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Messages - Aubri

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16
DFRPG / Stressed Out About Beast Change
« on: April 10, 2012, 01:27:07 PM »
I'm sure this has been asked before, but I couldn't find it on a search of the archive, so...
First of all, if your Endurance increases when you shift, you get more stress boxes, right? I'm going to assume this is so.

So, what do you do with that stress if you shift back and forth during the same battle? For instance, taking Georgia's stats (OW p.115), she has Endurance at Fair in human form (3 stress boxes) but increases it to Good (4 stress boxes) when she wolfs out. Suppose she takes a single 4-stress hit, then switches back to human form. Does that 4th box just stay floating out there, leaving her "human" stress boxes empty?

For a more extreme example, suppose she were able to push her Endurance all the way up to Superb, gaining an extra mild physical consequence. She takes a 6-stress hit and uses her 4-stress box and that consequence to soak it. The consequence still sticks with her in human form even though the consequence slot is technically unavailable, right?

The other stress tracks have the same issue in reverse -- for instance, if she took a 4-stress social hit, then wolfed out and knocked her Presence down to Fair.


I have a second question about beast change that'll probably be a little easier. Do you completely re-buy your skills for beast form, or do you need to keep the same skills on the page and just shuffle them? That is, can you drop a skill to Mediocre when you wolf out?

17
DFRPG / Re: Poison and Ectoplasm
« on: December 06, 2011, 02:29:52 AM »
All right, thanks!

18
DFRPG / Re: Poison and Ectoplasm
« on: December 05, 2011, 10:43:07 PM »
Quote from: CottbusFiles on December 05, 2011, 08:11:50 PM
If it is fey it wouldn't. Fey are flesh enough, they leave bodys behind too and don't revert back to ectoplasm
This is a valid point. Assume it was summoned.

19
DFRPG / Poison and Ectoplasm
« on: December 05, 2011, 06:23:21 PM »
If you were bitten by a poisonous creature from the Nevernever, at what point (if ever) would the poison revert to ectoplasm? Could you set a magic circle around yourself to cut the poison's connection to whatever was keeping it stable in the real world?

20
DFRPG / Re: Giving It Back: When A Changeling Chooses Mortality
« on: September 04, 2011, 09:30:35 PM »
Quote from: sinker on September 02, 2011, 10:52:41 PM
I wouldn't see this as getting around the limitations of unseelie magic. He's still going to be limited in scope of the things he can do (in fact sponsored magic tends to be a little less restrictive than mortal magic), and he's still going to be regularly visited by his parent (or he would be were I GMing). Unless you're being really harsh about the whole can't use unless it aligns with the sponsor's agenda then he's probably not going to like mortal magic any more.
I tend to agree with you, myself. Part of it is the limitations on his thaumaturgy, since it has to align to the unseelie themes. That said, I do need to discuss with him that mortal magic still won't let him break the laws of magic. (We had the same problem when he was playing a Jedi in Star Wars.)

21
DFRPG / Re: Giving It Back: When A Changeling Chooses Mortality
« on: September 02, 2011, 10:42:08 PM »
Quote from: mstorer3772 on September 02, 2011, 09:54:11 PM
You're assuming (as is the player) that the "I chose Mortal" version of this character will be capable of Evocation and/or Thaumaturgy.

I would have expected them to become a Pure Mortal, complete with the bonus refresh.  I suppose it really depends on the mortal parent.
To be honest, if I say no, the player will just say, "Never mind, then, I'll keep playing like this." In short, he's really enjoying playing a practitioner, but he's frequently frustrated by the limitations of Unseelie Magic.

22
DFRPG / Giving It Back: When A Changeling Chooses Mortality
« on: September 02, 2011, 06:34:46 PM »
I have a player who currently plays a changeling with Unseelie Magic as her primary ability. The player is considering Choosing to become a mortal, now, but would also like to become an apprentice wizard. While I have no particular issues with that, mechanically speaking, I have some questions about the process.

First, giving up sponsored magic. How do you think I should handle this? Does the sponsor have any say in it? Would it incur any debts? What sort of long-term personal or social consequences might it have?

Second, I'm tempted to make finding a mentor a book-length goal. Other than looking down their collective nose at her, would the White Council have any particular problems with a wild talent like this? She hasn't broken any laws of magic at this point -- she was already running at 1 Refresh.

Third, having used "magic with training wheels", so to speak, do you think the character would be able to pull off Focused Practitioner-level magic without further training? Like maybe allow her to take either Channeling or Ritual? "Flying blind" and with lots of spell-failure compels against the new high concept, of course.


23
DFRPG / Re: Using Aspects Against Players
« on: June 29, 2011, 02:34:03 PM »
Quote from: Drachasor on June 29, 2011, 03:28:49 AM
This isn't the best way to handle everything, but aspects DO have problems in some more extreme scenarios.  Hiding behind cover from someone shooting 100 yards away.  That cover only being there when powered by fate points is danged peculiar.  Some thing with guards who just have to look down a narrow hallway that has good lighting.  The latter is especially true if the guards are not human and don't get distracted -- though honestly, getting distracted a bit is handled fairly well by dice rolls and maneuvers.  Similarly, if you are standing in the middle of a burning fire, then "the zone is on fire" as an aspect IS a bit lacking.
Well, I definitely don't want to get into the D&D simulation mindset here. The cover doesn't do anything if it's not powered by a fate point because it's then not relevant to the story. I'm just looking for ways for the cover to become story-relevant when the PCs aren't the ones using it. I could certainly see the guys who are taking cover needing to perform a maneuver to create it, but they still only get one free tag.

