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.


Topics - Wanderer

Pages: [1]
1
DFRPG / Alternatives to the pyramid system
« on: June 08, 2017, 12:04:37 AM »
While I agree with the spirit and apparent purpose of the pyramid system (preventing excessive specialization in a few very high skills for a character), I found sticking to the letter of the law gets increasingly dysfunctional and annoying, especially at high power levels. At some point, you're not so rarely forced to put points in skills that look useless or inappropriate for the character, use skill allocation schemes that seem suboptimal for the concept, and so on. To sum it up, the rule seems appropriate as a broad, flexible guideline, but its strict application is a pain in the butt. Has anyone good suggestions on how to adjust or replace it?

2
DFRPG / My first character for review
« on: May 30, 2017, 01:40:24 AM »
Edit: I've updated character builds according to thread discussion and further ideas.

This is the tentative draft of my first DFRPG character, done in two slightly different versions that draw power from opposite mystical sources b/c I cannot make up my mind about which one I prefer. To help me shape the concept I developed it in several different power levels ranging from 10 to 21/22 Refresh; however I assume the concept requires at least 15/16 Refresh to be any barely realized and 18/19 Refresh to have all required features more or less in place. Everything below that is just preparatory work. I welcome constructive suggestions and opinions, especially as it concerns Aspects and their wording.

Notable concept features that may be Aspect-worthy include: being a half-sidhe changeling and a sorcerer/wizard; drawing power from mortal magic, Faerie, and Lower (or Higher) powers without becoming any especially evil or righteous; being eager for mystical (and martial) power and amoral with it (and violence) but not really unhinged or corrupted by it; being brash, hot-tempered, and rebellious to authority but honorable and loyal to friends; often doing the right thing for various reasons but being no kind of moral paragon; being good with flashy, freeform magic and martial arts but bad with subtle, ritual magic and technology; being plagued by an hyperactive Murphyonic field and/or a magnet for mystical weirdness but not having other kinds of bad luck; being the chivalrous kind of lech; being a biker.

Version A

(click to show/hide)

Version B

(click to show/hide)

I avoided to buy Soulgaze despite being available for free since I deem it more trouble than it is worth. Conversely, if the character could have even more Refresh, additional powers that would fit the concept include: True Shapeshifting (NOT Glamours, despite Faerie ties), Swift Transition, and Wings, as well as removing the Item of Power limitation.

3
DFRPG / Being a bane for technology
« on: May 17, 2017, 02:29:21 AM »
I might be interested in playing a character that is just as bad with technology as Harry, or even worse, in order to emphasize their focus on magic, supernatural powers, and non-tech skills. I assume I'm going to follow PP's advice to make the wizards' trouble with tech an individually variable thing rather than a function of the wizard's age. So I suppose giving a 'Technology Jinx' Aspect to such a character might be appropriate. How is like to live with that kind of curse? I have not read the books, so I don't know how Harry deals with it.

4
DFRPG / Characters with Swift Transition
« on: May 17, 2017, 02:22:52 AM »
Another power I might be interested in is Swift Transition. What it means to be able to shift in and out of the Nevernever at will? I tried looking at PP for some Nevernever reference, but the first part of that book is written in such a fashion it is largely useless to me as a setting source, I just use the second part with the crunchy bits.

5
DFRPG / Generalist magical specializations
« on: May 06, 2017, 04:39:15 PM »
I usually much prefer to apply a generalist, jack-of-all-trades, and flashy, freeform, on-the-fly approach to magical abilities. Too much subtle, slow, or static magic bores me, and so do narrow power niches. So when confronted with the DFRPG magic system, my first urge would be to give priority to Evocation and Sponsored Magic abilities, and arrange specialization bonuses as evenly as possible, especially as it concerns Evocation elements. How is one supposed to do that, once they buy a few Refinement levels ? I suppose the way to go for the first few levels (say Refinement 5) would be to set up something like: Evocation: Elements (Air, Fire, Earth, Spirit, Water); Control (Air +1, Earth +1, Fire +1, Spirit +1, Water +1); Power (Air +1, Earth +1, Fire +1, Spirit +1); Thaumaturgy: Complexity (Transformation and Disruption +1). But I'm not sure how to proceed from there. Is it allowed to keep spreading specialization points as evenly as possible? What is more important for optimal uses of Evocation: power, control, or a balance of both? As it concerns Thaumaturgy, my first choice would be to give priority to Complexity improvements, so as to make it quicker and simpler to accomplish.

