AdAstra, sorry I didn't notice your question earlier, but yes. All mortal practioners of magic seem to cause all technology that's more recent than World War 2 to go haywire. So all wizards, basically.
That means that PDF grimoires are flat out then. This is probably a good thing for preserving the feel of the setting. :)
AdAstra, sorry I didn't notice your question earlier, but yes. All mortal practioners of magic seem to cause all technology that's more recent than World War 2 to go haywire. So all wizards, basically.That means that PDF grimoires are flat out then. This is probably a good thing for preserving the feel of the setting. :)
Technically you could copy down all the text by hand and redraw all the diagrams by hand and scan each and every page of notes into a computer to make that pdf of the Necronomicon, but that's just too much effort for anyone to bother with
Technically you could copy down all the text by hand and redraw all the diagrams by hand and scan each and every page of notes into a computer to make that pdf of the Necronomicon, but that's just too much effort for anyone to bother withAdAstra, sorry I didn't notice your question earlier, but yes. All mortal practioners of magic seem to cause all technology that's more recent than World War 2 to go haywire. So all wizards, basically.That means that PDF grimoires are flat out then. This is probably a good thing for preserving the feel of the setting. :)
I think the scanner would burn out a third of the way through the first page.
And a wizard trying to read it on screen (or send it to a print queue) would fry the machine...
AdAstra, sorry I didn't notice your question earlier, but yes. All mortal practioners of magic seem to cause all technology that's more recent than World War 2 to go haywire. So all wizards, basically.That means that PDF grimoires are flat out then. This is probably a good thing for preserving the feel of the setting. :)
It is both a yes and a no.
I read the rules on Hexing which is what covers this interaction.
For example, Harry's apprentice, Molly Carpenter, doesn't seem to have the same level of problems that Harry has. This might though be an offset from her father's blessings having been a Knight of the Cross keeping the power working in their home.
The notes on the topic talk of how Hexing only occurs for people with 'conflicted' will which are mortals. A full fey doesn't have a conflicted will and doesn't have stray energies knocking out lights (though they could cause that effect if they wanted to do it). A high level member of the White Council is very efficient in handling their magical energies; so, supposedly they don't have much 'leakage' of energy to zap their surroundings. Old wizards are just 'stuck' in their past and don't often think in terms of 'new' technology.
There are around four different theories on why technology doesn't agree with wizards and some wizards more than others but it is left up to the storyteller to handle situations and use it as a form of 'story complication' to balance spell casters.
Further to that is the PDF creation and distribution doesn't require a wizard/sorcerer. It can be many well intentioned librarians or silly kids. The download and print out of the material again be people with low talent or no talent resulting in hundreds of copies of grimoires that previously had only a few copies.
Still, most magic in Dresden comes down to the absolute will of the practitioner. Reading a book is not enough unless reading the book makes you believe something is possible. Then you have the potential for magic. The conflicted nature of most mortals is why spells don't perform 'perfectly' and is also used as a possible explanation of Hexing since it represents a person's will of things they don't want to happen.
I was thinking more in the lines of some of Bob's comments in the book that there are a lot more wild fae than there are in either Summer or Winter and some of the comments in Changes about the wild fae in the court of the Erlkonig.
Lot of idea generating posts here; nice to see such a lively crowd. I would think Canada would be prime for lot of shamanistic and wild fae; would lean toward playing something like that myself. Hehe you can have a night were all the scarecrows come to life and go amok for a rural adventure. Who could be behind that I wonder. lots of old burial grounds; maybe even old time vikings; checking it out; place has a long history and was only with white man since the French and Indian wars. Looks like a good place for some mojo; would have to decide what ley lines may or maynot go through various parts of the city; would it have an undercity also; or some equivilant?Well that's kinda my idea too. I want to play like the last/lost prince of autumn. I wasn't born yet when Summer comsuming Spring forced Winter to do the same to Autumn. Now my powers are slowly waking up and I'm finding out I'm not human. In the mean time the steward of autumn has gone nuts and is trying to mess with winters plans.
Well ,the jails, courts, and city morgue could be located close together; seems in the books the cops, murphy; is always at the station that has the jail and visits the morgue a lot looking for evidence. Doesnt seem much of a stretch to me.
Thought crime never dies was a city theme?? And also why can't it have both maybe the students have been letting some of the ghosts out for Fun. And as far as I know jails don't have morticans that's why I said the head city mortican as he would have access to all the dead in the city. Could in fact say he's cremating the bodies of people with no one to claim them and moving them to the closed down jail.Yeah, I like that aspect idea too. Seems more appropriate for Lake Ontario than the Undercity, but it's still good.
