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Messages - Tedronai

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121
DFRPG / Re: Does "Calm Blue Ocean" work on Hunger rolls?
« on: July 06, 2013, 04:57:46 AM »
Personally, I wouldn't allow Calm Blue Ocean to affect Hunger as a GM. However, I would certainly be fine with a custom Stunt - based on Calm Blue Ocean - to be taken that only affects Hunger.

If you're contemplating taking a Stunt to augment your Hunger defense or Hunger stress track, you'd be better off simply buying off the rebate and leaving the remaining effects of your Hunger in the narrative hands of Compels.

122
If a player is trying for an outcome they explicitly know - such as lifting an object, shooting a target, or overcoming an enemies armor
That's not the player trying for an outcome, that's the character.  Except that the character doesn't know what Aspects or Fate Points, or 'Tags' are in the first place, and so doesn't need to know how many would need to be involved in order for them to succeed at their task.

If a target is a little hazier - those rolls where the player is fishing for info from the GM (like looking up info at the library, or searching the scene of a crime) then the goals are a little more vague. Again, this is a discretion call - if they want a particular fact from a research roll - say a famous figures birth date, I may give a set target, but not if they cant tell me exactly what they want to know. I'm not going to tell them that there is a reward for hitting a 3, two rewards for hitting a 7, and a ton of stuff for hitting a 10 - they might have a vague idea how thorough they were (e.g. they know what the dice roll was) but that's it.

In doing so, you deny the players the ability to play their characters effectively, evocatively, and often, satisfyingly.
Without such information, they cannot make the necessary decisions as to whether or not they should spend resources that do not exist in the game-world, but nevertheless affect it.
The character is doing research.  The player is spending FPs (or not, depending on whether or not the they deem it worth their while).

123
I should mention again, so I don't mislead you. In this situation, I'm not lying to my players, just not telling them exactly how well they succeeded. You'd give vague answers at this point unless they rolled extremely well or extremely badly.

Without having at least a decent idea of how well your character succeeded (or how badly they failed) it becomes difficult, at times impossible, to make the necessary metagame decisions upon which this system is based, such as whether or not to invoke an Aspect to boost your roll.

124
DFRPG / Re: HomebrewAt2046
« on: July 05, 2013, 02:07:49 PM »
a fire-related "blinded" maneuver on the demon...something like "scorched eyes".  (I admit the last one's a bit silly, but you get the point).

Hey, I actually did that to the BBEG in a D&D game way back when I first got into the genre and our group was misguided enough to allow a 'called shots' houserule.  It was quite effective.  Not fire-immune, mind you, or a demon, but the principle was the same.

125
I think you are seriously misunderstanding me.

You don't have to give your players complete control over, or even complete foreknowledge of your plans.  Just don't lie to them.

If you want to have visions that are difficult to interpret, have the character roll Lore to interpret the information.  Success reveals one or more Aspects related to the subject matter of the vision.  Failure indicates that the character cannot make sense of the vision and no Aspects are revealed.  Alternatively, allow the player to boost the roll, gaining access to one of the above-mentioned Aspects by also having an Aspect placed on their character representing an inaccurate or incomplete understanding of the vision that will cause problems later (those problems being represented by Compels against that Aspect).
If you actually want the character to come to a mistaken conclusion regarding the vision, simply Compel them from the start, skip the roll, and deceive the character rather than the player.


It's really difficult to maintain a mystery for long in the DFrpg without ignoring the rules, twisting them into knots, or breaking them outright.  The system simply isn't suited to it.  If that's what you and your players are after, you'd be better off in a different system.

126
If the GM can't trust their players, then they should be using a different system.  Attempting to deceive your players runs directly contrary to the foundations of the DFrpg ruleset.

127
DFRPG / Re: Bodyguard stunt
« on: July 03, 2013, 07:48:00 PM »
At the very least, I would add a specification that the ally must be within the same zone as you, and that the stunt functions only against physical attacks.

I'd also suggest a stunt that provides allies in the same zone as you with a small static bonus to their defense rolls against some subset of attacks.

