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Messages - Wolfwood2

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46
DFRPG / Re: What else warrants execution by the Wardens?
« on: April 05, 2011, 03:35:22 PM »
In addition the enforcing the Laws of Magic, the Wardens are also charged with protecting the interests of the White Council.  This means retaliating if one of the other supernatural factions (or unaffiliated monster) has harmed a Wizard or to a (much) lesser extent, a Practitioner of any sort.

Ultimately, the Wardens aren't cops.  They don't have a prison in which they can throw troublemakers or people misusing (on a sub-Law breaking level) magic.  The have only two tools of enforcement, threats and violence.  I imagine they use a lot of the former and resort to the latter when somebody tries to call their bluff.

47
DFRPG / Re: Difficulty of casting out a Denarian "shadow"?
« on: March 17, 2011, 06:52:35 PM »
Quote from: zenten on March 17, 2011, 11:53:57 AM
"Say yes" trumps canon.

Agreed.  Matching what's in the books is at best a far secondary goal to playing the game in an enjoyable manner.

48
DFRPG / Re: Sherlock Holmes -- Unstuck in time
« on: March 16, 2011, 02:15:45 PM »
Quote from: Tallyrand on March 15, 2011, 10:47:47 PM
If we're going by the Sherlock Holmes of the books I'd personally drop Scholarship entirely, instead giving him a stunt or an Aspect (Home Made Encyclopedia of Crime) to get largely the same effect.  Holmes didn't have broad knowledge at all and actually actively avoided learning anything that wouldn't directly facilitate crime solving (his hobbies of recreational chemistry and the violin not withstanding).

Well...  A lot of people don't seem to get that when Holmes made that claim to Watson during their first meeting (about actively avoiding learning things), he was just messing with Watson's head.  Subsequently he demonstrates a wide range of knowledge about an incredible variety of topics.

Holmes has a nasty, sarcastic sense of humor and has no compunctions about lying to serve his purposes or because it would be funny.  If you've ever seen the television show 'House', that's actually a pretty good picture of Holmes' personality from the stories.

49
DFRPG / Re: Difficulty of casting out a Denarian "shadow"?
« on: March 15, 2011, 09:10:17 PM »
Quote from: Cyberchihuahua on March 15, 2011, 05:53:35 AM
Technically, you would have to take out the Fallen, and the holder of the coin if they were resisting you. Its been said in the books more than once that the only way to get rid of them is to willing let go of the coin. The mere shadow of Lasical was only gotten rid of by her effectivly taking herself out.

Though that does not have to be true IYDG (in your Dresden game).

While suitably dramatic for a long arc with Harry in the books, I'm not sure the book versions of the Denarians are necessarily the best tool for every game.  If it's better for the story for taking out a Denarian shadow to be less of a big deal, then it can be.  The table may not want to spend multiple major milestones on this bit of business.

Fortunately, even in the canon universe they are supposed to have radically different capabilites and approaches.  We could say that Lasical was especially good at leaving shadows in peoples' heads, and it isn't so hard to get rid of other Denarians.

50
DFRPG / Re: Sherlock Holmes -- Unstuck in time
« on: March 15, 2011, 09:05:01 PM »
Quote from: stabbald on March 15, 2011, 07:35:18 PM
- "Elementary."

- Insufferable Genius. (Stolen from a post by Buscadera)

Probably also something about how he craves stimulation, whether from an interesting case or from drugs.

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Skills

Superb - Investigation
Great - Scholarship, Alertness
Good - Fists, Weapons
Fair - Displine, Conviction
Average - Stealth, Deceit, Perform

He definitely needs a higher than mediocre Presence.  I would drop Conviction and exchange it for Presence.  He can defend against mental assualts with Discipline, but I don't think his psyche is as hardy as all that.

