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Topics - eiredrake

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1
DFRPG / On Demons and the Fallen
« on: April 21, 2015, 06:03:42 PM »
I was talking with a friend of mine who is playing a very Constantine-esque character in my DFRPG, Frost and Fire, Earth and Sky.

His highschool, though many mechanations of some nasty people, ended up touted as a sacrifice to a Duke of Hell known as Moloch in order for someone (they never found out what was truly going on) to gain power.

Because the characters were all 'toes in the water' teenagers who barely knew their butts from a hole in the ground, the character in question basically made a pact with another entity from Downbelow known as Pazuzu (whom you might recognize from the Exorcist fame).

In the end Palos Verdes Penninsula High School was pretty much burned to the ground, there were twenty some odd casualties (a lot less than Moloch was promised much to his dismay) and the Kids inadvertently discovered a hidden sect of Outsider 'worshipers' operating inside the local Masonic lodge and trying to take it over.

This could have been averted if say, the Knights of the Cross had showed up or if the Wardens had somebody to spare. But this occurred during the same night as Chicago's big blackout when the necromancers showed up and Harry rode Sue... so they were a little busy.

Now the books have said that the entities in the Blackened Denarii are fallen angels, and that demons are basically just random non-friendly entities in the nevernever.

So what are Moloch and Pazuzu as far as the Dresenverse goes? They're obviously not in a Denarius. Does that mean they aren't members of the Fallen? Or are there other Fallen running around that didn't get imprisoned in coins? Seems like there'd be far more Fallen than just the 30 coins.

Or are the Demons? Given the RW lore about Moloch and Pazuzu it seems they'd be a bit powerful to be like Chauncy.

I realize that this is my game and I can pretty well make it however I want but I'd like to try to be consistent with the books and I thought perhaps I was missing something.

2
DFRPG / Magic Circles and Breaking Them
« on: February 11, 2015, 04:01:31 AM »
I'm on my second work through of the Dresden files series (own all the books and audios and the RPG) and i'm on Ghost Story right now. It's got me thinking a bit about circles.

Early in the series, Chauncy is stuck in a circle and has to make a show of ranting and raging to get out of it.

Toot Toot gets stuck in a circle a few times... always tries to escape as a matter of form.

In one of the books a Toad demon kicks dust at a circle containing Harry and Susan but can't break it.

Harry chucks something (film canister) at a circle to break it.

Harry holds Der Erlkonig in a circle for a bit.

The summoner dude (Binder?) threatens Harry with breaking his circle at the same time Molly is sealing him in a really big circle.

I'm a little fuzzy on the whole free will concept as it is mentioned in the books. I'm not sure I understand how a creature with any sort of intellect beyond animal levels can NOT have free will. However it does say that you can only break a circle if you have a mortal will right?

If that's the case why would Chauncy or Toot Toot even bother? They don't have this 'free will' thing. Shouldn't they know they can't get out?

Also,  clearly a circle is more than just a circle. If it was just a line in the dirt you could step over it and that wouldn't be much use so it must be a three dimensional shape. Or is it more like some sort of semi-permeable force field?

So how far up does it extend? Is it a cylindrical container? Some sort of sphere or hemisphere? Or is a cone that extends upwards? Dresden said something earlier in Ghost Story about circles... something about extending upwards into infinity?

Obviously air can get across the boundary (unless you make it specifically to stop air movement). What happens if you build one under a tree and leaves fall on it? Or dust? What if (like Harry opening the Way in Changes) a building/cavern falls on you while you're in the circle? Does it hit you? Does it break the circle? What about some mortal who unwittingly does something to go through the circle? Like some sort of Rube Goldberg machine that they don't know what it does or they accidentally trigger, does that break it? Or given the same Goldberg machine, if it's set up specifically to break the circle but a thousand years pass does the intent of the original builder count? That'd make a hell of a nasty booby trap if that'd work.

Can someone explain circles a little?

3
DFRPG / Maneuver Question
« on: April 05, 2013, 05:40:16 PM »
According to what I've been reading, I have a couple of questions about maneuvers.

A maneuver basically allows you to put a temporary aspect on either yourself, your opponent or the environment. In the case of an opponent you must roll an appropriate skill against their appropriate defense. Against the environment, you roll against a fixed difficulty as determined by the GM. Against yourself, no roll is needed as you are essentially making an unopposed test against yourself.

Exact success gives you a 'fragile' Aspect on the target that you get a free immediate Tag (or compel, or invoke... not sure which it is really). Each additional shift gives you another non-free (meaning you have to spend a Fate Point) use of the Aspect that you can tag. The opponent doesn't get any Fate points for the tag/compel/invoke.

Question 1: What does this give you?  Is it the same as what invoking one of your aspects gives you? Either a +2 to the die roll or a free re-roll?

