The Dresden Files > DFRPG
The First Law of Magic In-Play: Semi-Official Advice
Tedronai:
--- Quote from: Mrmdubois on May 16, 2013, 08:50:13 AM ---So you would argue that you could take a Power that functions similarly to Lawbreaker for other types of magic you might perform?
Or are you saying something more abstract? I didn't really understand your post.
--- End quote ---
The Laws of physics are no less accurately termed Laws for their lack of a police force, trials, and executions.
The metaphysical laws represented by the Lawbreaker power are The Laws upon which the White Council of Wizardry based its Laws.
There is no Law for heating a cup of tea. There is no Law for veiling a blade of grass on a lark. There is no Law for transforming the caster's own self.
The Laws make a special case of a small set of actions. We are not told why. I do not care to guess.
Houserule as you will.
Mrmdubois:
Wasn't really planning to house rule anything.
--- Quote from: polkaneverdies on May 16, 2013, 11:57:16 AM ---The only laws violated by robbing a bank would be mortal government ones. unless you were using no creativity you wouldn't need to violate either the council laws or the metaphysical "rules of magic"
--- End quote ---
The use of magic, or lack thereof, leads to behavioral and mental adjustment. So I think you misunderstand me, it's more of a following of the metaphysical laws than breaking of them. Do X and you will be more likely to do X again. That is the metaphysical law. The Laws of the Council exist to make sure there are certain X's you don't commit, they interact with the metaphysical law, but they aren't metaphysical in the least. That isn't metaphysical at all. One of the reason the Council Laws exist is supposedly because of the corruptive nature of the actions outlined therein, indicating a moral agenda. However there are a lot of possible actions which are morally suspect or condemnable that the Laws don't address. Like theft, or torture, which impose on, ignore or negate the free will of others and the fact that the Council doesn't bother to regulate that along with the quote from Luccio and the consideration that using magic like doing anything leads to behavioral and mental adjustments, thus theft and torture can be just as corruptive as breaking Council Law. All of that means when considered together that the Laws are not in place to prevent corruption, but to limit power. They just happen to happily prevent some of the corruptive magics one can perform as well.
Tedronai:
It's good you've begun to reference them as 'The Laws of the Council'. It is an important distinction from 'The Laws of Magic' which you seemed to have been referencing previously.
That clarification being in place, the corrections I would insist upon are minor enough that I no longer care to continue beyond this last restatement:
--- Quote from: Tedronai on May 16, 2013, 05:17:15 PM ---The Laws [of Magic] make a special case of a small set of actions. We are not told why. I do not care to guess.
--- End quote ---
(clarification added)
Mrmdubois:
The Laws of the Council I am referencing are the big 7 and are also called the Laws of Magic. They do nothing to describe magic itself, just a bunch of things the Council doesn't allow. So I don't see the point of your distinction.
Tedronai:
You still haven't gotten this?
Lawbreaker exists for 'the big 7'. No such mechanism exists for other activities, nor is justification for such a mechanism applied to other activities referenced in the fiction.
The Laws of Magic exist both as metaphysical truths and as the Laws of the Council.
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