Nevermore
March 23rd, 2010 by fred
So, we’ve been teasing out details of other chapters in the Dresden Files RPG as we build up to the release of the game. That’s all well and good, but we thought it was time to give you a preview with some real heft to it. We’d like to take you on a visit to a dark and dangerous little burg we’re using as our sample campaign setting in the book. A place we like to call Nevermore… though you may know it by a more familiar name. But names, as we’re so often told, have power…
Here’s the Baltimore chapter from The Dresden Files RPG: Your Story. All 39 pages of it: PDF Download (Approx 13MB) — you can save us a little bandwidth by downloading it from DriveThruRPG instead!
What story will you tell on the streets of Charm City?
looks great! now you’ve done it!
now I really can’t wait for the release…
Thanks!
Sneak peek? RPG now sells entire supplements with a lot less in it! Originally I was very sure that I would cook up my own local setting, but this looks very nice, saves time as well…
We wouldn’t be getting a sneak peek at contents from the other book as well would we? ;p
@Tim, Who knows! This is just about 5% of the content available…
Love the content. Love the look. Kudos to the whole Evil Hat team!
ONe word…AWESOME!!! I can’t wait for pre-orders to start! Thanks for the preview!
Thanks Fred. This game kicks ass!
I’ve already spotted my first typo though. ” I hope whoever it was made a full recovery.” Pg. 2/39 That sentence doesn’t male sense.
If need be, that can be changed to ”I hope whoever it was, that they made a full recovery.”
But I think dropping the “that they” is perfectly conversational.
YMMV.
@Lanodantheon
To add to Chad’s comment, that sentence is in the context of an out-of-towner knowing where Johns Hopkins is. The implication is that a loved one must have been fighting a serious illness.
@Chad
Looks totally correct as written to me. “Whoever it was” is it’s perfectly fine as the subject of the independent clause “Whoever it was made a full recovery.” If it needed any clarification, I’d go for “I hope that whoever it was made a full recovery” but it’s not necessary.
I understand the context of the q
uote perfectly, it is just missing a word or two. (Keyboard error)
OK, I just wasn’t certain what it is that doesn’t make sense.
I think you’ll find a very informal, conversational tone throughout the book.
Since I found out there was a Harry Dresden RPG coming out, I have had a story brewing in the back of my mind. This Baltimore guide is awesome, since Im from Maryland I was already thinking to use Baltimore/DC as my playground and having this will just make my storyline stronger.
Great work! Keep it coming
Frickin’ awesome, man. Absolutely top marks to all involved.
Wow, that is awesome awesome awesome, and it made me want to play a Jeeves-Ogre.
I notice that Evans Montrose and Maya both top out at two Great skills, with no Superb skill, but Biff does go up to Superb. Did their apex skills get missed, or is this no longer something that’s definitely there on a PC now?
@Amy, skill shapes are fluid in Dresden Files (though still somewhat constricted — more of a “column” form), and the number of skill points you get depends on some of the settings for the power level for your game.
Good to know. I like a lot of what I see, here. I think my only remaining concern is that I think Biff and Maya’s “trouble” aspects don’t really.. feel like ‘trouble’ per se, more like regular aspects that just got shoved into the slot, but maybe with having read more on your descriptions of aspects and troubles in particular, it might grow some. Other than that, this seems really remarkably written, and gives a lot of food for thought for approaching assembling other city-settings.
Really great looking. I can’t wait for this to come out. How is it looking for pre-orders in April?
@Neal, still not sure. I’ll probably only discover a few days before I actually start it that we’re good to go.
@Amy I disagree. I see Biff and Mouse as a pair of characters designed to be played in the same group and to play off each other. Their trouble aspects are (in addition to Hail Hail The Gang’s All here) a license to print Fate Points.
Every time they banter…BAM! Fate point.
A trouble Aspect is according to my interpretation (without the actual book) the Aspect of your character that is their Fatal Flaw, the thing that will get that character killed some day. Temptation of Power will get Harry killed someday. In Over My Head will get Evan killed someday.
That’s just my opinion anyway.
Wow. You’ve definitely got a sale in me. I was unsure if I wanted to fork over the money when I saw the prices since I usually buy for setting information more than actual playability but if the Chicago and Magic sections are half that detailed it’ll be well worth the price. Loving the artwork as well.
A trouble aspect is basically something that makes being your high concept difficult or complicated. So you’re never just a “White Council Wizard”. you’re a “White Council Wizard” who has a “Demon-Possessed Little Sister”. Or a “White Council Wizard” who has “Impulse Control Problems” or what have you. Anything that makes it tougher on you to be who you are.
@TedrickVonPenguin, glad to hear it! We certainly think the rest of the writing is up to the quality of Baltimore, though Baltimore is certainly a highlight.
