Friday, September 27, 2013

[Dresden Files] Matt's Ready-Made Spell Generator for the Busy & Harried Mage

As a fan of Evil Hat and the Dresden Files, I bought the Dresden Files Roleplaying Game when it first came out.

Recently, I morphed my Spectral Seattle FATE Accelerated Edition game into a Dresden Files FATE Accelerated Edition game. The player characters are all White Council Wardens and, since all the players have no experience with the magic system, I build a spreadsheet to help them out.

You can find the zipped file on Google Drive and it contains an .xls file (Excell 1997-2004).

I put in page references for the Dresden Files RPG Volume One: Your Story book and provided instructions for each page.

Character information is placed on the Wizard's Info page. This page also includes spaces for Skills (Lore, Discipline and Conviction) scores, the range of Elements and Specialties and bonuses, Focus Items (for both Evocation, Thaumaturgy and Crafting), Focus Item and Enchanted Item Slots, Focus Item bonus data and Refinement Powers.

The Evocation and Thaumaturgy pages have the spell generation processes and refers to the Wizard's Info. The calculation

The Crafting page has space for up to eight enchanted items and allows users to select potion slots.

Try it out, let me know what you think.

Sunday, September 22, 2013

[Trickster] Mika Renar


(Mika Renar is a character in Jeff Somers' 2013 urban fantasy novel Trickster and is presented here as a fan-inspired homage to an excellent book. I recommend that you read it.)

Mika Renar (FATE Accelerated Edition)
enustari (Archmage)

High Concept: I am the world's most powerful Archmage

Trouble: I am a weak old woman and I fear death.

Aspect: I bleed people dry just to prove a point.

Aspect: My Glamour is second to none.

Aspect: I will cast the biludha-tah-namas.

Approaches:
Careful: Fair (+2), Clever: Good (+3), Flashy: Average (+1), Forceful: Mediocre (+0), 
Quick: Average (+1), Sneaky: Fair (+2)

Stunt: Because I have Bleeders, I get a +2 when I Cleverly cast a spell.

Stunt: Because I am so powerful, I get a +2 to Forcefully intimidate someone.

Stunt: Because I have a artifact, I get a +2 when I Carefully cast a spell.

Refresh: 3
Current FATE Points: 3

Stress: [_] [_] [_] 

Consequences:
Mild (2):

Moderate (4):

Severe (6):

Description:
Mika Renar is the world's most powerful Archmage and she's afraid of death. What does someone do when they have power enough to cheat death?

Saturday, September 21, 2013

[Trickster] Calvin "Cal" Amir


(Calvin "Cal" Amir is a character in Jeff Somers' 2013 urban fantasy novel Trickster and is presented here as a fan-inspired homage to an excellent book. I recommend that you read it.)

Calvin "Cal" Amir (FATE Accelerated Edition)
saganustari (Powerful Magician)

High Concept: Blood Mage Apprenticed to Power

Trouble: Mika Renar is a harsh master.

Aspect: I have enough Bleeders that I don't have to bleed myself.

Aspect: I know magic and want to know more.

Aspect: Few people can withstand me.

Approaches:
Careful: Mediocre (+0), Clever: Fair (+2), Flashy: Good (+3), Forceful: Fair (+2), 
Quick: Average (+1), Sneaky: Average (+1)

Stunt: Because I have Bleeders, I get a +2 when I Cleverly cast a spell.

Stunt: Because I am apprenticed to enustari Mika Renar, I get a +2 when I Sneakily do her business.

Stunt: Because I carry a gun, I get a +2 when I Forcefully attack someone.

Refresh: 3
Current FATE Points: 3

Stress: [_] [_] [_] 

Consequences:
Mild (2):

Moderate (4):

Severe (6):

Description:
Cal Amir is Mika Renar's apprentice. He was once apprenticed to Mika Renar's previous apprentice but that one died and freed Cal to take his place. Cal plans to wring every last magical secret from Mika and willingly does her bidding.

