So, after last night's game, I thought it might be a fun thread to talk about times in your games where the PCs suddenly found themselves in well over their heads, whether they realized it or not. So if you've been a PC and you realize that your pure mortal cop just stepped on a dragon's tail, or you're a GM who finds a player accidentally provoked the end-game boss, put it here.
I'll start since, as I said, this is inspired by something that's happened in my game, which is at 12 refresh currently.
In the Scenario up to now, an apprentice-wizard PC has been framed for breaking the First Law and is in hiding from the Wardens. She's been collecting components for a spell to clear her name, while a friend of hers had to be rescued from a White Court vampire, so she sent her boyfriend, another PC who's a reformed thief now working with the FBI, who only learned about the supernatural the day before.
In the course of rescuing the friend, he stumbles on another wizard looking for the apprentice, but realizes she's not doing so on the up and up and follows her. Eventually, he tracks her to the scene of the crime, and sneaks up on her with a grapple (declaring she was Unaware and tagging that).
I was not expecting this, so I gave the player a fate point for the self-compel (one aspect deals with not knowing about the supernatural and the PC seriously didn't know what he was getting himself into).
Now, normally the grapple would put the PC at an advantage, if only momentarily--except the PC only has a Might score of 1, and rolled a total of 0 on the grapple. The wizardess he snuck up on is, unbeknownst to him, a -16 refresh character whose spells start at 6 shifts rolled from 5 or 6 depending on the element. And the thief has a Superb dodge roll and Great attacks, but a three-box physical stress track, no armor, no Discipline score and only a Weapon:1 knife to fight with.
Next week's game is going to be very interesting.
