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Messages - dragoonbuster

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16
DFRPG / Re: buying stunts with skill points
« on: December 25, 2016, 02:47:22 AM »
I think you're messing around with major game balance for no apparent reason besides "why not?", which is fine if that's what you want, but I try not to arbitrary mess with rules unless there's a good reason to for game balance or ease of play, etc.

The RAW relationship between refresh/skill points works quite well. I see absolutely no reason to mess with it. And like Taran said, doing so basically throws the whole refresh economy out the window.

Sounds like a min-maxer's wet dream.

17
DFRPG / Re: Nerfing wizards, advice wanted
« on: December 18, 2016, 09:41:35 AM »
Sounds like exactly how it's supposed to work, give or take.

How does the table feel about it?

18
DFRPG / Re: so the laws of magic and....
« on: December 15, 2016, 02:53:36 AM »
My two cents is that based on the conversation Harry and Luccio have about the Laws, this is a really clear cut issue.

It doesn't matter who you are or where you're getting power from. Casting a spell means you believe in it. Breaking the Laws "breaks" free will, and the active, conscious choice to interfere with others' free will warps and twists your own self in the negative.

This is why I refer to the separation between metaphysical Lawbreaking and legal Lawbreaking. The White Council, through the Wardens, do their best to enforce Lawbreaking "legally" in an attempt to bring justice for those who metaphysically break the Laws. And like any legal system, it only approximates justice. Through this the White Council also somewhat polices irresponsible magic, which is why a Warden would be within his rights to chop off your head if you lose control of a practice evocation and you blow up your neighbor. You didn't mean to do anything, you didn't really do anything intentional to end someone's life, but you still killed them. Letter of the Law, and all that. Choppy choppy.

In the end, every situation that brings Lawbreaking into question brings two questions to the foreground. Instead of "are they a Lawbreaker," you have to ask, "Are they a metaphysical Lawbreaker?" and "Are they a legal Lawbreaker?" You can be neither, one or the other, or both. At the end of the day, the Council only cares/enforces whether you're a legal Lawbreaker. In the example above, you didn't mean to blow up your neighbor; you're not a metaphysical Lawbreaker. But the Law is clear, and you violated it, so legally speaking, Wardens are comin'.

So now we get into "so what if you use Seelie magic and you're a changeling?" type questions. If you're attached to another member of the Accords, then that Signatory is laying claim to you. The White Council can't touch you except through legitimate means via the Accords. They might request nicely, but they don't have real teeth, most of the time. Which is why Elaine sought Summer's protection. If you're not attached to a member of the Accords, but are attached to a Power, the White Council might choose to "look the other way" out of sheer desire not to go up against a hoary god. Or, for instance, a recently-kicked-out-of-the-Accords Denarian who breaks all sorts of Laws.

A note, changelings aren't by default "part of the Court." They are claimed sometimes, sometimes they aren't.

That said, if you're going around killing people with magic, breaking their minds, turning them into toads...you're still going to become a monster. Mortal is mortal, and we are told repeatedly that metaphysical Lawbreakers, those who willingly and purposefully abrograte another's free will change themselves in the process.

To be honest, I always thought this whole aspect of the books was a really striking insight into Jim's views on choice, free will, and morality (what makes one a monster?), but maybe that's just me.

19
DFRPG / Re: question about enchanted items
« on: December 08, 2016, 03:35:45 AM »
IoP. This is the entire point of IoPs: "I have an item that does magic things."

Attach the build you want to the rebate, presto-chango, you're done. Easy peasy.

20
DFRPG / Re: White Court vulnerability to True Emotion
« on: November 17, 2016, 08:31:42 PM »
I haven't tried that, but I'd think since the "True" emotions are so rare anyway that I doubt it'd make a practical difference.

21
DFRPG / Re: How would you model this specific magic from Dr. Strange?
« on: November 14, 2016, 04:14:45 PM »
This just sounds like a plot device. I wouldn't treat it as anything else. Stick an aspect on the building where it exists.

From a Dresden canon perspective, the only Earth->Earth gate we've seen was one created by none other than Odin, and it was considered to be a masterful use of Way magic. I'd say you're looking at someone around that ability or Merlin as the only ones able to create something like the teleport closet from Dr. Strange.

