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The Dresden Files => DFRPG => Topic started by: spac3_pop3 on October 16, 2011, 09:14:40 AM
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I am a GM for a a group of 5 players, and we're playing their second game this Sunday. My question is for all the other GMs out there, how do you manage to remember everyone's aspects in order to compel them properly, without asking for their sheets every five minutes? Write them down, I guess?
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Index cards for each player. It makes aspects easy and you can arrange them in initiative order when combat breaks out.
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I put all the Aspects on a single piece of paper, that also have space for temporary Aspects such as consequences.
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I am a GM for a a group of 5 players, and we're playing their second game this Sunday. My question is for all the other GMs out there, how do you manage to remember everyone's aspects in order to compel them properly, without asking for their sheets every five minutes? Write them down, I guess?
Yes, I keep a spread sheet with names & aspects in front of me. I also try to pick a few aspects related to the current adventure arc and try to work them in. Even with those, I still ask the players to self compel. Trying to keep the fate chips flowing!
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I try to get everyone to hand me a sheet with their aspects in this format:
High Concept: Veteran Psychic Soldier
Invoke: As a bonus to combat, stealth or survival, as a bonus to spellcasting, as a bonus to military social rolls
Compel: For lawbreaking compels, for orders,
Trouble Aspect: "The responsibility is mine"
Invoke: As a bonus to presence rolls, as a bonus to resources/contacts (that a leader would have over the grunt), for effect to do leader-y things.
Compel: For red tape, for paralyzing feelings of guilt, to motivate him to action, to call the oaths to mind, as the downside to cassandra's tears.
It's a little more paper to shuffle through, but the extra info helps me out a lot.
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I have put all the aspects of my players on one sheet (I have three players, so it works on one sheet). Additionally, I have a seperate list with potential scenes where I can compel the aspects of the characters...
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Awesome, thanks for the advice everyone! Also, one of my SCs wants to make a sleep spell as an attack, so he can use it in the midst of combat. Was thinking that for it to act that quickly, it would have to do actual Mental Stress, or is there a way to keep it 'nonlethal' so to speak, as the player wants to keep his character as nonviolent as possible.
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man, these are great suggestions!
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Awesome, thanks for the advice everyone! Also, one of my SCs wants to make a sleep spell as an attack, so he can use it in the midst of combat. Was thinking that for it to act that quickly, it would have to do actual Mental Stress, or is there a way to keep it 'nonlethal' so to speak, as the player wants to keep his character as nonviolent as possible.
I would suggest that you go back and read the section on mental conflict (YS217-219) particularly the section on stress and consequences. People often associate mental stress with exhaustion because of it's connection to spellcasting, but it actually represents one's sense of self. As such ANY mental stress dealt with magic is pretty much an automatic Lawbreaker (4th) deal.
As far as sleep spells go I figure it's actually still physical stress, as you are tiring them physically, and it has a physical end result.
I have to make this suggestion every time that someone new jumps on here. ;) Have fun with the game.
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for the sleep spell it would depend on how it worked for me. If the spell tired them out and they faint then physical. If it induced a mind fogging effect that makes them fall asleep then mental. If it was short term Id allow it to be made as a maneuver. Sacrificing shifts for extra exchanges that the target are asleep for.
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Would your sleep spell ever work like this?
The stress and consequences suffered by mental
conflicts are the deepest of the deep—forays
into suicidal thoughts, emotional dependencies,
deep compulsions, and other behaviors and
thoughts typically classified as dysfunctional
in some way or another. Mental damage is the
kind of damage that changes or erodes a person’s
sense of self; suffering enough of these consequences
over time tends to presage a trip to the
mental ward, or at least to permanent counseling.
Cause that's what mental stress represents.
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It's easier to make a "does this smell like Chloroform?" sleep spell that does only physical effects... Well, maybe not easier, but much more legal.
Richard
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I'd also like to point out that there is a significant game balance issue with mental-stress-inflicting spells.
If you let a non-optimized Feet In The Water Focused Practitioner make mental attack evocations, he can take out or force consequences onto just about anything in OW in one hit. Including Nicodemus and Sue the zombie dinosaur, IIRC.
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Yes, I was thinking the same thing. Mental stress is something that few creatures have the ability to inflict (Why I think WCV are one of the best non-SC templates) which is why I was hesitant to give it to him. Playing it as a short-term maneuver seems like it should work just fine. Again, I appreciate all the advice and info, members of the board.
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A related question: If "Sleepy" Aspect Maneuvers are placed on a target with Mind magics, is there any restriction on tagging or invoking those aspects to assist in a Physical Sleep attack?
