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The Dresden Files => DFRPG => Topic started by: fantazero on February 03, 2013, 12:57:39 AM
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What are some of your Dresden House Rules?
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We have that those that writes chronicles about what happens when gaming gets an extra refresh... And when you start at the lowest level (feet in the water), that makes a difference. Besides it is fun reading about the session from the viewpoint of the other characters.
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My House rules, such as they are:
1. My only real House Rule: Lawbreaker Stunts provide their bonus on actions that don't break the requisite Law...but should except for a technicality (like killing non-humans or raising animals with Necromancy) as well as those that actually break the Law. They also apply their bonus to predicting the behavior of those with the same Lawbreaker Stunt. This makes Lawbreaker actually useful, even if, like Harry, you're trying to avoid gaining more of it.
2. Some general magic rulings, on areas that are sometimes debated (and in which my opinions are apparently more controversial than I thought, given recent arguments), just to be clear, so nobody's confused or upset later:
Sponsored Magic can and does grant Lawbreaker Stunts if you break the Laws (though some varieties may let you dodge the Wardens).
You can use Tags acquired during spell preparation instead of FP to pay for temporary powers gained via Thaumaturgical Shapeshifting. Doing this to someone else breaks the 2nd Law.
Ritual time frames tend to increase almost exponentially as you pile on more and more tags. Even the shortest are usually at least 15 minutes (though really easy ones might be as little as 5 minutes).
Evocations target whatever skill you can justify (almost always Athletics, Might, or Endurance...evocation being a physical thing and all). Athletics targeting spells are by far the most common (certainly among NPCs). Rotes need to choose what skill they target as part of said Rote. Other skills can be used to avoid if the opponent can finagle it right (usually involving invoking some Aspect for effect). NPCs usually won't do that...but they might occasionally.
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http://www.jimbutcheronline.com/bb/index.php/topic,24744.0.html (http://www.jimbutcheronline.com/bb/index.php/topic,24744.0.html)
http://www.jimbutcheronline.com/bb/index.php/topic,33569.msg1575671.html#msg1575671 (http://www.jimbutcheronline.com/bb/index.php/topic,33569.msg1575671.html#msg1575671)
Another common house rule that I like: no Recovery for self-inflicted consequences.
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yeah but all those threads were long dead.
Anyone try any of those home rules?
What worked, what didn't?
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Summoning rules work well.
Spin works well.
No self-inflicted wound Recovery works well.
The minion rules are shaping up to be problematic.
Pretty much all of the custom Stunts/Powers/Sponsored Magic I've used have worked well.
That's my experience, anyway.
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1. Evocation (including Spirit) can only inflict physical stress and consequences upon the target.
2. Athletics is the go-to skill for defending vs Evocation, unless the target has a special stunt/power that allows them to defend with another skill. No amount of creative description by the practitioner will allow him to choose the target's defense skill.
Is there a loophole about self-inflicted consequences that I'm not aware of?
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Is there a loophole about self-inflicted consequences that I'm not aware of?
Various individuals have concluded that the ability to use Recovery powers to hasten the healing of Consequences incurred as part of spellcasting renders the cost of such powerful options trivial, leading to game imbalance.
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Various individuals have concluded that the ability to use Recovery powers to hasten the healing of Consequences incurred as part of spellcasting renders the cost of such powerful options trivial, leading to game imbalance.
Wait a second... I thought Recovery affected only physical consequences, and spellcasting is mental? Or can you actually take physical consequences (instead of mental stress/consequences) to fuel spellcasting?
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Wait a second... I thought Recovery affected only physical consequences, and spellcasting is mental? Or can you actually take physical consequences (instead of mental stress/consequences) to fuel spellcasting?
Fallout.
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Backlash can be physical or mental at the caster's option, as can consequences inflicted as part of ritual casting. Ritual casting may even have the option of inflicting social consequences to power the spell, not that it's terribly relevant, here.
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1. If you are late to game night, you forfeit your vote for what food we order.
2. Self-inflicted stress does not benefit from recovery powers or potions.
3. All potions must be cleared with the GM before the start of the scene or session.
4. The GM reserves the right to cancel or post-pone game night due to bad weather or dangerous road conditions.
5. Bring your own beverages.
5. Whether or not refusing a compel costs you a fate point is up to the GM. In most circumstances it does not.
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Fair point on the Recovery powers. I think I'm going to rule that self-inflicting consequences for the purpose of mechanical advantages will not benefit from Recovery powers in our game.
1. If you are late to game night, you forfeit your vote for what food we order.
Totally gonna steal that one ;D
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1. Weapon ratings on Attack evocations cost 2 shifts for every +1. +0 Weapon rating costs 1 shift. Evocation spray attacks divide by shifts rather than by Weapon rating and Weapon: 0 evocations are allowed. In my experience, evocation attacks are way too powerful; admittedly, the games I'm running are very high-powered.
2. I don't know if this is a house rule or not, but you get an extra stress box for every odd rank in a skill. An actual house rule is that you get an extra mild consequence at +4, and (theoretically) an extra moderate at +8. (Current PC skill cap is +6, but they're facing opponents with +7 skills.)
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1. Weapon ratings on Attack evocations cost 2 shifts for every +1. +0 Weapon rating costs 1 shift. Evocation spray attacks divide by shifts rather than by Weapon rating and Weapon: 0 evocations are allowed. In my experience, evocation attacks are way too powerful; admittedly, the games I'm running are very high-powered.
