The Dresden Files > DFRPG

Hannah Asher: How to build?

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Troy:
Asherian Pyromancy

Yes? No? Maybe?

vultur:
That's pretty cool.

Ascher isn't actually immune to fire and heat, though; she does get burned at the end of the Gate of Fire. And given her *spoiler* advantage, I'm really not sure she is actually as good as all that.

I mean, she was able to kill Wardens, sure, so that sets a lower limit. But most Wardens aren't necessarily that impressive in this era of the series, given how many of them are new recruits to replace Vampire War losses.

Without her *spoiler* advantage, Harry wouldn't have had any trouble at all (and he did win against her, even with that advantage). I'm not sure having a trick that Harry doesn't actually means she's overall better even in the fairly narrow area of fire.

Ascher looks to me like really high Control but (before *spoiler*) relatively little Power.

KlausGerken:

--- Quote from: vultur on August 24, 2020, 05:36:32 AM ---Ascher looks to me like really high Control but (before *spoiler*) relatively little Power.

--- End quote ---

The problem is: That is something the rules can't really offer: High control is usually not that interesting.

If you have just two points of power (as in conviction + boni) and 8 control (discipline+boni) - what is there you can do, a Caster with power 5 and control 5 can't?

Troy:
I don't know; I haven't read this novel. I based my ideas on a consultation with a self-described superfan of every book who has read them multiple times. He was extremely helpful.

But you're all correct, as I said before, the rules in the book make it impossible for any Focused Practitioner to be as good at any kind of magic as a wizard could be. I'm not sure why that is except to encourage players to evolve into wizards, to seek "promotion" in order to become more powerful.

DFA gets around this by letting each player customize their magic. They can make up whatever they want as long as everyone at the table is cool with it. So any neat little trick you can think of can be available to a Focused Practitioner without being readily available or even known to a full-fledged magical practitioner.

vultur:

--- Quote from: Troy on August 24, 2020, 07:22:01 PM ---I don't know; I haven't read this novel.
--- End quote ---

Ah, ok. One point worth noting is that Ascher isn't actually *immune* to fire/heat; she does get burned by contact with the lever in the Gate of Fire.

In DFRPG terms, I'd give her Mythic Toughness against fire (combined with using an evocation shield) but not actual Immunity to it.


--- Quote ---I'm not sure why that is except to encourage players to evolve into wizards, to seek "promotion" in order to become more powerful.
--- End quote ---

Because at the time DFRPG was published, it seemed pretty clear that that's how Dresdenverse magic worked... really powerful practitioners all had broad-spectrum ability.

From GS and SG it's possible Harry was wrong about that; although I'm not entirely sure, given that Mort being better than Harry at his field doesn't mean he'd be better than a wizard that actually put time and effort into that field (which Harry mostly hasn't done), and given that
(click to show/hide)Ascher was actually a Denarian so isn't indicative of what "Focused Practitioners" can actually do.

--- Quote from: KlausGerken on August 24, 2020, 10:58:00 AM ---The problem is: That is something the rules can't really offer: High control is usually not that interesting.

If you have just two points of power (as in conviction + boni) and 8 control (discipline+boni) - what is there you can do, a Caster with power 5 and control 5 can't?

--- End quote ---

Well, you would hit more often with evocation attacks, but do far less damage...

But that's actually kind of my point. I don't think Ascher is actually more capable than Harry, even in her field. She does her stuff differently, but I'm not sure she can accomplish goals he can't.

Harry never had to really think about getting through the Gate of Fire, since Ascher did it immediately after Harry found out it existed. That doesn't mean he couldn't have found a way - some of the Winter Ice and fire/ice stuff he's done is really impressive, for example.

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