That's awesome I like it. Can I do the faces for the garden since I want to play the last Autumn scion. I don't want my character to know who he is. He just feels drawn to the place and the steward knows who he is and wants him ethier as a puppet or or dead so he can take the last dregs of Autumns power for himself.So, the anonymous caretaker is trying to take whatever power is left there for himself? Sounds cool to me.
And the jail could be the Necromancer Academy with Giddieous Rath the cities head mortician as the head teacher he changes out bodies in the morgue for...Personally I still prefer Crime Never Dies just because it covers both the living criminals and the ghosts of past criminals, but I really like the idea of the prison's Face being the in-prison mortician (Do prisons have those?) who's a necromancer that is recruiting new students.
So, why not attempt to make a full write-up for some of the Faces that haven't got them yet?
Casa Loma/Throne of Fear: The Hounds of The Wild Hunt
Concept: The legbreakers of the Winter Court
Motivation: Rend flesh. Hunt prey. Inspire fear. Etc.
Toronto Metropolitan Library/Knowledge Is Power: Howard
Concept: Homeless man driven insane by the arcane tomes in the library, knows more about the library than anyone else.
Motivation: Keep others from seeing the things that he has.
Hey, he needed a name and a HP Lovecraft reference is as good a choice as any.
Oooh; I like this idea; is help up by the fiction book too as things that people have faith in or believe in; like the shroud; have power. Thus as something like an antique is around for a long time; it is more real and has been in many peoples conscious belief a long time; perhaps generations thus develops that belief; or perhaps takes on a minor family spirit that grows stronger the longer in a family; thus the inheretited silver idea for cursed werewolves; thus the silver is not longer mundane silver but possesses faith power or spirit and that allows it to do damage to spirit creatures. Interesting.
The Japanese have a belief that any item that is 100 years old develops its own minor spirit (yokai). Items that are a 100 years old are respected and treasured for this reason. This might explain a shift over time of technology to spiritual (also explain why over time things like VCR and cassette tapes age and stop working unless the information is converted to a new form ;> ).
No formal rules yet.
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Nah; no problem; fire is very old; the first steam device was built around 900BC; was a toy. So you could build a radiator; though you couldnt use modern valves and such; the stuff for steam type stuff like railroads is nearly 150 years old and there were lots of ways to heat water pre the industial ban mentioned in teh books. All you really have to do is heat water under a large kettle with a shower head attached; much like a camping shower. Would be more efficient if you put in a wood burning stove; routed the exhaust pipes around or under your kettle of water to be headed; smoke is pretty hot out of the stove; so would make your water pleanty hot in a couple hours.
The rules about shorting out technology apply to all mortal spellcasters and are under "Hexing" on p228.
It would really suck to have no hot water in a city which is even colder than Chicago. Screw the bracelets and junk. Magical hot water heater, first order of business.
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I have to say I'm not in favor of lumping Lake Ontario and the Undercity into one location. It doesn't make any sense to me at all. If you don't want to develop the Undercity at this point that is fine, but let's leave it blank to be sketched in at a later date should we need it. If you want to call whatever the monster is a kraken with an aspect like Let Sleeping Kraken's Lie (which is a great name) then it needs to be in Lake Ontario. The Lake Ontario "location" could include at least one of the tiny islands out there and/or the docks to facilitate interaction in this area.
The Lake Ontario "location" could include at least one of the tiny islands out there and/or the docks to facilitate interaction in this area.
Yeah, you're right. Unless someone has something to do with the Undercity or gives a good reason for what a kraken has to do with the tunnels beneath the city, I'm just switching Beneath The Surface back to Lake Ontario.
Valegrim you make a few good points;
The amount of unaligned fae is really up to the players and GM of the story. When you are dealing with World Populations then it can very quite a bit from area to area. There will also be many areas that don't subscribe officially to either of the Western Culture Fae Courts. There are likely North American Native spirits that run a separate parallel system based on animal and their own spiritual beliefs. The cultures of the East will have their system of Imperial Courts with an Emperor of China at the top while many Pacific Islands will have a court just based on the spiritual beings that live within that area. If it makes a story better or more interesting then it is fine with me.
Yeah, locations are not always specific to one exact building but are often represented and influenced by the building in the area. Again, I say if it makes a better story then we'll hand wave a few details to have a corner or temporary police morgue department at or near the jail.
Antique silver works while silver pulled fresh out of the ground is ineffective. I like the idea and makes it more a hunting quest for players to go looking for the more expensive antique stuff that they plan to melt down. Oh, if it wasn't for the Antique Roadshow jacking up the price of this stuff. Hmm, there might be a plot in that to help protect were creatures.