Friday, September 20, 2013

[Trickster] Hiram Bosch


(Hiram Bosch is a character in Jeff Somers' 2013 urban fantasy novel Trickster and is presented here as a fan-inspired homage to an excellent book. I recommend that you read it.)

Hiram Bosch (FATE Accelerated Edition)
ustari (Magician)

High Concept: Aging Blood Mage

Trouble: Mr. Vonnegan is his apprentice.

Aspect: The hun-kiuba (time-slowing ritual) is my greatest spell.

Aspect: A man's home is his castle.

Aspect: Mr. Vonnegan is wasting his potential and I still have things to teach him.

Approaches:
Careful: Fair (+2), Clever: Average (+1), Flashy: Good (+3), Forceful: Mediocre (+0), 
Quick: Average (+1), Sneaky: Fair (+2)

Stunt: Because I'm an ustari, I get a +2 when I Carefully cast a spell.

Stunt: Because I was apprenticed to enustari Faber Gottschalk, I get a +2 when I investigate spells or glyphs.

Stunt: Because I am a skilled teacher, I get a +2 when I Cleverly teach a spell.

Refresh: 3
Current FATE Points: 3

Stress: [_] [_] [_] 

Consequences:
Mild (2):

Moderate (4):

Severe (6):

Description:
Hiram Bosch is Lem's gasam and he refuses to release Lem from the oath as a punishment for failing to live up to his potential as a blood mage. Hiram lives well and uses his magic to keep him in creature comforts. But only a fool would underestimate his prowess at blood magic.

Thursday, September 19, 2013

[Trickster] Pitr "Mags" Mageshkumar


(Pitr "Mages" Mageshkumar is a character in Jeff Somers' 2013 urban fantasy novel Trickster and is presented here as a fan-inspired homage to an excellent book. I recommend that you read it.)

Pitr "Mags" Mageshkumar (FATE Accelerated Edition)
idimustari (Trickster)

High Concept: Dim-witted Trickster Blood Mage

Trouble: Has difficulty remembering Cantrips

Aspect: I would step into traffic for Lem.

Aspect: I am the Brute Squad.

Aspect: Remember to finish the spell.

Approaches:
Careful: Fair (+2), Clever: Mediocre (+0), Flashy: Average (+1), Forceful: Good (+3), 
Quick: Average (+1), Sneaky: Fair (+2)

Stunt: Because I'm a Bad-Ass, I get a +2 when I Forcefully attack someone.

Stunt: Because I Act before Thinking, once per game session I can choose to go first in a physical conflict.

Stunt: Because I remember a few things about magic, I get a +2 when I Carefully cast a spell.

Refresh: 3
Current FATE Points: 3

Stress: [_] [_] [_] 

Consequences:
Mild (2):

Moderate (4):

Severe (6):

Description:
Mags likes Lem. He uses short expletives to describe a variety of situations, from wonder to anger. 

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

[FATE Accelerated] Men in Black Suits

Men in Black Suits (NPCs)

Mysterious Men in Black Suits

These two Men in Black Suits attempted to abduct Victoria and fell to the heroes, a U.S. Marine and a bucket of chum.

Skilled (+2) at: Guns, Intimidation

Bad (-2) at: Social Situations

MIBS 1 Stress [_] [_]
MIBS 2 Stress [_] [_]

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

[Trickster] Lemuel "Lem" Vonnegan


(Lemuel "Lem" Vonnegan is a character in Jeff Somers' 2013 urban fantasy novel Trickster and is presented here as a fan-inspired homage to an excellent book. I recommend that you read it.)

Lemuel "Lem" Vonnegan (FATE Accelerated Edition)
idimustari (Trickster)

High Concept: Trickster Blood Mage with a Twisted Code of Honor

Trouble: I won't bleed anyone but me to power my spells.

Aspect: Spell hacker, I can take a 22 words spell and break it down to 3.

Aspect: Don't try to con a con-man.

Aspect: Hiram Bosch, damn him, is still my gasam (master) and I his urtuku (apprentice).

