As some of you may know, I'm using the DFRPG to run a non-standard setting. One of my new players offered a brilliant idea for a character, and I am curious as to how some of you would use or make this.

The character had a demonic sponsor in the form of Wrath during a war. The character outwitted Wrath thanks to the wording of the agreement (power in exchange for tasks during the war; the war ended, contract was over), but now has the attention of the others of the demonic court due to her actions, especially the Lady of Subversion (Lust), who is now her new "sponsor" to aid in her newest task.

The player mentioned the possibility of having to "change sponsors," so to speak, as her "patron" will pawn her off to the others of the court as a way to pay off other debts.

With this in mind, would the Sponsored Magic ability change with the new "sponsor," or do you believe the original patron's magic would stand? Additionally, do you think Sponsored Magic is the way to go, or do you thing a sponsored "Modular Abilities" would be a better choice?

--Crion

I'm not certain if I'm missing a note somewhere or misreading something, but is there a minimum amount of time needed to perform a Thaumaturgy spell?

If I read everything correctly, you need to have a Lore rating equal to the complexity of the spell before it could be cast and, in an emergency situation, you can essentially do an extended evocation in order to cast the spell in that time.

So, if a character with the equivalent of Lore 6 (after focus items) wanted to put up a 6 Shift Ward ASAP, he could theoretically do so in one turn, correct? Is this an exception to the rule of Sponsored Magic offering "Thaumaturgy at the speed of Evocation," or is there something I am missing?

Thanks in advance for the input!

--Crion

Hello everyone! Before I begin, let me set the stage:

The game is set in London, 1867, with a power level sitting at Chest Deep. My party is currently working against a villain of my creation that is a supposed Chinese "Princess" that is to be wed to a family of some standing. They've realized that said "Princess" is not of noble birth, and she seems to be no more than a plant for the local opium ring.

In order to avoid a scandal, they need to "defeat" their villain without physical violence and without putting the family's reputation at risk. (And yes, my party DID string all this together to fit with the time of the story). The current goal is simple: get the "Princess" to be away from home, and either convince her that it's best to leave, admit her goals and politely surrender, or to discreetly "remove" her.

To achieve this goal, the two major casters (Thaumaturgists) want to lay a pretty big whammy on her to make her "uncomfortable with the familiar," which they want to use to get her away from home and come to them (since they are closely tied). Originally, they wanted her to simply admit the truth to everyone, but I ruled that as being the equivalent of being Taken Out, and the party shuddered at the 32+ complexity.

This is where I am still trying to determine the best way for this to work. For this set situation, would it be better to:
A) deal enough stress to apply a minor and moderate complication (and one extra stress) to make this stay around for a while. (Complexity 20; 8 for the highest potential roll, 8 to have it high enough to deal at least a moderate consequence, 4 to overcome whatever threshold she is sitting behind)
B) Perform this as a manuever to apply a sticky aspect (or multiple sticky aspects) of being "Uncomfortable with the familiar." (Complexity of 10; 8 to overcome her estimated best roll, +2 to make the Aspect stick. Can add more for potential thresholds)
C) Stick with the original and make it worth being "Taken Out"
Any thoughts?

Currently, we are sitting on the first one, but as I think about it, the manuevers just seem like the better overall choice. Any suggestions and/or similar situations would be greatly appreciated.

--Crion

I'm still in the boat of rocky starts and tons of stalls for trying to get a game of Dresden rolling, and the main opposition I face is the story. At least two of my players like the concept of the system, but as I am the only one who has read the books, it creates some objection from some players. (The second objection was combat being too deadly, but if they want Action-packed games, that can be arranged)

As they are still on a fantasy kick, I was wondering if anyone had any thoughts of "turning up" Dresden to a more "adventurous" degree for a fantasy setting. I took a look at Legends of Anglerre, but I like the magic and character customization of Dresden just a bit more.

At the moment, I am considering adding a few more levels of Stress to the "baseline" (i.e. starting at 4 instead of 2), replacing Guns with Archery, making Science a bit more primitive, and seeing where that goes.

Has anyone else done anything similar, whether changing the timeframe or twisting aspects of Dresden into another FATE game? Any random thoughts or suggestions on this idea?

Thanks in advance for the input!

Even though I'm not sure if I'll get the game going (players in this area aren't working with me), I thought I'd share the concept I shared for those who voiced interest in the Campaign Ideas Thread (http://www.jimbutcheronline.com/bb/index.php/topic,19185.0.html).

The idea is relatively simple: The "City" for the game will be an SCA (Society for Creative Anachronisms) Event or even a Renaissance Faire that the players will be taking part of for an extended time (i.e. full/extended weekend trip). I thought it would be a great idea for an introduction storyline before moving them into a bigger city, and if I leave the "grounds" as open year-round for those who choose to live that lifestyle longer, then so much the better.

I find it to be advantageous for the following reasons:
--No/limited technology to constantly hex
--Elder beings flow into the roles (so it's literally anyone's game)
--"Mundane Names" can be moved to the side, and only your persona actually matters

Now, in order to do this, I'm trying to flesh out the concepts and some faces. The following is what I am working with in my head at the moment, but I would like some opinions on the idea, the concepts I'm tossing out, and some opinions on/additions to the faces involved. Of course, if anyone has ideas that would fit in, or various ways of spinning this, I am more than game to listen.

Also, if anyone is a member of the SCA or has taken an extensive amount of time to participate in these sorts of events, I would greatly appreciate the insight.

So, without further ado. . .

SCA Event/Renaissance Faire "Town"

Potential Themes:
Spectres of the Past - The idea of always reliving the past.
A Place Out Of Time - This can be taken literally in two ways: as in reliving the past, or as a threat to how long this will last.
Old Ways Embracing the New - New "warriors" following Chivalry, or new methods or performing the old arts; the meshing of ancient ways with new mentalities.

