The Dresden Files > DFRPG
The First Law Question.
Deadmanwalking:
--- Quote from: srl51676 on April 20, 2010, 08:03:23 PM ---Why the hell is it so damn hard for people just to play by the damn rules! why does every other thread on this board devolve into "here is why the Laws do not apply to my character."?
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For the record, I'm not trying to get out of anything (and tend to agree with you that doing so is annoying), and would never play the stated character, I'm just a firm believer in a consistent and specific interpretation of how the Laws work, and will continue to bring that perspective to discussions.
chadu:
--- Quote from: Deadmanwalking on April 20, 2010, 09:33:43 PM ---For the record, I'm not trying to get out of anything (and tend to agree with you that doing so is annoying), and would never play the stated character, I'm just a firm believer in a consistent and specific interpretation of how the Laws work, and will continue to bring that perspective to discussions.
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One interesting interpretation might be that the Laws are absolutely true immutable axioms of the cosmos, no matter how people interpret them into gray areas.
So, yeah, that would mean that Harry picked up an LB stunt for killing people in GP, and another for raising Sue from the dead, and what not.
But that would ALSO mean any pre- or retrocognition spell grants an LB stunt for "swimming against the currents of time."
How sick would it be if an NPC said to a PC, "You want to know the name of who's after you? The Outsider known as She Who Hovers Above" and the PC gets instantly smacked with an LB stunt.
THINK ABOUT IT.
(Me, I'm psyched that the LoMs can be interpreted various different ways by people -- IC and OOC -- and that has a mechanical effect.)
srl51676:
--- Quote from: Saedar on April 20, 2010, 08:08:12 PM ---SRL: I think you and I have had a similar discussion in another thread. The point is that some people are interested in pushing the boundaries in their game worlds. You don't. That is just fine. I have a thing for evil characters but I'm not playing one right now. Assume, for the sake of the discussion, that magic DOES work with more flexibility, because it just might in other people's worlds. How would you approach this issue, in that specific case?
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If the Laws were this flexible as a GM I would have to have a very strong and active Warden force to introduce the appropriate tension and create a dividing line between what is legal/social acceptable and what is not. In the current IC conditions of the Vampire War you would have a world lousy with necromancers and charred mortal corpses. one of the defining characteristics of the modern setting is the need to deal with a modern (mortal & magical) legal system and its ability to investigate ones actions. This is not the wild west its the modern world and the modern world comes with cops. It is a element that is often missing in RPGs in general. If power corrupts the ability to burn someone to ash for stepping on your toe must be contained.
KnightFerrous:
--- Quote from: srl51676 on April 21, 2010, 12:39:42 AM ---If the Laws were this flexible as a GM I would have to have a very strong and active Warden force to introduce the appropriate tension and create a dividing line between what is legal/social acceptable and what is not. In the current IC conditions of the Vampire War you would have a world lousy with necromancers and charred mortal corpses. one of the defining characteristics of the modern setting is the need to deal with a modern (mortal & magical) legal system and its ability to investigate ones actions. This is not the wild west its the modern world and the modern world comes with cops. It is a element that is often missing in RPGs in general. If power corrupts the ability to burn someone to ash for stepping on your toe must be contained.
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See this is kinda iffy. I think you are over estimated the amount of practitioners who could amount to corpse burning necromancers, even with demonic help. And under estimate the efficacy of mortal police. Remeber the SIs of the world, if you are roasting people alive left and right the bodies will start stacking up and someone will come knocking at your door. Toss a few fireballs at the cops and they will gun you down but don't worry the report will say "assailant attacked officers with jury-rigged flamethrower"
Tom Bombadillo:
A couple of things:
First, messing with a monster's mind (apologies to Mr. Butcher if I have it wrong) seems to me a less damaging maneuver because in the Dresdenverse monster's don't have free will, really.
Humans have the power of choice, and so if someone drills into your head and your human, it does more damaage because it's a more foreign concept to be compelled to behave a certain way than it is for a nonhuman. As Harry says in several of the novels, with humans, it *always* has a negative effect when someone messes with your brain...it's just a matter of degree. And it's always bad for both the messer and the messee.
Second, I see the Laws as a good tool to keep the PCs in line. That's *always* going to be a judgement call based on intention, recklessness, respect or the lack thereof, ignorance, prior behavior and so forth. To try to settle any situation on the fora is a fool's errand. Can a GM use it to whack the PCs mercilessly? Sure. But GMs always have that option in most RPGs.
Cheers,
Tom
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