Dresden Files RP Think Tank: How to defend a small city (Bangor) from the Red Court

[Dovahsith]

Basically, set in Bangor, North Wales. i'm playing a grouchy old wizard posing as a history lecturer at a local university, stuck with a naive idealistic apprentice, a student who is a were-bear, a homeless war veteran with shapeshifting powers into lynx form, who refuses to leave my office's cupboard and a supernatural monster hunter who was built using the emissary of power template, basically a Grimm. All met up when the Grimm needed infomation on a giant he was hunting, everyone joined him because they never thought to wonder who the hell he was, i joined to get people out my office. After a battle with the giant where the creature was finally brought down through a sword in the spine, a large concentrated beam of fire into its eye and a bear the size of a house landing on its head, the party split up. One half decided to argue who killed it, i dragged the apprentice back to the office to make a cup of tea due to the migranes people tend to give me. There we met a mortal working for the red vampire court, who offered a chance to stay out of the war, if i gave him the grimm, otherwise they would come for me. Being already irritated by the influx of people visiting me and disbelieving him, i told him to look out the window and count the f*^ks i given. So now i'm gearing up for war. The city isn't finished being planned so the local supernaturals are still in the making. I'm considering seeking out the locals in the know and setting up some sort of militia, basically trying to set up a resistance to deter attacks while i layer up wards on a new hideyhole which the vamps don't know about.

Thoughts and ideas?

[jindra34]

My best guess? You establish connections so you can keep track of potential targets. And then you mess up any vampire that messes with their lives.

[SavageWombat]

Do you know specifically if and when this is happening in book continuity? The Red Court War would have an impact on such a scenario.

[valadil]

My first thought was to read Salem's Lot, but that focuses on a different Bangor (or some other town in Maine). And it's Black Court. Still a good read though.

[Dovahsith]

its about a month before Dead Beats, so the war is more probing attacks so far, Summer Knight has happened (i was for throwing that idiot Dresden for the wolves) and i basically spent the war using my house as a lightning rod, the vamps think i'm home and keep getting melted by my wards, meanwhile i'm living in my office, described by the GM as a magical war bubble. I'm pretty sure due to the way the GM wants it to go i'm gonna get conscripted into the Wardens but that really means nothing if people can't send re-enforcements. The one thing i can think of is Anglesey, the island just off the coast, i'm pretty sure i can get away with claiming ley lines on it (Druids lived on it in till the Romans wiped them out) but that does tend to come with the risk of mind melting and not really sure how to specifically target the reds without violating law number 1.

[SavageWombat]

Well, if I were your GM and didn't know where you were hiding, I'd go after the students at your university. Try to draw you out for a better chance.

Incidentally, in addition to your new hidey-hole, find a safe spot to cross over to the Neverwhatever and secure that. You might want an escape route for yourself and others.

[jindra34]

Making a Ward that only affects Reds requires a few bits of Reds present at the time of creation. So that shouldn't be a problem.

[CarpeGuitarrem]

In typical Dresden style, are there any Big Things you can lure the Red Court Vamps into the path of? I guess you could also go the "contract" route, if you don't mind your soul. I thoroughly recommend looking into Anglesey and pointing out its significance to your GM. (Who knows, maybe your GM already had something in mind...which may or may not be a good thing for you. Certainly interesting, though!)

Are the vampires likely to hire non-vampires? That bears thinking upon.

[Brookshw]

Basically, set in Bangor, North Wales. i'm playing a grouchy old wizard posing as a history lecturer at a local university, stuck with a naive idealistic apprentice, a student who is a were-bear, a homeless war veteran with shapeshifting powers into lynx form, who refuses to leave my office's cupboard and a supernatural monster hunter who was built using the emissary of power template, basically a Grimm. All met up when the Grimm needed infomation on a giant he was hunting, everyone joined him because they never thought to wonder who the hell he was, i joined to get people out my office.

Awesome character motivation!

[Dihan]

I have no idea what Dresden Files or the Red Court are, but I live in this place.

[Force]

Honestly? Go on the offensive. And think outside the box.

For example, hat up and go vampire hunting. Play catch-and-release with tracking spells. Locate the local vampire dens, then, using your mastery of the Ways, massaging some contacts, and general skullduggery, improvise an ANFO bomb with some fertilizer and a truck. Drive it up next door, then pile out and lift the Reds into orbit. Explosively.