Question 2: If the Maneuver is against the environment, can it then be invoked by other people such as your opponent? They would have to pay Fate for that I would imagine, since they didn't create the aspect they're invoking.

My next question requires a hypothetical scene to see if I understand.

Pirate A and Pirate B are sword fighting on the deck of a ship. Pirate A is losing, so he decides to fight dirty and use a maneuver. Because Pirate B is a significantly better swordsman Pirate A decides to maneuver against the environment and kick over a barrel of lamp oil that happens to be nearby. Pirate A rolls *something* against a fixed target the GM decides. In this case I will use Average (+1) since kicking/shoving over a barrel isn't all that hard. Pirate A gets say Great (+4), giving him 3 shifts and creating a 'fragile' aspect of 'The Deck is Covered in Oil!' that lasts a total of four uses.

Pirate A gets one immediate Tag against 'The Deck is Covered in Oil'. What effect does this have? Or does the Pirate or GM decide it or something? Seems to me that the Aspect could be used either defending against Pirate B or in attacking Pirate B.

Pirate A does his thing. Now it's Pirate B's turn. Pirate B notices (because he's smarter than a turnip) that 'The Deck is Covered in Oil'! and decides to Tag/Invoke/Compel that aspect (whichever one it is) to use against Pirate A. This costs him a Fate Point.

Question 3: What is the *something* that Pirate A would roll? Athletics? Might?

Question 4:  Does Pirate B's use of the Aspect tick off one of the uses that Pirate A got from his success roll?

Question 5: Does Pirate A get the Fate Point that Pirate B spends because Pirate B is using the aspect against him?

Question 6: When Pirate B uses 'The Deck is Covered In Oil' to enhance his attack against Pirate A.... can Pirate A also spend a point of Fate to use the same aspect to enhance his defense roll? Does Pirate B then get the Fate Point that Pirate A used?

I'm starting to wrap my brain around this whole aspect concept, though there's so many terms flying about it gets a little confusing. I just basically want to make sure I am comprehending this correctly.

That and I can completely see two Pirates duking it out and using dirty tricks against each other in my campaign, so I want to be prepared.

4
DFRPG / Among the blind the one eyed man is kind
« on: April 04, 2013, 03:20:26 PM »
I've been running DFRPG in a campaign set during the golden age of piracy in the Caribbean. It has me thinking.

Lot of eye patches going around as well as missing limbs, hook hands, peg legs and so forth.

One of my main NPC's in fact, lost an eye and wears an eyepatch. Is that a Severe Consequence? Or just an Aspect. How do I treat that?

Also, in cases like missing limbs....Unlike with Harry most people aren't going regain use of a limb that's badly mauled or cut off. If that be the case once combat is over (assuming the character is stable) do we just skip the Severe Consequence and go for a new permanent Aspect? Not like the guy known as Captain Hook is going to re-grow a hand. It's kinda part of his .... uh... body now? (Or not part of it?)

Additionally, how does that work in combat? Does a player just spend a point of Fate and say "Well, he's only got one eye so he has no depth perception. It's going to make it harder for him to use that flintlock on me."? (A Tag per YS107). and then he gains a +2 to his defense against the guy's shot?

5
DFRPG / Bleeding out
« on: March 27, 2013, 02:18:59 PM »
Greetings all,

I just had our first real combat in my DFRPG campaign Troubled Waters and it got me thinking, mostly because I want to do things correctly and I've never run DFRPG before.

Say IRL I get stabbed. Getting stabbed sucks. Getting stabbed is painful and messy. Getting stabbed tends to bleed quite a bit. With medical attention a bad stab wound puts you in the hurt locker. Without medical attention a bad stab wound puts you on the coroner's slab.

I understand that when someone does damage to you, you take stress equal to the difference between the attack and defense with mods for stuff like armor and weapon. If you overfill your Stress track you have to take Consequences.

As I understand things stress is a bit like old school Hit Points in that it doesn't represent 'real' damage but rather your ability to avoid being actually hurt.

Consequences on the other hand, are sort of like actual physical wounds, bruises, pulled muscles and so forth.

PC #1 got surprise attacked by something icky that wanted to eat his face. He is the group's doctor and a mostly non-combatant character who decided to go down into a tight confined space where something was waiting. The rolls were:

Attack: Epic (+7) - Defense: Mediocre (+0) = Epic (+7)
Defender's Armor: Mediocre (+0)
Attacker's Weapon: Fair (+2)

Total Stress: Legendary (+9)

Now, it is my understanding that this will pretty much take out anybody and since this was a critter looking for a meal it wasn't going to play patty cake. The PC starts with 3 slots in his Physical Stress track.

