Dresden Files RP OOC

Fate
The key resource in the Dresden Files RPG is Fate Points. These are basically a currency that lets you influence the game, whether by rerolling a skill check or action, adding +2 to a check of your choice, Declaring a certain convenient coincidence is true, activate an ability, or any combination of the above if you have the fate points to splash.

You get more Fate points in two ways - The first, and most reliable, way is to simply make it to the end of an 'episode', or a decent enough time has passed that the GM decides everyone should refresh their Fate. The other, more interesting way is to let the GM use your character's Aspects (see below) to make their life more complicated somehow, such as decreeing an alcoholic werewolf must take a high discipline check or else spent the rest of the session tipsy. When this happens you get a free Fate point to use at some point in the future.

Aspects
Aspects are how a character's personality and history plug into the gameplay, and also how you get to make use of your Fate. They are short phrases that describe the character, based on background or interests or past exploits, and be as succinct or witty as the RPer involved prefers. The alcoholic werewolf from earlier might have an aspect BOOZEHOUND - he can spend a fate point to declare a certain security guard happens to be a drinking buddy, or to give him +2 when convincing a cop that he's the only source of trouble going, that sort of thing...

Aspects are, it turns out, the hardest and most time-consuming part of character generation. If you're having trouble, give a shout in the OOC and explain what you're trying to do, and we'll give you all the help we can. Here though is a summary of the Aspects we expect characters to have by the start...

Aspects:

Stunts/Powers
Stunts and Powers are special abilities your character has - they cover tricks and specialisations that either give a bonus to a skill in specific circumstances, broaden the reach of skill so that it covers weaknesses elsewhere, or even provides additional defences to your character. They can be called upon whenever they apply, without the need to spend Fate points (except where indicated otherwise). The difference between the two is that stunts are available to mortals and represent the aces up their sleeves, while Powers are of a supernatural nature. Pages 146 to 188  of 'Your Story' give plenty examples of these.

Refresh and Character Loss
You shouldn't take a vast quantity of Stunts/Powers without thinking about it though - every one you take on reduces the amount of Fate points you refresh by 1. Refresh is the total amount of recoverable Fate points minus the character's power level and capabilities, and effectively balances characters from being OP.

For example, as a vanilla mortal with a suprising 6 stunts, Karrin Murphy (-4 Refresh) can do an awful lot more than Harry Dresden as a fully tooled-up wizard (-9 Refresh). In a basic double-team, Murph would likely be the one calling the shots and getting all thelucky breaks (due to all the Refresh) while Harry takes all the misfortune he can (to stock up on another precious Fate point or two)

Some actions (a practicioner of magic breaking one fo the Seven Laws, a Changeling accepting extra power from their faerie heritage, or a half-turned Vampire feeding for the first time) can all dig into your character's Refresh. The moment your Refresh hits 0, your character automatically becomes an NPC - effectively their various abilities overtake their humanity and they lose the power of choice. Refresh is worth worrying about, even if you don't much care for the extra Fate...

Name:
Age:

QUICK REFERENCE:

High Concept:
Trouble:
Phase 1.
Phase 2.

Skills: (20 points)
(see page 65 of 'Your Story' for how Skills should be portioned out, and page 409 of the same for the summary of skills. We're runing with 6 Refresh and 20 skill points for this game, at least at first.)

(Also note that the skill for proficiency in something can also be used where skills overlap - an expert on guns can use that stat rather than scholarship to roll to identify a firearm, or instead of craftsmanship to make field repairs or clear a nasty jam.)

Powers:
(supernatural skill modifiers go here)

Stunts:
(mundane skill modifiers go here)

Template Refresh -
Total Refresh Cost -
Character Refresh -


IN DEPTH:

Trouble:
(what complicates the character's life; see above)

Phase 1.
(the character's early life; see above)

Phase 2.
(what made the character who they are; see above)

In Town For:
(what is your character doing in the setting? How did they get there and what makes them stay?)

   “People round here don't feel the cold”
There's a natural affinity for winter weather in these parts. No one in magical circles knows why, or at least has attempted to put forth an explanation, but nonetheless the ‘T-shirt and miniskirt at below freezing’ phenomenon is widely documented.

