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The Dresden Files => DF Spoilers => Topic started by: circe on August 19, 2017, 03:59:30 PM
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Why doesn't Harry use his magic to warm his shower water? Or to keep himself cool so he can wear the magic duster when it's hot? He always complains about his cold showers, how hard could it be for him to warm the water?
Just wondering.
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1: running water cancels out magic, so heating it as it comes out is extremely problematic.
2: even if he stored several gallons of water and hooked it into his shower, he would have to spend large amounts of magical energy to heat it. This could weaken him at an inconvenient time.
3: if he really wanted a hot shower, he could go to a hotel where the water heaters are well away from the room itself, and thus safe from his murphyonic field.
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1: running water cancels out magic, so heating it as it comes out is extremely problematic.
2: even if he stored several gallons of water and hooked it into his shower, he would have to spend large amounts of magical energy to heat it. This could weaken him at an inconvenient time.
3: if he really wanted a hot shower, he could go to a hotel where the water heaters are well away from the room itself, and thus safe from his murphyonic field.
Or the YMCA/Murphy's gym/etc. It's clearly not something he minds that much(although knowing what unheated water is like in Wisconsin in winter... I don't think the idea is well thought out past a running joke.
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Or the YMCA/Murphy's gym/etc. It's clearly not something he minds that much(although knowing what unheated water is like in Wisconsin in winter... I don't think the idea is well thought out past a running joke.
It has long been a topic for debate because it gets FREEZING in Chicago in the winter.. If you take it another step, there may be reasons why Harry doesn't mind freezing his wand off, but Thomas lived with him for a year and I cannot see him putting up with unheated showers.. Other friends have used his shower as well.
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Why doesn't Harry use his magic to warm his shower water? Or to keep himself cool so he can wear the magic duster when it's hot? He always complains about his cold showers, how hard could it be for him to warm the water?
Just wondering.
Because Harry is filled with a deep-seated self-loathing and thinks that if he ever tries to use Magic to make his life less terrible by even the smallest of degrees he'll either turn into a full-blown Supervillain instantly or the universe will reach down and squish him like a bug for daring to live any other way then in abject suffering just above the poverty line.
TLDR: Because Harry's an idiot.
This answer also covers other questions, such as:
"Why does Harry never again make any of those OP potions that solve half his problems"
"Why doesn't Harry ever find out about things like freaking Vampires until post-SF, even though he's had Bob for years"
"Why does Harry never look into healing Magic on any level, despite his suicidal lifestyle"
"Why doesn't Harry work on his water Magic, since that apparently counters a Wizards weakness to flowing water"
And so on and so on (Seriously, Harry is terrible at Wizarding)
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Because Harry is filled with a deep-seated self-loathing and thinks that if he ever tries to use Magic to make his life less terrible by even the smallest of degrees he'll either turn into a full-blown Supervillain instantly or the universe will reach down and squish him like a bug for daring to live any other way then in abject suffering just above the poverty line.
TLDR: Because Harry's an idiot.
This answer also covers other questions, such as:
"Why does Harry never again make any of those OP potions that solve half his problems"
"Why doesn't Harry ever find out about things like freaking Vampires until post-SF, even though he's had Bob for years"
"Why does Harry never look into healing Magic on any level, despite his suicidal lifestyle"
"Why doesn't Harry work on his water Magic, since that apparently counters a Wizards weakness to flowing water"
And so on and so on (Seriously, Harry is terrible at Wizarding)
Jim has addressed the first point: A wizard only has so much power to invest in their magical gizmos. At this point, Harry is rocking things like his staff, jacket, shield bracelet, and blasting rod (essential tools for amping up his wizardry) and so does not have the magical umph to spare.
Additionally, as OP as those potions were, they nearly got him killed, and are one-use only.
On the healing magic front: It is -incredibly- difficult. Listens To Wind has built his life around it, and even he cannot cure everything. Harry, who has less experience and less innate talent for slow, low watt magic, is unlikely to do anything meaningful with it.
Water Magic: Maybe you missed it, but Harry has been throwing around an awful lot of ice lately. Ice isn't, inherently, water magic, but Harry is still working within that realm.
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Why doesn't Harry use his magic to warm his shower water? Or to keep himself cool so he can wear the magic duster when it's hot? He always complains about his cold showers, how hard could it be for him to warm the water?
Just wondering.
