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 - Obsid

Pages: [1]
1
DFRPG / Threshold question.
« on: May 25, 2011, 10:06:04 PM »
A business or transient home has a threshold of +0.
A Bachelor's home has a threshold of +2.
A family home has a threshold of +4.
A multiple-generation family home has a threshold of +8.
A religious facility, despite being a place of business, has a threshold of +3.

So how about houses that double as a business? I'd guess if it's a bachelor's house, then it'd still be +0. But what if it's a family home, a family business, and one that's been passed through many generations

How about a large mansion of a house converted into a hotel, with a family of descendants of the original residents still living in and running the place, treating all their customers as family guests who happen to pay? Would that be a +6, or less?

2
DFRPG / Magic and Fundamental Elements
« on: May 21, 2011, 03:10:58 PM »
I have two purposes for this thread. One is to talk about how elements work with magic, and another is to open a custom system to review and critique. Don't take these statements as absolute fact. I've done research into the topic but I'm rusty so I can make mistakes. If I do, feel free to correct me.

Western Culture tends to think in terms of the four Classic or Greek Elements used in alchemy, other pseudo-sciences, pseudo-philosophies, and pure mythos.

Sometimes a fifth element is added to the list. I think the fifth element has a sort of, five of four, one-up, or otherwise topping effect on the way people see the elements. The oldest reference to a fifth element I'm familiar with is Anaximander's Apeiron, an element from which the common four is derived. Other ideas have included aether, a substance lighter than air, which fills the spaces between the stars. The movie, "The Fifth Element" proposed Love as the fifth element. And most neopagan and other modern mystical ideas seem to lean towards Spirit.

Different cultures have had their own sets of classic elements throughout history. Another popular one being the Chinese system including Fire, Water, Wood, Earth, and Metal. For more information, worship Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_element

the OW entry on Ancient Mai indicates that she might use Chinese elements to derive her magic from. The idea of wood magic feel sketchy to me, since wood is biological which would make it pretty hard to use in evocation, but it has good flavor nonetheless.

The way a wizard or other spell caster conceptualizes their magic is important. Most of us know, after all, that water is not a fundamental element of the universe, it's simply the combination of two elements. Earth, likewise, consists of a myriad of elements. (from a scientific standpoint at least, the classic elements are just silly). But if you think in terms of earth, fire, water, and wind, then your magic will reflect that. Likewise a gag character who thinks in terms of cheese, peanut butter, pasta, and woman, will probably have magic that somehow reflects this too (though I doubt he'll succeed at an evocation attack that throws bursts of woman around).

There's agenda item one completed. I think the idea of elements working based on belief is interesting, but might need limits. What should the limits be? Should there be an overarching pattern to all systems of elements? Should I eat my cake or have it?

Agenda item two. I've been working on my own philosophical way of viewing elements. This is based primarily on reason, what pleases me at the moment, symbolism, and some key concepts of Dao. I've made many versions of this system and this most recent version I crafted to work well with a spell caster in the Dresdenverse. For those of you unfamiliar with Dao, continue to worship Wikipedia. Otherwise don't worry, I don't require you to know where I'm coming from, and I think I speak pretty decent English.

The first aspect of Dao is the Taiji, or Taichi. The great absolute or supreme ultimate. This can be compared to Anaximander's aforementioned Apeiron if it pleases you to do so. I'll get back to this.

The Taiji "produces" the Liangyi. That is the Yin and Yang.
Yin is the receiving. The pull. It's often correlated with the spirit. But in my system I correlate it with Matter (also thinking of including Void and Form). It can be symbolized by two short lines. -/-
Yang is the giving. The push. It's often correlated with the body, but in my system I correlate it with Energy. It can be symbolized by one long line. --

From here on out the similarities between my system and Dao are only in their binary form, so I'll stop alluding to them. I recommend using this page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ba_gua as a start point if you want to look into them more.

Combining Ying and Yang. For the symbol, add the two short lines of Yin, or the long solid line of Yang, on top of whatever you're adding it to.