You can take one (or more if you have the stunt for it) of each level of Consequences, which is what I let the guy do. He takes a mild and a moderate, leaving him ONE stress remaining to put on his track ( I assume this goes in Slot 1). With the surprise round over, the combatants roll for initiative and the player ends up with an Average. At this point I am starting to feel sorry for him because his dice hate him and he can't seem to catch a break. I remind him that retreat is an option and I recommend that he GTFOOT (Get the Frack out of There).

The critter continues it's attack. With essentially the same result. This time he remembers that he has Fate points to spend. At first he tries re-rolling all dice, but gets the same exact result. Then he decides to just add 2 to his final total, effectively letting him soak some damage.

When all is said and done he ends up fleeing with one remaining Physical Stress slot remaining and Moderate Consequence. With the amount of damage this thing did to him, I imagine he's bleeding all over the place. It is my understanding though, that if you survive the encounter Stress disappears immediately. After more reading I realized I'd forgotten that the attacker that inflicted a consequence gets a free Tag on it (which is lucky because he'd be dead).

Mild (-2): Horrified (examples: Bruised Hand, Nasty Shiner, Winded, Flustered, Distracted) - lasting for one scene.
Moderate (-4): Chest Slashes (examples: Belly Slash, Bad First Degree Burn, Twisted Angle, Exhausted, Drunk)- Lasting until the end of the next session after recovery starts
Severe(-6): Clawed open Face (examples: Broken leg, Bad second-degree burn, crippling shame, Trauma induced phobia) - Lasting till the next scenario or two to three sessions.

Mild says "Walk it off", Moderate says "get some rest" and Severe says "Go to an ER". So does that mean that the PC is going to keep bleeding? If so, what is the effect of that? In my head I'm envisioning the doc having to sew up his own face or talk someone else through it. If this occurs, does that reduce the level of the Consequence?

Incidentally the critter did get put down by another PC who was nearby. I think I'm going to need to reduce the power level of these things a little and make the one that nearly ate PC 1 a 'boss' creature or something.

6
DFRPG / DIY Dresden Dice
« on: October 05, 2012, 03:40:48 AM »
I couldn't find anything I liked online as much as I liked what was in my head so I punted and made my own. I think they turned out pretty decent for a prototype.

The wood is actually scrap wood I found at my office. It was exactly the right size for a die (3/4" by 3/4"). I just had to cut it down into 3/4" cubes. Since the wood was about a foot long I had plenty left over in case I screwed up (which I did). I think it's pine but I'm not sure. Add a little red oak wood stain and some etched brass facings from an Etsy artisan and I think I've got something pretty serviceable.

I thought about recessing the brass plate into the die facing but every time I did that the wooden block split apart. I'm also toying with the idea of affixing the plate with these nifty brass carpet tacks I have. But again the wood split so I have to pre-drill a hole first which I'm not really liking.

Still I'm happy with the result. Now I just need to make the velvet lined presentation box I have in my head so I can prevent my regular dice from scratching and/or contaminating the Dresden dice with their crappy rolling-ness.

7
DFRPG / Dresden Files 101
« on: August 27, 2012, 02:20:01 AM »
I don't know about most people but I can't learn something just by reading a book. It helps me if I get to sit down with someone who knows what they're doing and can run me through some scenarios and answer questions and stuff.

Seeing as how I'm going to be taking over the game in a couple of months I was wonder if anyone (eastern time zone please) might be interested in getting on Itabletop or Skype or something and working through some scenarios so I can get a better grasp of the Dresden system?

8
DFRPG / Shadow People v2
« on: August 17, 2012, 02:57:53 PM »
    After taking some of the advice I received here is version 2 of the Shadow People creature

    High Concept: Servitor of Those who Dwell Beyond.
    Other Aspects;
    • From Beyond the Outer Gates
    • A Creature of Shadow, Hatred and Hunger
    • Nocturnal

    Skills
    • Discipline: Great (+4)
    • Fists : Good (+3)
    • Might: Fair (+2)
    • Endurance: Good (+3)
    • Intimidation: Good (+3)
    • Stealth : Great (+4)
    • Conviction: Fair (+2)

    Powers
    • Parasitic Claws (-2) - The 'fingers' of the Shadow curl down into wickedly barbed points. Given the Might of the creature these will function as a Weapon: 3. Additionally if the Shadow makes a successful Fists maneuver, the target gains a 'Infected by Outsider Parasite' aspect (see YS163). This functions to fulfill the Feeding Dependency. However if the Shadow is taken out, or the victim is placed in an empowered circle the Feeding is interrupted and the 'Infected by Outsider Parasite' aspect is removed.
    • Domination (Possession) -5 - Much like a Demon, a Shadow is capable of flowing into the nose, mouth and ears of a person not strong enough to fight them off to take control of the body.
    • Semi-Corporeal Form (-3) - You exist in a ghost-like state of only semi-solidity. You have the ability to flow much like a gas, through cracks and holes though under your own power and you are not at the mercy of the wind. However since you are semi-corporeal you are vulnerable to things that can affect a gaseous cloud: someone could trap you in an airtight chamber for example.
    • Physical Immunity (-8) - since you are semi-corporeal you are effectively immune consequences from physical attacks and other harms unless someone satisfies your catch.
    • The Catch (-2) - holy items and expressions of Faith
    • Feeding Dependency (-1) - You gain some of your supernatural abilities by feeding on life force in the form of Physical Stress levels and the absorption of direct magical attacks.
    • Pack Instincts (-1)

    Not sure how to describe this but how about this limitation.

