This game is taking place at the END of the book, CHANGES. There will be movement in the background advancing the book series. Characters may get their chance to participate in some of the book series drama.


DUELS


Weregilds are payments for admitted wrongs. For ongoing disputes, there
is the duel.
To mortals, a duel is almost a thing of legend, a gentleman’s method to settle
matters of honor or avoid conflicts in which loved ones and/or innocents
may perish. The famous Hamilton-Burr duel exemplifies the first, although
the popular, romanticized version is found in The Three Musketeers.
An example of the latter is Mark Antony challenging Octavian to protect
Cleopatra, their children, and the city of Alexandria after the Battle of Actium.
(On the verge of capturing Alexandria, Octavian refused, but it was the
gesture that counted.)


The Unseelie Accords have well-delineated rules regarding a duel, but in
summary:

A challenged party does not have to accept a challenge. Once a challenge
is accepted, failure to follow the prescribed protocol is tantamount to
forfeiture, the penalty for which is death.
k Formally issued challenges require a mutually accepted neutral party
as arbiter. Knights of the Sword and the Archive are frequent and
preferred arbiters.

The arbiter oversees all niceties of the duel, including allowable weapons,
e.g., energy (magic), force of will, and skill at arms (typically sword).

Each party must name an individual to serve as second. The arbiter
makes all arrangements via the seconds.

The challenged party selects weapons, but the challenger can decline the
first choice, requiring a second selection by the challenged.

The challenger selects the duel’s place and time.

The duel continues until one side is unable to continue (i.e., dead).

The arbiter settles any improprieties during the duel (with extreme
prejudice when dictated).

At the duel’s conclusion, the dispute named in the challenge is considered settled under the Accords.
Challenges can be and have been issued in less
formal circumstances, such as on a battlefield for the
sake of preventing conflict or preempting further loss
of life. These duels forego arbitration and, thus, the
neutrality that ensures a duel’s propriety. Therefore,
duels lacking formality may use the code prescribed
in the Accords but do not officially settle any disputes.
Treachery often follows the close of such duels;
they are to be avoided unless absolutely necessary.
This message was last edited by the GM at 09:10, Mon 16 Mar 2020.

Pertinent to anyone part of the White Council.


THE FIRST LAW: THOU SHALT
NOT KILL BY USE OF MAGIC

This law is the most straightforward: using magic to kill another mortal is
prohibited. Killing by other means is considered the jurisdiction of mortal
authorities, and using magic to slay supernatural beings is not only permitted
but often encouraged, particularly with the Wardens.

THE SECOND LAW: THOU SHALT
NOT TRANSFORM OTHERS

T. H. White’s Merlin took great joy in changing his student Arthur into
various and sundry animals, but the truth is that forcible shapeshifting warps
the mind of its victim. Even voluntary submission to therianthropy brings
dangerous alterations to one’s thought process, such as with the hexenwulf
FBI agents in Wizard Dresden’s Fool Moon casefile.

THE THIRD LAW: THOU SHALT NOT
INVADE THE MIND OF ANOTHER

Telepathic magic is a difficult discipline to master, although mental communications within the White Council is not uncommon. What this law
strictly forbids is the willful assault on the mind of another. The necromancer
known as Corpsetaker is particularly skilled in this arena.

THE FOURTH LAW: THOU SHALT
NOT ENTHRALL ANOTHER

The Seven Laws of Magic are intended to protect and preserve the free will
of humanity, at least from the powers of a wizard. Enthrallment—enslaving
another—is the clearest definition of free will’s subversion. The sorcerer
Justin DuMorne broke several of the Seven Laws, including the fourth, when
he enthralled his adoptive daughter and turned her against another wizard.

