How different is Britain as a setting for the Dresden Files?

[mremann]

I am planning on running a Dresden Files game later this year (there will be Podcast of the game, web site can be found here www.cityontheriver.wordpress.com, not much there at the moment but a bunch of links) which will be set in Bristol, England. I was wondering how different Britain would be as setting for a Dresden Files game. What sort of relationship do the various supernatural factions have with one another? What about other supernatural factions, anything that would be good as UK specific?

[wicked0truth]

To be honest I can't see their being too much difference, except when it comes to firearms etc.

[jeditigger]

Rick Neal is one of the best DFRPG DMs I have read, blog-wise, and he does settings outside of the US. Check his blog: http://www.rickneal.ca/.  Or ask him questions...he's a nice fellow.

[DFJunkie]

Well there isn't any cannon, but you could make some assumptions based on what we know about the various factions.
The White Council is headquartered in Edinburgh and a lot of WoJ goes on about how Eurocentric they are, so it's probable they'll have a bigger footprint in the UK than they do in the colonies.

The Red Court, based primarily in South and Central America, will probably have a smaller presence in the UK, but the White Court may take up the slack. 

Since the Sidhe figure very prominent in UK folklore it's probable they have a higher profile there as well.

Still, all those considerations are secondary to what you want for your game. 

[ways and means]

I imagine there would probably be a stronger white council presence with Edinburgh being so close and the longer tradition of the occult in Britain (not to mention the fact the Merlin and good number of the Stronger Wizards in the Council happen to be from the UK). I also reckon there might well be a stronger black court presence in the UK.   

[Thaumologist]

A complete lack of all the Native American/Incan/equivalent factions, and therefore possibly characters. However, many more faeries and such. As previously mentioned, weapon laws are vastly different - no guns, knives, swords, or anything that could be construed as a weapon (make sure you hold onto your nunchuck receipts on the way home folks, and yes, there is a story there).

Cities are built differently - many American cities are either built up from the native civilizations mentioned above, or created when the European settlers came over. British ones have developed for much longer than the settlers'. Building styles will be different, town layouts will be different, and so on.

No constitution. We have laws, and they're built on... I actually don't know, but the closest thing we have is the Magna Carta (I think, never was a history guy).

CASTLES!
I remember having a conversation on here a while back with whoever it was had a lion for his DP about holidaying in the UK. Distances seem bigger, as we have a smaller country. This means that we don't have as awesome railways and such. We also have a longer (written) recorded history, being Europe and so on.

We also have nice tea, but our coffee (for the most part) is near undrinkable.

Umm.... That's me out of things I guess. Hope it helped.

[The Mighty Buzzard]

To be honest I can't see their being too much difference, except when it comes to firearms etc.

The "etc" covers a good bit of ground though.  The number of cameras around alone could present significant to extreme challenges to players and baddies alike.

[The Mighty Buzzard]

We also have nice tea, but our coffee (for the most part) is near undrinkable.

So is ours, honestly.  Start drinking actual good coffee on a regular basis and Folgers and company will start tasting like acidic garbage.

[Rubycon]

First thing I think is history. Great Brittain has over 4000 years of history - not all of it in the name of the Empire, but with celts, druids, saxons, arthur-sagas and so on. That's a lot to dig.
Second, I would assume that the relationship between mortals and faeries is different than in the new lands over the pond. This can be twofold, as older faeries expect a certain treatment and the old ways are getting lost in GB, too.
Third, it is right that GB has no native americans (or only a tiny fraction of immigrants). But they have varied ethnic and cultural heritage, from scots and welsh and picts to the aforementioned saxons. That's a lot to dig, too.

[mremann]

Thanks for all of the replies so far.

A lot of the stuff already discussed were things that I has already thought about, just wanted to make sure that I wasn’t missing something big that I should be including.

[Thaumologist]

Oh!

Security cameras!

I have no idea what it's like in America, but I know loadsa people complain about how many security cameras / speeding cameras there are everywhere.

[mremann]

Not as bad as some people make it out to be, but most urban centers have a fairly decent coverage of CCTV cameras. So depending on where you are, there is a good chance that anything you do will be caught on camera. But since CCTV covers highly populated areas, there will be plenty of witnesses to anything you might do.

[Rubycon]

Play a wizard!!!

[NicholasQuinn]

We've also less (or at least, less visible) Police Officers now, having instead implemented less trained, and less equiped, Police Community Support Officers, whom seem to have less authority. I'd imagine that they're now less of an active grenade to throw into a supernatural problem, and more, something to smirk at - at least, on a simple meet-and-greet, hunting humans basis, naturally all the normal ramifications can follow. The PCSOs deal with less serious crimes, and maintain an active patroling presence in a some areas. Not to mention our Police Officers do not carry sidearms, well, except from those in certain roles with extra training. Thats not to say PCSOs do not play a valuable role, they do. It just highlights one way in which I'd imagine law enforcement in Britain is quite different to the U.S.A.

Just something to think about if a player wishes to go the "Murphy" route of character. Mine is a very basic, and likely very ignorant perspective on PCSOs/PCOs, but one shared by a lot of the local populace.

[Matharic]

Bristol has been large city from the 13th Century onwards and an important port historically, it was England's third or fourth largest city when the Black death struck in 1348-9.  Today it has a fairly good university and two professional football teams.  What sort of information are you looking for?