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Messages - MijRai

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1
You don't need Drive, as Survival covers riding critters.  I'd also suggest lowering Fists and probably Inhuman Strength. 

2
DFRPG / Re: Spells and more spells. Chain Challenge
« on: October 19, 2014, 03:42:15 AM »
There was a line on which I chose to dance.  It's over there.  Way back there. ;)

Fortunately, we're back on track.

You create an explosion at your feet propelling you across(or through) barriers.  May require a consequence or two to power.  ( I wanted to post a Wile E. Coyote clip but I'm on my phone)

Next:
Kemlarian necromancy deceit(false face forward) skill replacement.

You puppet a recently killed corpse with some cosmetics to cover any superficial damage to direct the target away from investigating you.

An entropomantic ritual on yourself to win a poker game.

3
DFRPG / Re: Transmutation Alchemy
« on: October 19, 2014, 03:38:33 AM »
I would personally allow permanent gold, given enough shifts.  Less would be your leprechaun gold, more would be your real stuff, representing the transition between a temporary change and a permanent re-writing of reality. 

4
DFRPG / Re: Canim statting
« on: October 12, 2014, 02:19:41 PM »
Given descriptions of their speed (and how fast they can go, even in full armor), I'd say Inhuman Speed is likely.  Strength definitely, Toughness maybe. 

5
DFRPG / Re: Modular Abilities?
« on: October 05, 2014, 01:43:29 PM »
It starts to hit its stride at -6 total; at that point, you can pick up Supernaturals, which really makes things powerful.  'Oh look, I'm hurt after the fight?  Supernatural Recovery, that'll be gone shortly'.  'The fight has started!  Now to pick between Speed, Strength, and Toughness...  Or get two of them at Inhuman!'

6
DFRPG / Re: Water Magic like water bending
« on: September 24, 2014, 03:29:52 AM »
Obviously a hydromancer could do a Dispel type spell and have an easy excuse for it, just as a spirit caster can easily justify an invisibility+avoidance type veil of the sort Molly uses.

You don't get it for free as a side-effect of other magic though. It's something you choose to do, just like hexing or whatever.    You can use water as a ram or water to make someone choke or water to dissolve things or water to dispel by grounding out, just as you can use fire to attack, or to set somebody on fire, or to vaporize a barrier or to "cleanse" some types of magic by burning.

It's just flavor for an effect.  Most elements can do most things, water does dispels by "running water" over the effect and "grounding it out".

No, they're talking about the specific in-setting rule about how water grounds magic.  Basically, they're asking how it's possible to control water, when water is supposed to erode the controlling element. 

7
DFRPG / Re: Water Magic like water bending
« on: September 23, 2014, 11:26:17 PM »
My personal interpretation of it is that the water has to be running 'naturally' to ground out magic.  So, a shower (rain or bath), a brook or the flow of a lake would disrupt magic, but manipulating relatively still water wouldn't be an issue.

8
DFRPG / Re: Killing renfields with magic
« on: September 07, 2014, 04:46:34 PM »
your restating the arguement: I am arguing that the people who are "corrupted" by it are not corrupted by it but were already bad people. In book we have no evidence of any type of progression from good to bad to downright insane evil. JB has never provided that. All we have is the wardens and the WC word that this happens.(and as evidence they show the corrupted person to us and then lop off his head aka korean kid)  Since they enofrce the laws that keep them in power of course they and their minions would believe this. Any speciific examples provided have shown people who are evil and nasty and some insane but none of the examples of shown a progress to this directly from magic. This leaves me enough room to A: believe there is more at work then we know (which is my guess as I have stated) and B allows me to allow my games to be run with a looser hand then a vanilla game and still maintain some ties to the series. You may not agree many dont, but the debate is long standing so I am not alone in this belief minority it may be.

Molly never got corrupted, HD never got corrupted, EB never got corrupted. They did what they did and did not become monsters. JB shows them struggling with ethical isues but we all struggle with those. If i am forced t o kill someone at somepoint in my life I will struggle with it for along time, but I am not a monster becasue of that one action nor am i predisposed to become a monster. This applies universally including magic. A monster is a person who chooses to go that route. And it wont matter if he weilds a knife or magic. you disagree cool, but i think this is the way the game should be played and I think its a solid interpretation of the books. Until we are shown a direct link of a good person slowly going bad. We dont have that.