2. I don't know if this is a house rule or not, but you get an extra stress box for every odd rank in a skill. An actual house rule is that you get an extra mild consequence at +4, and (theoretically) an extra moderate at +8. (Current PC skill cap is +6, but they're facing opponents with +7 skills.)
+6 Skill cap!
I got stuck in a game like that. After awhile it's like "I'm a +6 Athletics that means I would win every event in the Olympics"
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2. I don't know if this is a house rule or not, but you get an extra stress box for every odd rank in a skill.
That is a house rule. Canon says that you get consequences instead of stress boxes at skill 5 and 7.
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+6 Skill cap!
I got stuck in a game like that. After awhile it's like "I'm a +6 Athletics that means I would win every event in the Olympics"
Yeah but my games aren't, strictly speaking, Dresden Files games. These were fantasy RPGs converted to the Dresden Files system from name-level D&D. Characters that would win every event in the Olympics are actually fitting for the genres I'm playing in.
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This is why my set of houserules have evolved into. I may be missing something because it's just a standard thing, but this is what I know my group and I have worked with:
1) Characters can acquire extra "story aspects" over the course of the game to match actions they have performed (i.e. reputation, friends, etc; Important for a game in Victorian England). They come and go as needed.
(This is a recent addition my players are looking forward to)
2) Having multiple items of power may still warrant the refund per item at GM Discretion (this has not come up...yet. The party is searching for relics, so this may only be a matter of time).
3) You do not have to pay a Fate Point to resist a compel (but you will not be paid the FP if you act it anyway). If I ever escalate, that is the sure sign you should accept.
4) If I hand you a Fate Point for a compel to act to a situation (e.g. "Man of Honor"), you are to act according to that compel until the situation warrants otherwise (i.e. not at the end of the scene).
5) If you can't make it and give enough warning (and a viable reason), you can write your own actions on the sideline to aid the party and possibly net bonuses for your return. Otherwise, you are "sidelined" at the whim of the GM.
6) The game uses the DFRPG rules, but will incorporate the following ideas from FATE Core and other games: Armor has stress tracks you may use, Weapons have one Aspect of their own, the "Extras" chapter is valid for magical items, implementing the "Success At A Cost" idea, and "spin" is replaced by "Boosts."
7) If you describe something in awesome enough detail, I will not make you roll for it unless there was already a slim chance of success or if it was dramatically appropriate.
8) If we aren't having fun, we're not doing it right.
9) I will bend the rules to fit your concept, but you'll have to work with me to make it happen.
10) No other houserules will be implemented without being pitched to the group for approval.
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If the group does something that may merit a bonus in the future, instead of temporary Aspects (like a debt), I may hand over a poker chip that says, "Good for a +2 to your next Resources/Contacts roll" or the like.
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1. We play fast and loose with Sponsor Debt. If you want something, there is a good likely hood you can get it. The amount of debt you'll take might be hairy though...
2. Currently we allow concession up to the point of a defense roll. We might be changing that, but while we were getting in tune with the game we wanted to try and keep things a little soft.
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One house rule I've been mulling over for a while now.
Control ratings from Focus Items and Specializations don't assist the Magic user with hitting an opponent, only to actually control the spell itself. Basically, someone would only use their Discipline on the aiming portion of the roll, thus eliminating the whole 6+ athletics issue. One of the side effects of this is it would make Control more in line with the usefulness of Power. Both have always been fairly useful, but seriously, Control has always been, by far, the most powerful of the available options.
One of the arguments some people I've spoken with in my group voice against this, is how expensive and limited spellcasting already is. It would be a bad to make it more difficult to hit an opponent with a spell, thus easier to waste the limited resource. I've always understood on that, but I've still thought it over trivialized, when you are practically guaranteed to hit every time, unless the GM has some crazy NPC, or the player completely and utterly botch their roll.
The biggest reason I thought this one up, is I never understood why spellcasters should be able to get a constant roll of 8+ easy, without spending a single fate point. They are the only people in the entire system that have access to a bonus like that, and I've never really understood why that was. With how the system was built, it felt like it broke it to me, and I just thought of a way I thought would be easy to try and fix it.
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Spellcasters run out of juice pretty fast. At best, you've got 4 casts, and after that, it's consequences. Unless you run exclusively boss-level fights with numerically inferior, higher quality opponents, sustainability becomes an issue.
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How many fights last 4 rounds?
House Rule: The templates are a suggestion...although this is probably standard in most peoples games.
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Spellcasters run out of juice pretty fast. At best, you've got 4 casts, and after that, it's consequences. Unless you run exclusively boss-level fights with numerically inferior, higher quality opponents, sustainability becomes an issue.
My old GM got around this by allowing us to cast equal to our Discipline score without taking mental stress. Of course that didn't keep me from tossing around some serious mojo when I had to. Slagged a noob Denarian with a bolt of lightning after I rolled a true +4 on the dice.
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How many fights last 4 rounds?
Depends on the game and the GM...but I've never had one last less than that. Most go more.
House Rule: The templates are a suggestion...although this is probably standard in most peoples games.
This...is actually pretty much official, what with them explcitly stating 'make up your own templates" an all.
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Depends on the game and the GM...but I've never had one last less than that. Most go more.
I don't have as much experience as some other people on here, but our shortest combat has been 7 exchanges.
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Depends on the game and the GM...but I've never had one last less than that. Most go more.
This...is actually pretty much official, what with them explcitly stating 'make up your own templates" an all.
I've had fights go on FOREVER with 6+ people playing. (I wasn't gm-ing)
I think a lot of GMs don't get this isn't Shadowrun, it's not a Slug Fest.