Constantine by way of Dresden RPG

[DanteC]

Any thoughts to stating the characters from the show anyone? 

[ways and means]

Constantines magic is pretty much all sleight of hand and thaumaturgy he is sadly lacking in evocation magic. He has a very high lore, a high presence, deciet, burglary and the infuriate stunt.

[WadeL]

Honestly, Constantine's magic is even less Thaumaturgy then just straight up plot device - it'd probably be handled much better with invokes and declarations than Thaumaturgy, I think.

I'd actually, personally, use just Fate Core for Constantine instead of Dresden Files RPG. I can't really see the added systems in DFRPG adding too much to Constantine if you're looking for a system to play in that setting.

If you're talking about bringing the character into DFRPG...I'd honestly make him a Pure Mortal instead of giving him a template. Leaves him a ton of Fate Points to invoke for effect his aspects all the time for those types of Plot Device things - his magic seems less like what a practicioner does, and more like something anyone could do if they knew the words. Constantine doesn't seem much more of a practioner, with innate magical talent, than Thomas does - he's just go really high Lore and crazy Aspects.

But that's just part of the universe he comes from. It doesn't seem like the spells he casts come from him, but that, for instance, he could instruct pretty much anyone to do any of his spells (clearly, Dresden couldn't tell Murphy "Okay, just hold this item and say these words" and expect to get some Thaumaturgy out of it). One could easily argue that in the Dresdenverse, Constantine is a practicioner (probably only Thaumaturgy). In the comic book universe, Constantine clearly has the full suite of sorcerer abilities, and some crazy other stuff besides.

So question the first - do you want him to be a practioner?

[Mr. Death]

Honestly, Constantine's magic is even less Thaumaturgy then just straight up plot device - it'd probably be handled much better with invokes and declarations than Thaumaturgy, I think.

I'd say he's probably got the Ritual power for exorcisms (he seems to have legitimate power and skill there), and the rest of what he uses are basically common ritual type stuff -- he bargains with some other power, or uses some ready-made item.

So he'd have a very high Lore score, with some stunts to boost it for diabolism and possessing demons. Probably also a stunt to represent Zed's dad's place as his workspace (replacing Resources with Lore, maybe?).

Possibly he cashes in fate points and refresh often to "borrow" the items of power in Zed's dad's place.

If you're talking about bringing the character into DFRPG...I'd honestly make him a Pure Mortal instead of giving him a template. Leaves him a ton of Fate Points to invoke for effect his aspects all the time for those types of Plot Device things - his magic seems less like what a practicioner does, and more like something anyone could do if they knew the words. Constantine doesn't seem much more of a practioner, with innate magical talent, than Thomas does - he's just go really high Lore and crazy Aspects.

I don't see him as the type of character who starts with a ton of fate points -- he's definitely someone who gets compelled left and right, builds up his fate points that way, then cashes them in right at the end for some insane and improbable resolution.

Like this most recent episode, I could see his player going, "I'm going to have a smoke, call it a self-compel that Pazuzu gets to do whatever it wants in the next hour or so in-game."

But that's just part of the universe he comes from. It doesn't seem like the spells he casts come from him, but that, for instance, he could instruct pretty much anyone to do any of his spells (clearly, Dresden couldn't tell Murphy "Okay, just hold this item and say these words" and expect to get some Thaumaturgy out of it).

Actually, he could, with common ritual.

So, overall...I'd say Ritual (Exorcism), with Lore as his top stat, Endurance equal or just below, with various stunts using Lore for things like Contacts, Resources, and such, and adding a mild physical consequence (he can't fight very well, but he can take a punch like nobody's business). Definitely the Infuriate stunt; maybe an Aspect boosting it, even.

[Ulfgeir]

He does seem to have quite high skill of intimidate. Especially against supernatural beings.

/Ulfgeir

[jackbythesea]

I agree with pretty much with what has been said so far, expect for the take on his magic. It's made pretty clear that John knows a certain degree of magic. Though magic in the show is shown very differently than in Dresden so I won't say he qualifies for full thaumaturgy either. It seems like he knows a mix of occult lore and tricks than really significant personal power. I'd give him Ritual: Crafting and maybe on Refinement and just have them all as potion slots to simulate his maigcal abilities.

[dragoonbuster]

He's implied that he's "picked up a few tricks" sort of thing over the years, done a ton of reading, but never been truly formally trained in magic. Also, most of the stuff he does tends to be very much "draw this thing here and say the right words and it works"--that says common ritual to me. Personally, I'd give him a Lore stunt that lets him make declarations and maneuvers related to knowing a particularly useful "common ritual" during a scene.