6
DFRPG / Multiple Sponsored Magic
« on: May 06, 2017, 04:07:54 PM »
Let's say I may be interested in playing a sorcerer or wizard character that in addition to Evocation and Thaumaturgy, has access to multiple types of Sponsored Magic. Interesting options that seem thematically appropriate might be a combination of Seelie Magic and Soulfire (say a Seelie changeling sorcerer that did a favor to an Archangel), or of Unseelie Magic and Hellfire (say an Unseelie Knight wizard that got a Denarian shadow). I do not take Kemmlerian Necromancy into serious account as an option simply because I find necromancy of little interest, except perhaps as it concerns its cursing and destructive applications, but it might easily be an option for others. Would this be a wasteful or worthwhile use of refresh points? How is a character going to deal with having multiple sponsors?

7
DFRPG / Real Shapeshifting
« on: May 06, 2017, 03:54:34 PM »
I am wondering what would be the appropriate powerset to play 'real' shapeshifters that are able to pick any humanoid shape (not necessarily animal ones, and certaintly not inanimate forms) as an actual bodily change. What I seek is the ability to effortlessly take any generic humanoid template (such as "twenty-something athletic Caucasian redhead woman" or "forty-something skinny bald Asian male", or even "golden-skinned androginous elf") w/o having to copy anyone specific as a model, although the latter may or may not be an option. The change should be real and complete to all normal purposes (up to the point of being able to have sex and reproduce in the current form), and be unrecognizable to mundane and magical detection, short of using mental probes or the character using inappropriate mannerisms or the like.

Because of my requirements, Glamours and Flesh Mask seem wholly inappropriate for my purpose, Mimic Form and True Shapeshifting might be optional upgrades (in case I wish to broaden the power to imitate specific people or take animal forms) but not the foundation to develop the ability I'm seeking, and seem too expensive for the benefits I require. I mean this to be a foolproof cosmetic disguise ability and a way for certain characters to treat things like age, looks, race, sex, and gender as effortlessly-changeable fashion choices. Think Mystica of the X-Men.

8
DFRPG / Playing Lawbreaking characters
« on: May 06, 2017, 03:26:15 PM »
Hello everyone and well-met. I'm a veteran gamer, newbie here, that became aware of the DFRPG's existence through reference in other RPG boards. I am vaguely aware of the content of Dresdenverse book and TV series from reading the DFRPG books and wikia, but I have not yet gotten to read/watch them (so much fiction, so little time...). I bought and somewhat digested the game, and I may state I am much pleased by it in most aspects as a fan of urban fantasy, except one that is a huge stumbling block to me: the Laws of Magic and Lawbreaker rules.

You see, because of my playstyle preferences and personality issues, I am downright annoyed and have no sympathy for those TT or VG game systems that try hard to force players to RP good characters only, and harshly punish them if they stray from conventional moral behavior. I much prefer to play callous, amoral anti-heroic or villainous characters that care nothing about the laws, property rights, or the sanctity of life or mind of their enemies, have no scruples whatsoever using lethal or mind control magic in appropriate circumstances, and may do the right thing or save the day for any reason but having empathy. They are usually loyal to friends and team-mates, do not indulge in gratuitous atrocities, and may often be idealists in their own kind, but never in a way that would make them moral paragons. Being forced by the system to play the opposite kind of character or suffer severe performance penalties up to and incuding loss of character to NPC-hood is a total no-go to me. Any opposite thematic concern of the game has to give way.