The system can be built but most wizards are 'lazy' in their way and not really good with tools. Dresden uses a spell to light candles rather than a match. He's not really going to do the hardware handyman job of putting that system together. Also, Steam systems can be very dangerous if not built right because of the pressure that can be built up in a full steam boiler. There is a reason that you need a ticket and a license to own and operate one.
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Davi, Howard is looking good.
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I was thinking a bit more on the Wizard that is the Face for 'Gripped by Winter'
Here are some general thoughts and guidelines on the topic.
1> Who is this person? Well, I'm going to choose that they not be a Warden because many wardens are so committed to the job that they would take their life rather then be held prisoner. So, I'm going to say the person is rank and file.
2> Why isn't someone rescuing this person? The White Council is busy with concerns of the Red court. They've suffered heavy losses and can't afford to alienate the Winter Court which they need to keep the NeverNever open. Harry went to a big personal expense to open up those ways in favour of the White Council and they can't afford to go upsetting the Winter Court at this time. The White Council's view is that mages live long lives and the person signed the Accords and knew what kind of trouble they were getting into.
3> Can't I go ask Harry in Chicago for help? He's a Warden? See the above point 2 and Harry went to a big effort to get those NeverNever routes open. He might be personally be willing to risk a confrontation but the cost to the whole council is too much.
4> Why would the Winter Court risk trouble with the White Council by holding a wizard? Harry has caused some of the Winter Court to lose 'face' or appear 'weak' in recent years by 'winning' battles. Holding a wizard shows fae that might think of revolting or deserting that the Winter Court is still strong and able to hold on to a wizard. It is an intimidation move to keep the supernatural community in line.
5> If the wizard is a prisoner, how will the players ever encounter this face? Within the supernatural community this is a widely known story. The winter court wants the supernatural community to know they are holding a wizard as prisoner to show off their power. Rescuing the wizard is another matter which would involve some trip into the NeverNever and risk the anger of the Winter Court and the White Council if the Winter Court blames the White Council for invasion of their territory.
Personally, I'd make the Winter Court's imprisonment of the wizard be more metaphorical. Make him do whatever they want or they'll reveal his deep dark secrets. (Maybe he somehow broke one of the Laws without the council finding out and if they do discover it he's a dead man?) Also gives a good reason why the White Council hasn't sent a team of mages to bail him out. He just tells them that everything's fine and no they don't need to send any more wizards out here to help because he can handle it (and the Winter Court doesn't want any more wizards in Toronto than they already have).
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Neither here nor there, but the morgue that you reference them visiting in the books is neither attached to the jail nor the police station. That's why they were able to have a huge fight scene in the parking lot. Can't do that so easily directly in front of law enforcement headquarters.
Crime Never Dies seems to me more like a tag for an area where crime is endemic. When I hear the tag what registers is more "a problem that is near impossible to solve" not "criminal zombies" especially because the setting is a jail where crime has gone after being caught. I like the concept well enough, I just don't feel like the aspect evokes it quite right. From reading the description of the active jail and its massive overcrowding, I would imagine something more like "Ready to Burst" "Breaking Point" or "All Hell is Ready to Break Loose" Those aren't exactly smooth, but they could give you something more versatile to play on while keeping the concept. I can imagine lots of instances where a more open aspect like that would come into play. I can't imagine nearly as many instances where we could invoke "Crime Never Dies" during play except to keep an antagonist alive, or make criminal contacts while in jail. I suppose it could also suggest a crime boss still running things from jail, though again this is just a holding facility unless we change that.
There is a saying in Greek which it keeps reminding me of and it is something like "Some dogs are too mean to die." I wouldn't say it works either, I just thought I'd share that ;) Maybe it could be tied directly to the necromancer as an aspect? Then it could be invoked by him in raising zombies and keeping himself alive.
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Yes I had just assumed that he would be a metaphorical prisoner- a prisoner in spirit. The Winter Court has their thumb on him mostly likely due to some foolishness on his or her own part. He or she serves as a cautionary tale of the dangers of making a hasty deal with the Winter Court. Also- doesn't necessarily have to be a full wizard. A focused practitioner or sorcerer could work just as well and might have been less schooled about the danger they were getting themselves into.
This kind of prisoner is much more valuable to the Court. They are out acting in the world, but can be counted on to act in the interest of the Court when called upon.
Okay, I can go with a metaphorical lock on the Wizard instead of physical prisoner.
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Or perhaps the prisoner is not a prisoner per se, but a prisoner of love, enraptured with a sidhe noble. Or has made the choice to go to the Court, ala Elaine.
