The Big Bad and surviving round 1

[Fedifensor]

Okay, so I'm running the final to our campaign's second Dresden Files adventure.  The heroes have figured out that the big bad (a Red Court noble) is in hiding in an old mansion, and they plan to go after him.  So, barring surprises on their part, the characters will end up facing the RCV on his home turf, after having plenty of time to plan and prepare.  They're also banked several Fate points during the adventure, and I'm fully expecting them to tag a ton of aspects and turn the big bad into dust in Round 1.  Now, I'm pretty new to FATE, so I may have missed something.  The players have narrative control and die modifiers in the form of Fate Points and Aspects.  What does the gamemaster have, aside from GM fiat and using compels?  How does a bad guy utilize their own aspects in a conflict? 

I want to have a memorable conflict that will shape the rest of the campaign, not a one-sided conflict (on either side).  Once they manage to get into the presence of the big bad, I don't want to have the PCs kill or severely wound the big bad in the first round.  It wouldn't be hard for the combat-capable characters to tag 3 of their own aspects (without even touching scene aspects or maneuvers imposed by other members of the group) to get +6 to their first attack roll.  One even has "Better Dead than Red (Court)", so extended social conflicts aren't an option.

Also, what scene aspects would you give for an old mansion that has been the hidden lair of a Red Court noble for the better part of a century?

[trubrujah]

The mansion must have the aspect "Hidden Passageways" cause, well, its villian hideout in an old mansion.  And as the GM, you have Fate points as well for your big bad.  The recommended amount is somewhere in the book and will be based off your party of adventures power levels.  If the PCs have had time to prepare, i don't think it is unreasonable to assume the bad guy has too.  "Traps" could be an aspect on the building that could be compeled, and the bad guy could use Hidden Passageways along wth his own aspects to simply vanish away from danger (effectively invoked to add to his defense roll, or a pre-created Veil, etc). 

It really just depends on how this villian will fight, and how he'd protect his home turf, but there are a few ideas.

[devonapple]

YS p326 has guidelines for scaling your bad guys to the PCs, which should go some way to making your big bad as powerful as you need it to be.

You may also want to rule that the big bad has had some time to research the PCs, and can accurately invoke/compel some of their own Aspects to their disadvantage. Especially if they are carrying around Consequences inflicted in earlier scenes by his own minions. "Serious Abdominal Trauma? Thank you, Henchman 12! [PUNCH]."

[zerogain]

In my D&D games I call this the meat grinder effect and the cold hard mistress of initiative.

So for the first part, your RCV boss should be a match for the players.  Following the advice on how to scale NPCs (can't remember the page, but they talk about Tim the Sniper) I believe you total the refresh your players used for stunts and power and that should be about the refresh of your villain.

For my RCV boss vampire her minimum refresh is -15.  I have planted seeds that she'd learned other magic as well, and indicated Evocation and Thaumaturgy which would make her -21, about even for 2.5 of my players.

While I wouldn't set up your own meatgrinder to drain the PCs of fate points, I would at least throw a few complications in their way.  A century old vampire is going to be seriously prepared for invaders, and for a way out.  As trubrujah says traps and escape.  If it gets too bad concede and have your aspect already in place.  To enforce a concession, maybe the old monster has a loved one or family member hostage, awaiting his message to prevent their murder and a pre-ordained time.  Or hell, just innocents.

You can run a social conflict if you want.  As an ancient vampire, why the hell would I even let them see me?  I'll have the house wired so I can project my presence anywhere, and ridicule them, Intimidate or otherwise annoy them, and make social attacks to eat up stress.  Blocked passages via iron gates and the like might enforce an extended contest to find me as well.

Finally you should have a few options for fate points for yourself.  I run with a start of 1 per player per session, so with four players my base refresh is 4.  Every time they invoke or otherwise spend an FP, I get it.  This is my total pool for all the NPCs I run.