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By that do you mean legally? I would think that you are fine in that department, and really you can invoke any aspect so long as it's appropriate regardless of it's source. I would think that "Sleepy" would qualify as appropriate for a sleep spell.
Playing it as a short-term maneuver seems like it should work just fine.
You do have to be a little careful about someone invoking an aspect to simply take someone out (which is potentially what that aspect would be expected to do). When determining how to deal with things in this system it's best to look at the end goal. Is the player trying to gain a momentary advantage (maybe an aspect of "drowsy")? A maneuver is appropriate. Is a player trying to remove the target from the conflict (by having them fall asleep)? Then it's an attack.
In this case though physical stress still works, as it may represent exhaustion as well as actual injury.
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Ah, never really thought of Physical Stress as such. I come from a D&D and WoD background, where rules for such things are pretty clearly defined, so exercising my creative muscles for something such as damage is breaking new ground for me. This system is so pliant with it's own rules, it's a bit enlightening thinking on such things as, "How to define damage."
Now for a bit of creative advice/brainstorming...
My game is set in Las Vegas, and one of my players has created a faction of Focused Practitioners and Wizards that have signed on to the Accords as a sort of Free-holding Lord. Their members are delegated into a caste system based off the four suits of cards (Spades, Clubs, Diamonds, and Hearts) and ranked by their number. He has left their magics, traditions, etc. in my hands and I have to admit that I'm a little stumped.
Any ideas for how I should classify each suit? I was thinking Combat, Enchanting/Crafting, Healing/Support, Leadership (or something similar).
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Spades: People with Ritual and people with no real talents. The peasantry, the rank and file. Less equal than the others.
Clubs: The combat-oriented Focused Practitioners and Minor Talents. Basically the military/police.
Hearts: The full sorcerers and actual wizards. More equal than the others. Since their magic is much better than everyone else's, they do most of the Thaumaturgy (with help from large numbers of Spades).
Diamonds: People with unimpressive magic but solid mortal skill. Organizers and money people. Basically the civil service.
Also, you should use this guy:
Ayyapan Aadidev (Submerged)
High Concept: Magician By Day, Wizard By Night
Trouble Aspect: Faerie "Friends"
Other Aspects: Old Man, Young Face; Always On Stage; The Ultimate Bullet Catch; Tricky Bastard; Hindu Brahmin
Skills:
Superb: Deceit
Great: Performance, Discipline
Good: Conviction, Lore, Presence
Fair: Empathy, Rapport, Contacts
Average: Scholarship, Endurance, Athletics, Stealth, Craftsmanship, Alertness, Investigation
Stunts:
Stage Magician (Deceit): +1 to make quick distractions or pick pockets, may perform magic tricks with Deceit.
Faerie "Friends" (Contacts): +2 to Contacts when contacting the fey.
Powers:
Magic:
Evocation (Fire/Water, Earth/Air, Spirit): +1 spirit power
Thaumaturgy: +1 illusion control
Foci: Gloves Of Bullet Catching (+2 defensive spirit power and control, only for Bullet Catch rote, actually 2 foci)
Enchanted Items: Top Hat (Creates a Good quality stuffed rabbit clearly larger than the hat it came out of), Playing Cards (Weapon 3, aimed with Discipline), 2 potion slots (strength 3)
Total Refresh Cost:
-9
Refresh Total:
1
PS: Evocation elements depend on fey court association.
Ayyapan Aadidev was born into the priest caste in India back when caste was a big deal. He had magic in his blood, and so became a wizard. He used his magic to make himself into a messiah of sorts, creating magical "miracles". This worked pretty well for a while, until a rival priest decided to have him killed. A certain faerie offered to save his life, in exchange for a large chunk of his magical power. He accepted.
The faerie took him through the Nevernever, and Ayyapan ended up in America. Hindu spiritual fakery turned out to be less than lucrative in a Christian country, so he became a stage magician. Because his powers had been curtailed by his deal with the faerie, he had to do it the old-fashioned way. He found the job to his liking, and he's been doing it ever since.
Which means that he's been on stage for almost a century. That's caused some changes in his personality, and it often seems like his stage persona is his real self. Which means that he fits in well with the faeries that he hangs out with.
PS: The court of his fey "friends" is deliberately unclear. Make it up for yourself.
PPS: The deal with the fey means that Ayyapan is substantially weaker than most wizards his age.
/self-promotion
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Hah, I just might use him ;D.