Nice. I was listening to the Atomic Array podcast about Dresden Files today and the writers mentioned a situation that came up in play where a wizard player unknowingly used The Sight while interacting with a faerie. It functions like a psychic attack and he lost requiring him to buy a consequence. He became enthralled with a Sidhe knight or something to that effect- and as it was bought as a consequence became a lasting part of his character.
I am refining the character I want to play, and I will need an organization in the background.
Okay, I've been doing some reading today in the magic system of the rules.
There are rules for using the sight and it is possible to purchase this power. It would cost 1 pt of refresh to be able to get access to sight or you could take a stunt that works with the skill Lore. Lore is the skill used to 'sense' supernatural abilities. So you have two different flavours of this idea that could be built depending on how much you can see. Do you really see the ogre as an ogre or do you just see the ogre and think he is a huge and scary person? The refresh cost is comparable but they have both benefits and costs to the individual.
The psychomentry ability could be done through a stunt tied to investigation or it could be power that has its own 'skill' representing the psychic ability.
I like the concept well enough, I just don't feel like the aspect evokes it quite right. From reading the description of the active jail and its massive overcrowding, I would imagine something more like "Ready to Burst" "Breaking Point" or "All Hell is Ready to Break Loose" Those aren't exactly smooth, but they could give you something more versatile to play on while keeping the concept.
It's not that "Crime Never Dies" fits the concept best. It's that nothing else we've thought up fits any better. I mean, the aspects you brought up don't really say "prison filled with criminals, living and dead". They say that it's a bad place filled with too many bad people.
Besides, it's a Threat tied to a Location. We probably won't be invoking it unless we're in the prison in the first place, and the enemies are probably going to invoke it more than us. EDIT: Well, we could always use it to have either a criminal or ghost show up at an appropriate time if we happen to be near the jail.
(Since you brought up that saying, back when I offered this aspect I was going to call it "Good Criminals Never Die...", but I couldn't come up with something for the "They Just Fade Away" part of the quote and it didn't really flow off the tongue right in the first place. What can I say, making good Aspects is harder than it looks.)
All the aspects and Faces do for us is give us a starting point to tell stories and things to do with the characters.
It is bad news for a regular person to spend a night in a holding cell awaiting sentencing for what might be a minor misdemeanor crime. It probably will be a lot scarier experience for someone with supernatural senses.
Trapped in a cell with ghosts of past criminals looking for someone to possess. Prison guards telling you to shut up. Prisoners willing to shut you up if you don't buckle down and take what is coming.
The story might never take any characters to the prison.
That is okay too as it still is part of the landscape that might be affecting a player's decision as they know what kind of scene they could face should they get arrested. You may not be scared of the prisoners and guards but a battle with spirits with no threshold or amulets might be a very different affair.
Lastly, aspects are free to change and develop from story to story (there are guidelines in the rules on how this happens). If we don't have the aspect now then later something might strike the groups interest and go into play.
Oh, one other thing I got from listening to a podcast on aspects was that while a quirky name can be fun it can sometimes be better to go with something that actually works like 'I know a Guy'.
Wow.
I'm just lurking, (trying) to keep up with you all and see the process in action.
Very impressed so far, I am a fan of the books, and you already have the basis for another great setting for a DFRPG story!
You obviously have plenty of players, but if you ever need another, please consider me another one on your backup list! :)
Keep up all the good work!
Coming up on Character Creation.
We've got most of the faces figured out though there is still some work on motivations and relationships that can be worked out as we get more into the story.
Steps of Character Creation
1> Think of the idea that you would like to play. Provided it has a fantasy bent, I'm pretty open to any idea for a character.
2> When you think up the idea, you should settle on the 'High Concept'. This is usually two to three words that describe what you are or what you do. It is basically your way of describing the type of job and person/creature you are (Dresden is 'Wizard Private Eye'). It is also an Aspect so it should have ability to be used in game to help you do things or move the story.
3> After thinking up the 'High Concept' you need to think up your character's main 'Trouble'. This is an aspect that will works often to encourage the GM or you as a player to compel your character into situations or choices. Problems are the way your character earns Fate Points (Michael Carpenter's trouble is that he is a Family Man. He has to decide at times between his work as a Knight of the Cross and the danger that job brings to his family).
4> At this point you should try and give a name to the character. This is likely choosing a name for a Face and should suggest something of the character, powers, or nature.
5> You now are ready to write out a short (three to five sentence or point form covering the early life of your character) 'Background'. Everyone comes from somewhere and this is your chance to write some of this down. When you have this written down then you choose an Aspect to represent something significant that you learned, obtained, or relationship you formed in this period of time.
