Show Posts

This section allows you to view all posts made by this member. Note that you can only see posts made in areas you currently have access to.


Messages - jait

Pages: [1]
1
DFRPG / Dresden Files Accelerated: Magical Rituals Tweak
« on: November 03, 2019, 07:32:27 AM »
I very much like the DFA ritual magic approach.  But I found it disconcerting that there was a potential for the character to assume conditions and costs without having actually completed the ritual.  That didn't feel, to me, like it was in keeping with how the books presented ritual magic.

So, I propose a couple of tweaks:

First, Separate the potential costs/complications into three categories: 
Pre-Requisites   Activity Costs   Outcomes
components
assistance
special circumstances
time
character Resources
special circumstances
altered effects
drawbacks
attention


The original step-by-step looked like this:
1) Name the ritual
2) Describe the effect
3) Roll for the spell
4) Pay the costs

This could potentially result in requiring a special component (ie symbolic link) or assistance from a higher power/faction after the ritual had been performed.  That seems kind of weird to me.

I propose changing the step-by-step to look like this:
1) Name the ritual
2) Describe the effect
3) Assess the spell costs (roll and negotiate, as usual)
4) Pay the preparation costs (ie, find the symbolic link, petition the higher power, etc.)
5) Perform the ritual (narrative device to indicate that the character assumes the active & outcome costs)

This process would allow for a character to figure out what would be necessary to do a ritual, then balk at the cost and decide not to complete it.     

Is this unbalancing?  I don't think so, but I'm told I get tunnel-vision sometimes.



Your thoughts?



 

2
DFRPG / Where to go to discuss Dresden Files Accelerated?
« on: May 20, 2017, 09:39:27 PM »
Where is the appropriate place to discuss Dresden Files Accelerated?

I've been making a preliminary stab at developing an enchanted-item crafting system, and would very much like feedback....

3
DFRPG / Re: Dresden Files Accelerated Hellfire
« on: May 20, 2017, 09:36:37 PM »
The reference for Soulfire is listed under Harry Dresden's character sheet.  I think the rules for Indebting oneself (Pp 117) provide an appropriate framework for what it costs.  I'd suggest that Hellfire acts pretty much the same way that Soulfire does,  but rather than marking off the character's Doomed condition, the player mark off boxes on the Indebted Condition instead.    This will force the character to start committing possibly-deplorable acts in an effort to get rid of the debt... slowly forcing the character down a path of increased destructiveness.    This would probably require the introduction of a NPC who can act as the power-broker for the Hellfire.

The Paranet Papers expanded on the sponsorship contract to allow patron-sponsored power to affect more than just straight attacks...   Might be worth exploring for this, too...


4
DFRPG / Sponsored Magic - first time approaching it...
« on: March 30, 2014, 06:35:12 PM »
So, I've got a player who's statting up a sponsored magic user...  I want to confirm my understanding...

The character does NOT have any unsponsored magics.  It's all from the source.   

Evocation
The character decides how much power to call.  Does he still take one mental stress for calling the power? 

Does conviction still act as a limiter to the amount of power that can be called (before taking mental stress?)  I'm assuming no, since he's not taking mental stress for calling the power from another power-source.

If these gloves are off, could a guy potentially choose to call 10-shifts of power, so long as the sponsor okays it? 

I presume that Discipline is still needed to control the power, though. Right?

Thaumaturgy
Given that this is at evocation-speeds, the sponsored caster doesn't have to waste any time. 

Does his Lore rank make any difference to the actual casting? 

Does Conviction matter in sponsored thaumaturgy?

I"m super-tired and not focusing, so I might just be missing all sorts of stuff.  I'd hate to tell this guy how to do things then recant later.


5
DFRPG / Weapon-value of evocation-projected catch?
« on: January 14, 2013, 02:50:44 AM »
Currently discussing something with a player.

Character is telekinetically "shooting" a handful of iron nails at a Sidhe.  She has performed a 4-shift air evocation for a total effort of 6-shifts, successfully sending the nails flying...  Sadly, said Sidhe rolled poorly for defense. 

I read it like this:
+6 Evocation effort (4-shift effect)
-2 Sidhe defense of +2 (it did bypass the catch, after all)
==============
+4 Effort-Damage
+4 Weapon Value (4-shift declared as effect-power)
==============
+8 shifts Damage


Her player is suggesting that there should be an additional shift because it's Iron, and would do damage anyway.