   “Howay the Lads!”
For a city founded by a Roman border legion and consisting largely of the English, Newcastle is home to a bafflingly warm and personable population. Here a visitor will find an almost indecipherable dialect, a hard-earned and well maintained reputation for social drinking, an outspoken and brashly friendly way with total strangers, and a devotion to their beloved Newcastle United football (soccer) team that spills occasionally into religious fanaticism.

   “Police always show up late”
Expecting the authorities to help you is oddly ineffective, given their scale and capability once they do arrive. Whether by corruption, incompetence or other forces, no one really knows, but it’s generally the quicker criminals who stand to profit. This has the (perhaps intentional) effect of breaking organised crime into a handful of rival families, and punishing any one family that gets too large.

   “One step forward, two steps back”
Whenever anything gets better in the region, something else has usually got a lot worse to make up for it. For example when the national economy picked up rapidly, the government closed down several local industries with catastrophic effect. More to the pint, crusaders or vigilantes in this area will have to be very adept at spinning plates to catch up.

   “Those ships have sailed”
The region’s core industries fled a generation ago, and prospects and spirits have remained low as a result. Apathy creeps into a local sense of identity once known for class loyalty and pride in one’s work, while whoever is left all grasp for the same few straws. All that's left is to steal from one another, really.

   “Foxes and Immigrants!”
While the poorer citizens deal with their own fates, the rich mind their own business and expect others to do the same. Theirs is a world of handsome salaries, a beautiful almost-rural setting mere miles from the bustling shops and respectable financial business, a little slice of London away from home. The wealthy are insular, almost to the point of being avaricious, and are too preoccupied with their conservative lifestyle to see the glaring problems (supernatural and otherwise) that's staring right at them.

   “Black Gold”
If Newcastle is known to anyone, it's for the long and distinguished history of coal mining. People have been digging the stuff out (or even picking it up off of the fields and beaches) since the Romans at least. This has left a practicality, an unworried willingness to take on heavy and dangerous work, imprinted on the local character. Of more interest to creatures that prefer to avoid attention, however, long-abandoned mining tunnels honeycomb the earth under the city, its environs, and even extend for miles out to sea...

   “Jewel of the North”
Whatever else may be said about Newcastle, it's the pride of the region and has a reputation for punching above its weight. Whether in environmental or robotics research, engineering, artistic pursuits, or the particularly (in)famous night life, it's accomplished an awful lot for a city of less than a million souls.

Kat Pembrough
Age: 17
Class: Changeling

QUICK REFERENCE:

High Concept: Half-Akis Sakos sword nut.
Trouble: MY MOTHER RAN AWAY BEFORE I WAS BORN
Phase 1. HEIREDITARY H.E.M.A. NERD
Phase 2. DUELLING BY ISTINCT

Skills: (20 points)
Good +3 Weapons
Good +3 Athletics
Good +3 Endurance
- -
Fair +2 Discipline
Fair +2 Might
Fair +2 Alertness
- -
Average +1 Intimidation
Average +1 Performance
Average +1 Deceit
Average +1 Lore
Average +1 Investigation

Powers:
Claws (-1) Currently small enough to disguise with nice woolly gloves, but hard and sharp.
Stunts:
Riposte (-1) A rapid, professionally executed counterattack. Converts a successful Weapon defence into an immediate (and auto-hitting) attack. Weapon required, costs the next action.
Leap-Slash (-1) A home-grown selection of two-handed strikes with surprising reach. +2 to a single Weapon:2 attack against the target, but -any additional attackers get +1 to attacks or manoeuvres that action. Can also be used to cross an unobstructed, flat-ground zone boundary.

TOTAL REFRESH COST -3

IN DEPTH:

Trouble: MY MOTHER RAN AWAY BEFORE I WAS BORN - If any child has had an extreme single-parent upbringing thrust upon them, it's Katherine Pembrough. Despite her father's best efforts, the fact that theirs was a broken home cast something of a shadow upon her early childhood.  She never got used to saying 'dad', for example, always using his first name Nigel. This lack of fundamental familial closeness leaves her slightly detached from most social circumstances.

The reappearance of her mother didn't actually fix anything, as it happens, given the fact that mother and daughter are native to separate planes of reality and have barely any reference points at all. They remain in touch (through tricks such as a custom Common Ritual) and share stories and information, but that is all.

To explain the temporally questionable text of the Trouble, technically she was hatched. Only 2 entities in the known universe know this (since neither parent really wants to be the one to try and explain this to Kat). As a side note, this could possibly be used to overcome attacks based on primal claustrophobia, should that ever be neccessary.

