The Dresden Files > DF Spoilers

Power Creep

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Bad Alias:
@Avernite: Good observation. An example of how Harry leverages knowledge to great effect is his utilization of the Little Folk. Knowing what they're capable allows Harry to use them for all sorts of stuff that heavily pays off. Mostly it's for knowledge.

@Morris: Yeah, but that's much more about how an author should handle power creep. The answer is have a plan. It's simple, obvious, and often ignored. I'm more interested in looking at it from a doylist perspective, mapping his progress, predictions about where he's going or where the power ups are going to come from (like Avernite's prediction of knowledge), etc.

morriswalters:
Then his Mothers ruby.  In Blood Rites she gives Harry knowledge.  While that may have been about what she had done to Raith she may have left him another legacy hidden in the Never Never.  Sooner or later he has to learn what is what and who is who.  And one way to do that would be for Margaret to have had a redoubt in the Never Never such as Rashid's.  Maybe she kept a diary, or, for those time travel aficionados, maybe a way to travel back in time to meet her. If your gonna use time travel then you can do all kinds of weird things.  So instead of going back and kicking Eb's butt he could go back and hug momma.

Yuillegan:
A couple of subtler things:
Man's magical workout training preceding Cold Days. Harry gets better physically but also magically learns to not needs his foci as much.

Training with Molly - he re-examines his basic knowledge and refines it. He gets better at mental defence and assault.

He had potions and foci in the early books (SF to BR)

Thomas went from occasional ally to brother. Lara becomes a sometimes ally, as does Marcone. He gains the support of Vadderung openly. There are others such as Ivy, Kincaid, Uriel etc that seem to be backing him.

He occasionally invents or uses something new like the electrical chain or his sword cane.

And now he has the artifacts (read: weapons) of the Christ. There is an argument to say his possession of the Spear of Destiny may have been what gave him and his allies victory against the Denarians.

I also think being a "ghost" taught him a bit about that world that he didn't understand, and his ectomancy will have improved.

Also something intangible over the series is how scary he becomes to his enemies. He isn't really very scary to anyone in book 1. But now he is really something to worry about, a destroyer of nations and demigods. That impression, that reputation is a very real weapon in his arsenal and armour against his foes.

Wolfeyes:
Agree with the point that Harry's key powerups comes in the form of knowledge.

I think the powercreep in the series has largely been balanced by the acknowledgement that while Harry has a lot of raw power, he didn't have the finesse other wizards had. He didn't have a reason to lean into learning more about veils and the basics until he started teaching Molly and having powerups like the Winter Knight mantle have forced him to learn how to use it so it doesn't chew up his soul. He's getting more power but he's mostly learning *how* to use it beyond just how to make a bigger fire. And that's what he needs to keep up with the heavy hitting characters in the series since they not only have power but the means to use it.

It reminds me of what Jim's said about Bonnie. Sure Bonnie has a lot of knowledge but she doesn't know how to use it properly yet compared to Bob. She needs knowledge and experience, much like Harry's been getting.

Bad Alias:
@Morris: I really want some pay off from the ruby. It was instrumental in Chances and mentioned in CD. It's too powerful to just shelve. I know Jim often sets these things aside for several books, but (whiny voice) I want it now.


--- Quote from: Yuillegan on May 31, 2020, 10:28:13 PM ---A couple of subtler things:
Mab's magical workout training preceding Cold Days. Harry gets better physically but also magically learns to not needs his foci as much.

...

He occasionally invents or uses something new like the electrical chain...

Also something intangible over the series is how scary he becomes to his enemies. He isn't really very scary to anyone in book 1. But now he is really something to worry about, a destroyer of nations and demigods. That impression, that reputation is a very real weapon in his arsenal and armour against his foes.

--- End quote ---
That's a good point. It's hard to quantify his increase in control. It's obvious and larger in CD, but it also happens in every book. If I was to quantify it by, for example, saying Harry gets plus 1 control in a typical book and plus 3 in CD, I know I'd be wrong, and I'd know people would miss the point and argue that not only was I most definitely wrong, but some different number is clearly and obviously right. In fact, I half expect it to happen based on that sentence.

I didn't even try to put in new foci that only show up in one book or were already present in SF. I pretty much ignored everything that happened and was resolved in one book like Harry losing fire magic in SmF. I'm sure all that stuff would affect his "character sheet," by making him better at handling those situations and crafting items in the future, but it's extremely hard to quantify.

Changes, plus 10 to Reputation.  ;)

@Wolfeyes: I would distinguish between knowledge and experience using knowledge.  Harry has knowledge or gains it, then he must learn how to use it. He normally learns to use it through experience.

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