Shadows Over New York - Website for NYC With Themes, Locations and Templates

[Sanctaphrax]

Halfbloods probably have different powers depending on their divine parents. Poseidon's kids would have Aquatic, Hades's would have Ghost Speaker, and so on.

But halfbloods are probably mostly about stunts and IoPs. They rarely use overtly supernatural abilities, IIRC.

Can't help with the Slayer Catch.

Could you break down the Knight math for me? Here's how I see it:

Staff gives +2 rebate and grants:
Channelling for -2
Bless This House for -1
Guide My Hand for -1
Wizard's Constitution for -0.
Supernatural Sense for -1.

2-2-1-1-0-1 = -3.

[Keryth]

Halfbloods probably have different powers depending on their divine parents. Poseidon's kids would have Aquatic, Hades's would have Ghost Speaker, and so on.

But halfbloods are probably mostly about stunts and IoPs. They rarely use overtly supernatural abilities, IIRC.

Can't help with the Slayer Catch.

Could you break down the Knight math for me? Here's how I see it:

Staff gives +2 rebate and grants:
Channelling for -2
Bless This House for -1
Guide My Hand for -1
Wizard's Constitution for -0.
Supernatural Sense for -1.

2-2-1-1-0-1 = -3.

Ok, there's where the confusion is. The Staff ONLY gives Channeling (Fire) from the powers list. The rest the Knight has regardless.

I'll modify the Halfbloods later removing the +2 bonus and adding some of the gods and powers s options.

And hows this for a catch for the Slayer? Weapons wielded by non-supernatural beings (Pure Mortals mostly)?

[Vargo Teras]

The Catch for the Slayer, as far as we've seen in the show, is penetrating injuries.  Blunt force trauma is easily handled, but either a blade or a bullet seems to ignore Toughness and resist Recovery, putting a Slayer into the ICU just the same as it would any other character with an extreme consequence slot.

And there's really no reason to put a -2 power on a +2 Item of Power with nothing else.  I think Refinement might be the best solution, adding a +1 control and power focus to fire spells (within the limits of the Knight's Lore), or Marked by Power if you think IoP Refinements are hinky.

[Sanctaphrax]

Still don't follow the Knight math. Making the IoP only give Channelling simply reduces its bonus to +1, therefore making the final cost -4 by my count.

[Keryth]

Updated al three templates. I THINK the math on the staff works now

[Keryth]

Modified the Knight again. It should give better mathwise now.

[Brackenfur]

Musts: A halfblood must have a high concept indicating their parentage (Daughter of Athena, Son of Ares). The Big Three (Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades) are forbidden to PC's

Makes sense, Also I see where you're going with restricting the big three. Have you thought about bringing things from the  series following Percy's?

(click to show/hide)

Roman Gods and the counter-partness in general

Also I think it'd be cool to have a Prophecy or Quest as a Must too. Don't know if that would be fair, to restrict two of the Half-bloods Aspects, but still.

Inhuman Recovery [-2], Inhuman Toughness [-2], The Catch (Weapons of the Old World (swords, daggers, bows, etc.)
Options: abilities based on their parent to be determined with gm consent upon creation)
Minimum Refresh Cost: -6

Is the base -6 to ensure they get some other powers or a miscalculation?

Inhuman Strength [-2], Inhuman Recovery [-2], Inhuman Toughness [-2], The Catch(piercing weapons)

I get that we don't want to make them a heavy refresh but no Inhuman Speed? (never watched the show that much so assumption time) Wasn't Buffy/Slayer made to be physically comparable to Vampires and Demons? without speed she's lacking in a crucial area.

Minimum Refresh Cost (-5)

Notes: If a player wants to play a Whedonverse vampire they mUST have a HIGH CONCEPT ASPECT that explains their having free will. This may be taken only be taken with the GM’s approval

Honestly my only issue here is that by virtue of their refresh they have free will. Even for the lowest level game "Feet in the Water" (6 refresh) Perhaps this template could just represent the Free Will having Hellmouth vamp?
Additionally you could add/bump up their current powers and grant them the "Gifted With Soul" Power from the custom power list.

