The Dresden Files > DFRPG
Law Talk
blackstaff67:
The exact wording of the law is "Never seek Knowledge and Power from Beyond the Outer Gates." The 2nd paragraph says that even doing research on the Gates and its inhabitants is verboten and is not conditioned upon casting a spell.
RAW, yeah, she's going into dark gray/black territory. I'd guess this is a subject the WC treats as "Sorry, you know too much;" rather like the Shadow Hunter folks. That said, as it ain't about using a spell that warps your soul, it's hard for me to see how doing research will actually confer a Lawbreaker status/stunt upon a PC. I guess ignorance is a multifaceted thing indeed--"Sorry, BOb, you've read too much about them and now your soul is stained with the knowledge you have."
Theonlyspiral:
I've always understood it to be the same as Knowledge in Lovecraft. On one hand it makes you better able to fight, but the knowledge itself is inherently tainted and corrupt. The more dangerous you are to the enemy the more compromised your ability to act.
Lavecki121:
I wouldnt think of it like that for instance in Cold Days (click to show/hide)When Harry fought that Outsider in Macks bar. He knew it was an outsider and not a Fomor. The only way he could know that is if he had knowledge of what the outsiders could be/were, Which by your case would make him have the lawbreaker
Theonlyspiral:
Harry knows basically nothing about them though. He has no substantial information. He knows how they feel to his magical senses, that they are assaulting the gates, that there are 3 walkers and the walkers are knights. What else does Harry know?
Tarion:
I'm curious as to whether this forum considers my position on the Laws to be fundamentally unfair. Controversial, I'm fine with, as I see virtually every position on the Laws can (and is) protested, but I'm less cool with reading the Laws in a way that's unfair to spellcasters.
My general position is that if you're regularly throwing around lots of shifts of power aimed at mortals, you're going to be risking Lawbreaking, or at least the Wardens. As far as I'm concerned, there's no such thing as absolutely "safe" magic when you're throwing it at humans. Sleep magic is shown to be potentially lethal at high-powers with Agatha Hagglethorn. When Harry does it in Turn Coat, he says it's considered "grey magic". The mind fog is considered a violation in Summer Knight.
So if you're going to consistently throw around masses of power, and then try to narrate it as "and they all took enough damage to be Taken Out, while somehow surviving" I'm probably going to balk and suggest that you're pushing it beyond the "realm of reason". For me, the "World of Cardboard"* nature of Wizards in the Dresdenverse is a key part of the setting. It's like Luccio said in Turn Coat:
--- Quote ---And for gaining control over others, for gathering great power to oneself, there is no better tool than black magic... Without resorting to black magic, the amount of damage an individual can inflict on mortal society is limited... the Laws of Magic are not about justice... They are about restraining power
--- End quote ---
That just doesn't fit with Wizards who are able to frequently and safely disable other humans.
And even if you are regularly burning someone close to death and leaving them, or putting people into comas, or anything else of the sort, you're certainly going to have the Wardens sitting on your ass, just waiting for you to push it. In fact, I don't see them messing around with people who get even close to breaking the Laws. According to canon they're not too concerned about whether or not you're actually guilty.
*"I feel like I live in a world made of cardboard, always taking constant care not to break something, to break someone. Never allowing myself to lose control even for a moment, or someone could die"
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page
Go to full version