6> You now advance your concept a bit further and write down what made the significant decision to start you on the path of your adulthood. This is called 'Rising Conflict'. You want to tell what made you more than an average person. When you have finished writing the three to five sentences, you then choose an Aspect to represent this change in your character.
7> Okay, when you get to this point your character is ready for their 'First adventure'. You decide on a Title for your Adventure where you are the Star of the story (the Dresden books are good examples of titles of a Noun with an Adjective). You then write out the main conflict in the story and how your character is involved in the story. All you need to do is write down how the story got started in a couple of sentences because two other players will work with their characters to help you complete the story. After writing down the Title and start of the story, you then choose an Aspect representing how your character changed at the end of the story.
8 and 9> These steps are like 7 but you now describe how your character became involved in another player's story as a secondary character ( 'Guest Star' ). You will then choose an aspect representing your involvement in each of these other stories. I'll have people roll a d100 randomly and will pair people up based on high to low loop for these involvements.
At this point you should have 7 aspects for your character (High Concept, Trouble, Background, Rising Conflict, and 3 Aspects for the First Adventure and two supporting roles).
When you have that creation done, we move on to Finishing up the character. Finishing up the character involves assigning skill points, selecting stunts and powers, determining Refresh Total, Stress, and Consequences [more on this later].
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I've decided to start at a refresh total of 9 which is just below Submerged. Players will have 30 skill points and max level of skill is Superb.
More discussion on what this means later for the beginners to Fate.
Here's the aspects that haven't got faces yet:
-Gripped By Winter (Alright, he just needs a name at this point, but someone else can do that.)
-Too Good To Be True
-Sliding Into Bedlam
-Chinatown/"That's How It Always Begins. Very Small."
-The Seedy Side of Town/"I Sold My Hope For A Nickel."
-Ghost Towns/Ancient Neighbors
-Lake Ontario/Let Sleeping Krakens Lie
-Reservations/Burning For Vengeance
-"The Mounties Always Get Their Man"
I'm not really sure what we're doing with the Mounties' aspect or if it needs a face to begin with (or if we're taking the face idea and attaching it to a different aspect) but I better include it on the list anyway.
Okay, I'll fill in a couple here.
Let Sleeping Krakens Lie
Crae (pronounced Cray) is a half-Deep One (hasn't gone through the change yet) that is the emissary for the Kraken. Crae's motivation is to keep the Kraken from being disturbed in its sleep.
Burning for Vengeance
Ben Blackbird is an Elder Visionary of the Scugog Reservation. Ben's motivation is to bring supernatural vengeance on the Canadian and US government for the persecution of the Ojibway people.
I Sold My Hope for a Nickel
Florence Blackbird is a reporter working the crime beat. She grew up living in the Jarvis area and now finds here crime beat often taking here to cover various murders and drug busts. Florence's Motivation is to tell the story of the Jarvis area despite being warned repeatedly to keep her reports to the sanctioned police crime bulletins.
That's How it Always Begins. Very Small
Tao Pinyin is a restaurant owner in China Town. Tao Pinyan is a Korean Sorcerer. Tao's Motivation is to protect the citizens of China Town (he works with all the different Asian groups).
Gripped by Winter
Hime Zelda is a Wizard of the White Council. Her motivation is to serve the Throne of the City who she is currently infatuated with due to usage of the The Sight that overloaded her brain.
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Davi-
Don't know if you are interested in this, but I found a fillable pdf with all of the pages for city creation. The first 2 pages are for a character sheet, but the last three are city. I don't know if it is possible to use google documents to make something like that viewable. Otherwise might be useful for the rest of us as players for fillable and printable sheets.
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This might be useful:
Heroin trafficking is a major source of income for Asian gangs. Asian gangs also engage in extortion, armed robbery, and high tech crimes. Cantonese Chinese are by far the largest Asian group in Toronto and Cantonese Chinese criminals have set up some of the largest and most organized gangs in Canada. Vietnamese, Laotian, Cambodian, and Korean gangs are also active in Toronto.
Vietnamese street gangs in Toronto seldom give themselves names, for fear of attracting unwanted police attention. The Big Circle Boys (BCB) AKA Daai Huen Jai, are a Chinese gang that is involved in robbery and high tech theft. The 14k triad is the largest triad worldwide and operates in the GTA. It was formed after the second world war by Nationalists fleeing Communist Chinese.
The Kung Lok was founded in TO by Lau Wing Kui. The Kung Lok triad was involved in illegal gambling, and extortion. In Canada there are about 450 members. The 14k triad, the largest triad in the world, has 160 members in Canada.
