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Messages - MorkaisChosen

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31
DFRPG / Re: Non-Standard Settings?
« on: April 29, 2011, 07:55:56 AM »
Also difficult to pull off a Norse god who doesn't die in Ragnarok. ;)

32
DFRPG / Re: Non-lawbreaking curses
« on: April 29, 2011, 07:53:53 AM »
Compulsion to "believe you see that thing," I'd say. The other interpretation smacks of shenanigans.

After all, compulsion to "fear that thing" counts too...

33
DFRPG / Re: Non-Standard Settings?
« on: April 28, 2011, 09:24:04 PM »
More words to attach Project, Division or Section to either side of!

Aspis (Greek shield)
Scutum (Roman shield, a little risky for mishearing)
Phalanx
Shieldwall
Huscarl (essentially Viking/Anglo-Saxon bodyguard types)
Hearthguard
Bulkhead
Heimdall (Norse God who guards the bridge between Asgard and Midgard, dunno why I didn't think of it before.)

34
DFRPG / Re: Non-Standard Settings?
« on: April 28, 2011, 08:40:56 PM »
Hrm, who are some miffic defenders...?

Praetorian might work- the Praetorian Division or some such. I like Project, too, and if they're doing a "supernatural things to fight the supernaturals" thing, Prometheus [Project/Division/Section] is very appropriate, as is Pandora [P/D/S].

35
DFRPG / Re: Non-Standard Settings?
« on: April 28, 2011, 07:54:21 PM »
Section 13 is sticking up in my head- has that been done?

36
DFRPG / Re: Non-Standard Settings?
« on: April 28, 2011, 06:44:59 PM »
Alternatively, if they're sorta policey, something riffing on Special Branch (which may be a UK thing, actually).

... no MC's brain Special Investigations has been used think of something else please.

Task Force [One/Three/Seven/Nine/other significant number], the Normalisation Division...

(I also though the Nonlinear Crimes Department, but that sounds like more of a time travel thing; I may just use it myself...)

37
Hrm. Iron definitely works, as he's Faepowered- I'm just wondering if anything else should be in there. On the other hand, Goblins only have "cold iron and the like," so we can probably stop there.

38
DFRPG / Re: New to DFRPG
« on: April 27, 2011, 10:34:03 AM »
Would some examples of Aspects people have for various characters help?

The way I'd tend to look at it is to have a couple of things- relationships and personality traits- which pretty much everyone's going to have some of; for example, my Changeling Wizard (Submerged game) has an Aspect for his relationship with his Sidhe father (Daddy Looks Out For Me), and character traits like one I called "I Can Get Some Shining Armour, If You Want."

People are often also going to have Things (Bearer of Amoracchius; Sword Of My Forefathers; My Mother's Silver Pentacle); in general, a lot of these are going to be quite obvious choices (something as significant as a Sword of the Cross is an Aspect...), though it can also be things that are just important to the character; the Sword Of My Forefathers doesn't need to be anything better than a normal sword in mechanical terms if it's a Big Thing to the character. If you're having trouble with character aspects, one option is to think of the sword of Thing that might matter to them, like Harry's silver pentacle.

The other big category I see is things you're character's good at or bad at- Shiro's Peerless Swordsman, for example. These are character-defining skills, and there can be some overlap with the personality traits- that Changeling Wizard I mentioned has Tomes, Not Teachers, 'cause he was raised in pretty much total seclusion by a wizard, so that's doing duty on Knowing Stuff About Magic Stuff, Not Knowing Stuff About Normal People Stuff, and Not Noticing Social Conventions. Again, a lot of these are going to come up from basic ideas about the character- if you want to make a mercenary sharpshooter, you can make that into an Aspect.

The last thing I want to say here is that there's always the option of putting something down that kinda fits, then playing for a while and changing things around if and when character traits that seem aspectworthy come out in play. If you've got a cheerful bodyguard, say, and you discover in play that as well as being protective, you're playing him a bit belligerent and likely to throw himself into fights, you can switch that in as an Aspect (First In, Last Out or something like that).

39
Personally, I'd say hiding in the shade of a tree or whatever's more Erlking style than actually going invisible.

Anyway, looks good! I was gonna say something about the "power or complexity" bit in Wyld Magic, but that's the same as Hellfire, so fair enough...

40
DFRPG / Re: Quick Question about the Martial Arts Stunt(s)
« on: April 26, 2011, 10:14:27 AM »
Well, they let you give stunts effects that are more like those of powers. A bit stronger, and not as limited to simple skill bonuses.

What's more, they let mortals specialize better.

Mortals should get cool stuff too.
Can't you just have stunts that do that without being locked into a tree structure?

41
DFRPG / Re: Faerie Knights and Catches
« on: April 26, 2011, 10:13:27 AM »
I think the discomfort aspect and the actual wounding aspect need to be taken seperately. It seems obvious to me, at least, that Seelie Magic can keep you warm (Evocation Manoeuvre: Comfortably Warm) and Unseelie keep you cool, but that's not the same as being seriously hurt by concentrated cold.

