As many of you know, I am a huge D&D fan. I have played for many years and I love the game. Since I recently started GMing a Dresden Files RPG game, I have been reflecting on the differences in running these two games. As such, I thought it may be appropriate to discuss some of my thoughts on the Dresden Files RPG. This is a review of sorts, but not a comprehensive one that describes, analyzes, and critiques mechanics. If you would like an in-depth overview of the system, there is already a great review here (on RPGGeek) that discusses the mechanics in more detail.
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Aspects
In order to understand the Dresden Files game, you have to understand aspects – aspects ARE the game. An aspect is a descriptive word or phrase that tells a player something about another PC, an NPC, or an object. Aspects can be positive, negative, or both, depending on context.
To help you understand, here is my favorite example of a basic aspect: I Can’t Drive 55
Why is this a good aspect? Because the players can use it to their advantage and the GM can also use it to his advantage. For example, imagine that you are driving away and being chased by the bad guys. They have almost caught up and you really need to get away but you roll poorly on your driving check – you can invoke your aspect I Can’t Drive 55 and either re-roll or get a +2 to your roll (your choice) which will result in you making a clean getaway. In this case the player used that aspect to the party’s advantage.
Now imagine another scene where you are in the car in a parking lot, waiting for a PC to come out of the store. You don’t want to be caught or questioned by the police and there is a police cruiser driving through the parking lot as the PC walks out of the store. The PC gets into the car and says “Let’s get out of here, and be careful, we don’t want to gain that cop’s attention” and so you start to drive away. At this point the GM can compel you to live up to your aspect I Can’t Drive 55, and cause you to peel out of the parking lot, getting the attention of the police. In this case, the aspect was used against the party. Same aspect, one positive use and one negative.
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Declaring things into existence
There are some other things going on in the game (lots of things actually) but aspects are the best part for me. The reason for this is that, along with aspects that can be discovered by players (i.e. players can assess a situation and discover aspects appropriate to a scene or NPC), there are also aspects that can be declared by players. This means that the players have a lot of say in what a situation looks like, literally and figuratively. In other words, because of aspects, players can make things come into existence in the game.
I have to say, this part of the DFRPG is BRILLIANT. Unfortunately it is also a big speedbump for me. I blame this on D&D. Don’t get me wrong, I still love D&D and I always will, but I have had to train myself out of running a D&D-like game in my DFRPG campaign. I’ve run lots of different systems and for some reason this is the thing that causes me angst.
Consider this:
In D&D the DM is responsible for defining everything in the world. If the DM doesn’t say that something exists, and doesn’t give you clues about what things might exist, then they simply don’t exist. If the DM doesn’t describe a pillar in the room, a player cannot just decide that there is a pillar in the room and say that they are going to use it to get cover. It just doesn’t happen. From the player’s point of view D&D is mostly reactive.
In DFRPG that sort of behavior is not only allowed, it is expected, encouraged, and rewarded. A player can declare that the alleyway has a large dumpster in it that they are going to hide behind, even though the GM didn’t tell the players that there was a dumpster there. From the player’s point of view DFRPG is mostly proactive.
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Thoughts
So I was thinking about this after running my last DFRPG session, in which I felt like I wasn’t running the game very efficiently. And I started to ask myself, “Why in the heck is this a speedbump for me?”
The answer is: 28 years of running D&D style games. Plain and simple, I am used to running a D&D game where I describe the scene for the players and they react to the scene. I consider myself a really open DM in terms of letting the players define things in the world in which their PCs are adventuring. Even so, D&D is limited in the ability of the players to add things to a scene as it is happening. For example, if it is not already in existence, there is no mechanism for a player to declare a spot of difficult terrain by simply rolling a perception or dungeoneering check and saying it exists because you succeeded in your check.
In DFRPG, this is exactly what the players are supposed to do. I am so used to describing a rich environment to the players that I forget that I can give them a bare bones description of what is going on and let them do the work. It is something that I am trying to get used to, but it is a speedbump because it is a different way to frame/structure scenes and think about planning and I, frankly, haven’t gotten the hang of it yet – but I get better every session!
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Summary
I haven’t talked about some of these, but here are some things that I have discovered after running about 6 sessions of DFRPG:
- The GM has less prep work to do with respect to scenes and scenery. Since aspects allow the players to spend energy on the environment/world in which a scene is taking place, it frees up the GM to spend planning time on other things (e.g. NPC aspects and story).
- Objects in the world can be manipulated and used by the player and by the GM in any given scene and these can be made up on the spot as long as they can be rationally added to the context of the scene.
- PC aspects can be used to make characterizations deep and provide a very rich role-playing experience for all involved.
