Could someone explain Feeding Dependency to me?

[Bernd]

Hey Guys!

New to this forum, (relatively) new to The Dresden Files (I still have most books to read) and new to Fate. The books are great and so is the RPG. I've rarely seen a RPG created with so much love. Anyways, I have troubles understanding Vampires and the Feeding Dependency (at least rules-wise). So here are my questions:

1. How can Vampires (no matter if Red, White or any other Court) clear their Hunger stress track? As I read the rules only by being one scene absent as under "Failure Recovery". Does "The Taste of Death" also clear the Hunger track? Are there any other ways of clearing the track, like just using the "Drinking Blood" power?

2. Just for clarity's sake: You make the "feeding failure" check only when you have used one of your abilities, that are attached to the Feeding Dependency, right? So Inhuman Strength triggers that check, while "Feeding Touch" or "Drinking Blood" doesn't. So you cannot make a roll with +0 if you don't use any powers (maybe just in order to clear your Hunger stress track). Did I get it right?

The next to questions deal with understanding. Since english is not my mother tongue, I'm not sure if I get it right.

3. At the end of the first paragraph unter "Feeding Dependency" (p. 190) it says: "If you take this ability, it "attaches" to most if not all of your supernatural powers except for those from this category (at least 2 points' worth)." So the powers under "Vampirism" are not attached to the Feeding Dependency, and other powers only if they are worth at least two points? (I'm not sure where the 2 points belong to. To the powers not in this category, or to the powers in this category...)

4. The last paragraph under "Limited Reserves". What does it mean at all? A shot into the dark: When I have lost one or more powers and am in a stressful situation, I have to check for feeding failure, even if I haven't used any of my powers, with a value half of the refresh-rates of my lost powers. So let's say I lost some powers worth 4 points (all together). Now I had to fight, but did not use one of my remaining abilities. After the scene I have to check for feeding failure (+2). Did I understand it correctly?

Thanks in advance for your answers. And thanks for such a wonderful role-playing-game.

[Michael,HandofGod]

1.  Vampires may skip a scene for each point of stress, successfully make a Discipline check at the end of a scene in which they use their powers to clear it (which seems odd to me, but w/e), or kill  someone by feeding on them to clear the track in one scene.

2.  Yes, you have to use an ability to make a check.

3.  The book is saying that your vampirism powers do not depend on feeding, as most of them are related to feeding--it would be kind of silly to have to feed in order to be able to feed...endless cycle of destruction, there.  However, at least 2 refresh points' worth of powers must be taken in other, non-Vampiric categories, and at least 2 refresh points' worth of these powers must depend on feeding.  For example, you could not take only Emotional Vampire and Shadow Cloak, because Shadow Cloak only costs one refresh point.  However, you could take Emotional Vampire and Supernatural Toughness.

4.  This one might be up to GM interpretation, but as I understand it, a sufficiently stressful or emotional situation can call for a Hunger roll.  The difficulty value, I think, is half of all your powers that depend on your Feeding Dependency.  That is how I interpret "the affected powers."  However, it might also refer to only the powers that have been 'lost.'  If the second interpretation is correct, then so is your example.  If the first is correct, then you would have to check for feeding failure against half the value of all your abilities that depend on your Vampirism.

Hope this helps!

[Bernd]

Hope this helps!

Yeah, a lot. Thanks! But one more question:

1.  Vampires may skip a scene for each point of stress, successfully make a Discipline check at the end of a scene in which they use their powers to clear it (which seems odd to me, but w/e), or kill someone by feeding on them to clear the track in one scene.

They regain one point of a lost power per scene, not one point of the stress track. With "kill someone by feeding", you mean the "Taste of Death" power or killing someone during one scene while absent? Does it make any difference?

4.  This one might be up to GM interpretation, but as I understand it, a sufficiently stressful or emotional situation can call for a Hunger roll.  The difficulty value, I think, is half of all your powers that depend on your Feeding Dependency.  That is how I interpret "the affected powers."  However, it might also refer to only the powers that have been 'lost.'  If the second interpretation is correct, then so is your example.  If the first is correct, then you would have to check for feeding failure against half the value of all your abilities that depend on your Vampirism.

I think the first (your) interpretation makes more sense. I think I'll go with that.

[Deadmanwalking]

There's no actual mechanical distinction between emptying stress boxes and regaining Powers. They're synonymous. And yeah, killing someone by either method will empty your stress track...and generally not be considered an appropriate act.

[Bernd]

There's no actual mechanical distinction between emptying stress boxes and regaining Powers.

Are you sure about this? In the book it says (p. YS190):

"You can recover your lost abilities at the rate of up to one point per scene so long as you opt out of the scene, essentially because you are spending it feeding. You can regain all of your lost abilities in one scene if you feed so forcefully as to kill a victim outright. In either case, your hunger stress clears out completely, and any consequences that resulted from feeding failure vanish regardless of the usual recovery time."

I read this as "clear the complete stress track and one point of lost abilities per scene in which you don't kill anyone". Am I reading it wrong?

[KOFFEYKID]

What he said was basically "there is no difference between clearing your stress boxes and regaining your powers. When you clear your stress boxes, you regain your powers, when you regain your powers, you clear an equal amount of stress boxes."

He was saying that the two are intrinsically tied together.

-edit-

Also, my Red Court Vamp with a Soul is probably about to kill a red court infected (if he refuses to join the Fellowship of St. Giles. The guy almost lost control and killed a coed, which is basically the scene in which she found him). If she does have to kill him, it'll be via blood drinking.

[Deadmanwalking]

KOFFEYKID's right about what I was saying, but re-reading it, I think Bernd is right about how it actually works. Huh. Ah, well, the distinction is primarily academic in any case, the powers are what you need to recover, with the stress almost universally a secondary concern.

[Bernd]

Ah, well, the distinction is primarily academic in any case, the powers are what you need to recover, with the stress almost universally a secondary concern.

Yep. But, as I mentioned, English is not my mother tongue, so I have to read very carefully and I have to care about such distinctions in order to understand what is written.