[Drashna]

One thing that is talked about in the books is venom addicted mages.  You could have TBBG have a couple of mages around him, putting up blocks around him, giving him cover fire.  Heck, even some mortals/halfys should be there doing the same.

[Nyarlathotep5150]

    Or, maybe. Everything that has transpired up to this point was all just part of the Vampires plot to draw the players to a confrontation at his home. Thus, maybe some of the research the players did was misinformation. Rule one. If the Vampire is centuries old, he's almost certainly smarter than the players.
    Also, maybe the Mansion was his family home prior to him being turned, and maybe it has historical significance reinforcing its threshold (A threshold he's invited into, since it was his mortal home). Even a low threshold is a huge penalty to any casters in the group. 

[Fedifensor]

Thanks for all the responses.  Here's a bit more info...but as a few of my players may glance over at this board (Ryan, Mike, and Gary, I'm talking to you!), I'm hiding the spoilers.

(Is there any way to do spoiler blocks on this board?)

There are 5 PCs, all Submerged, with the following high concepts:
* Wizard M.D. (1 Refresh, 9 spent)
*

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Dragon-Blooded

Bouncer (1 Refresh, 9 spent)
* Reluctant Avatar of Kali (2 Refresh, 8 spent)
* Bearer of the Staff of Enoch (2 Refresh, 8 spent)
* White Court Vampire Searching For Something More (1 Refresh, 9 spent)

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The 'big bad' is actually being set up for a fall by an even bigger bad guy.  The area's White Council Warden was tipped off by the "bigger bad", and attacked an assembly of the Red Court with nearly every wizard in Colorado, causing massive devastation to both sides.  The Red Court noble went to ground, and has his second-in-command running his operations while he consideres his options.  Unfortunately for him, the bigger bad has manipulated the second into making some really horrible choices, which has caused the rest of the Red Court to cut their losses and leave the noble hanging.  Likewise, the PCs don't have any support from the White Council, as the only surviving member in Colorado is one of the PCs, and the Council doesn't have the resources to send backup.  The goal of the bigger bad is to play the groups off against each other, leaving both sides so weakened that its plans will continue unopposed.  It would prefer that the PCs survive (for now), as they are useful tools...but it won't be heartbroken if they die.

So, the villain has some brand-new Red Court vamps created from homeless people and gang members taken off the streets.  He thinks the Warden died in the fighting, but isn't sure.  He doesn't know the PCs are closing in on him...but he's playing it safe.

As to the identity of the big bad...well, he's located in Richthofen Castle in Denver, and the PCs are pretty close to figuring out his identity.  Rumors of his death were greatly exaggerated...he survived the near-fatal injuries long enough to be turned, and another body was substituted for his.  Here's the stat blocks for him, and the new spawn of the Red Court:

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Baron Albrecht (Manfred von Richthofen)
Aspects:  Red Court Baron, WWI Fighter Pilot, Ace of Aces, "Le Diablo Rouge" (the Red Devil), Cold As Ice
Traits:  Distant, Unemotional, Humorless

Firearms +6, Driving (Piloting) +5, Weapon +5, Alertness +4, Athletics +4, Fists +4, Discipline +3, Endurance +3, Presence +3, Conviction +2, Deceit +2, Intimidate +2, other skills at +1
Addictive Saliva [-1], Blood Drinker [-1], Claws [-1], Echoes of the Beast [-1], Flesh Mask [-1]
Feeding Dependency [+1] affecting the following powers:
* Cloak of Shadows [-1]
* Inhuman Strength [-2]
* Supernatural Speed [-4] - Always go first, +2 Athletics, move two zones as part of physical action without penalty.
* Inhuman Recovery [-2] - Remove mild physical consequence 1/scene as supplemental action.
* Supernatural Toughness [-4] (Catch is sunlight, holy stuff, no armor on belly)
Item of Power [-5] - Grants Physical Immunity (magic), secretly provided by the bigger bad, replacing an identical item that the Baron normally wears.  The item will 'burn out' after the Baron dies, or on the following sunrise.
Tower of Arrogance (as Tower of Faith):  Social/mental armor of 1 until his enemies have the advantage
Riposte:  After successful defense, sacrifice next action to immediately hit.  Do not gain shifts for Total Defense when this is used.
Physical OOOO(OOOO), Armor: 2
Social OOOO, Armor: 1
Mental OOO
Weapon: 4 (rapier or claws) or Weapon:2 (.45 ACP Luger)
Dodge:  +6 (Athetics +4 plus Supernatural Speed +2)

The item of power is a bit of a stretch, but is well within the abilities of the bigger bad to provide.

