Seeking NPC Feedback

[JGray]

Me again. I'm still working on my first DFRPG campaign and setting it in Orlando. I've worked out city themes and threats, locations and faces. Now I'm working on giving those faces stats. I've done four so far and I'd like some feedback from more experienced players and GMs, please. Any is appreciated.

Jim Obaya
High Concept: Frustrated Cop
Trouble: On the Outside of Everything
Aspects: Orlando Native, To Protect and Serve, Cop of All Trades

Skills
Great: Conviction, Investigation
Good: Contacts, Guns
Fair: Endurance, Drive, Fists
Average: Alertness, Discipline, Intimidation, Rapport

Stunts: Scene of the Crime, Person of Conviction
Powers: Bless This House, Guide My Hand, Holy Touch (all based on his belief in justice and his faith in his badge)

Physical O O O, Social O O O O, Mental O O O O

Refresh: -5
Lady Shade (Pure Mortal)
High Concept: Modern Day Fagan
Trouble: Teetering at the Top of the Food Chain
Aspects: All the World's a Stage, Clever Fingers, A Different Home Every Night

Skills
Superb: Deceit
Great: Contacts, Performance, Resources
Good: Burglary, Presence, Scholarship, Stealth
Fair: Alertness, Discipline, Empathy, Endurance
Average: Athletics, Conviction, Driving, Fists, Guns, Lore

Stunts: Paranoid? Probably, Hairpin Maestrom, Ear to the Ground, Make-up Artist, Pick-Pocket, Takes One to Know One, Impersonator, Leadership, Teflon Presence, Filthy Lucre, Forgery Expert, Blend In

Physical O O O, Social O O O O, Mental O O O
 
Refresh: -12
Gary Schwartz (Pure Mortal)
High Concept: Tobacco Artist
Trouble: Human in a Strange Land
Aspects: Supernatural Groupie, Lounge is Accorded Neutral Ground, Conductor on the New Underground Railroad

Skills
Great: Craftsmanship (used to blend tobacco flavors)
Good: Contacts, Empathy
Fair: Lore, Rapport, Resources
Average: Alertness, Presence, Scholarship

Stunts: Junkyard Artiste, Quality Workspace

Physical O O, Social O O O, Mental O O

Refresh: -2
Moondove
High Concept: Psychic Hippy Grandma
Trouble: Heart Three Sizes Too Big
Aspects: My First Crystal, Spiritual Leader of Cassadagia, In Love with George

Skills
[Good: Conviction, Discipline
Fair: Empathy, Lore, Rapport
Average: Presence, Resources, Scholarship

Stunts: Counselor
Powers: Ritual (Divination)
Focus Item: Crystal (+1 to Divination)
Enchanted Item: Rose colored glasses (provides Armor:2 twice per session)

Physical O O, Social O O O, Mental O O O O

Refresh: -3

[Sanctaphrax]

They mostly look fine. Potential issues:

-Jim's Aspects don't seem to reflect his level of faith.

-Lady Shade and Gary seem to be lacking their Pure Mortal bonus.

-Moondove's glasses don't look like the kind of item you can make with Ritual (Divination) to me.

[JGray]

They mostly look fine. Potential issues:

-Jim's Aspects don't seem to reflect his level of faith.

-Lady Shade and Gary seem to be lacking their Pure Mortal bonus.

-Moondove's glasses don't look like the kind of item you can make with Ritual (Divination) to me.

Thank you. I'm going to go over them again and make adjustments based on your feedback. Some questions, if you don't mind?

1. How do I reflect the Pure Mortal bonus. Do I increase the Refresh?
2. Could Moondove have made the glasses with the assistance of a wizard? Or would they then be an item of power?

[Sanctaphrax]

1. They get 2 free Refresh for not having Powers.
2. Dunno. It's not totally clear how making items for another spellcaster is meant to work.

[Melendwyr]

There are enough examples in the books, particularly of the Warden Swords.  One spellcaster can 'adopt' a magical item made by someone else as long as they have the item slots available to support them.  The Wardens can own and maintain their enchanted swords even though Warden Luccio personally made them.

[JGray]

Okay, so I should be making the Refresh for each pure mortal character two less? -10 and 0 respectively?

And Melendwyr, that makes sense. The glasses were a gift from the wizard who owns the commune Moondove lives in (and runs in his stead).

[Sanctaphrax]

Okay, so I should be making the Refresh for each pure mortal character two less? -10 and 0 respectively?

Yep.

There are enough examples in the books, particularly of the Warden Swords.  One spellcaster can 'adopt' a magical item made by someone else as long as they have the item slots available to support them.  The Wardens can own and maintain their enchanted swords even though Warden Luccio personally made them.

You're not wrong, but the Warden swords don't actually follow the enchanted item rules. And as far as I know there are no other examples of adopted items. So it's not really clear.

[Melendwyr]

Well, the rulebook makes clear that people can adopt items made by others.  The book also makes clear that Warden swords come with job responsibilities - from a game perspective, that helps explain why they're more powerful than things most people can make.  It's conceptually like a person with a +2 Resources purchasing a private jet for the use and with the resources of a +6 Resources organization.

Luccio isn't sure when someone will be able to adapt her design - which suggests that item creation is highly personalized, not surprising, and also that making the swords is more complex than the items most people have experience with.

Probably there would be a certain amount of learning how to adjust to an item's "power feeds", except with items that were designed to be easily transferred. 

(click to show/hide)

In Skin Games, Bob seems to have a very easy time powering the wards on Harry's duster, but he not only observed Harry making the thing but advised him on how to do so.

  I suspect other people would have to spend some time analyzing an item before they could provide the right kind of mystic "battery" for it.  However, just as the novel making-of-potions requires lots of time and the process is heavily abstracted in the game, I'd say the same thing holds for transferring magic items.

Short of something like this being showcased in the novels, that's probably the most 'canonical' guess you're going to get, and it's a reasonably straightforward GM-call.  Change it if you feel like it, but I think it's an acceptable default.

[JGray]

The item in question was crafted by a wizard, with the NPC's help as a ritual assistant., as a thank you for her tireless efforts running his day to day affairs. I think I'm going to let her have them just as a nice surprise should it ever come up. Thanks for the thoughts. They helped me sort through it.

[solbergb]

The other thing to think about is whether the other wizard is the power source for the glasses when they are discharged, or whether she can recharge them herself somehow.  In some ways it is more interesting if the wizard has to restore it, especially if she doesn't know the glasses will protect her.

For a diviner, you could have gone down the road of the "Awareness" spell, which lets you perceive threats and dodge them better (a block, rather than armor).  But having a wizard patron pulls her story in a completely different and interesting direction.   Messing with her will eventually mean messing with the White Council, which might not at all be what people expect.