Oathbinding Question

[blackheart]

"I swear by my magic I will buy this game the first day it is available."

Ya' know, when Harry or another wizard swears an oath on their magic, and if they break their word it affects their powers. (Harry and his fairy godmother in Grave Peril comes to mind as the best example.) How's that going to work in rules terms?

And on a semi-related subject, what about home thresholds and leaving your powers weak if you enter without permission?

Thanks.

[iago]

"I swear by my magic I will buy this game the first day it is available."

Ya' know, when Harry or another wizard swears an oath on their magic, and if they break their word it affects their powers. (Harry and his fairy godmother in Grave Peril comes to mind as the best example.) How's that going to work in rules terms?

And on a semi-related subject, what about home thresholds and leaving your powers weak if you enter without permission?

Both of these are questions that would require quoting directly from the text to get into much detail. I'd prefer to avoid doing that much beyond what I do below.

The game rules for oaths involves hanging some heavy baggage off your character's High Concept aspect. You break an oath, and your aspect starts punching you in the gut repeatedly, so to speak, without the usual rewards but all of the impact: "... breaking a binding oath is an act of utter violence against who you are. It will often be appropriate to reflect this as an extreme consequence (page 205) that actually changes who you are permanently; on the other hand, you may decide the broken oath is part and parcel of your current high concept. Either way, you are now open to frequent compels as the oath-holder collects its due."

Our threshold model operates on four different modes, depending on what's the supernatural creature is trying to do and what the supernatural creature IS.

[TheMouse]

Neat.

[blackheart]

Thanks, Fred. I apprecate the post.
I guess I'm getting a little greedy for info. Just have to wait for the full meal rather than asking for more appitizers. 

I'm begining to see how the DFRPG is going to be the IPhone of the the gaming world.
Spellcasting? There's an app for that.
Ritualcasting? There's an app for that.
Shapeshifting? There's an app for that.
Threshholds? (OK, you get the idea.)

[Kali]

Both of these are questions that would require quoting directly from the text to get into much detail. I'd prefer to avoid doing that much beyond what I do below.

The game rules for oaths involves hanging some heavy baggage off your character's High Concept aspect. You break an oath, and your aspect starts punching you in the gut repeatedly, so to speak, without the usual rewards but all of the impact: "... breaking a binding oath is an act of utter violence against who you are. It will often be appropriate to reflect this as an extreme consequence (page 205) that actually changes who you are permanently; on the other hand, you may decide the broken oath is part and parcel of your current high concept. Either way, you are now open to frequent compels as the oath-holder collects its due."

Our threshold model operates on four different modes, depending on what's the supernatural creature is trying to do and what the supernatural creature IS.

Considering I'm writing a Dresden fic in which breaking an oath sworn on one's power plays a major part, I'm really curious how the RPG handles this, too.

Hurry up! >.<

[iago]

We're goin' as fast as we can!

[blackheart]

The game rules for oaths involves hanging some heavy baggage off your character's High Concept aspect.

Wait, let me get this straight... your High Concept is also an Aspect?

So in addition to the Aspects you choose as part of your backstory and guest-staring stories, the main idea of your character also counts as an offical Aspect?

Like "Chosen Prodigy of the White Council" would BOTH be a catch-all concept and a Invoke/Compel/Tag Aspect, yes?

[iago]

Wait, let me get this straight... your High Concept is also an Aspect?

So in addition to the Aspects you choose as part of your backstory and guest-staring stories, the main idea of your character also counts as an offical Aspect?

Like "Chosen Prodigy of the White Council" would BOTH be a catch-all concept and a Invoke/Compel/Tag Aspect, yes?

Bingo. A DF character is composed of 7 aspects: the ones you get from the backstory (5), your high concept (1), and your recurring trouble (1).

[blackheart]

Huh, for whatever reason that never clicked for me until now.

Must.... need... more.... coffee.....

Cool. Thanks Fred. (Of course, if I had thought about it, the Temptation of Power trouble for Harry makes perfect sense as an aspect.) I'm gonna have to do some heavy thinking about some of my character ideas now.

[Carabas]

Bingo. A DF character is composed of 7 aspects: the ones you get from the backstory (5), your high concept (1), and your recurring trouble (1).

Can I invoke my recurring trouble to get re-rolls or a +2 bonus? Or can it be only tagged and compelled?

[iago]

Can I invoke my recurring trouble to get re-rolls or a +2 bonus? Or can it be only tagged and compelled?

Depends on how creative you are and how lenient the GM is, really. A character's Trouble aspect is certainly weighted, by its nature, towards tagging and compelling. But consider Harry's "Temptation of Power" aspect.  I can totally see him invoking that one whenever he *gives in* and grabs the power. In fact, the boost he gets from doing so is *part* of that temptation, right?