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Messages - ryanroyce

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31
DFRPG / Re: City Themes: Denver
« on: July 12, 2010, 02:04:32 AM »
Quote from: Fedifensor on July 11, 2010, 06:31:24 PM
The second theme is "Sunny Days, Bloody Nights".  With 300+ days of sunshine every year, the Summer Court is very strong in Denver*.

* Though the Winter Court has the occasional victory - we get a big snowstorm every few years that brings things to a halt in the city for days at a time.

I find it a bit odd that you think Summer would be very strong in Denver.  Admittedly, I've only spent a 2-hour layover in Denver, but just from the city's average temperature levels I'd say it is comparable to Chicago.  I mean, from the looks of it, you have real winters there and everything, so a balance of the Courts would seem appropriate.

OTOH, I live in Atlanta, sometimes referred to as Hotlanta.  Last year, I comfortably wore a short-sleeve t-shirt on New Year's Eve.  Atlanta is lucky to have two whole days of snowfall per year, and even then it'll barely amount to more than an inch or so.  ~5 inches of snow is considered "severe".  Note that on Atlanta's average temperature levels entry, the bottom of the chart is 30`, not 10`.  So there! ;)

I'm not seriously being critical, of course, just engaging in some good-humored regional ****-waving.  ;D

32
DFRPG / Re: Really Magic Computer
« on: July 11, 2010, 11:57:42 PM »
Quote from: CMEast on July 11, 2010, 08:55:19 PM
Good call, I really like the computer from the Discworld series :)

 Hell, that computer is even named Hex.  ;D

33
DFRPG / Re: Taking Social Consequences as Backlash?
« on: July 10, 2010, 05:24:28 PM »
Quote from: CMEast on July 10, 2010, 02:57:18 PM
Most characters, either PC or NPC, have a weakness of some sort; either physical, mental or social. If a character is great in physical conflict but awful as social conflict, can it really be a weakness if you rule that any social loss immediately becomes a physical conflict?

I mean sure, for PC's that can be a bad thing, but if your group has reached the final act in their campaign and the boss is (literally) a monster in combat then can he never be defeated in a social conflict at all? Do social conflict-based characters have to sit on the bench while the guy with the katana and trenchcoat does all the work?

Sure, I guess you could say it's the GM's fault for not creating a bad guy that can be defeated socially, but few NPC's will stop misbehaving after a stern talking to.

 As I've mentioned before, the trick is in making physical conflict circumstantially impossible, highly undesirable, or wholly inappropriate.  This is why oaths of safe passage and the like are so important; they take violence off the table.  For example, when Harry and Susan were at the gala in Death Masks, the security guards didn't want to make a scene in front of Chicago's upper crust.  Harry and Susan couldn't afford to make a scene, either.  Thus, Conflict w/o a Violence option.

34
DFRPG / Re: Multiple catches
« on: July 10, 2010, 02:47:01 AM »
I also think that cold iron should be a +4 Catch, due to the widespread default use of iron/steel in most weapons and it being almost common knowledge.  Sure, a mortal in China or Egypt wouldn't necessarily know about the fae and iron, but many folks in the West and almost everyone in Great Britain would know this.  More to the point, it can be considered common knowledge for any player character, regardless of cultural origin.

Furthermore, learning more about fairy weaknesses is just a Google search or two away, not hidden in some dusty occult bookstore somewhere.


35
DFRPG / Re: Taking Social Consequences as Backlash?
« on: July 09, 2010, 11:08:29 PM »
Quote from: Ophidimancer on July 09, 2010, 08:14:54 PM
But Conceding means that you lost the conflict and cannot continue.  Continuing to attack while in the same scene would contradict that.

 Tell you what, try walking into a seedy biker bar and striking up a battle of wits with the toughest guy there, whose verbal machete extends no further than "Yo Mama" insults.  Do you think getting verbally shamed in front of his pals is going to make him more or less likely to mop the floor with you? 

Game mechanics are no substitute for common sense.  Like Al Capone said, "you'll get more of what you want with a kind word and a gun, than just a kind word."

