few humans have ventured within, and fewer have returned
● To the east lies an enormous underground sea, called the Zee.
● To the south lies the Presbyterate, some kind of theocracy where it is even harder
to die
● To the North lies a terrible mystery that calls to a wretched few in their dreams
● One can sell one’s soul and continue to go about one’s day, with very few
consequences
● Some scoundrels called spirifers make a living harvesting souls, legally or
otherwise.
● Something in the roof of the Neath twinkles like stars
● Every winter, frozen white flakes that are not snow fall on London
● Drowning is different from all other deaths. The drowned rarely rise, and, if they
do, only as Drownies who do naught but sing their mourning songs.
● For some reason, those who have lived long in Neath frequently die when they
are exposed to true sunlight.
● In the darkness of the Neath, some laws of physics can be bent. Others can be
broken. The impossible is a fairly common occurrence.
● These days, it is quite common for individuals to make do without names, relying
instead on descriptions and epithets
● The only two routes to the surface are climbing up the Travertine Spiral or sailing
the Cumaean Canal, which the Masters supposedly dug with the Stone Pigs…
whatever those are.
A Brief Note on Trade Goods

The Masters of the Bazaar have many bizarre trade practices and strange tariffs.
Perhaps the most odd is the high value they place on love stories, and the enormous
taxes they levy on any who would export them. Currency from the surface has some
value, but the majority of trading is done in the Masters’ coin, the Echo. At the heart of
Fallen London, both literally and metaphorically, lies the Echo Bazaar, the greatest
market place in the Neath.

Hell exports hydrogen, a yellowish metal called rostygold, devilbone (which is not what
it sounds like), and nevercold brass (which is). It imports souls, sometimes legally,
sometimes not.

Sapphires come from the Carnelian Cost.

Coffee, candles, and a great deal of food come from the Elder Continent, predominantly
the Presbyterate.

There are ancient shrieks and screams that still echo throughout the Neath. Somehow,
the Urchins that live at the highest parts of the city can capture and store these wild
words. They fetch a surprisingly good price on the market.

It is whispered that for a fortune larger than even the Traitor Empress could imagine,
one can buy a cask of Hesperidean cider, one drink of which makes you truly immortal
and unaging.
Regions of London

Spite: The ragged old market of Spite is known for its silk-weavers and its pickpockets.
Blythenhale is notorious for its feral cats. Flowerdene Street is the heart of the worst
rookery in Fallen London.

Veilgarden: A haunt of poets, prostitutes and other low types, and location of the
notorious Singing Mandrake. Elderwick is famous for its booksellers. Hollow Street
offers the best honey-dens in the city.

Ladybones Road: Moloch Street Underground Station is the first stop on the journey to
Hell. Clathermont's Tattoo Parlour, haunt of spies, is here. Hangman's Arch can be a
good place to hear gossip, and is always a good place for a hanging.

Mahogany Hall: The center of the entertainment district of London. It features nightly
performances by Magicians, Hypnotists, and many other types of performers.

Watchmaker’s Hill: A sinister fungal wilderness by the river. The Department of Menace
Eradication subcontracts the adventurous to deal with the things that slither out of
Bugsby's Marshes. An observatory atop the hill employs only blind men.

Mrs. Plenty’s Carnival: A grand carnival, with attractions and treats from all over the
Neath. At least, that’s what Mrs. Plenty says, and some of it may even be true. If nothing
else, the rubbery lumps are good.

Wolfstack Docks: This is where the trading steamer fleets come in from the lands across
the Unterzee, the sunless sea of the Bazaar. The offices of Mr. Fires, who governs trade
in coal, are here among the warehouses and rowdy dockside pubs.

The Flit: Thieves and outcasts have built a secret district on the rooftops of Fallen
London out of planks and scrap iron. The view is good. The food is not. They like to talk
about a 'bad altitude'.

Wilmot’s End: Monuments and memorials from a dozen realms around the Unterzee
tower forlornly around you. Spies and lovers stalk the soft grey shadows of stolen ruins.

The University: It is what some call a castle manned by learning and scholarship, and
others a vicious and permanent dog-fight between Benthic College and Summerset
College.

