Author Topic: DFRPG in Space!  (Read 5717 times)

Offline Ryan_Singer

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DFRPG in Space!
« on: March 20, 2011, 10:45:39 PM »
Hi Everyone!

Thought you might be interested in hearing about the new campaign I'm playing in. We're using the DFRPG system, but it remains unclear as to whether the game is set in the Dresden-verse.

It all started as a one-shot. The GM said: "We are going to start a game using DFRPG. There are no limits to character concept, and we are going to do on-the-fly character generation. Everyone pick a high concept and a trouble."  One of the players, eager to test the "no limits" part, said he wanted to play a duck with genius-level intelligence in a robotic human-suit. The GM said yes. I decided to return to a character I loved in my first play-through of Mutants and Masterminds, and chose a retired God of Destiny/Fate, who was now walking the world in human form. The last player in our group chose a Zen Stoner like the main character in The Big Lebowski.

This is when the GM threw us a curve ball. He started us in a 1950's style diner/cafe, in a free-floating space station! The space station was soon under attack by insectoid hive-minded aliens, and we had to survive. I blew them up with a complexity 17 ritual that we paid off by burning many, many fate points, and we escaped the devastation aboard the Duck's ship, The Errant Fowl.

Session 2 is on Tuesday.

Offline Ryan_Singer

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Re: DFRPG in Space!
« Reply #1 on: March 20, 2011, 10:47:24 PM »
Mallard Filmore

Template: Duck
High Concept: Duck
Trouble: Bit sad...
Aspects:
The Smartest Duck Is Smarter than the Smartest Human
The Suit Makes the Duck
Give Me Something, I Can Make it
No Opposable Thumbs
The Errant Fowl is a Damn Fine Ship...
Destined for Greatness (Per Cassandra's Tears)
Powers:
 
-1 Aquatic
-1 Flight
+1 Robot Suit (Item of Power)
-4 Supernatural Toughness
+3 The Catch: Electricity
-5 Modular Abilities (3 refresh in powers, full action to reconfigure)
 
Skills:
 
Superb (+5):Craftsmanship, Scholarship
Great (+4): Rapport, Pilot
Good (+3) Empathy, Guns
Fair (+2): Alertness, Conviction, Athletics
Average (+1): 5 Undefined Skills
 
Base Refresh: 10
Adjusted Refresh: 3
Current FATE Points: 3 (after Minor Milestone Refresh)

Offline Ryan_Singer

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Re: DFRPG in Space!
« Reply #2 on: March 20, 2011, 10:50:22 PM »
John Coase (Not his real name)

Template: Custom
High Concept: Fallen God of FATE
Trouble: Old-Timer doesn't begin to describe it
Aspects:
Centuries Preparing
Cassandra's Tears
Contemplate slowly, Act quickly
Powers:

-3 Thaumaturgy
-1 The Sight
-0 Soulgaze
-0 Wizard's Constition
-0 Cassandra's Tears
-? Unknown unrevealed powers and stunts

Skills:

Superb (+5): Lore, Scholarship
Great (+4): Discipline, Conviction
Good (+3) Alertness, Endurance
Fair (+2): Presence, Athletics, Rapport
Average (+1): 5 unknown unrevealed skills

Base Refresh: 10
Adjusted Refresh: 6
Current FATE Points: 6 (after Minor Milestone Refresh)

Offline Ryan_Singer

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Re: DFRPG in Space!
« Reply #3 on: March 20, 2011, 10:54:10 PM »
The Dresden Files RPG is pretty rules-light when it comes to equipment, but a spacefaring game requires some stats. Let's see what we can do:

First thing, lets agree that a ship is a vehicle. A small ship should cost Resources 6, a large ship should be resources 7, and any special ship should be a characters aspect and have a history. Ships are assumed to have life support systems and artificial gravity.

Ships are piloted and navigated using the Pilot skill, which is the same thing as the Driving skill, but in space. All long range warships have Armor:4 hulls, some very few might have tougher hulls, but it's rare. Short range ships and freighters have Armor:2 hulls. Ships take consequences as characters do, and a taken out ship cannot support passengers.

Short range fighters have Weapon:2 guns, fired using the guns skill, and restricted by the Pilot's skill in Pilot. Longer range warships can have up to Weapon:4 cannons.

