The Dresden Files > DFRPG

Magic to boost skills, adapting enchanted item rules

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exploding_brain:
Yeah, I read over those pages.  Interesting stuff.  Using magic to replacing the skill you want with one of your high spell-casting skills is a good mechanic that could help in some situations.

I was trying to get at a slightly different effect, providing a boost to a skill that you're already good at, rather than using magic to "pretend" to be good at it.

A mystically enhanced martial artist should be Good or Great at Fists and Athletics to begin with, and get a boost from Discipline, much like the Knights of the Cross are Good or Great with Weapons, and get a boost from Conviction.

iago:
Yeah, in general, skills are "boosted" by being replaced by a spell effect that has a higher intrinsic shift value than the rating of the skill. Since spells largely determine effect in advance (which is different from general skill use which determines effect at the end), it's really about saying "I want to generate a roll result of X for Y skill".  You want to be able to lift something like a creature with an effective Epic (+7) Might? You need a spell effect that's 7 shifts strong. Etc.

exploding_brain:
Right.  I don't want to allow spell effects to do this.  That would probably break the system.  That's why I'm focusing on enchanted items, which are (mostly) purchased with refresh.  I thought that would be in line with other Supernatural powers that add shifts to various skills.

Do you think it would match the design philosophy better to focus on supernatural powers that address this sort of thing directly, like the True Faith series of powers?

iago:

--- Quote from: exploding_brain on April 19, 2010, 03:27:05 PM ---Do you think it would match the design philosophy better to focus on supernatural powers that address this sort of thing directly, like the True Faith series of powers?

--- End quote ---

I think you've got some interesting ideas going here. But yeah, I'm typically more inclined to look at powers for things which aren't *really* spellcasting (despite Harry often saying "yeah, the Alphas know this one spell", I don't buy into that perspective from the system POV). Building things more from the perspective of "stacked stunts = powers" is the idiom I'm most comfortable in, here. But maybe the enchanted items setup gives you a more comfortable toolset for what you're after; it's not *wrong* to use it that way.

Ultimately the system exposes the toolbox in various places because we *want* you to hack it to provide the play experience you want. While we will come on here and state often strongly held opinions about how we'd do things ourselves, we also try to avoid coming at that sort of discussion with a Voice Of Incontrovertable Authority. The system should be tweaked and tuned if it's not giving you a play experience that you want -- this is not "rule zero"-ism so much as embracing the idea that, since Fate comes from Fudge, the toolbox, the hacking, that *is* an intended feature, and altering the game to suit what you want it to do is Playing Correctly.

exploding_brain:
... aaaaaand my impending "Fred didn't endorse my idea" sulk is completely eradicated by Fred reminding my why I love FATE and The DFRPG to begin with.  ;)

Thanks for the perspective check. :)

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