    Because the Shadow is semi-corporeal and more than a bit ghostlike, it has to essentially manifest in order to attack or otherwise interact with the environment. This requires an expenditure of energy which it recovers by indulging it's feeding dependency. Shadows who's hunger track has been exhausted are no longer corporeal and are essentially ejected back Outside. This is the reason why Shadows tend to hunt and travel in packs - it changes the effort to reward ration when feeding.

    Like ghosts, Shadows do not survive the dawn unless they are protected. Unlike ghosts, they do not require a specially prepared vessel to survive it. Any place that is darkly shadowed and out of direct sunlight is protected enough as would be a possessed victim.

    I'm still thinking that they can bypass a threshold without being too badly effected by it. I'm just not sure how to word it. My reasoning is that they are forced into this world by the Will of an Outsider for some specific unfathomable purpose. I just can't see a Hound of Tindalos being stopped by a threshold. Now, a Ward or a Circle, sure. Or a threshold that has been modified specifically to ward off Outsiders (like the Elder Sign for example), yeah I can see that stopping them cold. Maybe something like:

    Your Earthly Defenses Mean Nothing (-5) - Because of your connection to the Outsider that projected you into this universe, you are unaffected by the normal threshold that surrounds a home and may pass through it to operate beyond.

9
DFRPG / Tabletop Prop Making & Atmosphere building
« on: August 14, 2012, 05:55:35 PM »
I'm curious. Does anyone else here use physical props, lighting, audio or other stuff to enhance the mood of the game?

Physical props, such as the autopsy reports I am preparing for the next game, are always the most fun for me. I feel that it gives the players something tangible. I wrote up my first one last night using a few I found online as examples. I had to look up what the actual injuries I wanted to express were called in medical terms so I could modify the report. But once it is printed out and put into a manila folder along with some appropriately gruesome pictures (You CAN find actual, if rather horrifying, autopsy photos online after all) it'll make an excellent player handout. Does anyone else do this? Is there interest in maybe creating a board/thread on prop making?

What about lighting? I've actually had a game (It wasn't Dresden) that we played in a cold ass basement with only the light of an indiglo nightlight watch to see our dice by. Granted that was a homebrew system I call 'roll two dice and pray' that has no sheets or stats or anything. Funny thing is the players that were present still talk about it fondly after over a decade. But you don't have to go to that extreme. Track lighting over the table so the players can see what they're rolling would be great, especially if supplemented by lanterns or flameless candles (one of my players is a consummate klutz, so no open flames or glass tabletops for us). Even reflected lighting (as from ceiling pointed torchiere lamps) can change the ambiance of a space. That's why plays, operas and even movies do it.

Then of course there's audio. I've had situations where I've left a sound track from a action film playing in another room. Most of the time it is ignored entirely as far as I can tell except on perhaps an unconscious level. I had a dramatic moment happen coincidentally when there was a sudden crescendo in the music and the players still talk about the chill that ran down their spines.

I had at one point considered writing a program in c# to be one big advanced sound board capable (with the use of surround sound speakers) of having crickets chirp 'over there' while gunshots fire off in the distance and nearby a brook quietly babbles. I only got partway through writing it, but it does bring up the question does anyone ever use sound effects?

At one point in a CoC game I separated each player and took them one by one into our college theater and sat them in a chair. Prefacing the scene with 'Do you Trust me?' I asked them to put on a plush sleep mask to black out their eyes and then with some faintly chilling music playing somewhere nearby I walked around them in a circle describing the scene to keep them slightly disoriented. I got some interesting results with that one. That's another game these players still talk about. Apparently the combination of the music, visual deprivation and my voice echoing around the theater was pretty intense.

What about other immersion techniques? Does anyone have anything they like to do to torment er... I mean enhance the experience of the players?

10
DFRPG / Universe Mechanics - Hexing, Soul Gazing, Magic Talent and the FedGov
« on: August 14, 2012, 05:17:18 PM »
My thoughts are all over the place on this, imagining possibilities here. So I apologize in advance if this seems disjointed.

