A hint about the game system

[The Last Bean]

If we use Jim's books as a guide we would see that we have a wizard for a PC (Harry), a Holy Knight (Michael) and perhaps a vampire (Thomas) and otherwise supernaturals seem to be more along the NPC line. Again, that's for Jim's version of Harry's world.

I don't know, we had more characters that I think could qualify as PC's. Billy the werewolf, Fix the changeling (not Fix the Knight), and Butters are all PC level characters. They aren't in the same power level as Harry and Micheal, but they do bring other abilites to the table to flesh out a group. After all, what good is playing a bard without a party to buff?

I think it's worth pointing out again that Harry and his peers (Micheal, etc.) aren't all-powerful within their world. They're actually just lucky, dedicated, and they have some decent powers to call their own. Harry was very nearly stomped by almost every enemy he's come across, including the loser dark wizard from book 1. And it's well established that even an average Warden could smush him in a straight up fight. (With people like Luccio and Morgan being able to completely destroy him without much effort) Not to mention the TRULY god-level characters, like Ferrovax or the Merlin.

Even Micheal, with Godly power channeled through the sword, doesn't seem nearly invincible. He's had it taken from him on several occations, and even when he did have it a nasty ghost of an ex-mother was able to fight him to a standstill in the nevernever. That said, I wouldn't want to get in a fencing match with him while standing in the St. Paul's. I have a feeling that his divine powers are boosted by places steeped in faith (no evidence to back this up of course) So MAYBE under certain specific conditions you might be able to say he's an unobtainable level of power. Maybe.

I think that it should be reasonable to fight/cast at the level of Micheal and Dresden within the roleplaying game, since they are "hi-PC level". They're a bit above your average mortal, and even your average caster, but they can't stand up to the heavy hitters of the supernatural world without some pretty serious backup, if at all. In my mind, that's exactly where PC's should get to. Eventually.

[finarvyn]

I think it's worth pointing out again that Harry and his peers (Michael, etc.) aren't all-powerful within their world.

This is a great observation, and I would think that this will form the foundation for a power level within the campaign. No one wants to be the absolute bottom of the “food chain” and there isn’t as much of interest to do at the top, so some sort of middle-ground is the way to go. Characters will clearly be better than mundanes, but won’t be anywhere in the league of the big boys.

…they can't stand up to the heavy hitters of the supernatural world without some pretty serious backup, if at all. In my mind, that's exactly where PC's should get to. Eventually.

Exactly. We would want our players to have some advancement room, so they have to start off a bit weak but can advance from there. I can see some campaigns where players become heavy hitters and others where the players are more like pawns being controlled by the big boys. Of course, each Game Master will have the power to moderate how slowly or quickly the advancement occurs, as well as the decision as to how high characters will be allowed to evolve.

[rdonoghue]

It's worth noting that Harry has signifigantly "leveled up" over the course of the books, so power level is a little more of a fuzzy topic than it might be.  If we're goign to do things in pure terms, there is a decent argument to be made that Michael is actually more "powerful" than Harry (albeit less flexible) and before you scream, I'm just going to say: killed a _dragon_.

Of course that just further illustrates the fallacy of any purely power based model.  Michael, as an example, has no fear of any foe, so long as his cause is just.  He was willing to throw down with Mab, on her turf, with her pack of minions on hand.  Some of that is "God on my side" confidence, but it's not all bravado.

Harry doesn't have that same raw capability, but for Harry, the cause doesn't need to be just, and the means can be much more roundabout.  Even if Michael can win _every good fight_, can you really say, except perhaps on a case-by-case basis, who is more powerful?

-Rob D.

PS - Note, I'm leaving interactions with the Denarians out of the equation for a simple reason - the Knight's relationship with the Denarians is more complicated than it is with a random evil thing, no matter how monstrous.

[The Last Bean]

No one wants to be the absolute bottom of the “food chain” and there isn’t as much of interest to do at the top, so some sort of middle-ground is the way to go.

Then again, while you're busy getting stronger, so too will many of your peers and betters. A lot of DMs seem to forget about NPC advancement over the course of a game. The players have gone up ten levels, so now they can beat that level 12 necromancer EASY. Unless...oh, snap. He's gone up six himself and is still way above the players. Heh. THIS should be more interesting. Kinda neat how this is built into the FATE system with the usage of the phases. (everytime a phase passes for the players, one should pass for all the major NPCs as long as they're doing something meaningful)

Speaking of which, I'm more psyched about this game than I was before now that I've looked into FATE a bit. I just bought my set of Fudge dice and will be running my first FATE-based game on wednesday. It's set in the Outlaw Star universe. (High-tech meets high-magic. Spaceships and Wizards. Always fun conceptually) But I'm also doing a modification on the magic to create world with ultra-common magic Kinda like how in Alera everyone has magic. Only a whole planet like that, all the critters and plants use magical energy. I'm currently working off a "spacefaring settlers crash-land" backstory. And at any rate FATE has made it very easy to deal with systems-wise. Just allow all magic to default to "poor" like all the other skills, and tada! Everyone can do magic. Should be interesting.

[karmakaze]

I'm likely to pick up the book and use it as source material, the same way I use some GURPs books.  (I run primarily in HERO.)  I do have a current campaign I could work some of this into, although I don't know whether it will end before the Harry Dresden RPG hits print.