Also found this on a gangs messageboard:
Are there a lot of Asian gangs in Toronto?
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A list of Asian gangs in Toronto:
Big Circle Boys(triad, dunno why lil kids run around claiming they bcb)
Kung Lok (same as above)
Yat Lo Fat (seems either relatively new or very low key)
Asian Assasinz (China town area)
18 Buddhas (mccowan finch)
Also learned that though the Vietnamese gangs don't usually go by flashy names they are known for their extreme violence and fully automatic weapons. They hire out as muscle to the Traids as well as run their own things.
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Location: Chinatown
Description: Insular immigrant community where crime bosses are the law.
Theme
The Idea: The deeper you dig, the more trouble you find.
Aspect: That's How it Always Begins. Very Small.
The Face: Zhang Lau
Concept: Street Level Triad Boss for 14K.
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Face Entry:
Zhang Lau
is the Face of...
Chinatown
with the High Concept...
Triad Middle Man
and Motivation...
I'm paying my dues to climb the ladder.
With these relationships...
Sung Jin (local head of the 14k Triad)
Local business owners (pay protection rackets)
Zhang Li (little brother who looks up to him)
Street Level Gang Members in Chinatown (various gangs)
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I'm going to combine details from two of the ghost towns to make this location. Brougham was really a little too far out, while Elmbank is in reality gone except for two stone cottages sitting on the edge of the airport.
Location: Elmbank (Ghost Town)
Description: Mostly boarded up village in the shadow of the airport on its way to disappearing.
Theme
The Idea: A demon bound by early settlers is still watched over by descendants of that family home, but growth of the city may force them out.
Aspect: Ancient Neighbors
The Face: Walter Giroux
Concept: Keeper of the Seal
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Face Entry:
Walter Giroux
is the Face of...
Elmbank
with the High Concept...
Elderly Keeper of the Seal
and Motivation...
I will make sure the demon is never unbound.
With these relationships...
Gader'el father of the Nephilim (his power bleeds into the world despite the binding)
Father Eugene Burroughs (Walter's local priest, who's confessions are leading him to believe Walter is insane)
Davi-
Don't know if you are interested in this, but I found a fillable pdf with all of the pages for city creation. The first 2 pages are for a character sheet, but the last three are city. I don't know if it is possible to use google documents to make something like that viewable. Otherwise might be useful for the rest of us as players for fillable and printable sheets.
Let's see, I have no idea where to upload it unless we decide to start a wiki, and we have more Locations/Faces than it has spaces. I don't think I'll be using it.
Anyway, relinking the sheet. Added ithuriel's and Smerg's Face ideas in too. If you have any objections, say them now.
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Damn. Somehow I read the list of which ones you had done Smerg, then immediately forgot about Chinatown and did it again. Wasn't intentional. Zhang Lau can stay in the background and pop up wherever you need him. He gives you a good foil for who your guy though. Someone to protect Chinatown from.
Edit:
So we still need:
-City Theme: "Too Good To Be True"
-City Threat: "Sliding Into Bedlam"
-The Seedy Side of Town: "I Sold My Hope For A Nickel."
-"The Mounties Always Get Their Man"
The City Themes/Threats can have multiple faces if you want to go wild. The example of the main city threat in the book has 5 faces.
Damn. Somehow I read the list of which ones you had done Smerg, then immediately forgot about Chinatown and did it again. Wasn't intentional. Zhang Lau can stay in the background and pop up wherever you need him though. He gives you a good foil for who your guy though. Someone to protect Chinatown from.
Hey, you can have more than one face for a location. They can share. Besides, it fits the theme to have two Faces in an escalating fight they didn't need to get involved in in the first place.
EDIT: Actually, Smerg posted one for Sold My Hope For A Nickel too.
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City Threat
The Idea: Winter Court's iron grip on the city is slipping and madness is both the cause and result
Aspect: Sliding into Bedlam
The Face: / Concept:
Countess Ilyana / Half mad fey ruler
Paul Campbell / Broken survivor of faerie
Mikaela Skaven / White Court agitator
Councilor Gregory Taylor / White Court Pawn
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The motivations of the Countess are beyond player comprehension I'd imagine so I'll leave her undetailed. Who knows what her plans might be?
Face Entry:
Paul Campbell
is the Face of...
Sliding Into Bedlam
with the High Concept...
Broken Plaything
and Motivation...
I will prevent this from happening to anyone else.
With these relationships...
Harper-Collins Publishing works as a proof reader
Ginny Campbell (his older settled sister who worries)
Face Entry:
Mikaela Skaven
is the face of...
