The Dice Pool
Building a dice pool in Dresden Heroic Roleplaying is very similar to the process in MHR. You get to include one die from each of your "buckets," paying Plot Points to let you add in more than one die from a particular one. Generally, you get the following dice in every roll you make:
- One MO
- One Distinction
- One ability trait from each of your character's ability sets
- One Specialty
- Your opposition's stress or complication dice, if any
- One asset, if any
- One push die, stunt, or resource, if any
You determine your totals and effect dice using the rules given on OM07–OM09 of Marvel Heroic Roleplaying.
Stress & Trauma
Dresden Heroic follows the basic damage paradigm used in MHR, giving each character three stress and trauma tracks: Emotional, Mental, and Physical. These have the same in-game definitions as used in MHR, and all the same rules apply.
Hunger
Hunger is a special kind of stress that only characters with a vampiric background take. It represents either their thirst for blood (Red Court) or their hunger for the psychic energy of mortals (White Court). Just like any other kind of stress, you may use your own Hunger in your dice pools, stepping it up by +1 after doing so, and opposing characters can use it with narrative justification. (Just because you have d8 Hunger doesn't mean that you're easier to hit or hurt, after all. But if your White Court vampire character has d8 Hunger and your enemy is tempting him with a lust-laden tryst with the enemy's girlfriend, it's a different story.) Unlike other types of stress, Hunger is only self-inflicted; you will never be given Hunger by another character in the game. (More details on specific ways Hunger impacts your character will be given later, when we talk about SFX and Limits.)
Being stressed out with Hunger works differently than it does with other types of stress. In addition to inflicting trauma, taking over d12 Hunger triggers a specialized limit that all characters with a vampiric background must take:
- Limit: Ravening Hunger When your Hunger is stepped up beyond d12, you give into the baser needs of your vampiric nature. On your turn, you must make a Leech attack against the likeliest target near you, even if that target is an ally. When you inflict physical or mental stress, your Hunger is stepped back by -1. You may also roll against the doom pool to try stepping back your Hunger. On a successful roll, you may step back your Hunger by -1 and step up your mental stress by +1. Once your Hunger stress has been stepped back beyond d4, you regain full control of your character.
One of the biggest reasons I used MHR as the base for this hack was the pre-built stress tracks and mechanics that followed the Dresden Files fiction. There are multiple instances in the novels where Harry uses his emotions to fuel his magic, after all. Hunger came about as a way of including the otherworldly strength that the vampiric characters in the books possessed. They can draw upon the darkness infusing their souls to make them stronger and more deadly, but it comes with the possible price of sacrificing their humanity entirely, especially for an infected or a virgin.
I don't know that I'm completely happy with the way the Hunger mechanic is working, but I do like the idea that pushing yourself too far and too hard leaves a scar on your soul, a scar that others might be able to exploit. This portion of the hack is still slightly under revision, so we'll have to see where it goes from here.
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