JB may be able to do just this in that book hes coming out with...mirror mirror if thats the case then I wont argue that my interpetation of the books is correct as he will have clearly shown in book that it is not. But I will in my series ignore it.

ah and the reason I allow for this is I understand the humans can be the worst kind of monster, they choose it it. A vampire doesn't the fey dont. So I could argue that some humans dont qualify as human in regards to the first law. Marcone would be one of those. He's plain jane, but his soul is corrupted. He kills without remorse, or orders those in his employ to do the same. His actiivties isn't based on right or wrong but how it benefits or harms him. He is a monster. He can be killed outright with magic and the laws wouldnt apply.

Again, Victor Sells is a good example.  His wife said he was a good husband, until he lost his job and got into dabbling with bad magic.  He went from a good father and husband to an abusive, cruel sorcerer hosting ritual orgies to power his murder-curses and his magical drug production.  The porn-star sorceresses are likely good ones as well, seeing as at one point the genial Genosa had married two of them.  And again, Molly and Harry, mechanically, have the Lawbreaker Power (around about page 123 and 134 of Our World, respectively).  The Corruption is there.  They are predisposed to becoming worse now, standing on a slippery slope.  Harry, as we've seen from his perspective, is almost constantly on that slippery slope, by the way.  Bringing up Eb is pointless, because, you know, he's the Blackstaff. 

I'd also say that killing Marcone with magic would still be breaking the Law.  The Kemmler take-down was with mundane weapons after they worked on negating his magic, against Kemmler.  The link I provided earlier mentioned guns, blades, ropes, and a flamethrower at the last attempt.  Marcone can still do a soul-gaze, and still has enough humanity in him to enforce a 'no hurting kids' rule.  Hell, he's got a child hurt in a cross-fire targeting him on life-support, and has literally gone against Denarians in an attempt to get an artifact that could help her. 

9
DFRPG / Re: Killing renfields with magic
« on: September 07, 2014, 04:53:40 AM »
i disagree and i am leaving it at that. I;ve laid it out their isnt enough evidence eitherway other then what JB said and I disagree with him as well

So...  The author of the series, the architect of the setting, says something outright, and you 'disagree'?  Got it.

10
DFRPG / Re: Killing renfields with magic
« on: September 06, 2014, 06:01:58 PM »
I dont recall anywhere where it was said he was killed with what you just mentioned. He was taken out by wizards i assume magic. He had a horde of things serving him so i assume they brought all their resources to bear, but to make sure he was dead and stayed that way..a spell would be my guess.

http://www.jimbutcheronline.com/bb/index.php/topic,1879.msg37967.html#msg37967

Straight from the author himself.  It also goes on to mention that the consequences from breaking the Laws of Magic aren't just people in gray cloaks, and it doesn't have anything to do with Right or Wrong. 

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many people have argued the laws are more then mortal. I just don't see any real evidence that they are. Harry thinks they are;  his enemies don't. Sometimes mortals are monsters too and they deserve the same treatment any monster gets.

See above quote.  The great and mighty author specifically mentions that there's the Laws of Magic, the mortal construct, and the metaphysical 'Laws' of Magic.  Also, read the books.  It's explicitly shown that breaking the Laws changes you in pretty bad ways. 

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I think Harry had problems before he killed Justin, I don't think it was the fact that he killed Justin. Harry is probably unstable from his upbrining and from what Justin did to him. Not the magic but the base betrayal it represented. Harry has never been in a good place. Fortunatly hes a good person. Its like Urial told him its his choice. he can choose to be a monster servant to mab or a human servant to mab. Humans are allowed almost universally the right of self defense in all ethical systems, it is considered moral to do so. Why would the laws of magic(if they are the wizards version of an ethical code) not be the same as all the other ethical systems out there. Essentillly you have a right to self defense unless your a wizard then you have to fight the mortals on their own ground with their best weapons. I dont think so. Buttttttt.

Your World, close to page 134, has Harry Dresden's stats.  He has the First Lawbreaker power.  He got his problem with dark desires and violence right there. 

The aforementioned links strikes again; Right and Wrong don't come into the Laws.  Whether or not it's Right to kill a person with magic is irrelevant. The White Council's enforcement of the Laws does allow for Right and Wrong to affect them; when the metaphysical ones come into play, you're still tainted.

