Dresden Files idea for Mayan Calendar

PhoenixMark
PhoenixMark
edited February 2013 in General Archive
Ok here is my idea, and I would love some feedback. WARNING: Spoilers to Book 11 Turn Coat, and Book 13 Cold Days. If you have not read them, be warned. If you are a player in Sactown Blues, *STOP READING THIS IMMEDIATELY*.



Here is and idea I am mulling around for my "Sactown Blues":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/sactown-blues game, set in Dresdenverse but not officially cannon.

My campaign calendar is currently set in September of 2012, and in just a few months, the Mayan Calendar will come to its conclusion. Obviously nothing perceptual will happen as far as mortals are concerned, life will go on as before (similar to events in the real world).

bq. Various astronomical alignments and numerological formulae were proposed as pertaining to this date, all unequivocally rejected by mainstream scholarship. A New Age interpretation held that the date marked the start of a period during which Earth and its inhabitants *_would undergo a positive physical or spiritual transformation_*, and that 21 December 2012 would mark the beginning of a new era.

-from "Wikipedia":http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_phenomenon - I marked the relevant statement as *_bold and italicized_* above.

What if the transformation were wholly on a supernatural level. And what if it were not so "positive"? What would this "new era" entail?

I am kicking around a few ideas, and would love to hear your ideas.

_My text was too long, so I am splitting it up into several posts..._

Comments

  • PhoenixMark
    PhoenixMark
    Posts: 90
    First, a bit of background on my campaign:

    * The Vampire War has been underway for a few years, but Sactown has been relatively unaffected, because...

    * The White Council of Wizards has no representation in Sacramento. They had two wizards who once resided here, but they were both taken out early in the War, while fighting out of country. That was a few years ago, and the local void has not yet been filled (due to the War). The party has yet to discover anything regarding local White Council activity.

    * The Red Court Vampires in Sac are old blood, and have a very established stronghold here. They are immersed in local politics, thriving on mundane power and status in the local community. They essentially control the capitol city's political scene. Even the current Governor is their puppet (but the party as yet has no idea about these guys). The local RCs are uninterested in the war, and have essentially severed ties with South America and the Red King. They (by policy) do not create new vampires, and are thoroughly enmeshed in the society of the city, not wanting any change whatsoever (as long-lived or immortals are inclined to do). They are only a threat by response and reaction, they do not initiate events.


    * The South American Red Court has sent an agent to investigate/coerce the local RC's to get with the game, you know... team players and all. This guy's cover is a local nightclub, and though he has been here a few years (no time at all to a vampire), he has done little regarding the RC agenda. He has established his business and enmeshed himself in drug trafficking, making alliances with one of the town's prominent gangs. He is still primarily focussed on establishing his cover and getting his proverbial ducks in a row before tackling the Sactown Red Court. He does have agents and spies in place, and he also has discovered that the local White Court has a stranglehold on the arts community. A community whose mundane (non WC) members are also deeply involved in politics (the Arts and Politics go hand in hand here in Sac). These mortals may also have strong connections to the Red Court, hence this agent interest in them via the White Court.

    * The local White Court of Vampires have a problem. A handful of the next generation WC vamps are in the process of turning. A few have already, but many have not, and those that are now full-fledged soul-suckers are pressuring their peers to join in (teens... go figure). They all attend the local college, and the party scene is their major source for feeding. Unfortunately, they are young, rebellious and quite careless, leaving bodies around. They refuse to listen to their absent parents (who are themselves too distracted by their own self-absorbed promotion of the arts community, which is where _they_ feed). These kids are attracting unwanted attention, their latest affront was to gift a psychically charged "Hendrix guitar":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/sactown-blues/items/betty-jean to a local band, in order to whip up emotions at the concerts, hence generate more emotion to feed upon. But these young WCs have not yet learned control, and have been going off into feeding frenzies. It is only a matter of time until somebody figures out what is going on. This is an issue to their parents, who are still relatively clueless about what exactly it is that their kids are doing. This is where the party comes in.

    * My party is currently (ahem) working for the local White Court vampires (they only suspect this to date). The party has been tasked with two things: First, to discover why this new Red Court faction has not only recently moved into town, but has seemingly begun targeting the members of the WC's business interests (through goons and gang members - thuggery, threats and vandalism - for now at least). Second, the owner of the club (also a WC member) where the WC youths have been feeding, has employed the party to discover why his patrons have been becoming more emotionally violent recently, and who was behind the gift of the guitar and why. (He thinks he knows, but he wants outsiders to investigate the WC teens - the WC never do anything themselves, they always use pawns - and that is exactly what the party is there for...).
  • PhoenixMark
    PhoenixMark
    Posts: 90
    OK, that is the background.

