The Dresden Files > DFRPG
Anyone gaming Dresden anymore?
finarvyn:
For a while there were several posters giving updates as to how they were using various systems to run a campaign in the Dresdenverse, but recently this section of the board has been very quiet.
Perhaps this happened at the same time as Fred announced alpha playtesting of THE REAL THING and somehow homebrew games seem less interesting? Maybe people just didn't have anything new to report? I'm hoping that the lack of conversation here isn't indiciative of low long-term interes...
Anyway, I've experimented with Dresden in a couple different game systems with varying degrees of success...
1. Amber Diceless -- this works surprisingly well, since so many of the characters are supernaturals. In a mostly mundane world, it would have some issues.
2. Buffy -- I've found that BtVS (Eden Games) has the right kind of feel, perhaps because Buffy is written with wry humor in much the same way as Dresden. Also I find that I can use some of their ideas for vampires and spells and other things that fit well into Harry's world.
3. Monte Cook's World of Darkness -- this plays like most any d20 system, and typically you like it or hate it. I find some of the ideas (particularly the magic system) to be particularly clever, but overall the system is bulky and cumbersome.
4. Spirit of the Century -- of late I've drifteed back to SotC as my Dresden rule system of choice, in anticipation of the SotC system being similar to Dresden Files. I know that the magic system will be different, but at least my players will be used to the funky +/- dice. ;D
Anyone else running Dresden at the moment?
DrygonDM:
Well, I was going to use C.J. Corrella's Witchcraft (which I own) - which uses the same Unisystem that Buffy the Vampire Slayer (which I don't own, yet) uses.
But too few Players had read the Dresden Files series. And then, I lost all of my players before I could really get "Dresden style" into the game.
I refused to even try and use D&D. Even with the Magic/Psionic "Point System" options.
High Tech really doesn't exist in D&D, and if you put High Tech in a High Magic World, you might as well Play R.I.F.T.S. or Shadowrun.
Another that I tried was D20 Modern's Urban Arcana. But the Magic of that System was just too "off"
One of the things that a lot of Players complained about with Dresden-Style Gaming was - regardless of the RPG System used - the "Murphyonic Field" that surrounds all Wizards.
Witchcraft itself does not cause this to happen, and so the Magi of that game can cast spells without fear of their complex technology being destroyed by their use of Spells. Only White Wolf's World of Darkness came close to this, with Paradox for Mages.
As an option to those that want to have the "Dresden style" while not making everyone else have to deal with it as well:
I was thinking of creating a drawback simular to the "Gremlins" negative quality of the Shadowrun PPG, and this would duplicate the "Murphyonic Field". Each Level that one takes grants extra Points at Character Creation, and represents how much their "Murphyonic Field" affects Technology around them.
Tech Items must save once per use in order to function. A roll of 1 indicates failure. The more complicated the Tech item, and the hight the PC's Flaw Level, the more the Failure Number increases: Example - Level 4 Flaw causes devices to fail on a roll of 4 or less.
- Level 1 could grant like 02 Creation Points, and affect things that are close to the user's body - like an electric wristwatch, your cellphone, etc.
- Level 2 might grant 05 Creation Points and affect any cellphone, or other electrical devices within 3 feet of the PC.
- Level 3 might grant 07 points, and effect electrical devices within 6 feet of the user, like car radios, the PC's car would have to make a "save" once a day to function.
- Level 4 could grant 10 Character Creation points but effects everything in a 10 foot radius of the PC, and Tech Items must save every time they are exposed. Ex: Jan'es Cellphone is nine feet from Jim, Wizard Jim steps forward one foot, and Jane must roll for her phphone (saved). Jim then steps back one foot, and then steps forward again (prehaps to get something for Jane), making Jane roll for her phone again.
While it is possible to buy this Flaw off with EXP, doing so should not be easy, and cost at least double the Points granted.
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Feedback is always welcome.
And any interested Players in the KC, Mo area should email me - See Profile.
bentleyml:
I used a combination of stuff from Buffy and Witchcraft to run a short Dresden-esque game. For quick magic I used some of Witchcrafts Invocations because they seemed to kind of fit and used the Buffy magic system (modified a bit) for ritual magic. It went pretty well and only stopped because I had ideas for other games. I'll probably return to it at some point. Even when the official Dresden Files RPG comes out I may still end up using my homebrew because the Spirit of the Century system (that the Dresden Files RPG will be based on) doesn't quite click with my style.
I have also considered using West End Games D6 Adventure RPG, but haven't really put too much thought into it at this point.
finarvyn:
--- Quote from: DrygonDM on December 17, 2007, 08:58:48 PM ---One of the things that a lot of Players complained about with Dresden-Style Gaming was - regardless of the RPG System used - the "Murphyonic Field" that surrounds all Wizards.
--- End quote ---
That's a good point. I really haven't emphasized this aspect of magic use in my games -- and maybe that means I'm not running "true" Dresden.
Of course, I noticed that in the TV series they have allowed Harry to use technology sometimes. I get the sense that the anti-technology aspect of magic is being used more like just another spell rather than a universal effect of magic.
While having magic mess up technology is a lot of fun in books and TV shows, I can see where players would get annoyed with it quickly in a RPG. In most games, wizards seem to feel picked on because of artifiical restrictions (like wizards not being able to use swords in D&D) and I suspect many players would see this as just another artificial restriction. It might be fun for a short campaign, but I'm not sure how my magic-user players will react in a long-term game.
DrygonDM:
--- Quote from: finarvyn on December 18, 2007, 04:22:08 AM ---That's a good point. I really haven't emphasized this aspect of magic use in my games -- and maybe that means I'm not running "true" Dresden.
Of course, I noticed that in the TV series they have allowed Harry to use technology sometimes. I get the sense that the anti-technology aspect of magic is being used more like just another spell rather than a universal effect of magic.
While having magic mess up technology is a lot of fun in books and TV shows, I can see where players would get annoyed with it quickly in a RPG. In most games, wizards seem to feel picked on because of artifiical restrictions (like wizards not being able to use swords in D&D) and I suspect many players would see this as just another artificial restriction. It might be fun for a short campaign, but I'm not sure how my magic-user players will react in a long-term game.
--- End quote ---
One of the things that I have to point out to my players (when I have them) for Dresden-Style Gaming, is to look past the drawbacks, and see the benifits of the "Murphyoinic Field". Sure, your cellphone doesn't work. But then your PC gets to stop those fully-automatic guns from shooting at him/her - just because your PC is standing near enough: the other PC Mages in the game don't !!
I tell them to look at having this Flaw as a mental challenge, find unusual ways around it, as well as finding new ways to use it against other people (Other PCs, NPCs, and VPCs*) in the game.
{VPC = Villain Player Characters. Characters created and played by the DM that are made to challenge the PCs.}
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