The Dresden Files > DFRPG

Funny/Epic/Legendary moments

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Mr. Death:

--- Quote from: Addicted2aa on November 06, 2012, 01:55:32 PM ---That's true, but if the difference is some ridiculous amount, like 10 shifts or something, and narrative attack you used is potentially lethal, you're supposed to follow common sense and kill the person.
That situation sounds like it walks the line though.

--- End quote ---
Added to that, a 10-shift success doesn't necessarily mean the character hits harder, or even hits at all--it means the character succeeded at whatever they're doing really, really well. In the case of magic, that tends to mean controlling the power really well--i.e., less chance of anything happening by accident.

A 10-shift success on a Weapon:5 attack could just as easily be the wizard blowing up the floor in front of the goon, having the goon surrender after seeing what the wizard is capable of. It doesn't have to mean that anyone was injured at all.

Baron Hazard:
Didnt kill him. Just got close. xP

Lavecki121:
I kind of do like that. I just reread the original post, and you never said he died but you gave the character the impression that she killed him. Love it.

Addicted2aa:

--- Quote from: Mr. Death on November 06, 2012, 04:45:32 PM ---Added to that, a 10-shift success doesn't necessarily mean the character hits harder, or even hits at all--it means the character succeeded at whatever they're doing really, really well. In the case of magic, that tends to mean controlling the power really well--i.e., less chance of anything happening by accident.

A 10-shift success on a Weapon:5 attack could just as easily be the wizard blowing up the floor in front of the goon, having the goon surrender after seeing what the wizard is capable of. It doesn't have to mean that anyone was injured at all.

--- End quote ---

10 shift successful physical attack with weapon 5 means 15 shifts of physical damage. It very much means you hit him harder. If you wanted to do what you described it could be a maneuver to tag on an intimidate (social attack). Remember you figure out the action, before you roll the dice. So when some one decides to attack, with potentially lethal force, they've already made the choice to hurt the person, possibly to the point of killing them. To take it to real life, when you shoot some one, you have a real chance of killing them if you shoot well enough to get them in the torso. To take it the Dresden fiction, he talks about how he holds back his power, before attacking, in order to prevent any chance of killing a mortal with magic.

In my games, I try to highlight the consequences of my players choices. I won't automatically demand they kill someone if they succeed by that much, by I will ask them come up with a reasonably explanation of how the person is taken out. If they can narrate a way out, sweet I have no issues. If they come up with some ridiculous explanation like, "Because I impaled him on a giant shard of ice, his heart has slowed down due to the cold, so he passes out, but survives till we get him treatment" I'll give them the "are you serious" face.

If you want to give the players more narrative control over there own consequences, that's very much within the spirit of fate. But it's kinda out theme and tone for Dresden. It comes down to play styles and neither is right or wrong. I rob my players of a little control to give them the feeling of real consequence. You allow them to pick their own consequence, in order to preserve the co-operative nature of fate. 

Mr. Death:

--- Quote from: Addicted2aa on November 06, 2012, 06:26:45 PM ---10 shift successful physical attack with weapon 5 means 15 shifts of physical damage. It very much means you hit him harder.
--- End quote ---
No, it does not. It means 15 shifts of physical stress that may or may not translate into any physical damage at all. How that stress manifests is entirely up to the players and the GM. There is nothing that says it has to mean that the weapon actually makes any contact whatsoever with the target.


--- Quote ---Remember you figure out the action, before you roll the dice.
--- End quote ---
You figure out your intent and how it works mechanically before you roll the dice. The actual, narrative result of the attack is decided after all the dice are rolled and the mechanics are decided. Nothing should lock you into a lethal result, unless the player is getting a fate point because that is a compel. Otherwise, the player always chooses how a Taken Out is narrated. The game is very clear on this.


--- Quote ---So when some one decides to attack, with potentially lethal force, they've already made the choice to hurt the person, possibly to the point of killing them.
--- End quote ---
No. The game isn't real life--it stresses repeatedly that the player has the final say in how any Taken Out result plays out.


--- Quote ---To take it to real life, when you shoot some one, you have a real chance of killing them if you shoot well enough to get them in the torso. To take it the Dresden fiction, he talks about how he holds back his power, before attacking, in order to prevent any chance of killing a mortal with magic.
--- End quote ---
The game is not real life. The books are not the games. In game terms, Dresden holds back because he's a high refresh character who doesn't have a ton of fate points to spend on buying out of compels or making invokes.


--- Quote ---In my games, I try to highlight the consequences of my players choices. I won't automatically demand they kill someone if they succeed by that much, by I will ask them come up with a reasonably explanation of how the person is taken out.
--- End quote ---
You have to remember that "Taken Out" just means "No longer participating in this conflict." It doesn't have to mean the person is physically rendered incapable of acting, only that the person will no longer be physically acting.


--- Quote ---If you want to give the players more narrative control over there own consequences, that's very much within the spirit of fate. But it's kinda out theme and tone for Dresden.
--- End quote ---
Not mutually exclusive. If you want to enforce an unintended consequence, that's probably a compel. Remember, Dresden is about dealing with consequences, but it's also about making choices that lead to those consequences.

Or put another way, it's about the characters getting bitten in the ass by the unintended consequences, not the players. The fate system exists so that the players always have the choice.

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