    Now... here are my ideas about events in December...

    I want some shift in power to happen in the city, well... actually in the WORLD. It _IS_ the apocalypse, after all. I would LOVE it if I can finagle the party to accomplish it. I have no issues setting a deadline, say - December 21st - that is the easy part. I just don't yet have a solid idea what that shift could be. Certainly on a local scale, I could have the WCs trick the party into eliminating the Red King's emissary, or have the RC turn on the WC, also using the party for that end. This would certainly be a shift in local power, and a major milestone for the party.

    But I think that may be too small a change. I would love to have a global supernatural shift of some sort.

    The first thing that comes to mind *_SPOILER_* is that this could be the date of the big sacrifice at Chichén Itzá, when Harry sacrifices Susan Rodriguez and the curse kills all the Red Court Vamps. Unfortunately, I think this is too soon in my campaign to eliminate the Red Court Vamps, and I am not sure if I am ready to implement the power realignment and influx left in the absence of the Red Court. (I also was wondering, little Maggy... isn't she also blood relations of her mother Susan? Why didn't she die due to the curse? And her other blood relation, her dad Harry? Or was it because Susan fed and became a full-fledged Red Court Vamp? But I digress). Also, this option would likely not involve my party, unless I could manage to write them into Harry's story somehow, or replace Harry in my world with the party - a very tough nut to crack, as they are still FEET IN THE WATER heroes.

    I was also thinking that there may be a shift of power in Faerie. This may be tied to the death (murder) of a queen, or some other significant shift in power, like when the Summer Court tried to take out the Winter Court, or vice versa.

    *_SPOILER_* In Book 13 (I am currently in the middle of reading this one), Bob tells Harry that immortals may only be killed for good under special circumstances, such as on the Stone Table (which was specially prepared for the death of the Summer Queen [Book 4]), or during special astral conjunctions (Bob described Halloween as being the only regular day that such a thing could be done - and also that is why Halloween was the day Kemmler's Disciples tried to make one of their own into a god). Certainly the Mayan calendar prophecies could be one such conjunctive occasion.

    With this idea in mind, what about the death (or birth) of some other powerful creature - a huge change of power in the world. A demon or Elder god being released into the world? An angel being destroyed?

    I am also using other sources for my game, such as Warehouse 13, Supernatural and X-Files. It may be that aliens have found a way to breach a dimension, allowing them to pass into the Nevernever, and thus into our world, more easily than using their spaceships. Or maybe that the gate to hell (or that part of the Nevernever) has been opened and the demons have begun flooding into our world, causing no end of evil and harm. Also, it might be possible that an artifact could have been used to alter the world/timeline/etc. It may be that an actual Mayan stone calendar is activated, changing the world for the heroes (and this change may be permanent, or perhaps they can find a way to undo the event and set things right - akin to last season's Warehouse 13 storyline).

    Again, this event MUST be linked to the party somehow. I also need it to have *relevance* to the current campaign events. And these are the issues that are perplexing me. I'd love to hear your input, feedback and advice.

    Thanks a ton,

    "PhoenixMark":http://www.obsidianportal.com/profile/PhoenixMark
    "Sactown Blues":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/sactown-blues
  • CraigCoxson
    CraigCoxson
    Posts: 20
    First, to your cannon question: When Susan went full red, she lost her humanity, and thereby her link to Maggy. That would have saved Susan from killing Maggy had they succeeded with their original plan.

    Now, Red Court Vamps are not immortal.

    I haven't read the sactown information, sorry. I'll try and offer story advice:

    Many of my players know this, but let me offer you a little secret about how I incorporate events into my Dresden campaign: I let the players explain it. No, I don't do it obviously. I start by offering clues, and then listen to what they say. They usually propose ideas of how they think it relates. If they don't do that, then they propose ways to find out what's going on. This gives me a clue to THEIR thought process. It tells me how they expect their character to relate. By the skills they choose, to the solutions they propose, they tell me what their character expects to get from a situation. Then, I give it to them.

    Now, I'll grant you that this is not an easy way to GM. What it does, however, is create a very organic playing experience. I still propose new threats, I help my players interact with them, and usually it works out in a way that benefits all the players.

    I've failed in the past, sure...

