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The Dresden Files => DFRPG => Topic started by: Falar on April 23, 2010, 05:09:24 PM
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I was just wondering where people think they'd most like to play when they look at the game. Whether they're drawn to the power and flexibility of Submerged or to the rise from just your Feet in the Water or to between the continuum at Up to Your Waist and Chest Deep.
I must admit I'm always a sucker for the low-end of the pool and working upwards. Something about the rise from just being able to barely hold your own to being a major player is very fun to me. I like to see how the character develops from his own wide-eyed innocence (or lack thereof) into the major player he becomes through the course of his play in the game.
Conversely, I tend to have a dislike for playing straight-deep, right away. It always seems to me that that's where you end up and the play is the journey to get there. Oh, yes, I know that there's horrible baddies up there to and it's just the start of another round upwards and dealing with a whole new weight-class, but something in me just prefers starting light-weight and moving up to the heavies.
Granted. That's probably just me.
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Depends on what I'm in the mood for. If I want a Pure Mortal and maybe Minor Talents game, I might go with Feet Wet, while if I want to play or run a game where 100 year old ex-Wardens are an option, I'd go Submerged. And anything in between, naturally.
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I would say submerged.
And probably faster Character Advancement than RAW.
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I think a lot of it depends on how long you think you will be playing for. If I have a dedicated group and I know it will be long-haul I would prefer to start at the lower levels and build up. If the group is only short term then lets go straight to the good stuff. It isn't as satisfying as starting from scratch but it is more fun for the short term.
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if i was going to run the game i would probably change the advancement system slightly. making the max refresh a character can have be something like -14 or -20 . but also making that a hard cap that would never raise and would apply equally to all characters pc or npc, if you go over that than you go insane, and something bad happens to you. i would also wrap some of the -1 refresh ability's into the skill system [ for example refinement would be a skill instead of negative refresh] and stunts that give you no significant benefit would be a different value such as claws would be free. emotional vampire would be free. that way you could reasonably have the "if you go below your refresh you become an npc" rule and have it be something more then a thinly veiled play balance issue.
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My first game is probably going to be in the feet in the water to waist deep area. I'm probably going to do something Buffy style, with "seasons" focussed on a given Threat or Theme. Each season will represent a major milestone and will probably contain two or three related scenarios of 2-3 sessions each. So probably a major milestone every 6-7 sessions.
Hm. The three scenarios per story will probably be set up roughly as:
1. Monster of the week. This will be related to the theme or threat in some way, but either not directly or in a way that isn't obvious until later.
2. Introduce the problem. The theme or threat will be revealed, but the face will not be the antagonist of the story so much as the motivation behind it.
3. Boss fight time. This is a chance to get rid of a threat or change a theme. Bonus points for revealing that the face has been behind everything.
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Submerged. The name of the game is the Dresden Files, not the X Files. :)
I'm actually surprised that -10 (ie, starting Harry) is the highest starting level. Storm Front and Fool Moon aren't exactly my favorite stories. And Fool Moon (the last time Harry was a 10 refresh character according to the advancement plan) was NINE years ago. The more recent stories feature a much more powerful Harry, with much more effective allies (making his situation more like a PC in a group). It seems weird that the game is emphasizing starting levels below Harry's starting level and doesn't seem designed to cover the action in the newer, more popular books.
Of course, then they'd have to make real stats for some of the powerful monsters and wizards, instead of just saying Plot Device.
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Of course, then they'd have to make real stats for some of the powerful monsters and wizards, instead of just saying Plot Device.
Exactly
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I always found it odd there was never a PL9 starting level, Up To Your Neck or something along those lines...
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Exactly
Yeah, I'd much rather a workable projected set of stats for a lot of the heavy weight guys even if it means they'll be contradicted later than have cop out "well, they'll have this at a minimum, but actually have tons more that aren't listed" stats.
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Of course, then they'd have to make real stats for some of the powerful monsters and wizards, instead of just saying Plot Device.
*golf clap*
(We're dancing as fast as we can, here.)
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as some of my players want to play apprentice wizards we started on the lowest level, that allows that :-)
we are working through from a "monster of the week" style - so that everyone can learn the systems - and will be changing in a few weeks to a high drama over arcing background story style play with individual adventures in the foreground, some of them connected via the story arc, some to distract from the story arc and some thrown in for good measure.
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Our group started at Waist Deep, since some of us were chomping at the bit to play a full-wizard. Aside from having to learn the FATE system our group's gotten off to a great start. Very fun game devs!