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Tell me how crazy I am? [Dresden Files / Gotham City]
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<blockquote data-quote="OGIHR" data-source="post: 7204999" data-attributes="member: 6879245"><p>In my mind, the process for City Creation is the most interesting part of the Dresden Files RPG. Assuming the players are willing to invest more cognitive effort than "I rolled the dice, did I win yet?", it ensures that everyone starts the game on the same page, and irons out any conflicting expectations before the PCs are even created. </p><p></p><p>And because any half-decent research effort (such as reading the detailed writeup of Chicago in the "Our World" supplement book) will turn up literally dozens of cool details about a city for the gaming group to choose from in mapping out the Themes and Threats and Locations worth setting stories in, by the time two different groups have made their respective characters off the same research material, they'll almost certainly have come up with very different games about very different issues. </p><p></p><p>Cases in point: Batman and the Joker. The two iconic pillars of the Detective Comics franchise. How best to translate them into Dresdenverse reflections?</p><p></p><p>Bat imagery is pretty thoroughly associated with the Red Court, so a case could certainly be made for redacting the heroic "Bat-Family" entirely, and having the Wayne Enterprises fortune be a front for the Red Court. And this would certainly work for groups who want more Dresden-y heroes, assuming of course that one is willing to let slide the canon statement that Bianca St. Claire's little noble court was a singular beachhead furthest from the Red Court's ancestral domains, while Gotham has always been on the Atlantic coast. </p><p></p><p>On the other hand, one who remembers the late 1980s stories could easily draw on elements from "The Cult" and "Shaman", and have The Man Who Rides The Night as a wielder of Sponsored Magic (or perhaps an Item Of Power), serving a powerful bat-like entity from the Nevernever with a personal agenda of seeing that evildoers never escape justice. </p><p></p><p>And on the third hand, you could always go with the Pure Mortal interpretation of Batman as a member of the Justice League, but I'd be very wary of a Pure Mortal trying to take on Ghouls (let alone anything heavier) in direct combat. Plus I just see Thaumaturgy as the best game-mechanics approach to Batman's legendary aptitude at being prepared for anything.</p><p></p><p>Then there's the Joker. You could make him a Pure Mortal with combat / criminal skills on par with Marcone (and some Stunts specifically to model his penchant for biochemical weaponry), but given that his primary narrative facet is that he's the foe who tests Batman's capabilities and resources to their utmost limits, I think that would short-change him. </p><p></p><p>Thinking back to the classic story "The Laughing Fish" (which was adapted for Bruce Timm's animated series to incorporate elements from the much scarier story "The Joker's Five-Way Revenge"), the Joker is at his most effective when he's working behind the scenes to create threats that defy rational solutions. Which pretty much calls out for making him a Sorcerer with multiple Lawbreaker Stunts (murder, mindbending, and involuntary transformation all leaping to mind). </p><p></p><p>But given the spectacularly destructive approach to monster-fighting which characterizes The Dresden Files, I worry about potential First Law violations in the heroes fighting full-out to defeat him. And even if they avoid lethal evocations, a shotgun to the face of an unconscious sorcerer still yields a dead villain and the loss of future stories. </p><p></p><p>That's why my favorite approach to Dresden-ing the Joker would be to make him not a human but a being of the Nevernever, summoned by a cult based out of Arkham Asylum (with Dr Harleen Quinzel as a clued-in mortal using sacrificial Consequences rather than spellcasting powers to generate the Shifts of power for the summoning ritual she found in the journals left behind by the Asylum's original founder; who had his own cell down in the basement with a ritual circle in it, back in the DC Heroes game's dedicated "Magic Sourcebook"). </p><p></p><p>That way, the Joker's legendary immunity from permanent consequence would be translated to the tabletop, as "killing" him would just send him back home until the next summoning could be enacted. </p><p></p><p>There; multiple interpretations for how to translate the Batman and the Joker into a Dresden Files game. And the same applies for any other element of the source material which might come up in any group's researching of their chosen city. </p><p></p><p>That's why I care so much about the prospective players being willing to read and discuss the nine pages of text I have on hand.