Part One, Part Two

The Story

Later, in a cafe around the corner from Independence Mall called Neutral Grounds, PJ and Percy compared notes after a tacit truce (there was tension between them stemming from PJ’s romantic feelings toward Debra and Percy’s protective feelings toward her). Between the two of them, they had found out that more than twenty people had disappeared from in and around the Mall, and six of those had been found again, as corpses. In addition, of those twenty plus, four of them had been police officers, one of them a member of the Thin Blue Line, the mayor’s unofficial task force for dealing with supernatural threats.

Percy also asked PJ for information on the biker war going on in the city; PJ told him that the best place (though not the safest place) to look would be a bar outside the city in New Hope called the Alomeda Bomb Range, the hangout for the Warlocks biker gang.

Meanwhile, Boop-Boop went back to Bartram Gardens and met with her mistress Lily, the Summer Lady. Boop-Boop informed Lily that something was killing people in the city, and that it was likely vampires of the Black Court. Lily agreed, and told Boop-Boop that they were likely after something in the park.

Boop-Boop then called upon a contact of hers, Grendel, a shape-shifting raven. Grendel told her that there were actually more people missing as a result of the Black Court than anyone realized, and that he suspected what they were after. He agreeed to take Boop-Boop inside the building in Independence Mall, which he did shape-shifted as a police officer. Inside, he took her to the Liberty Bell, which he explained was a powerful magical artifact. Its power was held in check by the fact that it was broken, but if it were repaired, it could grant vast supernatural power to the one who did it.

Later that night, Percy and Debra met for dinner and discussed the day’s goings on, as well as whether or not Debra had any feelings toward PJ.

Meanwhile, PJ girded himself against the Black Court and when to Independence Mall to stake it out. Boop-Boop, at the same time, was scrying around the city, trying to find the Black Court hideout. She found a vampire walking down the street; it became mist a block away from the park and glided gently in, reforming out of sight of the police. Boop-Boop also saw PJ there. She immediately flew as fast as she could toward Independence Mall.

PJ watched as the Black Court vampire approached a homeless man sleeping on a bench, bent over to him for a moment, then straightened. The homeless man stood up and started walking out of the park. PJ decided to follow him.

Boop-Boop also saw this as she arrived. The vampire, she saw, was now heading toward a policeman on patrol. Acting quickly, she flew down to the police officer, lowered her veils, and shouted, “RUN!” The police man ran, Boop-Boop on his tail, and the vampire following quickly behind. Boop-Boop told the man to get to a public place, then to radio to the others in the park and tell them to be on guard, and to stay together. Once the police officer was safely out of the park, she flew up into a tree and, exhausted, fell asleep.

At midnight, Percy met a contact of his, Maximillian, at Babylon, the night club center of power for the vampires of the White Court in the city. Maximillian appeared as a tall, thin black man with vertically-slitted pupils; this was not his true form, however. In his true form, he appeared as a black cat.

Percy asked Maximillian what he knew about the Black Court in town, and Maximillian told him that they were building strength for an attack on Independence Mall, likely to perform some sort of ritual on the Bell. That, he told Percy, would not be good.

The Game

My preparation for DFRPG was considerably different from what I was used to. In D&D, you prepare discrete encounters, usually focusing on combat. This can sometimes make combat the focus of the actual game, as you don’t want to let all that time you spent prepping encounters go to waste.

In DFRPG, I used a different tactic. I statted up all of the NPCs that were likely to come into play, as well as some faceless mooks, and I came up with three situations that were going on in the city. Then I let the players discover what was going on, and allowed them to guide the story in the direction they found most interesting. That happened to be my Black Court storyline, though some focus was also given to the war between the Warlocks and the Pagans.

I deliberately left these storylines entirely skeletal, so that the the players and I could fill in the blanks through play. I knew that I could probably have come up with some pretty cool stuff ahead of time, but I also knew that the players would likely come up with a lot of awesome stuff, too, and I decided to capitalize on that. It worked out pretty well.

Part One, Part Two

The Story

Later, in a cafe around the corner from Independence Mall called Neutral Grounds, PJ and Percy compared notes after a tacit truce (there was tension between them stemming from PJ’s romantic feelings toward Debra and Percy’s protective feelings toward her). Between the two of them, they had found out that more than twenty people had disappeared from in and around the Mall, and six of those had been found again, as corpses. In addition, of those twenty plus, four of them had been police officers, one of them a member of the Thin Blue Line, the mayor’s unofficial task force for dealing with supernatural threats.

Percy also asked PJ for information on the biker war going on in the city; PJ told him that the best place (though not the safest place) to look would be a bar outside the city in New Hope called the Alomeda Bomb Range, the hangout for the Warlocks biker gang.

