Some characters are less important than the heroes and villains of the story. These supporting characters are called companions. Some companions are so unimportant that they are only significant in numbers. These are called minions.
Quality
The quality of a companion reflects how skilled he, she, or it is, and how resilient the companion is.
| Quality | Skills | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Average | 1 Average | 2 |
| Fair | 1 Fair and 1 Average | 3 |
| Good | 1 Good, 1 Fair, and 1 Average | 4 |
| Great | 1 Great, 1 Good, 1 Fair, and 1 Average | 5 |
Companions don't record stress normally. Instead of checking off a single box at a time, check a boxes for each point of stress. So if a companion takes a two stress hit, check off two boxes. When all of the boxes are filled, the companion is taken out. Companions can't take consequences.
Minions are more fragile than companions. They have one fewer stress box each.
Attachment and Groups
Companions may attach themselves to other characters, including each other. Treat the united group as a single character. For any task requiring a skill, use the highest skill in the group, with an additional bonus for numbers. Only one major character can be attached to a group at a time.
When there are two or three characters in a group, the group receives a +1 bonus to act and react. If there are four to six characters in a group, the bonus is +2; seven to nine characters get a +3 bonus, and any single group with ten or more members gets +4.
Companions with no listed skill level do not count towards the numbers bonus. All those hardened soldiers aren't much good when doing research!
| Group Size | Bonus |
|---|---|
| 2 to 3 | +1 |
| 4 to 6 | +2 |
| 7 to 9 | +3 |
| 10+ | +4 |
Damage applied to a group that overflows one companion is applied to the next character in the group. This means a solid enough effort can take out an entire swath of them. If there is a major character in the group,
Most companions are not independent-minded, and can't do much without orders from a main character. You can spend a Fate Point to have your companion take action without your presence.
Creating Companions
All companion stunts work basically the same. You get an Average quality companion, and up to four advances. For each advance, pick one of the following options:
Quality: Increase the quality of the companion one step.
Independent: The companion is capable of taking independent action without restriction.
Keeping Up: If the companion’s patron has a means of locomotion or stealth that makes it hard for the companion to keep up with him, then the companion with this advance has a similar ability, but it is useful only for keeping up with her patron when attached, and for no other purpose.
Skilled: Each time this advance is taken, an additional “column” of skills is added to the companion’s sheet. But this is at diminishing returns; each column after the first starts one rank lower than the previous. So a Good quality companion with the Skilled advance taken twice would have 2 Good, 3 Fair, and 3 Average skills in total. A third advance would only add 1 Average skill, and a fourth advance would be wasted.
Strength in Numbers: You have more than one ally! Instead of one companion, you have three statistically identical minions. Each additional time this advance is taken gives you 3 more allies. Remember, a minion gets one fewer stress box than a normal companion.
Stunt: This advance may be taken a maximum of two times. Each time it is taken, the companion gains a single stunt. There are restrictions on what stunts a companion may take. If your companion isn't human, you have to take this advance for any racial stunt that isn't restricted.
- No stunts that increase the stress track or number of consequences.
- No stunts that require Fate Points.
- No companion or item stunts.
Summonable: No matter where you are, you can summon your ally to you. This normally takes at least 1 minute or more, but you may usually spend a Fate Point to accomplish it in a single round. A Summoned companion vanishes or leaves if the summoning character is Taken Out, and usually doesn’t last more than 1 scene anyway, though he may be summoned again in a later scene if needed again. This advance may only be taken once.
Psychic Bond: Your companion can communicate with you across nearly any distance. This advance may only be taken once.