Hexing - If an empowered circle keeps out errant magic, couldn't Harry or any other wizard just make a circle around their ultra expensive 50 inch plasma TV to keep it from frizzing out? Couldn't they get a modern speaker phone that answers to voice commands and put that in a circle to allow him to have decent voice conversations over the phone? If Harry were to ward a water heater or other appliance with a circle or an actual ward couldn't he then use them? What if the actual electronics stuff wasn't in the vicinity? It is apparent that Harry has some sort of Area of Effect wherein the stuff he is around fizzles.

Personally if I was Butters one of the first thing I'd do is get some cheap discard able circuit boards and mount LEDs on them (hardware hackers call them 'throwies') and lay them out every six cm or so and see if I could determine the area of interference around Harry. Then I'd start trying to map it out. Accidental and deliberate hexing almost sounds like the Wizard is generating some sort of biological EMP field.

Soul Gazing - This one has always puzzled me. When I look back at myself a mere 10 years ago I know that I am a fundamentally different person than I am at this moment now that I am both a husband and a father. But the books hint that once you've soul gazed a person you never need to do it again. Even looking at Murphy before Dresden's date with destiny in Changes/Ghost Story, she's not quite the same person afterwards. If  Wizard had soul gazed me 10 years ago, would he not see something different now?

What about if in that intervening time I had become a black court vampire? Surely that would completely change what I looked like?

Magical Talent: Was just listening to the audio book of Side Jobs and came across the one told from Thomas's perspective. He outright says in there that Magic is a skill like anything else. Any bozo can learn how to do it it's just that some people are better at it than others just like (insert modern equivalent here) Michael Jordan was so much better than most people at playing basketball. I'm pretty sure Harry said that in Ghost Story (which I am listening to now) as well.

Doesn't that mean that I could in fact pick up some minor to middling spells over time sorta like the way a boyscout can pick up first aid with no major formal training but brain surgery is going to be beyond him without intensive training and natural talent?

Since magic is basically just a bunch of powers doesn't that mean if I can pay the refresh I can suddenly develop magical power over time? But is that really likely universe wise or is that just a quirk of game mechanics. Or was Thomas talking ritual magic rather than evocation or thaumaturgy? I seem to remember Harry calling ritual magic a vending machine where you put a quarter in one side and out pops a magical effect on the other.

At that point too.... what happens to the electronics I use every day. I personally IRL am a software engineer. Say one day I'm dabbling with Cthulhu Summoning 101, summon a Puppy Of Tindalos and realize it works. Suddenly I'm trying to learn everything I can (which I can tell you IRL would definitely happen to me in that situation). Does this mean I can't be a software engineer anymore because every time I come near a computer it's going to crap itself? Or is that only when I'm actively using power? Or alternatively is it only when you have a level of actual talent rather than any real 'book learnin'.

Even better, what would happen if a mortal developed (for whatever reason) 'The Sight'. I remember one of the case files had some drug that did it. But what if it happened because of some development of the person? Would they go crazy without proper training? Maybe that crazy homeless guy on the corner isn't actually crazy, maybe he just can't shut off The Sight and the stuff he sees is real.

Fedgov: Lastly, thus far in the books we have had a supernaturally aware police division and four FBI agents that had the ability to wolf out. I can't believe that the US (or any other) government would be unable to discover that magic and the supernatural exists. Upon discovering it I cannot believe for one instant that they would not immediately set DARPA out to exploit it for anything it's worth.

The only reason I can see there not being a secret CIA Wizard pool is that maybe the White Council doesn't let that happen. But if someone can sneak wolf belts to four FBI agents who's to say there isn't a group of hidden Kemmlerites hanging out with or manipulating the federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies? Even if Harry and the council (and supernaturals in general) feel like bringing in the Mortal authorities is the equivalent of a nuclear strike doesn't mean absolutely nobody would be willing to do it just to see the world burn.

Thoughts?

11
DFRPG / Dice
« on: August 13, 2012, 08:08:15 PM »
I realize this has been posted before but after much searching and failing to find what I'm looking for I thought I would ask the users.

A while back when I first started playing i decided I wanted a set of cool dice to play this game with. I did some googling and found only the plane red white and blue d6s everywhere. Eventually though I found a set of Fudge specific dice that someone had etsied (at least I think it was etsy) that was dark wood with polished brass inserts on the faces for the +, - and [blank] sides. They were fricken gorgeous and I wanted a set. Unfortunately I closed the window (and I don't keep browser history). I've been googling and etsying them for a while since, and I have yet to be able to find the same set of dice again. I was wondering anyone knows where I might acquire a pair. I believe the price was something <= $20 for a set of 4 or something like that.