I see your argument about the Queens doing it, and if they were completely free to do exactly what they want, they'd probably do that- but consider that Fae magic may simply be unable to work like that. Look at it this way- in becoming Summer Knight, you have a little chunk of Summer's heat put inside you, and become like a Summer fae. That fire's at your core, it can keep you going when mortal slings and arrows would hurt you- but the icy chill of winter leaches that heat out and leaves you helpless...

Likewise the iron point. Sure, in a perfect world, the Summer Knight wouldn't be vulnerable to iron- but there are limitations on what even the Queens of Faerie can do. If all Fae magic is vulnerable to iron, then they simply won't be able to protect their Knights from it.

Finally, I'm not entirely sure the Knights are created to fight the other Court in a straight-up slugging match. I think they're supposed to be a little more complex than that- serving the will of their Court in ways the Fae are bound not to; I need to read Summer Knight again, but it seems that the Fae of the Courts can quite happily fight each other, they just normally don't because it's a cold war sort of situation.

42
DFRPG / Re: New to DFRPG
« on: April 26, 2011, 09:59:04 AM »
I'd argue a little against all the people saying "play self = bad".

Playing a character based on yourself is risky, and I wouldn't recommend it in most cases. A modern game like DFRPG, where it's easier to make a character who's quite literally You, is probably worse, but if you can get the disconnect in between gameself and realself, it can work.

I'm speaking here as someone who's enjoying doing slightly mean things to a version of myself in an Exalted game; thing is, he occupies a box in my head where he's basically got a personality much like mine, but I don't think of him as me. Done like that, it can work. But like I say, it's a risk, and it may be worth considering something else.

43
DFRPG / Re: How many have killed off PCs?
« on: April 26, 2011, 09:53:47 AM »
But he was crippled - forced to take an extreme consequence involving his hand and a fear of fire magic.

And if you replace "PC" with "Reoccurring Character" then there have been deaths and cripplings.  Murphy's partner - I thought he'd be wisecracking to the end of the series, but he went down in book two.  Knights of the Cross have constantly put themselves in the line of fire and (as of Small Favors) two of the swords lack welders.  Susan - who would have thought that the girlfriend who pushed her luck time after time would ever run out of luck and become RCI? Or Thomas, who's "All right, I'm captured" concession led to torture?

Think of those reoccurring characters as PCs and you'll see where the drama comes from.

Richard
Think of those reoccuring characters as PCs, and it's dramatic, yes. I agree that risk of character death is a method you can use to create drama; I don't think anyone'd argue that it doesn't work. What I'm saying is that there are alternatives. If you instead imagine that Harry and Murph are the PCs and everyone else is an NPC, you can see the sort of thing I mean
(click to show/hide)
; they don't die. Harry loses a hand, and that's a seriously dramatic occurence- but he goes on to be successful in his goals for that scene, as the Black Court gets kicked out of their hideout. Most of the drama is coming from the risk of failingtheir allies or the people around them, and this happens several times, as people've mentioned.

Hell, being captured looks to me like a perfectly reasonable Taken Out result for Thomas in that scene; being left completely at the opponent's mercy is a little further than I'd usually be willing to go on a Concession...

Essentially, what I'm trying to say here is that there are different ways of looking at this, and the risk of PC death isn't necessary. If it works for you, great! Have fun with your game! But that doesn't mean it's going to work for everyone.

44
DFRPG / Re: How many have killed off PCs?
« on: April 25, 2011, 05:16:11 PM »
If you're playing a game where you know that your character will not be crippled or killed - then where's the stakes? I'm not saying it needs Call of Cthulhu levels of PC death, but if you know that your PC will never die then where's the drama?

Except...

When Harry Dresden goes into a fight you know that people can get hurt and maybe die.  Over the series some reoccurring characters have been hurt, crippled, or killed.  Sometimes the innocent victim can't be saved.  Sometimes bystanders get hurt.
And yet Harry hasn't died. There are more ways to lose than being killed; sometimes losing a character who's mportant to the PC can be just as bad, or worse. I'm not saying that works for all games, it depends on the predilections of the group; but for some groups, it's the best way to do things. If I've spent a lot of time working on a character, I'd have a lot more fun if he fails tragically than if he dies, in general.

Exceptions exist- I have an L5R character who I'd be quite happy with dying in one particular plot thread, because it'd be deliciously tragic- but in general, I prefer my characters to fail, not die.

Your group may prefer the risk of the character dying, and that's fine- but it's not the case for everyone.

45
DFRPG / Re: Focus or Enchanted Item ?
« on: April 25, 2011, 03:21:51 PM »
They were, and they're in the Suggested Enchanted Items bit, too.

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