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Dresden Files system game

Started by HairyHeretic, April 13, 2010, 02:40:29 PM

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HairyHeretic

The Dresden Files are a series of novels written by Jim Butcher, following the cases of Harry Dresden, modern-day Chicago’s only openly practicing wizard (and private eye). Harry spends much of his time strapped for cash, surrounded by friends and foes both fierce and dangerous, and does what he can to carve out a little corner of sanity in the world. Occasionally this has meant saving the world. But more often it’s just meant surviving long enough to get the check cashed at the bank.

Harry’s world is a dark place, shot through with silvery veins of hope. Mankind is prey here to all manner of nasty creatures from beyond the world, out of the other-place called the Nevernever. But mortal humans also hold that most precious right of all — the ability to choose their fates, truly and fully. And thankfully for all of us, some of them choose to fight back the darkness.

Would that it were so for the rest of humanity. Man, as a whole, is blind to the supernatural. It’s not because of some strange and profound magic. Worse. It’s because man uses that power of choice to its most insidious end: man chooses to ignore what he cannot understand. And so the dark forces of the Nevernever work their ways upon us all — and few, if any, will admit to themselves that it’s happening.

It’s not just the wizards of the White Council who have chosen to face down the worst the Nevernever has to offer. You’ll find them in all corners of Chicago, from all walks of life. The cops in Chicago P.D.’s Special Investigations may get the shaft on their beat, but they’re some of the few who carry a badge and know what to do when a demon tosses a dumpster at their heads. In the criminal underworld, Mafia don Gentleman Johnny Marcone walks the middle line — sometimes he’ll strike a deal with the forces of darkness, and other times he’ll empty an automatic rifle into it, depending on what’s good for business. And three Knights of the Cross take up the armor of faith to free the innocent from evil.

And it’s not just normal people who fight on the side of light. A pack of werewolves split time between attending their classes at the university and keeping their neck of the woods clear of supernatural vermin. Half-faerie allies guard their own and draw the line against both Summer and Winter Courts. And not everyone in the vampire courts is purely a monster — though trusting one of them is another matter entirely.

Characters in the world of the Dresden Files will face only the limits of your imagination. Players will be able to pick up the series characters and run games with them, or create their own characters — wizards, vampires, werewolves, faeries, holy knights, mafia dons, occult cops, ninja librarians, and more.


That's the blurb from the  new Dresden Files rpg that's just coming out. A couple of us are thinking of giving it a go ... anyone care to join us?
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Schrödinger

Never heard of the system, and a quick glance at the Dresden Files RPG homepage only revealed so much. The blurb does have me somewhat interested, however...

For those folks not at all familiar with its system and what it's based on, what's it like? I did catch something about the FATE system, but I've never played it before.

    [li]
Schrödinger's O/O[/li]
[li]Plot ideas![/li][/list]

Muse

You certainly have my attention. 
A link for all of us who ever had a shouting match with our muse: http://www.ted.com/talks/elizabeth_gilbert_on_genius.html

How to set this Muse ablaze (O/Os)

When the little angel won't appear no matter how many plum blossoms you swirl:  https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=135346.msg16474321#msg16474321 (Major update 5/10/2023)

MadPanda

(rubs hands together and cackles evilly)   >:) >:) >:)
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HairyHeretic

I think Panda is more familiar with the system mechanics than I am, so I'll see if he wants to do the honours :)
Hairys Likes, Dislikes, Games n Stuff

Cattle die, kinsmen die
You too one day shall die
I know a thing that will never die
Fair fame of one who has earned it.

MadPanda

"More familiar"?  Only in the sense that I've placed a pre-order and gotten a bit further in the rules than you have, me Irish chum!  I've neither played nor run the FATE system in any form before, so it'd be a learning experience all 'round.

Short version:  FUDGE rolls, plus or minus the appropriate skill modifier, beget the result on the usual ladder of results from teh utter suckage to mad 133t suxxessor.  Beyond that, it's all details.  ;D
Voluptas ailuri fulgentis decretum est!
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HairyHeretic

Ah, my bad .. I thought you'd used the system before :)
Hairys Likes, Dislikes, Games n Stuff

Cattle die, kinsmen die
You too one day shall die
I know a thing that will never die
Fair fame of one who has earned it.

MadPanda

Nope.  I have a copy of SotC around someplace, but haven't gotten through it yet.
Voluptas ailuri fulgentis decretum est!
Omnis nimis, temperantia ob coenobitae.
(Jes, tiuj frazoj estas malĝustaj. Pandoj fakte ne komprenas la latinan!)

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Ex68471

Honestly, I have never played a system game before. But I am a huge fan of the Dresden Files book series. And so, this has my interest. And I'm a quick learner anyways, so...

Yeah, I'm interested. :-)
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Jeramiahh

Just finished Changes, last night, reading through the RPG book now. I've tried running a Dresden-verse RP on here before, so, let me say...

I want in.
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MadPanda

Okay, two things.

First, some info on FATE can be found at www.faterpg.com and I heartily suggest that anyone interested go yonder and have a gander at the core system.  While the rules we'll be using are based on FATE 3.0, having a freebie copy of 2.0 should at least give you some idea of how this works.

Second, we won't be playing in Harry's backyard (ie Chicago).  There's an entire chapter in these rules on constructing a city for each individual group and/or campaign...

