What do you think about the dresden Files rpg?

[Hopeless]

As the title says I've heard bit and pieces about this rpg but would like to know what you think about it?

[Kiero]

Played it, don't like the over-focus on magic and Wizards, not sure my group will return to it.

Don't get me wrong, I like FATE (though there are aspects of this incarnation I don't like, in spite of it doing a great streamlining job on SotC) but DFRPG soured my group on it.

For us it plays a little too closely to the themes of the books, especially with regards to Wizards being the great centrepiece and everyone else being sidekicks. Our Wizard was hugely entertaining to play alongside, but he really was the main character with the rest of us being supporting cast. Thaumaturgy was the great plot-solving device and everything we did was to facilitate that, then mop-up afterwards.

[Raum]

As the title says I've heard bit and pieces about this rpg but would like to know what you think about it?It's a fun game and does a good job of presenting the books in RPG format, perhaps the best fiction to RPG conversion I've seen. It does (intentionally) carry over many of the fiction's conceits - wizardry / spell casting is more powerful (at least in the short run) than other types.

It, and FATE in general, is very much a narrative oriented game. Combat tactics are based on how you affect the story rather than whether or not you do something specific off a list. FATE doesn't really try very hard to model a world, it's a toolkit for creating a cooperative story. It tends to feel very "meta-gamey" at first...or did to me.

That said, it's one of two systems I'm going back and forth between. :)

[Knaight]

Generally speaking, it's decent. However the magic system is terrible, and a lot of the various "special powers" are poorly done in general, which is unfortunate. It is particularly bad when they reintroduce mechanics that were in Fudge that FATE dropped in 2e, and still manage to screw it up. Basically, DF is the weakest FATE game.

[hamlet]

What they said, though I will add that it is, quite simply, a tremendously fun read in and of itself.

[Knaight]

What they said, though I will add that it is, quite simply, a tremendously fun read in and of itself.

Agreed. With the notable exception of Chronica Feudalis, this was probably the most fun game book to read I've found.

[Lord Raziere]

Fun read, but I prefer Strands of Fate, which I find much easier to understand than normal Fate.

[hiryuu]

Played it, don't like the over-focus on magic and Wizards, not sure my group will return to it.

Don't get me wrong, I like FATE (though there are aspects of this incarnation I don't like, in spite of it doing a great streamlining job on SotC) but DFRPG soured my group on it.

For us it plays a little too closely to the themes of the books, especially with regards to Wizards being the great centrepiece and everyone else being sidekicks. Our Wizard was hugely entertaining to play alongside, but he really was the main character with the rest of us being supporting cast. Thaumaturgy was the great plot-solving device and everything we did was to facilitate that, then mop-up afterwards.

Play at slightly lower power levels. When the team's wizard(s) are only getting 1 Fate chip, all the mortal players and GM can basically control their actions. Fate chips really do make a -huge- difference. Especially when you plant things creatively in scenes. In DFRPG, players can basically make knowledge rolls to make roofs leaky, empty enemy guns, and literally pull the rug out from under your feat. Wizards seriously get boned because they're only limited to what their magic says they can do. If you have Fate points, you can literally decide what direction the story is going. The wizard comes along for the ride.

Really. Ran a few games, did not have problems with wizards. If there's a real problem with wizards? Thresholds. Enforce them. HARD. Just making an adventure a stealthy infiltration can shut down a wizard bad.

[Kiero]

Play at slightly lower power levels. When the team's wizard(s) are only getting 1 Fate chip, all the mortal players and GM can basically control their actions. Fate chips really do make a -huge- difference. Especially when you plant things creatively in scenes. In DFRPG, players can basically make knowledge rolls to make roofs leaky, empty enemy guns, and literally pull the rug out from under your feat. Wizards seriously get boned because they're only limited to what their magic says they can do. If you have Fate points, you can literally decide what direction the story is going. The wizard comes along for the ride.

Really. Ran a few games, did not have problems with wizards. If there's a real problem with wizards? Thresholds. Enforce them. HARD. Just making an adventure a stealthy infiltration can shut down a wizard bad.

That means playing Dresden as schlubs, which is boring. We had a wide range of ostensibly powerful characters (a Knight of the Cross, a White Court Vampire, a Scion of Vlad Drakul, an Emissary of Power and the Wizard).

But the game is set up to allow Wizards to take centre stage. With time to prepare, Thaumaturgy overcomes all obstacles.

Sure it's great genre emulation, since that's how the books are, but it wasn't much fun for us.

[hiryuu]

That means playing Dresden as schlubs, which is boring.

. . . seriously?

A well-run game of "schlubs" has nobody ever even noticing that they are schlubs in the first place; it's all a matter of perspective. FATE is ultimately a game about flavor. My group consisted of a White Council Apprentice, a Knight (Blues Playin' Bodhisattva), and a mortal with supernatural knowledge (It's an Addams!), and they did just fine cleaning up their town's White Council messes and dealing with ancient spirits and what have you (they chose Pine Ridge as their town). The only real benefit to those higher power levels is higher refresh, and with a higher refresh, yes, the wizard can do a lot. The wizard is also just as easily hosed and lead around by the nose, dominated by their Aspects.


We had a wide range of ostensibly powerful characters (a Knight of the Cross, a White Court Vampire, a Scion of Vlad Drakul, an Emissary of Power and the Wizard).

But the game is set up to allow Wizards to take centre stage. With time to prepare, Thaumaturgy overcomes all obstacles.

Sure it's great genre emulation, since that's how the books are, but it wasn't much fun for us.

No one played a mortal. Be glad. If your mortal characters in a pile of supernaturals aren't stomping all over the story like a narrative Godzilla, they are probably doing something wrong.