1. HEIREDITARY HEMA NERD - Familiar and practiced with a variety of bladed weapons, to the detriment of both personal attachment and social skills - With an absent mother, Kat was raised exclusively by her father, a veteran of the professional fencing circuit and a historical European martial arts instructor. They travelled fairly extensively through the UK, although concern for her wellbeing prevented Nigel from leaving the country for international gigs. He maintains a 2-bed house in Hebdon Bridge where he runs his academy, but the two Pembroughs settle in flats whenever they need to be in another town in the short-medium term. As a result, Kat had few friends growing up, and those she kept she only saw rarely.

Kat instead grew up surrounded by swordsmanship. She learned the names and styles of experts, and several of the historical schools set out by Medieval gentlemen and Renaissance or Regency scholars. Telling a falcata from a kopis from a kukhri is child's play to her. In the end, she was only ever going to follow in Nigel's footsteps and enter the fencing world herself.

The only correlation Kat has with conventional geekdom is a not-so-secret obsession with all things Zelda. This fascination got its grips on her at a fairly young age and, while she dismisses the techniques and practices there shown as near-suicidal nonsense, she still performs a half hour's practice with a blue-hilted arming sword and Hylian-style heater shield per day. In her case of course, those two makeshift props are fully combat-capable.

2. DUELLING BY ISTINCT - Naturally falls into Akis Sakos combat etiquette when physically threatened - At age 11, an earlier incident with a school bully led to direct and violent confrontation over lunch. Defying her father's exhortations for her to avoid such violence, and acting on instincts of which she wasn't even sure of the origin, Kat beat down the aforementioned bully alone while his cronies watched. The incident ended with Kat in a long spell of detention, and the bully receiving various bruises plus lacerations to the face and chest. By invoking her heritage, Kat had permanently developed claws.

With irrevocable, physical evidence of his child's fragile humanity, among other things, Kat's dad briefly tore her up over actually fighting, then moved on to lecturing on the risks she'd unknowingly taken. Eventually (after a handful of days of alternating rants and mutual sulking) he calmed down enough to apologise, and helped set out some kind of survival strategy.

Around this time Kat finally got to meet her mother - a reptilian faerie named Kadokura manifested in her home and made the necessary introductions. There were arguments, and quite some tears from those capable of shedding them, during which Kadokura filled Kat and Nigel in on the specifics of her race and on the plight of Changelings.

Kat remains a dedicated disciple of all things slashable, but her mother's side regularly manifests itself psychologically during routine sparring. She has kept a lid on it so far, and while she avoids pushing new ground she isn't changing any further. Then again, her life hasn't been on the line yet...

In Town For:
An open fencing tournament is about to start in North Tyneside. Just after that, the BFHS Exchange starts in Gateshead. After that, a local HEMA school is looking for a guest instructor for a couple of months. Nigel and Kat are staying in Newcastle for a fair while, long enough to take a look around and perhaps see something unusual...

Name: Catherine
Age: around 25

QUICK REFERENCE:

High Concept: Ectomancer
Trouble: Dream-coil decay
Phase 1.: The faceless boy
Phase 2.: Promise unkept
Skills: (20 points)

Great - Discipline

Good - Conviction
Good - Scholarship

Fair - Lore
Fair - Investigation
Fair - Performance

Average - Endurance
Average - Contacts
Average - Resource
Average - Presence

Powers:
Channeling (-2)
Ritual (-2)

Stunts:
None whatsoever

Template Refresh - 6
Total Refresh Cost - 4
Character Refresh - 2


IN DEPTH:

Trouble: Dream-coil Decay
Whether cursed or something else, both her long term and short term memories quickly wither when Catherine fell asleep; the sensation similar to waking up from a dream, being barely able to recall the specific of what happened. Short naps still fracture the memory, albeit nowhere as bad as one induced from long sleep. Catherine still retained some sense of familiarity when she came across an object or person that she met on a different day, and her normal memory itself was a few steps below photographic. What she read on the morning, she could recite accurately on the night; until she fell asleep, that's it.

According to her notes she'd been researching a way to cure her condition for two years, gaining a mountain of data regarding memory problem -- both magic and mundane -- yet haven't really found any substantial lead to her own condition.

Phase 1 - The faceless boy
Catherine stopped dreaming normally, instead what played within her head during sleep was old memories. She had a habit of noting her dream first thing after waking up, finding out several recurring scenario that happen way too often.

