By the way, how does this sound for a potion component for something involving water and cold?
An unfrozen tear shed by Queen Mab...

Love it! This is definitely quest worthy and has all sorts of story potential.

I am still fond of the d20 Modern Critical Locations. It is not free, but still a good resouse since it contains maps for many of the places you are likely to need: Police station, Morgue, Convention Center, High School, Fast Food Restaurant, Ocult Shop,as well as several residences of various sizes and a boat 

... the three swords are Special... They were made to counter the influence of 30 Fallen Angels that are partly free from Hell . If you're looking for "This guy was picked by God to fight evil" there's an entire section of powers in the book dealing with Faith.  It's just that only three of them get Swords.

I'd say rather that Only the Knights of the Cross are chosen to wield those particular swords.  As Bujin said:

The mythology of the Knights of the Cross is specifically tied to the three nails that Jesus was crucified with, pitted against foes representing the Judas' 30 pieces of silver. 

So, while I wouldn't alter anything regarding those swords or their wielders, I do believe that there is room in the Dresdenverse and certianly room in your game if you so desire for other holy or magic swords and their weilders.  Literature is full of examples, St. Joan being only one of them.

In my campaign, the players have recently uncovered information about an unknown branch of the Order of Santiago which was not secularized in the sixteenth century, but instead continues to watch over four Swords of the Saints: Joyeuse, Durandal, Curtana and Almace, and their potential wielders. [Note:  I chose these with reference to the Song of Roland and each contains relics of a specific patron saint.]
Of course, Charlemagne’s sword is said to have been buried with him, and Curtana is currently in Ultima Thule… 

Through Contacts, Resources, Burglary, Craftmanship, and other possibly-applicable skills, a gunman can buy/steal/make something to let them use their apex skill on a beastie.  At least they SHOULD be able to.

Can I ask what you expected the shooter to do once he emptied his mag on the monster?  Would any Weapon rating be enough to harm it (ie, did it have Physical Immunity)?  Because enough stacked maneuvers and the right ammo will fuck up anyone's day.  Ask Kincaid.

You are right, of coarse. However, in this case just fireing more rounds of the same ammunition, with the same guns skill, using the same semi-automatic pistol wasn't going to change anything.  Would it matter if a hired hitter fired two or even twelve rounds into Harry's leather duster?


As for what I expected him to do... I'm not sure. I guess I was hoping for; "What IS that thing?" and "Why could my friend take out an eye with a jagged piece of flint?"  or maybe just that he would act more like a True Believer  -- he had Holy Water, time to pray etc. -- and less like a GTM.

Work on your descriptions.  "You land a perfect strike to the neck but your sword scrapes ineffectively across the armored scales." is more to the point than "No damage, next!".

Actually, as the persistent attacks were all gun shots it was more of "Alright, you hit him square in the torso. He rocks back about half a pace and you see his head turn in your direction."  which led to three more rounds (no pun intended) of ineffective gunfire.

Meanwhile, the Focused Practitioner, having failed to produce much reaction from a six shift blast of wind, decided to change his tactics.  He aimed his next shot at the side of the path and angled it to kick up dust and debris.  This bought them a round free of retaliation and another bit of information as they saw a snake-like tongue flicker out to clear his/its eyes. 

This player then proceeded to grab a handful of sharp pebbles etc. and launch them directly at the nearer eye.  After that, he aimed a telekinetic burst, not at the opponent, but at the structure next to him  -- a sort of Wicked Witch of the West solution; although he did not drop an entire house on it – just a decorative wooden beam and some plaster.   
And all this time, the other player continued to empty a clip. One of us is definitely missing something. 

Do your characters have any Aspects with respect to a legal approach? Would the child and the characters acting as her guardians not have proper documentation? Would the characters not have covered the legal aspect in the first place or made it much much more difficult?

Yes... maybe and it's complicated.  We already had the custody question playing out in the background, involving legal claims and issues from two different states.


You see, the mother (cultist) tended to regard the kid primarily as property to be dedicated, sold or sacrificed as she chose. The father [listed on the birth certificate as unknown] was a Changeling who when he discovered this, managed to steal the child away through the Nevernever at the cost of his life.
The result was that the girl was found in New Mexico apparently abandoned, no known identity (and no matches on missing children databases) and showing signs of abuse/neglect.  She became a ward of the state and Betty, the doctor PC, became her foster mother and legal guardian.

Since then, the mother has come forward claiming custody working through the court system in her home state as well as behind the scenes with cultist minions lurking in the bushes.   Betty has hired both a lawyer and a PI. She has also been is taking the child to a therapist and working closely with Social Services – in short doing everything right to advance her petition to adopt. 

Now, we get to add the evil law firm and whole media circus – although I doubt Betty would consent to appear on television.  Still, that won’t stop nosy reporters from ambushing her outside the court, or at work or possibly even at her home.

Thanks everyone for their various insights and advice. It has been very helpful.  I had not previously considered such things as the player being agnostic as possible factors.  I finally had a chance to talk to him last night and while he did not choose to confide what is really bothering him, he did say that I shouldn’t worry about it and gave the impression that it was not, or was only peripherally game related.  He also agreed that this type of conflict is and should be part of role-playing, and even went on to reminiscence about similar situations he himself had devised as a GM.   

Meanwhile, other players are also involved in the current plot and have devised solutions like those proposed by Drachasor and UmbraLux. The doctor who now the child’s  foster mother and wants to legally adopt her has decided to have “Ellie” baptized in her own church, thus dedicating her to God in order to counter any demonic influence and protect both the child and her right to make her own choices.  In fact, she insisted on explaining it all to the child first, and asking her consent.  [The girl agreed on the condition that she wouldn’t have to live at the church and was allowed to bring her stuffed rabbit to the ceremony.]

The other question which was addressed was that of the child’s soul; did she have one? was it / or could it be claimed? Two PCs, the Doctor and the Ghostspeaker, clearly agree with Paynesgrey on this question and don’t understand why the others are harboring doubts. The Focused Practitioner is doing research, and the Were-cougar (who is taciturn at the best of times) seems to be ignoring the whole debate and just guarding the child and her home.  By the end of the session, it appeared that the True Believer had decided to join him. His character reported to the local head of his order and declared that for now, he intended simply to watch.

So, overall the dilemma/test  has become more protracted than I initially expected, but since the sword he wants to claim is the sword of patience/endurance that may not be inappropriate. I also like Ren’s suggestion for the final test if that is not too difficult for the player who remains somewhat distracted, but did seem more connected to both his character and the group. 
I guess we’ll have to see what happens, and if one of the other characters does become responsible for the kid… well, the cult is still out there, and her natural mother, and who knows who else might take an interest?

[quote Always in motion is the future [/quote]