Meanwhile, Boop-Boop went back to Bartram Gardens and met with her mistress Lily, the Summer Lady. Boop-Boop informed Lily that something was killing people in the city, and that it was likely vampires of the Black Court. Lily agreed, and told Boop-Boop that they were likely after something in the park.

Boop-Boop then called upon a contact of hers, Grendel, a shape-shifting raven. Grendel told her that there were actually more people missing as a result of the Black Court than anyone realized, and that he suspected what they were after. He agreeed to take Boop-Boop inside the building in Independence Mall, which he did shape-shifted as a police officer. Inside, he took her to the Liberty Bell, which he explained was a powerful magical artifact. Its power was held in check by the fact that it was broken, but if it were repaired, it could grant vast supernatural power to the one who did it.

Later that night, Percy and Debra met for dinner and discussed the day’s goings on, as well as whether or not Debra had any feelings toward PJ.

Meanwhile, PJ girded himself against the Black Court and when to Independence Mall to stake it out. Boop-Boop, at the same time, was scrying around the city, trying to find the Black Court hideout. She found a vampire walking down the street; it became mist a block away from the park and glided gently in, reforming out of sight of the police. Boop-Boop also saw PJ there. She immediately flew as fast as she could toward Independence Mall.

PJ watched as the Black Court vampire approached a homeless man sleeping on a bench, bent over to him for a moment, then straightened. The homeless man stood up and started walking out of the park. PJ decided to follow him.

Boop-Boop also saw this as she arrived. The vampire, she saw, was now heading toward a policeman on patrol. Acting quickly, she flew down to the police officer, lowered her veils, and shouted, “RUN!” The police man ran, Boop-Boop on his tail, and the vampire following quickly behind. Boop-Boop told the man to get to a public place, then to radio to the others in the park and tell them to be on guard, and to stay together. Once the police officer was safely out of the park, she flew up into a tree and, exhausted, fell asleep.

At midnight, Percy met a contact of his, Maximillian, at Babylon, the night club center of power for the vampires of the White Court in the city. Maximillian appeared as a tall, thin black man with vertically-slitted pupils; this was not his true form, however. In his true form, he appeared as a black cat.

Percy asked Maximillian what he knew about the Black Court in town, and Maximillian told him that they were building strength for an attack on Independence Mall, likely to perform some sort of ritual on the Bell. That, he told Percy, would not be good.

The Game

My preparation for DFRPG was considerably different from what I was used to. In D&D, you prepare discrete encounters, usually focusing on combat. This can sometimes make combat the focus of the actual game, as you don’t want to let all that time you spent prepping encounters go to waste.

In DFRPG, I used a different tactic. I statted up all of the NPCs that were likely to come into play, as well as some faceless mooks, and I came up with three situations that were going on in the city. Then I let the players discover what was going on, and allowed them to guide the story in the direction they found most interesting. That happened to be my Black Court storyline, though some focus was also given to the war between the Warlocks and the Pagans.

I deliberately left these storylines entirely skeletal, so that the the players and I could fill in the blanks through play. I knew that I could probably have come up with some pretty cool stuff ahead of time, but I also knew that the players would likely come up with a lot of awesome stuff, too, and I decided to capitalize on that. It worked out pretty well.

Part One: It Begins

The Story

Each one of them blinked, and was somewhere safe and familiar. PJ was in his apartment; Percy was at work, in City Hall; Debra was in her dorm room at Drexel; Boop-Boop was in Bartram Gardens, her home. They had each recieved a glimpse of a possible future, three days from now.

PJ, determined to get photographic evidence of supernatural goings-on, called City Hall to schedule a time when he could be there, taking pictures. He talked to Percy, pretending to be an architectural reporter doing a story on the buttresses of City Hall. He got the name of an architect (who he would likely not contact), and scheduled a time to come take pictures of the outside of the building.

Meanwhile, Debra was procrastinating, trying not to think about mid-terms. She was cleaning up around her dorm room, and began idly scrying around the city. At the exact same time, Boop-Boop was also scrying around the city, and the two of them wound up scrying at each other. They were both stunned–Debra because she was looking at a fairie, and Boop-Boop because Debra could see her, despite her glamours. Before they could communicate, though, they were both immediately redirected to an image of Independence Mall, where they could both feel something distinctly unclean.

Debra, recognizing Bartram Gardens, quickly drove there to find the faerie. She found a very surprised, very confused fairie (“How can you see me?”), and after a brief introduction, they both agreed to go to Independence Mall to investigate the feeling that they had had earlier.

Meanwhile, PJ was eating his lunch in Independence Mall, which was across from his apartment. He noticed a distinctly heavy police presence (which made him uncomfortable), and decided to find out some information by Listening to a couple of officers. Shutting out his other senses, he focused on his hearing and was able to eavesdrop on the two. They were speaking, in hushed tones, about disappearances happening around the park. He decided to call his police contact, Detective Mark Harrisson, about the disappearances.