Magic by itself wouldn't be a very efficient approach to that. It takes a lot of practice to use magic on running water reliably, he could use magic fire to heat water, but that would be exhausting (a shower uses a lot of water quickly). Imagine taking hot showers using water heated by an electric heater powered by a stationary bike, so you pedal to heat the water before you shower. It would be kind of exhausting.
But people have pointed out over the years that there are low-tech ways Harry could get hot water. But as I said once, Harry is a Wizard, not a general contractor. Plus he's got some subconscious issues, as Nicodemus pointed out.
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Because Harry is filled with a deep-seated self-loathing and thinks that if he ever tries to use Magic to make his life less terrible by even the smallest of degrees he'll either turn into a full-blown Supervillain instantly or the universe will reach down and squish him like a bug for daring to live any other way then in abject suffering just above the poverty line.
TLDR: Because Harry's an idiot.
This answer also covers other questions, such as:
"Why does Harry never again make any of those OP potions that solve half his problems"
"Why doesn't Harry ever find out about things like freaking Vampires until post-SF, even though he's had Bob for years"
"Why does Harry never look into healing Magic on any level, despite his suicidal lifestyle"
"Why doesn't Harry work on his water Magic, since that apparently counters a Wizards weakness to flowing water"
And so on and so on (Seriously, Harry is terrible at Wizarding)
Besides a book mentioned possible apprenticeship to LTW, if you ever care to learn the little known fact about Harry that he like Horses, Queue in Horses actually being creatures crafted by Poseidon and craft together a... crafty theory Merlin being connected to Atlantis means he was at least in part a water mage and the heir apparent to his legacy/cyclic nature probably has some natural, albeit undeveloped ability to utilize water magic. :) I actually think it would be cooler though if it happens offscreen and we all figure it out when Lol!
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I hope he figures out that it is quite possible to heat water for showers or baths in a fire-burning bath oven when he gets his new place. The cold showers really were a bit ridiculous. ;)
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Thanks guys.
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I seem to remember Harry has been beat up yet again and takes a shower and finds the water wonderfully warm and soothing. This surprises the heck our of him until Lasciel's shadow tells him the water is still cold be she is making him feel it as warm or something like that.. I cannot place book to scene though, ???
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As someone who lives in Minnesota (a fairly cold state in the US) and takes cold showers year round by choice... It's really not that bad once you get used to it.
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As someone who lives in Minnesota (a fairly cold state in the US) and takes cold showers year round by choice... It's really not that bad once you get used to it.
A cold Shower is different from a shower without a water heater. Trust me. Had it happen at my grandparents cabin in Michigan. Never again.
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Something else we need to think about is that we don't know how often Harry showers. It's entirely possible he only showers once or twice a week.
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Jim has addressed the first point: A wizard only has so much power to invest in their magical gizmos. At this point, Harry is rocking things like his staff, jacket, shield bracelet, and blasting rod (essential tools for amping up his wizardry) and so does not have the magical umph to spare.
Additionally, as OP as those potions were, they nearly got him killed, and are one-use only.
On the healing magic front: It is -incredibly- difficult. Listens To Wind has built his life around it, and even he cannot cure everything. Harry, who has less experience and less innate talent for slow, low watt magic, is unlikely to do anything meaningful with it.
Water Magic: Maybe you missed it, but Harry has been throwing around an awful lot of ice lately. Ice isn't, inherently, water magic, but Harry is still working within that realm.
Healing magic and water magic at a level that he could nullify or reduce a wizards weakness on running water is truly out of Harry's reach.
For the most part Harry is self taught. Du'Morn definitely does not train a well rounded wizard. He wants an enforcer and he trains Harry to be so, while Ebenezar mostly train Harry's spiritually and not arcanely. He is ostrasized by most of the white council and all of the senior wizards that could teach him the really good stuff either hates him, fear him or keeping away from him for his own protection. Harry has Bob, sure. But Bob is just a good tool. Bob is not a teacher, he is just a better version of a computer. If Harry fail to ask the right questions, he wont get the right answer. All of this probably slow down Harry's development as a wizard. Ramirez for example. The guy could create a magical shield bracer based on water magic that is mostly on par with Harry's improved shield bracelet in book 9. Remember that Harry commented that this new improved shield bracelet is something he probably can't craft 5 years ago and he can only craft something this good because teaching Molly helps him solidify the basics. Ramirez is about what? 10 years younger compare to Harry?
