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The Dresden Files => DFRPG => Topic started by: Wordmaker on May 17, 2010, 03:37:38 PM
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I've been asked to run a second Dresden Files campaign, in addition to one I'm running set in Boston, for another group of players. I was considering the possibilities of using Las Vegas, and started wondering how this city would be different from my Boston setting, and from Harry's Chicago.
I'd like to make this a part of the same continuity as my Boston game.
The first thing that hit me was the mention in the rulebook that Vegas has poor barriers between our world and the Nevernever, probably because the city is considered to have less of a "soul" than other, more well-established cities. So there's probably a fair bit of activity from Nevernever predators. Summer Court is obvious as the ruling Fae Court.
Obviously, White Court vampires feeding on lust and especially despair would thrive in Vegas and probably have a major powerbase there. I also thought it might be a good place for the Reds to have a footing, controlling a number of companies and running financial scams.
Of course, this all raises the issue of the White Council. How would the Council feature in a city so heavily over-run by those who prey on mortals? The White Council they could probably leave alone for the sake of maintaining peace. But what about the Red Court? We don't have much information about the places in North America controlled by the Red Court. We'd have to assume that they were present in more places than just Chicago, but what's happened to them since the war started? Have they all fled? Or have some managed to hunker down and bury themselves too deep in densely inhabited areas for a safe yet effective attack?
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You could also bring the Mafia into the mix with one prime Crime Lord or several Families splitting the cake among them.
An other idea that springs to mind is that of native american tribes.
What about the nearby grand canyon? ... I think it's an amazingly interesting setting with lots and lots of possibilities. I'm interested in what else you come up with...
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It would be very different to most games, I think. Any White Council wizards would have to stay on the outskirts, venturing into the city like insurgents.
Also, with a city so full of electric lights and the latest in bright, loud technology, it'd be pretty easy to spot a wizard sticking his nose where it doesn't belong.
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It'd probably be a good place for supernatural black market. You can pretty much find anything you want there anyway... why not anything 'supernatural' you want? It'd make it a hot spot for Sorcerors and Warlocks... which might mean a strong Warden presense.
There might also be a more powerful and more nebulous spirit or spirits present. A vice/sloth/excess/etc... spirit that is the 'soul' so to speak of Vegas.
I personally would like to see the White Court as the main big bad evil guys in a city for once. I know the Vamp War is a major theme for most campaigns, but if you are running two at the same time in the same world it might let you focus on different things.
I second what was previously said... plenty of good stuff in the form of the Mafia, Native Americans, and local places of power to draw on.
Or, to focus on your idea that the White Council might have pulled dout entirely, what do you think that would be like for a minor talent or other PC type characters? To have no support to draw on, no check to the predators. It'd almost be like living in an occupied city in WWII. Everytime you leave your home you risk getting noticed and killed. Supernaturals would be deep, deep underground, and I doubt there'd be an accorded nuetral ground... or if there is only the predators would go to it. Enchanted items that mask your abilities might be a hot commodity.
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Of course, there's always the fact that the laws of magic don't in any way prohibit using it to cheat at games of chance. You'd have to be a low powered practitioner to do it without blowing out all the shiny electronics in the casino though. I'd also imagine the casino bosses in the know would be employing such practitioners to root out anyone trying to do so. There might be some sort of local consultancy group similar to Monoc Securities but operating on a smaller scale and specialising in casinos. Given that this is something the white court couldn't easily do for themselves, it could be an interesting deal with the devil scenario for the minor practitioners left in the city.
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Or perhaps an entire casino that serves the same function that Mac's does.
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I use to go to Vegas a lot there are many haunted tours and spirits in that city including Bugsy Seagal. I was thinking of Seagal selling his soul to something that helped create the city and to this day it effects Vegas. Vegas makes a real good city for a paranormal game setting.
Last night, my group and I are putting together an Albuquerque game so I abandoned my idea of a Las Vegas one.
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Having just done City Creation with my players, I'm now doing a game in Las Vegas. Honestly, I'm mostly using the Vancouver Method, but despite only having ever skimmed this thread a lot of the ideas in it got used. The mob is big, as are the White and Red Courts. Additionally (because we have a Changeling PC) it's notable that the Summer Court is big in Vegas, which seemed appropriate. More details will likely follow when I have a bit more time.
