Teleportation has always seemed too easy for me. I’ve always thought that it was sort of a easy out and cheesy way to get around withour actually having to travel (and run into those wonderful random encounters). So why not just make it a little riskier. Hehe. I fully admit that much of inspiration for this came from Lamentations of the Flame Princess. You’ve got wizards ripping holes int reality just summon an insane monstrosity from an equally insane dimension so why not this concept one step further.
I wanted to keep this as rules neutral as possible. GM’s should use this as means to make the party’s life “interesting”. Wizards should know that very bad things could happen when teleporting and GM’s just shouldn’t throw this in as a surprise.
When a wizard casts a teleporation spell, he’s just creating a short cut through a forgotten dimension. Each character (including the caster) must make a save versus Magic (Tweak to the rules you happen to be using). If they fail then roll on the following chart:

1-The character is replaced with something else. It may look like him and even act a little like him but it’s something evil and will abandon, kill or betray the party at it’s earliest convenience. The original character may or may not be able to rescued. If the character is some how rescued then roll 1d10+10 on this chart for any additional effects.

2-There are now two of the character. One is the character and the other is evil as above. (Note: For a really good way to handle this see the adventure A Stranger Storm in Lamentations of the Flame Princess). The evil knows everything that good one knows. It’s up to the party to figure out a way to deal with it.

3-There are now two of the character. One is all the good and sensitive parts of the character’s personality, the other the dark and evil parts. For the character ever to whole again, the party needs to figure out a way to put the halves back together. (Ref: The Enemy Within from the original Star Trek)

4-Something extra comes through with party. A hideous monster slips through with the rest of the party and attacks them immediately.

5-The character’s arrival is delayed. (Roll a d6. 1: 1d6 rounds, 2: 2d6 rounds, 3:1d6 minutes, 4: 1d6 hours, 5: 1d6 days, 6: 1d4 weeks).

6-The character gets displaced from the rest of the party in a random direction. (Roll a d6. 1: 1d6x5 feet, 2-3: 1d20 x 5 feet, 4: 1d6 x 100 feet, 5: 1d6 x 1,000 feet, 6: 1d4 miles)

7-The character has been infected with a horrible extra-dimensional parasite. The character will be fine for a few days and then start showing ill effects (strange cravings, weight loss, eating too much, always hungry). Then the character will be sick and so weak that he is bed ridden. If the situation is not solved in another week then a ravenous creature bursts out of the characters chest and goes on a killing rampage. (Yeah, you know where I got the idea for this one.)

8-The character didn’t quite make the transition. He and his gear is insubstantial for 1d4 hours. He is not invisible but just a ghostly apparition.

9-The character’s passing has damaged the veil between realities and left a portal open. Many unpleasant things come pouring through.

10-The character really missed the mark. He materializes 1d6 x 10 feet above the ground and then takes falling damage.

11-The character looked into the abyss between the worlds. He permanently loses 1 point of Wisdom and gains a random insanity. There’s a good chance that the character’s hair turns white from the horror’s that he has experienced.

12-The character’s mind has been jarred by the trip. For the next 3d6 rounds, the character acts as if he is under the influence of a Confusion spell.

13-Something lashed out at the character during the trip. The character takes 3d6 damage. This wound leaves an odd scar that will never go away.

14- The character loses a random item.

15- A random item the character is carrying becomes enchanted. Considering where this happened the enchantment probably won’t be a very pleasant one.

16-The character is plagued by nightmares of what he thinks he might have saw. For the next 1d8 days the character cannot get a good night’s sleep. He is never considered rested and won’t regain spells.

17-The character is possessed by an entity. It generally hates the character and wants to go home but that doesn’t mean it won’t torment the character or cause some death and destruction while it is in this dimension. The character may have strange dreams or wake up in strange places covered in blood. Getting drunk til the character passes out won’t help. If properly motivated, the entity may even help the character if the price is right and the character is willing to pay it.

18-The character suffers from hallucinations for the 1d10 days. He will hear voices or even his companions say things. He will see things move in the shadows. Of course, sometimes there might really be something in the shadows.

19-The character is struck blind for 1d8 days or until cured.

20-Arcane Knowledge. Somehow the character gained the ability to cast a random 1st level wizard’s spell once a day.