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Red Court Vampires (newly created)
Fists +3, Stealth +3, Alertness +2, Athletics +2, Deceit +2, Discipline +2, Endurance +2, Intimidate +2
Addictive Saliva [-1], Blood Drinker [-1], Claws [-1], Echoes of the Beast [-1], Flesh Mask [-1]
Feeding Dependency [+1] affecting the following powers:
* Cloak of Shadows [-1]
* Inhuman Strength [-2]
* Inhuman Speed [-2]
* Inhuman Recovery [-2]
* Inhuman Toughness [-2] - Catch is sunlight, holy stuff, no armor on belly
Physical OOO(OO), Armor: 1
Social OO
Mental OO
Weapon:4 (claws)

[easl]

The players have narrative control and die modifiers in the form of Fate Points and Aspects.  What does the gamemaster have, aside from GM fiat and using compels?  How does a bad guy utilize their own aspects in a conflict? 

As someone else mentioned, the bad guys also have fate points they can use.

But beyond game mechanics, you have here a senior RCV.  You want to play him/her smart.  He/she (hereafter; he for short) doesn't just set traps and make sure he's got an escape route (though he should have both), he seduces, addicts, or buys a host of human shields.  You know, the sort of folks the council would take a VERY dim view of being killed by magic.  He should be making alliances with other supernatural forces so that if the PC's kill him, they will make an enemy of someone even worse - and he should be advertising that alliance, for deterrent effect.  He should be setting up "dead men's switches" on the PC's families so that if he doesn't radio so-and-so by 1600 today, they die.  In short, if he is a major Big Bad, he should be doing everything in his power to make the PC's not want to kill him, because its not worth the cost.

Its mentioned in the game books as well as the novels that when Harry is faced with an overwhelming force, he doesn't try and beat it, he tries to outwit it.  If your bad guy is facing a posse of overwhelming force, he should be trying to outwit them too - but the evil, machiavellian version of outwit.

Sure, you can ratchet up the tension of the final confrontation by throwing more raw force into it.   But you can also ratchet it up by making it relatively easy to kill him, but making the choice of whether to do so really intense.

Now, since you say there is another big bad setting this guy up, you might use only one or two of these effects.  Or maybe the RCV sets them all up, cackles madly when the PC's come to a sudden halt, but then something unexpected happens to remove some of his advantage (i.e. the BIG big bad intervenes subtlely).  But I think you get the point - don't just ramp up personal power.  Think smart and nasty.

[toturi]

The key here is what type of game are your players expecting. If they expect to crawl through the RCV's "dungeon" and unload a ton of Fate Points on round 1 and go home, how would they react if you rain on their expectations?

Depending on the type of game you are GMing (and it appears quite high powered), perhaps you should ask yourself if the RCV should not be outclassed, even though he is your big bad with every ploy that he might try to stop the PCs either being stymied or countered.

[Fedifensor]

But beyond game mechanics, you have here a senior RCV.  You want to play him/her smart.  He/she (hereafter; he for short) doesn't just set traps and make sure he's got an escape route (though he should have both), he seduces, addicts, or buys a host of human shields.  You know, the sort of folks the council would take a VERY dim view of being killed by magic.  He should be making alliances with other supernatural forces so that if the PC's kill him, they will make an enemy of someone even worse - and he should be advertising that alliance, for deterrent effect.  He should be setting up "dead men's switches" on the PC's families so that if he doesn't radio so-and-so by 1600 today, they die.  In short, if he is a major Big Bad, he should be doing everything in his power to make the PC's not want to kill him, because its not worth the cost.
...
Now, since you say there is another big bad setting this guy up, you might use only one or two of these effects.