The Labyrinth of Tigers: Beasts from every corner of the Unterzee are caged in the
Labyrinth. But tigers walk free. There are very few accidents.
The Shuttered Palace: The Traitor Empress hasn't left the palace in thirty years. Her
consort still arranges concerts and banquets in the darkly glittering rooms and dripping
gardens. You may be invited. But go carefully. She dislikes sudden movements. The
band plays muted instruments. No one dares to speak above a whisper.

The Forgotten Quarter: A remnant of the Fourth City, which the Bazaar acquired five
hundred years ago. Statues of warrior-kings line silent avenues. A fountain shaped like a
silver tree stands before a ruined palace at its heart.

Flute Street: The home of the Rubbery Men buried far beneath London. It is said no
living human knows the way.
Important Locations in the Neath

Hell: The home of Devils is just a short ride down the Stolen River, once called the
Thames. Humans rarely return, and few details are known.

Mutton Island: A pleasant, isolated fishing community in the Southern Archipelago. The
islanders are said to practice quaint, bucolic customs that date from before the Fall.

Hunter’s Keep: A rambling old house sits on a half-drowned hill. Well-tended gardens
stretch down to the shore, but it's the house that dominates. Rows of curtained windows
stare blankly out to Zee. The only inhabitants are three strange sisters and their yellow-
eyed maid.

Carnelian Coast: London’s first, greatest, and only true colony in the Neath. The ruddy
shores conceal hordes of sapphires. London struggles to ward of the Far Khanate’s
agents and keep the native population of talking tigers in their place.

Polythreme: A place where everything, from the bed you sleep on to the stones you step
on, lives. Your food will beg not to be eaten. Your clothes may cease to follow your
directions.

The Far Khanate: The last remnant of the Fourth City’s culture. Floating islands, filled
with ornate artwork and elegant courtiers. They are at war with Khan’s Shadow.

Khan’s Shadow: The last remnant of the Fourth City’s army. A flotilla of crudely lashed
together ships, crewed by fierce and terribly zailors. They have a mighty pirate fleet,
perpetually at war with the Far Khanate.

The Presbyterate: Some kind of theocracy to the Southeast and across the Zee from
London. They are an ancient civilization that knows many secrets, and flourishes in the
glow of the Mountain of Light.
Summaries of Connected Factions

Bohemians: Patrons and practitioners of art in all of its forms, the Bohemians are among
the most creative and eccentric factions of Fallen London. They simply wish to live out
their lives of pleasure, art and hedonism, but the often scandalous nature of their work
tends to bring them into conflict with the city's upper class and law enforcement.

Church: The remnants of the Anglican Church which has suffered from the presence of
literal Devil and the absence of all kinds of angels. Some try to tend to their flock as best
they can. Others wait and plot on how to finally get their revenge on Hell

Constables: Fallen London's law enforcers are a mixed lot. There's the traditional police
force, based out of Concord Square, who are in equal parts modern scientific
investigators and old-fashioned brutes. There's the Special Constables - the Masters'
secret police - who are increasingly loyal to Mr. Pages' Ministry of Public Decency. There
are also a number of private investigators, upon whom the official police have come to
semi-formally rely.

Criminals: Every city has its underground, even when the city itself is already far
underground. The most “troubled” criminals make up the Raggedy Men a gang of
homeless lunatics who serve the insane Topsy King. The majority of organized crime
answers to the Cheery Man.

Great Game: With so many factions seeking to make a mark on Fallen London, it is only
natural that these factions engage in spy networks and backroom dealings. That is the
purpose of the Great Game, a catch-all term referring to the vast, intricate spy network
that is played by nearly every major power in the city. The Game's machinations can
range from subtle blackmail to bloody violence and everything in between, and only the
most shrewd and cunning of players can come out on top.

Hell: There are many Devils on its streets -- charming, friendly, wealthy, handsome and
beguiling individuals working out of the Brass Embassy. They are readily identifiable by
their brilliant eyes, fanged mouths, and strange fashions. Hell and the Bazaar have
contracts governing the sale and trade of souls, and the whole business is moderately
civilized, particularly given that some people deliberately seek to "unburden"
themselves. Make no mistake, however: Devils are not human, nothing they do comes for
free, their motives are cruel, and they are never even remotely trustworthy. Gathering
souls is their foremost priority, and when that option has failed, they amuse themselves
with mortal suffering. Dealings with Hell are extremely unwise. Bargaining is the
prerogative of the terminally foolish.