</p><p></p><p>Crazy, huh?</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="OGIHR, post: 7204999, member: 6879245"] In my mind, the process for City Creation is the most interesting part of the Dresden Files RPG. Assuming the players are willing to invest more cognitive effort than "I rolled the dice, did I win yet?", it ensures that everyone starts the game on the same page, and irons out any conflicting expectations before the PCs are even created. And because any half-decent research effort (such as reading the detailed writeup of Chicago in the "Our World" supplement book) will turn up literally dozens of cool details about a city for the gaming group to choose from in mapping out the Themes and Threats and Locations worth setting stories in, by the time two different groups have made their respective characters off the same research material, they'll almost certainly have come up with very different games about very different issues. Cases in point: Batman and the Joker. The two iconic pillars of the Detective Comics franchise. How best to translate them into Dresdenverse reflections? Bat imagery is pretty thoroughly associated with the Red Court, so a case could certainly be made for redacting the heroic "Bat-Family" entirely, and having the Wayne Enterprises fortune be a front for the Red Court. And this would certainly work for groups who want more Dresden-y heroes, assuming of course that one is willing to let slide the canon statement that Bianca St. Claire's little noble court was a singular beachhead furthest from the Red Court's ancestral domains, while Gotham has always been on the Atlantic coast. On the other hand, one who remembers the late 1980s stories could easily draw on elements from "The Cult" and "Shaman", and have The Man Who Rides The Night as a wielder of Sponsored Magic (or perhaps an Item Of Power), serving a powerful bat-like entity from the Nevernever with a personal agenda of seeing that evildoers never escape justice. And on the third hand, you could always go with the Pure Mortal interpretation of Batman as a member of the Justice League, but I'd be very wary of a Pure Mortal trying to take on Ghouls (let alone anything heavier) in direct combat. Plus I just see Thaumaturgy as the best game-mechanics approach to Batman's legendary aptitude at being prepared for anything. Then there's the Joker. You could make him a Pure Mortal with combat / criminal skills on par with Marcone (and some Stunts specifically to model his penchant for biochemical weaponry), but given that his primary narrative facet is that he's the foe who tests Batman's capabilities and resources to their utmost limits, I think that would short-change him. Thinking back to the classic story "The Laughing Fish" (which was adapted for Bruce Timm's animated series to incorporate elements from the much scarier story "The Joker's Five-Way Revenge"), the Joker is at his most effective when he's working behind the scenes to create threats that defy rational solutions. Which pretty much calls out for making him a Sorcerer with multiple Lawbreaker Stunts (murder, mindbending, and involuntary transformation all leaping to mind). But given the spectacularly destructive approach to monster-fighting which characterizes The Dresden Files, I worry about potential First Law violations in the heroes fighting full-out to defeat him. And even if they avoid lethal evocations, a shotgun to the face of an unconscious sorcerer still yields a dead villain and the loss of future stories. That's why my favorite approach to Dresden-ing the Joker would be to make him not a human but a being of the Nevernever, summoned by a cult based out of Arkham Asylum (with Dr Harleen Quinzel as a clued-in mortal using sacrificial Consequences rather than spellcasting powers to generate the Shifts of power for the summoning ritual she found in the journals left behind by the Asylum's original founder; who had his own cell down in the basement with a ritual circle in it, back in the DC Heroes game's dedicated "Magic Sourcebook"). That way, the Joker's legendary immunity from permanent consequence would be translated to the tabletop, as "killing" him would just send him back home until the next summoning could be enacted. There; multiple interpretations for how to translate the Batman and the Joker into a Dresden Files game. And the same applies for any other element of the source material which might come up in any group's researching of their chosen city. That's why I care so much about the prospective players being willing to read and discuss the nine pages of text I have on hand. Crazy, huh? [/QUOTE]
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Tell me how crazy I am? [Dresden Files / Gotham City]
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