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 - Jabberwocky

Pages: 1 ... 6 7 [8]

106

DFRPG / Re: Apects / FP system vs. roleplaying

« on: November 02, 2012, 03:38:22 PM »

I understand the time passing being in the hands of the GM but still there are catches. Sometimes you will want the PCs to wait for something and time could just jump forward a bit. That's why I am asking about GM experience with this potential problem. In general, slower flow of game-time is no biggie as it's always possible to say that a few days/weeks/months have passed. The opposite would make me worry more. Regarding the episodic vs. series approach I'm not quite sure now. Sometimes it's a combination of both and you can tell only after some portion of gaming.
I want the campaign to take place in Prague, Czechia which is also our hometown. We all know it here and I personally think that both Prague and the whole Central Europe are a very suitable background for a contemporary urban fantasy. But with your home location you also know most of the events and they should be reflected in the campaign somehow. That's why I'am thinking about the importance of pacing. The setting should be fantasy-modified but also as real-feeling as possible.

Edit: Too slow. I'll address Addicted2aa's answer in my next post.

107

DFRPG / Re: Apects / FP system vs. roleplaying

« on: November 02, 2012, 01:42:52 PM »

Well, I'm not much into D&D or D20 systems (I do like the Eberron setting, though) and I don't fancy pre-made adventures with every detail prepared and every room having its small map. Improvisation and rich storytelling are GM's best friends, not miniatures being moved on a hex-grid (although it could be fun sometimes). But I'm still a bit uneasy with the declaration and compelling others' aspects system. Up to this day I was used to having the storyline in my hands and as a player letting it in the hands of the GM. This proactive system is ... interesting and definitely worth trying. I'm just not 100 % sure it will suit me and my players. Which is of course a matter of habit and taste.

On a different note (I don't want to start a separate thread for every question I'll ask): What is your experience with the game-time and real-time ratio? I mean does the game-time in your games tend to flow slower or faster than real-time? For example, if I start my campaign in the autumn 2012 I don't want to have the year 2015 in my game after six months of gaming real-time. And vice versa. This is no problem with most settings but with a contemporary campaign it might be. Thanks.

108

DFRPG / Re: Need help statting my game's version of Blue Court

« on: November 02, 2012, 01:17:53 PM »

Some Shadowrun ideas: http://shadowrun.wikia.com/wiki/Human_Meta-Human_Vampiric_Virus
If you like "vampiric sasquatches", then wendigo is your friend. Why not make the Blue Courts dependent on consuming human flesh?

109

DFRPG / Re: Apects / FP system vs. roleplaying

« on: October 31, 2012, 04:14:54 PM »

Quote from: InFerrumVeritas on October 31, 2012, 03:12:21 PM

You seem to be misunderstanding one of the core ideas of FATE. This is not a GM writes a story for the players to follow with some variation as to how they accomplish goals. This is not a GM designs the world/sandbox the players wander. Neither of these are bad things, but they aren't what Fate is.

Point made. And thanks to you, guys, I see this too, now. It's really a different approach, a story created more on the fly. I am used to doing things in a more old-fashioned way. Not that I would prepare the story word by word but still I have a prepared, loosely interconnected string of scenes and I modify them according to the PCs' actions. The FATE approach is different, I like the term "cooperative storytelling". The concept is so different, however, that I wasn't able to grasp it at the beginning. Well, I can't say I'm all excited about it - more curious how this actually works. I probably wouldn't pick FATE for me weren't it for the DFRPG. I like the setting ... the system is more of a surprise for me :-) But I'm ready to give it a try. If it doesn't suit me or the group the system can be always modified a bit towards the usual "skill vs. difficulty" and "I am the law" form. On the other hand, when I'm thinking about it, I've done something similar before - in the case of a said warehouse, it's impossible to mention everything, every detail. So the players keep asking during a scene, for example: "Is there something flammable there?" "Is is possible to cross the whole room behind the boxes?", etc. And I make momentary decisions. Sometimes based on common sense, sometimes based on chance (a quick die roll). The difference here is there is an explicit game mechanic that allows the players co-create these circumstances. With the GM always having the option of saying no.

110

DFRPG / Re: Apects / FP system vs. roleplaying

« on: October 31, 2012, 03:04:35 PM »

Thank you for sharing your points of view - they are very valuable for me so please, keep them coming :-)
Maybe it's just me being too conservative and not having enough experience with such a game mechanic. Not that I take D20 for an especially good game - it has its positives but generally speaking it's clumsy and very GM-consuming. I side with skill based systems, e.g. both Fuzion and Cortex are fast, lightweight and easy to steer systems. And predictable. Maybe it's one of the effects of the fate points that I don't like - it makes the game a bit unpredictable, even for the GM. I am not especially comfortable with that. I understand that as a GM I can refuse to accept a fate point but still - when I prepare a dark warehouse scene it's me who knows what's there in the first place. I don't want the PCs fiddle with the general setting of the scene (even if I improvise and change my mind often during gameplay). Either there is a portal to NeverNever or there is none. But I'm the one in the know.
Which are all concepts that I have brought from other systems and maybe it's time to change them. Or at least give it a try. And I'm very glad to read that you find the fate point / aspect mechanic useful. There's always hope :-)

