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The Dresden Files => DFRPG => Topic started by: Da_Gut on July 16, 2010, 12:21:41 AM
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What would be some good compels for the above?
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Well for the player it could be rationalized for almost anything from bonuses to combat to large scale maneuvers. For example, throwing a Pitch Black aspect on the scene by shorting the junction box, or getting a free escape or catch by knowing the terrain better.
For GMs it'd be a bit harder, but you could throw a compel to force the player to help out an old friend for the area or bump into someone who owes him a favor dependent on the nature of the aspect.
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Hm. Don't see much that you can do in the way of direct compels, but if somebody knows a place that well it's probably important to them - an occasional adventure built around threats to the place might merit a fate point to the character.
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How about tweaking it this way
"I know (city name) like the back of my hand" changed to "I know (city name) like a lover"
tags - to beat someone to a location, to know where something is at
Compels - To prevent property damage, to donate serious money to save a landmark, to overreact to serious vandalism
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How about bumping into someone who knows you when it's the worst possible time. Could put a bystander in danger or blow your cover when you're trying to go unnoticed or just to try to chat you up when you don't have the time.
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I can't think of too many good compels for this. But also keep in mind that its okay for 1 of a characters aspects to be all good or all bad. He has 6 others and as long as those are double edged, having one thats not isn't really a big deal. Case in point, how often does Harrys silver pentacle count as anything but good. (from the books I can only think of one compel on it)
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I think this Aspect would make a better Driving or Scholarship Stunt, also without knowing the character it makes more difficult to comment.
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You could limit the area the PC knows and then take them outside it sometimes and get lost a lot. Or even have them scared to leave the area if it's appropriate.
Or you could change the area in some way during the campaign: a huge fire, cordoned off by the police or disease control.
Or perhaps you can compel him to take shortcuts down small roads and alleyways that used to be safe but are now the hunting grounds for vamps/ghouls/trolls etc
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One good compel of this, if it's an appropriately small area, is some level of combat advantage. For example, you know just which stair on the pavement has a loose flagstone, so you know they're about to stumble a moment before they do; or you know that the wiring's loose in the basement and the lights flicker whenever a subway train goes by, so hearing it start to approach, you can count on a moment of strobing distraction to pull off something tricky.
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One good compel of this, if it's an appropriately small area, is some level of combat advantage. For example, you know just which stair on the pavement has a loose flagstone, so you know they're about to stumble a moment before they do; or you know that the wiring's loose in the basement and the lights flicker whenever a subway train goes by, so hearing it start to approach, you can count on a moment of strobing distraction to pull off something tricky.
That would be an Invoke. Invoking is when you do it for benefits, compelling is when the GM does it to force your hand.
I think thats what the question was, How do you use it against them? I can think of plenty of ways to benefit from it.
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Ahhh, my apologies - I mis-read. You're right, of course.
Okay.
1) Compel protection. You see a homeless guy who you give your coffee change to every day getting mugged, or the convenience store you buy coffee at every day being robbed. Or your favorite faerie informant being magically controlled. Compel them to do something about it.
2) Compel curiosity. X changes; why? The homeless guy disappears. The convenience store suddenly changes owners. The faerie informant is just gone.
3) Compel absence. When they're *not* in area X, give them discomfort, or even a penalty on a skill check. "Well, if this were *your* neighborhood, you'd know *just* where to go to buy obscure object X, but since it isn't I'm compelling a penalty on your resources..."
4) Compel anticipation. Going back to my previous example, you know flag-stone X is loose, so you anticipate someone standing on it and stumbling; *compel* the anticipation so that when they stand on it and *don't* stumble (they're unusually agile, they were aware of it too and feinted, it got fixed by the janitor), they get a bonus on their melee for your defenses being out of line to stop it.
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I would suggest direct compels would relate to things like:
You don't have your lockpicks because that gate is never usually locked.
Be late because you know it normally only takes 10 minutes to get there.
Be inquisitive when something has changed.