Approaches:
Careful: Average (+1), Clever: Good (+3), Flashy: Mediocre (+0), Forceful: Average (+1), 
Quick: Fair (+2), Sneaky: Fair (+2)

Stunt: Because I am a Spell-casting Prodigy, I get a +2 when I Cleverly rework a spell.

Stunt: Because I am Quick with a Spell, once per game session I can choose to go first in a conflict.

Stunt: Because I am a Trickster, I get a +2 when I Sneakily con someone.

Refresh: 3
Current FATE Points: 3

Stress: [_] [_] [_] 

Consequences:
Mild (2):

Moderate (4):

Severe (6):

Description:
Lem is the protagonist of Trickster, a down-on-his-luck idimustari with his pal Mags. His luck goes from bad to worse when they heist a girl slated to be the next victim in a uber-spell.

Monday, September 16, 2013

[FATE Accelerated] Spectral Seattle, Session 1

After character creation, we started out the first session of the FATE Accelerated Edition: Spectral Seattle game in Pike Place Market.

Jeremy and Jarvis were hanging out by the mini-donut stand, enjoying some mini-donuts, when Jeremy spotted his not-quite-acquaintance, not-quite-friend Victoria (a recent FATE character stolen shamelessly from Christian Walker's Destination Unknown) weaving her way through the market. 

Jarvis spotted a gun tucked into her waistband at the back, hidden under her jacket, and that was news to Jeremy. Figuring that something was going on, they started to trail her. Jeremy mentioned that Victoria had escaped a doomsday cult and they wanted her back, so maybe that's why she was packing heat.

Suddenly, two Men in Black Suits (MIBS) came out of the crowd and grabbed her. A brief struggle, a bit of chloroform and a trench coat pulled over her, and Victoria was as good as abducted.

The J's leapt to her defense, with Jarvis quickly jumping from behind, trying to grab Victoria's gun to get the drop on the two MIBS. Meanwhile, Jeremy cut them off and stopped them from the front, trying to pretend that he knows them.

We worked through the conflicts and both players failed in their rolls trying to gain an advantage, with X trying to get the Aspect "I got the drop on you!" and R trying for "I know you!" 

MIBS #2 grabbed Victoria's gun and pointed it at Jarvis, causing a point of Stress, while MIBS #1 turned to Jeremy, smiled and said "Hey, you're Jeremy Saga! I know you!"

X chose to take the point in Jarvis' first Stress box. 

Jeremy grabbed a bucket of chum from a nearby fish stand and dowsed his MIBS. He succeeded and did two points of Stress to the MIBS.

Jarvis grabbed an off-duty U.S. Marine using his Stunt to get a volunteer. He gathered a small crowd and asked the marine to examine Victoria's gun to verify that is was real. X's roll beat MIBS #2, resulting in 3 Stress points. That took the MIBS out and X narrated that the marine put the smack-down on the MIBS.

Jeremy used another bucket of chum to finish off MIBS #1, winning the roll and did another point of Stress. With both MIBS down, Jarvis quickly frisked MIBS #2 and gained an advantage Aspect "The Detailed Plan" with style, rolling 5 above the target. That gave them two free uses of that Aspect.

The marine unloaded the gun and handed it to Jarvis as the two of them escaped with Victoria.

At a burger joint on Capital Hill, Victoria recovered while they figured out what was happening. The doomsday cult that Victoria escaped from had a ritual that allowed them to eat ghosts and gain something from it. A review of the plan pointed to the Seattle Aquarium, where Jeremy works (specifically the Aspect "Shark Tank") and Jeremy used his Student of the Occult stunt to figure out that the cult was looking for "Admiral Yamamoto's Spectacles" (another Aspect) in the stomach of one of the sharks. The cult believed it contained the ghost of Admiral Yamamoto.

The group got interrupted by the arrival of Kate, Jeremy's love interest, who drove up in a black '57 Chevy. Distracted by Kate (R accepted a FATE Point for this trouble), they lost valuable time but managed to get to the Aquarium right after closing.

Once in the observation dome below the shark tank, Jeremy and Jarvis had Victoria stand watch while they figured out which shark had the artifact. Jeremy determined that it was in Oxmix the Dogfish (a type of shark) with an advantage roll with style, creating the "Ritz Crackers!" Aspect worth two free invokes.

