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DFRPG / Re: Enzio Auditore
« on: July 16, 2010, 10:45:26 PM »
No hidden gun? 
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DFRPG / Re: Shifts to Stress - optional or not ?
« on: June 20, 2010, 11:06:15 PM »We're talking about a game system where a man can drop a grenade at his feet, just stand there until it goes off and one scene later he's perfectly fine.
Strictly looking at the rules for weapons, yes that seems more or less correct (assuming a good endurance). But I think the weapon ratings are rather vague and done so by design, allowing for sufficient skills to make up the damage as well as our own views on how damaging we should make something. A person pulling this in my games (without an applicable toughness) would most likely be out and out dead, if not working off some
big time consequences.
Would you let a player who takes someone out with a grenade say "Ok, he gets blown a few feet into a wall, he's got a mild concussion and some minor cuts and is out cold"? It's certainly within the realm of reason because it happens in real life all the time.
Depends on the type of munition really. Fragmentation devices don't work that way, for example. You could argue that Concussion/stun ones do. The point I'm trying to make is that the outcome of a taken-out has to more or less be in proportion to the type of attack.
Take someone out by hitting them with a car and it's difficult to see how you could dumb down the attack to be less lethal (thus ignoring extra shifts). Maybe by hitting the breaks at the last second or trying to "clip" them? Either way you're still hitting them with a good deal of mass. I wouldn't expect them to get out of it without a number of consequences.
EDIT:
See, I'd do the exact same thing with either of those situations: Offer the player a Compel for the victim to die. If they reject it, it costs them a Fate Point, if they accept, the victim dies. Thus such behavior is discouraged unless you want to kill people.Ah yea... didn't think of that. Seems a good way to balance both perspectives.
On the 'control' roll, perhaps we are being too literal. As with everything else in this game, the numbers have to be turned in to descriptions and this can be done lots of ways. Sometimes a +4 control roll might literally be a well-controlled spell, it could also be a result of tapping hidden reserves of inner strength or concentrating the spell on an opponents weak spot (on purpose or not).
Rereading the evocation rules I think we may be forgetting that the discipline rolls is representative of two separate rolls (functions). One to control and shape the power, and one to direct/aim it. We do one for convenience. Which should the extra shift damage apply from? I would think the aim roll. So the initial control roll to account for the weapon rating, and the targeting roll to apply extra shifts of damage OR declare that after a hit those shifts are ignored to represent an intentional glancing blow?
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DFRPG / Re: Shifts to Stress - optional or not ?
« on: June 20, 2010, 09:59:36 PM »I agree with several that have posted. There has to be a line.
Question: The Bag Guy in the scene has been stabbed by the swordsman in the group, shot twice by the marksman, he is looking pretty bad, but is still standing.
Does the Wizard throw a minor bit of magic to "knock him out", because he is worried about killing him?
or
Does the wizard unload with max force to be sure the guy is finished off, since (according to the rules) he doesn't have to worry about killing him?
Part of the thrill in the books I enjoy is the temptation of power that magic gives. You have to use it responsibly, you cant use it to solve every problem, and if you do over use it, or use it to solve problems it shouldn't be used for bad things happen to you.
Ultimately, its up to each group, each player. But I would like to see both GM and PC on the edge of the seat when using magic to hurt someone. Yeah its cool as heck to throw fireballs and lightning blasts around at a whim. But what happens when the building catches on fire, and the power grid of the city block shorts out. How many disruptions are going to occur before the over zealous wizard(s) are hunted by the authorities as terrorists, and the wardens as rogue warlocks?
So start with B but if the players abuse it, then switch it to A. They will have to learn to pull the punches so you can switch back to B. Perhaps there is no clear defined answer on this. But abuse is a two way street. Player and GM should share the responsibility.
This I think is a reasonable compromise.
And someone mentioned the application of fist earlier (which I admit did not occur to me at my earlier post) and it leads me to consider the type of attack. You punch someone, you're a lot less likely to kill them if you shoot them. Likewise if you push someone around with a force or air attack you're a lot less likely to kill them as with say, a ball of fire or a bolt of lightning. Keep in mind that in the books Harry is extremely careful when using his magic against mortals. He pretty much always uses force or wind and usually spends it to push them along or discourage their actions, creating a block or aspect of some sort (wall of wind anyone?).
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DFRPG / Re: Shifts to Stress - optional or not ?
« on: June 20, 2010, 09:34:08 PM »
I would tend to side with the GM and go with option A. While it's great that they mean to control their actions and be mindful of the outcomes, the base fact is that evocation is a dangerous, wild beast and is quite difficult to control. If you throw destructive energy at your opponent, you intend to do them harm. Just like a gun; you don't aim at something you don't intend to kill. The best marksman in the world couldn't make every shot non-lethal. Shoot someone in the leg, they can still die.
On the other hand, I agree that casters shouldn't be threatened with the nerf (read: lawbreaker) bat every time they go to cast something. I believe that the GM should be fairly tolerant the matter of magically killing a mortal by at the very least giving the player fair warning. If you want to shut someone down with magic, blocks and maneuvers are great!
I think this would be a perfectly acceptable plot hook IF and only IF the GM gives ample opportunity and clues to discover the treachery. Otherwise this seems like something a particularly devious and in-the-know enemy might do. I agree with you in that it's a bad idea to pull on a low refresh player as you don't want to Hand-of-god-GM them to death. But if your player is reckless enough, it could be fun to lead them into a setup where a warden witnesses what is apparently a lawbreaker in action
On the other hand, I agree that casters shouldn't be threatened with the nerf (read: lawbreaker) bat every time they go to cast something. I believe that the GM should be fairly tolerant the matter of magically killing a mortal by at the very least giving the player fair warning. If you want to shut someone down with magic, blocks and maneuvers are great!