I'm very tired and not thinking real straight right now.  Am I thinking this through right?

6
DFRPG / Re: Neutral Grounds other than Bars?
« on: May 11, 2012, 03:37:04 AM »
In a play-by-post game on RPOL, we've got an establishment called "Quintessence" which is locally recognized as Neutral Ground.  It houses the standard, almost cliched, nightclub on the first-floor but also has a series of meeting rooms and a mini conference-center-like facility above.  It is only locally recognized, however. They are petitioning for official recognition.  But in the mean-time, the local heavyweights are abiding by it...


7
DFRPG / Re: Thaumaturgical Ritual Durations...
« on: October 23, 2011, 01:17:07 AM »
Thank-you for the quick responses.  I accept that some may go faster, some slower as it relates to dramatic tension, but I did feel the need for a baseline conception of the time-frame involved.

@crusher_bob: Your link is awesome.  I'm planning on mining it for some details.  It falls pretty in-line with my own thoughts...

8
DFRPG / Thaumaturgical Ritual Durations...
« on: October 22, 2011, 10:51:30 PM »
Okay, probably a newb question...

I've got a character doing a ritual that looks basically like this:
+05 Ward Strength
+06 Duration (Time: til sunrise --> A month)
+02 Ignored figures (family)
+02 activated (turn it on/off)
=15

My character has Conviction 3, Discipline 3, Lore 3.  So she can typically expect to do this in about five exchanges.  To be safe and because she's in no hurry, she's opting to raise two-points of energy across seven exchanges and one point at the very end.

My question is this:  How long does it take to perform an exchange in an unhurried thaumaturgical ritual?

From other games, I generally accept that a combat-exchange will take about three to six seconds...  It feels wrong for a thaumaturgical exchange to take the same length of time as a combat-exchange.  I mean a 15-shift ritual shouldn't take only 45-seconds to a minute and a half, should it?

Or am I missing something?

9
DFRPG / How many Consequences?
« on: August 26, 2011, 09:56:22 AM »
So, I was recently going over some character-generation with someone and came across the fact that Conviction, Endurance and Presence at Superb give an additional Consequence of the appropriate stress-type (Mental, Physical, Social). 

I was of the impression that there was only one set of consequences, regardless of which stress-track fed in to them.  Now, I'm not so sure.  Are there three consequence-tracks of Mild, Moderate, Severe and Extreme or only one, to which the Mental, Physical and Social stress-tracks feed into?

Should it be:
MentalO O O Mental Consequences:O O O O
PhysicalO O O Physical Consequences:O O O O
SocialO O O Social Consequences:O O O O


Or
MentalO O O Combined Consequences:O O O O
PhysicalO O O
SocialO O O

It's late and I'm tired.  I looked, but I didn't scour the book.  Still, if I'm able to add an extra Mild mental consequence ranking, I'm thinking that there is a separate consequence track for each stress-element.

What's the official word?

10
DFRPG / Re: Rote Spells & tagging...
« on: July 05, 2011, 01:44:12 PM »
Okay, yeah... lack of sleep.  I got it.  And I'm an idiot to boot.

YS257 was saying that if there's an aspect on it, that aspect must always be applied.

YS258 was saying that you could add in aspects to increase the control, and presumably, thepotential damage of an attack-rote.

11
DFRPG / Rote Spells & tagging...
« on: July 05, 2011, 12:57:33 PM »
So... I'm a new GM.   Wondering about something I read about rote spells...  

YS 257:
A rote spell... has the same power level, places the exact same aspect, etc. Any change in the parameters of the spell disqualifies it from being a rote.

This is cool.  I get this.  

A caster with Conviction 3, Discipline 2 casting a 3-shift attack spell will consistently pay 2-stress and suffer 1-shift of backlash or fallout.  

But then there's this:

YS 258:
Aspect invocations and other such trickery may be used after the fact, just as if you had rolled a zero and then wanted to invoke something.

So, I must have the same aspects or it isn't a rote spell, but I can add aspects after the fact?  What constitutes after the fact?  Can someone give me an example here?

Hey, I've been up for 30 hours or so...  Not everything is making perfect sense right now...  Any help would be appreciated.

Pages: [1]