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 - RonLugge

Pages: [1] 2 3 ... 5
1
DFRPG / Oh Mab, How Do I Love Thee? Let me count the double crosses...
« on: November 12, 2016, 07:30:00 AM »
So due to a number of previous bad judgement calls, our campaign has kind of been devolving for a while.  At this point, we're up to full-out Outsider Armageddon via an outsider who can 'infect' and then co-opt people, and the party winds up in some fun fights wherein they win back a little bit of time for the world.  This, naturally, draws all sorts of supernatural attention to them -- namely, Queen Mab.  So she shows up, icing the remaining outsider-infested humans menacing the party currently.

One of the party members starts mouthing off at her for killing the humans under 'his protection'.  I think about it, decide *not* to press the matter here and now -- Mab is subtle, and she doesn't have an 'in' on him yet.  She's pissed and will balance the books for his yelling at her, calling her a failure, and insulting her to her face, but not... just... yet.

She invites the party to take refuge in her kingdom, with the rest of the human beings she's saving -- basically everyone she can that isn't already infested.  She also makes a few pointed hints about the fact that she's working with some other heavy weights who *specifically* want the party involved in the plan.  Because in a week or so, the Archangels will blow their trumps and 'purge the world by fire'.

Mr. Big-Mouth then proceeds to blow up in her face even more angrily, but whatever.  She simply turns and starts throwing compels at each party member to Follow The Damned Plot Hook.  Guess who decides to resist and take off on his own?  So she takes most of the party with her and they get to watch an evacuation occur, with humans being herded in through a portal into Arctis Tor -- along with all the foodstuffs she can get her pretty little hands on, *especially* things like cows, sheep, dogs, cats, rabbits, etc etc.  She makes an off-hand comment comparing this to Noah's Ark -- don't remember the exact wording, but part of it was to call him a piker.  (This also helps cement for the party that This Is A Serious Situation)

They then see the people fighting the retreat -- members of her army, the local Knight (ex-player), and a group of monsters of various forms -- a massive, half-dog half-rhino, an obsidian bird, a woman with a bad hair day (razor sharp hair, that is), and a man flying on shadowy wings.  The 30 monsters are the last ones to retreat as Mab shoos the (remaining) party through the portal, then calls on her power to cover the retreat -- basically calling up ice walls and gusts of wind so that the fey and allies can retreat and leave the field to the Denarians.

Nicodemus comes in to retreat, then bounces away from the portal.  Mab smiles, then looks at him.  "As I said, I will allow those who bear the coins into my domain.  The coins will have to remain behind, however."

Double cross number one has the party blowing their lid, in a good way.  They liked it.

Then one of them made a comment about wanting to watch the fate of the council -- she's a warlock, wants to watch them all die.  So Mab smiles, and says "I do happen to have an opening in my court...  for a new winter knight.  You can find out all about the council's fate if you take up the job."

Player accepts, and Lloyd Slate is dragged out to die.  Bingo, new Winter Knight in town, and the player is now playing a Creepy Witch Knight.  And Mab takes the party along to a chamber in Arctis Tor where a man stands waiting.  At her nod, he opens a portal... and in start streaming a number of wizards from Edinburgh.  Then wardens.  Then 6 individuals in purple stoles, just in time for Gatekeeper to slam shut the door.

Oh the look on the Witch's player's face.  Oh the look.

2
DFRPG / Re: Does inhuman speed stack with athletics
« on: September 15, 2016, 10:16:19 PM »
Reading the actual text... I can actually see where some of the confusion creeped in.  It doesn't say 'add four to alertness for the purposes of initiative'; it actually says 'your initiative is at +4' -- and given that a frequent way of noting skill is "I have +4 alertness", the similarity could, potentially, be confusing.

3
DFRPG / Re: New to DFRPG: Looking for rules clerifications and ideas
« on: June 23, 2016, 08:02:06 PM »
As power levels increase, pure mortal cool begins to fade... the supernatural powers become overpowering.  A possible compensationmight be to assign extra Pure Mortal Bonus every Milestone (be sure everyone's on board with that & agrees it's "fair").

My group is experimenting with making the pure mortal bonus 1/4 of the current base refresh, rounded up.  Personally, I think 1/3 is better, but...

4
DFRPG / Re: Shapeshifters
« on: June 10, 2016, 09:41:42 PM »
The swords are supposed to be super sharp, but not necessarily magically so. As far as I know, making the Warden Swords an enchanted item instead of an item of power was done so you could play a warden right away, if you wanted to, since you already need to be a wizard for that and spending even more refresh on the sword would have meant the concept would be too expensive for the refresh levels proposed in the book.
As far as the story side is concerned though, they are much more like items of power than enchanted items. Maybe not as powerful as the SotCs, but still up there with the best of them.

"Mass" produced IoP... that's actually a tad bit scary, if you ask me.

5
DFRPG / Re: Shapeshifters
« on: June 09, 2016, 10:30:34 PM »
That would be a matter of interpretation, and the interpretation that Harry takes with Molly is that if you use magic to make a change in the world and that change kills someone, then the First Law sees you as responsible.  Whether you kill someone directly or indirectly using magic, it counts.

If Ramirez disintegrates the floor under someone's feet and they fall to their death, you could say that Ramirez didn't kill them with magic, the fall killed them. Saying that transforming yourself into a wolf and tearing someone's throat out only to say that the magic didn't kill them, your teeth did, is the same argument.  You transformed yourself with magic.  That transformation allowed you to overpower someone and tear their throat out.  You used magic to kill someone.