Simple like having a wizard be required to stop a bunch of very tough opponents, one of which is a regular human who has been altered by magic to look like one of those opponents. "ZAP - Oops, that's a lawbreaker stunt for you...what's that? You only had one refresh left? Guess you're screwed, hahaha."
I think this would be a perfectly acceptable plot hook IF and only IF the GM gives ample opportunity and clues to discover the treachery. Otherwise this seems like something a particularly devious and in-the-know enemy might do. I agree with you in that it's a bad idea to pull on a low refresh player as you don't want to Hand-of-god-GM them to death. But if your player is reckless enough, it could be fun to lead them into a setup where a warden witnesses what is apparently a lawbreaker in action
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DFRPG / Re: More Minor/ Mundane Effects
« on: June 20, 2010, 09:10:50 PM »If we ignore the fact the Harry has never used magic in this way, despite ample incentive, on the basis that his "blue collar legitimacy complex" makes him believe that such a spell is a form of "cheating", then how about a thaumaturgic spell that warms your clothes as if they were just pulled out of the dryer and/or cools your clothes as if they had just spent the night in the freezer. It's the perfect spell for making Chicago winters or Atlanta summers bearable by technology-impaired wizards.
He mentions using a spell to refreeze the water in his icebox. Though another comment about not having the time to do it (he was in the middle of a case) does seems to imply that it was more a thaumaturgical effect.
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DFRPG / Re: The Grey Cloak and Those who wear it.
« on: June 20, 2010, 12:31:47 AM »
A tool that I think is great for generating story hooks (for wardens at least) is the paranet. The whole idea behind it was that if something happens the community passes the word up the vine until Harry or another warden hears of it.
Day to day I expect the life of the typical warden is much like Dresden's. They get a steady paycheck from the Council to keep their ear to the ground and handle the minor supernatural threats that pop up, then report to their Regional Commander on a regular basis. Seems perfectly reasonable to me for a GM to have a NPC from the next county or the Commander call up your warden player and say, "here, this is your problem now". There's always some fire that needs putting out somewhere, and it seems pretty clear that the wardens are expected to hat up and play fireman.
Of course I would think there would be the occasional call to serve at Edinburgh or in the war with the reds too, but these are a larger deal and should be handled as such.
Day to day I expect the life of the typical warden is much like Dresden's. They get a steady paycheck from the Council to keep their ear to the ground and handle the minor supernatural threats that pop up, then report to their Regional Commander on a regular basis. Seems perfectly reasonable to me for a GM to have a NPC from the next county or the Commander call up your warden player and say, "here, this is your problem now". There's always some fire that needs putting out somewhere, and it seems pretty clear that the wardens are expected to hat up and play fireman.
Of course I would think there would be the occasional call to serve at Edinburgh or in the war with the reds too, but these are a larger deal and should be handled as such.
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DFRPG / Re: Soul Reapers?
« on: June 20, 2010, 12:04:37 AM »
Well thinking about it, most things I remember seeing in Bleach could have a reasonable analog with this rule set. I think the varying levels of Zanpakutō release would be the most difficult to work out. Other than that I would say the list of supernatural powers could be used with maybe a few alterations to cover most of the abilities.
Disclaimer: I'm still adjusting to these rules too, so my interpretation of specific powers is subject to review
Kidō is mostly evocation, using attacks (Way of Destruction) or blocks/maneuvers (Way of Binding). The few healing effects the show displays seem very similar to biomancy, and the barriers are really just a type of ward or block.
The BIG effects like the Sōkyoku execution fit with Thaumaturgy.
Shunpo could be played as supernatural or (probably) mythic speed. There are just a lot of characters in bleach that have it.
Characters would most likely have Spirit Form, with it attached to Human Form for people like Ichigo Kurosaki (assuming you can attach it like you would with Beast Change), and a number of other powers based on which flavor they were. Possibly Demonic Co-Pilot also?
As to Zanpakutō I'm a bit unsure of how to do a catch-all rule for them, since there's a big spread on the powers they show. Maybe something along the lines of an Item Of Power that grants varying levels of modular abilities? A sort of shapeshifting? Summoning?
I've got someone in my group who is looking at something in this general direction too, so I'm interested in what we can turn up.
Disclaimer: I'm still adjusting to these rules too, so my interpretation of specific powers is subject to review
Kidō is mostly evocation, using attacks (Way of Destruction) or blocks/maneuvers (Way of Binding). The few healing effects the show displays seem very similar to biomancy, and the barriers are really just a type of ward or block.
The BIG effects like the Sōkyoku execution fit with Thaumaturgy.
Shunpo could be played as supernatural or (probably) mythic speed. There are just a lot of characters in bleach that have it.
Characters would most likely have Spirit Form, with it attached to Human Form for people like Ichigo Kurosaki (assuming you can attach it like you would with Beast Change), and a number of other powers based on which flavor they were. Possibly Demonic Co-Pilot also?
As to Zanpakutō I'm a bit unsure of how to do a catch-all rule for them, since there's a big spread on the powers they show. Maybe something along the lines of an Item Of Power that grants varying levels of modular abilities? A sort of shapeshifting? Summoning?
I've got someone in my group who is looking at something in this general direction too, so I'm interested in what we can turn up.
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