The Dresden Files based game, Look at the title, 2+2=4. Options

[Sixgun_Sage]

I'm a huge fan of Jim Butcher's novels of chicago wizard Harry Dresden, and for a long time have wanted to play in that setting, looking over the rules it seems to me the closest I'll come to it is an adaptation of SR4. I've got some ideas on how to do this (your magic attribute is also your rating for the Gremlins quality) but would like to hear suggestions from any fellow fans of those novels here on Dumpshock.

[Ravor]

Well off the top of my head I think I'd have Grelims be ( Magic/2 ) capped at ( Rating 4 ) as otherwise the meeting of the White Council wouldn't be possible since not even ancient Ford pickups could stand up under the stress from someone who can call down obital junk to smite people who pisses him off.


Either give everyone a Geas of "mutter while casting" or increase the drain if a Mage doesn't do said muttering, on the nastier side of things make the Drain physical and/or unresistable when broken.


Everyone uses limited fetishs, foci, and unquie enchantments, Foci Addiction simply isn't a problem.


Ritual Magic needs completely reworked, it doesn't take nearly as long and ritual links are easy and quick.


Perhaps Drain should be increased across the board, no more magic than Dresdin throws he's always crowing about how very very few wizards could match him.


For that matter, wizards heal much, much better than mundanes if I remember correctly, but as quickly as healing is in Fourth Edition anyways perhaps just have wizards use the normal rules and mundanes have increased time limits between checks.


Perhaps get rid of summoning/binding completely, all spirits are considered "free spirits" and use those rules.

[Bitten the Bug]

Ritual magic do exist in the Dresden universe. Remember when he had to start up little Chicago and use it to hunt for Molly Carpenter?? Ritual magic.
Hours of prepping for it.

Drain would be harder if it is done without prepping. Just like Dresden do.

Spells: No complex formulaes, just pure willpower and intelligence. Thus making the target numbers harder and higher. Magic also depends on emotions for fuel. How do we incorporate it?? Unless the wizard preps for the spell, mucho drain!

Summoning is done the ol' fashioned way by knowing a Name (names are waaay important in Dresden Universe) and making a circle. In some cases it includes a bribery.
Remember Toot Toot? And Chancy?? And that frogdemon Tharlkazzz something or other? Inside a circle and a pentagram.

By the way. How would you classify Nickelheads? Mab, Maeve, Aurora, Titania, Leananshidhe??

Yeah, I like Dresden Files. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/grinbig.gif)

[BlueMax]

From what they had on the website, I think the Dresden RPG actually does a good job of capturing the world.
Dresden kinda reminds me of a spike mage, if such a thing existed.

I love that Butcher thanks a game group at the front of one of the books.

BlueMax

[Ravor]

Sure, but I also remember the times when he used ritual magic "quick and dirty" so both ways need to be possible, perhaps allow extra sucesses on the ritual test to count towards drain and range.

I think I'd disagree about spell formula, for the most part Dresdin uses a few spells over and over again and I remember him being forced to use ones that he already "worked out" as opposed to ones that he would like to have done, perhaps allow "freeform" casting by spending Edge and making a really tough Arcana Test.

Yeah, have summoning use the Free Spirit rules, seems like a perfect fit with the Fairies simply being really powerful Spirits.

[Ravor]

As for the emotions fueling magic, have all background counts be automatically aspected towards certain kinds of magic and then have background counts be very, very common.


Then the entire "home theshold" is simply treated as an unaspected background count that only applies if you're not invited.

[BlueMax]

As for the emotions fueling magic, have all background counts be automatically aspected towards certain kinds of magic and then have background counts be very, very common.


Then the entire "home theshold" is simply treated as an unaspected background count that only applies if you're not invited.

I don't think one who need to do anything for emotion , belief, and stubbornness fueling magic in Shadowrun. I thought thats how its been since the start.

BlueMax

[Bitten the Bug]

From what they had on the website, I think the Dresden RPG actually does a good job of capturing the world.
Dresden kinda reminds me of a spike mage, if such a thing existed.

I love that Butcher thanks a game group at the front of one of the books.

BlueMax

Ohhh, and christmas isn't far off either. Domo arigato, omae.

[Sixgun_Sage]

Some great suggestions, probably gonna tweak them, the big powers like Mab or the Denarians (I just got done rereading Death Masks for the 10th time) I was going to only handle if it became an issue (was going to run this game as the party being a team of new-minted Wardens, still inexperienced and nowhere near their full strength) but likely as Force 15+ spirits of various flavors. Keep'em coming, when I'm done I WILL be posting the finished results.
And an official Dresden RPG? Link PLEASE!

[PBTHHHHT]

Urrr. sixgun, just do a quick google with dresden files and rpg... and voila!
http://www.dresdenfilesrpg.com/

[Jhaiisiin]

What I'm jonesing for is an Alera RPG myself. For those who don't know, it's the other series by Jim Butcher. If you like the Dresden files, Alera will blow you away IMO.

[Embers]

What I'm jonesing for is an Alera RPG myself. For those who don't know, it's the other series by Jim Butcher. If you like the Dresden files, Alera will blow you away IMO.