I actually tried (disastrously) to make a set of wooden dice to use, but I had an attack of the 'Too Stupid to Breath' disease and nearly lost a thumb on my tablesaw. It was entirely my fault, I knew better and still did something stupid anyway...and I still kick myself in the butt over it. I refer to them as my blood dice since I bled all over the wood (and pretty much everything within a foot or so) during the accident. However, they're poorly made and not particularly cool looking other than being made out of wood. Given that these blood dice cost me well over $200 (in a trip to the emergency room), I don't mind paying for them.

I did see a link on JimButcherOnline somewhere for a 3d printed set of bronze looking dice but that's not really what I'm looking for.

Does this ring a bell to anyone?

12
DFRPG / Shadow People
« on: August 08, 2012, 02:51:02 AM »
I had briefly discussed this in a separate post (The Glass Jawed Wizard) but I wanted to run it by the forum to see what everyone thought and to help balance things out a bit so these things aren't overwhelmingly powerful or seriously weak. I'm looking for something that will be a party wide challenge, that is also a creature a Wizard can't sneeze on and kill. I figured I would jot down my notes thus far.



First, a bit of background. Shadow people are essentially a supernatural creature people claim to have seen all over western culture. There is quite a bit of folklore surrounding them. They are generally seen only at night and in poor lighting. They are generally humanoid in shape, sometimes entirely black and sometimes with luminescent eyes. Typically they do not talk or directly interact with people or animals but merely watch mortals. I've woken up in the middle of the night with humanoid shadowy shapes standing over me but I've never been convinced that they are anything other than me still dreaming. However they do tend to scare the living crap out of me up until my mind realizes that it is awake and the things disappear. In the real world, the assumption is generally that they don't exist at all and are merely figments of the imagination though some people claim they are demons or aliens. Some people claim to have been attacked or even raped by these things, generally during an episode of sleep paralysis so that they cannot move. There are also stories (as in the second picture) of them travelling in large packs.

In my game, these creatures are non-corporeal beings that are in the direct service of the Outer Powers who are steadily gaining influence in the world because of the events in Changes and Ghost story. The Shadow People have always been here, but with the power vacuum left by the destruction of the red court, and the massive amounts of magic that were flung around during the war the Shadows find it easier to enter our world. In order to seize said power, some foolish entity (perhaps mortal, perhaps wizard, perhaps other) has decided to reach out to these creatures and the powers that they serve. (I won't go into exact details since therein lies my plotline).

I also thought that in the cases of possession, the Victim would appear relatively normal but would have eyes that were completely black and would seem to radiate faint wifts black steam a bit like the way really cold ice does in your freezer. I thought that'd be a really creepy description in the making.

In any case, here is what I have so far:
Servitors of Those Who Dwell Beyond - aka: Shadow People
  • Shadow people are both manifestations of the Will of the Outsiders and their servitors.
  • Like Demons, they can possess mortals, but unlike demons they cannot create bodies of pure ectoplasm
  • Lesser Shadow People do not have True Names. Greater Shadow People do, and can be called forth just like a Demon. Just like demons it tends to piss them off.
  • Running water has no effect on Servitors.
  • However, bright sources of light effects them much like Running water effects a demon
  • They are blocked by Circles and by Wards.
  • They are not blocked by Thresholds unless there is also light present (these things show up in people's bedrooms all the time supposedly).
  • Servitors feed off the life energy of mortals
  • They are essentially immune to magic much like an Ogre however direct magical attacks actually make them stronger
  • Cannot operator or manifest during the day unless it is in an area protected from sunlight or other bright sources of light
  • Cannot talk on their own. However they can speak if possessing a host
  • When possessing a host, they do not gain any skills or magical abilities of the host but they can make use of any physical abilities
  • It is not known if you can actually kill one of these things or if they just disappear back to the Outside only to reappear later
  • Because they are semi-corporeal, they cannot be hurt by normal weapons that are not driven by a Will. Example - a bullet would pass harmlessly through them. A club wielded with the intent to hurt them would do damage
  • While they are blocked by solid physical matter, they are capable of flowing through cracks and holes to enter structures not otherwise warded

With those things in mind, I worked up the following stat block for a Lesser Servitor based on the stats of several different denizens in Our World (Bucky and the Ogre to name two):

High Concept: Servitor of Those Who Dwell Beyond
Other Aspects
  • From Beyond the Outer Gates
  • A Creature of shadow, hatred and hunger

Skills
Fists (Fair +2)
Intimidation (Average +1)
Stealth (Great +4)
Alertness (Fair +2)

Powers
Shadow Tendrils [-1] : (as per Claws)
I can Smell your Life (Supernatural Sense [-1] : Is able to sense life as if by smell)
Made of Shadow [-1] : (Cloak of Shadows)
Your Magic Tastes Most Sweet [-2] : Direct magical attacks give it power, and heal stress
Semi-Corporeal Form [-3] : Cannot pass through walls but can pass through cracks and holes much like a gas would. Does not need to manifest in order to attack. Immune to physical attacks not backed by Will. (ie: bullets won't hurt it, but a wielded club would).
The Catch [?] - Strong light sources weaken the Servitors. It is vulnerable to holy objects and faith.