There was a boy her age, back when she was a child. Everything was blurry - the surrounding, their conversation, even his face -- all but his smile. So strong was the impression left by this boy, that he alone remained when all other memories was wiped out. Catherine can't even recall her own full name. That, was the one she dreamed most often.

The next was even more unclear. They both grew considerably, compared to the previous moment. Catherine remember holding a piece of paper, the details was not visible. She remember trembling heavily, as well as the large drops of tears flowing from her eyes. She remember the warm embrace, the feeling of reassurance from the word whispered into her ear.

Then the third, and last, recurring dream. There was barely anything visible within the hurricane of a dream. Tearful embrace was the only thing comprehensible, yet the feeling was different from the previous dream; it was...

...joy.

Phase 2.
--Unremembered--

In Town For: Newcastle was the first thing recorded in her diary, it was highly probable to be the first city she turn up at after her memory trouble. She ended up settling down and research the curse there, there had been no development that require moving out of town.

Name: Aurana Sarius
Age: 17
Class: Werewolf

QUICK REFERENCE:

High Concept: Freespirited Werewolf Thief
Trouble: Hiding from a Family Reunion
Phase 1: When your Dad Takes Care of his Money More than You, You Have to Take Care of Yourself
Phase 2: Better a Thief than a Bargaining Chip

Skills:
Good (+3) Burglary
Good (+3) Stealth
Good (+3) Athletics
Fair (+2) Weapons
Fair (+2) Alertness
Fair (+2) Investigation
Fair (+2) Deceit
Average (+1) Presence
Average (+1) Conviction
Average (+1) Endurance

Powers:
Beast Change (-1)
Echoes of the Beast (-1)
Human form (+1)
Claws (-1)
Item of Power – Boots imparting Inhuman Speed (-1)

Stunts:
None whatsoever

Template Refresh – 6
Total Refresh Cost – 4
Character Refresh – 2

IN DEPTH:

Phase 1: Was Born to a wealthy business owner that specialized in producing custom weaponry for clients, whether it be Magic, Vampire or Wizard. This has made the company Incredibly Popular with otherworldly assassins and mercenaries. Aurana however loves living a more free lifestyle and fled from the company, taking some funding and weapons with her to spite her father and l for more money.

Her father became enraged, who wanted her to give up her transformative abilities in exchange for a life in business. With those facts in mind her father seeks to retrieve her and the weapons, realizing that if an enemy were to get a hold of her and her knowledge of the company, it would put them in danger, especially with rival companies.

Phase 2: She now lives as a thief, attempting to save every bit of money she has to live off of. She learned the art of thievery and stealth, and is sometimes hired to steal things for others, or just for personal gain. This has inevitably led her to creating some enemies, many which seek out their stolen goods.

She makes her hideout on the waterfront, away from the bustle of the main city, and in old unused Sewer tunnels, where she lives, as well as hide her loot. Of her takings, she has two well worn knives, one of which is Crafted with Silver.

She also has a large gun case that she cannot open. It was enchanted to prevent theft, thus she does not know what it contains.

Dresden Files NAME: Kairo Smithfield
TYPE: Shapeshifter
HIGH CONCEPT: Bearkin...no seriously
TROUBLE: Hunted man
ASPECTS: Blood on my hands (phase 1)
I'm not a fucking savage (phase 2)

STATS:
Good (+3) Burglary
Fair (+2) Athletics
Fair (+2) Alertness
Fair (+2) Survival
Fair (+2) Intimidation
Fair (+2) Endurance
Average (+1) Discipline
Average (+1) Fists
Average (+1) Investigation
Average (+1) Weapons
Average (+1) Lore
Average (+1) Might
Average (+1) Stealth

POWERS:
Beast Change (-1 RP)
Echoes of the beast (-1 RP)
Human form (+1 RP)
Inhuman strength (-2 RP)

