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beccastareyes(I need a gaming icon, besides my default.)
So, I finally preordered my copy of the Dresden Files RPG Sourcebook. Or books, since it ended up coming out as two, rather hefty, books. (Seriously, I probably got about the same size as my D&D 4th edition boxset -- and I might have to throw in my Eberron or FR Players' Guide -- and costs more.) The books themselves aren't out yet, but pre-orders get a special preview PDF that contains all of the content (minus a special story by Jim Butcher, and probably editing/layout.art stuff that's still being worked on). (Evil Hat, the company that does this, normally offers a deal where if you buy their books in print, you get the PDF for free, which I appreciate.)
Anyway, the first book ("Your Story") is more geared towards creating characters and settings within the Dresden-verse (with a Dresden-fied Baltimore as the example), while the second book ("Our World") has more of the default setting info (various people, places, and things of the Dresden world, plus trivia on real-life Chicago).
The system is FATE 2nd edition, which I've seen mostly in Spirit of the Century, and liked. On the other hand, the system has gotten an update just by setting principles. SotC is 'pulp' action -- magic is rare and mystical, most PCs are human or near enough, and the combat settings are dialed to 11 for cinema. DF has a setting where magic and the inhuman play central roles, including many novel characters who would be totally appropriate for PCs that aren't normal humans*, while combat tends to be a lot more likely to hurt.
So, that's kind of an unexpected bonus -- in that between SotC and Dresden Files, you have two implementations of the same basic ruleset under different circumstances, so doing something like, say, Slayers (high magic, non-human PCs not unheard of, but much more flexible about damage than Dresden FIles)** becomes a bit easier.
(I also like that Harry, Billy the werewolf and Bob the Skull provide commentary on the text, with the meta that Billy is writing a RPG as an educational tool about the supernatural. Because I love weird textual meta.)
First chapter has the standard introduction. I skimmed over the 'what is a RPG', because I've read that a million times in every RPG book ever published. The other bits -- more about important themes of the Dresden-verse and a brief overview of various supernatural critters -- is a bit more interesting, but nothing you can't get from the books. Plus fun MIs of Bob and Butters BSing about why Harry makes technology go pfft.
Second chapter outlines the RPG system. I'm skimming a bit here, at least in places where it seems similar to Spirit of the Century -- heck, some of the text looks lifted from the same chapters of SotC. I should take notes, since I know I'm gonna have to explain it at table. Especially since FATE does a few things differently than D&D/White Wolf. Explaining rolling isn't too hard, but the lack of 'stats' might throw players. (Basically, in FATE, instead of stats, you have aspects which describe your character. For example, 'Smart' would be an aspect, but it's better to have more creative aspects like 'Ivy-league grad' or '"Why, yes, I am a rocket scientist"', because it says more about the character (and can be used by the GM to get the character into situations).) There's a free sample of Harry's character sheet around Storm Front which helps to point to, since readers should know roughly what Harry Dresden is like. Some changes in that SotC had characters with the same level of Fate Points, while DFRPG has supernatural characters trade them for powers.
Third chapter is 'City Creation' which is noted as something the players should be involved in. It's kind of the one big selling points of the RPG for me (besides my inner fancritter) -- the idea that the players and the narrator craft the setting together from the general world info and what they want/think is cool, and at the same time creating the PCs and major NPCs. General tips for doing this are always good, even for other systems. (It's also a different approach, keeping the players in the know about things, rather than in the dark -- something I kind of like from my online days.) Also, the meta humor is great in this chapter -- about mistakes Butcher made about Chicago in the series or about how the Dresden TV show mostly shot in Canada, rather than Chicago, and Harry bitching about how Billy keeps mentioning neat ways to learn about places via the Internet.
It had the desired effect of making me think about Lincoln, or Ithaca, or taking one of the examples of 'non-city City Creation' as 'along I-80'*** and starting to think about interesting bits from those.
--
* And some characters who are normal humans and totally able to hold their own in certain situations.
** Yes, this is my normal reaction to RPGs -- can I use it to emulate my favorite series?
*** One of the playtesters noted that Supernatural was essentially this. He (?) also used things like 'early/late-season Buffy' or 'early/late season Supernatural' to explain the power levels.
