The Knights of the Cross are pretty interesting in my opinion, but they also have a large problem as well. There are supposedly only three holy swords, two of which eventually fell into Dresden's hands and were never redistributed. First of all, WHY IN HELL would the church even allow Dresden to keep such relics? Wouldn't they want to take them and redistribute them immediately to worthy successors. There is no time for these swords to sit around idle, when there is a constant war to fight against evil.

Secondly, just THREE SWORDS in the entire world? Come on, there are numerous legends of TONS of other holy swords. What about the sword of Jenne D'arc for instance? She's a canonized saint who performed miracles on the battlefield, so don't tell me her blade wouldn't be a holy relic comparable to the swords that the Knights of the Cross wield.

Honestly, can only THREE SWORDS make a difference in the ENTIRE WORLD! Definitely shows the church doesn't care enough to fight evil if they depend on only three people to be their champions, while the regular priests just give their weak ass prayers and hope to make the world a better place. So SHOULD there be more than three holy swords in the Dresdenverse?

Well when I ran my game, I kept the 3 Swords of the Knights of the Cross, however, I did not have them be the only holy weapons in my game. This was a change I made. Some ideas I got were from threads here in the DFRPG others made as well as my personal ideas as well.

Yes, for the Knights of the Cross there are only 3 Swords, each sword was made with one of the nails that pierced Christ on the Cross. Now you could also have Holy Weapons like that made from the Apostles who were crucified as well. What about the Lance of Longinus which was the lance that pierced Christ's side?

But what of the Archangels? Some have had people wield their weapons in history as well and some beliefs Saints like Joan of Arc carried the sword of St. Michael. The Roman Catholic Church is but one faith but not the only ones fighting the evil that is out there. And why does it have to be a Christian Holy Weapon?

Some people have had designs of people carrying weapons of other good gods like Thor for instance as well.

Someone here mentioned reading The Warrior in Side Jobs and that is good idea, because Harry says some of the same things you are saying. Jim answers part of it but not all of it. There are still things Harry (and the readers) still need to learn about the Dresdenverse.

There is a story of a Fourth Nail at least according to Gypsy Legend. In the story there was suppose to be four nails that pierced Christ, but before the Romans nailed Christ to the Cross a young Gypsy boy stole one of the nails. In doing so lessened Christ's suffering and the Gypsies because of their kindness of stealing that nail no longer are considered sinning when stealing.

But that nail never pierced Christ so I do not know if you want to say it was Enchanted or not, but that is a legend to use.

What is her Troubled Aspect? You say she has no flaws. I really trying to understand how this character is so untouchable without flaws? Everyone has a Troubled Aspect in Dresden.

The no memory thing is a great way to screw with her. Missing 3 months I would easily turn that into something interesting and a great flaw.

How and why she turns into a Giant House Cat? If she left that up to you. Well I would research about Feline Shapeshifter Mythology and if I had time I would read some Feline Shapeshifter Novels.

My wife is in my Star Wars D20 Revised game and her character has no memory. I have had a lot of time to really have fun with her with it and she has grown to a level 9 Character. She loves all the ins and outs I come up with and my gaming group here.

How is some games are not for some people and insult? Nor is it veiled insult.

I am stating my opinion based on GMing and playing for 20 years. Some people have difficulties dealing with some games and have difficulties running them. No insult nothing veiled. Hell I even toss in examples of my own failures and others successes.

I don't think everyone can do everything. It is my opinion and I stated examples of what I have seen and experienced over the years of 20 years of storytelling.

If you disagree with me that is fine. That is your opinion. I am stating my opinion. We do not have to agree, but saying someone is insulting another because you disagree with their statement is wrong. 

This whole thread is asking our opinions. We all come from different backgrounds and have different beliefs. No one answer is for everyone. Someone is asking our opinions so we state them.

I states my opinion and giving examples. You can disagree with me I have no issues with that. You can pick me apart and state your own opinion and examples why.

But do not say I am insulting someone when I am just stating my opinion. That is all I have an issue with.

Could this have come across as more condescending? Who are you to tell people what they should and should not feel comfortable with?

As for the issue at hand, does it have to be a lust vampire? If it's feeding habits have not already been determined you could always make it a less awkward emotion.

He said it himself he is awkward playing the seduction stuff because he has his ex fiancee and girlfriend in the same game! And he has a buddy's wife in there to. He is afraid to do the seduction because it makes himself and his gaming group awkward. If that is making someone awkward and his gaming group as well because of the past history and they cannot keep IRL and Game separate this kind of game is not for them.

Examples of his quotes shall we?