    About introducing this: This sort of a scenario really lends itself to a play from the hip relationship. It will also require some preparation.

    Develop your endgame first.

    Do you want it a god or demon? Do you want to wake one of the sleeping ones, or deal with He who walks before? Figure out what you're going to do here first. There's a reason for this: Once you have your hero/villain you can begin making connections.

    As important as this is for your players, it is MORE important for your NPCs. Especially if you are going to let your players loose on the world. This is part of the reason you have a faces page :).

    Tie your Great One into what is already happening in your campaign. Is he raised by one of your Faces? Is he there to replace one of your Faces? Is he there to change one of the cities aspects?

    Consider the last one. If your players have been focusing on only one of the aspects that fuel your city, maybe another is about to take a turn for the worse.

    Once you know how your new NPC, your Great One, interacts with the city, you should stop there. Continue with whatever story you were working on before, but now, you can begin offering hints of new depths to the city. Let your character's decide the pace they want with the new information. And who knows, you might just get to put a current threat on the back burner, and begin to build it in the background.

    That's what I did to one of my characters after all. The reason they ended up facing off against a demon is because the character stopped paying attention to his Jazz band job. They ended up going from a minor side story to a major threat, all while the players were trying to find a sorcerer who was sacrificing virgins....

    I love Chicago in the 20s :)

    Hope some of these ideas help :)
  • HumAnnoyd
    HumAnnoyd
    Posts: 298
    I agree with Craig above. He makes a lot of good points.

    When I ran my own game I came up with a nasty evil bastard based on a historical villain and threw in some supernatural stuff so he could come back and threaten my city. I then considered what Faces could be involved with helping him and who would be opposed. At that point it just sort of wrote itself. Because of player inaction at a crucial moment a record earthquake slammed Seattle (already suffering from powerful storms) as a powerful ritual went off and freed the Big Bad. This event fundamentally changed the face of our entire campaign and forced me to ramp up what started out as a simple mystery of possession into an epic fight to protect all reality from an Outsider.

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  • wolfhound
    wolfhound
    Posts: 354
    I'd have to agree with Craig's points - it's very nearly the same general philosophy that drives Dresden Files: Dallas. My player feedback though comes, tremendously helpful by the way, with how I handle the postgame updates where the players write what their characters are up to. In their quest for more Fate Points, I get dozens of ideas for plots and as a GM get to see my campaign flesh out in ways I might not have anticipated. How? I also have a "first in wins" guideline, where if I haven't already defined something and a player wants to take it and run with it, I let their work guide whatever comes after.

    Re: The Big Evil Bad Guy(s)
    As the GM you need to at least define your big bad(s) in broad brush strokes as well as general goals. I've found, personally, that doing that as well as defining several major "lieutenants" as well as the nature of the minions helps generate the weekly/monthly adventures. It also gives YOU the GM time to flesh out the campaign in a direction the players want to take it by letting them slowly ramp up to the big bad as they take out the network of lesser lieutenants and minions. Since the White Court is one of the major forces in your game - you are already poised perfectly to have a vast network of minions that may not even know they're minions - Red Court also (though they're a bit more ... direct ... than the White).

    Also, to keep things "Dresden" I always try to have at least 2-3 things going on as the same time that allows for that "Aha we've resolved the thing that started the story... wait... what?" design that Butcher uses in his books. However, to pull this off, you have to start with your bad guy's motivations and work backwards to the point the PCs get involved. You also need all this backstory (that admittedly may never be discovered by the PCs in game) so that you can hang their various Aspects on to get them into the game with a free initial Fate Point.

    I have other ideas/comments but no time at present. :)
  • PhoenixMark
    PhoenixMark
    Posts: 90
    Thanks guys, I knew you would help! I completely agree that letting the players chart their own courses, and listening to their speculations and stated ideas about what might be going on helps shape the way things happen. I have been that type of GM for a while now. And from your comments, I think I can cobble together enough bad-guy motivations to figure this one out, dropping clues here and there and letting them get into their own mischief.

    Thing is this... I have some... er... lazy players. We are in about to start session 11, and I still don't have background descriptions from most of them. Nobody has time, or is willing, to write up post-game stuff, no matter the goodies I dangle in front of them to do so. I love my group, and we have the best time during the sessions, but they don't think things through (as a whole) as much as I would like. I think this may be my real struggle, now that you all are pointing it out. :)

    I think that part of the issue is that we are all very used to playing (and running) other types of gaming systems, mainly d20/Pathfinder. The concept of players writing their own paths and not just letting the GM tell them about the world and what is going on in it, is still foreign to them. Only one of my players is familiar with Butcher's novels, and he has only read the first two. They all love the setting, and as we play and are more familiar with the rules, they are definitely opening up. I can also see how the FATE system has impacted my Pathfinder game. They are starting to take a little more charge of what they want to see out of the game, their characters and the world.