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I'd actually classify him as a minor Big Bad, while the real Big Bad is setting things up so the PCs will suffer the fallout for killing him.  The Baron is smart...but uninformed.  He's in his ivory tower, without a clue as to what has been happening on the streets because his trusted lieutenant is his only source of info...and that lieutenant has been misled and manipulated into keeping information from the Baron. 

So, what does the Baron have?  He has a private security force guarding during the daytime, while thralls and newly-created RCVs are close by at all times.  He will advertise that killing him will bring down the wrath of his uncle, the newest Lord of Outer Night...but the PCs already know this, so it won't have any further shock value.

The Baron's problem is that he doesn't know about his own weaknesses.  He doesn't realize that his alliances were shattered, as that happened after he went to ground.  Even worse, he doesn't know the PCs are after him.  He expects a reprisal from the White Council, which means he's set up what defenses he can versus wizards.  He doesn't realize that there's a White Court vampire gunning for him, nor does he know about the newly-created warrior of God wielding a weapon that is his bane.

Sure, you can ratchet up the tension of the final confrontation by throwing more raw force into it.   But you can also ratchet it up by making it relatively easy to kill him, but making the choice of whether to do so really intense.

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In this case, I want the PCs to kill him...or rather, the Really Big Bad behind the scenes wants that to happen, and is setting everything up for this to occur.  The White Court Vampire PC with "Better Dead Than Red" is here partly because the Big Bad brought him to town, knowing that he would become involved.  So it's less about the tension than whether the PCs can figure out that they're being played.  Even if they figure it out, are they going to be able to overcome their own motivations for killing the Baron?

The key here is what type of game are your players expecting. If they expect to crawl through the RCV's "dungeon" and unload a ton of Fate Points on round 1 and go home, how would they react if you rain on their expectations?

I think they'll be fine with it - they will realize that a quick, easy kill of the Big Bad may be an ego boost, but it won't make for a fun campaign.

Depending on the type of game you are GMing (and it appears quite high powered), perhaps you should ask yourself if the RCV should not be outclassed, even though he is your big bad with every ploy that he might try to stop the PCs either being stymied or countered.

It's about as high-powered as you would expect from a beginning Submerged game.  It's not anything like the games where people are starting at 15+ refresh, but each PC is as tough as "Storm Front" Harry.  Whenever Harry is teaming up with people like Thomas, Michael, and Murphy, he can face off with some seriously major-league threats...and I expect to carry on that tradition in my game.

I expect the Big Bad to be defeated...but it will be a close thing, and the battle will be decided by player ingenuity and a few outside influences hedging their bets.  Despite everything working against him, the guy is a Red Court noble with a lot of RCV's backing him up.

[Belial666]

1) The 5 PCs find the mansion with the vampires holed up inside.
2) The 5 PCs do not want to face a prepared master vampire in its home turf - they take a picture of the mansion and stay a bit away from it.
3) The 5 PCs make a big-ass ritual, each sacrificing 2 mild and 1 moderate consequence, invoking 2 aspects and doing 2 skill declarations each, using some Red Court blood previously obtained from other Red Court killed for keying purposes.
4) The 80-shift ritual creates a landmine that attacks red-court vampires over the entire mansion with a 70-shift psychomancy attack that tears apart their demonic spirits. All the red court vampires go splat, toughness and immunity powers notwithstanding.
4b) The PCs, not having Red Court blood to key the spell, apply thaumaturgy to the location using a photo. They manipulate gravity, applying a might 40 effect for 30 exchanges on the entire mansion, which lifts off the mansion upwards piece by piece and holds the pieces (and the occupants) in suspended animation. The PCs then procceed to shoot all the involuntarily floating vampires to pieces.
4c) The PCs realize they got at least one human among them and that vampires aren't human. They use human blood to key a landmine not to affect humans. The landmine applies on the entire mansion a block 20 for 50 exchanges on anything that isn't human, effectively immobilizing them. The PCs go in and start shooting helpless vampires at point-blank range.
4d) The PCs pull a meteor out of the sky and crash-land it on the mansion. 70-shift awesome crushing attack on everyone and everything on the mansion.


