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Messages - AstralBlade

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I think Mab does need a marriage to cement this alliance. Bonds to kin are extremely important in Dresden Files, not only that, but alliances by mere agreements or concessions can but subverted through treachery. The type of treachery that a lone or subverted individual might initiate to implicate an entire organization ala The White Court's financial dealings tied to La Fortier's murder, which Mai views suspiciously. This despite both factions being in a cease-fire or state of neutrality.

A marriage however? That reduces any form of treachery as work of a traitor or lone wolf by the very nature of both Courts being tied as kin. Any attack against kin is viewed as an attack against one's own self interest. Especially a marriage between two members of the Accords where old school rules and obligations apply. Only someone acting *against* the will, and self interest of their respective organizations would dare do that. An example of this is shown in White Night, where despite the stand down order of the White King, two opposing internal factions disobey those orders under pretense of acting in the best interest of the entire White Court, thus giving them a pass until Dresden calls them out. A marriage between factions closes that loophole.

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DF Spoilers / Nemesis & Vampire Courts Vs Mab.
« on: May 04, 2021, 04:05:45 PM »
Ok, we have a WAG today. Specifically detailing why Mab wants to ally with the White Court and is using Dresden to do it.

At this point Nemesis has strong ties or infiltrated all of the known Vampire Courts.

The Reds before they were wiped out were summoning Outsiders during the war with the White Council and timing most of their major offensives in cases Harry was handling that had Major Implications and consequences for both Mab and the state of the Supernatural world. This happened during Summer Knight, Dead Beat, Proven Guilty and is also supported by the fact the Reds were snubbing Mab by using the Ways.

The Black Court. In Grave Peril, Mavra was working closely with Bianca, who had ties to Cowl and Kumari. In Dead Beat, Mavra coincidentally she sent Dresden after the Word of Kemmerer  *exactly* when Cowl and Kumori were going after it. Her motivations were hinted at Necromancy and its abilities to control Blampires, however I doubt that was the *only* reason. It seemed more like she used Dresden as a cat's paw to act on her behalf without outwardly acting against her "allies". Mavra again pops up during Battle Ground with Dracula during another Nemfected sponsored assault on Mab and the Accords.

The White Court; Most obviously and firstly, during Blood Rites where Lord Raith was helping the cult of "porn star sorceresses" use Outsider sponsored entropy curses. Madge was even possessed by HWWB.

We see White Court vampire possession by an Outsider again in White Night by Vittorio Malvora who had enlisted Madrigal Raith's help and involvement. In Turn Coat we also see Madeline Raith also be enlisted on behalf on the Traitor in the search for Donald Morgan, this works two-fold by also implicating the White Court in engaging in hostilities with the White Council. Lastly, in Battle Ground where we find out Justine is also infected by Nemesis and possessed and was able to blackmail Thomas into acting against the Svartelves, which again, brings the White Court into hostilities.

My theory is, Mab is definitely aware of this and seeking to marry off Dresden to ally the Winter Court and White Court are two fold. One, it gives Mab a concrete ally and try to cut off Nemesis' playback taking over or manipulating the White in further hostilities as they will essentially be backed by Mab and vice-versa. Two, Dresden has a knack for disrupting the plots of Nemesis and exposing their plants. Having Dresden in such close proximity to the White Court might force any other Nemfected or allies of Nemesis to expose themselves in an attempt to avoid detection by Nemesis or take Dresden out. Mab gets 3 for 1 deal, a concrete ally in the White Court, potentially getting any Nemesis plants to expose themselves or get taken out by Dresden, and third outmanuevering  Nemesis before they subvert the entirety of the remaining Vampire Courts to their side.

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DFRPG / Re: Question about Evocation Maneuvers and how they resolve.
« on: October 21, 2014, 09:15:03 PM »
Thank you everyone for your quick answers.

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DFRPG / Re: Question about Evocation Maneuvers and how they resolve.
« on: October 21, 2014, 07:08:20 PM »
Unlike Haru, I think the duration rules are both fine and necessary; magic is powerful enough. Taking away the duration issues make it much more so.

If you're sticking to RAW and if the wizard puts shifts into duration, then it should be just as difficult to overcome whether he's focusing on it still or not. That's the difference between calling up a quick gust of wind (no extra duration) and a windstorm that hangs around for a while. That's the advantage magical maneuvers bring to the table (the others are the higher power you can put into it, and the additional impossible things you can justify maneuvering with magic you couldn't otherwise.)


