Fate:Supply and Demand

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The supply and demand subsystem for Fate is a set of resource management rules, so that players can secure and control access to the materials they need.

Supply points

Supply points are sites or sources that provide an indefinite amount of a specific material, rated on the Fate ladder. For example, a quarry could be a source of Good [+3] Stone. The material in question does not need to be physical, either. A power plant could be a source of Great [+4] Energy, and a coffee shop could be a source of Legendary [+8] Gossip. The resources provided will depend on the game's specific needs. For example, in a post-apocalyptic survival game:

Orson's Junkyard - Great [+4] source of Scrap Metal
Old Orson won't miss any of this stuff, now that he's gone. We can put it to good use.

Supply points have at least one stress box, for the purposes of upkeep. If a supply point is being used continually, such as a power supply providing energy to keep everything running, then an upkeep stress box should be checked. If the supply point is no longer being used for that purpose, uncheck the box.

Upkeep stress represents a constant flow of resources from the supply point. If all stress boxes are checked, the supply point cannot be used for anything else.

Solar Panel Field - Fair [+2] source of Energy
Without this array of solar panels, Outpost 9JX wouldn't be able to maintain air and water for its inhabitants.

If the players in this example wanted more Energy (to expand the outpost or for other purposes) they would either need to find another supply point, or upgrade the existing supply point. When a supply point rises on the ladder (in this case, from Fair [+2] to Good [+3]) you uncheck the box. This is because the leap from one rank to the next is considered to be significant enough to make the previous levels of upkeep negligible.

Spending with supply

The other way to use supply, besides upkeep, is construction. Construction does not need to be physical, players can construct anything from a ritual spell to a computer program depending on the genre of game they're in, as well as their resources to hand.

The players are a band of dwarven engineers and in order to protect the refugees they are helping, they need to build fortifications. This is considered a construction rather than upkeep because once the fortifications are built, they will not need regular supply to keep functioning. The GM has already determined before the session started that fortifications will require Stone and Lumber, and since the refugees are an Average [+1] sized group, they will need at least that much supply of each resource. The players have already secured one of the necessary supply points: a nearby quarry is their Fair [+2] source of Stone. A quick scouting of the area lets them know there is a woodland that counts as an Average [+1] supply of Lumber. However, it is not a safe supply point, there is a monstrous bear residing there that would make logging far too dangerous. The players will need to find a way to deal with the bear before they can use this supply point to complete their construction.

In this example, it is fairly likely that the players will have to resort to some sort of combat to secure the supply point, but alternative ways are possible. If the woodland had been occupied by a village of gnomes instead, negotiation might have been a better tactic.

Securing, defending, and upgrading supply points becomes a key motivation for player actions, if they need the resources to achieve their goals. Supply points can change in scale depending on the current scale of the game: a ragtag group of space traders might consider a single asteroid to be a Great [+4] source of Metals, an interstellar merchant corporation might consider an entire planetary system to be a Good [+3] source of Metals.

Resource lists

Any game that uses this subsystem should prepare a list of resources before the game starts, aiming for around 5-10 total resource types. Care should be taken to ensure that the resources listed are going to be important to the players, and that they fit the genre. Use the following lists as inspiration:

Post-apocalyptic wasteland scavengers Ammunition Concrete Food Gasoline Medicine Scrap Metal

Corporate space traders Energy Luxury Goods Metals Plastics

High seas adventure Canvas Freshwater Gunpowder Iron Timber

Grungy alchemists and wizards Curious Powders Forbidden Tomes Foul Ichor Glowing Crystals Suspicious Herbs