Statting Up Worm Characters

[Hick Jr]

I haven't started on Pact yet. Is it good?

[narphoenix]

It starts out meh, but it's starting to hit the ground running.

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PAY CLOSE ATTENTION

[Sanctaphrax]

Finally got around to reading Pact. Really impressed so far.

Too early to do any stat-writing, though. I just hope the mechanics of the Pact-verse are DFRPG-compatible.

[narphoenix]

Finally got around to reading Pact. Really impressed so far.

Too early to do any stat-writing, though. I just hope the mechanics of the Pact-verse are DFRPG-compatible.

It's shaping up to be. I'd expect tons of sponsored magic.

[Sanctaphrax]

There are three things that concern me, though.

First up, Dresden-style blast-o-magic might not be a thing in this setting. If it's not, the mechanics will need serious adjustment.

Second up, the Others seem to have funky symbolic powers rather than straightforward stuff like Inhuman Strength. I would have a lot of trouble statting up that imprisoned demon, for instance.

Third up, familiars might require decent minion rules. And we don't really have those.

[narphoenix]

There are three things that concern me, though.

First up, Dresden-style blast-o-magic might not be a thing in this setting. If it's not, the mechanics will need serious adjustment.

Second up, the Others seem to have funky symbolic powers rather than straightforward stuff like Inhuman Strength. I would have a lot of trouble statting up that imprisoned demon, for instance.

Third up, familiars might require decent minion rules. And we don't really have those.

1) If it's not, switch to Thaumaturgy. Not that hard.

2) You should have had a hard time statting up the Numbers Man, but you pulled out Numerical Prodigy just fine. Same concept: hack what you can, make up new powers if you can't.

3) Counterargument: Bitch.

[Sanctaphrax]

1. Thaumaturgy can be used for blasting, if you've got it at Evocation speed. Which some practitioners must, since that time-skip spell was awfully quick. And rituals have baggage of its own that might not be appropriate. Plus Evocation is part of the basic Sponsored Magic package. Not an insurmountable problem, but a problem.

2. The Number Man's power is more mental than DFRPG's Powers usually are, but it's still a fairly-straightforward effect. Once you get into weird metaphorical stuff, things get much harder. Because the edges of the power get fuzzier, and DFRPG generally has pretty clearly-defined effects for its Powers.

Have you read Neil Gaiman's Sandman? I wouldn't even know where to start writing up the Endless in DFRPG. And I get a similar vibe from the Others so far.

3. That's not a great set of stats, there. I'd rather not repeat that performance.

[narphoenix]

1. Like you said, it's workable.

2. Um. There's a /maaaaaaaaaajor/ difference between the Others and the Endless. Mainly? The Endless are the sorts of being MOTHER WINTER would shit her shawls about. I mean this literally: Atropos didn't solo Dream in Volume 9. And when Mother Winter (Atropos) was backed by her two sister selves while they were essentially having their way with the Dreaming (because Dream /let/ them, mind you), Death only had to raise her voice before they backed away timid.

The Others are potent, sure, but they aren't comparable to the Endless.

3. They work.

[Hick Jr]

I just got completely caught up on Pact. I can't say I'm in love with it. I generally prefer my urban fantasy to be more along the lines of Dresden or the Iron Druid Chronicles, where the "fantasy" is pretty clear cut and follows clear rules. Maybe i'll get more into it as it goes on, but so far, i'm still really disappointed it wasn't Boil.


And narphoenix, i think Sanctaphrax was referring to the fact that attaching stats to the Endless is beyond pointless because they're both so far beyond gods it's almost a joke, and their powers are nothing like clearly defined. That combination means that attaching any kind of stats to them, especially with a ruleset like the DFRPG, would be monumentally difficult. To use your example, if I had Mother Winter appear in a game, i might give her a skill set and maybe a few stunts, but I wouldn't even know where to start with powers.

[Sanctaphrax]

2. It's not a question of power, really. If it was, I could just use bigger numbers. It's a question of the way they operate.

It's never made clear exactly how the power of the Endless manifests itself. When (for example) Dream uses his godlike power, it tends to be weird and he rarely repeats a trick.

Plus there are nebulous limitations on Dream's power. What they are exactly is unclear. But they're important, so they can't just be left out. Compels can do a lot of the heavy lifting, but not all of it.

The basic problem is that, in order to stat something in DFRPG, you need a clear idea of what that thing can and cannot do. Obtaining such an idea is impossible when it comes the Endless. And the Others might end up in the same boat.

I guess I could write them up in Nobilis, but I'm not as good with that system.

3. Not well enough. If I was satisfied with that level of quality I could write up almost anything, but...I'm not.

Really, there's not much point doing something like this if you're gonna do it poorly.

[narphoenix]

2. My point is, with the Endless, it's pretty clear that there really is not much of a definition to their power. I mean, once you get to "I was imprisoned but then I restructured reality to make my captor my prisoner instead", I'm sorry, you're done. With the Others, I think they're more like the Fae in that you can't get much of a /template/ for them since they're so varied, but you could probably stat individual ones.

3. I'm sure you'll figure something out.

[Sanctaphrax]

You seem to have a lot of faith in me...

[narphoenix]

You seem to have a lot of faith in me...

Let's see here:

14 quintillion characters statted up? Check.

Running not one but TWO games simultaneously for a span of at least a year or two? Check.

Guy who came up with 8000 different fixes for the game? Checkarooni.

It's not faith. it's logic.

[Faultline74]

Was poking around the forums Monday since I recently decided to try to get my friends to play DFRPG, and stumbled upon this thread. It peaked my curiosity so I read the first chapter and was hooked. I spent this week reading Worm and just recently finished, I have to say Worm was one of the best web serials I've read and even though Wildbow says its his "first draft" (I can't wait to see what its going to be once he actually gets it published, even though it may be a while) its damn good and would put it up there with some of my favorite books.

Had to drop in and say my thanks to Sanctaphrax for starting this thread, had you not started it I would have never heard of Worm.

[narphoenix]

Oh look. Blake's badass is showing.