Revolutionaries: Not everyone's happy with how Fallen London is now under the
Bazaar's control. Some anarchists fight against them with all they have. Anarchists being
somewhat opposed to order, there are a number of anarchist factions. The largest are
described below:
● One group lead by a mysterious group called the Calendar Council are
determined to topple the Masters and put London back in the hands of the
people, and they are willing to do whatever they must to further their cause and
advance the Liberation of Night
● The Iron Republic is technically a colony of Hell, but it is a haven for some of the
most radical of anarchists, those who wish to live free of laws, all laws, even the
laws of physics.
● Khan’s Shadow has its own particular brand of anarchism, although they are
somewhat hard to tell apart from the regular pirates.

Rubberies: Unusual creatures, with faces like octopodes or squid, who talk in a kind of
burbling sound. They consume small fish and enjoy human music, though they perform
themselves on occasion as well. Sometimes seen in Fallen London, always very
respectably dressed, and trading a kind of sticky amber-like substance. They're obvious
outsiders in the city, and, lacking the Devils' charm and the Clay Men's brawn, they're
easy targets for derision, harassment and outright violence. Their own territory is a
place called Flute Street, deep in the caves below London.

Society: The member of the highest social class of London, or at least those that have not
yet fled back to the surface. Many simply fritter away the days. Some try to keep the
cogs of London turning. A few have secrets worth dying and killing for. The Royal
Family are all of the above.

The Docks: London remains a maritime power, and maintains naval and trade routes
through the Southern Archipelago and between its colonies across the Unterzee. From
the Admiralty to the dock-hands, zailing means power in Fallen London.

The Gracious Widow’s People: Half of London’s contraband bears the mark of the
Widow, the only true competition the Cheery Man has in the London underground. She
is less entrenched in London, but she has powerful allies across the Zee, and she is said
to be able to supply the drink of eternal life.

Tomb Colonists: Whatever vital force animates much of the Neath ensures that even
death is not always permanent... but that doesn't mean that people are never sick or
injured, and not every ailment can heal on its own. Those whose bodies are too badly
damaged to be seen in polite society usually retire to the Tomb-Colonies -- overzee
settlements with the facilities to attend to the needs of the living dead. Many Tomb-
Colonists are retired soldiers, hunters, and other martial veterans, and keep up these
habits until they're too ragged to move. Time in the Colonies is accordingly either very
dangerous or very dull.
The University: The University of London's colleges may have changed their names,
their mottoes, and much of their syllabi after the Fall, but they've retained their original
character.
● Benthic College: Formerly University College, Benthic College is radical and
secular, and noted for its provision of degrees to women, the soulless, and non-
humans.
● Summerset College: Formerly King's College, Summerset College is aristocratic,
closely linked to the Church of England, and noted for its conservative
admissions.

Urchins: Fallen London has no shortage of orphans, and many of them end up forming
tight-knit communities with their fellows. Although uniformly children, years of practice
and exposure to London's underworld have made the Urchins expert pickpockets and
spies. Some are said to know the secrets of wild words and impossible cloth.
● The Knotted Sock Urchins: A gang of urchins who specialize in two things:
stealing cloth, and learning occult words of power from secret places in the
Neath. Up-and-coming rivals of the Regiment.
● The Regiment Urchins: The most powerful of the urchin-gangs, in no small part
because they discovered and took control of an old watch-tower by the river that
still had a working cannon.
● The Noughts Urchins & The Crosses Urchins: Two child-gangs who have been
fighting a brutal territory war for decades.
Summaries of Other Factions

It is not possible to buy Connection boxes with these factions, but they are still active in
London. You may gain the favor of some members of these factions, but it cannot be
used as reliably as Connection with the Connected Factions.

Masters: When London Fell and the Bazaar arrived, they were there to acclimate the
populace and hawk their wares. The enigmatic true powers of London, though they claim
otherwise. Not much is known about them, but they aren't a united front - each one has
its own schemes and allegiances. They are also definitely not male (or female), but seem
content to be referred to as masculine. It is said that there are eleven of them, but there
are more than eleven names.