I refuse to believe that Harry is less talented compare to Ramirez, but it is clear that Harry is about 10 years behind on certain field compare to an official council graduate.
The hot water and potions though, that, I am more incline to agree on the subconscious issues Harry has. The one that Nicodemous pointed out on book 5. Buying a big metal bucket and developing a simple water heating spell on a bucket of water is not something that hard. Harry can develop a candle lighting spell, he can do the water heating one. Potions such as the brest enhancing potion he made in book 2 to pay the bill harms no one and could get him a nice income, and it could be repeated to a certain extent. I am sure there are more things he can do to make his life easier using magic without actually breaking any laws, rules or even ethics. But Harry simply refuse to do so.
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I seem to remember Harry has been beat up yet again and takes a shower and finds the water wonderfully warm and soothing. This surprises the heck our of him until Lasciel's shadow tells him the water is still cold be she is making him feel it as warm or something like that.. I cannot place book to scene though, ???
I wanna say BK8?
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I seem to remember Harry has been beat up yet again and takes a shower and finds the water wonderfully warm and soothing. This surprises the heck our of him until Lasciel's shadow tells him the water is still cold be she is making him feel it as warm or something like that.. I cannot place book to scene though, ???
I wanna say BK8?
Pretty sure it was White Knight.
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I wanna say BK8?
Pretty sure it was White Knight.
PG ch 15, not long after one of the relationship talks with Murphy. She took the "cold shower" as a compliment on her sex appeal.
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PG ch 15, not long after one of the relationship talks with Murphy. She took the "cold shower" as a compliment on her sex appeal.
I thought he was talking about the scene where Harry was taking a shower, complaining about how cold it was, and Lash made him think it was all hot and steamy. She was even massaging his neck and shoulders. Harry told her to leave, but leave the hot water, which turned immediately icy when he shut the shower off.
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I thought he was talking about the scene where Harry was taking a shower, complaining about how cold it was, and Lash made him think it was all hot and steamy. She was even massaging his neck and shoulders. Harry told her to leave, but leave the hot water, which turned immediately icy when he shut the shower off.
That's the one. Immediately before the shower Murphy dropped him off after a relationship talk, and immediately after the shower Murphy picked him up outside his appartment, where she commented on him having Blue Lips. He responded with "Long Shower", the blue lips implied it was a Cold Shower (though as you say Lash made it feel otherwise) and she surmised that Harry was doing the stereotypical Cold Shower to combat sexual frustration (seriously, who does that to themselves? Always seems like a culturally reinforced masochism to me).
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That's the one. Immediately before the shower Murphy dropped him off after a relationship talk, and immediately after the shower Murphy picked him up outside his appartment, where she commented on him having Blue Lips. He responded with "Long Shower", the blue lips implied it was a Cold Shower (though as you say Lash made it feel otherwise) and she surmised that Harry was doing the stereotypical Cold Shower to combat sexual frustration (seriously, who does that to themselves? Always seems like a culturally reinforced masochism to me).
I have to admit, I tried it once. Doesn't work.
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I have to admit, I tried it once. Doesn't work.
It wasn't cold enough then...? The idea, as perhaps best explained in the Senfield episode where George was in the 'cold' pool. Our little soldiers tend to run and hide.
I do the impossibly torturous in the name of loosening my muscles, Hot to cold, cold to hot, rinse and repeat to break up carbon dioxide in the muscles. It's like putting icy hot all over your body lol. It sucks but afterwards I'm loose and limber(helps with my bad back) an certainly not anything like in the mood.
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Oh, it was cold enough for all that. But my mind wasn't distracted NEARLY enough.
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Oh, it was cold enough for all that. But my mind wasn't distracted NEARLY enough.
Eat a ghost chili... Your mind won't be able to think about anything other than your mouth being on fire and you wanting it to end lol
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Seriously no hot water? A gas fired water heater with pilot light has one moving part and much simpler in design then Harry's revolver and older in design then that air cooled four banger he drove around in.
Second. Why not pipe hot water from a heater out side of his anti-mech magic range? I would add more but the illogic Butcher writes into the dresdenuniverse is astounding.
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Is this much of an issue now that Harry is the Winter Knight?
It might not cross his mind, but this has to be addressed now that Maggie is living with him.
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Seriously no hot water? A gas fired water heater with pilot light has one moving part and much simpler in design then Harry's revolver and older in design then that air cooled four banger he drove around in.
