I'm an old-school roleplayer who has gotten into indie stuff, but this is my first foray into Fudge, Fate, and etc. I've run everything from basic-set 1st edition D&D to Nobilis to Dogs in the Vineyard, but I want to do this right, since I like the Dresdenverse so much and since I like the ideas of the system. However, I'm used to creating my own worlds and backgrounds, and I'm trying to run this by the systems in the book. I'm the kind of GM who doesn't even start looking for players until I've got 81 pages of notes about the world, then does another 40 pages of notes to plan a plot around my players' choices. My players include several very experienced roleplayers who have never touched the Fate system and one who has only played Cell Gamma (a very unique RPG, run by me, and I know that very unique is a bad phrase to use, but in this case I believe it appropriate.)
I'm (horror of horrors) trying to use the system in the book. My players and I have come up with a bunch of cool-looking stuff for our game set in a fictional version of Boston, and I'd like someone who's had experience running DFRPG to let me know if/where I'm going wrong.
First, the city: Boston is a strange place in the supernatural world just now. The local Warden and the Venatori Umbrorum have somehow succeeded in clearing the Red Court out of Boston (one suspects they left a little *too* easily, but...). There is a dragon sleeping under a floating island in a swamp a little North of Boston. Sometimes people who stay in Lizzie Borden's Bed & Breakfast go a little crazy. There is something else sleeping under Boston. And something waking: the forgotten Spring and Autumn courts are trying to regain power, though barred from the Nevernever and hidden from the Winter & Summer. Oh, and the Jade Court has decided they'd like to get a foothold in the US.
Themes/Threats:
1) Theme: Stay in your place Aspect: The Lines are clear.
2) Theme: What Dwells Below. Aspect: Deeper than you think
3) Threat: Fae Courts: Aspect: Conflict of the Seasons
Supernatural Status Quo:
1) Summer and Winter are fighting each other, Winter using the Winter Hill Gang while Summer uses the Bohemian communities and the D'Estate family.
2) Venetori Umbrorum & The Warden got rid of the Red Court
3) The White Court is powerful, the Black Court has a small presence.
Mundane Status Quo:
1) The Neighborhoods are in Conflict and the wealthy are winning
2) The Irish and Italian mobs are in a low-temperature war.
The Movers and the Shakers:
1) The Kennedies are a local rich family who are clueless and support the status quo
2) The Police are just slightly less clueless (and superstitious) (in general, there are exceptions) and support the status quo
3) John Henry and the newer policitians in town that he owns are fighting the status quo and are as clueless as the Kennedies
4) The local church is around the same level of clued-in as the police, but doesn't care about the status quo or rocking the boat
5) Slightly more clued-in than the church are the college rabblerousers, and even more (but still not very) clued in are the local downtrodden/petty criminal elements (the more downtrodden, the more clued in), both of which want to rock the boat.
6) The Winter Hill Mob and the D'Estate Crime Family lean toward the status quo and some of them are clued in (the higher up the more clued in)
7) The Venatori Umbrorum are very clued in and kinda like the status quo, except that they'd like the Fae courts to stop their war so they could help with the Red Court.
The White Council's local warden agrees with the Venatori, but is even more clued-in
9) The Mysteries themselves:
a) The Winter and Summer Courts like the status quo, except that they want their side to win (They would
rather their opposed court take power than anyone else).
b) The Dragon wants to stay asleep.
c) The Hag likes her hunting ground the way it is.
d) The Twilight Court, and the Jade Court all want to take power.
e) The Black Court wants to bide its time.
f) The Thing Beneath wants ...?
The characters:
Keena Jesiena Varen Idirsholas Smith
Her mother and sister died in a fire and to get revenge and investigate, she bargained with the hidden twin queens of Autumn and Spring. She later discovered that her mother had turned down the same power she accepted. She managed to find the person who set the fire, but doesn't know who hired him, and he died.
High Concept: Knight of two masters
Trouble: In over my head
Phase 1: It’s my mother’s ring.
