Sector-Sigma

Sector-Sigma: Introduction

Sector-Sigma is a dedicated post-apocalyptic psychedelic cosmic & body horror setting / scenario crafted for the Fate TTRPG system. It plunges players into a world irrevocably altered by the Double-i's Emergence, a cataclysmic event that birthed an ineffable zone of impossible phenomena, alien life, and profound psychological and physiological strain: The Sector.

Utilizing Fate's narrative flexibility and robust aspect-driven mechanics, Sector-Sigma provides a rich tapestry for stories of survival, exploration, and moral ambiguity. The setting's core truths, faction dynamics, environmental hazards, and personal transformations (mutations) are directly expressed through Fate Aspects and Stunts, allowing for seamless integration of lore and rules.

Players will navigate a shattered world where conventional logic fails, interact with desperate factions like the Global Coalition, Gilded Cage Cartel, Harmonizers, and Watchers, and grapple with the very nature of humanity in the face of the truly alien, all while actively managing Fate Points to shape their destiny amidst the chaos.

Aberration as a Place

Within Sector‑Sigma, the air itself quivers, a perpetual aurora of molten hues rippling across an unknowable sky. Gravity here is capricious, a fickle paramour that inverts its pull mid‑stride, flinging loose stones—or hapless explorers—into shimmering voids before hurling them back earthward with bone‑shattering force. Underfoot, the ground inhales and exhales: former asphalt transformed into soft, bioluminescent fungus pulsing with cold fire, or forests of crystalline spires vibrating in discordant harmony.

Architecture, consumed by the Emergence, stands as twisted monuments to metamorphosis. Buildings meld together, their walls weeping viscous phosphorescent ichor that solidifies into living corridors, opening onto impossible non‑Euclidean spaces. Rivers run not with water but with thick, resonant fluids that mirror distorted memories or torrents of pure, solidified light carving luminous channels.

Flora and fauna here defy all terrestrial classification. Trees bleed sap that hardens into razor‑sharp gems, while deer roam on fractal hooves, their eyes swirling galaxies, skin alive with unsettling bioluminescence. Creatures once mundane have become biomachines—a fusion of chitin and raw nerve—predatory yet hauntingly beautiful.

Every surface and breath bears Chromatic Residue— prismatic matter that clings to skin, infiltrates cells, and rewrites body and mind. It carpets ruins either as dust, fluid or gas, it glimmers in shadowed fissures, and seeps into the soil, fueling the relentless horror of mutation and madness.

Silence is in the Sector is a living presence, broken only by mutants’ resonant howls and distant anomalous crackles, the disorienting thrum of the Double‑i’s influence, or the chilling, multi‑tonal lament of shifting terrain.

Sector‑Sigma is a forsaken cathedral of dread and wonder, where sanity frays even as alien beauty beckons with promises of forbidden knowledge and unimaginable power—a testament to an indescribable reality far vaster and more terrifying than any human ever conceived, not unlike the fever dream of a forgotten chaos deity.

Influences & Inspiration

In the strange loom where realities fray and new narratives are spun, Sector-Sigma does not emerge from a void. No, there are a whispered echos, a profound resonance, drawn from the deepest currents of speculative dread and the unsettling beauty of the unnatural. Its very fabric is woven from threads of existential unease and the allure of the forbidden, each strand shimmering with the legacy of its literary progenitors and the spectral glow of kindred games.

First we have the Southern Reach Trilogy by Jeff VanderMeer. The primordial ooze from which Sector-Sigma draws its very spirit. Here, the landscape itself is a mutable, sentient entity, constantly reimagining its own biology, turning the familiar into a grotesque, yet mesmerizing, art. From this wellspring flows the uncanny metamorphosis of Sector-Sigma's terrain – the trees that crystallize into impossible geometries, the homes that begin to pulse with an internal, alien heartbeat. The Annihilation of the self in the face of the truly alien, the slow, seductive unraveling of the psyche by an incomprehensible force, these are the very psychological currents that erode the minds of those who linger too long in the area’s embrace. The tone, that pervasive, almost melancholic dread, the sense of being observed by something that cares not for human suffering, yet utterly reshapes it, is a direct inheritance.

Then, consider the grimy, neon-lit underbelly of M. John Harrison's Nova Swing. Here, the bizarre bleeds into the mundane, a reality where physics is a suggestion and the grotesque is merely another facet of urban decay. From this gritty canvas, Sector-Sigma inherits its pockets of warped causality, its sudden shifts in gravity, and the bewildering, almost casual, acceptance of the utterly absurd. The cynical opportunism of scavengers, the noir-tinted fatalism that cloaks those who chase fleeting glimpses of the inexplicable, echoes in the desperation of Sector-Sigma's denizens, the very air thick with the residue of impossible technologies and forgotten laws.

