DFRPG In Other Time P... *AHEM!* Yadda-Yadda, Something About Claws and Stuff.

[Orladdin]

Of course you don't have to. My point was that the further away you go from the way the game is described in the books, the more stuff you have to figure out by yourself. At some point the game can cease to be Dresden Files and become another FATE variant. So if I think about DFRPG in other time periods, I focus first on settings that produce something that is as close to DFRPG as possible except for the time period. What is it after all that makes a game Dresden Files? The mechanics? The genre? The setting?

... The existential questions?

[Pbartender]

Of course you don't have to. My point was that the further away you go from the way the game is described in the books, the more stuff you have to figure out by yourself. At some point the game can cease to be Dresden Files and become another FATE variant. So if I think about DFRPG in other time periods, I focus first on settings that produce something that is as close to DFRPG as possible except for the time period. What is it after all that makes a game Dresden Files? The mechanics? The genre? The setting?

The Title.

Really, you can play any gerne-setting (Dresden Files, in this case) using practically any game system.  Some are going to be a lot more work than others to convert appropriately, and, as you suggest, some will simply suit the setting-genre better than others.

But, my plan is to play Dresden Files in a different time...  the same genre-setting slightly tweaked for the period.  So, I think it'd be best to use DFRPG similarly slightly tweaked.  Converting DFRPG to a different time period will be less work, I think, than converting a different game to DFRPG.

Anyway, what's got to change?

• Skills & Stunts Some skills, stunts and trappings won't fit the time period (mostly, anything related to cars and computers, in DFRPG).  A few others may need to be added (notably sailing and ship-related stuff, if I'm going with the Pirate-based game).
• Hexing Complex electronics don't exist, and so another target for hexing will need to be identified...  Gunpowder and chemical processes?  Early clockworks and other machinery?  Compasses?  Or perhaps it's the classic signs of of the power of witchcraft, like nearby fires burning odd colors, animals spooking in the presence of wizards, milk curdling, etc...
• Other Incidental Changes There's going to be some other relatively minor changes that are simply based on the change in scenery...  In a pirate game, for example, the list of gear will need to be changed to include muskets, cannons and cutlasses, but it doesn't really affect any mechanics, it is a rather obvious change, and can be handled as you play the game.

Am I missing anything?  It seems that, mechanics-wise at least, there aren't a lot of changes to be made.  Most changes will lie in the historical background and plot.

[Mr. Death]

Yeah, mechanics-wise, you could use the FATE rules for anything. I ran a successful game set in the Mega Man X setting using only a slightly modified version of Dresden's rules (mostly magic skills swapped for tech ones).

Anyway, what's got to change?

• Hexing Complex electronics don't exist, and so another target for hexing will need to be identified...  Gunpowder and chemical processes?  Early clockworks and other machinery?  Compasses?  Or perhaps it's the classic signs of of the power of witchcraft, like nearby fires burning odd colors, animals spooking in the presence of wizards, milk curdling, etc...

Actually, according to Dresden and Bob, it wasn't always technology that wizarding messed up, and it changes every 300 years or so. Instead of hexing, wizard powers might make milk go bad, or give the practitioner warts, etc.

[Pbartender]

Yeah, mechanics-wise, you could use the FATE rules for anything.

Yep, and it's pretty easy to borrow from other FATE systems to make any changes you need.  For example...

Since sailing ships would be so integral and important to a Pirates! game, I'm thinking of borrowing the rules for building spaceships as "characters" from Starblazer Adventures, and adapting them for sailing ships as an add-on house rule.  I'm also planning on adding in the rules for minions and companions from SotC.

[Sanctaphrax]

I think you've covered everything that needs changing. Unlike some games, DFRPG does not have rules that depend strongly on its setting.

Also I suggest you look here.

/self-promotion.

[MAK]

• Hexing Complex electronics don't exist, and so another target for hexing will need to be identified...  Gunpowder and chemical processes?  Early clockworks and other machinery?  Compasses?  Or perhaps it's the classic signs of of the power of witchcraft, like nearby fires burning odd colors, animals spooking in the presence of wizards, milk curdling, etc...
• Other Incidental Changes There's going to be some other relatively minor changes that are simply based on the change in scenery...  In a pirate game, for example, the list of gear will need to be changed to include muskets, cannons and cutlasses, but it doesn't really affect any mechanics, it is a rather obvious change, and can be handled as you play the game.

Am I missing anything?  It seems that, mechanics-wise at least, there aren't a lot of changes to be made.  Most changes will lie in the historical background and plot.