Very nice! I was going to say “I know you included a link, but even a little map would have been nice”, but after clicking through to the web map, I realised providing a half-decent map in any kind of reasonable amount of space wouldn’t have been practical.
And kudos for making that link clickable – it shows the PDF isn’t just an afterthought or byproduct of preparing the printed version.
On the trouble aspects for Biff and Maya, I think it gives the GM some leeway in getting them to do stupid things because of something the other one did or said.
Maybe Biff does something stupid to try and apologise to her for something thoughtless that he said or did. Maybe Maya gets herself in trouble by being distracted thinking about Biff being thoughtless when she should have been paying more attention to what was happening around her.
They’re enough for a GM and the players to have fun with, and it seems like that is going to be the most important thing.
Should Isaiah Smith’s stat block be claiming he is a pure mortal, given his powers and -5 refresh?
Thank you, Nick, your perspective on the trouble lines is something I can work with; the other definitions being offered did not line up with what I had on hand.
Is there any discussion or side bar or something on how to treat a setting where firearms are less common? For instance here in the Netherlands owning a gun beyond a hunting double barrel is very rare, and those who do own a gun have to keep it at a certified club, IIRC.
Now I might be mistaken but this would cramp a pure mortals combat capabilities a bit, right? I could think of a work around or two, (department chief anyone?) but still, it does have its impact.
Honestly, I would expect at that point that pure mortals who have to deal with supernaturals would just have to carefully work around legal constraints. Either by trying to find weapons that do qualify as legal (do crossbows get classified the same way as chemically propelled firearms? What about carrying bladed weapons?), or just… you know, disregard the relevant law very discretely.
Someone who knows the right people can always get what they need, anywhere in the world.
Weapon laws are quite strict down here, I’m a student blacksmith and I sometimes have a hard time transporting half forged knifes. Anything double bladed or a crossbow is out of the question. Of course keeping it in the back of a car an taking it out only in the darker places of town does always help I guess.
actually tim, you could still have a pure mortal, either one who isnt a fighter, like butters, or if you realy wanted him to have guns, you said that you can get a hunting rifle? say that ya your mortal, but you are related to loup garu killers and have a double barrel hunting weapon with silver or iron bullets [for any pesky fey]. you could still make a very useful pure mortal, just dont emphasize on combat.you just got to be creative, hell a pure mortal doesnt have to use guns, you could use swords instead, or fist, or you could go lost boys like and use just good old stakes and holy water, or whatever weakness your foe has. at least thats what i would do, but i am no expert at what the rules and stuff for this game are.oh and your job is freakin awsome man!
Tim – take a look at the write-up for Biff. He’s mostly a fists kind of guy. Combine decent martial arts ability with creative use of scenery for improvised weapons and traps (e.g. hammer a bad guy through a railing, breaking it, then subsequently impaling them on the remnants of one of the broken supports).
It will take some thought, but it should definitely be possible to put together a pure mortal that isn’t as dependent on guns to even the odds.
Oh I agree, some creative thinking should solve the no guns problem fine. But I was wondering if the book has any coverage of this, as it does impact the game and more martially minded players (or inexperienced GM) might find a explanation of this useful.
As pure mortals have the most fate points making creative use of the scenery is somewhat of their stick anyway right?
Yep, take murph for example, very creative, sure she used a lot of guns, but she was still creative. and in my opinion just because they be mortals, dont mean they need to be mundane, i would give him/her a sword or a crossbow. and i would assume they would explain how to get around it. besides,in dresden, murph is one of the few who follows the law, people like macrone or that lizard guy they talk about in nevermore, wouldnt follow the law anyways, look at harry, dude has an ileagal shotgun in the back of his car. there is always a way to get around stuff in the world of dresden
I don’t care for the “cartoony” art style. Nothing at all against the artist(s), but the cartoon style doesnt match the gritty fantasy imagery I imagine in the books. It just makes the material seem like its aimed at a much younger audience than I would have hoped.
@Spyndel, none of it reads as “cartoony” to my eyes. It’s line art, and all done as line art to fall in line with the generous contribution of art we’re getting from the Dresden Files graphic novels as well, but that’s not cartoony (unless you’re painting with an extremely broad brush).
Jim Butcher has commented before that the Dresden Files is a bit of an anime in his head, but that wasn’t the angle we wanted to push. *That* might have been a little cartoony.
@Nick — thanks for the catch, we’ll be removing the (Pure Mortal) in the final version.
Just wanted to say thanks – as a Baltimore resident, this is a freaking awesome supplement. I’m actually going to run a game this weekend using the supplement and the dresdenverse as a basis for it, so thanks for the help!
…I have to agree with Greg. This is where my family is from…this is just freakin’ awesome. Especially the Ravens references xp