4 replies to this topic

[lost_zeppo]

I got a group together to playtest the Dresden Files, and am now working on setting up a game to run for it this Monday.

The group are all in business together in an independent film studio based in San Francisco. Their current project is a film called 'King of the Cursed'.

So far, the ideas I've got are that filming is being hampered by a series of regularly recurring earthquakes, and that the underlying threat should somehow tie in with their movie title. The earthquakes mean that whatever it is it's underground.

Can anyone help me brainstorm this idea a bit more?

[muradib]

i'm currently listening to the audio books, it could be something with the wild fay like the goblins, throw in a little red court trouble naw make it the white court trying the get the shoot ruined because it's going to mess with their influnce, have it come off as the white court supplying a novice wizard dabbling in the black with earth magic and the fay in the area are in strife and aren't taking the meddling by the wizard too well so they target the white counsil wizards thinking it's them.

[Ieqo]

To give it a more Butchery flavor than just adding a bunch of antagonists willy-nilly, try this: choose ONE person involved in the film project (and it needn't/shouldn't be an obvious person like a director or star; make it a faceless grip or something). This one person is the focus of the problem; the one who the antagonist is trying to get. Then ask "why is a supernatural baddie after Joe Schmuckberger?" Again, it needn't be anything obvious, but it should be something the players can figure out through investigation.

Then ask, "what kind of supernatural baddie would be after Joe Schmuckberger for this reason?" You don't need skinwalkers, vampires, or fallen angels to make a good Dresden story. Start with something simple then add two or three layers on top of it. "Could be as simple as an earth-spirit. Could be as simple as an earth-spirit controlled by a half-talented shaman. Could be as simple as an earth spirit, controlled by a half-talented shaman, who is in the pay of..." You get the idea.

Now in a one-shot playtest, you probably don't have the time to develop a huge story, so you'll need to get the players from movie shoot to Joe Schmuckberger to intermediate antagonist fairly quickly, but there's nothing at all that says you can't have the ultimate villian remain unidentified, vaguely-hinted at, and still at large. That's for if the players like the game and want a campaign; you've got a ready-made nemesis that they already want to find and deal with... And the big secret to this? Don't tell anyone but...you don't even need to know who the real villian is yet! :twisted:

[lost_zeppo]

...Then ask, "what kind of supernatural baddie would be after Joe Schmuckberger for this reason?" You don't need skinwalkers, vampires, or fallen angels to make a good Dresden story. Start with something simple then add two or three layers on top of it. "Could be as simple as an earth-spirit. Could be as simple as an earth-spirit controlled by a half-talented shaman. Could be as simple as an earth spirit, controlled by a half-talented shaman, who is in the pay of..." You get the idea...

Funny, that's fairly close to the idea I just came up with. One of the characters, TJ, is a White Court virgin who has his families enemies as one of his aspects.

So, I figured I'd have the film crew working on a shoot in an abandoned mansion. Only for them to be plagued by a series of apparitions, poltergeist activity and a series of oddly localised underground tremors. Obviously, the first thing the party are going to think of is haunted house and try to find another site. But they're only half right. Yes, the mansion is haunted. But that's not what's causing the tremors, just the other stuff.

The tremors are being caused by an earth-burrowing demon, summoned by an agent of one of the enemies of TJ's family. It's been sent to stalk and kill TJ and make it look like an accident, which means killing a bunch of other people in the process, along with any potential witnesses. This way, they hurt TJ's family, without inciting a full-blown war with his house.

How's that sound?

[Ieqo]

Sounds like something Harry Dresden would spend an entire novel trying to figure out (and get the crap beaten out of him in the process). Excellent.