Its a great series, but it wouldn't necessarily be enjoyed by the same group of people. Butcher wrote the series on a bet, he had to combine two extremely unalike things and write a book about them. He ended up with Pokemon and a lost Roman Legion. The Alerans (Romans) are able to summon and channel the powers of elementals known as Furies (Earth, Fire, Water, Air, Metal, Wood) each fury can manifest physically to fight, but can also enhance their owners in certain ways based on type. Air furies can help their owners fly, move faster, and bend light. Earth Furies give super strength, Fire furies can do the pyrotechnic thing, but also allow their owners to enflame emotions. Metal furies make their owners tougher, tough enough to ignore injury, to march for days without fatigue, and to sharpen metal to cut through just about anything. Wood furies make their owners insanely good archers able to control their arrows in flight, wield much stronger bows, and become invisible while near plants. Water does healing, emotion reading, and using water to scry and speak through.

[Jhaiisiin]

And despite the two vastly different topics, he combined them to create pure gold. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) I wholly recommend it.

[BlueMax]

What I'm jonesing for is an Alera RPG myself. For those who don't know, it's the other series by Jim Butcher. If you like the Dresden files, Alera will blow you away IMO.

I couldnt get into Alera. It felt like a reverse Dresden, dude without instead of with magic. I didn't even finish the first novel.

May get back into it as I am plum out of Dresden to read, until May that is.


BlueMax

[Jhaiisiin]

Trust me when I say finish the series. It is so worth it. Tavi is a badass.

[Bitten the Bug]

Trust me when I say finish the series. It is so worth it. Tavi is a badass.

Totally BadAss!! It keeps gaining momentum and keeps getting better. Great stories!

I thought that those who had waterfuries also did the raise tempers or soothe them as well. Not to mention shapechange (within human range) etc. I'd sure like to have a waterfury and an earthfury! Nice!

Wood and earth furies also make you insanely good as trackers or hide tracks!

[Shinobi Killfist]

Trust me when I say finish the series. It is so worth it. Tavi is a badass.

I read the first book and was unimpressed.

It was a dude without magic in a world of really dumb magicians.

The premise seems to be that they rely on magic so much the basics of reality escape them.

A totally made up example, but this is what it felt like to me.

Every Mage "Whoo, we defeated these 3 criminals but how will we restrain them until someone can come to pick them up."

Tavi, "I got a rope here, we could tie them up."

Every mage, "What is this rope thing you speak of, and how could we tie them up as you say."


Dresden files a lot more entertaining to me.

[Jhaiisiin]

To each their own. But think of it this way. When you use and have access to a tool every single day of your life, learning to live *without* it is almost unthinkable. Imagine not having a computer now. How much would you have to stop and think about because of the lack of that tool?

Same concept in Alera.

[Ravor]

I disagree, just because you have a hammer doesn't mean that every problem is a nail or that you should start treating them as such.

[AngelisStorm]

Dresden and Alera are vastly different stories.

Dresden is a detective psudo-noir, about the supernatural in the 'real world.' Also the classic "the world is getting darker, but some people choose to make a stand," together with the "but no one ends up unstained..." themes. (See: the "Word & Void" series by Terry Brooks and the "Dark is Rising." Also see some similarities in Neil Gaiman.)

Alera is the classic story of the magic-less individual who grows up in a magical world, (Many books, from one of the "Enchanted Forest Chronicles" to Diskworld; obvious theme of having a disability) with some interesting spins. The main character gets to evolve over time, which ups the "power level" and keeps things changing for interest. The citizens of the world are not very innovative outside their chosen "science" (Furries/Magic), but it has worked for the entire span of their civilization, so why innovate? Is it right? Not really (they look down on people who try new ways of doing things), but I find it fairly realistic. If you develop a "science" which has always worked for all needs (from war to common life), why would you develop something else?

And with regards to "stupid wizards," look at people today. Practically everyone in a 1st world country has access to science/education, but are they smart? No. They can't even change thier own oil half the time. If you gave everyone super powers, would they feel the need to push themselves? Of course not. So I find the characters in the Alera series (relatively) realistic.

Anyway, the series are very different, but I enjoy them both. Both Dresden and Tavi are innovators, who work outside the established system, working with what they got. (Hell, Dresden has it rough in some ways. He isn't good at "down and dirty" magic, but has immense strength/stamina. What a wierd combo.)

[BlueMax]

Dresden has "Sticktoitedness" Dag nabit. And how did he get that? Working on a farm underneath the best Rod Damned Assassin on the planet.


Err , by working for "A simply farmer".

And I think he gets some of his power by not getting laid. I am married and I get some more often than Dresden. What's up with that?

But any talk about Dresden must also include the wonderful cast of characters that make a Dresden novel. Some of which have been stolen into my campaign.

"You have a coroner buddy and you don't have *anything* to describe him?.... No, no, that's fine, I got this."

We thought about including Micheal but it didn't fit. Murphy on the other hand is a character that I want to play and someday when I get to play instead of run, Murphy here I come.

BlueMax

[Sixgun_Sage]

Bob the skull has made a number of appearances in my shadowrun games, which is fun because the players never know wether it will be "evil servant of a necromancer" Bob, or his more normal personality.

[Jhaiisiin]

Butters made it into our Mage game one time, as did Michael and the Knights. I totally agree that the cast of supporting characters in Dresden are just amazing.

[Creel]

Jim butcher's a gamer, I trust him to have made what he feels is the best system for the job.

[BlueMax]

Jim butcher's a gamer, I trust him to have made what he feels is the best system for the job.

He is indeed a gamer but he left the game design to others. With three series on his plate, I don't think he has time to review the RPG material. That said, what I have read has been interesting and I will certainly buy the game.

Besides, the money in Novels is much much much much better from what I read.

BlueMax