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The real reason(my conjecture here) the laws are the way they are is when you violate them you strengthen the outsiders. That is reason enough to not violate the laws of magic and it is different from the "given" reason for violating the rules of magic. Somewhere along the way Merlin wrote the laws down because it was he who figured out what happened when you do. I bet prior to Merlin writing down the laws and enforcing them( and he could because his power was or is equal to that of one of the queens)(wiki) i bet people broke them whenever it suited them and it didnt do anything to them, except break down the walls between reality.Most wizards don't even know about the war with the outsiders. Wizards are human they get choice and free agency and that includes choice to use good things for bad. Execpt when wizards do it there are bigger consequences. I bet if enough wizards misuse magic things just slip in, no one notices it. Even the wizard who kills in self defense weakens the barrior. His individual act, one that he may only have had to do once in his entire life (not all live dresdens life) but its  chink. Nothing happens to the wizard he was a good person doing a good act, but using the only tool he really has in a manner that does harm to boundries. He doesnt know it he will probably never know it.

That's your theory, I've seen ones like it before, and there's both merits and flaws in it.  Of course, it could have that effect because twisting the forces of Life and tainting yourself is what gives the power to Outsiders.  It's still irrelevant in regards to the Laws. 

I don't remember anything in the books suggesting that Merlin had the power of an archangel (which is rated as equivalent in the 'who could take Mab on in a fight' thread).

The Laws, as previously stated by Jim and in the books, do things to you.  Self-defense or no, good reasons or no, taint occurs.  The true 'why' of this is unknown.  Your theory might be a part of it, it might be something else.  It still happens. 

'You bet' isn't really relevant to the discussion.  They're assumptions; with the lack of even circumstantial evidence, they don't come up to the level of assessments. 

Also, you keep mentioning a wiki.  Wikis aren't a reliable source of information.  I suggest checking out the sources for said page and referencing them. 

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I think merlin figured this out. I think its one of the reasons he built the prison wrote the laws, formed the council, its all a part of the war against the outsiders. And if he had to lie to make people follow it so what. The stakes are to high, at least he thought so.

Seeing as the RPG only goes up to Small Favor, I suggest spoiler-tags on things referenced after that book.  See previous points. 

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You may say this is a quibble but its not, the given reason for breaking the laws of magic is it changes you into a monster more likely to get worse with each infraction. In story we have no real evidence of this. What we see is bad people using magic i n a way bad people would use it or any tool. In a self centered way theat benefits them.

In story we have multiple examples.  The Korean kid, Harry's darker urges, the Disciples of Kemmler, the porn-star sorceresses, Victor Sells, etc. 

i have bee n arguing from evidence in the book that it isn't so using that to justify the change in the game.Wardens willingness to obey the law doesnt change the fact that using magic in a way the law forbids doesn't change you at least there is no evidence of this only what people say who already believe the law is correct. In all the books we have evil people using magic to work evil ends, we don't know that the magic did this to them we only know the wardens believe this, that dresden believes this. Dresdans intenral stuggle has more to do with his issues then the fact he killed justin with magic. So in my game based on what i have seen in book, ones intent and action is what makes a lawbreaker.Not the action on its own.

Victor Sells is a very good example of someone going bad.  His wife spelled out what went wrong with him over time.  And again, read Harry's stat-block in Your World.  Lawbreaker is his main issue. 

11
DFRPG / Re: Killing renfields with magic
« on: September 05, 2014, 08:09:36 PM »
Well the killing of a mortal with your own magic stains you no matter how you go about it. The only difference in killing a mortal is whether or not the White Council will french revolution your ass.

It also goes into whether or not whatever you're killing qualifies as mortal. 

12
DFRPG / Re: Killing renfields with magic
« on: September 05, 2014, 07:23:31 PM »
thats one interpretation. And may have been how JB wanted it when he started writing, but 15 books later and I think the interpretation has changed. Self defense seems ok in the later half of the series. And is fine in my games.

When is using magic to kill mortals (in self-defense) okay and goes unpunished in the later books?  And your games aren't the books, so they aren't exactly a canon source.  Also keep in mind that the game only goes up to Small Favor. 

no its not, especially with the last part of the series. Moreover if we check out the dresden wiki, merlin is given credit for writing the laws of magic, in otherwords a mortal says its bad to kill with magic.

So what. hes only one mortal wizard who is either dead or imprisoned somewhere. Mortal law is only good if you can enforce it. Also i would argue further that the entire series is from the perspective of one wizard HD. JB has said this isnt the end all be all of the truth. It certainly is how he (HD) feels about the first law, but he is biased and it may not be the truth...just how he sees it.

So it might entirely be true that a wizard who believes there is nothing wrong with killing in self defense leaves no taint or scar because he believes that he did right by defending others or himself. He may have to argue with the white council about it and he would probably lose....but mortal law is only as strong as the mortals willing to enforce it..things change.