THE FIFTH LAW: THOU SHALT NOT
REACH BEYOND THE BORDERS OF LIFE

Necromancy in all its flavors is forbidden and the most plainly black of
magic. Only the most profound perversion of magic can bring corpses to life
or otherwise exert control over death itself, and the most powerful of necromancers have provided the White Council
and the world in general with its gravest
threats in the form of Heinrich Kimmler
and his associates. Read the Dead Beat
casefile for more information.
Even Dresden would
groan at that.
I think he would dig it.
STOP ALREADY.
80
[How the World Works]

THE SIXTH LAW: THOU SHALT NOT SWIM
AGAINST THE CURRENTS OF TIME

A mortal’s lifespan is too abbreviated to permit comprehension of the
manner in which time flows, even for a wizard. Meddling with that flow has
disastrous consequences. Do not attempt it. Do not consider attempting it.
The outcome is never worth the cost.

THE SEVENTH LAW: THOU SHALT
NOT OPEN THE OUTER GATES

You have only a smattering of understanding of the Outer Gates (page
69) and yet you may have already gleaned that what subsists beyond them
is literally Outside all that we know in this reality. The creatures of Outside
threaten all of existence. Yet the very nature of Outsiders tempts dangerously
daring wizards to attempt to employ them as nigh-unstoppable weapons here.
The aforementioned Justin DuMorne summoned one such Outsider, He Who
Walks Behind, to use against Wizard Dresden, and only vast cunning and
luck allowed Dresden to escape. Outsiders were also
present when the Winter Lady, Maeve, effected her
mad plan to strike against her mother, Queen Mab.
We have seen more Outsiders of late than in any
other time in human history, which is as dire a harbinger as one may consider.
This message was last edited by the GM at 09:53, Thu 05 Mar 2020.

Character Creation

The steps involved in character creation may be executed in any order,
but I recommend the following sequence:

Choose a mantle.

Create two aspects—high concept and trouble.

Create a third aspect.

Give your character a name and describe them.

Choose your character’s approaches.

Set your character’s refresh to 3.

Choose a stunt.

Record your character’s stress and conditions.

If desired, write up to two more aspects and add up to two more
stunts if you want. The stunts cost one refresh each.

Complete any additional information required about your
character.

---

We use a ladder of adjectives and numbers (shown
here) to rate a character’s approaches, the result of a
roll, the opposition against an action, etc.
Each of your character’s approaches is rated on
this ladder.

Choose one approach at Good (+3),
two at Fair (+2)
two at Average (+1)
and one at
Mediocre (+0).

You can improve these later, so you
will not be locked into your choices forever.
For more about what each approach means and how
to use them to accomplish actions, see Chapter 6:
The Play’s the Thing on page 97.

---

Your refresh determines your minimum number of fate points received at
the start of each game session. Spend these points to gain advantages, such
as leveraging aspects (see Chapter 7: Aspects, the Fulcrum of Fate on page
106) or activating certain stunts. Everyone begins with three refresh but
may spend refresh to purchase stunts in a later step. Your character’s refresh
can never be allowed to go below one.
You begin every session with the fate points from the previous session’s
conclusion or a number equal to your character’s refresh (if higher).

Thereby, it may be worth it to keep 3 refresh points or buy some stunts. But your refresh cannot go below 1.

---

The Approaches:

Flair: An action that draws attention to you, replete with style and
panache. Examples: Delivering an inspiring speech to your army, embarrassing your opponent in a duel, producing a magical fireworks display.


Focus: Time-consuming action in which close attention is paid to detail
so the task is properly executed on the first attempt. Examples: Lining
up a long-range sniper rifle shot, attentively standing watch, disarming a
bank’s alarm system.


Force: A display of brute strength rather than subtlety. Examples:
Wrestling a troll, staring down a werewolf, casting a powerful magic spell.


Guile: An effort focusing on misdirection, stealth, or deceit. Examples:
Talking your way out of getting arrested, picking a pocket, feinting in a
sword fight.


Haste: A dexterous movement with alacrity. Examples: Dodging a shot,
landing the first punch, disarming a bomb as it ticks 3...2...1.