Meanwhile, Percy was called into the mayor’s office. The mayor, Kenneth Darmon, told Percy that there were some troubling events afoot, and that he needed a man like Percy, who had numerous contacts both politically and . . . otherwise, to investigate these rumors. First, there were rumors of disappearances around the park. Then, there was talk of escalating gang violence, a turf war between two motorcycle gangs: the Warlocks and the Pagans. Finally, more disappearances, though these ones were around South Street. Darmon told Percy to contact Detective Mark Harrisson for more information on the disappearances in Independence Mall. Percy called Harrisson, who agreed to meet in Independence Mall in half an hour.

In Independence Mall, Debra and Boop-Boop arrived to find PJ there; PJ was overjoyed to see Debra (and couldn’t see Boop-Boop at all). Boop-Boop, however, recognized that PJ had been in her prophetic dream (as did Debra). She appeared, and the three quickly realized that something larger than them was going on. Percy soon arrived on the scene, and came up to say hello to Debra. Then everything clicked: all four of them knew that they would be in a car chase together, three days into the future. The wheels were in motion.

The Game

This segment of the game was almost entirely player-driven. There was a lot of in-character banter and dialog between the players, and I mostly just kept my mouth shut. Occasionally I’d chime in with a compel (or to reward a de facto compel, when the role-play was going particularly well), and I’d answer questions when they were asked of me.

Initially, I had wondered how I was going to get this group together. The car chase that I started the session with gave them some impetus to find each other, but they all started in different parts of the city when I asked them where they were when they “woke up” from their prophetic dream.

However, the players made this pretty easy for me, all things considered. Sean (PJ) connected himself to Mike (Percy) with a phone call, which was a good start (and a great roleplaying scene that resulted in the line, “I like big buttresses, and I cannot lie,” from Kathleen (Debra). I awarded a fate point for that.). But where it really started to click was when Kathleen (Debra) and Denise (Boop-Boop) both decided that they were scrying at the same time. We had already established during city creation that mystical “crossed wires” were common in Philadelphia, so a simple compel on a city aspect allowed me to connect them together. I was able to connect that to Independence Mall, which got the ball rolling.

From there, I really only had to figure out how to get everyone else there. Sean (PJ) again made it easy, by simply saying that he lived across from the Mall and ate lunch there every day. In retrospect, I probably should have given him a fate point for that as a thank-you. Percy was the hardest to get to the Mall, but an audience with the mayor solved that, and also gave him some goals to work toward. Once they were all in one place, it became clear that Fate had something in store for them.

One final note. After the prophectic flash-forward sequence, I told all of the players that there was an aspect on the city: Threads of Fate. I told them I could compel this aspect any time I wanted to steer them toward that future. I didn’t have to; not once. The players did so much of my work for me, I feel like I probably should have given out twice as many fate points as I did.

One big takeaway that I got from playing The Dresden Files RPG: aspects are awesome.

Some of you may not know what an aspect is, so I’ll give you a brief rundown. An aspect is a brief, descriptive word or phrase that says something about your character. It might be a personality trait, or a physical weakness, or a favorite catchphrase, or even a particularly important object. Players can invoke aspects, spending a fate point to gain a mechanical bonus or make a declaration (basically, make something up about the world). But the reason I like them so much, the reason why they’re great for GMs, is that they can be compelled.

At its most basic level, compelling an aspect means that you offer a player a fate point in exchange for that player role-playing to the aspect you designate. This is generally meant to complicate the character’s life in some way, and make things more interesting and fun at the table.

This happened quite a bit in the DFRPG game, and it was great. My role, as the GM, was mostly to be an instigator. The players were having a great time riffing off of each other’s actions, and any time there was a lull, I’d compel an aspect to make things more interesting. I did, of course, introduce plot elements and adjudicate skill rolls and other actions, but my main role was as an instigator.

What’s even better about compelling aspects, though, is that, when your players are really on a roll, they’ll do it for you. See, when a player is really role-playing to the hilt, and making things more fun for everyone as a result, that’s a de facto compel, and should be rewarded as such. Because of this, aspect compels become a way for me to reward good play without creating a disparity in power levels, as you do when you reward specific people bonus XP in D&D.

I’ve tried in the past, with less than stellar results, to introduce aspects into D&D. It failed, for two reasons I think. First was that I really had no more than a purely theoretical knowledge of aspects, so I didn’t really know how they were used in play. Second, D&D isn’t really designed to take advantage of aspects, and it felt kind of tacked-on.

But when you’re playing a game that’s built from the ground up to use them, they are an invaluable tool. So I guess my advice is: if you’re playing with FATE, be an instigator. It’s hella fun, and makes your job easier.