I also think having both Weapons and Fists is probably unnecessary.  I would give him Fists with a couple of stunts and switch Weapons for... wait for it... Drive.  Obviously this doesn't represent him being a racecar driver, but rather his ability to acquire and utilize intimate knowledge of the city where he lives.  He knows where every street goes, can navigate shortcuts, jknows where every business is located, and so on.  Though I suppose you could instead take a stunt allowing him to use Scholarship in place of Drive for purposes of navigation.

If you did that, then give him Intimidation instead.  Holmes was pretty good at staring people down.

51
DFRPG / Re: [Fate] Dresden Files
« on: March 10, 2011, 09:21:55 PM »
Quote from: Watson on March 10, 2011, 10:01:07 AM
I would rule that a player is not allowed to invoke aspects at any time they want to in a conflict. By this I mean, without any real support in the rules, that one side first invokes all the aspects that he or she wants, and then locks the results. After that the other side does the same.

Why?  It's pretty exciting to see two PCs get into a bidding war over something to see who wants it most.  It's especially hilarious when they they start invoking each other's aspects to their own benefit.

I swear, it seems like a lot of people have read through the books trying to put together a list of things they won't allow.  I don't get that mindset.

52
DFRPG / Re: Looking for Necromancy Ideas
« on: March 09, 2011, 10:34:05 PM »
Quote from: Bruce Coulson on March 09, 2011, 10:30:39 PM
Are the necromancers protecting the city against supernatural threats?  They could be seen as unpleasant but necessary specialists by the mundane authorities, and the PCs as 'outside agitators' threatening the peace and stability of the city.  Better the devil you know, after all...

No, necromancy is pretty bad for your soul.  It can't make you be evil... but it sure makes evil attractive!

53
DFRPG / Re: Looking for Necromancy Ideas
« on: March 09, 2011, 10:33:00 PM »
Quote from: Sanctaphrax on March 09, 2011, 09:59:46 PM
2. If necromancers are a known element of society for long enough, then the opinions of the general populations will get interesting. Do they resent the necromancers? Do they admire them? Do kids want to be necromancers when they grow up, and if they do then what do their parents think about it?

Well it's still the basic Dresdenverse setting where magic is a secret, so I wouldn't exactly call them a known element of society.

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3. If necromancy remains established in the city for long enough, then it seems inevitable that some sort of subculture will form. So, do necromancers have bars? Do they have a common system of training new necromancers? Are they united socially against the Council?

I don't think they're going to end up too sympathetic here, since when my players did their background stories two of them essentially went, "And there were these bad guy necromancers hurting people, so we kicked their butt".  And to be fair, it is somewhat of a soul-twisting form of magic.  The section on necromancy in YS isn't that extensive, but it specifically lists human sacrifice as falling under necromancy.

That caveat aside, there's definitely going to be a subculture.  I am liking the idea that there are a few 'big bad' necromancers around who have studied the lore of Kemmler, but there are also guys like the taxidermist who just do it on the weekends and such.  They might not have bars, but they do have lodge meetings and apprenticeships, and some sort of exchange of knowledge.

What I am currently trying to struggle with is ghosts versus souls.  Okay, so ghosts are echoes and not people.  But are there cases where the actual souls of people hang around?  Are there cases where necromancers call up actual souls/dead people from Beyond (and not just their ghostly echoes)?  The whole 'guide to the dead' bit the Son of Hermes PC is interested in is predicated on him actually helping dead people reach their rest, not just echoes of dead people.  How do I handle that?  Are there echo-ghosts and then true spirit ghosts?

I am also trying to figure what necromancy does other than zombies.  Let's do away with zombies or anything zombie-related for the moment.  No reanimated flesh.  What other things fit under the thematic reach of necromancy?

54
DFRPG / New Minor Talent Concepts
« on: March 09, 2011, 05:32:39 PM »
I'm looking to make a list of potential minor talent descriptions/concepts for quick reference and inspiration.  Note that I very deliberately say "description" as opposed to "power".  The existing powers in the book are very broad, and it's very possible to that many or most concepts for a minor talent could be covered under an existing power.  Nevertheless, there may be many different takes on any given power.  Someone who can lay out tarot cards and see a person's future might have the same power in a mechanical sense as someone who can channel ghosts from the future, but they'll play out very differently.  Or some concepts may be hard to represent with an existing power, but it may not be important if they're just an NPC.

