With my semester over, I'm starting to write again and nothing gets my creative juices flowing better than writing fanfic. To that end, I've decided to write my first Dresden Files fanfic. I find half the fun is trying to capture the "voice" of the Dresden Files, from Harry's snarky internal monologue to the other characters and their quirks.

Elevator pitch: Harry Dresden Saves Christmas. Working title: Little Helper.

Beyond my own work, I'm wondering if anyone else here has written fanfic of the Dresden Files. If not, have you read any good ones? Inspiration would be nice.

What's a shonokin? Is it something non-canonical that you've homebrewed?

More or less. They're loosely based on the works of a local pulp author and Lovecraft successor named Manly Wade Wellman. The Shonokin are a race of near-immortals who were here before the American Indians (who they call Invaders) arrived. Due to lacking any surviving females, a war with the Invaders (which was really pretty damn awesome and rivals Bob's description of the Fomor War), and gradual attrition over the millennia, they've been reduced to less than a hundred individuals in loose cells around the country. They have a random grab-bag of powers including a poor man's shapeshifting (doesn't hide a couple key tells) and sponsored magic of their own. The mutants are a byproduct of their experiments in creating more Shonokin to restore their species, put to use as shock troops. They look like a hulking, misshapen human covered in large cancerous growths, and fight with fists or claws plus superhuman strength and resilience. There's more where the cop came from, but they mostly have been kidnapping homeless bums for that purpose, the cop was just someone they needed out of the way to insert an agent into a situation.

Current complications: one of my players has been instructed by the King of Autumn to kill all of the Shonokin in the city before the end of All Hallow's (in about a week, and I swear I started this plot before CD in October), or she will die. There's also a looming threat of the rage-eating local White Court sparking a riot of deranged berserkers if they don't get one of their own back (the Shonokin have her).

So I was thinking that a week is good time to figure out via dental records or identifying tattoos that this misshapen pile of extra crispy tumors is actually the rookie cop who went missing a few days back. Which means that the PCs may be able to make bail in the immediate future after sufficient justification as self-defense. The police will continue their investigation, and the fact that there's every chance the decedent was a cop will come to light at the worst possible time: Halloween Night. The PCs will either get arrested or go on the lam, just as the clock is ticking to zero for our poor autumn knight. And the riot will probably start around that time too.

For getting them out of jail or getting the cops off their back, there are dark powers willing to help, of course. The dark powers are always willing to help.

I have an uncanny ability for my ideas to flow into the cracks in existing canon. I've written fanfiction before and had later episodes entirely validate my ideas. It's pretty useful. So far, I've kept what exactly my Spring and Autumn courts are up to a secret, and some of the new revelations could be very interesting depending on which side I apply it to. My only problem is their entire reason for existence is now in question, but that's not something the players would know about so I'm gonna leave it unanswered.

This is a very simple one, but wanted to run it by you guys first. The PC has both Claws and Breath Weapon, but both are represented as fire blasts from her fists. So, here's a Stunt I wanted to let her take to help out:

Fists:
Wave Motion Fist: Requires: Breath Weapon. Your breath weapon is an extension of your hands. Instead of Weaponry, you use Fists when rolling for Breath Weapon.

The name is a direct translation of "Hadoken."

A wizard's staff has a knob at the end? 

Well, the player did choose a Lust vampire, so I hold her--dammit!--I blame her. Joking aside, I wonder if anyone else has noticed an "innuendo aura" surrounding lust vampire PCs.

DING DING DING

Well, that settles it. No Warden Sword for him.

Now, getting a normal sword and maybe the Warden cloak (I don't think its stainproofing is worth a refresh hit) would not be entirely out of the question, depending on how the current arc goes. How would you feel about a "Deputy Warden" pure mortal being in charge of a small but highly magical city?

If it's not meant to be TOO destructive, a simple "bomb" can be crafted from a sealed 2-liter soda bottle with vinegar and antacid tablets (or any number of similar "liquid + solid that does stuff when put in the liquid"). Creating a time-release or remote trigger shouldn't be too difficult, and the explosion will be little more than an extremely loud bang and a funny smell.

If you need something a little more destructive, you could always take the Burn Notice route of "...and some other stuff," or Mythbusters "add *donkey noise* to *rooster crow*"

If you absolutely must be more specific, you really should make sure that what you describe isn't imitable. Otherwise, targeting a YA audience with bomb-making instructions is likely to get you in hot water.

He sounds a little like Death from Pratchett, I approve

Somewhat. Death is a lot nicer. The Reaper King comes off as an outright villain, though he's really nowhere near as bad as he looks and acts. The fact that Jack is the one who's actively dangerous is obscured by their different demeanors.