    I think I need to just sit down at the start of the next session and chat a bit about some of the things you have mentioned. I will ask them to think about big picture goals, and (without actually telling them the plot) urge them to feel free to participate more in guiding the course of their adventures. It is funny. I have been role-playing for 35 years, and GMing for at least 30. But I am feeling like an amateur, when I can't seem to motivate my group, or be able to encourage them to be more active participants. I mean, the only Fate Points they get are ones give them on compels, and to date I have not had one player compel themselves, even though I have repeatedly let them know that they can do so (and give them suggestions). I even have one player that just sits on his Fate chips, letting them build from session to session, pretty much forgetting he even has them, until I suggest ways for him to use them. He is kind of content to keep being mediocre in his efforts, and failing a lot. I think part of the issue is that we are all new to FATE, and this system is radically different from what we are used to. Sometimes in just trying to remember the way things work, system-wise, combined with getting into the role playing, a lot of system details get overlooked in favor of the RP.

    OK. I have veered WAY off topic.

    I see some very awesome potential now, looking back at my Faces and their motivations. I really appreciate all the great advice, and if you think of anything more, my ears are wide open. Feel free to continue this thread, I will be watching, and learning. I'll post my ideas as they develop, and you can always check out the Post Game info (even though I am still three sessions behind in fleshing out the adventure logs - sucks to be running THREE friggin active games and trying to post them all here on OP). I am insane, I think.

    ~Mark
  • wolfhound
    wolfhound
    Posts: 354 edited February 2013
    It's certainly a process. We were lucky in that when our Dresden game started I had 2 very very free-form and non-system driven players (one does stage/theater for a living - the other played Vampire LARPs for more than a decade) and they were able to really start to open up the other more "traditional-DM-drives-the-game" gamers. 2 years in, we're all very familiar with FATE now.

    However, I can give some insight on the early days and how we started to open things up.

    Transparent Minion Record Sheets
    ----------------------------------------
    I, as as DM, had to let go of my "keep the bad guy stats secret" mentality and really embrace the cooperative aspect of FATE. However, I did so for everything except my BEBG (lieutenants, henchmen, minions). As encounters happened, I self-compelled my NPCs with regularity, tagged player aspects, slapped on wild Scene Declaraion Aspects and Maneuvers and whenever I took a Consequence as an NPC, I told the PCs exactly what the Consequence was to get them to try and tag it. Oh... USE CRAPPY BAD GUYS until they learn the ropes (half the refresh).

    Self-Defense and System Training (necessary for them to understand how to use FATE points) - aka "GMs lead the way"
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Suddenly your players stop being mediocre, they start sucking 2 shifts at a time. They must learn to escalate tagging Aspects in order to come up to speed with the bad guys.

    ~ A group of easy bad guys becomes really scary when 3-4 of them start doing Maneuvers and handing off the Aspect from the maneuver to their other "leader" giving him 6-8 shifts over what it could do alone.

    - - - Minions 1, 2, and 3 do a Maneuver "Spraying Lead All Over the Place" and Minion 4 tags all 3 from her compatriots to make her own shot count ... representing the fact that as the hero was busy dodging fire from 3 different shooters, the 4th got into a good position to take advantage. Even a lowly 2 Gun skill goon starts to get scary throwing out +8 shift attacks...

    ~ Players suddenly start caring about what's in the scene when Scene Aspects via Declaration start getting involved.

    - - - Look at your NPCs, what skills do they have at 3 and 4... how do you capitalize on them? Perception 4? Turn out the lights and hit them with Scene Aspect "It's Dark" .... Resource 3, Aspect "Customized & Accurized Gear" ... Those 2 point shifts start adding up.

    - Finally hang a Minor Consequence on a player? Tag it right away with the very next action. Players finally hang a Consequence on the bad guy? Tell them what it is as part of your description of how their actions have an effect. Let them tag it and get the free 2 shifts.

    - Self-Compel your bad guys to give FATE Points they turn around and immediately spend or let them have Sponsored Spellcasting. Though you must actually specify Aspects on your bad guys to do this. ;)

    - A handful of minions with only 1 "combat" Aspect vs a "combat monster" with 5-6 suddenly becomes very obvious why one is nastier than the other when players blow 4-5 Fate points trying to keep up with all its Aspects.

