Vampires and Werewolves and . . . Aliens?!?

[WilliamPall]

Okay . . . so I want to run a DF game for my group. I'm still in the very early early planning stages (only mentioned it to one or two of players in the group), and I've run into a few obstacles to overcome. One is that none of us have ever played a Fate based game, the other is I'm the only one in the group to have read the Dresden Files series (or seen the TV show for that matter).

Not insurmountable problems necessarily. But, what I want to ask about here is for your opinions on some of the feedback I've gotten from one of the players when I mentioned wanting to run the game.

I described the system and setting to him a little bit. Told him that the setting was a bit Buffy the Vampire Slayer, mixed with SuperNatural . . . told him "Modern Day where magic is real and there's all sorts of supernatural creatures: vampires, werewolves, fairy and such". He said he was interested, and then told me what type of character he'd want to play . . .  an extra-terrestrial.

Now, mechanically, I'm sure the Fate system can handle generating whatever type of alien he would want to create. I'm not going to tell him no, because aside from being just a dick move, it could be an interesting character option.

Where I'm running into the problem is that "alien from outer space" doesn't quite fit the flavor of the Dresden Files as I think back on the series. We've got the Modern Fantasy Chocolate and he wants to add his Science Fiction Peanut Butter. I'm not opposed to getting Reese's Pieces out of this, but I was hoping that I could get some idea's and thoughts on how to help ensure that the potential character fits with the game?

Now, all that said, I know that there's a lot that still contingent on other things . . . at this point I only have a partial High Concept, I don't have any information on any other characters, there's been no city creation discussed, and such.

Any suggestions?

[Belial666]

There are at least a couple of types of creature that are by definition aliens in the Dresden Files;  Angels, predating the existence of the Earth, are one such. The Outsiders, beings from another universe, are another.
Other than those two extremely alien types of beings, the Nevernever makes the real world look like a small island size-wise. There are various populated environments in the Nevernever, including those that resemble outer space, various netherworld-type environments and really alien stuff.


So, you got options;

1) An angelic spirit or an angelic scion.
2) An outsider or outsider scion. (think Cthulhu)
3) A nevernever creature whose environment resembes Outer Space.

[MijRai]

I would not do Outsider, but I suggest far-out being of the NeverNever.

[Richard_Chilton]

John Keel (whose "real life" story was adopted to the screen as the Mothman Prophecies) had a theory that the beings who used to call themselves "elves from the underhill" now pose as greys and other ET types.  He considered them to be ultraterrestrials (UTs).  Why do they do it? Because we're so cute when we're running around like rats in mazes for them.

That mindset fits the Dresdenverse well.  An elf (or other creature from the Nevernever) could pretend to be a spaceman and get it on with a mortal - so if he was willing to play the son of an alien he could definitely fit the paradigm.  His trouble might be "Dad WASN'T from the Nevernever" so if you leave the backstory vague there's the element of mystery over where his non-natural parent came from.

Maybe even give him an item of power - something that his dad left that looks all techno.

Hope this helps.

Richard

[TheMouse]

I'd suggest first and foremost that you have a chat with the player. Express your concerns, and see what he has to say. Ask how solidly he wants to play a space alien. It might turn out that it was just the first thing to pop into his head and that he has zero investment in it.

Assuming he wants to stick with the idea and that you're okay with it, there are two basic routes to go. Make sure to discuss with the player which to go with.

1. Space aliens are real.

2. It was some or other creature from the Nevernever, posing as a space alien for whatever reason.

If it's a real space alien, you can probably handle the high tech stuff as items of power.

If it's something from the Nevernever posing as a space alien (a faerie, getting a larf), then you just build the PC accordingly.

Either way, it's not terribly difficult. Just make sure you and the player are on the same page, and you should be good to go.

[tymire]

Also need to remember to take into account Hexing and if it would apply to any toys they have. 