36
DFRPG / Re: Taking Social Consequences as Backlash?
« on: July 09, 2010, 08:09:39 PM »
 I'd still argue that any opponent can usually just Concede a social conflict with a result of "I Get Pissed Off and Attack" or similar.  Concessions are determined by the target, remember, so responding with angry violence may be a perfectly valid response to whatever the attacker is saying, depending upon the circumstances.  This is why, in the novels, social conflicts usually erupt at times when violence isn't possible, is highly undesireable, or is wholely innappropriate; the circumstances are arranged to prevent violence (either intentionally or not).

37
DFRPG / Re: Taking Social Consequences as Backlash?
« on: July 08, 2010, 11:16:48 PM »
Quote from: Ophidimancer on July 08, 2010, 05:11:33 PM
Taken Out is Taken Out, yes?

 Not necessarily.  I mean, you simply cannot be killed with Social attacks.  As the trade-off, Social attacks won't get you arrested (with few exceptions).  There's a reason that most Social Conflicts in the novels usually involve some very good reason why violence isn't an option (or at least a highly undesirable one).

Quote
Not if the descriptions happen to be able to be modeled by the rules.  When Harry pisses someone off enough to make a mistake, or bluff's them with a display of power, even after a physical fight has started, that's him making a Social attack to try and Take Out an opponent.

 Or Harry mouths off to the wrong person, who then simply pulls out a gun and attempts to ventilate his brain.  Or goes to cut his throat while he's bound under running water.

Quote
I think I disagree, both for real life and for game purposes.  I think that Taken Out is Taken Out, no matter which Stress track you attack.  Obviously trying to threaten someone with physical violence when physical violence has already broken out is useless, but that just means one needs to get more creative with one's social attacks.  Maybe making some grand display of martial prowess, magical might, or social leverage (blackmail material?) would work.  After all, that thug attacking you might not respond well to physical threats, but what if you pull out a picture of his daughter and imply nasty things, maybe he'll think twice, he might even get Taken Out, or Concede.

 Yeah, *IF* you have a picture of their daughter or some other genuine leverage.  Without that, they can simply respond to your empty threats with an immediate Concession of the social conflict (the specifics of which are up to them) and get back to the violence.  For example, Harry considers the Nickelheads to be treacherous by default, so no amount of Rapport or Deceit will ever get him to simply "take their word for it".  Thus, Nico needs to bring something else to the table, such as revealing that he knows Molly is standing by the sink, to convince Harry that he might have a sniper in the tree house taking aim at her.  Harry could call Nico's bluff, but is it worth the risk? 

 For the sake of argument, let's assume that Nico was bluffing and Harry did call him on it.  Effectively, Harry Conceded that conflict to Nico, but since Nico didn't actually have the sniper in place, it didn't matter.

38
DFRPG / Re: Potions on contact
« on: July 04, 2010, 05:51:38 PM »
Quote from: GruffAndTumble on July 04, 2010, 12:10:08 AM
Actually, I would argue the electric chain is not magical at all, simply a clever use of physics and a quick telekinesis-style spell. Interestingly, however, the best way to represent that is through potions! So one could say a "gadget" could also fit under a potion slot.

 Except that potions may only be created by wizards/casters/folks-with-potion-slots.  If a given "gadget" could be created by a pure mortal, such as a balloon filled with holy water, then calling it a potion would be incorrect, IMO.

39
DFRPG / Re: Optional dice rolling system for those without Fudge Dice
« on: June 28, 2010, 10:16:19 PM »
Quote from: UltraTroll on June 28, 2010, 07:33:11 PM
Wow really? Ummm, yeah... so let me get this straight you come up with some insane system to use regular D6s for FUDGE Dice. My group we do not use FUDGE dice we use regular D6s following what what page 16 in Your Story book says:

So when rolling a D6 the result is the following:
  • 1,2 = -
  • 3,4 = 0
  • 5,6 = +

Before I got my set of Fudge dice, I used a slight variation on that system.  
1,6 = +
2,5 = <null>
3,4 = -

This keeps the matching values on opposite sides of the die, just as a real Fudge die does.  It's nit-picky as hell and I don't even need to do this anymore, but there it is anyway.