Second. Why not pipe hot water from a heater out side of his anti-mech magic range? I would add more but the illogic Butcher writes into the dresdenuniverse is astounding.
Gas heaters are pretty dangerous if they fail wrong. Simple or no, they can boom. And it isn't like the beatle was reliable. So there's that. As for piping in water, that's expensive. Especially in a bigger city.
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Actually, this has been discussed a bunch. A simple barrel suspended over his fireplace, or his cooking grate would heat water piped into it, and a simple valve would deliver it to his shower. Heat rises, and gravity pulls the water.
It would take a little bit of planning on his part, but not really all that difficult with his existing set up.
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Several things in play here
1) Harry has a thing about not using magic to improve his quality of life or earn income (beyond as detective). So using magic to heat water is a no-go. And as people have stated, magically heating water might require a fair bit of magic and Harry would not want to waste magic on this. It would really be bad news if Harry was attacked fresh out of the shower and starts the battle already magically fatigued from heating the water.
a) the possibility of having Molly heat the water as a "training exercise" would be just to indulgent.
2) There are many non-magical ways to heat water that range from a gas water heater to storing water in a metal container over a fireplace or even a solar heater on the roof using mirrors. None of these have been used.
a) Partly this might be money -- which Dresden rarely has
b) Partly this might be the affect of magic. Magic clearly effects mechanical devices as well as electrical ones, although less often. But this seems a lame excuse as there are many options which are perfectly safe even if a bit glitch.
c) mostly this seems to be that Harry does not care about such things very much so he does not spend the effort to make it work.
The real question is -- not that Harry has money -- does he spend some of this on basic comforts like a useful water heater or some more effective way of heating his house - when he gets a house.
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I might add that Harry has cold showers and a basement home as a form of self-punishment and penance to humility for the wrongs that he believes he has done or might do.
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Seriously no hot water? A gas fired water heater with pilot light has one moving part and much simpler in design then Harry's revolver and older in design then that air cooled four banger he drove around in.
Second. Why not pipe hot water from a heater out side of his anti-mech magic range? I would add more but the illogic Butcher writes into the dresdenuniverse is astounding.
Again it has been a debate here for years.... It never has made any sense, in Chicago in the wintertime miserable... But what of his guests or Thomas who lived with him for a year? Cannot see him taking blue ball showers... :o I've tried cold showers in the middle of the heat and humidity of Arkansas summers when super grungy and sweaty and still preferred tepid to icy... ::)
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I might add that Harry has cold showers and a basement home as a form of self-punishment and penance to humility for the wrongs that he believes he has done or might do.
I've heard this before, and I don't like it. I personally think it's more about economics and stability than self-punishment.
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Jim has addressed the first point: A wizard only has so much power to invest in their magical gizmos. At this point, Harry is rocking things like his staff, jacket, shield bracelet, and blasting rod (essential tools for amping up his wizardry) and so does not have the magical umph to spare.
Additionally, as OP as those potions were, they nearly got him killed, and are one-use only.
On the healing magic front: It is -incredibly- difficult. Listens To Wind has built his life around it, and even he cannot cure everything. Harry, who has less experience and less innate talent for slow, low watt magic, is unlikely to do anything meaningful with it.
Water Magic: Maybe you missed it, but Harry has been throwing around an awful lot of ice lately. Ice isn't, inherently, water magic, but Harry is still working within that realm.
I'm going to be a bit snarky here:
Healing magic: So Billy and the WerewolvesTM can learn to bend their shape-shifting abilities to heal wounds [ Side Jobs: Aftermath ], but Injun Joe has built his whole life around it... nah, shoe don't fit.
Potions: Removal of the potions is simply a literary device. No sane person would abandon a possible tactical advantage like that even if it was only the escape potion used in Storm Front by Harry and Susan and in Skin Game by Butters. But this way Harry actually gets his face kicked smashed and his ribs kicked in more often. Plain and simple.
Cold showers: Well... it's not like Harry _doesn't_have_ a water heater. It's just he "unhooked it". So Whenever Thomas or some lady-friend feel like a warm shower, the heater gets turned on. Pun intended. It's just not mentioned, because it's a long-running gag.