In short, if the PCs know the BBEG is holed up somewhere, that the BBEG and most of its minions are not human and they got at least one spellcaster in their group, the monsters are dead. With a few PCs to provide consequences and fate, a powerful ritual is a matter of minutes, not hours or days. And since monsters can neither create nor pass magic circles, they cannot take advantage of that kind of defense. Not that a magic circle or even magic immunity is gonna do squat against a meteor crashing at 20 miles/second on your head anyway.

[Fedifensor]

In short, if the PCs know the BBEG is holed up somewhere, that the BBEG and most of its minions are not human and they got at least one spellcaster in their group, the monsters are dead. With a few PCs to provide consequences and fate, a powerful ritual is a matter of minutes, not hours or days. And since monsters can neither create nor pass magic circles, they cannot take advantage of that kind of defense. Not that a magic circle or even magic immunity is gonna do squat against a meteor crashing at 20 miles/second on your head anyway.

If it was that easy, why didn't Harry do it?  I think you're looking at game mechanics, rather than the flavor of the series.  The only person to ever call down a meteor on a place was the Blackstaff.  He not only had the power to do it, but also the expertise to place it exactly where he wanted it, and a way to cheat the 1st Law.  A starting PC wizard should have none of those things.

I think people are carrying the Thaumaturgy rules too far.  It's a weakness in the system - if you have trouble dealing with Rules Lawyers.  If anyone could call up unlimited power when using Thaumaturgy, there is no distinction between a hack spellslinger like Victor Sells and members of the Senior Council.  Victor could throw some pretty major-league stuff...but he couldn't take down Harry despite having a direct thaumaturgical link to him, and the consequences from doing so got him killed.  Any GM who just lets the PCs whip up a ritual in minutes to take down the BBEG shouldn't be running Dresden Files.  If the PC Wizard in my group tried it, I'd be hitting the group left and right with compels (like Too Much To Do causing interruptions)...

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...not to mention having the even bigger bad intervene, since a nuke from orbit won't further its goals.

[Arcteryx]

4b) The PCs, not having Red Court blood to key the spell, apply thaumaturgy to the location using a photo. They manipulate gravity, applying a might 40 effect for 30 exchanges on the entire mansion, which lifts off the mansion upwards piece by piece and holds the pieces (and the occupants) in suspended animation. The PCs then procceed to shoot all the involuntarily floating vampires to pieces.

If this was a movie, it would go direct to video. The DVD kind, not Blu-Ray. Who'd want to watch something like this on the big-screen?

[sinker]

All of these crazy rituals aside, if you want to have longer, more dramatic and more fun fights then you have to become a master of your environment. This is what aspects are for and don't just occasionally invoke said aspect for a single +2, compel them, create situations where the PCs are in peril. Using the "Traps" example above perhaps you compel it to place the aspect of "Dangling from the ceiling by a rope snare" on a PC, now you can invoke that on a regular basis as his constant instability makes targeting interesting and if he doesn't do anything about it you can start throwing out aspects like "Blood rushing to your head" and "About to pass out". See how a simple aspect has created an interesting situation full of drama and complications?

Additionally the fight should stagger itself at least a little bit. The big bad isn't going to be sitting in the foyer waiting to welcome guests, he's going to be in some dungeon study while his mortal (and possibly non-mortal) security makes sure nothing gets to him.

[admiralducksauce]

And then when/if he survives round 1, he might note that yeah, the PCs are going to kick his ass.  Then he runs, and it turns into a fight AND a chase, and above all an opportunity to wreck MORE of the guy's mansion and the surrounding countryside!