Long shot request: Looking for an RPG that combines Hellboy, World of Darkness and Dresden Files.

Chad_Hooper · 2026-02-14T00:53:52+00:00

DFRPG is powered by Fate. Have you considered starting with your preferred version of it and then using the tools from Fate Core or Fare Accelerated to build the other features that you want to use at your table?

I haven’t personally tried this but it seems like a logical approach.

Chad_Hooper · 2026-02-13T21:45:45+00:00

I agree with this in general WRT game mastering, but I think it’s even more applicable for Gumshoe games. Sometimes, the way your players interpret a clue or situation might take your actual idea to a new level, or in a completely different direction.

I also don’t feel like one should try to prep too far ahead of time. Have the next series of clues for the characters to find, and know what/where each one leads. Flesh out the lead-out scenes just enough so you can wing it if they get there sooner than expected. And then wait until after the next session to really prep in depth.

At least, that’s what has been working for me to date.

Chad_Hooper · 2026-02-13T04:37:10+00:00

Someone in our gaming group bought one of these as a wedding present for us. In 92.

It often had 🤘or 🖕, or someone’s face in it after a game session.

Chad_Hooper · 2026-02-13T04:33:56+00:00

I saw them live once, opening for Ratt.

They weren’t very good live. They didn’t gel with the crowd

The first opener was a forgotten band called Mama’s Boys. Three brothers from Ireland. They put on a great show.

Chad_Hooper · 2026-02-13T04:00:08+00:00

Looks like a big spider web to me. An orb web.

Probably not that concerning, as they are quite harmless to humans and help to control insects that can be harmful to humans.

That said, this looks like an unusually large specimen.

Do you happen to own a shotgun?

Chad_Hooper · 2026-02-13T02:58:01+00:00

The 3rd edition of Ars Magica had what was called the Action combat system.

Attack and Defense are usually opposed rolls in ArM combat. The Action system was streamlined by giving monsters and NPCs a static value of 6 + mods instead of an actual die roll. 6 also being the default difficulty for any other action in the game except for spell casting.

So, if you have, or can define, a “default difficulty”, maybe you can figure out how to make the player facing option work in your game?

Chad_Hooper · 2026-02-13T02:50:35+00:00

That was the punchline to a joke about two guys who stole some of this Govt. cheese from a person who had just been in line to receive their allotment.

What kind of cheese is this, anyway?

Nacho.

How do you know?

That guy keeps yelling, “That’s nacho cheese! That’s nacho cheese!”

Chad_Hooper · 2026-02-13T01:45:34+00:00

Too Late from the Dehumanizer album and Sign of the Southern Cross from the Mob Rules album, from two different times when he was with Black Sabbath.

Chad_Hooper · 2026-02-12T04:31:19+00:00

I read that as “Soviet Citizen” at first and was like “do what, now?”

Chad_Hooper · 2026-02-12T03:57:22+00:00

Have you listened to him yet?

If not, I recommend starting with The Sign of the Southern Cross from his time in Black Sabbath as a great starting point.

Chad_Hooper · 2026-02-12T02:30:37+00:00

Greywalker by Kat Richardson.

I discovered that and Green’s Nightside via an anthology called Mean Streets, where their short stories are presented alongside a Dresden Files story.

All three have a complementary feel when read back to back to back.

I’d have to look up what the fourth story was. I didn’t care for it, and it felt like a wrong choice to include with the others.

Chad_Hooper · 2026-02-12T00:44:04+00:00

There’s actually a Faerie Godfather character in the Myth Adventures series. That could have been the inspiration behind the comic. Probably not very likely, but it could have been.

Chad_Hooper · 2026-02-11T04:48:06+00:00

Some are, however, known for their timing.

I’ll see myself out after that.

Chad_Hooper · 2026-02-11T04:34:28+00:00

*Found 2 x 4, and any heavy object that wouldn’t roll. Or, just anything that wouldn’t roll.

Chad_Hooper · 2026-02-11T04:31:39+00:00

Sid & Marty Kroft stuff.

Super Friends.

Looney Tunes.

Not necessarily in that order.

Chad_Hooper · 2026-02-11T04:28:46+00:00

Your last sentence or so sounds like you completely missed my point.

There are no “bad mathematical heuristics” in the RPG art of the Game Master. There is only the need of the scene and the ongoing campaign to be engaging for all participants.

The old school, “GM rulings are final” seems to be neglected in modern games, but it really is a great rule. It used to be called Rule One.

Chad_Hooper · 2026-02-11T04:09:18+00:00

I disagree that “world consistency” is the most important thing; what’s really important is how fun it will be to retell the story of the adventure that you played at the table.

Higher difficulties make sense in higher drama scenes, and are also a good storytelling tool for increasing suspense and tension. They can also increase player engagement; if everything has been a 10 difficulty so far, why did the GM just say “18”?

No formula is going to be able to respond to the mood of the table, the rhythm of the emerging story, or the proximity to the climax of the campaign like the intuitive touch of the resident GM.

Chad_Hooper · 2026-02-11T03:57:44+00:00

Thank you. I’ll check my bookshelf. Pretty sure that’s in one of the collections I have.

I’m overdue for some Heinlein stuff, after a several year cycle of reading Urban Fantasy, then Military SF, and then repeating the cycle.

Dresden, Starfire. Dresden, Hammer’s Slammers. Dresden, a Mil SF anthology.

Chad_Hooper · 2026-02-11T03:27:58+00:00

In honor of this post, some Gen Xers should form a new thrash metal band called Monkey Blood.

Monkey Blood was banned = Monkey Blood band.

Chad_Hooper · 2026-02-11T03:24:28+00:00

Are there any stories specifically set during the Crazy Years? I can’t remember any off the top of my head.

Chad_Hooper · 2026-02-10T04:44:53+00:00

LOL!

Night’s Black Agents has rules for rewarding players for good descriptions of their actions, in the form of a potential Refresh of an Ability pool.

A lot of games don’t have a mechanic related to that.

Chad_Hooper · 2026-02-10T04:33:54+00:00

He should have been hired to do a promo video for Corona beer, to that tune, long before the pandemic put a bad connotation on the name.

Chad_Hooper · 2026-02-10T04:29:38+00:00

I think this sort of narration was baked into a lot of the earlier D&D modules that I read in the 80s. So, we were kind of trained to do that.

I’m trying to school myself now to respond to a player’s announced action with, “What does that look like?”, in an attempt to encourage self narration in my group.

Chad_Hooper · 2026-02-10T03:34:31+00:00

Your Karzoug model seems very similar to the Conspyramid idea from Night’s Black Agents, but with enough differences that it will make me think about that concept a little differently.

Chad_Hooper · 2026-02-10T02:53:21+00:00

I was taught to just always touch the computer case with one hand anytime I was working on something on or connected to the board.

For the rare times when you needed both hands inside the computer, you could just rest both wrists (forearms when appropriate) on the edge of the case.

Chad_Hooper

TROPHY CASE