They narrated the scene, with Jeremy helping Jarvis get the shark to throw up by feeding it Ritz Crackers (which it loved) but also using Ritz Crackerfuls With Cheese (lactose intolerant shark). 

With the shark vomit in a net, they prepared to get the spectacles when I turned to X and said "I'd like to invoke your Trouble: In over my head." X rolled with it and took the FATE Point and we ended the session on a cliffhanger.

Lucas, the cult leader, and his men had snuck in, grabbed Victoria and now faced the PCs, with Victoria, bound and gagged, being suspended over the shark tank. Lucas calmly requested the artifact or Victoria would sleep with the fishes!

Sunday, September 15, 2013

[Trickster] The Setting


(This setting writeup is inspired by Jeff Somers' 2013 urban fantasy novel Trickster and is presented here as a homage to an excellent book. I recommend that you read it.)

The setting is our modern world, except it has magic. And magic requires blood to fuel it.

Spells and Spell Hacking:

Magic is divided into Cantrips, mu, and Rituals, biludha. Cantrips can be powered by small amounts of blood, while Rituals require much more.

Spells have a verbal component along with the material (blood) requirement. As a result, gagging a blood mage always prevents spell-casting.

Certain mages have the ability to hack spells, remove syllables to cast the spell faster or replace syllables to modify the effect of the spell. In one example, a hacked light spell was modified to create 16 variations and three syllables shorter for a quicker casting. This is considered a War Talent, as a shorter spell is faster to cast and more valuable in a combat situation.

Blood and the Drawing of Blood:

Blood is used to power all spells. The more blood, the bigger the effect.

Usually the mage cuts himself or hires someone to cut themselves for the blood. Penknives, switchblades, daggers, shivs, needles or any other stabby/slashy implement that will allow them to quickly draw their own blood are employed. Most keep a dedicated weapon for this purpose.

Some mages have dedicated bleeders (see below) but the majority have to pay the price themselves. As a result, they develop scarring all over their bodies, mostly on the arms, the legs and the torso.

Mages can also use any blood spilled around them and can even steal the blood from other mages or mages' bleeders during a magical duel.

Blood is referred to colloquially as gas. which could be related in the magical language to gasam (master).

Apprenticeship:

A student mage takes an oath to become the urtuku, the apprentice, of an established mage. Their gasam, their master, teaches them the ways of blood magic.

Apprentices are magically bound to their master and only death (of either) or the master himself can release them from the oath. 

Mages know intuitively if someone is bound by the urtuku oath and will not and cannot take that person as an apprentice until he is freed.

Most apprentices stay long enough to learn all they can from their masters. Some stay even longer, hoping to get all the knowledge they can. If an apprentice leaves without his master's assent, he is still under the oath.

As a result, urtuku cannot travel very far from their gasam and, if they do, it can end in death for the apprentice, if the master so chooses. Therefore, poor relations between an urtuku and gasam can get very uncomfortable for the apprentice.

Ranks of Mages:

There are several ranks of blood mages. The idimustari, the Tricksters, are at the bottom. They use small amounts of blood to cast Cantrips to con the mundanes. Some are highly skilled but most have limited abilities due to lack of training or raw talent. Lem and Mags are examples of idimustari.

The ustari are the full-rank Magicians. They can cast mu as well as more advanced spell rituals, biludha. Hiram Bosch is an ustari.

Bleeders are lesser mages, usually idimustari or ustari, that bleed at the command of more powerful mages. While even idimustari and ustari can hire non-mages to bleed for them, these hires are not considered Bleeders due to the lack of magical skill. Bleeders are well compensated for their service but risk the ever increasing chance that their masters may empty them of blood.

Saganustari are powerful mages, often having Bleeders to provide the blood for their spells. Cal Amir is a saganustari.

Enustari are the Archmages, the most powerful mages in the world. They have legions of bleeders and often cast spells that result in mass death events around teh world. The most powerful enustari is Mika Renar. Others encountered in the book are Faber Gottschalk (Hiram's gasam) and Evelyn Fallon, a Fabricator.