111

DFRPG / Apects / FP system vs. roleplaying

« on: October 31, 2012, 11:58:10 AM »

Hello everyone. I am new to the Fate system and the DFRPG and I have some questions regarding the whole aspect / fate point system. The main question is: Doesn't it hamper the roleplaying experience? Don't get me wrong. I have been GMing for twenty years now and I have played many games. I started with AD&D and its Czech clones, we have played Shadowrun for ten years on (I ran a single Moscow campaign for ten years IRL :-) than D&D again (Greyhawk and Eberron), White Wolf's WoD, Fuzion with Alien/Predator plugin by Chris Tavares Dias, Battlestar Galactica based on the Cortex system ... there were many. We even played a campaign in Hell (Infernum, anyone?) And with passing years we moved from the hack&slash phase towards roleplaying and deep in-character experience. Some of my best gaming experiences come from sessions where not a single die was rolled.
I'm halfway through the books now but I'm a bit sceptical about the said Aspect / Fate Point system. Doesn't it get the player's attention from in-character experience and storytelling more towards game mechanics? I mean, why use it in the first place? It's probably an excellent cinematics means but does a good roleplayer need it? Example from the rulebook: Location aspects. A dark warehouse has the aspect SHADOWED CORNERS (YS 113) so the PC can use stealth. But we don't need aspects and fate points moving across the table to utilize that. A good and attentive player comes up with the idea anyway and with the dim lighting the GM just modifies the difficulty accordingly without even needing to tell the player about that. Another example are compels. A good roleplayer doesn't need being compelled to do something which is part of the PC's background and/or description. In one of my games a street thug PC joined the army - and the PC was in problems every session due to insubordination and lack of "army spirit". No one needed to ever compell the player. In another game there was a bard suffering from the bipolar disorder. Both her manic and depression phases were played out very well, without compelling the player to do that at all.
Many games have some sort of point system and game mechanics that enable the PCs to modify events in their favour to some degree. In Shadowrun it's called Karma in other systems it has other names. It doesn't matter really as it's either used sparingly or at least not subject to constant trade. In Fate system and DFRPG it's different, Aspects are a core mechanic. And I'm not sure I like it.
So, please, could you relate your gaming experience with this mechanic? Thanks.

112

DFRPG / Re: How Do I Make A Great Recurring Villain?

« on: October 31, 2012, 03:42:18 AM »

Chrono: Heh, it's 3 AM here and as I'm lying down with a flu and can't sleep a rather entertaining idea crossed my mind. Let's modify a whole story arc :-)

(click to show/hide)

We already have the introduction and Bianca as recurring villain.
Middle phase: Let her reoccur from time to time but sparingly. The PCs might come across some of her schemes but generally speaking she should be a distant mover, not an imminent foe on the street. On the other hand it might be possible for the PCs to meet her on some occasions on Accorded Neutral Ground (I really do like this idea: http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?517766-Dresden-Files-RPG-101-Plot-Ideas&p=15095570#post15095570 - what if one of the PCs shares some cultural tastes with a villain? Wouldn't it be funny to discover that you and your powerful vampire foe both like films by Griffith or Antonioni? I mean, vampires are cultivated monsters, aren't they? Monsters, that is... Don't forget that.) The general idea is that both sides should develop some kind of mutual respect. To some degree, of course, as the vampire war is raging. But you can skip or change this phase, it really doesn't matter much. Develop the story according to your tastes and to the response from your players. Make her as monstrous and villainesque or as trustworthy and respectable as it suits your needs. She might be even willing to cooperate on a rare occasion. (My enemy's enemy is my ... ally. For now. Sort of.) Or not. It's up to you.
Climax: Have Bianca be a part of the climatic events in Changes. She's present to the ritual and is the only one of the Red Courts who tries to avert the imminent disaster. With "No, you ****ing retards!" screaming at the soldiers and Red Court aristocracy, she rushes toward the PCs and tries to prevent them from sacrificing Susan. She fails, of course, but as her hand touches the knife at the moment of casting the spell, she's exempt from the effect. She was efectively co-performing the ritual and such potent magic has its fail-safes (or whatever explanation comes to your mind). So in an instant the Red Court is wiped out from existence ... save for a single vampire whose world has just shattered. She's standing there still, not being able to grasp the situation, her icy eyes filled with horror for the first time. She's alone. Technically a Red Queen now but without her kingdom, stripped off everything. Had she just killed the PC outright a few years ago! But then, she played with him, with his fears, she was the cat and he was a mouse. She let him go, hoping to cripple the future actions of the White Council as one of their wizards was indebted to her "kindness". Now the hunter is the hunted and the mouse has become a sabre-toothed tiger. She's frozen, stricken with panic, for the first time in her long and bloody life she doesn't know what to do.
But the situation is interesting from the PC's point of view, too. What now? The Red Court is history but ... there is one vampire left. Given enough time she would repopulate the Earth with new scions. And the St. Giles' Order doesn't exist either. On the other hand it was this particular vampire a few years ago who, given the opprotunity to kill the PC or destroy his family, refused to do that. The PC remembers the keys to his chains, "forgotten" on the table. And the liberating sound of his girlfriend's voice after that horrible, horrible night at the theatre. And both the doctors' verdict and the verdict of the St. Giles' Order's scholars: "She hasn't been harmed in any way." The PC raises his head and the eyes of the human and the monster meet. Her eyes are not the eyes of a human being ... they are the eyes of a cornered animal...

