The Dresden Files RPG is a FATE 3.0 based system set in Jim Butcher's modern-magic and hardboiled-detective world.
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Spoilt for choice: helping traditional-system players adapt to narrative-control games
My group teethed on D&D 3.5 and loved 4e, but now we're eager to take advantage of FATE's more narrative- and character-driven philosophies. However, on our first (DFRPG) game last night, my ...
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Conjuring Armor via Thaumaturgy and Craft item in Dresden Files Rpg
Is it possible to conjure a full body armor via crafting enchanted item using an 8 shift complexity but having it work using Thaumaturgy rules (lasting until next sunrise) as an actual armor instead ...
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291 views
Why Does Dresden Files Have Such a Large Page Count?
I sat in a quick Dresden Files demo (about 30 minutes) at a convention last summer and was told the basics about the game. The mechanics seemed simple: you roll a few dice with either a +, blank, or – ...
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Does an emissary of power HAVE to be known?
The Emissary of power power states that people recognize you as the arbiter of the entity that gave you the power. Could you play it though as if the entity of the power is unknown, and not easily ...
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364 views
Are we doing mild consequences and stress right?
After reading through the book and reading up on consequences, i can't help but feel that we might be treating stress and mild consequences the wrong way. Say we've just been in a fight, after the ...
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Should I read the Dresden Files fiction before I get the RPG?
Should I read the Dresden Files books before I get the RPG?
I want to have a look at the FATE system, and I'd be most interested in starting with Dresden Files (I think). I know there are books in ...
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In the Dresden Files RPG, does an Evocation shield have a reactive utility to it?
Say that Player X is 2nd in the initiative. 1st is the Black Court vampire that is in a rage and taking a swing at Player X. Player X gets a built in defense [Athletics/Fists + 4dF] but can Player X ...
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656 views
Character generation for the dresden files “case file” adventures
I was thinking of running the Dresden Files RPG, and I wanted to try it out and get my feet wet before I did a real long-term campaign. So I tried to run the "neutral grounds" case file (A free ...
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How can I include Dresden-Files-style vampires in my Pathfinder game?
I have a concept for a campaign that uses a Dresden-Files environment in a medieval fantasy setting, but for reasons of familiarity and experience prefer to use the Pathfinder system. I specifically ...
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190 views
What skills would a DFRPG PC roll when playing a video game?
In an upcoming session, one of the PCs will be babysitting a pre-teen video gamer. I expect that we'll be modeling a PvP scenario and want to roll some dice; whether as a conflict or a contest I don't ...
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229 views
What is the threshold strength of the sunrise?
Mechanically, the Dresdenverse sunrise is a threshold that sweeps across the world (instead of a creature or spell trying to cross the threshold):
Thresholds can even be conceptual: the transition ...
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Can White Court Vampires feed from more than one type of emotion?
Does a White Court Vampire get limited to a single type of emotion at character creation, or can they feed from lust one day and fear another?
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How do I explain stress to a d20 crowd?
In the next month or so I'm going to start running the Dresden Files RPG soon with a group that has most of its experience in D&D 3.5 and 4e. We're all new to FATE, and I tried to explain the ...
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2answers
228 views
How does stress for magical effects work outside of a conflict in the Dresden Files?
In The Dresden Files RPG, mental stress is accrued for casting spells. As you cast spells, you become more mentally fatigued. The mental stress track is cleared at the end of the conflict- so if you ...
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348 views
What happens when a character's feeding stress track is maxed out?
I've got a player playing as a White court Vampire, and with the template they have a feeding dependency. Let's assume that he ends up going for a while and not feeding and his stress track goes over ...
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266 views
Do you have to reveal your NPC's aspects?
Important NPCs may have hidden aspects that PCs are supposed to assess somehow before using them: can such a NPC invoke one of his hidden aspects without the GM revealing it to the players?
Example:
...