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1. As already mentioned the White Court should probably be the leading faction. Vegas is the city where emotions run high. All emotions. It's easily the best White Court feeding ground ever. It'd be interesting to have more benevolent White Court members too, since Vegas is a perfect place to "sip," such as Thomas does later in the series.
2. Vegas is also a drug haven. Red Court should definitely have a presence. But I'd put them as the leaders of the more underground aspects of Vegas. I.E running the casino's the tourists don't visit. Gambling with both mortals and supernaturals a like. Trying to make lots of money both legally and illegally to help fund the war they all know is coming eventually.
3. Vegas seems like the perfect place for Tessa to hang out in her off seasons. She likes recruiting the desperate and Vegas has no shortage of semi-wealthy men and women who bet their whole life savings on their last good hand or roll and lose it all. How are they going to go home to their spouse and tell them what happened? What are they going to do to support their kids? Along comes Tessa offering them a chance out.
4. I'd definitely consider running the campaign there without Wizards. Sorcerers, maybe, but WC wizards just have too much of an effect on technology and most of the casinos and hotels there are lined with technology. But it's a perfect place, if your campaign allows it, to call on help from outside using Harry and Elaine's network. I can definitely see Wizard NPC's coming in to help on some cases, but I just can't see a wizard LIVING there or even operating there regularly. Seems like a great place for wereforms and vampires though. All the supernatural weirdness can be explained by tricks of neon lights and witness' drug abuse.
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I have never been to Vegas. However, if I recall the stories from friends and family correctly. Isn't there a New Vegas, and an Old Vegas? In New Vegas you have the bright lights and the fancy tech, and in Old Vegas you have the classic machines and classic decor. If so, then that would be a clear boundry for control between factions. Wizards may be able to wander about in Old Vegas, but can't spend very much time in New Vegas or be discovered quickly from Technical Gliches.
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Old Vegas isn't like 1950's old though. Wizard's could definitely run around some of the older casinos though as long as they stayed away from the slot machines, but still. My point mainly is that many supernatural disturbances, and certainly most of the vampires, especially if they're white court, are going to be operating in places where a Wizard would have to suppress his abilities constantly with a ward to go unnoticed.
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In my Las Vegas.
The White Court are absolutely one of the two most powerful factions (along with the Summer Court).
The Red Court are certainly around, and dangerous, but trying to be somewhat subtle to keep from offending the Whites.
I'll consider having Denarians show up, but I honestly think the various powers that live there would object to outside interference (one of the Themes is: What Happens In Vegas, Stays In Vegas...which includes, by popular consent, uniting against outsiders).
And the White Council has nobody in Vegas currently. There used to be a Warden there, but then the Red Court War started. He died in the first week, and died messy, fighting two Red court hit squads (a total of a dozen vampires) and killing nine of them. There's a reason they targetted him quickly.
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There was a podcast by The Narrative Control group of their version of Las Vegas during the Burning Alpha. http://forum.narrativecontrol.com/comments.php?DiscussionID=14
I remember they had a lot of very good stuff in there, check it out and see if theres anything that interests you.
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These are fantastic ideas!
I think I'll do something similar to Deadmanwalking. Though I also like the idea of any White Council members living outside the city itself, in the desert. Out there they don't need to worry about disrupting technology, and it's hard for the Red Court to retaliate out there with any subtelty, since a foolhardy chase or attack could risk them being caught in sunlight in the open desert.
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We're doing a Vegas game.
The GM has stated that there are no White Court within 30 miles.
Fuuuu-
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We just started a Las Vegas game, too. In City Creation we decided that there's something about the Las Vegas valley that's a magnet for supernatural and mundane predators of all kinds; the barrier between our world and the Nevernever is thin, but the reason why is tied to some underlying spiritual issue that predates the city by centuries. We tied the glamour and glitz of Vegas to this in one of the themes about Vegas being a lure with predators behind the glamour (I can't remember the exact wording of the Theme aspect). A lot of that glamour comes from the city/valley itself and the predators take advantage of it.