The Black Ribbon Society: A group devoting to dueling each other to true and final
death. It is led by Feducci, the Tomb Colonist.

Clay Men: Clay Men are a living tithe paid by the King with a Hundred Hearts to the
Masters of the Bazaar. Clay Men look like moving statues. They are a docile lot, happy to
obey any order given. They are the primary beasts of burden in London, since it costs too
much a feed a horse.

The Parthenaeum: The most exclusive and wealthiest club for Gentlemen and Ladies.

Rattus Faber: Intelligent talking rats with a bipedal bodies and opposable thumbs. They
work in a variety of fields, and while they will ally against common enemies, such as
dreaded rat-killers, they do not share a species-wide goal.

Slowcake’s Exceptionals: A group that publishes a titular book that serves as a “Who’s
Who?” of London.

Snuffers: Strange creatures from the Elder Continent that can wear a human’s face as a
disguise, after they cut it off your skull.

Sorrow Spiders: Spiders that pluck out human eyes. They can pass through mirrors and
possess a poisonous bite. Some claim they are intelligent. You’re not sure about that, but
have you have heard rumors of a far-off island governed by eyeless priests who answer
to many-limbed gods.

New Sequence: A new group with ties to the Admiralty. They are supposedly the ones
constructing the enormous machine in the South, the Dawn Machine. No one knows what
will happen when it is completed, but the New Sequence promise “progress without
change.”
The Glass: A cabal of stage magicians, illusionists and escapologists, with interests in the
deeper mysteries of the Neath. They claim to be allied with a group called the
'Fingerkings,' who supposedly whisper to them from the other side of mirrors and sleep.
Bitter enemies of the Shroud.

The Shroud: A confederation of psychics, mystics and clairvoyants, who dabble in

delving into the advanced science and philosophy of the Neath. Bitter enemies of The
Glass.

Unfinished Men: The cousins of the Clay Men. They are also created by the King with a
Hundred Hearts, but something went wrong in their formation, commonly giving them
some disfigurement, but endowing them independent will and desire. Unfortunately,
they tend to lack a conscience.

The Young Stag’s Club: A group of rich and wild youths, devoted to having as much fun
as possible, no matter what the expense to other people.

Seekers: Humans tormented by terrible dreams and worse appetites. They seek the well.
They seek the North. They seek the name. Whose Name?

Do not ask. The answer will gain you nothing and cost you everything.
Notable Character List

These are just some example NPC characters from the browser game with a summary of
their in-game depiction. If you want to include other characters from the browser game
or Sunless Sea, please do so. Feel free to also invent your own NPC characters.