As far as Water magic goes, I'd say it has a lot to do with temperament. Ice and Fire [ The song of ] are fierce and cause harm. Water is... well, subtle, flows into small crevices, adapts it's shape, erodes things slowly. Somehow, that doesn't sound like Dresden to me. Even his Wind magic are insane gales and only after teaching Molly he stumbled upon a gentle application of wind magic... which he then uses to _clean_off_snow_. Sounds very gentle to me. Like a right hook is gentler because the other guy is wearing gloves.
Gizmos: The whole point in making those gizmos is so that they have magic stored up. The magic doesn't get permanently locked away, it get's regenerated when Harry eats, sleeps, rests properly. Remember Little Chicago? But if Harry actually would stick to the first rule about being a wizard; "To be prepared." we'd see him get kicked around a lot less. And while we pity him every time he gets beaten, stabbed, shot, burned, ... we still love the books because he gets beaten up and then gets up and keeps on fighting. Then, once fight isn't necessary he can fall over and get treated. For example: Take his silver bear charm from Blood rites paired with his Shield bracelet. Instead of channeling the magic through Harry simply create a connection between these two and the fights get a lot less exciting, because now Harry can create a barrier without straining himself too much while he casts some super-nuking spell. Yes, this is how a mage normally would operate [ well this or bringing a tank ], but it would soften the action scenes and make them less tense.
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I've heard this before, and I don't like it. I personally think it's more about economics and stability than self-punishment.
I, respectfully, disagree. I think some form of self-punishment is a part of Harry's mentality. He is very willing to take many forms of pain and suffering in the hopes that the good he tries to accomplish will keep him from doing the bad. The beginning of SK, while carrying the guilt over Susan's half-turned status, is an excellent example of this level of self-torment.
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I wanna say BK8?
No, it's from Proven Guilty
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I, respectfully, disagree. I think some form of self-punishment is a part of Harry's mentality. He is very willing to take many forms of pain and suffering in the hopes that the good he tries to accomplish will keep him from doing the bad. The beginning of SK, while carrying the guilt over Susan's half-turned status, is an excellent example of this level of self-torment.
He needs a therapist... ::)
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He needs a therapist... ::)
His personal therapist is working for Summer now.
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I, respectfully, disagree. I think some form of self-punishment is a part of Harry's mentality. He is very willing to take many forms of pain and suffering in the hopes that the good he tries to accomplish will keep him from doing the bad. The beginning of SK, while carrying the guilt over Susan's half-turned status, is an excellent example of this level of self-torment.
No. The two are nothing alike. That was depression and guilt over a specific event. That's not the same as physically torturing himself daily for the last 15ish years of his life over subconcious self loathing. When people lose a loved one they fall apart for a while. But people do not self flagellate to that degree as unacknowledged punishment. Harry has cold showers because water heaters being fragile is funny. That's pretty much it.
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Problem solved
(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0v2B9hYfhS0/VI-Z-o5zUDI/AAAAAAAABOU/muHskKGGjN8/s1600/10806451_609601545818945_1166296250884117699_n.jpg)
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Problem solved
(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0v2B9hYfhS0/VI-Z-o5zUDI/AAAAAAAABOU/muHskKGGjN8/s1600/10806451_609601545818945_1166296250884117699_n.jpg)
You do know how to cook a frog, right?
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You do know how to cook a frog, right?
lol of course, but lots of people use fire to heat water in this fashion, especially in the past. I see it as something viable for Harry to enjoy the bath instead of a cold shower.
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I could not agree more.
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Wouldn't the water running through the water heater ground out the magic anyway? If he left it on, there's no problem.
Or, you know, get one of those tankless setups. No tank to explode, no potential carbon monoxide, and you can have the thing far away.
Or, why not just install a circle around a water heater?
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Wouldn't the water running through the water heater ground out the magic anyway? If he left it on, there's no problem.
Or, you know, get one of those tankless setups. No tank to explode, no potential carbon monoxide, and you can have the thing far away.
Or, why not just install a circle around a water heater?
Yes. However, the effects of heating the water would last until the heat leaked out like normal. Think of Harry using fire magic. The spell might get grounded out, but the fires that he set with them would continue.
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Yes. However, the effects of heating the water would last until the heat leaked out like normal. Think of Harry using fire magic. The spell might get grounded out, but the fires that he set with them would continue.
I meant a regular water heater, with no magic. His reasoning for not having one is that there's ambient magic all the time, so why not just put a permanent circle around a standard water heater to keep the ambient magic out, like Butters did with the GPS in Dead Beat?