22
DFRPG / Re: Greater Glamours and Sacred Guardian
« on: November 11, 2016, 07:06:18 AM »
Greater Glamours is horribly ambiguous. If your table agrees on exactly how the whole "True Seemings" stuff works it can work, but my opinion after including it was to make it NPC-only.

Sacred Guardian...I wouldn't use the OW version. Use the PP version. The OW version is super fun...for the PC with the power. It's annoyingly powerful for everyone else. If you want to use it, I'd at LEAST make it cost -2 or -3 instead. If you like the whole "spend mental stress to get better physically" I recommend checking out Supernatural Martial Arts and tweaking it to suit your needs.

23
DFRPG / Re: Ask a simple Question, get a simple Answer!
« on: November 07, 2016, 08:20:23 PM »
In all but very special circumstances I'd say no threshold.

On the other hand, some creatures (and wizards) aren't fond of getting out over large bodies of water, so there's some protection there.

24
DFRPG / Re: Black Court Vampire PC
« on: October 29, 2016, 04:59:33 AM »
Maybe something like a pure 0 refresh power would be good.

Here you go:
Quote
[-0] Sponsored Agenda
Description:It is possible to have access to Sponsor Debt without a Sponsor granting access to magic, or at least not full Sponsored Magic per the RAW.
Musts: You must have an appropriate High Concept and Sponsor with a defined Agenda to take this power. This power must be attached to at least 2 refresh worth of Powers.
Power At A Price: You may take Sponsor Debt to aid any roll that falls in line with your Sponsor's Agenda per the normal Sponsored Debt rules for Sponsored Magic explained in PP 249. All Debt must be approved by the GM. 

Works well for us.

25
DFRPG / Re: Ask a simple Question, get a simple Answer!
« on: October 29, 2016, 03:31:03 AM »
So you have to play your character in such a way that it produces complications and troubling circumstances and advances the plot.

This. If it doesn't introduce complications to the PC, it isn't a compel.

26
DFRPG / Re: An end to the debate
« on: October 24, 2016, 06:00:58 PM »
it doesn't say anything about how a roll of 2 is unlikely to hit a vampire, which would make the decision a no-brainer even if Harry hadn't taken any stress already.

Those sorts of decisions and strategic deductions are left to Harry's player.

27
DFRPG / Re: Ask a simple Question, get a simple Answer!
« on: October 23, 2016, 08:42:53 PM »
So, I'd allow this set-up, but your total powers under the catch would still add up to -1, despite the +4.  If the player upgrades to Supernatural Toughness, the +4 bonus would come into play.

That's what I mean by "...modulate the rebate down to +3..." but in hindsight it isn't that clear versus how you said it.

28
DFRPG / Re: Ask a simple Question, get a simple Answer!
« on: October 23, 2016, 06:11:58 PM »
Can I also let the character take the Catch (only at night) on his Toughness/Recovery Powers that can be discovered/deduced with access to rare texts once the sponsor is known for an additional reduction on top of the Human Form bonus?

ALL PCs with Recovery or Toughness need to attach a Catch of some kind at my table. You don't "get" to take one, you must take one, because there's a silver bullet for literally everything supernatural in the Dresdenverse, it's just a matter of figuring it out and getting a hold of it.

As far as Human Form and Catch rebates...they're just completely separate things. If both are appropriate, you get both. Human Form is for when you *don't* have some powers 'normally' and *do* get them in some shapeshifted or conditional situation. Whatever your Catch is, the rebate it provides still can't reduce the total costs of Toughness/Recovery below -1, and ALL the powers attached to Human Form must add to overall cost -1. Here are some examples:

Good Example - The overall Toughness/Recovery/Catch cost is -1
-2 Inhuman Recovery
-2 Inhuman Toughness
+3 The Catch: Cold Iron

"Not Allowed" Example - The overall Toughness/Recovery/Catch cost is -0. You're not locked out of using Fire, but you would need modulate the bonus down to +3 to make the math legal again for a total -1 cost.
-2 Inhuman Recovery
-2 Inhuman Toughness
+4 The Catch: Fire