So,  that's what I thought of but I'm worried that this might be a bit too powerful. Also, what is 'strong' light sources. A match, lighter, or old school incandescent flashlight, probably isn't going to do much. A modern, bright LED flashlight or car headlights would hurt it. A torch or lantern would probably keep it at bay for a while.

I thought about giving the thing some sort of Shadow walk style ability but I wasn't sure how to fit that into the existing rules and I'm pretty sure that would make it too damn powerful. Perhaps with the Greater Servitors, they can have something like that. I figure there would probably be one or two Greater servitors per twenty to fifty of the lesser ones infecting the city. The group I'm playing with is at the Chest Deep Level with quite a few games under their belts though with poor command (thus far) over the rules.

So here is when I open myself up to the flames. What do you think? How can I scale it up and down? What about the weaknesses? Is it too weak or too powerful?

Thanks in advance and please be gentle.

Eire

13
DFRPG / The Glass Jawed Wizard
« on: August 03, 2012, 08:32:18 PM »
There was a game I got to play once called Torg, a GM ran it it was the best RPG evening I ever had (I shot an m16 down the barrel of a tank and blew it up) and then I never saw the GM again.

One of the problems they had in that game was the fact that Ninjas were vastly overpowered and poorly balanced to the point where anything that was sufficient to challenge the Ninja would kill the rest of the party. Additionally, anything sufficiently challenging to challenge the Ninja would probably be able to kill him outright.

This phenomena was referred to as the Glass Jawed Ninja

I think there might be a similar problem with Wizards, at least in my group and I thought I'd write in here to ask for help. I'm going to be taking over the world for the current GM for a bit, so she gets to play in her own universe. The problem with this is that we have a very varied party with a single Wizard in it. But the sort of things the Wizard has been able to do are nothing short of crazy.

In the books, Harry is always concerned that some rogue 12 year old who found a pistol is going to accidentally kill him with an errant shot. This gives him more depth as a character but it also causes him to think before he acts. This is part of the reason he likes going out with Michael or Murphy or even his brother. Because at the very least it's another body to absorb bullets and another pair of eyes watching his back.

The Wizard in our party tends to solve every problem by blasting stuff. Yes I know Harry does that too, but he does occasionally come up with another idea. At one point, a group of nasties summoned a Titan... as in 'Zeus sprang out of my head' kind of Titan...

And the Wizard in the party proceeded to use earth magic, ripe open a giant hole in a Philadelphia neighborhood so that the Titan would fall in and then closed the hole up behind them. What was probably supposed to be an epic level ass kickery scene was resolved in two minutes with the Wizard being the only person to do anything.

So my question is, how do I make things challenging enough to keep the Wizard from being Michael Jordan while the rest of us are all in pee wee basketball?

Are Wizards as vastly overpowered as they seem? Or is it just that I'm not playing a Wizard so that is coloring my perception?

This brings me to my second question... I have an idea for a 'bad guy' that I wanted to run past the forums. No specifics but instead I'll give vagueries for some input. Be nice, even if you think it is crap.

So my idea was this: Shadow People.

Those vaguely human-like shapes that occasionally turn up in photographs or on Ghost hunting TV shows that usually turn out to be tricks of the light and so forth.... They're real. Not only are they real, they're intelligent, they're malevolent and they've always been able to trickle into our world. Only now they've got a way to come into our world en mass.

Trick is that, they basically 'eat' magic. Much like that troll (or was it an Ogre) in one of the Dresden files that had magic run off him like a duck these things are essentially unaffected by direct magical assault. Hitting a Shadow Person with magic, actually makes them stronger as they feed off the magic (magic is representative of the living essence of the world right?).

I figure this should make it so that Mr. Wizard isn't just going to fart and blow away the whole plot. The problem is that naturally I'll need to give them enough of a weakness so they don't just summarily eat the whole party either.

Anyone have any tips on how to handle the situation? Especially on weaknesses. I'd rather not have it be something stupid like "true love wins out" some such nonsense. True love never stopped anyone from being eaten by a hungry crocodile. And using 'light' is a little too obvious and generic. Maybe a special kind/frequency of light?

Any advise would be appreciated.
Eire

14
DFRPG / Thomas in Small Favor
« on: June 06, 2012, 09:02:44 PM »
Since my commute blows goats I typically listen to audio books or podcasts on the way. Recently I've been listening to the DF series and I'm on Small Favor now and since I've been playing the RPG I've been taking notice to things a bit more.

