Statting a Killer (Literally) Semi Truck

[Arcteryx]

Um, wow. +1 on the thread, and a gas tank that BLEEDS when its hit?

*shiver*

Awesome.

[Vryce]

The more i think about this the more great it sounds.  Its a battle of forces, wizard Hex's V/S Technomaoncy demons.  Ghost in the machines, Magnetic earth demon that can shape the Autos on the Island, Oil elementals, Gas(in gas form) elementals, Carbon monoxide demons.  Ohhh ya
Bulldozers, muscle cars, and cranes ohhh my!

[devonapple]

wizard Hex's V/S Technomaoncy demons. 

That's a good idea - I wonder if wizard Hexing could be another Catch option for the Toughness powers? Would they be handled as straight shifts of direct Stress damage for the killer truck? Should the Hexes remain "free" to cast, or should they cost Stress to overcome this spirit's power?

[admiralducksauce]

If I were doing that, I'd use Hexing as a normal evocation attack with the benefit being that it satisfies the Catch.

It's a moot point for me, as there are no wizards in my group of PCs but it's a good idea for anyone else considering demonic killdozers.

[Bruce Coulson]

Not sure a Wizard's Hex would work.  Although the original truck was powered by a diesel engine, it's more likely (or more terrifying) to have the killer-semi powered by the blood and souls of those it devours, with the gasoline and oil being burned as part of a 'truck guise' -0 Power.

What's left are the air brakes and mechanical links; very old technology.  If a wizard COULD hex them, undoubtedly the spirit would resist such efforts...

Put on George Thoroughgood's "Bad to the Bone" when the truck makes an appearance, for atmosphere.

[Vryce]

have the HEx work on just the lights... but the head lights are the only light source in the area.. evil grin

[Arcteryx]

have the HEx work on just the lights... but the head lights are the only light source in the area.. evil grin

BAHAHAHAHAHA

[zerogain]

Using player declarations for that is awesome.  I'm so used to making everything like the good D&D DM I am that I sometimes forget about the strength of the player narrative.

Put on George Thoroughgood's "Bad to the Bone" when the truck makes an appearance, for atmosphere.

That sealed it.  The truck lives in my game too.  A future story of course, but hell... I have got to do this now.

So Vryce mentions technomancy.  I wonder if we have a new branch of magic here?  We know (some guys)

(click to show/hide)

the Fomor from Even Hand and Aftermath

have access to a type of magic that is not hindered by running water, would it be possible for another strange series of entities to have magic that requires technology instead of being repulsed by it?  Would it clash directly with our standard magic from the books?  Would operators of this technomancy be able to directly oppose hexes from white council types as a block or armor?  There might be wizard hackers after all...

Throw that in and the truck could very well be a construct too, with the actual villains being technomages who control all the entities that Vryce mentions.

[devonapple]

So Vryce mentions technomancy.  I wonder if we have a new branch of magic here? ... Would it clash directly with our standard magic from the books?  Would operators of this technomancy be able to directly oppose hexes from white council types as a block or armor?  There might be wizard hackers after all...

Theoretically, these technomages and wizard hackers would be fighting an uphill battle to keep their magic and tech secure in a world where all a regular Wizard has to do is look at tech funny to make it break down. Though they would have to be able to create Wards as a Block against Hex effects, a magical EMP-proofing one could say.

But considering just how pervasive the Wizard-tech-Hexing is in the fiction, such a magical discipline would have a hard time getting established. Then again, cults seem to get by long enough to become a danger to the world, right?

[admiralducksauce]

I think that such a cult might have enough success getting up to the point where it was dangerous simply because most Council wizards seem to avoid technology.  A cult whose magic wards and then works with computers, databases, and other information technology could be exceedingly dangerous, well-funded overnight, and the Council probably wouldn't notice until the cult had a foothold established.

[Vryce]

I think it would be tough for those int he wizarding world to get the Technomancy thing going.... not imposable we are talking about magic, (as Dresden sees it) magic is just the manipulation of energy.  maybe someone with little power but a high degree of control could make it happen...
Now on the other hand, a nerd computer game playing hacker turn ghost, might be able to manipulate machines to such a degree that feels like Techomancy…
The internet gains awareness but only enough to gain a foot hold in the Nevernever…
There could even be a powerful earth magic that makes his item run via magnetic wards.  Its not really Technomancy but it looks like the car is moving with a engine..
I’m reaching on the last one but still lots of fun to think about.

[Belial666]

Fae magic, strangely enough, does not hex anything. Nor does any other type of non-mortal magic.



So, a group of changelings with Seelie or Unseelie magic can be quite good technomancers.

[Buscadera]

Personally, I liked the initial idea of the truck being some strange unknowable demonic entity rather than the summoned being of a strange new technomancy cult. It had a much more menacing vibe. When the session ended with the heroes victorious, the GM could describe how at the bottom of the cliff where the truck's crippled shell lay, a headlight began flickering ever so faintly...

But YMMV. One thing I like about the Dresdenverse is that almost anything can fit in as long as it isn't too goofy and that restriction is even lifted sometimes.

Fae magic, strangely enough, does not hex anything. Nor does any other type of non-mortal magic.

So, a group of changelings with Seelie or Unseelie magic can be quite good technomancers.

I have a Fae Con Man character written up with that as his shtick. He'll walk into a bank and request to withdraw a large sum of money, glamour the computer screen until he gets his cash and escape leaving everyone none the wiser.

[Richard_Chilton]

A quick note about wizards and technology:
Someone has put together a listing of everything that Jim Butcher has said publicly about the Dresdenverse and one of those thing is that the wizards v tech thing is recent.

From http://www.jimbutcheronline.com/bb/index.php/topic,21772.0.html
As technology advances, will wizards become marginalized?
It sort of depends on where magic goes.  Magic wasn’t always screwing up post WW2 tech.  Before WW2 magic had other effects.  It sorta changes slowly over time, and about every 3 centuries it rolls over into something else.  At one time, instead of magic making machines flip out it made cream go bad.  Before that magic made weird molls on your skin and fire would burn slightly different colors when you were around it.  I do mention this in Ghost story (in passing).  It’s not really aware or something like that, but it is something that changes along with the people who use it. 

----

Which hints that there could be someone out there using techno magic.

Richard

[admiralducksauce]

Personally, I liked the initial idea of the truck being some strange unknowable demonic entity rather than the summoned being of a strange new technomancy cult. It had a much more menacing vibe. When the session ended with the heroes victorious, the GM could describe how at the bottom of the cliff where the truck's crippled shell lay, a headlight began flickering ever so faintly...

Yeah!  Like the end of Christine, where the bumper starts bending itself back into shape.  For my own game, I don't really plan on explaining why there's an evil this or that trying to crush motorists.  But it's fun to throw around ideas.  My personal favorite, and maybe the one I'll go with if my players don't come up with something cooler, is that it's a runaway Horse of the Apocalypse.  Although honestly if I went that route I'd have to rip off Supernatural and use a Charger, Mustang, and then two of the remaining three cars I could find with horse names: Bronco, Ranger, and Pinto.