Two Yang makes Fire. (Latin. Ignis)
Add Yin to Yang to make Air. (Latin Aer)
Add Yang to Yin to make Water. (Latin Aqua)
And Two Yin makes Earth. (Latin Terra)

Add Yang to Fire to make Light. (Latin Lumen)
Add Yin to Fire to make Lightning. (Latin Levitas)
Add Yang to Air to make Thunder. (Latin Tonitrus)
Add Yin to Air to make Wind. (Latin Ventus)
Add Yang to Water to make Fog. (Latin Nebula)
Add Yin to Water to make Ice. (Latin Glacies)
Add Yang to Earth to make Stone. (Latin Silex)
Add Yin to Earth to make Metal. (Latin Metallum)

Now, if we correlate the Taiji with Spirit. Then...
Add Yang to Spirit to get Matter.
Add Yin to Spirit to get Energy.

We suddenly have a binary system with 5 primary elements and 10 secondary elements.  Almost entirely translatable into the default system of DFRPG.  It lacks a Wood element, but other than that, it's also almost entirely translatable into most historical element systems as well.

I think a character who views things in this way would be a very flexible caster. He might be predisposed towards using or avoiding Spirit (since it becomes more fundamental than the others) but I think that's also fitting.

Praise me. Criticize me. Come up with your own epic elemental awesomeness. Tell me how to make this work better.

Now for questions. Would a character who views things this way still specialize in Earth magic, or would they be predisposed toward specializing in a subtype (metal or stone)? If a character viewed magic this way, could the specialize in Matter and have that carry on to Earth and Water (which can be viewed as subtypes)? Or is it better to simplify? Did I just waste an hour of my life? Why do hotdogs come in packages of 10 and hotdog buns in packages of 8? Did you like my colorful wall of text?

3
DFRPG / Burgerking and the Nevernever.
« on: May 20, 2011, 03:49:02 PM »
Places in the Nevernever are connected to each other and to the material realm through ideas rather than space right?

So... can I travel from a Burgerking in my hometown to a Burgerking in another part of the world with relative ease through the Nevernever?

I mean, conceptually speaking, fast-food joints have a lot more in common then they don't. Likewise post offices, and various other cookie-cutter facilities should be more alike than un. So it would stand to reason that they be connected to the same, if not nearby places in the Nevernever. Open a portal from my BK, take three steps, open a return portal, and there I am half a world away. Choose locations that are thematically connected to the dominion of a friend to make sure its safe, and you have travel made easy.

Or is there a catch 22 that I'm missing here.

4
DFRPG / Character Breaks
« on: May 19, 2011, 01:23:05 PM »
When I was reading through the books, I couldn't help but notice how easy it is to break toughness. I tried searching these forums and saw similar ideas but it didn't quite answer my question.

As far as I understand the RAW, this works. Am I wrong?

Jack is a wizard or other magic scholar, we'll leave his stats alone for now. Jack wants to be more than human, without being inhuman. His research allowed him to find ways to enhance himself, in game terms these amount to toughness-type powers. He compiles a collection of his research, exposing The Catch of a lot of creatures (many of which were already exposed) and spreading the work through the White Council and the Paranet (why not? They're convenient). In this work he lists his findings on human-modification, ideal ways craft it and what he would if he could succeed the process.

High Concept, Clever Superhero.

Jack succeeds his research. He succeeds it very well, achieving Mythic Recovery, Toughness, and Physical Immunity.
The Catch to the Mythics is Obsidian. Common and public knowledge +4 each.
The Catch to the Immunity is non-Obsidian. Specific, Common, and Public Knowledge +6.
Total cost. -20. Total refund. +14. Net cost. -6.
Alternatively.
The Catch to the Mythics is non-Obsidian. Specific, Common and public knowledge +6 each.
The Catch to the Immunity is Obsidian. Common, and Public Knowledge +4.
The Stacked-Catch to the Immunity is a sharpened-edge. Common, and public Knowledge. +4.
Total cost -20. Total refund +20. Net cost -1 (minimum outlined in The Catch).

In the first instance, Jack sacrifices a reasonable amount of free will, but less than half of what he should. If he's hit by Obsidian, nothing happens, if he's hit by anything else, he's minimally effected.
In the second instance, Jack sacrifices virtually no free will. If he's hit by Obsidian, he's minimally effected. If he's hit by anything else, nothing happens. Either way my spidey sense is tingling about this.

If I come up with anything else that I'm worried about, I'll post it here. But for now, am I wrong about this? Does this seem broken to anyone else?

Pages: [1]