Magic can be used to augment ships in various ways.  Most importantly:

Shields: A Ward laid on a ship. Long term wards need special conditions to allow passengers on and off ship, whereas temporary wards intentionally don't.
Weapons: An enchanter can create enchanted cannons for the ship using the normal enchanted items rules. Note that Evocations need to be cast from outside the ship to have line of effect, whereas enchanted cannons can have the firing mechanism outside.
Warp: For moving faster than zone-by-zone with the Pilot skill, casters can create a portal into warp space. This is like World-walking, and there are interesting and strange things in warp space. Navigate Warp space with Lore.
Burst of speed: A ritual can take the place of a pilot check for the purpose of moving in a straight line.

Offline Ryan_Singer

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Re: DFRPG in Space!
« Reply #4 on: March 20, 2011, 10:54:52 PM »
Spaceship Conjure: 5 shifts, Life support 5 shifts, extended duration: 1 year +8 shifts.

Conjuring the Ship to last 1 year: 18 shift ritual.

Shields: 10 shift ward, extended duration: 1 month +5 shifts. Allow people who have one of these 25 signet rings to board and leave, +2

Shield ritual: 17 shifts

Cannon: Enchanted Attack item, 1 enchanted item slot. Shifts as normal for enchanted item.

Propolsion: Moving is it's own ritual cast in combat time, 1 shift per zone. Warp speed as world-walking.

Ship itself has two zones: Main deck and Underdeck (underdeck has bedrooms, bathrooms and supply rooms). Self destruct ritual would be +10 attack ritual in 2 zones for for 17 total complexity.

Offline bibliophile20

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Re: DFRPG in Space!
« Reply #5 on: March 21, 2011, 01:42:33 AM »
Take a look at Diaspora for ideas on how to use FATE for a space-based game.  I've been having quite a bit of fun with it.
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#12. If the seemingly helpless person you have just cornered is confident and unafraid despite being outnumbered and surrounded, you have encountered a Hero in disguise. Run while you still can.

DFRPG Resources Wiki

Offline admiralducksauce

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Re: DFRPG in Space!
« Reply #6 on: March 21, 2011, 03:12:12 AM »
This is utterly ridiculously awesome.  When the character writeups alone deal mental stress for reading them you know it's a good time. :)

Offline Howl

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Re: DFRPG in Space!
« Reply #7 on: March 21, 2011, 08:12:58 AM »
A really awesome campaing idea. The duck character is pure genious :)
"Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee."

Offline sinker

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Re: DFRPG in Space!
« Reply #8 on: March 21, 2011, 05:12:46 PM »
At first I hated his high concept, but the more I think about it the more it's kinda awesome (though mechanically his IOP doesn't fit his high concept :P ).

Offline sandchigger

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Re: DFRPG in Space!
« Reply #9 on: March 21, 2011, 07:49:02 PM »
I love that immediately after a character whose Template is "duck" you have one whose template is "custom".
I may well be silly, but I am never moronic.

Offline Vryce

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Re: DFRPG in Space!
« Reply #10 on: March 21, 2011, 07:53:16 PM »
All i can think is duck dogers in the 21st cent........
and the ship is shaped like the bill of a duck....

Prey is Prey.  The fact it is human, in this case, does not make it any more difficult.  Intellect, Like instinct can be anticipated, manipulated…

Offline Ryan_Singer

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Re: DFRPG in Space!
« Reply #11 on: March 23, 2011, 04:46:54 PM »
All i can think is duck dogers in the 21st cent........
and the ship is shaped like the bill of a duck....

I will suggest this.

BTW, second session was last night, I'll post the session notes soon.

Offline TheMouse

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Re: DFRPG in Space!
« Reply #12 on: March 23, 2011, 08:28:16 PM »
That sounds f-ing awesome.

Offline ryanshowseason2

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Re: DFRPG in Space!
« Reply #13 on: March 23, 2011, 08:59:47 PM »
and we escaped the devastation aboard the Duck's ship, The Errant Fowl.

What? was the name Millenium Fowlcon already registered?

This thread is now dedicated to Duck Puns.

Offline sandchigger

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Re: DFRPG in Space!
« Reply #14 on: March 23, 2011, 09:09:26 PM »
I'm pretty sure that if hijacking a thread isn't entirely out of bounds, it's at least a fowl.
I may well be silly, but I am never moronic.