[Xefas]

Played it for a few sessions relatively recently (3-4?), and enjoyed it immensely. We had a wizard, white court vampire, and a pure mortal. I was the GM.

We found that the wizard got hosed the hardest pretty much all the time, due to having 1 (or was it 2?) refresh. If you're playing with a wizard who has any easier a time doing things than Harry "Oh gee I got disemboweled again on my way to the bus station" Dresden, then the GM probably isn't compelling the characters as viciously as he should. The Vampire, on the other hand, could resist the worst of things, while still being better than the Wizard in a fight (and in... certain kinds of social situations). The Mortal squandered his refresh for most of the game, and only really got the hang of Declarations in the last session (which I'm inclined to say are the greatest weapon in the pure mortal toolbox). But he still had lots to do (do you know what hole all powerful wizards and ancient vampires have in their repertoire? Google-fu).

My one worry is the thaumaturgy system. We didn't get to use it all that much (our wizard was too busy getting hit by buses or thrown off buildings or collapsing from heat stroke and then being mugged). The times it was used, it was pretty cool (even if it seemed a bit clunky - that might've just been us). But if someone wanted to play a thaumaturgy-focused wizard/sorcerer, I could see it either slowing the game down considerably and diffusing a lot of potential drama, or just leaving the player without much to do. Then again, maybe it wouldn't be like that - I don't know.

All in all, I think we would definitely play it again, if there weren't a thousand other RPGs we want to play, and not a lot of overlapping free time to play them in. I would certainly play it again, if I found a conveniently-timed IM or Skype game of it.

edit:

That means playing Dresden as schlubs, which is boring.
I found this amusing, given the "Lets play Exalted as God-blooded" / "Lets play Exalted without the Solar-tier stuff" threads. I'm interested in knowing the line of thought here.

[Lord Raziere]

I found this amusing, given the "Lets play Exalted as God-blooded" / "Lets play Exalted without the Solar-tier stuff" threads. I'm interested in knowing the line of thought here.

I find that for some reason, peoples logic of their dislikes and dislikes of games are largely internal to each game itself, and isn't actually consistent across all games.

For example, I find it hard to make a Solar, yet I have easily made a homestuck character for a homestuck game, even though they are mostly Solar-iffic anyways, and I'm starting to consider getting Hunter the Vigil, even though I'm normally bored with such normal heroes….but then again what I've read of it, some of the Hunters aren't really all that normal...

[Kiero]

I found this amusing, given the "Lets play Exalted as God-blooded" / "Lets play Exalted without the Solar-tier stuff" threads. I'm interested in knowing the line of thought here.

Different games with an entirely different parcel of assumptions about power levels and so on.

We started at Chest-Deep, and even that was below my preferred competence threshold. I like playing already-experienced characters, but not gods/demigods. I generally like the middle of the power scale; I don't want to have to start at the bottom and work my way up, I don't want to ever reach the top of it.

Exalted is an exception that it has some interesting things at the below Exalt tier without having to play mooks. Otherwise it would be Dragonblooded all the time for me.

[jaybird]

If you don't like DFRPG but like Dresden Files, play World of Darkness with mixed splats. You've got Harry and Molly (Mage), Michael and Sanya (Hunter), Thomas (Vampire), Billy and the Alphas (Werewolf), the pizza box knight guy (Changeling), the Nickleheads (Demon)...

[The Glyphstone]

Really, the only ones on that list that fit are Michael/Sanya as Old World Hunters - DF wizards are too inflexible to be Old Mages, there's no way to create a White Court vampire in Old Vampire, Toot-toot is too small to be an Old Changeling, the Alphas are too inflexible for Old Werewolf. It's no better in NWoD - Michael and Sanya aren't even appropriate anymore.

[Hal]

Personally, I love the Dresden RPG. Fate is such a great narrative/improvisation system for both GM and player, and I'm a sucker for the Dresden setting. I've run one con game with it and will probably do so for any future games.

That said, it was hit and miss with my group. Of the five players, two loved it, one hated the setting, one hated the system, and the last was never around enough to have an opinion.

Funny enough, the wizard in the party in my game almost never used thaumaturgy. I don't know if he wasn't feeling it, but he never wanted to do set up the components and/or spend the in-game time setting up the spells. Although, he was playing a warden; any problem that couldn't be solved by cutting off its head or having fireballs thrown at it wasn't worth solving.

[Ranos]

Dresden Files is really nice if you don't look at it too close but when you do, you find all the messed up rules and heavy imbalance and you just can't ignore them anymore. It works okay with enough houserules, but it's still a shame.

[wadledo]

My only complaint with dresden files is the tricks or whatever they're called (the skill based abilities that take up one refresh) are basically useless for their cost.

Other than that, fantastic system, and fantastic games that I've run/played in.

[Knaight]

My only complaint with dresden files is the tricks or whatever they're called (the skill based abilities that take up one refresh) are basically useless for their cost.
Stunts. They can be useful, and I do appreciate the way they are now generic stunts that you make rather than having a list to pick from as in SotC, but they do have issues with cost, particularly once refresh gets low.

[Wyntonian]

I've been reading the rulebook, and it looks like a lot of fun. How do FATE games handle on PbP?

[wadledo]

Stunts. They can be useful, and I do appreciate the way they are now generic stunts that you make rather than having a list to pick from as in SotC, but they do have issues with cost, particularly once refresh gets low.

Thank you. Yes, I think my problem was that I would look at them and ask myself "I one Stunt the equivalent of a 1 refresh power" and the answer was usually no.


I've been reading the rulebook, and it looks like a lot of fun. How do FATE games handle on PbP?Very well.
I recommend starting with city creation, then character creation though.
Once you have people invested in the setting they created, it tends to flow a lot better.