a quick google on "fudge dice" show several places, this one on top.

http://www.rpgshop.com/default.php?cPath=_30_316


Devin

I have never played World of Darkness.  So it’s hard for me to give you a specific answer.

 Most of my playing experience has been in the Hero System.  We have modified it to run superhero games, fantasy games, Cyber Punk, Star Trek, and most recently Firefly.  It could be adapted to Dresden I’m sure.  I’ve also played D&D, DC Heroes, Shadow Run, and a few other systems. 

So from my perspective, going over the rules in Spirit of the Century, it is a lot different from what I have played before.  I think I like it, but it will take a bit of mental work to get my head around some of the ideas.

I think there are a couple or reasons for this.  Fate uses much “softer” rules.  Things are always open to change by the players if they want to spend the points for it.  There are no real ranges for things.  They are distance “areas” that can be of any size.  You can use several different skills to get something done as long as you can explain it.  In Hero, you have to go back to the rules to see how something works.  In Fate, you ask the player “how do you think it works.” 

But I think the main thing is this.  Most rule systems are in place to keep the player character from being too powerful.  In Heroes, the point system means that the rules force you to conform to a power range.  The rules keep the player from making the uber-character that can deal with just anything thrown at him.  In Fate, you are counting on the player to understand that an uber-character is no fun to play.  It’s the limits and things he has trouble doing that make the character interesting to play.  If you are playing with a real rule lawyer player who just wants to make the most powerful character allowable under the rules or the “really big gun” player who just wants to blow everything up, then you have your work cut out for you.

In the Hero system, you have lists of skills with numbers that correspond to his skill level.  In Fate, you have a few lines like “I know a guy” and “I can fix that!”  The brief descriptions are meant to cover a wide range of abilities and actions.  A Hero system character with Electronics can fix a computer or a TV or something.  He (she) can’t fix a car or a jet or a broken mechanical trap.  But in Fate “I can fix that” kinda covers them all. 

In Hero System, you make your character and the GM goes over it, consults the rules, looks over the math for adding up the points and stuff and passes it or asks you to make changes.

In Fate, character creation is a group project that everyone has some input into it.

But if your playing with a group who are working together to make a cool story, then this is the system for you, I think. 

Most of the people I game with are using the Hero/Champions game system.  I have been thinking about how to put together some of the Dresden characters in Champions and I may yet do that.  I was hoping that we would get picked for play testing, but no word on that yet.   Our Firefly based game is winding down and we need something to replace it.

I have spent the last few days reading through the SoC rule book.  I think this system is a good fit to the Dresden World.  It is also a good fit to my style of GM'ing where the story is more important than the rules.  Most of my playing and GM'ing has been done with Champions.  I like the flexability, but things do bog down in rules. 

I tend to start first time role players off on Tunnels and Trolls because it is fast to learn, fast to set up a character, and easy to run.  But I may have to try SoC with some newer role players to see how that goes.

Magic rules and character advancement seem to be the major issues to work out in a Dresden game.  I agree that I my group would have more fun starting the characters off as late teens with limited control and building up to more serious stuff.  Kind of like we have seen Billy grow up through the series.  Although I'm fairly sure that not all my players would want to be Wizzards.  One of them goes for really screwed up characters and would go for something like a Susan character.  One likes ugly semi-bricks with unusual powers.  I can see him going for something like a were-crane.

I think the system's lack of hard and fast numbers is plus to working out unusual stuff.

Devin