Also...you're using the word "beat" when talking about overcoming a maneuver; I don't know if that's just you using a term you like, or a misunderstanding of the rules, but: You only need to tie an aspect's strength to get rid of it if you're spending an action to overcome it (as opposed to an automatic defense roll where you do in fact have to beat the roll and a tie results in a fragile aspect).

That's me using a term I like lol

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DFRPG / Question about Evocation Maneuvers and how they resolve.
« on: October 21, 2014, 06:34:27 PM »
This is an example:

"So, lemme just lay this all out. I'm not ruling, yet.
 Thomas and Harry are dueling against Madrigal and Doucheknocker (don't remember the other dude's name).

Thomas attacks Madrigal, places maneuver of Dazed for 5 Shifts. Madrigal can keep the Aspect on himself and let Thomas tag it whenever, or roll to Overcome it. If Thomas is still harassing Madrigal, Madrigal has to roll a 5 or better to overcome. If Thomas switches to Doucheknocker, then the roll to Overcome becomes 0. Either way, the Aspect stays until it's removed.

This is RAW; there's no dispute here.

Harry blasts Doucheknocker with an 8-shift Ventas Servitas! and knocks him on his ass. He puts 6 shifts into the Maneuver and 2 into Duration. Doucheknocker can roll to Overcome or not, same as Madrigal. However, if he doesn't, then Harry has to tag it within two more rounds, or it goes away. If Doucheknocker chooses to roll to Overcome, he has to beat the 6 shifts if Harry continues harassing him, or a +0 if Harry switches to Madrigal. Or, he can just wait for it to go away on its own.

Still thinking about how to rule, here, but I think the dispute is whether Harry's wind spell should have an Overcome of +0 or +6 when he switches targets, yeah?"

Essentially my group has come to impasse about how this should be ruled. I personally think after switching targets the roll becomes +0 because thematically you can't power an ongoing spell on Doucheknocker while focusing on Madrigal.

The opposition is that you've already paid for duration which mean the spell continues regardless of your target. So to remove the aspect it is +6 to beat.

My GM is currently split 55/45. in the latter's favor. I just wanted to come here for some perspective, and get some of the vets opinions.

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DFRPG / Re: Killing renfields with magic
« on: October 11, 2014, 11:39:02 PM »
The Laws aren't built like that, I'm afraid. We have Word of Jim that pushing a person off a building with magic is still breaking the Law, because your magic is still involved. It's not a matter of 'this spell isn't meant to be lethal'. It's a matter of 'this spell caused someone to die'.

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They are, but not much. Harry only got around it by having the Blackstaff as his grandfather while Molly got very lucky that the Gatekeeper showed up at her trial.

I could go either way on this myself too, because I see Renfields as being little more than the shattered remains of a human being. That said, Rasmussen still had a soul despite being tortured into insanity by Ursiel, so insanity/mental trauma may not be enough.

So I'd probably adjudicate it based on the type of game being played. If you're going for a less serious adventure where the players kick ass and take names, I'd say no Lawbreaker. If it's a more serious game or one focused on horror, I'd say put it out there as an option. If you're a dick, do it and only tell them afterwards. :P

For the Skin Game reference I think that example was to illustrate
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Honestly it's an interesting subject. That being said, I think the magic has to be somehow directed in order to break a Law. For example, wind magic being used to blow someone off a building, the magic is being directed with not only the intent to cause fatal injury but a direct vehicle of said injury.

(click to show/hide)

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DFRPG / Using Weapons as defense?
« on: September 11, 2013, 03:02:47 AM »
So i picked weapons with the understanding it can defend against other physical attacks, as well being my main attacking skill. But recently, my gm decided to nix that by saying i can ONLY use weapons to defend against other weapons. I can't use it to defend against fangs or claws or even fists. I have to dodge those with athletics. Which i think is pretty unfair. Is this unreasonable? Did I miss something in the rules? Or am i just being that guy who feels treated unfairly because my character is being nerfed?

I'd like to hear some input from the board.

EDIT: Before he nerfed Weapons block for me, i took the Stunt Riposte, which i could use to pretty good effect, but which is now pretty much useless as we fight monsters the majority of the time.

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DFRPG / Re: Organizing an DF RPG Online Game
« on: April 08, 2013, 01:25:00 PM »
How would conflicts work? Time management wise? Is there a cut-off limit for the number of people for "scheduled" game? Would it be akin to fate core rules for mobs or just 10-15 people battles?

It sounds pretty interesting but just trying to get a feel for how this would work.