I think I'm going to use that for my campaign :-)

113

DFRPG / Re: How Do I Make A Great Recurring Villain?

« on: October 30, 2012, 04:24:17 PM »

No problem, pal :-) I remember one of my first epic NPC/villain failures some 15 years ago. It was Shadowrun and I meticulously prepared a powerful NPC whom I really liked. She wasn't plain evil, just very very egoistic. And rude. And crazy as hell. Know what? The PCs killed her off with ease in a scene best described as parodic. Man, was I angry :-D But a few years later (same campaign and PCs) I revived her as a vengeful ghost (technically free spirit in SR2) and the PCs stopped laughing. This time she was truly after them and wanted them dead.

114

DFRPG / Re: How Do I Make A Great Recurring Villain?

« on: October 30, 2012, 01:59:23 PM »

All the previous answers are good. I will add another one - make the PCs somehow indebted to the villain. Let even the villain show kindness (albeit for his own manipulative reasons). Some foes are there just for hate but others may be respected. And this brings moral conflict inside of the characters. One example. I'm new to the series but speaking of Red Court vamps, let's rebuild the story of Harry and Bianca a bit for your needs.

(click to show/hide)

First confrontation: As in the canon. Due to PCs' actions Bianca is weakened and kills Rachel.
Second confrontation: The PC loses and ends up taken hostage. While the others search for him and ultimately rush for the rescue, let's Bianca have a serious conversation with her captive. The topic could be something like in the introduction to the rulebook, a little philosophy on mortals having choices and monsters not having them. Make her as inhuman as possible ("Today I killed. I had no choice if I wanted to have a choice now. That's why I'm a monster. I love killing <insert some blooddrinking babble here> etc.) The trick is, make the player think it's a usual I-am-so-evil boasting and then let her just stand up and ... leave. Maybe she sets something in the room aflame for effect but ultimately the character is able to free himself and knows that it was the villain who let him go. At that moment, the rest of the party rushes in and finds the PC confused - something very inhuman, a monster, has just acted ... kindly?
Third confrontation: The PC's girlfriend has theatre tickets and invites the hero. She doesn't arrive, though. Shortly after the play starts Binca shows up and sits down on the empty girlfriend's seat. Make the situation as tense as possible and prolong it accordingly. A theatre play is a lot of time after all and the villain makes evident she is going to view and enjoy it in the presence of the PC. Make her use opera glasses, make he ignore all PC's questions make her make remarks on the actors and the play, short - make the PC know who has upper hand here. After some seemingly endless portion of time the play is over and Bianca invites the PC to a short walk through the night streets. They will have civil conversation. If the PC protests, Bianca says something like: "After yesterday's events you should be at least so civil to let ME pick the topic of our conversation." And again, make it almost unbearable for the player. Let the villain switch the topics in a disturbing way, e.g. let her tell the PC the story of her love to Rachel and then let her ask: "Do you, Mr. XY, have a loved one?" Torture the PC and his player with uncertainty, lack of action, seemingly unnecessary conversation, polite small-talk. And let the vampire be one hell of a monster at the same time. After another portion of some of the most unpleasant time in the PC's entire life Bianca will stop a passing car and get in. The last sentences she says might be as follows: "Remember, Mr. XY, who had the choices today and what choices have been made. Oh, and please, bring some flowers on Rachel's grave sometimes. It's the Main Cemetery, grave number 258. Good night." At the same time as Bianca's car is leaving the PC's girlfriend hops off a bus and calls the PC's name. She's ok, just got arrested and her identity confirmed by the police (make something up - not having a ticket "But I bought one!" and having lost her ID "I had it in my purse, I swear!" works fine). Just make clear that it was Bianca who set up the stage.
Result: The villain hasn't become good - she keeps killing people, she keeps manipulating events and spoiling PCs' actions ... but she saved the PC's butt. Twice. Things got personal but also confusing. The PC knows that the villain is evil but she has also lost a loved one due to direct actions of the PC. And yet, deliberately chose not to retaliate. Of course that it's just one of the machinations of the villain but ... is it still comfortable to think of her as of cannon fodder any more?

These are memorable villains :-)

Pages: 1 ... 6 7 [8]