[CombatOwl]

Basically, set in Bangor, North Wales. i'm playing a grouchy old wizard posing as a history lecturer at a local university, stuck with a naive idealistic apprentice, a student who is a were-bear, a homeless war veteran with shapeshifting powers into lynx form, who refuses to leave my office's cupboard and a supernatural monster hunter who was built using the emissary of power template, basically a Grimm. All met up when the Grimm needed infomation on a giant he was hunting, everyone joined him because they never thought to wonder who the hell he was, i joined to get people out my office. After a battle with the giant where the creature was finally brought down through a sword in the spine, a large concentrated beam of fire into its eye and a bear the size of a house landing on its head, the party split up. One half decided to argue who killed it, i dragged the apprentice back to the office to make a cup of tea due to the migranes people tend to give me. There we met a mortal working for the red vampire court, who offered a chance to stay out of the war, if i gave him the grimm, otherwise they would come for me. Being already irritated by the influx of people visiting me and disbelieving him, i told him to look out the window and count the f*^ks i given. So now i'm gearing up for war. The city isn't finished being planned so the local supernaturals are still in the making. I'm considering seeking out the locals in the know and setting up some sort of militia, basically trying to set up a resistance to deter attacks while i layer up wards on a new hideyhole which the vamps don't know about.

Thoughts and ideas?

Well, the best defense is a good offense. So, obviously your wizard's best option for protecting the city is to destroy the entire Red Court. I suggest that it involve some rather elaborate ritual and some pyramids.

[Waker]

... but that does tend to come with the risk of mind melting and not really sure how to specifically target the reds without violating law number 1.

Red Court Vampires don't count as humans for the purpose of violating the First Law of Magic. Red Court Infected are a different situation, but otherwise feel free to smote some vampires.
As far as dealing with Red Court, you'll want to consider going on the offensive. Unlike the Black Court which spreads very quickly, Reds take a bit longer to gather numbers. As your location is outside of their normal territory, they are unlikely to gather in large groups.
Keep an eye on the local morgues as well as homeless shelters. Vampires typically strike at those on the lowest rungs of society when moving into a new area, as those are the least likely to be missed. Make note of the habits of missing homeless and try to draw likely conclusions as to the location of the Red's nest.
If you do pick up a trail and find any belongings of missing vagrants or vampires, move fast. If you have any proficiency with divination magic or the Werebear or Lynx shapeshifter have some talent with tracking, use it to your advantage. Remember that like calls to like in the magic world, meaning that it is possible to use a vampire's blood to locate other vampires conceivably (since they are technically related) or to possibly locate the bodies of the recently exsanguinated.
Bladed weapons are very useful against Reds. Remember that disembowelment works wonders, depriving them of their blood store and greatly weakening them.

There are probably other things I can think of, but I'm getting hungry. Good luck vanatori de vampir.

[Dovahsith]

Well, the best defense is a good offense. So, obviously your wizard's best option for protecting the city is to destroy the entire Red Court. I suggest that it involve some rather elaborate ritual and some pyramids.

that was my origonal thought but apparently newborn red court vampires don't tend to let themselves get sacrificed on principle and aztec obsidion knives are hard to come by in North Wales

[jindra34]

that was my origonal thought but apparently newborn red court vampires don't tend to let themselves get sacrificed on principle and aztec obsidion knives are hard to come by in North Wales

Still Dresden's unintentional strategy of splattering any monster that messed with people in 'his' town would work wonders. Would require a good wide contact net in addition to the hidey-hole and a willingness to personally cream vampires and other stuff, but hey looks like you may have some friends to help with that.

[Eldest]

Just something to point out for logistics, Edinburgh, headquarters of the entire White Council, is 5 hours away by car. So reinforcements are about 12 hours away, and that's if you go to get them in person, eat a nice lunch there, and play a game of Scrabble while convincing them that you need the help.

[Mikeavelli]

- Get a scale model of the town. You might have to spend a fate point to declare that the University has one, or the town hall, or something. Somewhere you have access to it.

- Since you're a wizard, you have access to Thaumaturgy. Use it to craft a spell that lets you know where in the town any Red Court Vampires exist. If you've got blood from one of them, you should be able to find any of them unless they're in a specifically warded place like their hideout.