Fabricators, Magical Items and Constructs:

Fabricators are blood mages who create magical items. These include devices that power big biludha and often take years or decades to construct. Fabricators rarely take apprentices as they are jealous of their magical secrets.

The Fabricators from times past could create amazing magical items but the art has lost much of it's knowledge over the years. Past items of note include an udug, a bound demon of some sort. Unfortunately, very little information is known about this item.

Powerful mages can create dimma, a construct that fits the legendary standard of a golem. It is unknown if a Fabricator is necessary to do this as information on their construction is scant.

Mages and Technology:

Blood mages eschew technology, avoiding computers and most electronic devices. They don't seem to have any hex or jinx capability towards higher tech but they are uncomfortable using it more than rarely. Cars, guns and common household appliances seem to be the exceptions.

Saturday, September 14, 2013

[Books] Trickster by Jeff Somers

I picked up a copy of Jeff Somers' Trickster (Pocket Books, February 2013) and color me impressed.

Jeff builds a world, not unlike our own, where magicians, powered by blood sacrifices, are among us. The worlds greatest tragedies and wars are and were the results of the greatest of these blood mages creating rituals to gain power.

The amount of blood used in magical rituals determines how powerful the spell becomes. The most puissant mages in the world, the Archmages, the enustari, use other, lesser mages as bleeders, and a copious amount of mass murder, to power their spells, while everyone else makes do on what they can. Tricksters, the idimustari, at the bottom of the magical rung, use small amounts of blood to power cantrips, mu, to con the mundanes.

The story is written in the first person, neo-noir style, from the point of view of a lowly magician, a idimustari named Lemuel Vonnegan. He's living the high life with his dimwitted but physically impressive magician friend Pitr Mageshkumar aka Mags. And by living the high life, I mean the opposite. They're con men and not very good ones at that.

The book starts with Lem and Mags in NYC, broke and in desperate straights and their luck goes down from there. Lem has a code of honor of sorts. He refuses to bleed anyone else for his spells, including Mags, resorting to small gains for his own blood. But he's also a skilled spell-designer, able to hack spells apart to remove and replace useless words in order to improve the spells and cast them faster.

One fateful night, they heist a girl covered in blue glyphs from a guy and the enustari who prepared her for a special ritual want her back. It turns out that this Archmage is the most powerful in the world, one Mika Renar, an old crone hoping to cheat death. Renar apprentice Cal Amir tries to get Lem to give up the girl but things go from wrong to worse.

Mix in Lem's old master, Hiram Bosch, a spell designed to end the world in a very bloody fashion, a rather charming enustari in Texas, a demon artifact and a finale worthy of a neo-noir detective novel, and you've got Trickster, a very enjoyable read. I heartily recommend it. Oh, and Jeff has two or so trailers to the book (1, 2) and a special website (3).

Since I'm on a FATE Accelerated Edition kick currently, I plan on writing up a little on the characters presented in Trickster. Check out my future posts.

Thursday, September 12, 2013

[FATE Accelerated] Jeremy Saga


Jeremy Saga (R)

High Concept: Ghost Hunter

Trouble: In Love with Kate (a Rival Ghost Hunter and my Bookie's Daughter)

Aspect: I have one of the first Tarot Decks

Aspect: 

Aspect:

Approaches:
Careful: Mediocre (+0), Clever: Fair (+2), Flashy: Good (+3), Forceful: Average (+1), 
Quick: Fair (+2), Sneaky: Average (+1)

Stunt: Because I am a Student of the Occult, I get a +2 when I Cleverly create advantages by discerning Supernatural phenomena.

Stunt: 

Stunt:

Refresh: 3
Current FATE Points: 3

Stress: [_] [_] [_]

Consequences:
Mild (2):

Moderate (4):

Severe (6):

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

[FATE Accelerated] Jarvis Manhattan

Jarvis Manhattan (X)

High Concept: Supernatural comedian, looking to make a name for himself.

Trouble: In over my head.