Name/Title Faction Description

The Viennese Exile, the Interpreter of Dreams. A doctor of the
mind with a devoted following among the more esoteric of Fallen
London's fashionable set. It's difficult to be sure whether he's a
genius or a charlatan, but he certainly seems to know a lot about
Dr Schlomo Bohemians the Neath's stranger secrets.
The Irresistible Lady. Proprietress of Mrs. Plenty's Most
Distracting Carnival, in the East End. Originally from Mutton
Island, in the Southern Archipelago, she's now the popular
Mrs. Plenty Bohemians patroness of Fallen London's bohemia.
The Bawdy A skilled and compulsive gambler. He has traveled the zee, and
Cardsharp Bohemians he has stories to tell.
The Cat-Beset A servant of the Duchess who will not rest until he finishes his
Perfectionist Bohemians painting of his mistress. Perhaps only a few more years...
A lady of famously independent and caustic opinions. She's
presently enjoying an upswing through her relationship
The Sardonic (friendship? intimacy?) with His Amused Lordship. She's
Music-Hall certainly well-connected, and knows a great deal about a great
Singer Bohemians many subjects.
A bloodthirsty artist-gang, who orchestrate stirring compositions
The Set Bohemians and merciless crimes on the Unterzee.
A former criminal, now trying to make his way as a legitimate
painter. A talented artist who sincerely regrets his crimes, he's
The Repentant Bohemians / often targeted by former colleagues or rivals who want to exploit
Forger Criminals his skills.
The Libertarian Bohemians / A scholar frequently banished from the University. His
Esotericist University philosophies are quite popular among Bohemians.
The Bishop of Fallen London's Anglican cathedral. A fierce
The Bishop of opponent of infernal influences in the city, he's at the head of a
Southwark Church scheme to militarise Fallen London's churches.
The Honey-
Addled
Detective Constables A once brilliant mind, dimmed by an excessive honey habit
The Implacable
Detective Constables She is perhaps the greatest consulting detective in London
The Knuckle- The leader of the Velocipede Squad - Fallen London's elite
Scarred Constables detective division, mounted on top-of-the-line bicycles. Some say
Inspector they're little more than another gang, using their authority to
extort good and bad alike -- but they get results, d—n it!
A holdout from a previous iteration of the Special Constables,
before they allied themselves to the Ministry of Public Decency.
She is currently attempting to bring down the notorious crimelord
The Last the Cheery Man, both in the name of justice, and for personal
Constable Constables reasons.
The Blind A loyal and trusted servant of the Cheery Man. He is still a very
Bruiser Criminals capable enforcer, despite his lack of sight.
Landlord of The Medusa's Head, Watchmaker's Hill's premier
The Cheery public house, and leader of one of Fallen London's most
Man Criminals dangerous criminal gangs.
The One of those rare few devils whom you would almost call kind.
Affectionate Perhaps he even is. Or perhaps that's what he wants you to think.
Devil Hell He is usually courting someone.
A taciturn creature, who rarely speaks a word. She has a
The Quiet remarkable penchant for animals, and is typically courting
Deviless Hell someone.
One of Hell's leading agents, dedicated to digging up the secrets
Virginia Hell of the Correspondence.
Revolutionari Mentioned rarely, but renowned specifically for intense brutality.
April es She's also very skilled at designing and building explosives.
A mysterious revolutionary, whose features are always concealed
Revolutionari behind an elaborate mask. Also the leader of the Calendar
December es Council, who knows the identity of all other council members.
Revolutionari A tall, handsome, well-dressed woman, and exceptionally cunning
February es and dangerous. She's a committed enemy of Mr. Iron.
Revolutionari A squat, rustic, amiable-looking fellow. He's a known enemy of
March es Mr. Wines.
One of the main correspondents and liaisons for the Council. She
uses her position of authority and her connections with various
The Affluent Revolutionari parties to preach the Revolutionaries' goals and messages to any
Photographer es who would listen.
A society figure known for his love of political debate. He's not
publicly attached to any one cause - he'll happily argue for the
The Jovial Revolutionari establishment one minute, and against it the next. He certainly
Contrarian es / Society knows all about the revolutionary Calendar Council, however.
His Amused A hearty, good-natured fellow, fond both of popular amusements
Lordship Society and of radical intellectual and scientific movements.
The editor of The Unexpurgated London Gazette, and an elder
statesman of Doubt Street, London's newspaper district. Highly
Mr. Huffam Society respectable, and known for his progressive views.
The Society The youngest child of the Empress and the consort, noted for her
Captivating beauty and charm. She was born right at the moment of the Fall.
Princess It would be libelous -- nay, treasonous -- to repeat gossip about her
owning select honey-dens, or partaking of depraved, sadistic, and
highly illegal indulgences.
The Empress' husband, the Consort, fell gravely ill just before the
The Royal Fall of London -- typhoid, they say. He seems to have recovered,
Consort Society though it left him rather pale and wan, poor chap.
After the Fall, the Empress retreated to the Shuttered Palace,
where her courtiers dress in black and never speak above a
The Traitor whisper. She is seldom seen in public, and none are allowed to
Empress Society speak her name.
A civil servant, steeped in the methods and manners of the
Shuttered Palace. He wields respectability like a knife, and
The Wry exercises power through protocol. And he never uses one word
Functionary Society when he can use eight or nine.
A highly fashionable and refined lady, who hosts the city's most
elite salons in the Tortoiseshell Wing of the Shuttered Palace. Her
Society / opinions do not always align with those of the rich and powerful --
The Duchess Bohemians particularly, the Masters'. Known for her love of cats.
Mr. Clathermont and his three "daughters," Edie, Myrtle, and
Lily. A family tattooist's business on Ladybones Road, pre-