A few ideas off the top of my head to 'prime the pump':

1. Old woman with lots of cats who has a telepathic bond bond with all of them and can see through their eyes and control them.

2. Taxi driver who can drive his cab from one end of the city to the other in less time than is physically possible.

3. Guy who can conjure ectoplasmic versions of his tattoos.

4. Woman with "x-ray eyes" who can see through walls and doors (but whose distance vision isn't better than anyone else's).

5. Someone who can see a person's future in a tarot reading.

More?

55
DFRPG / Re: A Couple Questions 'Bout White Court Virgins
« on: March 09, 2011, 04:51:13 PM »
Quote from: charlesperez on March 09, 2011, 04:07:49 PM
Too lenient? Feeding Dependency is only worth +1 refresh, at most canceling the cost of Blood Drinker or Emotional Vampire. It's not much of a rebate, and not worth losing powers just because you looked at them funny.

Absolutely.  How often does +1 Feeding Dependency actually hurt you?  Well, how often do characters tend to lose +1 Items of Power?  My experience suggests maybe once in between every Major milestone.

You don't want players afraid to use their powers, or losing access to their powers every other scene.  That would be insane.

56
DFRPG / Re: Looking for Necromancy Ideas
« on: March 09, 2011, 02:57:58 AM »
Quote from: Sanctaphrax on March 08, 2011, 09:36:50 PM
And zombies make great labourers. Strong, obedient, and totally expendable. It could be a union issue: a certain group of manual labourers has been highly paid for years because their job, although easy, is very dangerous. But now they're being fired and replaced with zombies.

That is awesome!  Thanks.

57
DFRPG / Re: Looking for Necromancy Ideas
« on: March 07, 2011, 10:32:54 PM »
Quote from: Sanctaphrax on March 07, 2011, 10:15:30 PM
Not sure if this helps, but I've written stats for a number of necromancers and zombies. You can find them in the Generic NPCs thread. (It's in the Resources section.)

Reply #59 is a generic necromancer.
Reply #30 is a Senior Council level lich lord.
Replies #135-169 include a number of unusual undead.

There are also some ghosts on that thread, if you're interested.

Thanks.  Wow, even #59 is an incredible powerhouse.  What would a schlub weekends-only necromancer look like?

58
DFRPG / Re: A Couple Questions 'Bout White Court Virgins
« on: March 07, 2011, 08:56:12 PM »
Quote from: Eunomiac on March 07, 2011, 07:38:48 PM
1) How does vampire hunger work?
We spent quite a while bouncing back between Emotional Vampire and Feeding Dependency, trying to figure out how they worked.  Here's what we couldn't figure out:

How effectively does Emotional Vampire let a Skavis sense, detect or gauge despair?  YW 189 describes WCVs being "drawn" to things like orgies or mobs, so does that mean they can sense these big events going down from a distance?  I tend to think yes, because it's interesting, but a more difficult question arises at the small-scale: In close proximity to a potential victim, does a Skavis WCV need to rely on Empathy to detect despair like anyone else would, or can she "smell" it in some supernatural fashion?  The latter seems to be implied by the Feeding Frenzy effect, but it's never really stated outright and it struck me as something that would be.

I handle all this "it's a supernatural sort of thing they ought to be able to do, but there's not a full power for it and it's not worth a full power" the same way.  It's either an invoke or a compel on their high concept.

If the WCV wants to detect despair and it's a useful thing, then they can pay a Fate point and sniff it out.  If this is not a useful situation for them to detect it (that is, they're hungry and it's tempting), then it's a compel.  If not either then yes, they use skills to do an Assessment or Declaration like anybody else.  Probably Empathy, but other skills might be justified.

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Am I making "feeding failure" too weak?