Gifted With Soul [+1]
Description: You are different from other Red Court Vampires. Normally your kind do not have a soul, for it is antithesis to your being, and destroyed once you have had your first killing feed. You however have somehow managed to store your soul in an item, making a phylactery of sorts.
Musts: You must be a red court vampire, must have an aspect that reflects this power.
Effects:
Silence the Beast. You loose your Echoes of the Beast power. As a Red Court Vampire with a Soul your beast is suppressed by the morals other Red Court Vampires lack. You are reimbursed for the refresh cost of Echoes of the beast, since you no longer have it.
Refresh Bonus. You have somehow maintained your soul, keeping free will. Add +1 to your refresh level.
Phylactery. Your soul is stored in an item that you must keep on your person at all times. If it leaves your person, you loose the above benefits, becoming an NPC. You may spend one fate point to give you one days time to retrieve the item.
Altered Catch. You are no longer burnt to a cinder in sunlight, but you are weakened in it. In sunlight your catch is automatically satisfied for any attack. In addition add a new condition to your catch: "Phylactery Damage."
Made Whole [-1]. If you take this upgrade your soul no longer resides in your phylactery, which becomes a mundane item, it has been restored to your body. You loose the "Phylactery" portion of this ability, and the "Phylactery Damage" condition on your catch.

linky:
http://www.jimbutcheronline.com/bb/index.php/topic,19934.0.html
Also couldn't think of a way to tangent to this but, you should totally have the Mist from the Olympian world. Not sure how really but it was so cool.

[Keryth]

Makes sense, Also I see where you're going with restricting the big three. Have you thought about bringing things from the  series following Percy's?

(click to show/hide)

Roman Gods and the counter-partness in general

Also I think it'd be cool to have a Prophecy or Quest as a Must too. Don't know if that would be fair, to restrict two of the Half-bloods Aspects, but still.Is the base -6 to ensure they get some other powers or a miscalculation?I get that we don't want to make them a heavy refresh but no Inhuman Speed? (never watched the show that much so assumption time) Wasn't Buffy/Slayer made to be physically comparable to Vampires and Demons? without speed she's lacking in a crucial area.
Honestly my only issue here is that by virtue of their refresh they have free will. Even for the lowest level game "Feet in the Water" (6 refresh) Perhaps this template could just represent the Free Will having Hellmouth vamp?

Also couldn't think of a way to tangent to this but, you should totally have the Mist from the Olympian world. Not sure how really but it was so cool.

Not planning on using the new Percy Novels in my campaign. May add them in the future though.
The Mist is already in the Dresdenverse, Harry just doesn;t call it that. He refers in Dead Beat to how people write off what they see and refuse to believe the supernatural. This can be written off as the Mist. The halfbloods just have a word/term for it. Quests are not a must, especially since in this NYC setting, the halfbloods are 'being dispatched' by their parents to stem the flow of otherworldly evils. And thanks, half blood math is off. Math and I are not friends

Slayer is based on what was in the show, so, speed is not an ability. They never move faster than norms.

And the Vamps keep their refresh as it is listed. Otherwise they're far more powerful than other characters

[Sanctaphrax]

Well, NPCs don't have to use Refresh levels. They can have no free will even if they just have one stunt's worth of abilities.

Incidentally, I now have even less idea than I had before about where the Minimum Refresh Cost numbers come from. But you know what? It's irrelevant. Nobody cares about that number anyway.

[Brackenfur]

Slayer is based on what was in the show, so, speed is not an ability. They never move faster than norms.

Ok makes sense, dont watch the show that much.