Meanwhile because he(the wizard) doesn'tt believe he is tainted and is doing the right thing he isnt tainted and is fine. (this is also how HD defines the universe so which is true( the belief thing HD always talks about)).

its not my wizards fault Dresden has an anger management issue that he blames on the fact he killed an asshat that was going to mentally bind him for all time. 

Oh and how do you think the wardens take down the warlocks who wont come quietly to their beheading. Granted they might use their swords only but honestly that isn't the only way, and kimler certainly was killed with magic.Self defense is allowed. You just have to make sure you do your self defense in a way the council likes. In otherwords mortal law is mutable and only matters if your on the outside looking in.

There are two parts of the Laws.  The first part is the White Council's written law, allegedly scribed by the original Merlin.  The second part is the metaphysical effect of breaking the Laws, the part that makes you a crazy monster, which happens regardless of the White Council's knowledge of you or vice-versa.  Your... Idea, I suppose, that Harry just blames his anger issues on killing someone is also completely untrue.  Harry Dresden has the First Lawbreaker power.  It's in the rules, and we know how and why he did it. 

Harry broke the First Law by killing Justin, and had to deal with the taint of black magic (and still has to, decades after he committed the act, in fact).  And keep in mind, his reasons to kill Justin?  Justin had the love of his life as a hostage, and was sending demons after Harry to hunt him down.  He acted to save himself and Elaine.  He was still a Lawbreaker, still tainted. 

While yes, Harry can be an unreliable narrator, I honestly doubt the entire White Council is wrong on the Laws they've been enforcing for centuries. 

And it's been explained how the Wardens take out warlocks.  They shoot, behead, bludgeon, or otherwise kill them with weapons, not magic. They do use magic to defend themselves, weaken the enemy, and if possible hold them down to make the rest of the job easier.   

You're also completely incorrect, Kemmler was not killed with magic.  He was killed with a variety of weapons, including a flamethrower. 

Finally, yes, mortal law is mutable.  The Laws are more than that. 

13
DFRPG / Re: Killing renfields with magic
« on: September 05, 2014, 04:05:38 AM »
self defense is allowed No person wizard or not, has to sit passively by and be killed by anyone or thing. You may have to explain your actions but your not a lawbreaker. so i doubt anyone would consider it murder especially since WCouncil knows all about the abilities of the BC and what they do to humans. I really don't think the laws are as tight as alot of people want to play them.

Incorrect.  Killing a mortal with magic, regardless of the reason, still breaks the First Law (note, I didn't say murder, I said kill).  If the situation warrants it, you can get a stay of execution/probation sentence under the Doom of Damocles (which requires a patron) for self-defense and the like, but you still broke the Law, and bear the taint.  The question here would be whether or not Renfields are mortal anymore; the OP stated his table's decision already, so it's a moot point. 

Think of it like this; Harry Dresden killed a man with magic in self-defense at the age of 16.  At the age of 25, he's still got a Warden on his ass trying to find an excuse to kill him, the murderous urges brought upon by his previous killing, is under the Doom of Damocles, etc.  Said Warden continues to harass and suspect him for over a decade, while his reputation with the White Council still has him painted as a potential warlock (which is exacerbated by his continued skirting of the Laws).  He also continues to struggle with darker urges, on top of the temptations that tend to roll his way. 

Yes, the Laws are harsh, and the White Council is quite unforgiving if they catch you.  It's a major part of the setting, at least from the perspective of a person who had previously broken a Law and has seen the process, as well having joined the organization that enforces it (although not working on that aspect of the job). 

14
DFRPG / Re: Killing renfields with magic
« on: September 05, 2014, 12:03:49 AM »
I'm not going to throw out my opinion on the Renfield's humanity, since you've got your setting's stuff on it already.  However, I would say that it is likely the White Council finding out about dozens of dead human bodies slain by the PC's magic would end up as a Bad Thing, especially with the aforementioned framing/imminent retrial.  They might be able to skate by, they might get put on the Most-Wanted list, it's all up to you at that point. 

15
DFRPG / Re: Turning Oneself into a Vampire
« on: September 02, 2014, 05:37:41 AM »
"Hello and good evening, Mr. [Smallest Demon], I am in the market to bind one of your greater brethren unto to myself, body and soul, joining our power and our will to work great and terrible deeds in the mortal world.  What would you ask in exchange for arranging a meeting between myself and such a being for this purpose?"


The story isn't in the ritual used to summon the Dark Powers, which are always willing to help, but in the price they will ask.

The scope and preparation for the ritual (as represented by the shifts needed) suggest how in-depth the story needs to be.  You're going to be getting rare materials, artifacts, using certain locations and celestial conjunctions to get all that down (plausibly, at least).

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