For example I could have sworn in the last book that Harry got blasted and lamented not having his shield bracelet but then in the very next paragraph he shook out his shield bracelet. (No I don't have a citation for what page this happened on so I can't prove it).

But yesterday I was listening when Harry & Thomas went into Marcone's Gym/Brothel and some woman flitted up to them. Harry asked to see Ms. Demeter and the girl wasn't cooperating so he had Thomas give a 'demonstration'. Thomas grabbed two dumbells and basically twisted the bars together to form an 'X'.

That said I got curious so I fired up Our Story and went to look at Thomas's stats. Thomas doesn't have the Might skill (or at least I didn't see it) so that'd give him a Might skill of 0, right? But he has Inhuman Strength.

But the description of inhuman strength says basically 4 things:

You are able to lift more and hit harder than the average human can due to your supernatural heritage.

Improved lifting: +3 to might score to lift or break things.
Bruising Strength: +1 to might for grappling. Can inflict a 2 stress hit during a grapple
Superior Strength: When using your might to modify another skill it provides +1 regardless of your actual might skill.
Hammer Blows: Attacks depending on muscular force do +2 damage on a successful hit.

Nothing on his sheet would seem to indicate that he has the ability to do that and the power itself just seems to make you a bit stronger than a normal human. I'm willing to bet that bending aluminum or steel bars into pretzel forms probably is beyond the average human. I'm willing to bet its probably beyond the modern day equivalent of Schwarzenegger in his heyday.


So my question is... how the hell did Thomas pull off the Dumbell-Pretzel thing?

or was this just artistic license or some sort of 'for effect' power?

15
DFRPG / Confused by Item of Power
« on: April 11, 2012, 08:55:17 PM »
For our Dresden game I came up with a character idea of an immortal assassin. Sort of a combination of Ezio Auditore and Connor MacLeod among other things. His template would be 'Emissary of Power', being the right hand of the goddess Nemesis. Working with those ideas as a base I came up with a pretty extensive backstory and overall the character works pretty well and is fun to play.

I figured, what powers would he need to be this type of character: Inhuman Recovery, to grant Highlander style immortality, Cloak of Shadows, Inhuman Agility1 and The Sight, to be an Ezio style assassin and Marked by Power to be the chosen of the Goddess.

I'm just trying to make sure that I'm doing things 'right' by the system. Since the process is still a bit confusing to me I thought I'd ask here. My main question would be how much do these items cost in Refresh including the one time discount on one of them. Does one item of power cost 3 or 1 (3 - discount) ?Are two items of power -5? (mentioned at the bottom of YW168)

He actually has two items of power. I basically used the Sword of the Cross as an example. The Eye of Vengeance is what grants his immortality and gives him heightened visual senses. The sword is a weapon allowing him to mete out justice even to those unharmed by regular weapons.

Item Of Power: Eye of Vengeance
Cost: -3
Description: An highly polished black spheroid made of some sort of gemstone the size of a human eye.
Must: Must have a high concept or template appropriate to being chosen by Nemesis
Effects:
  • Your Purpose is Not Yet Fulfilled: Inhuman Recovery (-2)
    Catch: The eye must be in the bearer's eye socket. If it is removed, then inhuman recovery ceases. The bearer must sacrifice an eye in order to use the item.
  • The Guilty cannot Hide: The Sight (-1)
  • Discount Already Applied: +2

Item of Power: Sword of Justice
Cost: ?
Description: Each bearer of the sword finds that when he or she first touches it, it conforms to the bearer's tastes, skills and aptitudes but it is still a finely made sword at least the size of a gladius and no longer than a claymore.
Must: Must have a high concept or template appropriate to being chosen by Nemesis
Effects:
  • All creatures fear justice: (same as All Creatures are Equal before God)
  • Divine Purpose: The sword was created to bring balance to the scales and therefore can only be wielded against creatures who have seriously wronged someone. The sword will not harm an innocent at all and if the 'wrong' does not merit death (as determined by the Goddess herself), the sword will not kill them.
  • Holy: While the deity that created the sword may not be the Christian one, the weapon is no less a holy artifact and acts like holy water  or other symbol of faith backed by the belief of the wielder.
  • Its a sword: In it's current form it is a beautiful swept hilt rapier (Weapon: 2)
  • Unbreakable: It cannot be broken save through a ritual designed to pervert it's purpose.

That brings me to the last two powers Cloak of Shadows and Inhuman Agility. For lack of a better idea I just attached them to the sword. Frankly though I'm not sure they fit the sword itself. Should I internalize those powers? Or would something like Modular Powers make sense: like the sword grants X points of abilities that vary based on the wielder to make the job he is going to do possible?


1Inhuman Agility - Just made this one up based on the other Inhuman X traits. Effectively this would give you Peter Parker level agility.

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