And, of course, there is the foundational, chilling indifference of Arkady and Boris Strugatsky's Roadside Picnic. This is the Sector's primordial ancestor, a monument to alien detritus left behind, utterly heedless of humanity's struggles. Sector-Sigma breathes this air of cosmic apathy. Its artifacts are not gifts, but refuse, imbued with power that twists and distorts, granting wishes with unforeseen, often devastating, consequences. The "Stalker" archetype – the hardened, morally ambiguous explorer driven by a complex mix of desperation, greed, and a personal calling – finds its spiritual descendants within Sector-Sigma's bounds. The philosophical weight of humanity grappling with an intelligence so vast it cannot even perceive them, yet utterly alters their existence, is a recurring ache at the heart of this new world.

Furthermore, the very spirit of exploration and survival, the tactical struggle against an environment that demands constant vigilance, is steeped in works from the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. franchise like Balazs Pataki's Northern Passage & Southern Comfort. These lend a certain stoicism, a grim determination to endure, to the narrative. The tactical dance of moving through perilous landscapes, the whispered rumors of impossible finds, the desperate alliances forged in the shadow of existential threats – these are the human-scale struggles that ground the ineffable cosmic horror.

Beyond the literary, the very mechanical pulse and narrative philosophy of Fate RPG courses through Sector-Sigma's veins. It is from Fate Condensed, Core and the various Toolkits that the bones of the game are formed: the relentless engine of Fate Point economy, forcing compelling choices and rewarding bold risks; the narrative permission and complication granted by Aspects that paint every character, locale, and bizarre object with indelible truths; the graceful ballet of Challenges, Conflicts, and Contests that transform simple actions into dramatic narrative arcs. Fate's emphasis on "success at a cost" and "failure with a twist" ensures that every moment, even defeat, propels the story forward, deepening the mystery and eroding the players' sense of security. The very idea that the "why" of the Double-i remains an elusive, tantalizing void – allowing GMs and players alike to spin their own, often contradictory, theories – is a profound nod to Fate's collaborative, emergent storytelling, so most specifics are left vague on purpose for the GM and players to fill the gaps as they see fit their own personal tastes.

Finally, the spectral shadows of kindred TTRPGs – The Zone of Exclusion, STALKER The Roleplaying Game, and QZ – lend their structural integrity and their distinct flavor to Sector-Sigma's operational depths. From them, we glean the very blueprint of the "Zone" phenomenon: the insidious Anomalies that defy all known physics, the coveted, dangerous Artifacts that whisper of unimaginable power, the horrifying Mutants that are both victims and predators of a cosmic aberration’s touch, and the desperate, often warring Factions that carve out their territories within the area. We learn from their resource management, their bestiaries, and their survivalist ethos, refining them into Sector-Sigma's Bio-Artifacts, Reality-Altering Anomalies, and the very fabric of its unpredictable terrain.

Thus, Sector-Sigma is not merely a setting. It is a confluence, a maelstrom where the deep, mutating dread of Area X meets the surreal grime of Nova Swing, all filtered through the cynical, profound lens of Roadside Picnic. It is a game woven with the narrative agility of Fate, guiding players through a landscape shaped by an incomprehensible, alien intelligence – the omnipresent, ever-shifting enigma of The Double-i and The Sector.

Index

A Deep Breath 3

Sector-Sigma: Introduction 4

Aberration as a Place 4

Quick Fate How-To 4

Recommended Fate RPG Books 5

Influences & Inspiration 6

How it began: The Emergence 7

The Power of Mystery 10

Dossier: Inside Sector-Sigma 11

Dossier: Outside Sector-Sigma 13

Dossier: The Double-i 15

Dossier: The Global Coalition 16

Dossier: The Gilded Cage Cartel 17

Dossier: The Harmonizers 19

Dossier: The Watchers 20

Dossier: The Solitaires 22

Campaign Aspect Examples 23

Faction Aspect Examples 25

Location Aspect Examples 27

Mutation Examples 29

Artifact Examples 32

Anomaly Examples 36

Bestiary Examples 40

Weapon Examples 44

Gear Examples 48

Consumable Examples 51

Vehicle Example 53

Plot Examples 55

Global Coalition Character Example 56

Gilded Cage Cartel Character Example 57

Harmonizer Character Example 58

Watcher Character Example 59

Solitaire Character Example 61