The White Court is dominant. There's a minor house that's hyper-specialized and is pretty limited to gambling centers throughout history and the world. They have very specialized feeding requirements and are more like spiders than hunters. Their emotional control is relatively subtle and acts to disinhibit and cause other feelings to be more extreme and quickly changing. In their casinos, the certainty that the next toss/draw/pull will be the big winner is enhanced, the allure of the lights and counds is more intoxiating, the excitement more invigorating... and the despair of realizing you've spent your entire paycheck more utter and the obsessive certainty that the only way out of your hole is to borrow more and get back in there is more compulsive. This family of the White Court will spend years, even decades refining and "aging" their prey like a fine wine. The downside is that they really don't draw sustenance from a quick prey like the other houses can (one major NPC is an outcast prince of this family who is starving without long-term access to the casinos and so he's willing to bargain with anyone or anything to topple his family and get back in there).
The Red Court are starting an aggressive incursion (which the players decided to make the central threat/focus of the campaign). The Black Court is there in small numbers because it was specifically requested by two of my players. I'm still working out exactly how I want to work them in, but I have several ideas. Vampires of all three courts are a big deal to three of the four playersz: One player is playing an Emissary of Power type that's loosely based on the Slayers from the Buffyverse, another is the new, ill-prepared Warden focused heavily on the red court war, and a third is a knight of the cross who isn't specifically focused on vampires but made it clear that he's more than happy to face them whenever the chance arises. (There's a fourth PC, but she isn't directly tied to vampires in concept.)
In our Vegas neither the Summer or Winter Courts of fae are strong (there's not enough life for Summer and it's too hot for Winter), but there's a renagade minor court of fae that acts as a haven for fae outcasts--the Court of Fools. The COurt is led by the Fool King and they also run the local Neutral Territory. As befits the fae, the Fool King and his Court of Fools are very ambiguous and mysterious.
There are a fairly large number of minor talents, mid-level warlocks, etc. I'm stealing the idea above that there's a strong supernatural black market (I hadn't thought of it but it fits well for our campaign). The old warden was killed early in the war with the Red Court and one of the players is the new warden (he was the old warden's apprentice) though he isn't really ready for it. The local magical community is led by a fairly powerful ceremonial magician-type (focused practitioner with full Thaumaturgy but no Evocation) and her cabal who hated the old warden and is very hostile to the new warden PC. The local Paranet is being targeted by the red court in the opening salvos of their invasion of the city, but their leader (well, as close to a leader as they have) is all but forbidding them to go to the warden for help. Her cabal is trying to act as the local "wardens", though with limited success. If the local practitioners and the White Council would work together, they'd be in a much better position to oppose the red court or even just keep themselves safe... but I'm not going to make it easy for the warden (he also intentionally took pretty weak social skills and an aspect about being inexperienced because he likes the idea of having to stumble through this kind of scenario--he's competent in a fight but the other parts of being a warden, particularly in a hostile city, are a struggle).
Also Lady Luck (sort of an Emissary of Power) is in the city and is a big player, though mostly through the effect she has on her surroundings rather than conscious plotting. She's a wild card and has a tendency to shake up the status quo. Plus she enjoys tormenting the young warden PC, though she's actually fond of him. As the player and I have talked about it, it's going to feel a bit like Mab with Dresden--though the "offers of power" and the chaos she enjoys causing him are more in the line of "tests". She's like a hurricane at times (though at other times absolutely nothing strange happens for long stretches).
Finally, there's a small but significant undercurrent of things angelic and fallen going on in the city (in part tied to there being a knight of the cross living there). I'm using the Denarians (the player of the Knight specifically requested it), as well as some other stuff (such as an escaped Grigori/Watcher, a powerful and scary Anakim/"Giant", and a powerful "sorcerer" who's power comes from binding angels and forcing them to do his will and make him amulets and talismans of power).
-John B.
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Nice! I love the idea of White Court vampires who feed on greed and the eventual crushing despair of destitution.
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One thing to add is that Vegas has its own Undertown as well.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=97800190 (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=97800190)
Perfect place for some big bad to rear its ugly head. Maybe a spirit of despair, or a Black Court enclave deep beneath the city.