    - Design your monsters to have Fate points... even a lowly mortal thug has at least 1 (the unspent Refresh representing free will).

    --- Concede early, concede often - Let your bad guys get away by conceding ... build up the PC hatred of these guys until it's suitably story dramatic to finally let them fall. Remember to bank your free fate points for conceding. :)

    --- Remember, pg. 352 of the rulebook - "If the nameless NPCs are minions of a bigger bad guy, you have the option of letting any fate points they’d get from conceding or cashing out of a conflict (see page 206) go to the main “boss” NPC instead."

    Let the system teach your players why FATE points matter. Use Sponsored Spellcasters at first as "nasty henchmen" so you can spend FATE points a little more freely just to drive home how nasty they can be. Your goal is never to kill the party, but shock them into using their Fate points... which will naturally lead to them wondering how they can get more... which might lead to more participation.
    Post edited by wolfhound on
  • wolfhound
    wolfhound
    Posts: 354
    Is there.... ? / Can I ... ?
    ------------------------------
    Players sometimes want to know what's in the scene or if their character can do X/Y/Z.... my response is always.. "I dunno, let's see." or "I dunno, is there/can you?" and I let their Aspects, Skills, or a roll decide (i.e. Declaration). "Do I have a pocketknife?" ...instead of asking them to track every little thing on the record sheet in D&D/Pathfinder style.... roll Resources or check Aspects... .or just common sense. If it's a city slicker preppy... maybe. If it's a red-neck country boy... of course. Slowly this drives home the "cooperative" nature of FATE into their thick skulls... they're the heroes... the story adapts to them if they take part.

    In improv theater terms, this is an FATE system extension of the "Yes, and..." technique.

    Take them behind the woodshed and Kick their Aspects
    -----------------------------------------------------------------
    Have your PCs Aspects on you all the time as the game goes. TRY to work ways to compel those Aspects as the GM or spend a bad guy fate point to gain an advantage off it. I try to get every character at least once per story arc, and try to get at least 2 characters per session. That's why most of Dresden Dallas NPCs are girls... two of our PCs have weaknesses vs female plot hooks.

    There's nothing wrong with basing an entire game session on a single PC's Trouble Aspect. ... just saying. :) If you can get a two-fer.. even better.
  • wolfhound
    wolfhound
    Posts: 354 edited February 2013
    Re: Big Evil Bad Guy
    ------------------------

    Let me flowchart how I do my brainstorming, this might help you.

    Phase 1 - High level brainstorming
    ----------------------------------------
    1) I need a bad guy, I have white court, and red court
    2) white court are succubus
    3) Wikipedia lists Lilith as an early succubus, her children are lilian ... sounds like a great BEBG (Big Evil Bad Guy)
    4) The lilian's main minion in my game is X a member of the white court
    5) I will give X two secondary minions of the same family
    6) The Red court are unknowing pawns of X, the main Red Court is a "sub-boss" in power level, we'll call him Y ,
    7) Y also has 2 sub-minions, big bad members of the court aristocracy
    8) My "foot soldiers" are weak Red Court (ha!)
    9) The red court are heavily involved with Z mortal gangbangers who run drugs and guns, led by Z who has a single lieutenant
    10) The gang of mortals is the minions
    11) So the PCs first interaction with the Lilian comes through a network of mortal gangbangers

    Phase 2 - Record Sheets
    ----------------------------
    Now I spend some time throwing down record sheets for my BEBG and the big henchmen - even if they're not full record sheets, at least 3-4 Aspects clearly defined

    Phase 3 - Writing Adventures
    ----------------------------------
    Find TV shows featuring gangbangers, steal plotlines, inject supernatural stuff. See what happens.

    Adventures may take multiple actual "at the table" play sessions.