Sliding into Bedlam
with the High Concept...
White Court Opportunist
and Motivation...
I will take advantage of weakness to advance my power, as long as I think I won't get caught.
With these relationships...
Natasha Skaven (a family connection)
Councilor Gregory Taylor (local City Councilman under her sway)
Various catspaws (that players don't need to know about at this point)
Face entry:
Councilor Gregory Taylor
is the face of...
Sliding into Bedlam
with the High Concept...
Blackmailed City Councilor
and Motivation...
I will continue to cut funding to the Center for Addiction and Mental Health to protect my secrets.
With these relationships...
Other City Council members
Kimberly Taylor (wife whose family fortune fuels his political desires)
I like all of those, but you might want a Korean name for that guy. They have a one syllable family name 1st, then a two syllable given name. Kim Jong-Il for example. Do you like Pak Il-Sung?
All the names that I chose were plays on words and not intended as 'real' world names.
Tao Pinyin - Pinyin is Chinese for Chicken. General Tao Chicken is a common food dish found in westernized Chinese restaurants.
Hime Zelda - Hime is Princess in Japanese. You can probably figure out the rest from that.
Crae pronounced Cray is a play on Crayfish.
Ben Blackbird - I wanted to avoid saying raven or crow but have that as a possible connection from previous discussion of were-crows.
Florence Blackbird - A play on Florence Nightingale but hints at a possible relationship direct or band related to Ben.
It was all pretty spur of the moment GM thinking as I had to get ready to head out for the day.
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We can use Walter as a place holder for Ancient Neighbours but I don't want him sounding too much like Crae. Crae is already trying to prevent a big huge monster waking up and I'd rather a different storyline of motivation going with Walter.
Here's a thought. Walter is in a community that is dying out. What if Walter is looking for a bride for his locked up neighbour. Someone that will promise to fill his community again with people?
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Hadn't thought about him in relation to Cray, but I did consider maybe we are adding in too many monsters (yet still couldn't stop myself :P ). Just curious, why is the half deep one trying to prevent a deep one (kraken) from awakening? Is he sacrificing to it while waiting for the stars to align or something?
I don't mind completely changing Walter. I'm just pitching to keep us moving along right now. I do like the idea of Walter procuring multiple brides for Gader'el especially since I pulled the name from angels who were cast out for interbreeding with humans. That makes a more interesting pitch than what I initially proposed. However, if we go that way. he doesn't need to be the descendant of local guardians. I think it would make more sense if he were someone who sought out and found Gader'el in order to make a more personal deal. At present he is working through his end of the bargain. Maybe Gader'el is able to manifest in the world within the area he is bound when aided by ritual.
The names are fine, but the odd Chinese name for a Korean guy threw me. At first I thought you had named him "Discipline Alphabet" or "The Way of the Alphabet" because pinyin is also the system for transcribing chinese characters to roman alphabet.
We can use Walter as a place holder for Ancient Neighbours but I don't want him sounding too much like Crae. Crae is already trying to prevent a big huge monster waking up and I'd rather a different storyline of motivation going with Walter.
Here's a thought. Walter is in a community that is dying out. What if Walter is looking for a bride for his locked up neighbour. Someone that will promise to fill his community again with people?
Personally, I'd rather make Crae's motives more personal/malicious and not Walter's. Walter seems like the kind grandfatherly sort of figure who stays up at night worrying because when he's gone no one will be left to stop the things that crawl out of that cave near his farm. Crae seems more like the kind of guy who's keeping the kraken asleep (or at least docile) because it attracts fish and fish attract business and if it leaves so will his income.
What is the significance of all the things you guys write in bold?
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Generally they are aspects which are phrases you can invoke to make something happen in a scene (by spending a fate point). I'll let someone else explain that more fully as I'm off to sleep.
Those posts I made above though have a lot of bold which are just the areas where I was filling in a template.
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Quick example:
If I had the personal aspect of "Strong as a Mountain Dumb as a Rock" and were in a fight scene I could spend a fate point to enhance a check related to pure physical power, because after all he's strong as a mountain.
On the other hand, suppose the guy I was trying to fight said, "Wait! You sister sent me to get you! She needs help!" and as I player I'm like "No way that is true." The GM could offer a fate point on the premise, but you are "Dumb as a rock." At that point I'd have to go along with my aspect (to gain a fate point) or else spend one of my precious fate points to avoid it.
In general, the more powerful of a supernatural character you play the more times you will find yourself willingly putting yourself into trouble for the sake of the story. That is how you accrue fate points that allow you to tilt odds in your favor when you really need it. Pure mortals have a lot of fate points to throw around by default so they can alter story related things more than say a wizard.