Aspect: Bullwinkle Hat ("Watch me pull a rabbit out of my hat, Rocky!" "Not again!")

Aspect: 

Aspect:

Approaches:
Careful: Average (+1), Clever: Fair (+2), Flashy: Good (+3), Forceful: Mediocre (+0), 
Quick: Fair (+2), Sneaky: Average (+1)

Stunt: Because I am a skilled performer, I get a +2 when I do something Sneaky right in front of people.

Stunt: Because I know how to work an audience, once per game session I can recruit a volunteer to help me do something.

Stunt:

Refresh: 3
Current FATE Points: 4

Stress: [_] [_] [_]

Consequences:
Mild (2):

Moderate (4):

Severe (6):


Sunday, September 8, 2013

[FATE Accelerated] Spectral Seattle

I got together with friends X and R and ran an impromptu game of FATE Accelerated Edition. Since the game is all about running stuff fast and loose, I thought up a quick setting for the game.

I came up with Spectral Seattle: a mystical glimpse of Seattle, with ghosts and magic, hidden from most peoples' view, but full of danger, mystery and intrigue.

We cracked open FATE Accelerated Edition and got started making characters using the 30 second characters rule. The character generation process took more than 30 seconds but we still had time at the end to play a pretty good session, so it maybe took us an hour to make the characters.

Both R and X had to come up with two Aspects each, a High Concept and a Trouble. I helped each of them clarify their Aspects, which I think worked well.

X came up with "Supernatural comedian, looking to make a name for himself" as his High Concept and "In over my head" as his trouble.

R chose the High Concept "Ghost Hunter" and the Trouble "In Love with Kate (a Rival Ghost Hunter and my Bookie's Daughter)."

For their third Aspects, they chose physical objects, with R selecting "I have one of the first Tarot Decks" and X chosing "Bullwinkle Hat ("Watch me pull a rabbit out of my hat, Rocky!" "Not again!")"

As none of us have played a Fate game before (though I own several, including the Dresden Files RPG), coming up with these Aspects proved to be a difficult process because I gave the barest of setting info–hey, I was making it all up on the fly! 

This took us the longest time since it was a new system for us. I'm sure that I could have tightened the character creation process if I had chosen to have more specific boundaries for the characters. 

We left the remaining Aspects blank for now and will get back to them during the game.

The next step was determining the Approaches for each character. 

X chose Careful: Average (+1), Clever: Fair (+2), Flashy: Good (+3), Forceful: Mediocre (+0), Quick: Fair (+2) and Sneaky: Average (+1).

R chose Careful: Mediocre (+0), Clever: Fair (+2), Flashy: Good (+3), Forceful: Average (+1), Quick: Fair (+2) and Sneaky: Average (+1).

While their approaches came out pretty similar, I don't think that'll be a problem during play.

We finished off the characters with a few stunts. I read aloud the formula for the first type of stunt, the +2 to an activity and we brainstormed a few. 

R proposed "Because I'm a Student of the Occult, I get a +2 when I Cleverly create advantages by discerning Supernatural phenomena." I thought that worked really well with his High Concept.

X came up with two stunts: "Because I am a skilled performer, I get a +2 when I do something Sneaky right in front of people." and "Because I know how to work an audience, once per game session I can recruit a volunteer to help me do something." The choice of adding a second stunt worked well when we got to playing.

I assigned each PC the standard 3 Refresh, 3 FATE Points and 3 Stress, along with the Mild (2), Moderate (4) and Severe (6) Consequences. I told them that we'd get into what that stuff meant when it came time to deal with a conflict.

They named their characters and talked a bit about their backgrounds. X's character is Jarvis Manhattan (I suspect it is a stage name) and he said Jarvis was in town doing a comedy show. R's PC is Jeremy Saga, a part-time Ghost Hunter who works at the Seattle Aquarium. I asked how Jeremy and Jarvis knew each other and they came up with the PCs having met at a ghost-hunting information club.

With some room to grow the characters in terms of Aspects and Stunts, we started the game. I'll give an account of that first session and full PC write-ups in the next few posts.