The Dresden Files > DFRPG
The scope of Thematic Thamaturgy
Ihadris:
--- Quote from: iago on April 09, 2010, 05:47:21 PM ---Do you have a few themes in mind you'd like to run past us? This might work better as a "workshop".
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One of my players is specialising in Air and Spirit based evocation using the theme of Chi/Ki and I was considering making a complimentary NPC ally or a mirror type rival NPC. I thought perhaps wards, with bonuses for landmine spells that use force or air as the triggered effect, divination with a focus on psychometry & emotional states, and the summoning & binding of Spirits (more along the lines of the Japanese Kami then ghosts). As regards to what would be out, Crafting, Veils, wards with evocation effects outside of the air and spirit specialties and conjuration would receive no bonus.
Generally though when I have thought about how I would respond if a player said to me that they wanted to have a theme releating to one of the elements I havn't been confident about where to draw the line. On the one hand I dont want to give the player too much power but on the other I dont want them to feel like they are being punished for specialising in Thaumaturgy and wanting to keep to a theme.
At what point would you say that a concept is too wide?
The Codex:
Actully I think this why I have been struggling to find ideas that fit a theme with in the context of the rules.... Is there a way of not quantifying but possibly giving some more guidlines around themes for both rituals and channeling as that would help I think with also working out magic users from other cultures as well.
Cheers
Ihadris:
Okay I was thinking about this over the last couple of days.
From reading the rules over again in details there seems to be 8 types of Thaumaturgy listed: Summoning & Binding, Crafting, Conjuration, Divination, Veils, Transformation & Disruption, Transportation & World Walking and Wards.
The example themes given seem to fall into two catagories: 'wide focus with narrow application' and 'narrow focus with wide application'. Biomancy and Psychomancy seem to be wide focus with narrow application; each having around 3 areas of specialisation (Divination, Transformation & Disruption, Transportation & World Walking for both of them.)
Where as Ectomancy lists all of the thaumaturigcal types but is limited strictly to ghosts. (Discounting Demonic, Fae & other spirits of the Nevernever and Outsiders) Diabolism is a similar example.
Would it then be fair to say that the wider the application of theme to the thaumaturigcal types the more limited the situations that grant the bonus become?
Ihadris
iago:
--- Quote from: Ihadris on April 13, 2010, 01:33:44 PM ---Would it then be fair to say that the wider the application of theme to the thaumaturigcal types the more limited the situations that grant the bonus become?
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Nice detective work, Ihadris. I don't know if we deliberately thought about it that way (we were trying to document what we knew of implicitly and explicitly from the series), but I think you're on to something there.
Ihadris:
--- Quote from: iago on April 13, 2010, 01:57:53 PM ---Nice detective work, Ihadris. I don't know if we deliberately thought about it that way (we were trying to document what we knew of implicitly and explicitly from the series), but I think you're on to something there.
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Thanks very much! I just needed some sort of a balancing structure straight in my head so I could say yay or nay to potential themes from my players. I realise through reading a lot of the threads that your already adding in it a lot more of the notes in the margin but this could be worth a mention.
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