As I posted a few weeks ago, the GM bug has been gnawing at me. Since the Dresden Files RPG has hit the shelves, a few more ideas have crept into my little brain.
One of the ideas I had been playing around with is running a horror campaign. I had originally planned on using Savage Worlds for this but after reading the DFRPG I think it might work better. But wait, you say, Dresden Files is an urban fantasy game. Oh so true but there’s really not that much difference. You’ve got all the pieces you need twist and mold the DFRPG into game of monster hunting horror. You’ve magic, monsters, psychic abilities and a whole cornucopia of weirdness to throw at mortal characters.
So why in the world would abandon my old favorite of Savage Worlds for FATE? In this case, I just think that FATE is better choice. The mechanics of Aspects through out the system lend itself much better to manipulating player characters into making those non-optimal moral decisions. FATE also lends itself to a much narrative style of play which I think is key to setting mood and building the tension. Also, I think FATE is going to be better at handling combats against Big Bads than Savage Worlds. No Acing Head Shots of Doom.
What really separates urban fantasy from horror in this case, is mood, perception and power level. Compared to a normal Dresden Files campaign, player characters would barely register as any sort of power. Maybe a psychic power or a little bit ritual magic and that would be about it. Just enough to set them a part for the run of mill mortals but not enough so that even minor supernatural threats would still be really dangerous.

Since Fred Hicks announced that the dead tree versions would be shipping on June 30, I’ve been chomping at the bit and reading over PDF’s.
I do have to admit that I have a bit of the gamer ADD. Something new and shiny comes out and it really fascinates me until the next cool thing catches my attention. But this is a game I’ve been waiting on for a long time. I’ve been a Dresden fan for years plus I just love the genre. For some reason, I really enjoy mixing the magical with the modern mundane. And for those reasons the Dresden Files RPG has been added to my “must run” list.
As I’ve read through the PDF’s, my little imagination got to working about the possibilities. First, of course, is just running it vanilla. But I am a hopeless tweaker and about half of the good old gaming group hasn’t read the books and wouldn’t know a Red Court vampire from a White Court. Throwing in a whole new set of meta-physical laws and species plus a new game system would probably throw a few folks for a little loop.
This leads to an easy second option, a Dresden-inspired world. This is one of the really neat aspects (no pun intended) of the game. The first part of character generation is creating the city.vA little player-GM collaboration to set up the place where all your adventures will happen. So I figured why not take this one step further. Have the players help create the world. This wouldn’t be as detailed as the city creation. Just sort of a checklist of things and generalities and inspirations from other sources. Enough to get some creativity going for city and character creation. A few email exchanges should take care of it.
Now, my third idea goes off the rails. Run it as a horror game. All the bits are there. A magic system with variable power levels, all sorts of beasties, a rather dangerous combat system, and a fear and insanity mechanic can be easily exported into Mental Stress. This is interesting and should work because FATE really emphasizes a narrative style of play. Compels reinforce the non-optimal (and non-gamer like) decisions that so many characters in horror stories make.
So that’s what’s been running through my little old brain the last few weeks. And when I get those nice hefty books more ideas will just start flowing.

I’ve been rambling on the last few weeks about my future GMing plans. One of the possibilities is the aforementioned Dragon Age RPG.
There’s been so buzz about the video game and really not that many squeaks of joy coming from the table community. Yeah, it’s yet another licensed RPG and it’s yet another rule system for players to learn. Let me channel my inner grognard here. Back in my day, every game had different rules. There was not OGL. But back on topic. It’s a good rules lite system with some pretty nifty bits and if you’re late arriving to the show, here’s my original review. But I figured that everything was a done and then Kobold Quarterly #13 comes out. Oh, shiny. AGE Backgrounds for Freeport. Hmm, who says I have to be tied to the licensed background. That’s not saying that Thedas isn’t fun but in lot ways a table top game is going to have a tough time living up to the flash of the video game and since most of our group has played the game that’s going to be a pretty tall order. Of course, there will also be the suggestions to hunt down Allister or Morrigan and kill them.
But heck, I could just start bending the system to my will and put in it a totally different world. Of course, there’s still one limiting factor. It’s that boxed set sales model. Right now, everyone is waiting for Set 2 (Levels 5 through 10) to come out and hopefully get a much better grasp on how things will work at higher levels. I did pick up the Game Master’s bundle and the adventure that came with it is pretty good. Pretty soon, Blood in Ferelden should be coming out and that would be three adventures plus three adventure outlines. That starts to piece together a pretty good chunk of a campaign. Just write a little transitional material and there we go.
I know I’m planning way out but hey I like to do that. Planning is half the fun.
Yes, this has been an insane and rambling post. I’ve got several irons the fire right now but that’s a surprise for later.