eminent for their role in providing tattoo-codes for transmitting
secret messages, recording clandestine allegiances, and still
The The Great stranger uses for ink on skin. Mrs. Clathermont has been missing
Clathermonts Game for some time
If this person exists, they are a human who somehow learned and
even improved upon the Snuffer's art. They can change any face
The Great into any other. Some seek this person out to hide deformities.
The Face Tailor Game Others wish to escape their past.
The Voracious The Great A cunning schemer devoted to increasing London's power. She is
Diplomat Game rumored to have ties to the mysterious New Sequence.
An utterly ruthless and horrifyingly practical servant of the
Masters. He has access to some of their most powerful tools and
enough authority to use them as he sees fit. He is rumored to be
Poor Edward The Masters involved with the dreaded Orphanage.
Two Unfinished Men who technically work for Mr. Stones, but are
Jasper and The Masters / more usually found intruding themselves on everything illegal in
Frank Criminals the city.
The Tomb An exiled prince of the Tomb-Colonies -- or so they say -- Feducci
Feducci Colonies runs the Black Ribbon Society.
Grace and Lettice, twin sister Tomb-Colonists known for their
wild, daredevil adventures. Lettice is the more sociable of the
The Tomb two, with a number of suitors around the city. Grace sponsors up-
The Mercies Colonies and-coming duelists in The Game of Knife-and-Candle.
The Snake, the
Red Bird, and The Tomb The kings of the oldest tomb colonies, the ones that predate the
the Cat Colonists Fifth city and maybe even the Fourth.
He (or she?) is a researcher obsessed with uncovering the
The Alarming The mysteries of the Neath. She (or he?) will pay good money for
Scholar University curiosities and secrets.
The Reclusive The A woman obsessed with cheese, who still manages to keep her
Theophile University finger on the pulse of the University.
A notorious pirate-scholar -- he and his crew of vicious crooks and
disaffected academics (the "Fleet of Truth") descend upon less
Dr. Gideon The well-defended researchers, ransack their laboratories and dig
Orthos University sites, and publish stolen findings as their own.
The Gracious Despite her name, she is the brutal and ruthless head of much of
Widow The Widow Fallen London's criminal enterprise, especially smuggling.
Violet-Eyed A young girl with an astonishing familiarity with the Masters,
Waif Urchins lacre, and Wild Words. How close is she to Storm?
A strange and ancient entity that emerges to go on throating-
cutting sprees until captured, killed or disabled, whereupon he
(or she, or it, or they) will be stymied for a time, only to emerge
again somewhere else. He seems to jump from one body to
another, but no one is entirely sure how, why or what causes the
Jack of Smiles transition.
The city's foremost mesmerist, with connections among both the
Glass (Magicians) and the Shroud (Hypnotists), as well as his own
Monsieur Pleat interests in their secret conflicts, the Wars of Illusion.
A real estate broker of no real importance... who somehow has
Mr. Penstock acquired an office in the most expensive region of the Bazaar
Salt The god of Zee. It lays to the far east where none have ever gone.
A once-great stage performer, now fallen on hard times, drink,
Silas the and petty confidence-trickery. Despite his decline, it seems he's
Showman still caught up in the mysterious affairs of the Fingerkings.
Sophia Kincaid and Mr. Soap, Department of Menace Eradication
officers. Also known as the Monster-Hunting Academic and the
Restless Clay Man. Sophia is a highly intellectual lady with a dark
secret. Soap is a self-proclaimed Unfinished Man. They are saving
Sophia & Soap up the bounties they earn for some purpose yet unknown.
The Mountain of Light. It lays far to the South, in the depths of
Stone the Elder Continent.
Supposedly, Storm is a dead God entombed in the roof of the
Neath. You don't know if that's literally true, but you have no
Storm idea what that could be a metaphor for.
The Dark- A loyal servant of London. He wants to raise the city up to its
Spectacled former glory, but there are lines he will not cross.
Admiral
The King with a
Hundred The ruler of Polythreme, the land where everything lives. He
Hearts exports Clay Men to the Bazaar as a tithe to the Masters.
A riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma. She will likely
The Lady in stay that way due to her weaponization of amnesia-inducing irrigo
Lilac light.
Also known as the Merry Gentleman (not to be confused with the
Cheery Man), the Manager is the owner and proprietor of the
The Manager of Royal Bethlehem Hotel, an unbelievably luxurious hotel/insane
the Royal asylum, mostly the latter due to the normal costs of getting a
Bethlehem room being far, far too high for the majority of people. He waives
Hotel the fee for those who are insane.
The Always a favorite at Prime Minister's Questions, although she was
Northbound once removed from the House for screaming 'What is the
Parliamentaria Number?' over the Budget. She is perhaps the only known Name-
n Seeker to retain a position of authority.
The A prolific publisher with a penchant for puns... and also
Paronomastic alliteration. He has traveled far and wide across the Zee in search
Newshound of stories.
A veteran of the ill-fated War of 1868, when London attempted to
invade Hell. Traumatized by his experiences, he now lives in a
meagre cottage on the outskirts of the city with his wife, Agnes,
The Regretful and spends most of his time getting drunk, killing rats, and
Soldier starting fights.
A generous and wealthy philanthropist. She runs several charities
The Soft- for the homeless. Quite a few downtrodden Londoners owe her
Hearted Widow their life and livelihood.
Once a respected musician and scholar, now the leader of the
Raggedy Men, the gang of lunatics who rule Fallen London's
The Topsy King rooftops.
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Author Steffan O’Sullivan.
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The Dresden Files Roleplaying Game: Volume 1: Your Story and The Dresden Files Roleplaying
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 The Dresden Files Role-Playing Game
Character Phases Worksheet
Character Player