HOWEVER, the other thing is... I figure if the WCV does try and directly kill one of the party members, i have to at least sorta roleplay it out.  And where that gets really akward is one of his 2 primary targets is played by my ex-fiancee.  We broke up about a 15 months ago, and we've been doing a pretty good job on keeping everything friendly (and most of the time succeeding).  


However, I think for pretty much everybody (me, my current girl-I'm-dating, and my ex) is SUPER uncomfortable] with the idea of me roleplaying seducing her, ESPECIALLY given the supernatural level of arousal that a white court can trigger (Actually, even if my ex was my current gf, I think she would find roleplaying that somewhat akward, she's very shy about sex).

Jancarius states that he, his ex-fiance and his current girlfriend are all uncomfortable with the idea of sexual seduction in the game. Where do I get that from? What he posted in the second paragraph. That the players especially him and those two women in his life are uncomfortable with the whole sex aspect. He said that not me.

I split the two paragraphs up so you can see what he said and highlighted areas that was said in his post.

To get around this, I'm thinking I may just have the WCV be gay (or more likely bi, as the majority of Raith seems to be), but I still feel like that's going to be really awkward, and I have no idea how to roleplay seducing a guy without just saying "Okay, you feel super turned on when this guy gets near you... and moving on".  Suggestions?

He states here he is awkward playing a female character to seduce a man, so he thinks a gay male character would be easier.

Oh, and the other female player, the midget werewolf, is the WCVirgin's RL girlfriend, so I'd prefer not to have to RP seducing her, but at least in her case it wouldn't be near as bad.

And there is someone else's girlfriend in this and he feels awkward once again playing the sexual aspect of the game. This own words. Not mine.

I listed both: The Social Combat Rules and use another WTC house even make up your own. Did you not read that? Take a look at your own quote of me.

In my second paragraph under You are afraid of seducing people with your NPC because the person behind it is your ex?

This is a game and it is not real. You are playing a woman and he is playing a guy. Seducing him is part of the game. Roleplaying out the scenes are a must in a game like the Dresden Files. If you are feeling awkward about this then just use straight die rolls following the Social Combat Rules in the game.

I clearly state the Social Combat Rules. I also say the game is not real because it seems what happens in game is effecting him and his players look at his quotes.

I even say in the third paragraph under You are afraid of seducing people with your NPC because the person behind it is your ex?

But if you have an issue running a simple scene like this. Is this the right game for you? Is your group mature enough to play a game with these kind of social aspects? Why do your WCV have to be Raiths there are other families that do not use Lust and if you do not like any of them. Make up your own so you do not have to seduce.

Once again you say something I did. Make your own. I also ask him the question that every GM on the planet has to ask. Is this the right game for me to run and is this the right game with my set of players.

If I had a character being seductive and it could be an issue with the other players. Like I mention with my wife in my games. I am sick of quoting myself. You should reread it.

Many a player has had issues with my wife playing seductive characters why she stopped until we have our current gaming group. Why my wife avoided those kind of characters until we found a gaming group that can handle this. We found a gaming group that can handle her playing something like that. Obviously there are some issues in this gaming group that make these situations uncomfortable as Jancarius has stated more than once in his statement.

Obviously in Jancarius's gaming group his girlfriend is uncomfortable with sex IRL and in game. She also has issues with him playing a NPC seducing his ex-fiance's PC especially for the strong sexual desires it brings out. He himself stated he has an issue trying to seduce a male PC. He even said he has issue trying to seduce his ex-fiance's girlfriend's PC as well. So everyone in his group he states is uncomfortable with this aspect.

It is his job as GM/Storyteller to see if the game is the right one for his gaming group. Yes, it is harsh of me asking him if his group has the maturity to play a game like this, but he himself needs to take a look at the make up of the game. If his GF had issues with sex and sexuality as he stated and I highlighted. I would have steered my ex-fiance away from playing a Raith Vamp. You need to make sure what is being played in your gaming group will make everyone comfortable.

Some groups can separate IRL and Game stuff and some cannot. Obviously this is extremely difficult with all these people involve and he does not seem to have the experience to run a seductive NPC (his/her quote of not knowing how to seduce a guy so playing a gay male character might help).

Now I listed my experience because I have gone through exactly that (other than having my ex playing with me and my current girlfriend and my ex's current girlfriend) there seems to be some fear of jealousy issues here.

So once again is this the right game for his/her gaming group? Is it constructed the way to not create conflict. Right now it is sounding like it is and that can cause major issues. If the players cannot separate IRL and Gaming. Start from Scratch or run a different game.

Harsh but hey I have GMed for 20 years and sometimes as the GM you have to make those hard choices like this. The least thing you want is to tear your gaming group apart.







And yes not all games are for all gaming groups.

Maybe I was not clear as I was dealing with both a sick wife and a 3 month old in the middle of the night as a wrote this.