"Not Allowed" Example - This isn't allowed because your overall cost here is -0, so you'd have to modulate the cost down to -1 overall on your sheet or buy more powers to stick under Human Form.
+1 Human Form, covering:
-2 Inhuman Recovery
-2 Inhuman Toughness
+3 The Catch: Cold Iron

"Not Allowed" Example - This isn't allowed because while everything attached to Human Form + HF's rebate is -1, you still haven't properly costed your Toughness/Recovery/Catch suite. You have to modulate that cost to -1, making the overall Human Form and associated powers suite a total -2 cost.
+1 Human Form, covering:
-2 Inhuman Strength
-2 Inhuman Recovery
-2 Inhuman Toughness
+4 The Catch: Fire

Good Example - Overall the Toughness/Recovery/Catch suite costs -1, and adding everything attached to Human Form with HF gives me an overall -2 costs, so that's legal as well.
+1 Human Form, covering:
-2 Inhuman Strength
-2 Inhuman Recovery
-2 Inhuman Toughness
+3 The Catch: Cold Iron

29
DFRPG / Re: Magic Maneuver Question
« on: October 19, 2016, 07:41:47 PM »
On a similar idea... what can be locked using the magic lock spell? I mean, could I magic lock a bag by tying the ribbon around it?

Sure. And then I can just use a pair of shears to poke and cut a hole into the bag and get things out anyway :D

30
DFRPG / Re: Biomancy Medical Spells
« on: October 17, 2016, 07:00:23 AM »
Here are the healing rules we adopted for Dominium Fuego:

Quote
  • The number of shifts needed on a roll to begin someone's recovery using mundane medicine is equal to the highest number of shifts of the consequences you intend to begin treating (e.g. if the worst Consequence is Moderate, you need 4 shifts), but you will be limited in what severity of consequences you can treat depending on your training and the resources available to you for treatment.
  • Healing with magic requires justification just as with mundane medical treatment; you must have an appropriate Sponsor (the Seelie Court, for instance) and/or appropriate training and background (an Aspect, the Doctor stunt, etc plus Thaumaturgy/Biomancy powers, etc) to be able to justify beginning recovery for someone else with magic.
  • Magic healing complexities are calculated as such: 5 shifts + 1 shift per shift of Consequences the spell intends to cover.
  • For example, this means a spell to begin recovery of another PC's Moderate Consequence would be 5 + 4 shifts, or 9 total complexity/power needed. To begin recovery of a Mild, Moderate, and Severe Consequence, that would cost 5 + 2 + 4 + 6 = 17 shifts of complexity/power. This applies to thaumaturgy, evothaum, potions, etc.
  • For each consequence you begin recovery for with magic, you may place a sticky aspect on the patient that can be tagged/invoked as a counter to tags or invocations of the existing consequence. For instance, a spell that begins recovery of a Moderate Physical [Twisted Ankle] might place [Knitting Tissue] on the patient. This aspect could later be tagged once to counter-effect an opponent's invocation of the Twisted Ankle. Note that these aspects may disappear before the Consequence is fully healed and you may require additional shifts of power/complexity to keep the aspects there longer; the base duration for such spells is typically "until Sunrise" or "the scene," but is ultimately up to the GM's discretion.
  • Healing spells may place extra tags and additional aspects on the patient as usual.

Regarding the math there, we settled on 5 shifts for the base surcharge because the varying formula the RAW gives is a bit odd. We picked 5 shift vs, say, 3, because we wanted to make healing with magic fairly difficult, and because spells tend to get pretty big at Dominium Fuego. If your table prefers, just reduce that initial surcharge. Our formula would require 7 shifts to start healing a Mild consequence with magic (an Epic difficulty), but reducing the surcharge to 3 would make it a Superb difficulty/complexity, so maybe some would prefer that narrative.

Feel free to take what you like.

My two cents as far as theory is you should never allow any healing actions from PCs to actually *clear* consequences. Even allowing them to heal faster is really iffy and I won't allow it at my table. I would reserve both for boons from powerful NPCs.

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