As an FYI, I have yet to read the books.  Everything I know about the Dresdenverse comes from this game and the TV series, so while I'm helping Hairy with this, I'm not an SME.
Voluptas ailuri fulgentis decretum est!
Omnis nimis, temperantia ob coenobitae.
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Imogen

I'm happily volunteering as a practise dummy aka player! It sounds like great fun!
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Schrödinger

Rules-light, narrative-heavy. I'm a sucker for PDQ, so FATE seems right up my alley as well. Consider my tentative interest fixed a little further.

If we're not going with Chicago, what/where will this game take place instead? What will you have this game be the focus - horror, detective-esque crime scene investigation, action-heavy, the like? And what particular slant for characters are you looking for in your game?

Perhaps just as importantly, how will you handle rolls in the game? The players posting their actions and submitting their most relevant Attributes/Aspects for the GM to roll and determine the results in narrative response (off-set against a post with a potential upshift or downshift depending on the post's quality or how lame or simply bad-ass the action was) ? Or players rolling their own dice and having those results reflect in their posts immediately? Personally, I'm more fond of the former to give a bit of narrative control to the GM as well as a little interaction from the GM to the players and vice versa  :-)

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MadPanda

Good questions, O Feline One.

The default method for setting is to have the group decide on a city and then work it out as part of the character generation process!  Ditto for focus, et cetera.  That way everybody gets to help out.  So, to turn the question around, what sort of focus do you want this game to have?   :-)

As for die rolls...that's a good idea.  Keeping it behind the scenes would be a bit smoother, narratively speaking.  On the other hand, the system is meant to give a little narrative control to the players instead of leaving it all in the GM's grubby mitts.
Voluptas ailuri fulgentis decretum est!
Omnis nimis, temperantia ob coenobitae.
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ReijiTabibito

I've checked out the website's choice of character 'classes' (http://www.dresdenfilesrpg.com/tag/characters/), and I am interested, playing as a Champion of God (bring back the Knights Templar!), an Emissary of Power (with a few options there), or, all else failing...a White Council Wizard.

And if it's not too late to make suggestions about the city this game would be based in...Miami.  Definitely Miami.  Hot days...and even hotter (supernaturally speaking) nights.

MadPanda

Burn Notice: The Dresden Files!

Hmm.  Come to think of it, Mike Westin has a helpful little Irish lass on his side, too...
Voluptas ailuri fulgentis decretum est!
Omnis nimis, temperantia ob coenobitae.
(Jes, tiuj frazoj estas malĝustaj. Pandoj fakte ne komprenas la latinan!)

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ReijiTabibito

You say Burn Notice, and I say...

*puts on sunglasses*

...otherwise.


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MadPanda

I say Burn Notice because I don't usually watch CSI in any incarnation except at random and usually long after it's originally aired.

Besides, Burn Notice has Bruce.
Voluptas ailuri fulgentis decretum est!
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Schrödinger

I could find myself with some manner of CSI or Law & Order angle. Touching on social aspects while trying to contend with the unseen, the unapproachable, or the Unseelie.

Speaking of which, how are Fae treated in the Dresdenverse? Alien, uncaring, bordering on the antagonistic creatures out for base pleasures or curiosities and capturing and converting mortals for their desires as per nWoD's Changeling: the Lost, or more like the Seelie wandering among folks doing their whim, thus bordering on being either like aforementioned Changelings or Fae in their own right? I've actually been keen on a particular character angle for a long while, never quite seen a nWoD Changeling game here before, so maybe I can put a few jiggawatts of volts through that concept and bring it to life in FATE Dresden Files  :-)

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MadPanda

Short version: yes.

The Fae are generally Not Safe To Mess With, but the same can be said about all four flavors of vampire, various shapeshifters, Denariians...
Voluptas ailuri fulgentis decretum est!
Omnis nimis, temperantia ob coenobitae.
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ReijiTabibito

Hell, the White Council isn't safe to mess with either.  They're the good guys, and only marginally.  I'm looking at you, Merlin.

MadPanda

...the Blackstaff...the Gatekeeper...the Wardens, singular and plural...
Voluptas ailuri fulgentis decretum est!
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Schrödinger

Quote from: MadPanda on April 14, 2010, 10:55:39 AM
Short version: yes.

The Fae are generally Not Safe To Mess With, but the same can be said about all four flavors of vampire, various shapeshifters, Denariians...

You have a way of swaying folks merely by answering them. I think I might settle on a Changeling out of his or her Duress and having to try and settle into a new life with hers stolen by her replacement Fetch. Sure, it's straight out of Changeling, but if it can work in this game world, I may as well put my particular slant to use for a character!

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MadPanda

It might not work.  I'm still reading through the rules, myself, but I think if it's a PC, it has to be at least mostly human.  Something about non-humans lacking free will versus nature...

But!  I could be wrong, and Changelings (half-Fae) are perfectly legal, as are characters empowered by the Fae.  So we might be able to work something out.
Voluptas ailuri fulgentis decretum est!
Omnis nimis, temperantia ob coenobitae.
(Jes, tiuj frazoj estas malĝustaj. Pandoj fakte ne komprenas la latinan!)

One on Ones Suggestion Box
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