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Custom Spell Compilation Thread

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Michael Sandy:
I am working on a thaumaturgy healing spell, and I need some ideas for calculating its complexity, and what would be needed to cast it.  And a good name too.

The thaumaturgical principle at the core is that the implement used to harm can be used to heal.  If you have the knife used to cut someone, the knife 'remembers' the whole body it injured, and the edges of the wound, and so it can be used to undo the harm it did.  If you have the claw of the ghoul that disemboweled someone,  you can touch the claws to the wounds, do the ritual, and at least reduce the severity of the wound.

What sorts of healing things should you be able to do with thaumaturgy?

Ectoplasm makes a sterile bandage?  Seal up a wound without requiring stitches?  Put pressure on a blood vessel... without requiring even a cut in the skin, if you have a sufficiently good model to work from.

Strengthen the vital forces of the body by directly transferring life energy.

Could magic be used on a prosthetic, so the phantom pain and phantom limb sensations are actually real?

What sorts of healing spells have people used?  What are the limits on healing spells?  What limits make good stories, (like you need to have the weapon or poison that inflicted the injury) and what are just sensible game mechanic limitations?

devonapple:
Healing spells risk trivializing the Consequence system in Dresden File. That said, there is a Reiki Healing Spell to use as a model (YS 300).

Using that as a model, you spend 4 shifts for the basic spell, then shifts equal to the Consequence(s) being healed. Doing so shifts a consequence down one level in severity, letting it recover more quickly - however, it still occupies the same Consequence slot, so you can't suddenly fit an additional Consequence there. Healing Stress, of course, is moot, because it goes away almost immediately. And if you wanted it to go away in combat, this wouldn't be Thaumaturgy (well. it could be Sponsored Magic, but that's another discussion).

If the sky's the limit, and the GM allows it, I would imagine that paying twice for each Consequence would remove it entirely, freeing up the Consequence slot.

So, for a target who has filled up his 2-, 4- and 6-point Consequences with physical injuries that would respond to healing energy, healing them completely could be (I propose):
4 base +
2+2 to remove the Mild Consequence +
4+4 to remove Moderate Consequence +
6+6 to remove Serious Consequence =
28 shifts. Which is enough shifts to outright kill many mortals.

Michael Sandy:
Some ideas for keeping healing spells in balance:

Healing spells aren't universal.  You can't use the spell you learned to fix a bullet wound to fix a ghoul claw wound.  You have to do the research, whatever complexity it is, again.

Healing spells gone wrong have some of the nastiest and most insidious backlash effects.  You take 5 points of physical backlash and take a mild consequence... you get a cold that just won't go away.  And it gets worse.  And fallout is worse.  A healing spell gone wrong can easily become cancerous.  Or call a necromantic entity into being to 'restore the balance' or some such creepiness.

Thaumaturgic surgery has dangers just like real world surgery does.

Some ideas for generating the power for healing spells.

Family vigil:  family members pray, tell stories, keep watch.  Each member will take the consequences Physically exhausted, mentally exhausted, and emotional catharsis.

Just like a potion, for powerful thaumaturgic surgery you need 8 elements that symbolize life.  The five senses, mind, spirit and a base.  The sound of a stream, the smell of rich fertile earth, with a base of seed which contain all the vital energy to start new life, the bark of an ancient tree for touch, etc...  And something for spirit and mind that specifically call to the person being healed.

Have an 'exploratory' ritual, to magically assess the injury.  This provides a taggable aspect "I know what I am doing" for a possible reroll if needed.

Richard_Chilton:
I thought these were here already, but I guess they are only with the character write ups.

Note: these spells were written with specific characters in mind - a lowlife unimaginative villain, a young scion, and an Emissary of Priapus.

From the villain at http://www.jimbutcheronline.com/bb/index.php/topic,24639.msg1044868.html#msg1044868:
Name: Flip Skirt
Type: Air Evocation, maneuver
Area: One target in a skirt
Most people would just use a minor magic effect for something like this, but most people aren't Magic Man.  The rote does what it says it does - it uses air to flip up a skirt.  Mini skirt, poodle skirt, dress skirt, it doesn't matter.  The affect is similar to standing over an air vent (a la Marilyn Monroe).  It's childish, but that's Magic Man for you.  It has no effect if the target isn't wearing a skirt.  Slacks, shorts, jeans, a tracksuit, you name it and it won't work on it.
Mechanically it's a maneuver with Power 4.  That's more than most maneuvers need, but Magic Man likes putting a little extra in it.
(Note - he'll sometimes use this as a pick up bit, "noticing" how a girl's power has manifested and offering to teach her so things sort of things don't happen in the future.)

Name: Dave Ain't Here Man
Type: Air Evocation, Defensive block
Area: Self
Power: 4 - 3 for the block, 1 for extra duration
Duration: 2 exchanges
When Magic Man needs to get the hell out of a situation the air bend light away from him.  That makes it a bit hard for him to see but effectively Veils long enough to get a head start.  So far it's worked well enough, and he's need to do it often enough that it's a rote.

For the preteen "I don't want to be an anti-christ" at http://www.jimbutcheronline.com/bb/index.php/topic,25470.msg1084136.html#msg1084136:
The Green Glow of Protection
Type: Spirit evocation, defensive block
Power: 5 shifts
Duration: One exchange
Effect: Deflects an incoming attack. If overcome, it vanishes.
Stevie is tough - he knows that.  But there's always wood out there and some things are just too big to for his toughness to handle.  When he brings up this defence Stevie knows it's very unlikely that he will be hurt.

