Colored Note Cards! Spirit of the Century!

I am gearing up for my very first session running Spirit of the Century this coming Monday, and as I mentioned in my previous post on the subject, I have decided to try running the game entirely from 3 x 5 note cards. Why the break from my usual OneNote/MS Surface system? I figured that note cards would force me to be brief in my prep and descriptions, which is very much in line with the improv-optimized FATE system on which SoTC is based.

I have worked out the particulars of my card system and discovered that I have inadvertently stumbled on yet another conversion of Johnn Four's five-buckets of sanity system. I picked up some multi-colored cards from Staples because office supply stores are my second Kryptonite after game stores. But, BUT!!! After picking up the cards, I realized there were five colors, like the five buckets. What's more, I figured out that I could have the name of the colors correspond with the type of things that are on the cards! So, in my Spirit of the Century game, my cards will be organized as follows:

• Blue for Baddies and Buddies (NPCs)
• Emerald for Events
• Purple for Places
• Gold for Goodies and Gear
• Red for Rules and other Random things

I also created a FATE dice converter (white note card) to make it easier for my players and I to use regular dice during the game. (FATE dice have two blank sides, two with + on them and two with - on them. It's weird, I know.

I'm both excited and nervous for the first session, because everyone in our group is brand new to the system, including myself. I've been reading through the book during my lunch breaks at work, but I've only really had time to hop around between key parts. I am really excited however for the first adventure I have in mind. The story will begin in Seattle on Valentine's Day in 1924. The adventure title is: Icy Hearts Aflame!

Our final player, who was absent during the character creation session has also worked up his general character concept and is in the process of ironing out the details. I think his character has a lot of potential to create some really interesting dynamics within the group. He is...

Captain Flint Ironstag of the Royal Flying Corps, daredevil test pilot and youngest person to earn his wings during WWI. An orphan raised in a strict boarding school, he learned to watch his six from an early age. He enlisted in the RFC when the war broke out, where he earned a rep as a formiddable pilot, and a heck of a nice guy!

We'll see how that goes over with the hard-as-nails businesswoman, the man-eating diva and  the cute, but socially oblivious greasemonkey.

I'm considering including short story write-ups of the story that unfolds adventure 'zine style here on the blog. So keep an eye out. This is gonna be epic!