Phase 2: I didn’t read the fine print.
Phase 3: Independence runs in my family.
Phase 4: In the nick of time.
Phase 5: Diminutive spy network.
Stress: P/M/S 6/2/2
Great: Alertness & Endurance
Good: Deceit & Fists
Fair: Might, Weapons, and Athletics
Average: Discipline, Driving, Contacts, Guns, Investigation
Stunts & Powers:
(-5) Ring of Twilight
(-2) Glamours
(-2) Inhuman Strength
(-2) Inhuman Toughness
(-2) Inhuman Recovery
(+2) The Catch (on T&R) - Iron
(+1) Item bonus
Refresh 2
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Jacob Kelly
A native american White Council wizard named Gabriel Horn took a young kid from a family of grifters as an apprentice and hid him from the Council (he told the apprentice it was to keep him safe from the Red Court). When the kid was half-trained (he was good at Evocation, had not learned Thaumaturgy yet), Gabriel disappeared. Surviving on his own as a homeless guy off-the-grid, not knowing who to trust, he felt he had to investigate the deaths of some local homeless people and housing project residents, and made a few friends in the supernatural community. He likes to hide and run away, but when it comes to someone else being in danger....
(Note - for this and the next character I created my own template - Wizard Lite. It's intended to represent people who know too much and have too much training to be sorcerers but who haven't got it all to be Wizards. They also have committed to spend their next several refresh on becoming wizards as they find game reasons to do so).
High Concept: Abandoned Apprentice
Trouble: Unspoken, Unwritten, and Unremembered
Phase 1: Love of 3 Card Monty
Phase 2: Gabriel Horn's Deerskin Bracers
Phase 3: "I couldn't just watch, could I?"
Phase 4: "Technically, I haven't done anything wrong."
Phase 5: "Hey! Ugly! Over here!"
Stress: P/M/S 3/4/3
Great: Conviction & Deceit
Good: Empathy & Discipline
Fair: Stealth, Investigation, Alertness
Average: Burglary, Endurance, Presence, Lore, Athletics
Stunts & Powers:
(-3) Evocation -> Air Control +1
(-1) The Sight
(0) Wizard Constitution
(0) Soulgaze
(-1) Read the Surface
Refresh 2
Focus Items:
Deerskin Bracers (+1 Spirit Defence Control)
Carved Bone Knife (+1 Water Offense Control)
Rotes: Apis (Wind Blast)
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Malcolm Kent
One of the local contact men of the Venatori Umbrurum, and the school librarian for the Boston Latin School, Malcolm is a bookworm. He wants to be a wizard, but he can't seem to escape his own mind enough to embrace the powers involved. Through an unlikely series of events, he acquired the complete library of a White Council wizard who passed on, and has been teaching himself. He is also hiding a teenaged sorcerer who has the lawbreaker power (actual love potions + high school geeks=fun!) from the Wardens.
(note - I'm still trying to get him to punch up his aspects, especially his trouble), and he hasn't finished reading all of the Magic rules.
High Concept: Wizard Wannabe
Trouble: Pedantic
Phase 1: Academic Understanding
Phase 2: Owns a Wizard's Library
Phase 3: "He's not *really* my apprentice"
Phase 4: "I know where the bodies used to be buried,
but where are they now?"
Phase 5: "Who you gonna call?"
Stress: P/M/S 3/3/3
Great: Lore & Discpline
Good: Scholarship & Contacts
Fair: Conviction, Resources, and Stealth
Average: Endurance, Craftsmanship, Driving, Presence (wrote Endurance twice)
Stunts & Powers:
(-3) Thaumaturgy (Ectomancy)
(-1) The Sight
(0) Wizard Constitution
(0) Soulgaze
(-2) Channeling - Spirit
Refresh 1
Focus Items:
1
2
3
4
Rotes:
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Wayne Ashley Dover
High concept says it all. A cousin who wants him to be cured of the curse saved him from killing his first girlfriend, and he investigated some wild parties thrown by the fae that were harming his frat brothers. Brian is the enforcer and bouncer at the local Accorded Neutral Ground meeting place, and Maura was his girlfriend that Wayne flirted with (causing someone who hated Wayne to kill her, thinking she was his).