Potential Threats
Supernatural Training Grounds - This one can be double edged; an old Warden/Wizard bringing apprentices to train in weapon combat, a Changeling dabbling in old forms of politics, or even a Black Court showing it's progeny the way things always were.
King of the Night - A Black or Red Court vampire steps up to usurp the "nobility," bolstering their own numbers and potentially moving it outside of the game that everyone else thinks this is.
Spectres of the Past - A bit more than the above theme; spirits of these times are coming to the fore and are becoming known, or are interacting with others far more frequently.
A Midsummer Night's Nightmare - A group of Fae haven taken to the habit of coming out every midsummer night to put on a show that no one will EVER forget.

Potential Face Concepts:
The Vanilla Mortal Knight Errant - Exactly what it says; guy who gets REALLY into character and lives the life at all times, and is far closer to the supernatural than he'd like to admit.
The King of the Night - A Black Court Vampire who is using the event as a way to determine who is fit to join his "kingdom" and fight on it's behalf, and who is just. . .food.
The White Court Courtesan - A woman working as an information broker behind the scenes, using her feminine wiles and White Court abilities to make deals behind the mask of her character. (May have something going on with "The Old Fogey/Warden" below).
The Old Fogey/Warden - An old wizard who remained very well hidden until the Vampire War stepped up a few notches and finally brought him into the Council he's always avoided. Now that Luccio and Morgan are busier than even, he's stepping up and training the "kids" in mundane combat in the best way he knows how: the way he learned.

(Note: you know you are having a long and not-so-good day if it takes you six hours to write the above. . .ugh).

More details to come later, but again, opinions and input are greatly appreciated!

I've always had fun with playing characters that were "in between" two groups, and my old group from college has been much the same way. Now that we are all reading the Dresden RPG, the various Scion-like ideas are coming out to play. It also doesn't help that we've all played White Wolf's "Scion" and "Exalted" lines, which just adds fuel to the fire.

So my question for you: what sort of Scions have you made and used in your game?

Do you prefer to use the "traditional" kind (i.e. half mortal, half deity), or have you used a different approach (such as the Changeling idea; half human, half something else)?

What other entities have you used besides the mythological gods?

What of the descendants of an original scion (for an in-game example, think Mouse)?

What is your approach to designing/building a Scion? Have you gone low-refresh with acquiring powers as they "awaken," or did you just toss your powers together and said "Go"?


The idea of Scions also got me to thinking of the following. . .
What about the traditional Dhampir and their various retellings? Would you just modify the Red Court Infected, or would you recreate them using the Black Court?

What about using a "minor" entity as the parent? This can still include changelings and most demons, but I'm referencing things a little less common, like specific entities/beings or a specific but rare classification of an entity? (Dragons, Valkyries, Ancient/Unaligned Fae, etc)

Have you ever thought of a descendant of a non-scion hero having abilities of their ancestor? The idea of a hero that was NOT the child of a deity/entity, but his/her specific gifts have somehow passed through the bloodline tends to be an amusing plot device for me. (Examples in myth include Sigurd/Sigmund, although many other heroes can be viewed as options).


I think I'll stop the ramble there and let you all have at it!

I don't know about most of the people on this board, but most of the players I know personally have less experience with the Fate system than I have (which, honestly, consisted of skimming SotC and now reading Dresden), some only know of The Dresden Files from the TV series, and many of them stick with certain "crunch" games that are more numbers than storytelling.

Now that the stage is set, I can actually ask the major question: How do you prepare for running this game?
This can be broken down into the following thoughts/questsions:
What are your approaches for teaching new players the various mechanics, from Aspects to Thaumaturgy?
How do you explain such things to a group that is more familiar with number crunching than writing a backstory?
How much thought do you put in a backstory, or expect your players to put into the story of their characters?
Do you have a preferred character creation approach?
As a GM, do you have suggestions for a cheat sheet, whether for the new players or even for yourself?
If you have ever made said cheat sheets, would you care to give an idea as to what is there and how it was done, what inspired it, etc?
Do you have a cap for a set number of players, so as to not go overboard, drag down play, or even keep the system intact?


Personally, I'm fond of cheat sheets, both in the general sense (explaining basic roll mechanics, noting Assessment/Declarations, etc) and the more personalized sense (skills, trappings, stunts, and powers based on the character; standard rolls and notes for a GM Screen). I also am prone to teach on the fly, as not many of my players are willing to slug through a 400 page book for a new game (sad, but true); this leads to an opening scene much akin to a video game tutorial where the players are given less control in terms of story (i.e. railroading), but are given the chances to test just about everything (Assessments/Declarations, a chance to use certain powers/stunts, etc). After that scene, the doors open, almost literally, to the story at hand.

At the moment, I'm still trying to get a party together (whether new RPers or my group of old hats), and as I begin this process, I'm curious what others do and hope that entirely new GMs may find something useful here. Who knows, maybe some of us who are stuck in old habits may see something new ^_^

In any case, happy gaming!

--Crion

I've been reading and re-reading the section on magic for a while, and as I am lacking other GMs/Dresden Fans to speak to about this locally, I thought I'd pollute the boards with another post.

The concept is simple: how does Thaumaturgy (or a Death Curse) impact Aspects? I know the description states that you can add temporary Aspects (usually via Consequences), but also states that to impact an Aspect on a more permanent level, one would need to do the equivalent of winning a conflict within one roll.
When this occurs, is an Aspect changed (akin to taking an Extreme Consequence), or is there a more long-term Consequence being inflicted instead?

Just trying to get a bit more clarity in this matter before I start introducing everyone to the game. Thanks for the help!

--Crion