Template High Concept Aspect

Musts Trouble Aspect

Background: Where did you come from?

Events What nation, region, culture are you from? What were your family circum-
Phase one

stances like? What’s your relationship with your family? How were you
educated? What were your friends like? Did you get into trouble much?
If you’re supernatural, how early did you learn this? Were there problems?

Phase Aspect

Rising Conflict: What shaped you?

Events Who were the prominent people in your life at this point? Do you have
Phase Two

enemies? Close and fast friends? How did your high concept and trouble
aspects shape you and events around you? What were the most significant
choices you made? What lessons did you learn in this time?

Phase Aspect

The Story: What was your first adventure?

Phase Three

Events Story Title

Guest Starring . . .

Phase Aspect

Guest Star: Whose Path Have You Crossed?

Events Story Title
Phase Four

Whose story was this? Who else was in it?

Phase Aspect

Guest Star Redux: Who Else’s Path Have You Crossed?

Events Story Title
Phase Five

Whose story was this? Who else was in it?

Phase Aspect

© 2010 by Evil Hat Productions, LLC. Permission granted to make copies for personal use.
 The Dresden Files Role-Playing Game
Character Sheet
Character Player

Aspects Skills
High Concept Superb (+5)
# of Slots:

Trouble Great (+4)

# of Slots:

Other Aspects
Good (+3)
# of Slots:

Fair (+2)
# of Slots:

Average (+1)
# of Slots:

Stress
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Stunts & Powers
Physical
Cost Ability
(Endurance)

Mental
(Conviction)

Social
(Presence)

Armor, Etc:

Consequences
Type P/m/S Stress Used? Aspect
Mild ANY -2
Moderate ANY -4
Severe ANY -6



Extreme ANY -8 Replace Permanent

Power Level Skill Cap

The Ladder
Legendary +8
Epic +7
Skill Points Spent Total Available Fantastic +6
Superb +5
Great +4
Base Refresh Level Good +3
Fair +2
Current Average +1
Adjusted Refresh
Fate Points Mediocre +0

Total Refresh Poor –1

FP From Last Session Adjustment Terrible –2

© 2010 by Evil Hat Productions, LLC. Permission granted to make copies for personal use.
 The Dresden Files Role-Playing Game
City Sheet (High Level)
City Name Campaign Title
City-Wide Themes and Threats
Theme (or) Threat Theme (or) Threat Theme (or) Threat
The Idea The Idea The Idea

The Aspect The Aspect The Aspect

The Faces The Faces The Faces

Name Concept Name Concept Name Concept

The Balance of Power

The Status Quo
What is the Supernatural status quo? What is the Mundane status quo?

Movers and Shakers

The Current Order
Who wants to maintain the status quo? Who wants to rock the boat?
in the dark?
Who is
The Supernatural

in the know?
Who is

© 2010 by Evil Hat Productions, LLC. Permission granted to make copies for personal use.