Appropriate foes for Up to the Knees Group?

[ashern]

Hey guys, ran an intro session explaining fate and doing character creation last week, and after looking at the characters I've got before me, I'm not sure about how much they can handle in the way of oponents.  They're a bunch of good characters, it's just that almost everyone's inexperienced in fate, and went the generalist route, so I've only got one character who's actually meant to handle a fight.

[Ala Alba]

Perhaps you should try some less experienced foes(lower skill levels), like an inexperienced Red Court Vampire or something.

[Morgan]

What are the characters and what is the Threat and the various Faces of the City in your game? Simply throwing out monsters and bad guys suitable to low power levels seems like it would be pretty useless without some context.

Also remember that your players should be encouraged to tinker with their characters the first few sessions, especially if their very new to FATE. If their character isn't working the way they envisioned it help them make the changes they need to their Aspects, Powers, Stunts, and Skills until they match the concept. I've been playing and running FATE for years and I still had to tinker with my first DFRPG character for a session or two before I got him to the place I wanted.

[ashern]

Well, I've got six characters (five people usually per session)
-Werebear (only combat saavy character), strength, really tough
-Sorcerer (inexperienced), not combat saavy, likes making wards
-Hedge wizard, potion tastic but no combat skills
-Scion con artist- glamours and wings, no combat skills
-Mortal Journalist (TV/academic type, investigating the supernatural)
-Chupa-were (think terra west, as a teenager who was a chupacabra... if she like philosophy)

only physical powers on the table are the bear, and almost no one has good combat skills.  That being said, it seems like this group would be perfect for the "research and prepare" strategy, since three people have good+ lore, and relavent aspects.

[Belial666]

Start low. Try a pair of ghouls on them - one for the Bear, the other for all the rest.

Then enter them into a social or mental conflict, perhaps with a white-court vampire that the ghouls seem to have captured that is now playing the "damsel in distress".
If they lose the social conflict (which they shouldn't immediately know, the "damsel" is not unmasked and also manages to convince them to search for and find an artifact for her. If they win, the "damsel" is unmasked and when they ask why she tried to dupe them, she mentions an artifact that several groups are trying to find.

Then have the group do the research on the artifact and try to find it. The campaign can go on from there.

[Morgan]

Alright looks like a bunch of interesting characters, and they may not have a lot of physical combat skills but it sounds like they have a fair amount of magical power and certainly a lot of them sound like they should have good investigative and social skills. So my suggestion would be to make an investigation game and bring in the Dresden supernatural touches and don't worry about a big combat encounter until the end when they confront the monster. And by that point they should have made all sorts of assessments, declarations, and maneuvers to put aspects on the game and discovered the monster's catch and should be able to destroy it if they work together.

Also keep in mind that one of the beauties of DFRPG is that taking out an opponent with any type of stress takes them out. Talking someone down is just as effective mechanically as punching them in the face. I had a player make an attack on a black court vampire by attacking his Hunger stress by drawing blood at her own throat and making a Rapport seduction roll, which allowed the other more physically capable characters to finish him off. So some of those characters might not be as weak as you think.

[luminos]

That actually looks like a fairly balanced group.  The magic practitioners, I predict, will be a lot more potent in combat than you realize.  Good opposition for the group includes ghouls, white court vampires, red court vampires, and various faeries.  The fae in particular will be good opponents, since social skills and investigation are as important for dealing with them as combat abilities.

[JustinS]

Start them against mortals?
Run in with a street gang with moderate skills and hand weapons.
One or two named opponents with a combat stunt and something interesting, and some nameless people.
Not likely to be too scary or complicated, and makes powers stand out...

[crusher_bob]

Your best bet is going through and making a short list of the combat abilities of the different characters.  The list should include:

Initiative (normally awareness, but modified by speed powers, etc)

Defenses: normally athletics, with notes on fists or weapons is they are higher
And any 'standard' evocation related defenses

Attacks:
Attack control/targeting ability along with base damage

Stress boxes:
how many stress boxes the PCs has, if they commonly have armor, catches, recovery powers etc.  So you see who among the party you can hit hard to scare everyone else.

[kalanthros]

Also keep in mind too the chart in the back of the book with regards to difficulties. This can be used to gauge the "power level" of the foes you pit your group against. Fx: If your characters have Good Fists skills, an opponent with Good Defenses will be an even challenge, Great Defenses will be a bit of a challenge (possibly causing your PCs to use a Fate Point/Tags/Invokes to beat).

[CableRouter]

Hey guys, ran an intro session explaining fate and doing character creation last week, and after looking at the characters I've got before me, I'm not sure about how much they can handle in the way of oponents.  They're a bunch of good characters, it's just that almost everyone's inexperienced in fate, and went the generalist route, so I've only got one character who's actually meant to handle a fight.

Going by the rule on YS336 to build bad guys by adding up all the points spent on powers and subtracting points spent on stunts for a mixed group; the bad guys for my players are all supposed to have negative refresh.   

[Nomad]

I would advise you to place a few unrelated hooks here and there for the group to stumble upon. (like a barfight for the bear, a contract or an eviction notice for the potion maker and so on) to get the things rolling. Let the party stumble around a few natural / slightly friendly locations like a bookstore, netural pub etc with some low grade "quests" like a pickpocket or such to ease them into the system. Then get the storry rolling and put them against a (slightly supernatural assisted) gang to defend some place.
The party should be pretty strong  with a planned defence and some prep so it shouldnt be too hard for a first run.

Don't be afraid to cheat if things don't work out. fiddle with the dice if your bad guys are too strong foır the party. Also don't bother with detailed plans. Just wave "a good story" under the reporters nose and some books for "the hedge wizard" and "sorcerer". They will pull the party along in no time. Just don't be obvious about the carrots you show to the party. Let them "evesdrop" on a secret conversation about the old books or newsworth story or plain old cash .

[mostlyawake]

Mortals can actually be an interesting challenge for a magic heavy group.  It seems counter-intuitive, but attempting to not break the Laws while still neutralizing a threat can be a challenge.  Consider this:  if you physically restrain your opponent, fine.  If you restrain them and then shoot them, Law Breaker!   Shooting at pcs from multiple zones makes it harder to just say "um I use earth magic to bind everyone in my zone."

Plus, while many mortals will wave away their memories of magic, some will become clued-in mortals with a desire for revenge, giving you more fodder for later.