24
DFRPG / Using Aspects Against Players
« on: June 28, 2011, 08:31:28 PM »
New-ish DM, still getting the system under my feet here.
I'm still a little shaky on dealing with NPCs and aspects, particularly when the scene aspects should act as a penalty against the players. For example, suppose the PCs are trying to sneak past security into a BRIGHTLY LIT hallway. If the security guard had fate points, I'd certainly invoke that aspect on his Awareness roll. However, as a nameless NPC, the guard has no fate points to use.

Conversely, in a parking lot FULL OF CARS, the PCs should clearly have their Awareness penalized relative to an approaching ghoul's Stealth.

It seems like the aspect might as well not be there if the PCs don't choose to interact with it. How do I handle this? Should I hand out a fate point to the PCs as if I were compelling an aspect on one of them?

25
DFRPG / Re: Noob GM: NPC Consequences
« on: May 06, 2011, 07:10:34 PM »
Got it. Thanks a lot! My one-off named-servant-of-the-big-bad will have one mild consequence slot.

26
DFRPG / Noob GM: NPC Consequences
« on: May 06, 2011, 06:11:40 PM »
I get the impression that certain kinds of NPCs should be able to take consequences, and others can't. Is there any hard and fast rule/suggestion on this? If not, is there a decent rule of thumb?

27
DFRPG / Re: New GM Requesting Help
« on: May 06, 2011, 12:50:02 PM »
Quote from: Crion on May 05, 2011, 10:18:58 PM
So, in a way: yes, write down what has happened and what is relevant, and gauge what happens next based on what the PCs do, whether or not it directly impacts what you are writing about. I used a similar tactic in my old D&D games, just in case they went after the "wrong" villain or did something unexpected, so that I would have a way to put them on target or offer them new opposition at a later time.

I personally am not a fan of the rule of thumb for "Scaling the Opposition." If you have more mortal stunts on the board, you end up losing so much of that "oomph" that a major villain should have; in your case, that is the exact problem, as you have 10 in powers versus 9 in stunts, leaving you at a net value of 1. At that point, I just build a single villain that is equal to the power of one the players, then add a few more "tricks" up their sleeve.
That's a lot of help, actually. Thanks! I'll just get my "rogue" "pyromancer" (he's technically neither) statted up and work up a timeline for the adventure, and that should be enough to start.

Quote from: Richard_Chilton on May 06, 2011, 04:56:54 AM
Note: It's not just the GM that needs to make the shift.  The players have to get used to declaring things.  We're still working on that at times.
I'll try to remember to remind them of that. Thanks a lot!

28
DFRPG / New GM Requesting Help
« on: May 05, 2011, 09:58:11 PM »
My group and I have spent the last couple of weeks putting together a city and characters for a DFRPG game, which I'm to GM. And I'm a little worried.
It's not that I'm new to running games. I've run D&D for years... but I'm starting to feel like that's more of a hindrance than a help! I'm having some trouble putting together a plot and a proper villain. This is really, really different from what I'm used to.

First off, I ran through the process in "Building Scenarios", but I'm a little bit confused about what to do after I have a general idea of the plot. Should I just write down what happens without the PCs' intervention, and watch them monkey-wrench it all to hell?

Second, I don't understand the rules of thumb in "Scaling the Opposition". My group is Waist Deep: two pure mortals, a changeling, and a were-form. For a single villain, the Mixed Groups sub-heading says I should "add up the total refresh the PCs spent on powers, but then subtract the total number of refresh they spent on mortal stunts."
What does "powers" refer to? Do you total the spent refresh and subtract stunts, leaving you with just the refresh spent on supernatural powers? Or that you add up only the supernatural powers, then subtract the stunts? Because doing that leaves me with a grand total of -1 refresh for my baddie.
(In case anyone cares: mortal cop, -5 in stunts; mortal scientist, -4 in stunts; changeling, -6 in powers; were-form, -4 in powers. The changeling has sponsored unseelie magic.)


29
DFRPG / Re: Multiple Focus Items
« on: December 01, 2010, 11:19:40 PM »
Quote from: Tsunami on December 01, 2010, 11:09:27 PM
As long as the items do not provide the same type of Bonus, they both apply.

So one control and one power focus - both apply
Two or more control foci - only one applies, usually the one with the higher bonus
Two or more power foci - only one applies, usually the one with the higher bonus
Ah, okay.  Thank you!

30
DFRPG / Re: Multiple Focus Items
« on: December 01, 2010, 11:18:25 PM »
Quote from: Runhide on December 01, 2010, 10:26:51 PM
The quick answer is yes you can do that if you are using the terms exactly the way you are stating them.  For a better understanding of why focus Items page Y278 explains it.  Below is most of what is writen about your topic.
Let's assume I can read the book as well as you can, mmkay?  My question was not how to create a focus item, but whether you could use multiple items in the same spellcasting.  

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