40
DFRPG / Re: Damage vs. Bypass: Expanding the Catch
« on: June 26, 2010, 01:44:38 PM »
The decision to award or not award a Fate Point is determined by a simple question, "does the aspect complicate the character's life?"  If yes, then Fate Point.  If no, then no Fate Point.  Everything else is just decoration.  If a skilled psychomancer has access to a captured NPC and has to decide between rifling through his thoughts the easy way or interrogating him the hard way, then the mage gets a Fate Point for choosing the hard way or the Lawbreaker power for choosing the easy way. 

When it comes to killing NPCs with magic, remember that even mooks have the full suite of consequences (mild, minor, severe, and extreme).  The practice of letting mooks Concede after taking only a mild consequence is a narrative device to separate the weak from the strong and keep the game moving at a brisk pace.  So, if a wizard hits one of Nico's tongueless minions with a gout of flame, then consequences are applied as normal, up to and including an extreme consequence.  If even the extreme won't save the brute, then it is perfectly reasonable that death is the only acceptable result of such an attack and the wizard breaks the First Law.  If the brute can take enough consequences to avoid a Taken Out result and then follows it up with a Concession, then the wizard did not kill with magic and does not earn Lawbreaker.  They may be crippled, maimed or just severely burned, and they may yet die from an infection or other complication, but such a death would not be directly caused by magic insofar as the Lawbreaker power is concerned (the White Council may see things differently, ahem). 

So long as everyone at the table knows this at the start, then there's an objective line between killed and not-killed that doesn't require house rules or GM adjudication.  It also serves as a nice line between murder and assault in regards to mortal law, too.

41
DFRPG / Re: Transportation magic?
« on: June 24, 2010, 11:55:39 PM »
Quote from: Wyrdrune on June 24, 2010, 01:05:35 PM
are you sure? i don't have the pdfs with me at the moment, nor can i remember to have read something like that. i always thought, the opening of ways is only via thaumaturgy and anyone who wants to do it quick (by the rules of the rpg (the novels may bend the rules a bit)) has to find a sponsor related to travelling or the nevernever.

 Nah, the novels have far too many examples of holes being opened to the Nevernever instantly for them to be restricted to Thaumaturgy.  Sure, a thaumaturgic portal would be better than an evocation portal, but that's just par for the course.

42
DF Books / Re: Did you discover the books because of the TV Show?
« on: June 22, 2010, 02:41:47 AM »
Neither!  I discovered the books because my GM is *big* fan of the FATE RPG system (and Spirit of the Century in particular) and he decided to run a Dresden Files game.  I started reading the books so I could build a suitable character and wolfed them down heartily.  Thus, Mr. Butcher has Mr. Hicks to thank for my (and my GM's) readership! :)

43
DFRPG / Re: # Consequences
« on: June 21, 2010, 03:36:17 AM »
:shrug: I'm not contesting the official rule, but I still think it's a bit silly.  Mental and social consequences can be debilitating in a fight, no doubt, but that should be represented by the boxer's opponent exploiting them with tags/invokes/compels, not by the boxer suddenly having a glass jaw.  Again, :shrug:.  Changing it would likely disrupt the balance of too many things, so I'm not suggesting that it should be changed without significant consideration, but that doesn't make it any less silly, IMO.

44
DFRPG / Re: More Minor/ Mundane Effects
« on: June 21, 2010, 03:20:23 AM »
I was referring specifically to the two spells I suggested.  Every time he's whined about his cold showers, the discomfort of his duster in summer, or the chilliness of his basement lab, I've  ::).  Magic could easily fix these problems with just a little (really little) bit of ingenuity.  It's just another one of Harry's blind spots, IMO.

45
DFRPG / Re: # Consequences
« on: June 20, 2010, 07:39:27 PM »
Yeah, it took me a while to realize this as well.  While I find it rather silly that being fooled with deceit somehow makes you less able to take a punch (or vice versa), it is how the game works.

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