In Jim Butcher's most recent Harry Dresden book "Changes" we finally get more of a view of Monoc Security Services, the people who provide muscle behind Jonny Marcone. In the past they have just been a name, but it is revealed in this book they are rather more and I wonder if anyone has tried this/encountered this in their SR game.

Run by Donar Vadderung they provide top flight combat troops and heavy security, physical and magical for a pretty penny. The key thing is that Donar Vadderung in the past has been names like Wotan, Woden and Odin. Dimishied osmewhat in power but still more than capable of handling mortals. So in a world where old magic works and Dragons rule has anyone encountered such a situation? It certainly would not be out of place.

The Dresden Files are just a great thing to pull ideas out of period. Secret magic cabals, vampiric families, fae, and a huge ass shadowwar.

I was aiming for something like this, using Winternight, but it was more than my meager skills could perform... It didn't help that my group didn't even bother reading the Intro Story to the adventure (*Points at Sig File*), which discouraged me.

So far, all I've been able to do is have my group like Harry Dresden. They get hit in the head. A lot.

Any guess as to who the shooter was at the end of the last book? My bet is on the Summer Knight.

My money is on Kincaid. I just don't see Fix doing that. Then again if it was Kincaid it probably would have been a headshot. This is why Jim Butcher is a bastard.

Random drive-by shooting not related to Harry's work at all.

My bet is Kincaid on Ivy's orders. The Winter Knight's would revert to Winter at his death, but the cold water would drop his metabolism enough so that he can be revived after his "death". Afterall, Mr Butcher pulled this dead and back stunt once already.

That is, if Harry can deal with the light at the end of the tunnel being a train.

...

Hey, if you get your head hit in the afterlife, can you get a spiritual concussion?

I think it was to easy, dropping the Winter Knight into an ice cold lake. He'll come out of it (more or less) ok(ish).

I'm putting my monies on a random mook sniper, put in place by the Black Council (since Harry would eventually need to go to the boat, considering everything that happened in that book).

I dunno, Fix has pulled a gun on Harry before. That was when he only suspected Harry of taking up the mantle. Now the Summer knight is pretty tough, but if you look at the starting material, Fix was pretty wimpy. Compare to Harry, who is pretty bad-ass to start with, then add on the Winter Knight power, and fix is toast. Fix's only chance is to take him out through an ambush.

I completely agree that there will be some Dues Ex to bring him back.

Back on track, I like the idea of Monoc as a SR organization. Would the Aesir be free spirits, or some weird variation on Shedim?

Bringing Dresden into shadowrun has nothing but win written all over it.


You could in fact run the group as a collection of free spirits / fae. Turn the raised soldiers into raised free spirits in prepared vessels (R's 1-3 would work).

I do like the idea of them having the weapons from all era's in there stockpile so you could call up some actual vikings with the odd guardian spirit in the mix.

slightly off topic, but I cant wait for the next book I know I'll proberbly be mildly annoyed by how they dont let him have died but its not going to stop me enjoying it.

JB is a roleplayer much like us and it shows in his work as the rule of cool is in constant use.

A Role Playing group made up of Werewolves, a Wizard (Who plays a Barbarian!), and GMed by a Coroner that knows far too much about what's really going on in the world.

Clearly I need to go update my Butcher collection. Changes hit paperback yet, or am I going to have to shell out?

Shell out, JB is worth it.

Shell

BAH. I already shelled for Turn Coat.

Amazon.com, save me!

Real Dresden Fans don't complain about the HardCover price

There's a copy of the hardcover Dresden Files RPG on premises. I think I get a pass.

That thing was Crazy expensive..

Although I hear it's well worth it.

I haven't stolen it out of the owner's abode yet, but it's noticably closer than it was before.

I'll try to snag it tonight to give it a read. Hoping that check comes through so I can stop off on the way home and get the novel.

Real DF fans shouldn't be able to afford hardcover.

I had preordered Changes and recieved it the day it came out. I finished it that day. I have been in purgatory since then.

Oooooo, had another thought, Elaine (Harry's Ex) was an agent of Summer wasn't she? She would have the smarts to know that capping Harry in a way that allows him to be revived could cause the Winter Knight Mantle to pass on and leave him clear of his debt to Mab.

But would she? She's sweet on Harry, and I can't see her putting a cap in him from long range so as to avoid the Death Curse.

Also with everything else that happened in that book, if it was Elaine, I don't think Butcher would have hesitated having Elaine's face appear as Harry sunk into the water.

Oh, and toturi is correct (+1 pt).

(I am going to buy the short story collection when it comes out though. I think it was scheduled for November?)

Harry Dresden, the only man with brass ones big enough to bill Heaven!

Very true lol's


I must admit part of me wishes they would do a full movie of the first book but after the unfortunate tv show I'm not so sure it would be a good thing

The second book has huge background details. It's all very well done, extremely high quality. I'm not sure I like the mechanics, but it's very cool.

IIRC, the short story/novella that comes out at the end of the month is supposed to be set "15 minutes after the end of changes".

I liked that show. I prefer the show version of Bob, actually.

Just got back from dragon con and the Jim Butcher panel.
He stated that Harry is DEAD and the next book Ghost Story is Harry as a ghost trying to solve his own murder. So no pulling him out of the water half alive.

I wasn't very impressed with the girl-of-the-week nature of the show, but I did like TV Bob.