- My classical RPG experience has been a wonderful experience, but there are things I can borrow and bring to my D&D game that will enrich those campaigns even though I love those systems already.
- The DFRPG system is more crunchy than it seems at first glance. The thaumaturgy rules are complicated, the world is large and rich, and there is a lot to learn for a new GM (vol 1 is 416 pages packed with well written info).
- This is the first FATE game that I have played, but it makes me want to look at some other games (Diaspora, I’m looking at you sitting on my shelf waiting to be loved)
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Have you played or run DFRPG? What are your thoughts about what I have written here? Am I off base? Am I on target? Give me your opinions!
And as always, until next time, I wish you good gaming.
The more I hear about Dresden Files, the more I want to play it. I love the idea of its proactive nature, as you describe, even though it does sound a little intimidating as a player (and monstrously intimidating as a GM).
That’s one of the things about the system that I am still getting used to. It is much more intimidating as a player, I’m sure, especially one that is not used to bringing new things into existence as they narrate their actions. But it is actually less intimidating for the GM. It takes a majority of work out of the hands of the GM and puts it into the hands of the group – you can all work together to make sure that what is happening is cool and makes everyone happy. In that way the onus is off of the GM and on the group as a whole.
I haven’t had any desire to check out DFRPG but this post has me intrigued about the aspect mechanic. The ability to “create” in D&D is one that DMs usually must allow in-game. For example, the guy in my group who DM’d before me would often pick a player and ask him what he saw. Based on the reaction from the player, he would create the details of the scene. He’s a pretty amazing DM though, and I just don’t have that kind of talent myself. It is an interesting concept though. I’ll have to consider this a bit in the future.
Thanks for this post! It’s really something to think about!
I’m the type of player who wants to have more of an impact on the world around me. I frequently try to inject bits into a setting through my PC. As said before, though, it seems like Dresden forces a little more out of players in the imediate sense, and presents an interesting challenge. I’d like to give it a try sometime.
I think the difference is that DFRPG makes it an integral part of the rules. In D&D I can do lots of things and even go so far as include aspect-like characteristics for the NPCs or the party (or even for combat areas), but since it is not written into every action as an option for the players it often just doesn’t happen.
Further, in 4e the use of powercards to describe the options available to the players makes it even harder to implement something like that.
The DFRPG absolutely does make it integral — you can’t excise it entirely — but I hope we also offered it in a bit of a “salt to taste” kind of way. People *can* engage with the system in a largely reactive way. The GM will still have to exercise a few new muscles (new in the sense of muscles not necessarily exercised by D&D GMing), but I believe people can and have eased on into the more pervy/heady stuff rather than going whole hog right from go. Still, a great insight as to where the games differ at their fundaments. :)
Someone asked me how the players are adjusting to this new type of game and so I wanted to elaborate on that:
They are embracing it pretty well actually. I took a few precautions to ensure it could be as smooth as possible:
1) I kept the group small; me + 3 players.
2) I picked one player who doesn’t play D&D (but has played traditional RPGs before), one player that was already reading the rulebook and very interested in playing or running the game, and one player whose specific goal was to branch out and try other systems and ways of gaming.
3) I told them to expect us to stop and look up rules and discuss how we want to adjudicate them many times during the first few sessions. This sounds obvious because we are all learning the system for the first time, but I felt it was really important to set that expectation right up front. I think it avoids a lot of possible frustration.
4) I am recording the sessions so that I can listen to them and hone my skills and improve my grasp of the rule-set. I also am releasing them as AP podcasts so others can listen (The first 3 of 6 sessions are on the RPGMP3 page for my group, Guild of Geeks).
5) We check in with each other at the beginning and end of each session, spending the first 20 minutes or so talking about what we like and if we feel something is being done especially wrong or especially right. We also check in at the end of the game for a few minutes to discuss what scenes will be in the next session and if there is anything that needs to be addressed before then.
Even with those 5 things in place it is still hard to grasp everything – 3 of us are long time D&D DMs (not just players) and we are having the same issues I describe above – but we are all enjoying the heck out if it.
I do believe there is enough crunch in the game to satisfy someone who wants rich combat, but if the absolutely insist on a battlemat and full description of all details this probably is NOT a system they would enjoy.
@Fred Hicks Thanks for the comment! True, very true. It does offer this type of play in a “salt to taste” way, though I hadn’t thought of it quite in those terms before now. I do think it is great with an abundance of this type of aspect usage though. So I guess I have a salty palate?
Sounds really cool. I loved the show and have been hearing nothing but good things about the game up until now. I haven’t bought or played it yet, but I will in good time. I think the Aspects system is cool. What is that core system? I know the SotC uses Aspects and Fate, does this game work on fudge dice? do I already know this game system?… reserach ensues…
so yea… Just read the review of the product and I guess I put my foot in my mouth with that last comment. Now I know for sure that I am going to pick this up. Sounds like a barrel of fun.