Ah, some more of the info I forgot to mention, the organization is run by the two "Jokers Wyld" as he named them, though hardly any of their people see or communicate with them on a regular basis except for the Kings, and to a lesser degree, the Queens and Jacks of each suit. They are ever-present, seen but never talked too. A lot of the number cards don't even realize that they are the two entertainers that interact with their casino guests (They own a second fiddle casino of the same name 'House of Cards' and dress in harlequin outfits with Happy/Sad theater masks). Additionally, the organization is almost entirely focused on maintaining the status quo between supernatural powers, as well as shielding mortal eyes from the goings-on of the powers that be. They dabble in a lot of gray mental magics, 'pushing' people to rationalize away what they've seen, as well as outright mind-blanking them to forget.
Thanks again for all the help!
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Sounds like a pretty powerful group. Maybe too powerful to be limited to one city.
How does their rank system work? It sounds interesting.
PS: I think that all wizards are legally members of the White Council, regardless of what they or the Council would like. This might be a problem.
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PS: I think that all wizards are legally members of the White Council, regardless of what they or the Council would like. This might be a problem.
It's more along the lines of "must join" than "already are" by my reading. Elaine is, by Harry's judgment, a full Wizard but not a member of the Council.
As far as who gets the blame if they screw up on the political front? I'm not sure if it's specified in the Accords. I'd have to reread WN and see what was said about the Minor Talents.
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The HoC (House of Cards) keeps their roster at a strict 55 members (52 cards, 2 Jokers, 1 Arbiter). Each Suit has the normal 13 cards a piece, the 2 Jokers rule over them, and the Arbiter (meant to represent the 'rules' card in your typical deck of playing cards) is the final say on the interpretation of their doctrine as well as disputes between Suits. They cultivate contacts and allies outside their own organization, both mortal and supernatural, and use them to appraise and subtly influence the social climate. Only the Face cards (and sometimes 10s) have the power to qualify as a full-blown wizard, with most other Numbers ranging anywhere from Focused Practitioners to Minor Talents. When a recruit is sorted, he/she is placed in a suit based on what they can do, and given a rank based on how well they can do it (decided by the Arbiter). Face cards don't really do a lot of leg work, and typically interact only with Numbers of their own suit, and occasionally hobnob with the other Faces. Each Suit operates independently of the others, which can lead to agendas interfering with each other, which in turn causes a generous amount of slights and grudges. They do forge alliances between each other when agendas align, as well as when instructed by the Jokers or facing a common threat/enemy/Suit. As mentioned previous, they signed on to the Accords a very long time ago, and should any Warden or other Council member come snooping or trying to 'recruit', the HoC will simply throw the Accords in the White Council's face, dredging up the Council's dirty laundry for the entire supernatural community to see. They do also follow the Laws of Magic, with as much fervor as the Wardens do, if not more so in some cases. Whenever a member becomes suspect, the HoC will often covertly arrange for their unknowing suspect and a Warden to cross paths, and let the professional sort it out. Those who are innocent will come back in one piece (most of the time), and if not... well... you know how that ends.
Background:
When Merlin sat down all those years ago and hammered out the Laws of Magic, and established the bureaucracy of the White Council, he created another organization. This one was a bit more clandestine, and their sole purpose was to keep tabs on the White Council, making sure it's leaders did not abuse their power or steer the Council in a direction Merlin did not intend. They did their job rather well for a time, subtly bumping the Council here and there, but for the most part they functioned as intended (due in no small part to the wizard's inflexible mindset). With their job fairly well in hand, they soon began to bicker amongst themselves. Some believed they should come forth and expose their existence to the Council, while others said they should remain covert and continue to steer the Council from the shadows. With no definitive mandate one way or the other from their doctrine, the argument dragged on until all sides couldn't quite remember why the argument started in the first place or what exactly they were supposed to be doing besides maintaining status quo. So they decided to get back to what they do best, but forgetting who they were supposed to be influencing, they simply decided to cover all their bases and watch everyone.
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Heh, I like the backstory.
My impression of the Accords is that each full signatory is responsible for an entire variety of being. So the Council is responsible for all mortal magic users, the Red Court is responsible for all RCVs, etc.
Given what you've posted about the rank structure of the House, it now seems to me that my previous suggestions will not work.
New idea: Geographic division. Each suit is responsible for a given area. That way, it makes sense for them to operate independently.
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Hrm... I can see where you're coming from with the Accords. Though, what if a dragon like Ferrovax decided to take on an Emissary who is also a wizard to boot? Does that person fall under the jurisdiction of the White Council, or does he represent the dragon under the Accords? I can see it being a hazy gray area, which neither party would inclined to act for fear of violating the Accords.
I do like the idea of each Suit having jurisdiction over a specific part of the world... Or what about different areas of society? Military, Economic, Religion, etc...