Does anyone mind if I tweak our face for the ROM, Janet Carding a bit? Instead of having her just appointed, I'd rather her be a fixture nearly as old as the museum itself (still mortal) with a will like Margaret Thatcher. Her motivation would still be to acquire and keep all artifacts in the museum where they belong.
She'd be my character's (Conan Carding) mother. Aspect for early life, Mommy Dearest
Well, just remember she is the actual current head of the AIA's Toronto branch and only started last year, although she has worked in museums in the UK and Australia for the part 25 years. What can I say, I'm just worried about changing the imaginary lives of real people.
Anyway, since we're talking about characters, I'm thinking of your standard "Lovecraft protagonist after the story" type of deal. Intellectual, read a tome he found in the Library (Howard will be playing the part of the seemingly-crazy man who tried to warn him of the dangers), went crazy, spent a few years in a distant asylum and now is back with a dozen prescriptions and whatever arcane bits he picked up from his contact with the things from beyond the stars.
Does anyone mind if I tweak our face for the ROM, Janet Carding a bit? Instead of having her just appointed, I'd rather her be a fixture nearly as old as the museum itself (still mortal) with a will like Margaret Thatcher. Her motivation would still be to acquire and keep all artifacts in the museum where they belong.
She'd be my character's (Conan Carding) mother. Aspect for early life, Mommy Dearest
I have not problems with this since your character's going to be interacting with her on a common basis.
Anyway, since we're talking about characters, I'm thinking of your standard "Lovecraft protagonist after the story" type of deal. Intellectual, read a tome he found in the Library (Howard will be playing the part of the seemingly-crazy man who tried to warn him of the dangers), went crazy, spent a few years in a distant asylum and now is back with a dozen prescriptions and whatever arcane bits he picked up from his contact with the things from beyond the stars.
Sounds like a fun concept.
Officially, you can't be a White Council wizard or let out what you've been doing.
The White Council has a zero tolerance to any study of the topic of Outsiders. We are not even talking the summoning and speaking here but just reading a tome with information on the topic can get you killed. Wardens have a high threat assessment on such things and like to chop as a result.
Now, as a group, we could always vote this isn't such a priority law in the present that it used to be. That would be a modification from the Laws as written in the core rules.
What is the significance of all the things you guys write in bold?
I originally wrote the following in the recruitment thread to explain Aspects. The reason for the bold text is to both highlight the word and to show it has a 'game' effect beyond just being descriptive words.
Since we have several people new to Fate (myself included but I've at least read a few FATE engine books and played in on Fudge based game); this is a good time to mention a bit more on Aspects.
Most RPGs that people are familiar with like DnD, GURPS, WoW, Traveler, and others have a standard set of characteristics and use numbers to describe how they compare to each other.
Aspects are instead ordinary language used to describe things. Ideally, Aspects have both positive and negative qualities (but they don't have to) and should tell someone more on what is important to your character or what motivates your character.
For example;
You could choose to say your character is Lucky. When a situation comes up and you feel that you need a bit of an edge then you could point out that your character is Lucky, pay the 1 Fate Point (FP) cost to 'invoke' the aspect and either re-roll the dice or get a +2 on your roll.
The problem with that is it doesn't really tell much more on the nature of your character.
Let's look at some alternatives;
Luckier than Bill and Bill is either a NPC friend or another Player. Here, you can invoke your luck when ever a choice comes up between you and Bill of some bad event happening like catching a grenade or being targeted for a kidnapping. This aspect can also be used to ensure (compel) bad things happen to Bill instead of your character. The aspect of Luck now has a story element that defines some of the relationship between your character and Bill.
Luck of the Irish this would tell something of the source of your luck and give some insight into being Irish. While you might be lucky you likely have picked up friends and enemies associated with Irish and Irish fae. That sort of association would likely require some discussion with the GM as to what you mean by the aspect.
And this brings us to;
Strange Luck where the luck can work to help (invoke) or work against you (compel). One key thing to remember is that Aspects are the way that players earn Fate Points. You want to have a few things that you can point to help you earn Fate Points and a few things to help you spend them. Strange Luck is good in that it allows you both! You can have a GM compel Strange Luck to be picked up by some villain planning to experiment on homeless people (earning a Fate Point) and then invoke Strange Luck to say the jailer 'goofed' and didn't lock the cell properly (this is another usage of Aspects where you can 'edit' events if you pay a Fate Point and the GM agrees). The net value is 0 but now your character is in the villain's secret lab.