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140 views
What is the physical stress cap for a Diminutive Size creature with Claws?
Consider the lowly garden gnome. He's got the Diminutive Size [-1] power, which means he is
Wee. [...] When your size is a factor in combat, you can only inflict 1 physical stress per attack (but ...
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How does the Catch affect your Stress Track in relation to Supernatural Toughness?
Last night, my players were battling a hob, who had 4 stress boxes, plus 4 more from his inhuman toughness. One of the characters hit the Hob before they knew it was fae and did 5 stress. The ...
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1answer
258 views
What happens to the fate point after a character invokes an aspect?
In DFRPG, characters can invoke another character's aspects by spending fate points. When a character does this, does the fate point go to the GM, or does it go to the character whose aspect was just ...
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294 views
How does adding Aspect Scope in Dresden Files change the feel of the game?
I was listening to a podcast for Diaspora, and they were talking about aspect scope. Basically, in Diaspora, this sets scope on the Aspects available, and only one Aspect per scope can be used on any ...
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284 views
How can I keep track of Aspects and Powers?
I'm going to begin running a Dresden Files Roleplaying Game campaign in a group that has no FATE or Fudge experience (myself included); we've largely been running D&D 3.5 and 4e. What are some ...
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Does the Poisoned aspect stack?
The "Venomous" effect (a [-2] optional addon for the Claw power) lets the character maneuver to place the "Poisoned" aspect on a target.
In each subsequent exchange, the target
must roll ...
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251 views
When changing a PCs actions based on an aspect, is it better to Compel or Invoke for Effect
We had an interesting combat last night; the PC was a very tough Changeling in the back of a limo glamoured not to be visible, and he was attempting to protect another passenger in the back of the ...
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920 views
How do I introduce an inexperienced player to the FATE combat system?
One of the things that I love about the FATE system is how flexible it is; even given the less than crunchy nature of the system, you have options galore. That's given one of my players analysis ...
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Can the GM pass an NPC's tag to a PC?
Mike (a PC) takes the mild consequence Jittery from a ghost's mental attack, granting the ghost a tag on that aspect. Soon after, Andy (another PC) rolls Intimidate (as a social attack) to tease Mike ...
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Do aspects caused by fallout grant tags?
A powerful but unskilled sorcerer throws a fireball at Harry, but draws in more power than he can hope to control. Being a selfish, cowardly (ie, typical) villain he lets the power loose as fallout ...
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Is making someone afraid a social or mental attack?
I'm reading the Night Fears adventure, in which a group of teenagers dare each other to spend a night in a haunted house. The ghosts in the house attack the teens' mental stress tracks, and the result ...
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Should the GM in Dresden Files be telling us what the target numbers are for thaumaturgy spells and skill checks?
In the Dresden Files game I'm in, the game master never tells us the target numbers for thaumaturgy spells and skill rolls. We roll, he tells us whether we succeeded, life goes on. I've heard this ...
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310 views
Tips and pitfalls for a variable-size group
My gaming group has very fluid attendance. From week to week it's been known to fluctuate between ten and two players, usually hovering around three to five. I've become reasonably adept at building ...
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259 views
Inhuman Strength vs. +5 Might
I have been reading Your Story and Our World, trying to figure certain things out. One of the things I am stumped over is how stats work in this system.
I am not sure if this is intentional or not, ...
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In Dresden, and Based Solely on the Stats Listed, Are the Vampire Courts' Physical Strength the Same?
I have a question regarding the courts of vampires regarding their physical strength based solely on the stats provided by the book Our World.
When I listened to the books and read some of the game ...
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What policies should be made at the start of a campaign, to define the desired game experience and avoid bad feelings later?
My group and I work on the assumption that a game system's default assumptions are its manifesto, and that by choosing a system we are choosing to let its assumptions stand except where we institute ...
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How do vampires work exactly?
Do they have to be feeding to use their abilities? Or do they only feed to recover from Hunger stress after using their abilities and failing the stress attack at the end of the scene?