And the Vamps keep their refresh as it is listed. Otherwise they're far more powerful than other characters

My only point was that the must about a free will/soul holds back the hellspawn without any recompense. Story-wise it makes sense but they seem to be fairly restricted for a low cost template. If the hellspawn played with a wizard more likely than not the vamp would have the higher refresh! Power levels in Fate are a lil wonky. Also Spike didn't always have a soul right? but he worked with the gang from time time. This would still be a character without a soul but playable. (edit: wife pointed out this was do to a chip in his head or some such) The starting refresh would determine what has free will or not mechanically but in the theme of things that's really irrelevant. They seem to have free will just no moral compass without a soul, thus Angel. (Though many fae/vamps of Dresden appear to have free will too...)

Well, NPCs don't have to use Refresh levels. They can have no free will even if they just have one stunt's worth of abilities.

True, i wasn't looking at it from the npc direction. I don't care so much about the points there, so long as they're challenging to the players. I'm really more arguing on behalf of players that are theoretical.

Incidentally, I now have even less idea than I had before about where the Minimum Refresh Cost numbers come from. But you know what? It's irrelevant. Nobody cares about that number anyway.

You and me both good internet patron.

[Keryth]

Well, NPCs don't have to use Refresh levels. They can have no free will even if they just have one stunt's worth of abilities.

Incidentally, I now have even less idea than I had before about where the Minimum Refresh Cost numbers come from. But you know what? It's irrelevant. Nobody cares about that number anyway.

I thought the minimum refresh numbers came from adding the minuses up for the template. Am I wrong about this?

[Sanctaphrax]

No, you're right. But the minimum costs here don't seem to add up. Fortunately, that doesn't really matter.

[Keryth]

Up to now, I have been casually working on NYC, without ever having run or played FATE or DFRPG. 20+ years experience in other RPGS though/

Finally have gotten around to my playtest of the DFRPG. This playtest is intended as a test of the FATE system with myself and my group, and will be using the LOCATIONS and POWERS and THEMES I have put here. The templates are not being used as this is a test of the system.

My group is rather large - 8 players, for this test, but the enthusiasm is fantastic and the player age ranges from 17 - 52, with an RPG experience range to match.

character creation was a huge success, many saying it is the most fun they have had making a character. I'll post the Characters their aspects, and stories as soon as I get them sent to me form all my players and keep everyone posted here as to how the test goes. Should it prove as successful as Character Creation did, I will be going full bore into fully developing NYC, posting more and more here for review/help from all of you, as my real Campaign would then need to be ready for launch in 6-8 months.

Off the top of my head, the characters right now consist of :
 White Council Wizard - Professor of Arcane Lore
 Pure Mortal - NYPD Lt. in their version of SI
 Minor Talent - Ghost Talker with Cassandra's Tears
 Focused Practitioner (Fire Evoker) - Spoiled Rich kid/Daddy's Little Girl
 Emissary of Chronos - Gangbanger making a name for himself
 Emissary of Thor - On a mission from god and bearing Mjolnir
 Emissary of Loki - Has no clue she is
 Changeling - Only living child of Leanansidhe
 

[Sanctaphrax]

Glad to hear that things are going well. And the characters look interesting.

The Spare Character Concepts thread would probably appreciate your PCs.

PS: Is your playtest canon-only? Because if you're going to use homebrew stuff, I'd really like to hear about how it goes.

[Keryth]

The playtest wraps up this Sunday, and has gone well. Was canon only, as everyone, including myself, was learning the system.

Everyone had fun. Character creation was a hoot, and combat was smooth and moved faster than any we've played before (and we've been gaming every Sat evening since 1991 now)

Looks like my Shadows campaign will be the next one the group does when the current Pathfinder campaign ends in another few months. In anticipation, I've set p an Obsidian Portal site for Shaows, which can be found at http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaign/shadows-over-new-york/wikis/home-page. Still, I will be using this post for more homebrew stuff needing review and such. Thanks all for your help!