Eh, look at it this way.  It forced her to take Discipline at a high level.  I think it's fine.  Compels are where the meat are.  The hunger track just makes for some nervous rolls once in a while.  Especially since she doesn't have all that many powers linked to the hunger.


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How DOES one clear out that hunger stress? The powers section describes only two ways to clear out hunger stress — skip an equivalent number of whole scenes of play, or kill.  Am I missing the part in the rules that describes how shifts on a feeding attack clear a certain amount of hunger stress?  Skipping scenes can't be the only way to clear hunger stress without killing: This I know for a fact, because the designers are clearly too bright for that.  But I also figure it's so fundamental that it has to be included in the rules somewhere... we found it very weird that both Feeding Touch (YW 189) and Drink Blood (YW 188) describe "feeding" to deal stress to an opponent, but make no mention of how the vampire benefits from that feeding.

I would allow feeding to clear stress on a one-for-one basis, but that's just me.

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2) Why are the Tattoos of St. Giles restricted to the Red Court?
I'm actually surprised that a search didn't turn up a previous discussion of this here on the forums.  Every effect under the tattoos is effortlessly transferable to the White Court, mechanically at least, yet the books seem uncharacteristically adamant about that Red Court restriction, mentioning it quite a few times in very strong language, while never even hinting at the possibility of sticking them on a WCV/v/v+.  It's as if Tattoos-on-a-WCV/v/v+ never even occurred to the authors.  This concerns me... have I walked into some subtle game-unbalancing trap by doing just that?

It's a setting thing.

59
DFRPG / Looking for Necromancy Ideas
« on: March 07, 2011, 07:12:35 PM »
During city creation for a camapign I'm going to be running, the players decided that necromancers and necromancy-related stuff should be a big Aspect (literally) of the campaign.  In fact, a City Theme is, "Necromancers' Playground".[1]  So to accomodate, I want to come up with a lot of interesting variants on necromancy and how it might be used.  Non-obvious stuff, neat tricks, goals for necromancers, and that sort of anything.  Anything to stretch beyond the basic raising of human zombies.  Ideas are welcome!

Other things going on the city (Pittsburgh) are a major (and successful) war campaign by the Winter Court to crush Summer.  Also, the White Court has deep roots in the city and are known to be in an uneasy alliance with the necromancers.  Red Court doesn't seem to be around.  Character aspects that should also be played into:

1) One PC is a priest with True Faith and an Aspect, "My Mother is a Necromancer".  Obviously I can have fun with that.

2) One PC is a White Court Virgin (despair), so ideas on how the White Court and the necromancers cooperate would be good.

3) One PC is the illegitimate son of Hermes, and the player is interested in Hermes' role as 'guide for the dead' and has taken the Ghost Speaker power.

4) One PC is an aging (or rather non-aging) ex-rock star who sold his soul to Hermes years ago and is now assigned to watch over Hermes' son and do whatever else he's ordered to.  (His Trouble is 'My Debt is Due'.)

One idea I already had is to build off the idea of zombies requiring a beat to make music potentially very important in necromancy.  Like, if you build music beyond a basic drumbeat into your necromantic spells, you can get some amazing effects.  This would play into the former rock star's character concept.  (I am not particularly concerned with following Dresdenverse canon here.  I prefer cool over Harry's idea of what necromancy can do.)

(1) If you're asking where the Wardens are in all this, they're around but operating under some hindrances.  The Wardens (and the White Council) is highly distrusted in this city, and they get completely stonewalled in attempts to track down necromancers.  Nobody will talk to them voluntarily.  Again, please no setting arguments about how the White Council wouldn't allow that or anything.  This is the city the players built, so that's how it works.

60
DFRPG / Re: 1st Law Breaker Stunt
« on: March 07, 2011, 06:53:03 PM »
Does that mean you could use the Lawbreaker Stunt when killing Red Court vampires, even if killing vampires isn't an attempt to break the Law again (because they don't count)?

Lawbreaker (First Law) would be a lot more useful if it applied whenever you tried to use magic to kill anything, human or not.

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