Pantsing
Type: Spirit evocation, offensive maneuver
Power: 4 - 3 shifts for the maneuver + 1 for duration.
Duration: Two exchanges
Effect: Pulls down his opponent's pants and tangles them around the target's legs, giving them the aspect of * Pantsed *.
Stevie is still a kid at heart and this was the first rote he came up with.  He's thinking of replacing with a wedgie spell, but he hasn't gotten around to doing that yet.  Basically, a greenish glow pulls someone's pants and tangles it around their legs - making it a variant of the Entanglement spell from the book.   Note that the young at heart (and in body) Stevie didn't design this to take down someone's underwear so unless the target is going commando or wearing only a single layer of clothing (like a bathing suit) this rote is not as embarrassing as it could be.  Nor does it work on women wearing skirts, dresses, etc (unless he can see their underwear) because Stevie was taught that trying to flip a girl's skirt up was a nasty no-no.

The Sickly Green Dart of Energy
Type: Spirit evocation, attack
Power: 5; Stevie wasn't kidding around when he made this rote.
Control: Roll Discipline as attack roll.
Target: One target in line-of-sight, inflicting physical stress
Duration: One action
Opposed by: Target’s Athletics skill, magical blocks, etc.
Those who think that Stevie is just a cute kid are surprised by this rote while its existence confirms the suspicions of those who believe him to be the spawn of hell.  He knew he needed something like this when his mentor fell in battle.  So far he has never used it against a human, only monsters, and only when he has to.  A part of him fears that his father would approve of this spell.

From the Emissary of Priapus at http://www.jimbutcheronline.com/bb/index.php/topic,22322.msg1116271.html#msg1116271:
Spoiler tag because of mature content.
(click to show/hide)The Dread Curse of Priapus
Type: Thaumaturgy, Priapus Ritual Curse
Complexity: 16
Duration: More or less permanent.
Effect: Assigns a male victim the Extreme Consequence of "Impotent"; resisted by Endurance
Variations: Can boost the complexity to deal with thresholds and other issues.
Notes:
Designed to work on people of up to Great Endurance, the math is 4 (for Great) + 4 (max roll) + 8 (to assign an Extreme Consequence "Impotent").   Luckily there are restrictions that Priapus imposes before allowing this spell to be cast:
1) the target must be male (females face a different punishment), and
2) the target must be 25 years old or older (male youths face a different punishment), and
3) the target must have wronged Tim or Priapus in some way.
That last part could be as simple as trespassing on land where Tim has placed a "this area protected by Priapus" sign or making fun of Tim's "mark of power".  Attacking Tim definitely counts as an offence to both of them - not that offending both of them makes it easier to cast the spell, but if Tim forgives an assault he can always change his mind later and cast this spell since the god is still holding a grudge.
The different punishments referred to above aren't spells (see below) but angry sex with the victim - whether they are willing or not.  That was how Priapus rolled back in the day and he expects his new follower to do the same.  Tim has yet to inflict any of Priapus' punishments, but Priapus thinks it's only a matter of time before the boy gets into the mood of things.

Maidenhead Revisit
Type: Thaumaturgy, Priapus Ritual Transformation Maneuver
Complexity: 4 (3 for Maneuver + 1 to make it sticky)
Duration: Not touching that with a ten foot pole
Effect: Assigns the Aspect "Virgin".
Notes: Designed for use when a female or male youth (pubescent and under 25) offends Priapus or his Emissary, it makes the angry sex just that much worse.  Tim hasn't used this either as part of a "punishment" or for fun, but knowledge of the spell came with his empowerment.  No, it has no effects on those who already have that aspect.

Blessing of Priapus
Type: Thaumaturgy, Priapus Ritual Transformation Maneuver
Complexity: 4 (3 for Maneuver + 1 to make it sticky)
Duration: Until, um, exhausted?
Effect: Assigns the Aspect "Erect" to a mature male; cannot be used to counteract the Dread Curse.
Notes: Viagra in spell form.  Yes, it can be put into a potion for later use.  Tim sees this ritual as a quick way to pay back males who mock his "mark of power".  Sort of a "Ha-ha you're pitching a tent too - if you call that a tent" spell.  Is this a blessing or curse? Depends on the circumstances.

Richard

computerking:
Facial Recognition
Type: Thaumaturgy, Divination
Complexity: 10 (more required based on circumstances (See Below)
Duration: Scene
Effect: With a recent and accurate photograph of the subject and a blank sheet of paper the caster can recreate a target's most recent image taken by one of the myriad video cameras in ATM's, Traffic cameras, close circuit cameras, etc. The caster runs her left hand over the picture, as an eerie glow emanates from under it, then runs her other hand across the blank sheet. The glow from her right hand lightly burns a brownscale recreation of the target's most recent moment on camera, hopefully supplying clues as to their most recent whereabouts, onto the blank paper.
Notes:10 succeses is for a large town, more successes would be needed for a city or larger area with even more cameras. Photo may include useful things like the ATM the target was photographed by, the name of the store the camera is in, a time/date stamp, etc. Wards around the target do not alter the process, however wards around the camera that took the picture will force a reversion to the next most recent picture, and so on.

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