So after much reflection I found the only feasible way to reconcile my playstyle needs with the DFRPG rules was to devise and implement the following kind of house-rule:

Responsible Lawbreaker [+ 0]:
Musts: This ability may be taken instead of Lawbreaker immediately upon breaking one of the Laws of Magic, provided the violation of the Law was done in justifiable circumstances according to a recognizable ethical code of the character’s. You must specify the Law broken at the time you take the ability. This ability must be taken separately for each Law of Magic broken—noted like so: Responsible Lawbreaker (First), Responsible Lawbreaker (Fourth), etc.
Description: You've broken one of the Laws of Magic and been able to rationalize, justify, and internalize the event according to your own beliefs, attitudes, and values. Suitable circumstances that may fit this requirement for the first four Laws of Magic include, but are by no means limited to, self-defense or in defense of someone else, dire necessity, with the subject's consent or implied acceptance of the outcome or its risk, without cruelty or malice. Your capacity to use dark magic if necessary became a part of you in a way that does not threaten to consume your identity. It does not empower your magic in similar circumstances nor it lessens your free will in any meaningful way.
Effects:
No Slippery Slope. You suffer no negative effect - apart from possibly drawing the ire of the White Council - whenever using magic in a way which would break the specified Law of Magic, as long as it is done in a way that fits a recognizable ethical compass of yours. You lose no refresh for this ability nor you are under any obligation to change your aspects to reflect it.
Ethical Boundary. If you ever choose to gain a bonus to magic that would violate the Law, this ability is lost and you must take Lawbreaker instead. If you ever break it in a way that would not fit your beliefs and values, you get the choice of accepting their failure and picking Lawbreaker or working to resolve the contradiction. The latter typically means some serious soul-searching, atonement, redemption quest, or the like, and may often require to change one or more of your aspects.

This would effectively deal with the unacceptable system aspects of the Laws of Magic and Lawbreaker rules. The social aspects remain to be dealt with, i.e. the Warden problem, and their rabid persecution of Lawbreaking characters. I assume I would be able to deal with that by playing my characters as regarding the White Council as a deeply misguided, violently intolerant, and bloodthirsty fundamentalist organization, a murderous crossbreed of Inquisition and Gestapo/KGB for a magical police state system, especially given their "death penalty for every transgression" policies and themselves as freedom fighters or professional criminals on the run from it. So I am left with the issue of how to play characters being potential enemies of the Wardens all the time. After some reflection, I see three possible strategies:

Hide. I assume it may be possible to cover one's tracks and hide all evidence of Lawbreaking activities from the Wardens' notice for a long time, but I'm not sure of what this would entail. E.g. would the Sight or Soulgaze become a problem, and how a character may protect oneself from them. 

Seek protection. Due to the Unseelie Accords, I assume it would be possible for a Lawbreaker to get patronage from some other powerful supernatural faction, and get 'diplomatic immunity' against the Wardens. I suppose the character would still get some kind of occasional harassment from the Wardens, but nothing like nonstop assassination attempts anymore. Of course, the character would then have to repay their patrons with some kind of regular service, quite possibly represented by an appropriate Aspect. I would very much prefer not to use Mark of Power nor the position of Sidhe Knight for this.

Fight. I assume that past a certain power level point, it may become possible for a character to wage an ongoing guerrilla war against the Wardens, defeat WC goons when they came their way, then disapper for a while, either by relocating to a different city, or hiding in the Nevernever for a while. Past a point, persecuted Lawbreakers may even come together and organize a Resistance. I'm just not sure of how powerful a character, or a group, should have be to get a decent fighting chance against a typical Warden.

I'm well aware that the White Council is very powerful and entrenched, so a successful guerrilla war against them would be a difficult and long term affair. Certainly not something an individual may easily do on their own, and even a Resistance group (a "Grey Council") would need numbers, resources, time, and allies. Although the Unseelie Accords prove at some point an individual or group may grow so powerful and entrenched as to force the WC into Cold War-style uneasy coexistence.

I welcome constructive opinions and suggestions about this.

Pages: [1]