The Dresden Files > DFRPG
Converting d20 Adventure Modules to DFRPG
Quantus:
--- Quote from: Taran on June 09, 2017, 12:48:19 PM ---For whatever reason that reminds me of the opening fight scene in Romeo and Juliette. Maybe there are two star-crossed kobold lovers playing out their ill-fated story in the background of your game...
--- End quote ---
You just gave me a mental image of young DiCaprio as a love-struck lizard-man, and I will never be able to repay you...
RedRobe:
In d20 Urban Arcana, there is an effect produced by "Shadow" that obscures mundane mortals' perception of the supernatural. The adventure incorporates that to allow for the kobolds to be out in the open, albeit under heavy disguises. Its also late at night. Harry, in the novels, has mentioned several times that non-clued-in mortals will selectively forget or doubt their perception because the supernatural "isn't real." Would you suppose this psychological effect could account for the kobolds being in the open, or is the use of an effect like Shadow stretching Butcher's intent?
Taran:
--- Quote from: Quantus on June 09, 2017, 01:18:36 PM ---You just gave me a mental image of young DiCaprio as a love-struck lizard-man, and I will never be able to repay you...
--- End quote ---
Thank-you!
--- Quote from: RedRobe on June 09, 2017, 01:25:22 PM ---In d20 Urban Arcana, there is an effect produced by "Shadow" that obscures mundane mortals' perception of the supernatural. The adventure incorporates that to allow for the kobolds to be out in the open, albeit under heavy disguises. Its also late at night. Harry, in the novels, has mentioned several times that non-clued-in mortals will selectively forget or doubt their perception because the supernatural "isn't real." Would you suppose this psychological effect could account for the kobolds being in the open, or is the use of an effect like Shadow stretching Butcher's intent?
--- End quote ---
As a personal thing, I hate the idea of a 'shroud', 'veil', 'mist' or whatever other authors use to cover up the Supernatural. What I like is Butcher's explanation of how people trick themselves into disbelieving what is right front of them. The Rational Mind cannot comprehend the Supernatural and therefore writes it off as other, mundane, things. But only to a certain extent - which is why you have 'clued-in' mortals. A 'Shadow' implies regular mortals can't possibly see the Supernatural for what it is - which isn't true.
That said, if the scene is sufficiently chaotic and dark, there shouldn't be any problems. Kobolds could easily be mistaken for a gang of pre-teen hooligans! Besides, aspects like 'darkness', 'shadows', 'blinding lights', 'loud noises' can be used for great effect. Allowing you to compel the players to miss targets, get lost or turned around, separated from allies, or accidentally target the wrong people.
Quantus:
--- Quote from: RedRobe on June 09, 2017, 01:25:22 PM ---In d20 Urban Arcana, there is an effect produced by "Shadow" that obscures mundane mortals' perception of the supernatural. The adventure incorporates that to allow for the kobolds to be out in the open, albeit under heavy disguises. Its also late at night. Harry, in the novels, has mentioned several times that non-clued-in mortals will selectively forget or doubt their perception because the supernatural "isn't real." Would you suppose this psychological effect could account for the kobolds being in the open, or is the use of an effect like Shadow stretching Butcher's intent?
--- End quote ---
--- Quote from: Taran on June 09, 2017, 01:41:39 PM ---As a personal thing, I hate the idea of a 'shroud', 'veil', 'mist' or whatever other authors use to cover up the Supernatural. What I like is Butcher's explanation of how people trick themselves into disbelieving what is right front of them. The Rational Mind cannot comprehend the Supernatural and therefore writes it off as other, mundane, things. But only to a certain extent - which is why you have 'clued-in' mortals. A 'Shadow' implies regular mortals can't possibly see the Supernatural for what it is - which isn't true.
That said, if the scene is sufficiently chaotic and dark, there shouldn't be any problems. Kobolds could easily be mistaken for a gang of pre-teen hooligans! Besides, aspects like 'darkness', 'shadows', 'blinding lights', 'loud noises' can be used for great effect. Allowing you to compel the players to miss targets, get lost or turned around, separated from allies, or accidentally target the wrong people.
--- End quote ---
Agreed; I dont really mind the Mist/Fog mechanic, but I dont think it's how things are supposed to work in the DV, which is more applied rationalization after-the-fact than an actual magical obfuscation.