In any game, it is possible to manipulate the rules in order to give you better abilities. In the Dresden Files, this can be done through rebate manipulation- and, at least in my opinion, isn't always a bad thing.

As a GM, if I know the way someone plays in general, and know they can responsibly handle a character that would, in some people's hands, be gamebreaking- I would be all right with that.

They would, of course, have to abide by a few rules, such as structuring the character so they could not steal the spotlight from other players, and making sure they aren't going to go berserk on anything that would be detrimental to the game.

What about you guys?

I ran a Mage: The Ascension game for nearly 2 years. This is game is nothing compared to Mages with Aretes of 3-5 and my group was 5 players.

I ran Dresden for a few months but the game ended because of scheduling.

It takes a GM to be creative. Hell look at the source material, Dresden Files Novels. How often is Harry challenged and by what? He cannot handle everything by himself. If you as a GM are being a push over and not being creative of course you bitch about Power Gaming.

Oh yeah and I ran a Champions Game for 2 years with a group of 4. So  Power Gaming gripes mean nothing for me. It is easy to come up with ideas it just takes time. Bring up the nastier stuff and do some research. GMing for Dresden takes planning not just tossing a game together like you do in D&D.

Games like Dresden, Mage: The Ascension and Champions take a lot of planning and do not forget to use the player character flaws against them as in Dresden their Troubled Aspects or Aspects like Chivalry is Not Dead Damn it!

Dresden's Aspect System is great and you can force things on the player or if they say no on that, they have to spend a Fate Point which could hurt them later. Remember no matter how powerful they are. These characters are human and have flaws. If someone is playing a character that is not acting human IE nothing effects me. He is not the player for this game.

I had no issues running my Submerged game but GMing Dresden is not for everyone. I admit my Superhero GMing and Mage: The Ascension and Mage: The Awakening background helped me a lot with running my game.

However, GMing something like Dresden Files is not for everyone. Just because you like the game does not mean you can run it.

My wife and I are both sadly never heard of the books until we saw the TV show. We thought the previews on SyLy was interesting. We were looking for a new series because our obsessions at the time one was not coming out fast enough in book form (Kim Harrison's Hollow Series) & Hamilton destroying her Anita Blake series.

I grabbed the first book and the rest is history. We devoured all the books up to White Knight in that summer. We became huge fans. It is really bad here we now get them on audio then buy the paperbacks. We cannot contain our excitement when one is reading and the wife is a slow reader. So we listen to books now which is really good. Helps also when we have long trips or nothing is on (since TV is mostly crap now adays).

Sipping and cuddling listening to the books. With what happened in Changes no way could we have kept that in when the other was reading. It was a shock.

This has become our most series and books. Hell when the RPG came out we jumped at getting it and playing. I ran a campaign now I am playing in a new one.

This is one of my favorite series (and it is the top series for me). I even love the supporting cast. Not one bad character in my honest opinion.

Now we have a little girl and she is listening to Dresden! Every story well written and I have reread or listened to them over and over again. Always catching something new or going over something new.

I have books on Superstitions and Legends.

No matter what City you are running your game there are always many books about the Macbre to Monsters to Ghosts in the area.

You can find various places on the internet that cover it. I know a few professional writers on their own blogs thanking the Wikipedias for ideas.

Other RPGs work as well. White Wolf especially the Begone Beastry, D&D no matter what version, Legend of the Five Rings, the Supernatural RPG, Buffy RPG etc.

Also movies and books. Some people have some great ideas for the Dresdenverse that are not Jim Butcher.

It all depends on what you want.

The strain for casting spells also effect the caster. You cannot be flinging spells all the time left and right without mental fatigue coming in. Sure a Wizard for instance is powerful but more sustained the battle is the more stress they take.

Look at Harry Dresden in the book series. How many times is he mentally taxed and physically exhausted from his spell casting and things going on? Recovering those levels in the FATE system is difficult usually resulting in a sustained rest just like Dresden falling down so tired barely to function, which happens a lot in the novels.

That is why they need allies. Harry has Murphy a mortal helping him out and at times she is on par with him. Thomas his White Court Vampire Ally. The Alphas all those shapeshifters.

Yes, Spellcasters have a lot of punch but they do pay for it in their strain on their sheet. (I know I am using the wrong terminology, one of my players borrowed my books because he is going to be running a new Dresden Game).

You have to make sure your Spellcaster is pushing it and getting those boxes marked. Make sure you toss in the penalties. You cannot cast a spell without cost the harder the spell the worst it is.

Remember the Social Fatigue Combat that can also help tire your Spellcaster out. I notice a lot of GMs miss that rule. Harry gets attacked like that a lot as well.