Dresden Files RPG -- Creating Aspects

Hi All,

Today we met with the GM and a few other players for the Dresden Files RPG (DFRPG) event at HammerCon II and I realized that Aspects are rather confusing to those of us that haven't played with the Fate System before. In my last entry I kind of glossed over them as I figured it was just us... well wasn't I wrong! LOL

So, let's remedy this and cover Creating Aspects.

I'll be breaking this down using the High Concept, Trouble and 5 Phases, as described in DFRPG, from the 2 PCs I used in my last blog -- Character Creation.

Here are PDFs of our PC sheets:

I'll use the following short forms:

Template: Emissary of Power aka EoP

Template: Wizard aka Wiz

High Concept:

In short, your high concept is a phrase that sums up what your character is about—what and who he is. It’s one of the first and most important aspects for your character. Normally this stems from your template that you choose. Pure Mortals are the only template that doesn't have a requirement against this aspect.

For our PCs we had:

EoP: Messenger of Thor

Wiz: Newly Cloaked Warden

As you can see both of these are related to the chosen templates and, from our experience, were the easiest aspects to create, taking less than a minute or so.

For the EoP, it was a straight forward decision as this was the theme to his whole PC.

For the Wiz, I wanted to have more than just "Warden" and thought that adding "Newly Cloaked" would give me a lot more options be compelled. (Something that all spell slingers NEED!)

Trouble:

Every character has some sort of trouble that’s a part of his life and his story. If your high concept is what or who your character is, your trouble is the answer to a simple question: what complicates your high concept?

For our PCs we had:

EoP: Living A Double Life

Wiz: Too Cocky For My Own Good

We found that this Aspect was troublesome at first (what! LOL), so we skipped and came back to it after we had gone through a few of the Phases, and had a better idea about the PC.

For EoP, he really thought that he needed something like this, kind of like Spiderman or Batman.

For my Wiz, it was all about me being rushed through my training and my newness, which as we all knows leads to being rash and cocky LOL

Phase 1 -- Background: Where did you come from?

Questions To Ask Yourself: What nation, region, culture are you from? What were your family circumstances like? What’s your relationship with your family? How were you educated? What were your friends like? Did you get into trouble much? If you’re supernatural, how early did you learn this? Were there problems?

For our PCs we had:

EoP: Hey, that's not in the rules!

Wiz: There is no such thing as Coincidence!

Here's where you think about who you were and how you started down the path towards your template.

For the EoP, he decided to setup why his character became a Journalist (his day job) and to establish that he was a geek.

For the Wiz, I went the route of opening his eyes to the true world, and setting him up to become a Warden, hey you got to start them young!

Phase 2 -- Rising Conflict: What shaped you?

Questions To Ask Yourself: Who were the prominent people in your life at this point? Do you have enemies? Close and fast friends? How did your high concept and trouble aspects shape you and events around you? What were the most significant choices you made? What lessons did you learn in this time?

For our PCs we had:

EoP: Thor's Hammer (Pendant)

Wiz: The Ends justify the Means

The way we saw this phase was that this is the story that either leads up to you getting your powers, or the is behind what will happen in Phase 3.

This is where the EoP picks up the item of power and has his eyes opened to the true world.

The Wiz becomes a Warden here and is sent out early to fight in the Vampire War.

From this point on, especially in Phase 3, we found that the story skeleton worked really well for us! It's in the first book (page 61) and has this format:

When [something happens], [your protagonist] [pursues a goal]. But will [your protagonist] succeed when [antagonist provides opposition]?

Phase 3 -- The Story: What was your first adventure?

The third phase is your character’s first true adventure -- his first book, episode, case, movie, whatever -- starring him. You’ll also need to come up with a title for this adventure.

For our PCs we had:

EoP: You gotta be kidding me!

Wiz: Blooded Warrior

This is your PC's Pilot Episode, the opening scene to their movie, it's all about them! We found that it was also good if you chat with someone to try and make a really good lead that another PC can use for Phase 4.

In discussing these two PCs and how they could connect in Phase 4, we saw the Vampire link immediately, and decided that timeline wise our Phase 3s should overlap each other.

EoP made this Event:

When a new street drug kills EJ's best mystical informant, EJ pursues the story with a vengeance. But will he survive to tell his tale when the dealers turns out to have Fangs?

And the Wiz event was:

When the Vampire War spills into the streets, Warden Nels Wilhelm sets out to quell the blood letting before the mortals figure out what is truly going on. But will Nels succeed when the Red Court starts a recruitment drive to replenish their ranks from the fetish clubs within the city?

The next two phases confused everyone, until we clued in to the fact that they are just someone else's Phase 3 events, with the addition of their Guest starring role added to the end of it.

You would think that was obvious, but it took a bit to sink in as everyone had started writing up how someone else was their guest star and not the other way around.

Phase 4 -- Guest Star: Whose Path Have You Crossed?

In this phase, you tie the group together by having each character contribute a minor, supporting role in another character’s first adventure.

For our PCs we had:

EoP: Sometimes it IS what you know.

Wiz: What finds you in the Strangest Places

For EoP, he added this to my Phase 3 event to create his Phase 4:

As EJ "the reporter" shows up, it becomes necessary for his alter ego to come forth. In the end, he promises to cover up the War, if Nels keeps Erik's Secret.

And I added this to his for my Phase 4:

Warden Nels -- who was hunting the Vampires -- happens on the scene and manages to turn the tide enough to get them both out of there.

Phase 5 -- Guest Star Redux: Who Else’s Path Have You Crossed?

This is a repeat of Phase 4, but with another PC.

As we're leaving this for the Con, we haven't got anything yet, but from today's meeting we've got some potential ideas.

As before -- let me know what you think and I'm always open to any questions. Also, if you have experience with DFRPG, please feel free to share it!

Game Night Tales from around the gaming table

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