[Vryce]

I think i would need more info.
what type of alien
power does he want
does he have access to this tech
is he orphened or half breed.
What does he want out of the character.

then i would help it fit in.  i would not have a problem with it, just warning him of what could happen.
like if he wanted a cool lazer gun with shinny blue lights around it, i would warn him that mortal magic would hex it almost as quick as he was able to use it.... then no more fancy gun...

but if he just wants a shapshifting alien, I would be cool with that, with flushing out his character that he does not have access or was stranded on earth at birth...

I would get lots of info from him and the make sure it fits in with the concept of you story.

hope this help.

[hank the ancient]

"any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic" + not every form of technology is our electromagnetic ferromancy. Flintknapping is a technology, as is ceramics, weaving, mechanical advantage, ethnobotany etc we just consider them to be primitive technologies because our culture stomped all over them with mass production and totalitarian agriculture. My thought has always been that an actual superior intelligence would behave suspiciously like kalihari bushmen or aborigines. Concievably it might be possible for an alien race to have stumbled into the nevernever the same way human wizards have.

[Peteman]

You know, you could consider having him play an alien wizard. A plane-hopping dude that got lost on the way home and had to head into the nearest port. But he's a full on mortal alien.

[admiralducksauce]

Since there's been no reply from the OP with his resolution or more information, I suppose all this is just a thought exercise, but IMO the Nevernever is like... tied to Earth, or possibly just humanity.  I figure if there was a DFRPG game in space, we - humans - would bring the nevernever with us, but until we set foot on Mars, for example, there's no Martian Nevernever.  Sure, there's probably some Earth NN place that's like the old pulp sci-fi Mars and the jungle-covered Venus of decades past, but those are there because humanity dreamed them, you know?

Winter and Summer have no meaning once you leave the planet.  I like the idea of this, because it kind of takes the wind out of Mab and Titania's sails a bit.  They're heavy, heavy, heavy hitter plot device NPCs, sure, but astronomically speaking they are just as insignificant as the rest of us.

All that said, if I had a player ask to be an alien, I'd have to consider it.  The supernatural bleeds over into cryptozoology well enough, and once you're knife-fighting chupacabras it's not so far a leap to Roswell.  However, I'd have to put the onus on the player to make themselves fit.  "You want your special snowflake PC, I understand, but you make the little gray bastard fit into the setting."

I do like the fairies-disguising-as-aliens idea though.  I'll probably use that in my game regardless.

[bibliophile20]

I do like the fairies-disguising-as-aliens idea though.  I'll probably use that in my game regardless.

The New World of Darkness setting has been playing with that idea--that of fey disguising themselves or being seen as space aliens--in the Changeling: The Lost game line.  Good place to raid for ideas. 

[Drashna]

Just FYI, it's not fae disgusing as aliens.  If you look at a lot of the "newer" alien abduction/encounter/spotting stories, and you look at a lot of the old faerie stories, you *will* see a *lot* of similarities.  Faerie lights? UFOs.  Little green men? Nixies maybe.

Basically, the stories *evolved* because science and understanding of the world did.  You think we'd have *aliens* if we never took off into the air? Or space?  And how much of our mind fills in blanks?  A forced sexual encounter with a fae turns into "probing" because that's what extraterrestrials would do.

In a lot of "mythological research", the general conclusion is that aliens == fae and fae == aliens. 


And as for the NN on other planets: Personally I'd say it's there.  Maybe not anywhere as strong. Where a 4 shift effect is needed here, maybe it's 20 there. (world walking part of thuam)  And as for Seelie and Unseelie courts. Maybe there is a greater balance there, or shared domain (no seasons, constant all around). Or each court owns permanent claim on certain sections, as they're constant temp all "year" round. 

Or maybe there is an alien race. Using the NN as a sort of hyperSpace for FTL travel.

[sinker]

I can't remember the specific reference (I'm sure someone else can back me up) but wasn't there a reference to someone walking through the ways to the surface of the moon to get somewhere else? That would be a little evidence that maybe the Nevernever travels to other places in the galaxy.

[admiralducksauce]

Sure, but then humans have been on the moon.  It backs up both interpretations. 

[deathwombat]

Could always beat them about the head and shoulders with a fish screaming
It's not a science fiction game!!!!!!!!!