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Comments thread for "The Laws of Magic: Part 4 of 8"

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iago:
The Third Law of Magic is: Never Invade the Thoughts of Another.

http://www.dresdenfilesrpg.com/news/archives/2007/06/the_laws_of_mag_2.php

Discuss!

mikeryan:
I'm not overly fond of mind reading as presented in most games or fiction, but this Law puts a neat spin on mind-raping and that makes it more interesting. And I have to say that I love this passage from the article:


--- Quote ---But if that happens, every effort should be made to throw the book at them—in as entertaining a way as possible. The moment a player decides to "break" a mystery by peeking inside the heads of those involved, the story stops being about that mystery, and starts being instead about that choice and its consequences. Go nuts with it!
--- End quote ---

That's the kind of thing that made SotC gold, and I have high hopes for Dresden.

Other comments and questions:

1) Seems a soul gaze would reveal one or more Aspects. What might be a difficult to implement in other systems already has solid mechanics behind it with Fate. Nice.

2) One implementation of mind-reading that I really liked comes from Terry Pratchett. A god says that you can't read a mind because a mind isn't a book that can be read. But you can discern the shape of a mind and determine what kind of person someone is. That seems like a perfect opportunity for an Empathy stunt in SotC or a supernatural ability or spell in Dresden. In game terms, you wouldn't be able to pick out someones network password, but you could reveal one or more Aspects. So if you did try a spell like this, does anyone think it would be a violation of the Third Law, or would it get a pass because it is essentially a mini-soulgaze?

3) Harry tells us that there is no such thing as an expert in defense against mental magic. No one is allowed to practice it (although he didn't know about the Blackstaff at that point), so there is no way to practice defense. I think it would be cool if a cabal of younger wizards began experimenting with this type of magic, just so they can hone their defenses against black magicians (of course).

13x13:
The comment about finding out nothing after invading someone's mind makes me laugh.  I can just imagine me changing the story on the fly to make the mind read, innocent. Changing the murderer, and adding the extra dynamic of having the mindreader having to explain himself to a warden.

hollow49:

--- Quote from: mikeryan on June 28, 2007, 01:57:48 AM ---3) Harry tells us that there is no such thing as an expert in defense against mental magic. No one is allowed to practice it (although he didn't know about the Blackstaff at that point), so there is no way to practice defense.
--- End quote ---

Doubtless there is already a rule covering this, but I feel the need to speculate. Perhaps the skill used for defence in this kind of psychic struggle cannot be learnt beyond a certain level without experience, or if it uses a more common skill, is limited to a maximum value for this purpose? Harry's encounter with Corpsetaker indicates that he has some training, which might well have stood up to a complete novice. Presumably if a wizard gets attacked mentally enough he could learn by experience, and Harry probably now has at least 1 more level than the normal value thanks to the events of Dead Beat and the teachings of Lasciel...

iago:
I haven't planned a rule for that *yet*.  Though I could see that being fine grounds for a compel on, say, a White Council Wizard aspect -- "Is the Council still teaching you that grade-school stuff for mental defense?  Tch."

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