So, I finally preordered my copy of the Dresden Files RPG Sourcebook. Or books, since it ended up coming out as two, rather hefty, books. (Seriously, I probably got about the same size as my D&D 4th edition boxset -- and I might have to throw in my Eberron or FR Players' Guide -- and costs more.) The books themselves aren't out yet, but pre-orders get a special preview PDF that contains all of the content (minus a special story by Jim Butcher, and probably editing/layout.art stuff that's still being worked on). (Evil Hat, the company that does this, normally offers a deal where if you buy their books in print, you get the PDF for free, which I appreciate.)
Anyway, the first book ("Your Story") is more geared towards creating characters and settings within the Dresden-verse (with a Dresden-fied Baltimore as the example), while the second book ("Our World") has more of the default setting info (various people, places, and things of the Dresden world, plus trivia on real-life Chicago).
The system is FATE 2nd edition, which I've seen mostly in Spirit of the Century, and liked. On the other hand, the system has gotten an update just by setting principles. SotC is 'pulp' action -- magic is rare and mystical, most PCs are human or near enough, and the combat settings are dialed to 11 for cinema. DF has a setting where magic and the inhuman play central roles, including many novel characters who would be totally appropriate for PCs that aren't normal humans*, while combat tends to be a lot more likely to hurt.
So, that's kind of an unexpected bonus -- in that between SotC and Dresden Files, you have two implementations of the same basic ruleset under different circumstances, so doing something like, say, Slayers (high magic, non-human PCs not unheard of, but much more flexible about damage than Dresden FIles)** becomes a bit easier.
(I also like that Harry, Billy the werewolf and Bob the Skull provide commentary on the text, with the meta that Billy is writing a RPG as an educational tool about the supernatural. Because I love weird textual meta.)
First chapter has the standard introduction. I skimmed over the 'what is a RPG', because I've read that a million times in every RPG book ever published. The other bits -- more about important themes of the Dresden-verse and a brief overview of various supernatural critters -- is a bit more interesting, but nothing you can't get from the books. Plus fun MIs of Bob and Butters BSing about why Harry makes technology go pfft.
Second chapter outlines the RPG system. I'm skimming a bit here, at least in places where it seems similar to Spirit of the Century -- heck, some of the text looks lifted from the same chapters of SotC. I should take notes, since I know I'm gonna have to explain it at table. Especially since FATE does a few things differently than D&D/White Wolf. Explaining rolling isn't too hard, but the lack of 'stats' might throw players. (Basically, in FATE, instead of stats, you have aspects which describe your character. For example, 'Smart' would be an aspect, but it's better to have more creative aspects like 'Ivy-league grad' or '"Why, yes, I am a rocket scientist"', because it says more about the character (and can be used by the GM to get the character into situations).) There's a free sample of Harry's character sheet around Storm Front which helps to point to, since readers should know roughly what Harry Dresden is like. Some changes in that SotC had characters with the same level of Fate Points, while DFRPG has supernatural characters trade them for powers.
Third chapter is 'City Creation' which is noted as something the players should be involved in. It's kind of the one big selling points of the RPG for me (besides my inner fancritter) -- the idea that the players and the narrator craft the setting together from the general world info and what they want/think is cool, and at the same time creating the PCs and major NPCs. General tips for doing this are always good, even for other systems. (It's also a different approach, keeping the players in the know about things, rather than in the dark -- something I kind of like from my online days.) Also, the meta humor is great in this chapter -- about mistakes Butcher made about Chicago in the series or about how the Dresden TV show mostly shot in Canada, rather than Chicago, and Harry bitching about how Billy keeps mentioning neat ways to learn about places via the Internet.
It had the desired effect of making me think about Lincoln, or Ithaca, or taking one of the examples of 'non-city City Creation' as 'along I-80'*** and starting to think about interesting bits from those.
--
* And some characters who are normal humans and totally able to hold their own in certain situations.
** Yes, this is my normal reaction to RPGs -- can I use it to emulate my favorite series?
*** One of the playtesters noted that Supernatural was essentially this. He (?) also used things like 'early/late-season Buffy' or 'early/late season Supernatural' to explain the power levels.