STUNTS:
None whatsoever

Template Refresh – 6
Total Refresh Cost – 3
Character Refresh: 3

PHASE 1: You want to know about my childhood? Sure thing, it's dull though. First off, I'm British and was born and raised on the coast of England to a couple who ran a chip shop; dad was a football nut with no other interests apart from frying whilst mam was a dreamer who had wanted to see the world but had instead gotten pregnant young and then married the guy responsible. See? Dull. Well, except for the changing. My first time was when I was thirteen; I was your average teenage pain in the ass who, in his ever lasting brilliance, picked the unwinable fights. School bullies, if your wondering. I picked a fight with three of them but I fought bravely, I swear, and they kicked my teeth in for it (bastards). I don't remember much after that but I got bigger. Then they got redder. Fuck. Mam and Dad found out too. Double fuck. And they literally kicked my teeth in. Dad would later tell me, after the bones had healed, that I was a shapeshifter. Namely a werebear like my dear sweet daddy and it turned out mummy dearest could become a bloody bald eagle. Teenage life was hell after that, mam and dad never let me forget what I'd done so I fucked off three years later to get away. So no, I didn't have a fancy education or any formal training in my 'ability' because papa bear didn't want to train a murderer. See what I mean? Dull.

PHASE 2: So, I was sixteen and screwed, and not in the fun way. Actually, screwed doesn't begin to cover it; I mean, I was young, homeless and alone. I had killed three people and had been beaten to near death for it. I took to crime like flies take to a horse. Burglary was my strong suit because, go figure, folks don't tend to bear-proof their homes. Plus, who the hell is gonna stop a huge grizzly from smashing in somebody's front door? Answer: nobody smart. Anyway, I did that for the better part of a year until the eagle took flight. Mam and papa bear had heard about the strange break ins and had come looking with violent intent. Unlike last time though, I was happy to oblige them. Dad had been sniffing out all the back alleys and crappy hotels in the area looking for me. Poor guy didn't find me first and met with an unfortunate baseball bat related accident as a result. I dragged his sorry ass away from the scene so I could bait my mama trap.

PHASE 2 Dad lay out in the open for the whole world to see. The world wasn't my goal though, mother was. And she bit the bait hard. An eagle swooped down perching itself onto the slumped body. She never saw me swing. It was a single blow to the head that took her down too. I had beaten them. I had beaten them like they had beaten me so many times before. As I stood over the two I began to feel revolted. I wasn't a shining knight and I knew it but I wasn't a fucking savage either. Attacking my parents fixed nothing and it pissed me off. I couldn't win. So I just left them. I just fucking left. And moved to the city centre. I wanted to disappear into a crowd for awhile.

Name: Ki'Tonya Penvellyn
Age: 19 years old
Class: Cursed Ghost

QUICK REFERENCE:

High Concept: Haunted Marionette Princess
Trouble: I lost my life, and got back a wooden one
Phase 1. Mother witch's little lab rat
Phase 2. The puppet is haunted!

Skills: (20 points)
Superb - Stealth
--
Great - Deceit
--
Good -  Contacts
--
Fair - Weapons
Fair - Investigation
--
Average - Athletics
Average - Lore

Powers:

Marionette-
Item of Power w/ Self Repair - 0
Human Guise - 0

Ghost-
Spirit Form - -3
Channeling (ice evocation) - -2

Template Refresh - 6
Total Refresh Cost - 5
Character Refresh - 1

Stunts:
N/A


IN DEPTH:

Trouble:
I lost my life, and got back a wooden one-
Ki'Tonya's beauty was the product of a blessing done by her father before his passing the day before her birth. However, her gift was her mother's source of outrage and jealousy. It was because of this was Ki'Tonya had be struck down by her own mother, and forced to use a marionette version of herself in lieu of her original.

Phase 1.
Once the ethereal daughter of a very powerful Witch Queen, Ki'Tonya was loved by all those in her mother's kingdom...except for her mother. Jealous of the beauty her child bore, she tried many experiments on Ki'Tonya to remove her essence of beauty to she could use it on herself, creating a serum for eternal beauty. Fortunately for the child, this had failed countless times, and the Witch Queen slowly came to a decision...if she could not have her daughter's beauty, neither could she. The Witch concocted a special poison curse and poured it into Ki'Tonya's drink during her coronation.

Phase 2.
To add insult to injury, Ki'Tonya was forced to use a marionette look-alike for eternity, only ever able to leave her new body for 3 days, less she'd become too weak to maintain her aspect and disappear for good. Ki'Tonya had been cursed to spend the rest of eternity with the fact that she is now wood and string...

In Town For:
After being shunned from her own kingdom, Ki'Tonya stumbled across Newcastle. Seeing this as a possible fresh start in a new location, she has hopes that she could continue to live life as an adventure, despite her unfortunate situation.