DFRPG - Convention Game

[kalanthros]

hey all

As it appears I'll be going to Conception 11 in January, I plan on running a couple of DFRPG scenarios during the course of the event. Problem is - I'm a little stuck as to how one should structure the adventures. Should I start with making the pre-gens first, some handouts with the key "features" of FATE?

Some advice from any of you con guru's would be awesome

Thanks in advance all!!

[WillH]

Make pregen characters, but skip the last phase or two. Have your players do those phases at the table. You can also leave some skill slots blank, allowing them to personalize their characters by filling in skills that are not necessary to their high concept as needed.

[Morgan]

I'll echo what WillH said about using nearly finished pregens, it's the way to go especially if people are new to the game. You can also use that last aspect or two to encourage the players to make connections to other PCs at the table by having them make the aspect be about another character.

I've also found that having some FATE/Dresden Files cheat sheets is very useful and pages 410-411 of Your Story is a great place to look. But I've also found that playing out an intro scene that highlights the mechanics is a good way to get people used to the system. Put them in a party, a bar, city steets, a spooky cemetery at night, wherever and then go around the table and let them place their characters in the scene and let them describe and role play their characters a bit, ask them questions and when they take an action that would call for a roll show them how the system works. Try and highlight Assessments & Declarations, Aspects, Fate Points and Compels, and a little bit of combat (Social, Physical, or Mental) and show them how Stress and Consequences and maybe Maneuvers work.

Also another great thing to have at a convention game is a bunch of blank index cards and some sharpies for the table. Use these for Aspects and encourage the players to write them out for themselves. When somebody makes an Assessment and asks you what Aspect they found out about the person, or scene, or whatever, hand them an index card and say "you tell me" and have them make up the Aspect for you. If somebody successfully Maneuvers let them name and write the Aspect. This really helps people start to understand how much power they have as players in this game and can open their eyes to the possibilities of the FATE mechanics and the Aspects that make the game sing.

[Todjaeger]

Having just run Dresden Files RPG at a convention, here are my suggestions.

Have handouts for the players giving a (brief) outline of the FATE system covering the following points:
Skills and difficulties
Aspects and Fate points
How to perform actions/checks
Explanation of Mortal Stunts and Supernatural Powers

I found that I could generally explain how to play the Dresden Files RPG in just a few minutes, as the basic rules are easy and intuitive.

I would also recommend providing Pre-Gen characters, but as others have suggested, leave some areas blank for the players themselves to finish and also customize.  This lets the players have much of the work of character creation done for them, yet still give them some room to add their own 'flavor' to the character, and it will also allow the player to fit the character into whatever their concept of the character should be.

For the Pre-Gens here are my recommendations:
1.  Provide the High Concept, Trouble, Background and Rising Action aspects, but leave the First Story aspects empty, and have them filled in during game play.
2.  Chose the skill tree to use, but leave some slots open for players to select (or rearrange) skills.  In other words, a Feet in the Water character (20 Skill pts, max of Great) can have 2@ each of Great, Good, Fair and Average, and you might only fill in 1 each of the Great, Good, Fair and Average with the slots left empty for the player to choose.
3.  Leave at least half the Refresh open for the Player to choose on their own.  This is where a good deal of the favour of a character can come from.  Additionally, you might have players that really want to/not want to play casters.  Leaving several Refresh open allows the players to choose what to do there.

As an example, I had a pair of one-shots which I ran which took place at the Grand Opening of a Harry Potter-themed cafe & bookshop called the Leaky Cauldron.  Running with the Harry Potter theme, the aspects for the characters as well as some of the skills were all based off some of the characters from the books or movies.  By allowing a fair amount of customization for the players, I ran the same thing for two completely different groups and entirely different outcomes.

[Nomad]

Laptop (or if you are lucky to have the book, the book) with important pages bookmarked; Skills, Stunts, Powers (If you are allowing them to choose their powers) and get them look at them to make the character fit.  
Little character story write-ups (If you are using pre-gen)
Magic Marker and a big plastic covered sheet for the middle of the table to draw upon (maybe 1 or 2 maps of the area prepared in the same way)


For the story, I think the Lazy GM works best in cons. Prepare a flashy entrance (to be played about 5 min into the game) and a satisfying end sequence (mine had being debriefed / thanked by wardens while mecdicos checked people scene, a classic "after the bad guy dies scene" done in White Council style ) Drop a couple of hints (The city sheet is wonderful for this) and let the players run wild with it.

To get the group together, you can use the "old pals" aspect (2 players are old pals, one knows the 3rd player and so on) or you can just use the flashy fight scene to throw them together and don't let them get off. (Unless someone is out to be a dick, you can get them together via broken down cars, traffic jams, police barricades and internet chatrooms .

[kalanthros]

Thanks a lot for the replies so far all!  These are helpful suggestions all   This'll be the first con game I've run outside of RPGA material, so I'm really looking forward to it.

Keep the suggestions coming though - I think what I'll end up doing is drafting the scenario/handouts, and posting a link here for suggestions/comments.

Thanks again!

[finarvyn]

Have handouts for the players giving a (brief) outline of the FATE system covering the following points:
Skills and difficulties
Aspects and Fate points
How to perform actions/checks
Explanation of Mortal Stunts and Supernatural Powers

If anyone makes some of these handouts, please share. I've got some folks I plan to teach FATE to and anything like this would save me some time....