Cast of Characters

PJ O’Toole is a journalist from Chicago. In Chicago, he dug a little too deeply in pursuit of the truth, and ran afoul of the White Council. They were going to execute him, but he managed to talk his way out of it, with Harry Dresden’s help. Dresden told PJ to go to Philadelphia, where there was plenty of weirdness afoot, but a very small White Council presence. PJ agreed, and moved to Philadelphia where he went freelance, and tried at every turn to avoid attention from those in power. While in Chicago, PJ met Debra (below), interviewed her for an article, and promptly fell in love with her. In a happy coincidence, she moved to Philadelphia, too.

Debra “Heather” Spivey is a grad student from Chicago, where she was raised by two lesbians.She is currently studying mythology at Drexel. She has some minor magical talent, mostly in the area of divination, and she has trouble figuring out where to draw the line when she’s using her power. She knows PJ, but thinks he’s a little creepy, especially since he pays so much attention to her.

Boop-Boop is a pixie of the Summer Court. She heard about the Za Lord’s Guard in Chicago, and decided to create a similar organization in Philadelphia, which she calls the Rose Guard. Lily, the Summer Lady, wanted to encourage her, so she granted Boop-Boop the ability to use seelie magic, which complimented the pixie’s already potent ability to cast glamours.

Percy was raised by a single mom, along with his sister (who is away at college in Alabama). He got a job in City Hall, working as an aide to the mayor, in order to help his mom pay the bills. However, his supernatural connections also landed him a job working for a shape-shifting black cat named Maximillion, who uses him as a spy within the mayor’s office. Percy is able to transform into a bat, though he only does so when it’s necessary and he’s unlikely to get caught doing so. He is very protective of Debra, seeing her as a surrogate little sister.

The Story So Far

Tires on asphalt squeal through the night, shattering the silence. It is Halloween night, and PJ, Debra, Boop-Boop, an Percy are in a car, running from agents of the government, speeding down I-95. They are likely being chased because PJ has photographic evidence of the mayor turning into a werewolf (which Percy would like to obtain for himself).

As the two car’s speed down I-95, Boop-Boop takes out her scrying bowl (a plastic water bottle cap invested with seelie power) and scries into the pursuing car. She sees three large men in nondescript clothing, one of them loading a handgun in the passenger’s seat. Boop-Boop warns the rest of the car that the others have a gun, and likely mean them harm.

Deciding to try to give the other car the slip, PJ (who is driving; it’s his car) turns on his left turn signal, then veers to the right, trying to shake them. At the same time, Boop-Boop throws a veil over the whole car, and PJ kills the engine. The other car goes speeding by, losing them. Boop-Boop continues to scry their car, and sees that they soon pull over, realizing they’ve lost their quarry.

The group knows that they have precious little time before the hunt begins again, and they try to decide what to do, but . . .

. . . they open their eyes. They are each somewhere safe, and familiar. It is three days before Halloween, and none of this has happened yet. They are each, however, armed with foreknowledge, a glimpse of a future that may come to pass.

To be continued . . .

Running the Game

The above represents about the first twenty or thirty minutes of play of our first session of The Dresden Files RPG. We started with four fairly different characters. PJ O’Toole is a vanilla mortal, Debra is a minor practitioner (she had the Ritual power initially, but at the end of the session traded it in for Thaumaturgy), Boop-Boop is a full-on fairie with a whole host of supernatural powers, and Percy is a shapeshifter who can transform into a bat.

I decided I wanted to catch everyone’s attention right from the beginning, so I started in media res, with the car chase. I told them they were running from someone, and asked them who they were running from. PJ’s player, Sean, immediately said “the government”, and everyone else agreed. I then held up a FATE point and asked whose fault it was, and why. Again, Sean volunteered, saying that they were being chased because he had photographic evidence of the mayor turning into a werewolf. He got the FATE point, and that became true.

This led to a nice little exchange between Sean (PJ) and Mike (Percy), where Percy was trying to convince PJ to give him his camera’s memory card (he wanted the photos for his own reasons), and Sean refusing. Sean wound up taking the memory card out of the camera and hiding it in his watch’s band (which Percy, being very observant, saw). He then gave Percy his camera, and Percy promptly threw it out the window.

I had initially planned on an extended chase scene, but the players threw me a curveball. PJ’s fake to the right would have been easy enough to handle, but Denise (Boop-Boop) decided to veil the entire car, which ended the chase pretty quickly. It was clever, though, so I let it happen. It allowed me to put the next part of my opening into play a little more quickly: the flashback.

The idea was that the whole chase scene was a vision of a possible future. The PCs all now had that knowledge, but they didn’t know how they’d get to that point. It’s now up to them to get to that point, and up to me to nudge them in the right direction. To help facilitate that, I placed an aspect (Threads of Fate) on the whole city that I can compel to get them to go in the right direction.

What’s nice, though, is that, in the entire first session, I didn’t have to compel it once. The players are doing a pretty good job of getting there on their own. More on that in a future post.