- Carefully monitor the model. When incursions happen, *strike with extreme vengeance.*

-----------------

Specifically prepare for Vampires. If you have any items in your pool (I forget exactly how these work, but remember they're a thing) - magick up some pocket sunshine like Harry used on Bianca. If you've got the time, ward your hidey hole with magical sunlight flashbulbs. Introduce them to a little thing called 'Daylight Savings time.' Yes, the pun is necessary. Educate melee masters on the Vampire's belly weak spot. Build armor and wards specifically to counter extreme melee physical strength.

Be prepared for a caster. They'll have at least one, probably several. Red Court vampires aren't bound by the laws of magic, so they'll do stuff like raising the dead, control your mind, and try to directly murder you with magic.

[CarpeGuitarrem]

- Get a scale model of the town. You might have to spend a fate point to declare that the University has one, or the town hall, or something. Somewhere you have access to it.

- Since you're a wizard, you have access to Thaumaturgy. Use it to craft a spell that lets you know where in the town any Red Court Vampires exist. If you've got blood from one of them, you should be able to find any of them unless they're in a specifically warded place like their hideout.

- Carefully monitor the model. When incursions happen, *strike with extreme vengeance.*

I'd go a step beyond. Remember that Little Chicago tracks things because Dresden's a detective. He wants information. You don't need information. Use thaumaturgy to destroy vampires from afar. There's got to be a way to establish a sympathetic link with vampires via location on a mini model of the town, after all. Instead of tracking them, use thaumaturgy to blast 'em.

[Mikeavelli]

I'd go a step beyond. Remember that Little Chicago tracks things because Dresden's a detective. He wants information. You don't need information. Use thaumaturgy to destroy vampires from afar. There's got to be a way to establish a sympathetic link with vampires via location on a mini model of the town, after all. Instead of tracking them, use thaumaturgy to blast 'em.

Eh, doing something effective enough to kill them takes a ****-ton of power. The RPG has the rip-your-heart-out spell from the first book at somewhere around 20-30 'shifts' in a game where ~4 shifts is typical for a PC.

[Sir_Mopalot]

4 shifts is typical evocation. Something set up with a blasty Little Chicago-alike is hardly evocation. Not that I think that you could reliably set up thaumaturgy on the scale that you'd need it to do that, but you might be able to do something along the lines of the entropy curse. Could you settle for making the Red Court that shows up miserable?

[CombatOwl]

Eh, doing something effective enough to kill them takes a ****-ton of power. The RPG has the rip-your-heart-out spell from the first book at somewhere around 20-30 'shifts' in a game where ~4 shifts is typical for a PC.

I dunno, last time I played I was hitting 6-7 on average for my specialty stuff. Lightning, lightning, lightning. So much stuff to tag. Honestly all you need are a big pile of free invocations and the right aspects. Little Bangor + Thaumaturgy-related Aspect + Focus should be +6 shifts right there. If your skill is decent, you're looking at +10-11 shifts just from the most obvious three invocations. Spend some time doing ritual prep work (another aspect that gets a free invocation) and you can stack even more.

It gets even easier if you have help from a friend or apprentice. Morally questionable? Yes. Outside of the realm of reason? No.

[Eldest]

That will produce a hit that will kill one normal human. You have to amp it up further for vampires (tough, remember), and if you want to kill more than one, well... good luck.

[jindra34]

That will produce a hit that will kill one normal human. You have to amp it up further for vampires (tough, remember), and if you want to kill more than one, well... good luck.

I think given the numbers a 'fresh' red court vampire clocks in at around 45 shifts needed. To be able to pull that off reliably and with any regularity? Major crazy work or a solid group of support casters. Run into nobility? Add another 5 or so in all likelyhood. Killing supernatural beasties is tough through thaumaturgy. You can almost always do it with just as many if not fewer rolls by evocation (get a nice vantage point and play at being a sniper, Discipline+Will+Foci+Specialization ends up HURTING A LOT).

[CombatOwl]

I think given the numbers a 'fresh' red court vampire clocks in at around 45 shifts needed.

How do you figure? They're tough, but not that tough. You wouldn't even need 45 shifts to kill one with a weapon:1 pistol, let alone fire magic.

45 shifts is the sort of thing you'd need for killing faerie queens and the like.

[jindra34]

How do you figure? They're tough, but not that tough. You wouldn't even need 45 shifts to kill one with a weapon:1 pistol, let alone fire magic.