High Concept: Runaway White Court Virgin
Trouble: My family wants my cherry popped
Phase 1: Pretty boy from Dixie.
Phase 2: I've never tasted anything like it.
Phase 3: I got the better of a fae in a deal. I think.
Phase 4: For everything else, there's Mastercard
Phase 5: Locket with photo of Brian and Maura
Stress: P/M/S/H 3/2/3/4
Great: Discipline & Resources
Good: Deceit & Rapport
Fair: Athletics, Empathy, & Presence
Average: Weapons, Scholar, Endurance, Scholarship, & Alertness
Stunts & Powers:
(-2) Incite Emotion (lasting)
(-1) Emotional Vampire
(+1) Feeding Dependency
(-1) Best foot forward
(-1) Sex appeal
(-1) Lush Lifestyle
Refresh 2
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Locations and Faces:
1) Name: Boston Public Gardens
Description: A little bit of Spring and Autumn Nature in the Middle of Winter & Summer's City
Theme idea: The HQ of the plot to bring about The Twilight Court(s) Return
Aspect: Make way for Ducklings.
The Face(s): The Twin Queens, Damia and Auxesia. The Two Missing Queens.
2) Name: The Floating Island of Huckamuck Swamp
Description: The Dragon's Hammock
Threat idea: There is a dragon sleeping. Don't wake it up.
Aspect: Let sleeping dragons lie.
The Face: Diarmid, the Scion of the Sleeping Dragon
3) Name: North Church
Description: Paul Revere's original church, the Episcopal (but Ecumenical) spiritual heart of Boston
Theme idea: Bastion of Faith
Aspect: Bastion of Faith
The Face: Father Medina, the Clued-In Priest
4) Name: McGinty's Place
Description: South Boston Harbor Bar
Threat idea: Hangout of the Winter Hill Gang
Aspect: A place for mobsters to chill.
The Face: Mickey "Backlap" Lynch, the Irish Mob Middle Manager
5) Name: Harvard Square
Description: Wild & Creative home of Street Performers
Theme idea: Playground for the Sidhe
Aspect: Crazy Energy
The Face: Brother Blue, the Fae Touched Storyteller
6) Name: Boston Latin School
Description: Oldest Public School in the Country
Theme idea: Venatori Umbrorum HQ
Aspect: Old secrets and new faces.
The Face: Malcolm Kent, the Wannabe Wizard.
7) Name: Lizzie Borden Bed & Breakfast
Description: Bed & Breakfast on the site of the famous Murders
Threat idea: The crazy leaks through
Aspect: Leaks of the Crazy
The Face: The Ghost of Lizzie Borden, the Friendly Axe-Murdering Ghost
Name: The Subway
Description: The oldest subway, with abandoned stations.
Theme idea: Hidden places and paths.
Aspect: Jeepers Creepers
The Face: Tunnel Jack, the Homeless Navigator
9) Name: The Locke-Ober
Description: Fancy Restaurant. No, fancier than that. No, really.
Theme idea: Accorded Neutral Ground, so Don't break the rules.
Aspect: Formal Behaviour Expected
The Face: Brian Sinclair, the Hereditary Werebear Enforcer Maitre D'
10) Name: Faneuil Hall Marketplace
Description: The middle of everything in Boston
Theme idea: All sides visit here
Aspect: The middle of everything
The Faces: Jeff Dee and his wife, Elvira Starchild-Dee, owners of “Local charms”
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Faces:
Faces:
1) Names: Damia and Auxesia, the Twin Queens
They are the faces of the Boston Public Gardens
High Concept: The Missing Queens
Motivation: Re-establish the Vanquished Court(s)
Relationships: Hiding from and hate Giamonios and Gem-Adaig
2) Name: Diarmid
She is the face of Huckamuck Swamp
High Concept: Scion of the Sleeping Dragon.
