You can always compel yourself. It's right there in the rules, even.

Gah, "Compel yourself," kicked off a Madonna song in my head, because the cadence is so similar to "Express Yourself."

That's how it works usually.  I'm partyly asking the question so that when I GM, I have an idea of how much to give out.

I also believe that my aspects are sufficiently compellable...and some of them can be compelled more than I can use for a bonus.

The false face forward trapping is a defense, so you give the false aspect when you when succesfully defend against an empathy assessment in this way.

I don't think this particular trapping of deceit is very functional, but that's another matter.

Isn't it basic function of deceit? Lying.

So this leads to another question which I completely skipped over: damage.

So while you're using Rapport to gain info, are you also doing "damage"?  The consequences inflicted are just things you can tag while trying to get the info? "blinks when lying"

In the hag situation, since the Hag won, they were forced to concede and go looking elsewhere.  If they'd won, do you as GM, just pony up the information?

Hmmm...It seems I have a bazillion questions.  I'll wait before I ask more  

2) Opposed Rolls should only occur if there is an intersting outcome for *both* success and failure.  In the case of the example above, Failure was an interesting option ("You suspect that the cop is lying") since it adds something new to the story.  But success was boring ("Nope.  He's not lying.")  In that case, I'd either think of a more interesting outcome for success ("He didn't take the evidence, but he knows who did.") or I would skip the Empathy roll entirely.

In that particular situation, I rolled a +7 empathy roll.  The GM said, "you know what, you fail that role - here's a fate point -   I'm compelling your corrupt cop aspect.  You get that he's telling the truth, but he's insulted you're insinuating he's corrupt.  You just made an enemy on the force"

Technically, since I failed, he still could be guilty, but is using deceit.  So we could have broke it all down into a combat, but it didn't really matter in the end.  Could that same result have happened in a full-out combat?  At what point does the DM say, "here's a fate point - you lose" 

Presumably, she made that Empathy check before combat started.  Which is kind of using something you found out through an empathy assessment and then tag later in combat.

I guess my question was, how can you use social skills as maneuvers in combat, even if you've never seen your enemy before.

But I think I know what you're getting at:  In combat you can use Rapport or intimidate or empathy (although, I thought empathy was reserved for assessments) to goad, frazzle, tease etc... your opponent and "throw them off", which works as a maneuver. 

You could, for example, use deceit in combat to say, "hey bub your shoe's untied!" and when he looks down your buddy sucker-punches him.

Do I have it right?

also remember that Cassandra's tears must be someway worked into an aspect.

I haven't figured out, thematically, how this will work, so I don't know how set up the aspect.  Whether it'll be another gift granted to from from his benefactor or a result of "crossing the threshold".

As I saw it, he'd be not only helping the down-trodden but maybe righting wrong he'd committed:  Ghosts of people he's murdered(directly or indirectly) who can't find rest; helping the families of people he's wronged.

Guide My Hand lets him find the people he needs to help and Cassandra's Tears gives him a clue of how he might need to help.

I'd use this stunt:

-1 Saw It Coming
Use Investigation for the Dodge trapping in Athletics.

I like this.  But can you use investigation in situation like that?  I thought it took time.

These posts are probably a dime a dozen, but I'm new to Dresden and the Fate system and need some advice on my character.  I'm a bit worried that he'll get owned in a combat.  Any advice would be great!

We're doing 8 refresh.

He's basically an Emissary of Power who goes around helping the "down-trodden".  I figured Micheal Landon was a bit too "goody-two-shoes" so my backstory adds a bit of grit (we'l call him Mike, for now):

Mike, a "Bad Cop on the take" gets betrayed and killed on duty.  As the demons of "Down Below" reach out to grab his soul, God steps in and gives him an ultimatum:  Repent, help me and you can save your soul from damnation.

Mike figures he has no choice, so he agrees to God's proposal.  He is brought back from the dead, Marked as an Emissary of God and goes around helping people...sometimes reluctantly.  He doesn't mind helping people most of the time but, in general, he feels that he's been forced into this job and doesn't really understand what it is to "repent".  He's really resentful of God even though God protects him etc...  He still has his cop instincts, most of his contacts (both Law and criminal - and now some ghostly ones) and he's still greedy and stuff, but his brush with death has left him more empathetic to peoples plights.

High Concept
Corrupt Cop turned Divine Detective

Trouble
Haunted by the Past

Other Aspects:

Cassandra's Tears:

Background
School of Hard Knocks or something that describes how he used his silver tongue to get by on the streets as a kid and as a corrupt cop
...opportunist manipulator??

Rising Conflict

A Big Fall and a Steady Crawl

First Adventure

Nose for trouble

Skills

Superb: Investigation
Great: Contacts, Conviction
Good: Empathy, Rapport
Fair: Guns, Drive, Presence
Average: Endurance, Stealth, Fists, Alertness, scholarship

Powers

Marked by Power -1
Cassandra's Tears -0
Wizard's constitution -0
Psychometry -1
Ghost Speaker -1
Guide my hand -1
Item of Power: righteousness, bless this house -1

Stunts:

Saw it coming -1 : Use investigation for dodge trapping in athletics

Total refresh left: 2