Something we noticed in the renaissance campaign was that the balance between mundane and supernatural characters became skewed because the level of technology available to mortals (and unavailable to wizards due to hexing) was not powerful enough. Without automatic or even breech-loading weapons, for example, the combat abilities of mortals are quite a lot lower than in the modern period. This is a topic you should think about when creating the equipment list and deciding how hexing works.

[ways and means]

Something we noticed in the renaissance campaign was that the balance between mundane and supernatural characters became skewed because the level of technology available to mortals (and unavailable to wizards due to hexing) was not powerful enough. Without automatic or even breech-loading weapons, for example, the combat abilities of mortals are quite a lot lower than in the modern period. This is a topic you should think about when creating the equipment list and deciding how hexing works.

Though that is entirely appropriate mortals should be weaker compared to supernatural enemies without technology to make up the difference it is even referenced in the books that supernatural's need to be more careful in the modern day.

[InFerrumVeritas]

If set before the advent of semi-automatic weaponry, I'd give pure mortals a +4 refresh bonus instead of a +2.  You'll be dealing with Weapon 1 & 2 effects for characters. 

Creating stunt trees that let you get very skilled with weapons is probably a good idea too (so that you can get more than a +1 bonus if you have multiple stunts, rather than being limited to Skill Cap+1).  This could be done by allowing stunts to stack, for instance.

This should balance things out.

[MAK]

We gave mortals a bit more kick by incorporating the gadget rules from Spirit of the Century, which allowed "steampunkish" equipment to be available in limited amounts - think Leonardo's inventions in Assassin's Creed 2...

[Arcane]

By the time the far future comes about, the catch to magic will change from tech-hex to something else.  Bob has said it has changed before, and if people rely on technology simply to live, magic would have to adjust or cease to exist (a wizard born on a starship would likely not survive to procreate, for example).

For a cyberpunk setting I could see hexing changing from messing up technology to being incompatible with cyberware.  The stronger one is at magic, the less one can have in one's body.  Minor practitioners might be able to get a few implants while full wizards would reject any and all cybertech in their bodies, with the possible exception of one minor implant or two  for the lower powered one's such as Molly.  People in the know would be able to tell a wizard from most mundanes due to their being totally natural.

[Katarn]

I am a sucker for period pieces.  The ones I've been involved in:

*Wardens in World War II (which crashed as soon as I joined)
*1980s, Netherlands (Cold War politics intermixed with Chess)- ongoing
*World War I backdrop (horror game)- ongoing

The main difference is the hexing- I just take the table provided in the book and adjust the values accordingly.  I also watch myself on anachronisms, but it's a lot of fun to get in character.  Going farther back than WWI, Driving skill is going to change perhaps to Riding/Sailing/Etc.  If you're a canon fan, watch out for historical facts via WoJ, or ages/positions of Council members.

[Sanctaphrax]

I don't think mortals take much of a power hit, honestly. It's the Guns skill that suffers. Mortal swordsmen are still viable in a historical game.

[Mr. Death]

I don't think mortals take much of a power hit, honestly. It's the Guns skill that suffers. Mortal swordsmen are still viable in a historical game.

Game mechanics-wise, yes, it doesn't so much matter whether the Weapon:3 you're using with a Superb skill is a broadsword or a shotgun.

Flavor-wise, however, a sword needs a lot more training and skill to use at a Superb level of effectiveness than a shotgun would, and comparatively a sword's going to be tougher to come by in a past setting than a shotgun would be in a modern setting.

[ways and means]

Game mechanics-wise, yes, it doesn't so much matter whether the Weapon:3 you're using with a Superb skill is a broadsword or a shotgun.

Flavor-wise, however, a sword needs a lot more training and skill to use at a Superb level of effectiveness than a shotgun would, and comparatively a sword's going to be tougher to come by in a past setting than a shotgun would be in a modern setting.

But as big hammer, pick-axe and other large sticky weapons are all also weapons 3 that isn't much of an issue.

[UmbraLux]

But as big hammer, pick-axe and other large sticky weapons are all also weapons 3 that isn't much of an issue.

Unless you want a modicum of historical accuracy.     Though if carrying a heavy machine gun through downtown Los Angeles isn't a stretch in today's DF world, oversized weaponry historically shouldn't be more of one.

That said, I really don't think there's that much difference in time periods when it comes to weapons' mechanics.  You aren't (in games I've played and run) exactly going to carry battlefield weaponry around most cities today - which pretty much limits guns to Wpn:1 & 2. 

The hexing replacement is interesting to me.  I'd suggest warts and disfigurement in the early middle ages changing to spoiled milk and cursed livestock in the late middle ages and early Renaissance.  Going purely by myths of wart covered witches and cursed cattle of course.    Not sure what would fit Greek or Roman Empire eras.