    Adventure 1+ - Mortals, ending with a glimpse of Z's lieutenant (or maybe even confrontation)
    Adventure 2+ - focus on dealing with Z's lieutenant, ending with confrontation with Z, catch glimpse of one of Y's lieutenants (the red court)
    end of first story
    Adventure 3+ - dealing with Y's lieutenant, other lieutenant gets involved at the end (but now they've had a chance to see the PCs operate and will now be better prepared)
    Adventure 4+ - dealing with LT #2, with cameo by Y
    end of second story
    Adventure 5 - Dealing with Y, catching a glimpse of the puppet masters pulling the chain X's 1st LT
    so on and so on

    I use "dealing with" for whatever the PCs do... combat, social, or whatever other way of changing up the setting

    Hope that helps.
    Post edited by wolfhound on
  • Keryth987
    Keryth987
    Posts: 1,047
    Well, my first instinct would be the events of Changes, as you've already pointed out. However, I agree with you as to inserting your characters in place of Harry. However, if you went with this, you could build up your group to dealing with your local RC and then, as they get near to confronting them, the events of Changes happen and they're gone. Might be a bit of a let down though. Depends on how you play it.

    Your alien suggestion got my mind rolling on something form a previous D20 Modern campaign of mine, that involved a modern Dresdenesque world that had the Visitors from "V"in it, thought their arrival was derailed by one of the PC's, who was a scout for the Visitors, who decided he preferred Earth over his people, and derailed his people's arrival. BUT, his plan failed, as Diana (from the original), came in secret with a small group of followers, and THEN got her hands on the Denarien Coin formerly held by Tessa. Considering my other Big Bad was Rasputin, with Nicodemus' coin, it was interesting to say the least. I go on though, what the point is, is you could have a "V" like arrival in your campaign, already haven the visitors amongst your people, or even do an Invasion of the Body Snatchers plot all happen on the 21st.

    My gut instinct though, is to twist the Quetzelcoatl myth. Have an ancient Mayan deity return on the 21st, but through a host, who is not in Mexico as he/she should be, but in Sacramento. So, the whole Destructor has arrived bit happens there instead of amongst the Mayan ruins. Would take some Mayan research though

    Just my first thoughts.

  • HumAnnoyd
    HumAnnoyd
    Posts: 298
    Wolfhound, you should write a freaking book. That is great stuff.

    November 2012 CotM:  Dresden Files RPG: The Emerald City

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  • HumAnnoyd
    HumAnnoyd
    Posts: 298
    If you want to mix X-files with Dresden you need to check out Conspiracy X 2.0. It offers an interesting interpretation of magic and psychic powers and how they relate to demons and aliens and the like. Pretty amazing stuff and it might be a neat curve ball to throw at the players. It would give you a complete paradigm shift on the nature of magic without invalidating it or any mythology. Fun stuff.

    November 2012 CotM:  Dresden Files RPG: The Emerald City

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  • CraigCoxson
    CraigCoxson
    Posts: 20
    Be VERY careful about adding psyching powers to the game: Telepathy breaks the rules of magic. Every time it's used.
  • CraigCoxson
    CraigCoxson
    Posts: 20
    My thoughts on transparency: If your player's know it, then show it:
    1) Your player has Inhuman Speed, the enemy goes first, He has Super Human speed or better, show it.
    2) Your enemy takes damage, your players should now know at least to an extent, his stress bar.
    3) Telegraph Aspects, give your enemies taglines that tie into their aspects that they use. This is especially useful when you are using the GM Fate Pool variant :) I have had 27 fate going into a 'boss' fight in the past. When you tag an aspect, have the boss say something.
  • Keryth987
    Keryth987
    Posts: 1,047
    Well, I am still learning the ropes of DFRPG/FATE myself, Shadows is my first FATE Campaign. I keep having to remind my group about self compels, and I got one player who is hoarding his FATE chips for "when he really needs them", but, some of the things Wolfhound is talking about I've already been doing, and they work great.

    The biggest is the "Is there" statement. Our last session we had our first real combat. One of the characters ran out into the alleyway and asked if there were any dumpsters. I responded with, "I don;t know, is there?" he looked at me blank and asked again. With my second answer, he got the clue and paid a fate chip, decalring there were dumpsters in the alley and he was taking cover behind them.

    I also have gotten lucky in the area of synopsis. Every one of my players is working hard on write up for the end of my first episode, as they want the extra FATE chips I'm bribing them with. Then again, all but one has a iPAD at the table, so, like myself, they are typing them up as the game progresses.

    As for transparency, my group comes from a heavy D20/PF background with some Deadlands and Shadowrun mixed in. I'm not telling them what aspects are being tagged by the enemy, but I am letting them know that the bad guuy is tagging an aspect. Doing so, ebncouraged one of my players to stop and do an assessment on one of my bad guys, and getting the aspect the vampire was tagging.

    I've learned quickly, you need to find ways to encourage people to get into the flow. Now if I could only get the one guy to stop hoarding chips.

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March 2024
Wrath of the Highborn

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