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Can you concede by dying in Dresden Files?
If you concede, can you choose to die?
I ask because my GM has mentioned this is possible. I think he's just trying to keep us from throwing Massively Overpowered Fireballs in every direction, but ...
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Can wizards detect each other in The Dresden Files RPG?
I asked the question on SciFi.Stackexchange, In the Dresdenverse, can Wizards detect each other?, partially spurred on by things that happen in the novel. But I started researching it in relation to ...
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How can I turn invisible?
I'm learning DFRPG, having no prior experience with the FATE system. One thing I really like is the idea that we can --and should-- create our own stunts and powers... but I'm not sure I've really got ...
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What concrete rules can you point a GM to that is stuck in non-storytelling paradigms for Fate?
Inspired by a response to my answer to Can you concede by dying in Dresden Files?, I was wondering what concrete rules can you point a GM to that is stuck in non-storytelling paradigms in Fate?
I ...
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Dresden RPG - How easy is it to avoid First Law violations?
The First Law of Magic in the Dresdenverse states that you cannot kill mortals with magic. The White Council gets pretty uptight about this, so it is a Law worth following.
In the Dresden RPG, ...
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Are there podcasts or blogs focused on the Dresden RPG?
I'm thinking about starting up a campaign using Dresden Files RPG. I have read the novels and both rules books, but I've never really seen the game played. I'm hoping to find some podcasts or blogs ...
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How does a character become magical in the Dresden Files?
I'm trying to create a character. I've already worked out some of my character. My character is, at the moment, superstitious with that being pretty much the only personality trait. It has glamours ...
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How do you model opposed Thaumaturgy, such as “Scry vs. Anti-Scry”?
How is opposed Thaumaturgy handled? Opposed Evocation is straightforward: treat it as Attack vs. Block, or simply opposed Discipline checks. But Thaumaturgy has fixed target numbers, and no measure of ...
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Modeling a “Bob” in Dresden Files
I'm running a Dresden Files game, and I think my PCs need a Bob. Because I need a mouthpiece and exposition engine.
But the description of Bob in Our World is skimpy at best, equating him to just a ...
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1answer
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Thaumaturgy power gathering
So if I have this right, when one of my characters is using a thaumaturgical ritual, lets say creating wards, then the ward strength and length are determined by how many shifts of power, in total, ...
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Shifts in aspect assessments
Description of Empathy::Reading People (page 129) states:
This is an assessment (page 115) action and, as such, if you gain one or more shifts on your roll, you discover one of the target’s ...
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Dresden Files without Wizards
When I started my Dresden Files campaign, I had 6 characters:
A Wizard
Not quite a Necromancer
A Psychic Grimoire
A Red Court Infected
A Changeling Alchemist
An Emissary of Power
Over the past ...
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Modeling poison in FATE (Dresden Files)
How does poison work in FATE?
Secret, previously administered poison (say, in a drinking class) is an aspect that, like most investigation aspects, doesn't expire 'next turn' but will sit and wait.
...
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Neverwhere game with Dresden rules
I want to run a Neverwhere style game (kind of an underworld fantasy) where players start as regular humans trapped in the Neverwhere where their refresh is their connection to the mundane world but ...
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126 views
Infiltration trapping in Burglary
I am translating certain portions of the rules of The Dresden Files RPG to my native language (because there is no official translation), and I fail to understand what exactly the Infiltration ...
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567 views
Simplest online, interactive platform to play Dresden Files RPG on?
I am looking to start an online Dresden File campaign, and looking for a web client to play the game on. For this I need
Online chat
Keeping track of players' stats (which both Gm and players can ...
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1answer
160 views
I'm having a problem creating a sleeping potion
I have a character who is an alchemist. His magical ability is nil other than related to the creation of potions. So far, so good.
On YS280, the rules state:
At the beginning of each session, ...
