First Session (City/Character Gen) Impressions

[Chris_Fougere]

So last night was our first foray into both Dresden and Fate.  Must have worked well because when we stopped it was about 2:00am:)

I will admit to being somewhat skeptical about how well the city building as a group would go, mainly because I have some players who are fine players but seem to lack a creative spark.  Dresden really did make them bring their "A" game though and we ended up with enough plot hints, intriguing NPCs, tangled webs of deceit and power plays to make a good sized chronicle and I did a miniscule amount of work as the GM compared to other games.

Character wise, the only real snag was the naming of the Story for Phase 3.  The first few Aspects took a bit of time to figure out, mainly because no one has played Fate in any variation before.  High Concept wasn't too bad, but Trouble and Phase Aspects took some work.  Eventually though it all clicked for everyone and we got some good, solid characters out of it.  I know there's still some tweaking to be done but this is what we ended up with for your group in case anyone's curious.  Fredericton is served by both City Police and RCMP.  In our game it was decided that the City Police are in the pocket of the powers that be (Status Quo) whereas the RCMP is less knowledgable but more willing to look into things.  We have a PC on both sides.

We still need to fine tune some of the Aspects (part of the reason for posting here) but I think the concepts are solid.  I like that the character gen had people go in different directions while still remaining true to their concept.  Michael started as normal priest but when he randomly guest starred in the Stories for both Sam and the Dragon (both of whom are fairly young...19 and 16 (human guise)) the player decided to make him a youth pastor.  That sort of dynamic really appeals to me.

I also really like the dragon PC.  All the troubles of a young girl trying to break free from her parents grasp combined with raw supernatural might:)  So much potential there.

Father Michael - a local youth pastor, struggling with reconciling his True Belief in God with his sexual identity
High Concept - True Believer Priest
Trouble - The Faith is Strong, the Flesh is Weak
Aspects - Book Smart, Not Street Smart; Avoid Temptation; Thou Shalt Not Bear False Witness; To Thine Own Self Be True; Turn The Other Cheek.

Paul Benson - A low ranking member of the RCMP and a Werewolf
High Concept - Copy By Day, Were By Night
Trouble - Lone Wolf Surrounded By Disbelievers
Aspects - Born Radical, Eyes Wide Open, Not On Either Side, Supernatural Forces Can Be Molded...Sometimes, Darkness Comes In Shades

Sophie - A young White Court Vampire trying to break from her family.
High Concept - White Court Club Owner
Trouble - Daddy Issues
Aspects - Black Sheep Of The Family, On My Own Terms, Basic Instincts Are Profitable, Lead Unto Temptation, Aware of Temptation

Jacob Essex - Ex-military, on the City Police Force and current Winter Knight.
High Concept - Winter Knight Cop
Trouble - Too Curious For My Own Good
Aspects - Learning To Toe the Line, Be All You Can Be, Nothing Is What It Seems, The Truth Is Way Out There, Knowledge Is Power

Sam Baxter - Sam is a young (only 19) Wizard very skilled in artificing but with a chip on his shoulder.
High Concept - Young Wizard Artificer
Trouble - Addicted to Magic
Aspects - Don't Trust Authority, Bullies Are Bad, Wish I'd Been A Boy Scout, The Body Is As Important As the Mind...Mostly, Thou Shall Not Kill With Magic But A Baseball Bat Is Fine.

Name To Be Determined - A young (very young) dragon exploring the human world against the wishes of her parents.
High Concept - Young Dragon Away From Home
Trouble - You're Not The Boss of Me
Aspects - Daddy's Girl, Between A Rock And A Hard Place, Hidden In Plain Sight, The World is Dark, Actions Have Consequence For Others.

[Sanctaphrax]

First of all, I'm glad that things are working out well for you. Welcome to the game.

Secondly, what power level is this game at?

Finally, would you be willing to post the stats of these fine characters to the Spare Character Concepts thread on the Resources board?

[Chris_Fougere]

First of all, I'm glad that things are working out well for you. Welcome to the game.

Secondly, what power level is this game at?

Finally, would you be willing to post the stats of these fine characters to the Spare Character Concepts thread on the Resources board?

Thanks.  I've been a fan of the books for a while (though I am behind, just started Proven Guilty) and our group is generally a fan of more story based games (as opposed to "kill the monster, loot the treasure") so I'm not entirely sure why it took us so long to get to this game but we're awfully glad we're here:)

We're at the Chest Deep level, which does mean our Wizard with the anger management issues walks a very fine line.

Once I get the characters all "math-ed up" (ie. Stress boxes configured and the Wizard to pick his Focus items etc) I'll certainly post them up:)

[UmbraLux]

I will admit to being somewhat skeptical about how well the city building as a group would go, mainly because I have some players who are fine players but seem to lack a creative spark.  Dresden really did make them bring their "A" game though and we ended up with enough plot hints, intriguing NPCs, tangled webs of deceit and power plays to make a good sized chronicle and I did a miniscule amount of work as the GM compared to other games.

Ideas seem to fly once started.  Group city creation is one of the things I really like about DFRPG.

Character wise, the only real snag was the naming of the Story for Phase 3.  The first few Aspects took a bit of time to figure out, mainly because no one has played Fate in any variation before.  High Concept wasn't too bad, but Trouble and Phase Aspects took some work.  Eventually though it all clicked for everyone and we got some good, solid characters out of it.  I know there's still some tweaking to be done but this is what we ended up with for your group in case anyone's curious. 

I'd suggest allowing aspect changes relatively freely after each of the first few sessions.  Play sometimes helps flesh out a character.  It'd also allow easy replacement of any unsatisfactory or hard to use aspects.

Another thing to do is sit down and write down three ways to invoke and three ways to compel each aspect.  Preferably, at least one by relating it back to City themes or aspects.  If you can't come up with three, it's worth looking at replacing it. 

[wolff96]

I'd recommend tweaking one of Sophie's Aspects to be a bit different -- "Lead Unto Temptation" and "Aware of Temptation" are rather similar.

And on a side note, I love Jacob's Aspect of "The truth is way out there".  Heh.

Glad things went well for your group, sounds like you're off to a great start.

[Chris_Fougere]

I'd recommend tweaking one of Sophie's Aspects to be a bit different -- "Lead Unto Temptation" and "Aware of Temptation" are rather similar.

I think the intent is to use one for Seduction type things and the other to be aware of what buttons to press but I agree and will be working on the actual wording of the Aspects over the course of the first couple of games.