Yes it uses Fudge Dice, After many sessions of getting absolute crap rolls in D&D (most rolls results where between 1-10, and a large amount where between 1 and 2) I have grow to hate the d20 due to its huge swing factor. I think I would prefer 3d6 for a result curve, but Fudge dice are working well for my tastes.
JesterOC
So, fudge dice…
I have the basic grasp of them from Radio Free Hommlet (4d6, numbered -1 0 1, roll them all and add the modifiers to your ability modifier). It seems to me that fudge dice would create a very steep bell curve, such that you really needn’t bother trying to hit a target number more than 1 or 2 above your ability modifier.
Am I off base there?
No you got it, however Invoking aspects can give you either a straight +2 (which is the most common thing to do) or to let you re-roll the dice.
You do all that after the roll, so in case you roll high you can save the FATE point usage until you need it.
In a nutshell the high bell curve really lets your skills speak for themselves with little interference from the dice. In a d20 game even if you have a +10 on a dice roll, their is a 50% chance that the dice is going to have a bigger factor in you accomplishing your goal than the skill itself.
JesterOC
Our group is in a fairly similar situation, we have ended our D&D campaign an starting a new one with DFRPG. There is a catch, though: the homebrew game world remains the same. We have houseruled D&D and our own world over the years so far that it has little resemblance to RAW, and after playing to early paragon in 4ed we found hat our enjoyment was fading. The game had gone too far to a different direction – DFRPG seemed to be a much better fit to the sort of game we wanted.
So far there have been city building and character building sessions but no experience yet on actual play (aside from a couple of test encounters). The differences we have seen are very much the same you have encountered and are mostly related to the division of responsibilities. The types of characters, locations and adventures we like to play have actually changed very little.
This is starting to come clear and i understand that new aspect and i am new to this, but i can grasp this very fast.
Greetings all,
This article was a boon to me recently as I’ve just begun hosting (and GMing for the first time) the DFRPG here in Louisville. As a new GM and honestly not that seasoned of a player myself, I was initially extremely intimidated by both the rulesets of D&D and DFRPG. Being a huge Jim Butcher fan, I’ve the knowledge and lore of the world, but running a creative environment like this is fairly new.
We had our first session the other night, and I’ve already learned a lot just from working with my five gamers to make characters. I’ve got my over-encompassing plotline as well as the starting adventures to run with, but the wisdom shared here has given me a bit more to think about.
Thanks again!
Excellent! I’m glad that you found the article helpful, or at least that it made you think about some things. DFRPG is a great game and I hope that it continues to grow in popularity.
Cheers,
DMSamuel
Nice article. I mostly play DnD with a group on Friday fortnights but recently joined another group on every wed which plays a variety of games. we had played out a DFRPG in russia and it was very challenging for the DM and players alike being used to more traditional rpgs.
We all enjoyed it though and are keen to revisit it and other FATE games. We followed up with a HELAS game which has many similarities.
I will add that listening to your AP podcasts “we are all mad here”, really helped a lot but it is frustrating …. you still haven’t released the last 3! You tease! I take it life got in the way. Will you be able to release the final 3 sometime or is it just too much work? I’d love to hear how it all ended up. Great characters and setting btw.
Thanks for the article and the podcasts.
Interesting post, and I am totally late to the party, but it was very helpful. I just switched from Pathfinder to Dresden Files.
Declarations are the biggest hitch in my game so far. I’m ready and excited for them to show up, but everyone is gone shy on doing declarations, and assessments.
I wonder if some of it is about holding on to fate points. So did anything really do the trick on smoothing out the speed bump?
Hi Shane – Thanks for the comments!
You know – I only ended up running about 6 session of DFRPG. Real life got in the way and scheduling issues ended the campaign prematurely. So I am not an expert by any means, but I think the speedbump did get smaller as the # of sessions increased.
For me to really get comfortable with a system I need to run it at least 5 times. Unfortunately this campaign died as I was just getting into the groove – it did get easier, for sure.
One of the ways I did it was to shorten the list of aspects that I worried about in terms of the PCs and NPCs. Instead of taking on the mammoth task of trying to get most of them into the game, I settled on 3 that I really could focus on in a single session and I told the players that. In return, their job was to try and pull out the aspects of their characters and make it known that they were doing so. It doesn’t hurt to be obvious and sometimes its just a matter of the players getting to know the PCs of the other players well enough to provide tension to the game in the form of compels and tags…
So… it did get easier, and just as I was thinking it would be a breeze next time, the campaign stalled. :o
Cheers!