Plausible session material?

[Arawn Quinn]

Hey all, fairly new to Dresden Files. I've only gotten up to book 5 so far and have played a few sessions of the RPG but plenty of experience with other systems. I wanted to run a scenario on here to see if I'm on the money with the story/campaign stuff, since this is my first time running a session.

The campaign is taking place in New Orleans and I wanted to take them out in the bayou. We have a warden, a monster hunter and a third player making a character soon. I'm thinking that the White Council sends the warden a message to investigate the death or disappearance of a Warden who was investigating cult activity in the area. The cult is one of the ones that is trying to bring one of the Old Ones (called the Pretender) into the world and is in the process of trying to conjure up his Outsider (who the cult calls the Barbed Wire Saint). They track the cult to a small compound in the bayou with the help of trio of redneck werewolves brothers (known as the Track Bros.). Eventually they will have to face off against a chainsaw wielding nun (Sister Slaughter) who is one of the leaders of the cult in this area.

I'm more concerned about the plausibility of the Warden being killed or disappearing and of the cult. Thoughts?   

[g33k]

I'm not sure of the distinction you are making... what is an "Old One" and what is an "Outsider"?

I think "Outsider" is the Dresdenverse term for all those extraplanar beings, both greater and lesser, that would include a more Cthulhu-Mythos idea of an "Old One."

Outsiders seem to be setting up as one of -- if not THE -- biggest baddest Ultimate Bad Guys of the Dresdenverse.

But maybe I'm misremembering something.

[g33k]

I'm more concerned about the plausibility of the Warden being killed or disappearing and of the cult. Thoughts?

No problem on this front.

Outsiders are incredibly powerful, profoundly resistant to virtually all mortal magic, and (at least some of them) are almost impossible to detect.
Taking out a warden (or a strike-team full of wardens!) is ENTIRELY possible.

And they LOVE to answer the "summons" of poor stupid schmucks who think they can bargain with the Outsider for power.
 

[Arawn Quinn]

Sweet thanks. I tried to go with material that Butcher didn't seem to explore much so I had wiggle room, since I'm not overly familiar with the series yet. The players are pretty understanding but they tend to unconsciously be sticklers about sticking to the cannon with this game. Thanks again.

[g33k]

Taking your original notion, I might make the "Barbed Wire Saint" be some ritual allowing a lesser Outsider to possess/influence a person (nominated as the "Saint").  This entity would be a lower-powered Outsider who was a follower of The Pretender...

Or maybe just a "spiritual influence only" and actually IS the same being, The Pretender, but unable to do anything PHYSICAL (limited to the same limits as whoever it's possessing, plus maybe some magic/etc because of the magic The Pretender can coach the mortal to do... ) .

[Taran]

Welcome


I think a well organized and prepared cult could take a warden out.  I’m not familiar with the bayou but it can present some difficult terrain and if they know the area better than the warden, it could be used to trap or kill him.  Water grounds out magic so if their hideout it surrounded by water, they could get the upper hand.  This also allows you to present some problems/compels on your magic using warden pc.  Also, I’m not sure water affects outsiders in the same way so having an enemy Weilding outsider sponsored magic would present a great challenge.

Also, instead of redneck werewolves, why not redneck were-alligators? They would be an asset because of their ability to navigate the waters.

I like the idea of the leader, the barbed wire saint, being possessed or weilding the magic of the outsider. 

[Shaft]

FYi, Dresden Files Accelerated RPG  uses New Orleans as an example setting.

The Paranet Papers supplement has a write up on a Were-Gator, as well as an entire Florida swamp community setting that you could easily import into the Louisiana Bayou.