This kind of struck a chord with me, at least the part about nothing going out.  I have one full short story written, one in progress, a bunch of ideas laying around on note cards, and a novel I've finally started working on.  I've always had a problem with (as one person put it) "the bear".  I feel down on myself until I just don't want to try, so I don't actually do the writing.  Ok, sorry, so that was about me... this comes back to the topic below, I swear!

Fortunately my complete short story had already been critiqued, edited, reviewed, etc.  So I sent it out.  We'll see what happens, but just doing that seemed to free me up.  It's in limbo.  Maybe I'll never get a response, and it doesn't matter.  For the last 2 weeks, I've finally felt free to write the novel that's been brewing, because I'm trying to get out there, instead of just thinking about it a lot, and I've been able to get much more work done than in the previous several YEARS!

I also don't think that there is anything wrong with switching tracks now and then.  Basically what I'm saying is that it probably is a good idea to finish your draft first, then let it lie a few months (that's common advice).  That's the time to work on some short stories.  Get your ideas out into a more fleshed-out format, and see if any of them start to take you somewhere farther.  These are just some thoughts, but the more samples you have, the more likely someone will pick up your screenwriting too.  Whatever your format is, though, "shorts" are good for exercise and experimentation.  Shorts are also a lot easier to get published, and you can try a lot of different things with them.

Hmmm... let's see.  My group is pretty tight, and we've been playing together for years.  I think I can give a good accounting.

- One will be a changeling, I can say that for sure.
- Another will likely be an PI of some sort, probably without powers.
- One will fight and fight to be the upper limit of whatever she thinks is "cool" at the moment with no downside and as many powers as she can possibly squeeze in. (a la http://www.angelfire.com/rpg/michelle/, and yes it's worth going to look.  Funny!)  She will be disappointed; I'll make sure of it.
- Another will probably also be a mundane PI/Agent... possibly government agent
- One will be some form of Warrior of God, possibly who is an elementary or Sunday school teacher... lots of good options when there are kids around.  BWahahahaha...

Of course, any of them may spontaneously decide to be a mage instead, or throw in a minor talent or something, but I'm pretty sure the above is a close approximation to what we'll get.

I'd like to second that (that Mouse = NPC).

Seriously, I'm thinking that Mouse is a lot more than just magical dog, and he stays around for a reason, not just for treats, you know?  I mean, as I understand it (or as it looks to me), Mouse isn't just magical, he's somewhat divine.

I imagine that there will be some form of stunt/skill set or template to account for something like Mouse, just like to account for Bob and the various other creatures that are encountered.

Yeah, there are some very strong differences.  I did a whole document (I think like 30 pages?) to convert d20 into a 'Dresdenverse' friendly system.  There was a lot to handle, and the class/level system really is kind of wonky as far as matching with the Dresden world.  And yes, that was 'wonky' as in the technical term.

First, thank you Iago for what appears to be (almost at least) an excerpt.  That was a much-desired peek into things.

I do find it interesting that the Knights of the Cross come under "Champions of God", as this indicates that there are other types of champions out there.  I like.

I also find it interesting that there is as much differentiation as there is... 'Minor Talent', 'Wizard', 'Focused Practitioner', 'Sorcerer'.  I kind of thought that the differences would be built with skills, aspects, and stunts (SAS), but that the builds would use the same SASs in different fashions.  As I understand it, these (Wizard, Sorcerer, etc) are Stunts, yes?

On Ghouls: One of the playtest groups (Rick Neal) actually tweaked things a bit and had a ghoul PC.  I'm not saying it's a great idea, but hey, who am I to judge?
http://www.rickneal.ca/?page_id=53

Just an amusing (to me at least) note regarding God and gods: even in the Old Testament, God talks quite regularly about gods.  He doesn't generally say that they don't exist, just that they aren't the Almighty, and to not pay attention to them.  Hmmm...

Folks, thank you.  This is all very true, and as you mention, Lanodantheon, Harry IS all of those in one.  That is part of why it is so enjoyable.

I'm not sure why they have such a mental block about it.  I wonder if it simply has to do with it not working too well, or trying to fit something into the D20 shell.

In Dresden, magic really does 'overlay' the real world, or is in addition to it, and I think a lot of the populace when there are this many people on Earth simply aren't going to have encountered the things that go bump in the night.

Thanks for the thoughts, folks.

On another side... anybody ever play In Nomine?  I feel like FATE would work really well for that... hehehe... "Gaming on a higher plane".

Geez... I'd like to be in 4 different games at once and be something different in each one.

Seriously, my top two are wizard and Knight.  I'll probably be running, so it probably doesn't matter much right now though.

On another note, I can see the White Court being playable, but do we have confirmation of that?  I'm really curious where the lines will be drawn, although I suppose it depends on the group power level.  A 4 aspect group can't handle players that a 16 aspect group would. 

Someone else mentioned nephilim earlier.  We have demons, certainly, and the Denarians, I have to admit that I would like to see nephilim handled somehow.  You might be able to build one out of fae abilities.   

Hey Mouse, thank you for that link!  I didn't realize that wiki site was there, and it's got a lot of good stuff there.

I haven't seen minions in the SotC yet, I'm still tuning my brain in to the system.  For some reason I thought that the 2/4/6 thing was part of the core system anyway.  I do like the 2/4/6 and the weapons variations that I've seen.  I really can't justify to myself having a pocket knife do the same damage as, I don't know, a 12-guage, for instance.

I also really like Fred's (I think) modified skill ladder, with the ladder being skill slots.  That makes a lot of sense to me (though it is definitely more complex) and models growth and advancement better.

Anyway, thanks again, Mouse!