Motivation: Keep my father asleep.
Relationships: talks to Brother Blue (not allied), Brian Sinclair
3) Name: Father Medina
He is the face of the Old North Church
High Concept: Clued-In Episcopal Priest.
Motivation: Protect The Innocent.
Relationships: Knows Sabien, Tunnel Jack, Backlap
4) Name: Mickey "Backlap" Lynch
He is the face of McGinty's Place
High Concept: Irish Mob Middle Manager
Motivation: Expand the Winter Hill Mob and Expand My Power In It
Relationships: Knows Sabien & Medina
5) Name: Brother Blue
He is the face of Harvard Square
High Concept: Fae Touched Storyteller.
Motivation: Spread Creativity Far and Wide. (which he thinks is what the Summer Court is)
Relationships: Diarmid, Tunnel Jack, Brian Sinclair
6) Name: Malcolm Kent
He is the face of Boston Latin School.
High Concept: Wannabe Wizard
Motivation: (PC)
Relationships: with the other PCs, Knows most everybody reasonable
7) Name: Lizzie Borden's Ghost
She is the face of the Lizzie Borden Bed & Breakfast
High Concept: Friendly Axe-Murdering Ghost
Motivation: Make Friends or Kill Them, depending on mood.
Relationships: Had tea with Medina after a failed exorcism
Name: Tunnel Jack
He is the face of the Subways
High Concept: Homeless Navigator.
Motivation: Get Drunk. Stay Drunk.
Relationships: Doesn't know why Adonaea didn't eat him, Sabien, Medina
9) Name: Brian Sinclair
He is the face of Locke-Ober
High Concept: Hereditary Werebear Enforcer Maitre D'
Motivation: Keep The Accords.
Relationships: Brother Blue, Diarmid
10) Name: Phillip Cantor
He is the face of the Lizzie Borden Bed & Breakfast
High Concept: Clueless Landlord who Cantor handle it. (sorry)
Motivation: Keep my business afloat any way I can.
Relationships: Can’t see Lizzie, doesn't believe in any hokum.
11) Name: Wilton Kennedy
He is the face of "Know Your Place"
High Concept: Clueless Corrupt Mayor
Motivation: Power, whores, drugs, family, and power.
Relationships: Mickey Lynch, Sabien
12) Name: Adonaea, the Lady of the Underworld
She is the face of What Dwells Below
High Concept: The Surviving Sister of Hecate.
Motivation: Eat, thrive, grow in power.
Relationships: For some reason, she will not eat Tunnel Jack, Knows the Twin queens
13) Name: Giamonios
He is one of the faces of Fae Court Machinations
High Concept: Summer General
Motivation: Conquer Winter, beat anyone else down.
Relationships: Rival and former lover of Gem-Adaig, Brother Blue and Mickey Lynch
14) Name: Gem-Adaig
She is one of the faces of Fae Court Machinations
High Concept: Winter General
Motivation: Conquer Summer, beat anyone else down.
Relationships: Rival and former lover of Giamonios, Brother Blue and Mickey Lynch
15) Name: Sabien
Not a face but a recurring character Maybe face of “Know your place”
High Concept: Sighted Detective
Motivation: To Serve, Protect, and Keep Order
Relationships:
16) Name: Sonny D’Estate
Face of “Fae Conflict”
High concept: Godfather Wannabe
Motivation: Be as cool as the cool gangsters in movies.
Relationships: Has tried to have Backlap whacked, has avoided being whacked.
17) Names: Jeff Dee and Elvira Starchild-Dee
Faces of Faneuil Hall Marketplace
High Concept: Elvira: Apprentice Hedge-witch pretending to be a new-age Glinda
Jeff: Low-key shop-owner hedge-wizard.
Motivation: Make do. Have fun.
Relationships: They know everybody aboveground.