45 shifts is the sort of thing you'd need for killing faerie queens and the like.

Faerie queens are closer to high 50's low 60's. And no I'm not sure. But its a good chunk higher than a regular person which is mid 30's.
Either way a well setup ambush with evocation/accuaracy tags will end up working out better/quicker than a full fledged thaumaturgy spell. And everyone can get involved in the setup.

EDIT: Victor Sell's Heart Exploding spell is 36 shifts. And it doesn't have to worry about supernaturally high stats or toughness or any of that stuff.

[Sir_Mopalot]

I think I would allow the creation of a spell like that as the entire purpose of a campaign. It would have obvious world-altering changes, giving a perfect sanctuary from the Red Court would have a huge impact on the war with the Red Court, doubly so if there's a reasonably secure path there through the NeverNever. But it would be the equivalent of a Changes-level plot development, where an entire sphere of plot threads is closed off. If it's what the group wants to work towards, I think it could be a really good story, but it's not something that the wizard could cook up "behind the scenes".

[Dovahsith]

thanks for the ideas, realised just now that i never posted how the threat was dealt with.
after arming ourselves and having a few skirmish's, for example a failed attempt to kidnap my apprentice when i kicked the group out of the safety of my office due to their constant breaking of my magic circles, i also needed the space to summon a little folk with some pizza to get info on the red's nest.
the vamps ended up as shattered ice sculptures when my apprentice froze them, then had our werebear sit on them.

anyway, the little fella i caught in a circle ended up giving my his name and gave me the location of the nest of vampires in return for Domino's pizza. fair trade for me at least. We attempted to raid the nest the following afternoon but were held up by some of the red court infected being used by the vamps as guards. after successfully disposing of the infected the sun began to set, and as loud inhuman screams began to fill the air around us, we then ran back to my office hoping the wards could hold them off while i thought of something. Fortunately for us, we'd pissed off the Noble in charge of this group so much he sent his entire swarm after us. Them causing the usual damages to the university building that vampire usually do and with the help of a small magic ritual on my part, the local Genus Locii's attention was caught. It was unsurprisingly pissed that the building it considered part of itself was under attack, as in doors and windows were broken and the vampires were scratching at the walls. this meant that the vampire threat was swallowed into the university buildings walls by a very angry spirit which ignored my group, mainly because i'd been working there so long, it considered me part of the wildlife.

[Tyndmyr]

In typical Dresden style, are there any Big Things you can lure the Red Court Vamps into the path of? I guess you could also go the "contract" route, if you don't mind your soul. I thoroughly recommend looking into Anglesey and pointing out its significance to your GM. (Who knows, maybe your GM already had something in mind...which may or may not be a good thing for you. Certainly interesting, though!)

Are the vampires likely to hire non-vampires? That bears thinking upon.

This. Either set up a collision with some rival power or force of nature, or go make deals.

[CarpeGuitarrem]

thanks for the ideas, realised just now that i never posted how the threat was dealt with.
after arming ourselves and having a few skirmish's, for example a failed attempt to kidnap my apprentice when i kicked the group out of the safety of my office due to their constant breaking of my magic circles, i also needed the space to summon a little folk with some pizza to get info on the red's nest.
the vamps ended up as shattered ice sculptures when my apprentice froze them, then had our werebear sit on them.

anyway, the little fella i caught in a circle ended up giving my his name and gave me the location of the nest of vampires in return for Domino's pizza. fair trade for me at least. We attempted to raid the nest the following afternoon but were held up by some of the red court infected being used by the vamps as guards. after successfully disposing of the infected the sun began to set, and as loud inhuman screams began to fill the air around us, we then ran back to my office hoping the wards could hold them off while i thought of something. Fortunately for us, we'd pissed off the Noble in charge of this group so much he sent his entire swarm after us. Them causing the usual damages to the university building that vampire usually do and with the help of a small magic ritual on my part, the local Genus Locii's attention was caught. It was unsurprisingly pissed that the building it considered part of itself was under attack, as in doors and windows were broken and the vampires were scratching at the walls. this meant that the vampire threat was swallowed into the university buildings walls by a very angry spirit which ignored my group, mainly because i'd been working there so long, it considered me part of the wildlife.

*steeples fingers*

Excellent.

That whole thing was awesome. I love the resolution with the Genus Locii at the end. Lure out all the vampires, get the building mad! Nom nom nom nom.