Proximate cause Vs. direct cause.  Transforming myself into a wolf doesn't kill someone.  It just gives me the ability to rip their throat out.

But at this point, I think it's time to just let it drop and say 'your table may vary', because I don't think we will ever actually agree.

6
DFRPG / Re: Shapeshifters
« on: June 09, 2016, 07:50:50 PM »
A note on the first law.  If you transform yourself specifically so you can kill someone, then that would break the first law.  If you transform yourself into something that can kill someone and by some fluke manage to lose control because of animal instinct or whatever and kill someone, then that would also break the first law.

Except in neither case did you use magic to kill someone.

7
DFRPG / Re: Sponsored nature magic
« on: June 05, 2016, 02:29:59 PM »
So who does God worth through to preseve the earth from the the outsiders and the nevernever.

Bit of a spoiler, but...

(click to show/hide)

8
DFRPG / Re: Evocation Revamp Ideas
« on: May 27, 2016, 03:44:35 AM »
I made a character that did +19 stress and was +9 to hit.(Fantastic Skill Cap)  It cost me 14 refresh and that's the absolute best I could do and it included questionable custom powers.  And I had no other powers or stunts that let me do anything but kill things with a single hit.  I'm fairly certain a wizard with the same refresh could do better - especially with accuracy.  And they still have more options.

Flip side is, while wizards can probably produce one hit like that, I bet you could do it multiple times in a fight.

9
DFRPG / Re: Evocation Revamp Ideas
« on: May 25, 2016, 01:38:00 PM »
@RonLugge:
The attacker can contest the concentration maneuvers with his own skills. Also, under a grapple a wizard takes penalties on both power and control equal to the grapple. Good luck firing a spell that hits.

Unless you have a rules reference I've overlooked, a grapple is nothing more than a superior form of block.  Essentially, you can use it as your defense roll.  Once I roll past it, I'm still going to hit.

10
DFRPG / Re: Evocation Revamp Ideas
« on: May 22, 2016, 06:50:59 PM »
And that's just to dodge. Spellcraft is the only way to attack that has no concrete upper limit to stress dealt. I've seen people throw out Weapon:14 evocations. Usually invoking several things or taking consequences, but still.

Playing devil's advocate here, but that's 6 refresh spent to dodge _any_ ranged attack, with supernatural toughness to absorb most attacks.  (Mind you, I think some of his numbers are off -- evasion looks like it should be +1, not +2).  That character will almost always be a defensive powerhouse, unless you satisfy it's catch.

11
DFRPG / Re: Dresden Files Cooperative Card Game
« on: May 22, 2016, 06:45:00 PM »
And now I want chapter 2.  And 3, and... ah to heck with it.  I WANT IT ALL!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRTkCHE1sS4

12
DFRPG / Re: Evocation Revamp Ideas
« on: May 19, 2016, 01:19:26 PM »
Round 3-8: Noncaster keeps whacking the overwhelmed caster until they croak.

Round 3 spellcaster maneuvers with discipline to place [Stilled Mind] on self.  Takes a 3 stress hit from grapple's supplemental action (including +2 from supernatural strength)
Round 4 spellcaster maneuvers with conviction to place [Perfect Purpose] on self.  Takes a 3 stress hit, rolled up to 4, from grapple.
Round 5 spellcaster hits thug with a spell, rolling discipline at +4 by tagging previous aspects, neatly negating the +2 to grapple rolls from supernatural strength as well as the +2 to defense from speed.  Intelligent caster may even spend a mild or moderate consequence just to give the spell plenty of boom and make certain it gets rid of thug.  A base roll of 6/7 power/control means he hits with weapon:6, rolling his attacks at 11 -- and if he spends that moderate, he's now up to weapon 10.  Even without satisfying tough's catch, he's doing at least 8 damage.  And tough is only going to roll their defense at 8 -- +2 from speed, +1 from their stunt.  On average, the wizard will hit for no less than 11 damage.

13
DFRPG / Re: Question on Human Form.
« on: May 14, 2016, 12:16:39 AM »
For werecreatures, well, they can't always be a bear or a wolf (makes it hard to open doors, for instance).

Somehow, I don't see a bear having much of a problem opening a door.  Closing it again afterward, maybe, but opening it?

14
DFRPG / Re: Dresden Files Cooperative Card Game
« on: May 09, 2016, 07:43:20 PM »
Not long left for the peace talks chapter one goal :)

By which you mean 'we made it', right?

15
DFRPG / Re: Who can death curse?
« on: May 04, 2016, 04:20:35 PM »
I would argue that traditionally (not going into why that villain might have been able to break rules of their nature), that villain would only have been able to throw a death curse at Harry due to the role he had taken up for that case. It is *explicitly* stated that the villain you are referring to and her peers cannot affect mortals, unless they are under the purview of the Fae, such as having broken a deal with the Fae, or acting as an emissary to the Fae, or (most commonly) becoming a knight of a Fae court. Harry had every right to fear her in that particular moment, as he was acting as an emissary to the Fae and they could affect him (especially in that place of power), but most of the time they cannot use thair magic over a mortal, let alone death curse one. It's the entire reason they have the Knights.

I wouldn't argue that at all (except for the probable intervention of Nemesis).  It's also totally irrelevant to my point: that Fae can, in fact, throw death curses.

Pages: [1] 2 3 ... 5