Intellect: Quick thinking, the solving of complex problems, or accounting for numerous variables at once. Examples: Code breaking, outwitting
a fae courtier, counting cards in a poker game.

---

4 Basic Action Types

Create an Advantage

Objective: Affect a fact or situation—or leverage a current fact
or situation—to give you or an ally a future benefit.
Creating an advantage includes anything accomplished to
benefit from or to alter your current circumstances. Knocking the weapon
out of your opponent’s hand, spending several hours researching, tripping
the thug trying to rob you—these all count as creating an advantage.
If your action directly or indirectly affects them, another PC or NPC can
use the defend action to attempt to stop you.
The result of creating an advantage is often a situation aspect (page 107),
and/or more chances to take advantage of an aspect, which I call invokes
(page 108).


Overcome

Objective: Directly achieve a goal or remove or surmount an
obstacle between you and a goal.
Use this action whenever seeking to achieve a goal against
opposition or trying to bypass/remove an obstacle preventing a goal’s realization. Taking action to eliminate or amend an inconvenient situation aspect is
usually an overcome action. (See Chapter 7: Aspects, the Fulcrum of Fate,
page 107, for more information.)
Nearby characters wishing to interfere with your action may provide opposition to your roll.
C
O
102
[Basic Rules]


Attack

Objective: Harm someone mentally or physically.
Whether executing a rondello with a broadsword, performing a morote seoi nage in unarmed combat, or hurling a
blistering insult, you are trying to visit harm on your target, ultimately with
sufficient severity to remove them from the scene. This action may result in
killing them, knocking them unconscious, or causing them to flee in terror.
The targeted individual always has the opportunity to use defend in response.


Defend

Objective: Prevent harm to you or an ally physically or mentally or prevent the create an advantage action against you.
Unlike the other three actions, defend is almost always
performed on someone else’s turn as a reaction to their attempt to hurt you
or create an advantage against you.
If everyone agrees it is reasonable, you can defend against an effect not
targeting you in specific. If you do so and fail, you become the target for any
bad results.

Character Sheet
Everyone will be Supernatural level starting out.


<tt>
<hr><large><b>DESCRIPTION</b></large>
Race:
Height:
Eye Color:
Hair Color:
Faction (If Any):
Job Within Faction(If Any):
Mundane Job (if Any)
Family (If Any):

<hr><large><b>Mantles</b></large> List any mantles you may "own"





<hr><large><b>ASPECTS</b></large>
High Concept:
Trouble:
Others:




<hr><large><b>APPROACHES</b></large>
    Focus:
    Flair:
    Guile:
Intellect:
    Force:
    Haste:

  Refresh:
     Fate:
<hr><large><b>Stress and Conditions</b></large>
Stress:

List all conditions from mantle and others acquired (Check anything with X currently active)




<hr><b>Mantle Stunts</b>
List all stunts granted by mantle (Check with an X the ones you actually have)


<hr><large><b>Unique Stunts</b></large>
 Unique Stunts to your character


<hr><b>Skills</b>

 <b>Languages(earthly and others):</b> English, ???


<hr>
</tt>
This message was last edited by the GM at 09:28, Wed 18 Mar 2020.

Die Roller.

Set to 4d3.

What the Numbers Mean:

1 = -1
2 = +0
3 = +1


So 1,1,3,3 is effectively 0. No bonus or penalty gained from die roll.

Recently configured die roller for fudge dice. So you have to add your bonus at the end.

In the die roller list all mods. Fate, Focus, Stunt, XYZ

 "if spending fate, say so in the die roller."

Any characters sharing a back story gets a free aspect (shared) to add to their list of other aspects.

Example. Felix and Hamasa share a back story and decide together aspect is: Cats Have 9 Lives

Due to their shared backstory, they each get this aspect and now have ties in game.

---

I am okay with people swearing in character. In the OOC, let's keep it professional.
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:04, Fri 13 Mar 2020.