An issue of aim...

[Lasair]

Intro
I got my hands on Fireborn PHB quite recently, and instantly fell for the system. Not long after I told my loyal players that this time we play something new. That's where the problems started...

An issue of aim...
After leading a single session I realised that giving my players any influence on the dragon creation kills the best thing about Fireborn - the flashback mechanism.

The point is that (IMHO of course) the flashback mechanism's aim is to provide the players with an opportunity to deepen their scions psychology. The are able to choose whether to accept themselves "as is" or work out some sort of consensus with their "former" selves. How am I supposed to procure dramatic visions while my players are perfectly aware of what they'll see?

The other point is that the GM looses half of the fun - character advancement stops being the question "who am I, and what more lurk just beyond my consciousness" and  starts being "OK - I'll take Ferocity now". In my way the player does not need to know the mechanics until he is fully aware of what they concern.

To sum this part up - during the next campaign I'll keep the dragon sheets to myself.

Self-made "feel" killer
The best thing about Fireborn is it's setting. Or... I should say... double-setting. It enables me to do all the wonders of modern campaign an classical fantasy one. It is also very helpful in building up something what we here call "climate", "atmosphere", or "feel". It is, generally, about players being focused, engaged and "in touch" with the characters they lead. The ways of creating it are legion - music, lighting, descriptions... you all know what makes a good session.

In this marvellous setting there is only one... vice. The combat mechanics. Kilbreht Kellevandros - how am I supposed to lead a breathtaking, epic, final battle supported by a "Mortal Combat/Tekken"-imported mechanics? "roll-knee-draw weapon-fire" storytelling doesn't satisfy my GM's aesthetic requirements...

But then - it's next to impossible to rip this part of... 75% of powers, legacies & edges is in more or less close relation to combat...

Note - I'm not against actions system in general. They are very well adopted to the most fabulous Magic/Karma chapter. The go well along other parts to. It's just that combat...

This is enough for one night.  Above are my thoughts - below there is a lot of place for yours... 

[Dianoga]

Giving the scions the ability to create their dragons only means that they control what their dragon is like. As a GM, you can still choose to put them in whatever kind of situations you want and thus still achieve your dramatic flashbacks. As far as the players dealing with dragon psychology, you may have to exert some GM power during creation to encourage your players (or at least some of them) to create dragons that aren't exactly in sync with their scions. I hadn't really thought too hard on that point though.

As far as combat mechanics go, I let my players explain what they want to do and then I translate that into game mechanics. As such, they aren't limited to pre-scripted moves, but I can still use mechanics to have a rough guideline to determine success.

I don't know if the above makes any sense or not. I can expand on things if anyone is interested.

[Nathan Dowdell]

In this marvellous setting there is only one... vice. The combat mechanics. Kilbreht Kellevandros - how am I supposed to lead a breathtaking, epic, final battle supported by a "Mortal Combat/Tekken"-imported mechanics? "roll-knee-draw weapon-fire" storytelling doesn't satisfy my GM's aesthetic requirements...

Give it a shot - once you and your players are used to the way it runs, it stops being about the moves, and more about the description that comes from them.

More importantly, I've run some frankly fantastic combats with this system - close-fought, action-movie-style fist fights, a fast-paced sequence involving a pair of swordsmen on motorcycles duelling at high speed in an empty car park, and epic, sweeping conflicts across rolling landscapes between Dragons and Titans. It can be, if approached with the right attitude, one of the most wonderfully dynamic and descriptive combat systems I've ever seen in an RPG. Only Eden Games' Unisystem manages to get anywhere near with their manoeuvres-based combat.

[skull]

its an interesting idea, keeping the dragon stats secret and all. I say try it out. some times players get use to doing things one way and that way does not work for all games. Mostly D&D.

[thenage]

In the campaign I'm running at the moment, my players don't even know what game system we are using.  I admit that's a bit extreme, it's been really fun.  They literally have no idea that they are scions.  All they know so far is that they have somehow developed this weird ability to telepathically communicate with a few other random people they have never met before, but who seem somehow familiar, and that they've been having strange visions about being in Atlantis together (in human form of course).

I'm planning to draw it out and give them lots of red herrings sprinkled with some real clues, deliberate misdirection, allies that seem very suspicious, and everything.  I'm hoping to last about 25% of the way into the epic campaign before the finally get the big revelation that they are dragons.  I'm hoping that when it finally happens, they will be blown away and then be in denial for the rest of the session.  They've been having a blast and really like the intense air of secrecy that this has pulled into the game.  Aside from how much fun it has been, my main motivation is that I wish that I could have been introduced to the game this way.  I figure it's only something you can do once, so why not try it?