Also, how will availability work? First come, first serve? I mean this in terms of 1 WK, SK, 3 Bearers of he swords

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DFRPG / Re: Relations between Summer Court and Black Court
« on: February 26, 2013, 03:25:47 PM »
I definitely agree that the Black Court is pretty much antithetical to the Summer Court. The BC is pretty much death and decay. The fact that they are living dead does nothing to dispel this notion.

As far as backlash from the Accords i doubt that is going to be much of a problem considering the BC can't retaliate, since you know they'll be gone and will not have an arbitrator to complain or lodge a complaint with. I kind of see the Accords like the Drow society in Forgotten realms, it is largely to prevent large scale free for all wars that would leave the earth a smoking ruin. If the said faction is taken out cleanly and smoothly i cant see anyone sticking their own necks out to call foul-play.

For example, in Grave Peril
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Also in Death Masks,
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Finally, in Small Favor,
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So in short, Yea, wipe them out. The only repercussion i can forsee are those dealing with your own Court, if Titiana did not want them wiped out or something but i highly doubt she cares.

In any case it always results altercations between the two participating parties.

Dead men tell no tales...or rather dead vampires

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Ah. When compared to other powers your point is well taken Tedroni.  Maybe we can also add something to the power about firing off his IoPs /Broken Noble Phantasms? Something like add the refresh value of the IoP to its weapon value.   I.E, my. Character traces the IoP Excalibur which has a refresh 4 and a weapon value of 3, character turns excalibur into a broken IoP adding he refresh and weapon value which now gives it a weapon rating of 7. The broken Excalibur can only be used for that one attack though. That weapon can no longer be traced for the remainder of the scene or session though. How does that sound?

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Considering you are pretty much developing weapons from thin air without taking stress, and the fact that you can make up Weapon 3 value weapons kinda makes it OP to me, in fact taking all of the abilities for a measly 5 refresh allows even lower levels characters to wreck shop. It balances pretty well, in my opinion.

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How  did i miss that....? Thank you Sanctaphrax, that is amazing. Curious about what to do with his reality marble though, Quasi Modular Abilities would even work with tracing Swords of the Cross and the like, if i could actually get my character to see the weapon now. Do you think the Demesne trapping would work?

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For those of you who need a reference;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archer_(Fate/stay_night)

Just scroll down to abilities and you'll get a fairly good idea of what I'm trying to do. For those that don't want to read the wiki page, ill give a short explanation. Archer is a faker, someone who projects, traces and reinforces weapons stored within his mind to make tangible, and often deadly weapons. If he has seen it, he can trace the object in his mind and then project it into reality, its like conjuration at evocation speed, but not as much effort and for more return i guess.

This would only be for weapons or rather "combat" weapons, no Guns, armor, grenades bazookas or etc. So the kills are pretty much, Tracing, Alteration, and Projection. Which corresponds to the following skills in the DV; Weapons(knowledge of weapons and what it looks, history, and capabilities), Craftsmanship(composition of weapon, materials used in forging, durability), and Conviction(making the projected image become a reality). My question is what powers would i use? How could i make this fit into the Dresdenverse? What powers could i feasibly take to imitate or tweak to closely resemble what im trying to do? Also, there is the matter of his Reality Marble in which he takes you to his own reality made up of this barren landscape with every weapon he's ever projected or has recorded data on, it kinda works as a demesne, because he can influence this place to fit his image, granted he would not be able to shift the ground or affect the landscape past what i already make as it's base, he could only affect the weapons.

Any tips, or help would be greatly appreciated, or if people think i should probably just scrap the idea. I always told myself i wouldn't be THAT guy but i find this concept extremely interesting and would like if possible to play around with it.

Archer in action, skip to 3:45 to see the Reality Marble and what i envision.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBe9HZ1wnrw


Should also note, that the power level would be Submerged

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DFRPG / Re: Question about "Weapons"(Attacking) vs "Weapons"(defending)
« on: November 16, 2011, 06:52:41 PM »
Thank you for input everyone. Guess I'll be making a stunt then lol.
 Something along the lines of "My Sword is My Shield"

brainstorm time!!!

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DFRPG / Re: Question about "Weapons"(Attacking) vs "Weapons"(defending)
« on: November 16, 2011, 04:56:07 AM »
Can you explain a bit? Reading "Melee Defense" on YS pg 144 makes me think otherwise. "As a combat skill, Weapons INHERENTLY carries the ability to defend yourself in a fight OTHER Weapons and Fists attacks, so long as you have a weapon in hand."

Sounds like Weapons of equal value negate each other. Otherwise, why would it be stated that way? Why not just say, "Weapons can be used for defense"?

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