128
DFRPG / Re: Item of Power: Demon Hunter's Sword
« on: June 30, 2013, 09:49:53 PM »
I am unfamiliar with any powers from the book that resemble 'Consumes Power'.  Mostly because I have no idea what it is intended to DO.
Both Supernatural Predator and Wasting Touch resemble powers from the books only in end result, while employing entirely new paths to get there that are seriously poorly defined.

129
DFRPG / Re: Item of Power: Demon Hunter's Sword
« on: June 30, 2013, 07:29:25 PM »
That writeup leaves some serious mechanical questions.
What counts as 'wounding' for the purposes of Wasting Touch?
Do the aspects from Supernatural Predator come with tags?
What counts as 'touching' for this purpose?
Does the 2-aspect clause of Supernatural Predator count as a Compel (the closest mechanical representation for forced action short of a Take-Out result)?
What does Consumes Power actually DO?  What happens if the tags have already been used?

130
DFRPG / Re: Changelings and Seelie/Unseelie magic?
« on: June 29, 2013, 04:15:48 PM »
Dunno if I'd consider #1 a "big" disadvantage.
Absolutely. We basically did exactly this in our games. Sponsored and Catches can be attached as a control for any powers, not just Magic, so long as it's thematic.

Example: "Samson"

(0) Sponsored: God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
~ (+1) Catch: Nazirite (can't cut hair/shave, no booze/no grape products, no becoming impure with/touching corpses)
~~ (-6) Mythic Strength

Edited: to fix formatting issue/one typo

I don't really see the need to actually attach the Sponsorship to a power (or set of powers) unless you mean to indicate that you'd only allow taking Debt on rolls associated with that power (/those powers).  Personally, I would just adjudicate that based on the table's shared understanding of the Aspect related to the character's relationship with their Sponsor.

131
DFRPG / Re: Is looking back in time a violation of the 6th Law?
« on: June 28, 2013, 10:27:08 PM »
No, you miss the point. Psychic powers are not magic. They're out of the domain of the white council. They're not going to kill people for looking through time with psychic powers

Given Harry's perspective on the Alphas (who also insist that they're not using some sort of specialized spellcasting, regardless of what Harry might think) and the Council's historical hard-line policies regarding the Laws, I'm not sure that they'd agree with you.

132
DFRPG / Re: Demonic Co-Pilot Rewrite
« on: June 27, 2013, 10:42:08 PM »
I have it as more than that because the spirit acts as an advisor as well as a method of gaining powers. Hence the Superb workspace.

I have, in the past, simply represented this by taking Sponsor Debt to boost the relevant rolls.
It seemed to work just fine.
If the character in question relies more on such advise, or if the spirit exerts more of their influence in this manner, such that you feel it deserves a greater spotlight than would be possible through this method, then I would suggest representing it as its own power (or stunt), purchased with Refresh as normal.  If the spirit later denies access to that advise, I would represent that event through Compels.

133
DFRPG / Re: Concessions
« on: June 27, 2013, 10:37:57 PM »
Sanctaphrax and Mr. Death have the right of it.

Concessions are metagame events, and are not necessarily even visible to the characters involved (though they might sometimes be if, for instance, the character themself literally concedes as part of the Concession).

Refusing a Concession is entirely allowable if the player (or GM) having it offered to them feels that it is too lenient.

Concessions may be offered up to the point where dice have been rolled.  They become available again if that roll is fully resolved without the relevant character being Taken Out.

134
DFRPG / Re: Law Talk
« on: June 27, 2013, 01:49:16 PM »
Two interesting hypothetical scenarios:

1. Does it break the First Law if you kill someone with a spell intended to be non-lethal?
Yes.  Though, this will only happen if A) the player want it to or B) the GM Compels the player, and the player accepts (a GM compelling a character where the player has no choice but to accept, with the result that the character loses Refresh, is generally considered a 'dick move').

2. Do you get the Lawbreaker bonus on spells that don't technically break the Law again, but are very similar thematically?
Technically, no.  Individual GMs may be more lenient at their discretion.

135
DFRPG / Re: Demonic Co-Pilot Rewrite
« on: June 27, 2013, 01:43:36 PM »
The only things I really consider necessary to represent Demonic Co-pilot are access to sponsor debt (and the resulting Compels), and an appropriate character aspect.  That's it.  Nothing else.

I cost this at [N/A], meaning that it's not even worth losing a Pure Mortal bonus, if the character retains that.

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