Another possibility that could work in this instance is an ongoing disguise spell anchored to the building's threshold/wards. Especially given the kobolds craftiness and natural penchant for bunker fortifications.
As far as catches go:
-For an easy/mundane weapon style one, Bludgeoning damage makes sense.
-For a more traditional one, Sunlight might fit their cave-dwelling roots, especially if you play up the modern hacker "basement dweller" idea. You could even tweak the "fast-food restaurant" to be more of a night-owl internet cafe, which among other things gives you the excuse for darker theme-lighting rather than the over-bright fast-food fluorescents.
-To play up the Dragon connection along with their natural burglary with a more mystical Catch, perhaps they are weak against things that have been stolen from them? The idea being that if you can take away their weapon or successfully burgle them, you've dealt a blow to their possession/horde-based Power.
Taran:
--- Quote from: Quantus on June 09, 2017, 01:53:32 PM ---Another possibility that could work in this instance is an ongoing disguise spell anchored to the building's threshold/wards. Especially given the kobolds craftiness and natural penchant for bunker fortifications.
--- End quote ---
That's cool. I was thinking a ward might fry electronics but probably not if it's dragon magic since that isn't mortal magic. Just a veil that gets applied to all lizard-types when they walk into the building. Then you don't have to give them 'human guise' as a power (although, you could, if you thought it fit).
--- Quote from: Quantus on June 09, 2017, 01:53:32 PM ---As far as catches go:
-For an easy/mundane weapon style one, Bludgeoning damage makes sense.
-For a more traditional one, Sunlight might fit their cave-dwelling roots, especially if you play up the modern hacker "basement dweller" idea. You could even tweak the "fast-food restaurant" to be more of a night-owl internet cafe, which among other things gives you the excuse for darker theme-lighting rather than the over-bright fast-food fluorescents.
-To play up the Dragon connection along with their natural burglary with a more mystical Catch, perhaps they are weak against things that have been stolen from them? The idea being that if you can take away their weapon or successfully burgle them, you've dealt a blow to their possession/horde-based Power.
--- End quote ---
Sunlight is cool and I never thought of that. D20 kobolds get 'daylight sensitivity' so it plays well into the concept and I didn't really know how to add that into their stat-block (other than make it an aspect - which I will...editing...)
The burglary Catch is such a neat idea that I think it's worth adding in there. If you put both Catches in, you're probably looking at a +2 or +3 catch. Which means you can add a few powers to their stat blocks. Speed or recovery might make sense. Claws make sense too but I didn't give them Fists as a skill. They could probably use Weapons to use their claws anyways - but that bends the rules slightly. You could give them another stunt even.
An internet Cafe works too...Maybe it houses a secure server that the rival gang want to destroy/steal/hack....
Edit (and a slight digression from the main topic):
Now, I feel like Kobolds need scholarship if we are going with the computer nerd angle. (as weird as that sounds) But it just seems like such a fun thing. How many stunts would you need to cover all angles of computer use under burglary?
- breaking into a computer is already burglary, I think
- Hacking stunt lets you do computer 'scholarship' roles with Burglary....
-writing programs/viruses/firewalls etc...would all be covered under scholarship? Or would that be Craftsmanship. You know, I think it fits better under Craftsmanship, which they already have. What are your thoughts? 'Computer Use' is a single trapping of scholarship. 1 stunt could make Computer Use a Craftsmanship Trapping. Which means their stunt to create 'viruses' would be based on Craftsmanship and not burglary(or scholarship) and would put it at +5. I like that.
--- Quote --- Computer Use
Scholarship
Assuming that you aren’t the sort of person to,
say, cause technology to short out when you get
near it, the Scholarship skill includes the ability
to use and operate complex computerized or
electronic systems. This doesn’t really include
any competence at hacking, per se—Burglary
is still used to actually defeat security measures
and systems. However, Scholarship should
modify (page 214) Burglary whenever computers
are involved.
--- End quote ---
--- Quote ---You can use Craftsmanship to build something—provided
you have a decent understanding
of how to build it, as well as plenty of
needed tools, materials, and time. The less you
have of any of these things, the higher the difficulty
to get it done. Craftsmanship is primarily
used with declarations; see the guidelines for
building things on page 320.
--- End quote ---
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page
Go to full version