I'll be quite cross if Harry gets out of being the Winter Knight in by spending the next book dead ("for tax reasons"). I liked how the Lasciel arc was worked out over several books, and I was looking forward to something similar with this life-changing bargain.

Oh. If Harry is really dead, then that means Lasciel is really dead to. Bummer. I was looking forward to seeing her in a few books, after Harry's wizard brain had time to regenerate.

I wonder how big a part Mortimer Lindquist will play. Or if Ms Gard will scoop him up.

Well, Harry's soul is now made of divine soulfire, so when he dies he's not going to be a run-of-the-mill ghost, he's going to be some kind of angelic entity... and that's why it's going to be okay for him to come back to life at the end of the book. I think.

I'm guessing the ghost of Kravos was augmented by something similar (but opposite). Not hellfire, but some kind of dark energy, provided by his patron (who is presumably in the the Black Council).

Made my book order. Should be here next week!

Hooray for reading!

What is the release date for Ghost Stories?

1st quarter 2011.

Edit: Specifically, March 29 is the scheduled hardcover release date.

ah, ok, I was kind of asking about the idea of Odin or Athene or Sutek actually running around in the flesh, not as a spirit or icon but when in Rome.

The book coming out in November is a collection of short stories. I'm hoping there's some new but I'm assuming it's a compilation of the stuff that's been out for a while in collections like 'my big fat supernatural wedding or Strange Brew.

As for who shot Harry? Guys none of you are thinking it through. It was NOT Kincaid. Harry heard the shot and moved just at the last momment-he didn't dodge just got lucky. The idea of shooting someone to death then reviving him is, wrong. My guess is Rudolph. (A) Harry's run out of serious enemies. (B) serious enemies like Lara or the white council are preoccupied ro don't have a pressing need to kill someone they really might be able to use, again, in the future© an attack by spring like that, unprovoked would be an act of war. (D) it was a sloppy job.(E) that's the one loose end still running around. Rudy is dirty. Harry knows it. Harry doesn't go away and Harry has an annoying tendency to dig up unpleasant truths. rudy can set up Karin to go down but Dresden freaking lived through the fight and saw him go all to pieces andm ight be able to draw it all back to him, menaing his ploy against Karin would fail and he might be introuble, the FBI agent already doesn't like him. Dresden could be really awkward.

Agree.


WHAT. You are calling the Black Council -- probably including Cowl, Mavra, Thorny Nicklehead, and certainly not limited to them -- non-serious.

Harry's run out of obvious enemies. His remaining enemies are organized and hidden.

none of them are going to use a gun and a bad shot at that. All of them know of his ability to avoid death. They would use a lot more force thana hand gun. Like a bazooka, a pack of ghouls, an insurance salesman. This all seemed rushed, and morelike Rudolph- "you ruined all of it...."

I'm not saying Rudolph is a bad guess, but I am very much saying Harry's list of serious enemies hasn't decreased by more than one, and his recent very successful efforts have probably moved him a few places up on their lists.

It's easier and safer to hire (via a cutout) some random smoe with a rifle that to go try to kill him with magic yourself. There are also a lot more expert shots than major league sorcerers.

I admit that Kincaid is not a likely suspect due to the circumstances of the shot. I also agree that Rudolph is a viable suspect. However I have a gut feeling that I cannot shake that Kincaid is involved. He does have motive. Harry put alot of pressure on Ivy and there is definately something developing with Murphy. I can see Kincaid responding with a bullet. Kincaid, from what I have gathered, would have used a headshot to kill but my gut won't let go of him. I don't know.

As for Aesir walking around in the flesh in SR, I can totally see that. With the awakening the beings that were previously worshipped as gods could possibly manifest on Midgard. Of course they would not have any where near the power they once possesed but they would still be formidable. And very likely nobody would think they were gods. Cynicism being what it is.

Rudolph. When Romans were given a triumphal marcxh through the city, an honored slave would ride in his chariot. To the world he was there to hold a laurel wreath over the vicctor's head but his other job was to whisper a reminder in the victor's ear "You are mortal."

Ivy wouldn't allow it and Harry backed off her. The red court is gone. The white court has no reason to move on him, the white council was laid up with what ever bug was spread in Edinburgh. Legal cops or feds could have just arrested him. It would also be a great reminder of mortality. He destroys vampires and aztec gods, serves faerie queens, hob nobs with ancient dieties, is guardian of the sword once swung by a squire named Wart and mouths off to the freaking angel of death! and yet if he is not careful some crack pot dirty cop can still do great harm.

I'm thinking stray bullet that has nothing to do whatsoever from previous story lines.

It'd be something new!

True. It's Changes, afterall.

No, it's going to be he assumed that the guys who shot at him earlier were working for the Red Court, but they weren't. The Black Council is an obvious suspect who would really like him removed, but there are lots more.

It's damn hard to create this kind of complex interleaved plot in an RPG. Players just don't play the part you planned....

You got that right. Check the Quoteables posts for my most recent comment on that.

'Course, the characters I write for will often throw me a curve ball as well. But I only have myself to blame for that.

I'm assuming whoever was responsible for the hit & run on Harry's moving vehicle at the start of ... uh, one of the recent books ... might be responsible for the bullet at the end of Changes.


Nah. Just don't bother prepping plot (in the large). Prep NPC motivations and NPC plots (in the small), and let the players make their own complications through incomplete information and only partially ruining the plots of the powerful.