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I meant a regular water heater, with no magic. His reasoning for not having one is that there's ambient magic all the time, so why not just put a permanent circle around a standard water heater to keep the ambient magic out, like Butters did with the GPS in Dead Beat?
I think the pipes coming out of it would "break" the circle. Though this would be a question for someone like Bob, or Jim, I suppose.
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Actually I think the hot water problem is similar to Harry disrupting guns. Basically a mistake by Jim.
There is nothing electric near the shower when it comes to it's function in most cases. The hot water heater is almost always a good distance away. If Harry's magic moved up the water that could be a problem but water dampens magic so it should have the opposite effect.
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I think the pipes coming out of it would "break" the circle. Though this would be a question for someone like Bob, or Jim, I suppose.
Maybe. They'd be close enough to the circle to do it, I suppose. To me, that begs the question: Do circles have effective height in the Dresden Files? If it's something absurd, like, I don't know, seven miles, then I'd say it functionally doesn't matter in all but a handful of cases (such as, for example, when fighting a 7.001-mile-jumping-demon). Or is it mostly to do with intent? I think intent would have to have something to do with it, because otherwise tree branches and things a dozen feet off the ground could mess things up. That falls in line with breaking a circle being an act of will, right? So, if Dresden thought that the pipes would break the circle, then they probably would?
I'm in the middle of my umpteenth yearly reread; I really should have this kind of thing down pat by now.
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Maybe. They'd be close enough to the circle to do it, I suppose. To me, that begs the question: Do circles have effective height in the Dresden Files? If it's something absurd, like, I don't know, seven miles, then I'd say it functionally doesn't matter in all but a handful of cases (such as, for example, when fighting a 7.001-mile-jumping-demon). Or is it mostly to do with intent? I think intent would have to have something to do with it, because otherwise tree branches and things a dozen feet off the ground could mess things up. That falls in line with breaking a circle being an act of will, right? So, if Dresden thought that the pipes would break the circle, then they probably would?
I'm in the middle of my umpteenth yearly reread; I really should have this kind of thing down pat by now.
At one of the recent signings, my son asked Jim about that. He said it was effectively unlimited in height. Suggesting that there is no top to the circle.
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At one of the recent signings, my son asked Jim about that. He said it was effectively unlimited in height. Suggesting that there is no top to the circle.
Interesting. Good question from your son! I'm always keen to get into the mechanics of how stuff works in these kinds of books.
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Actually I think the hot water problem is similar to Harry disrupting guns. Basically a mistake by Jim.
Instead of again arguing against this... again, i'll instead point out in a vid from the recent Dragoncon Jim is quoted as saying something to the effect of "Does the plot exist to farther the magical set up or does the way it's set up drive the plot?" His answer was both. An farther point out despite having one of the richer magical set ups I've ever read, He's actually stayed rather tight lipped on the subject beyond his two or three standardized replies.
Coincidence? Id bet pretty much anything the answer on that one :) but believe what you will, it makes what follows even better...
*face palm* I just got the scarecrows jab at Harry about "or what follows" lmao.
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At one of the recent signings, my son asked Jim about that. He said it was effectively unlimited in height. Suggesting that there is no top to the circle.
I'm sure it wouldn't be relevant to the story, but I'm sure there must be some meteorological or astronomical limit to the circle's height. Otherwise, every circle is basically an anti-magic ray that shoots out to the edge of the material universe.
Not that that wouldn't be awesome, but I would expect an anti-magic ray with an infinite range to be a bit harder to build...
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I'm sure it wouldn't be relevant to the story, but I'm sure there must be some meteorological or astronomical limit to the circle's height. Otherwise, every circle is basically an anti-magic ray that shoots out to the edge of the material universe.
Not that that wouldn't be awesome, but I would expect an anti-magic ray with an infinite range to be a bit harder to build...
I'd say there is an effective range that is just beyond anything that is needed. There for if you had a demon who could jump 7.1 miles, it would extend to 7.2 miles, and so on.
It IS magic, after all.
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I'm sure it wouldn't be relevant to the story, but I'm sure there must be some meteorological or astronomical limit to the circle's height. Otherwise, every circle is basically an anti-magic ray that shoots out to the edge of the material universe.
Not that that wouldn't be awesome, but I would expect an anti-magic ray with an infinite range to be a bit harder to build...
Ima have to look for an old, old woj on this... Basically the diameter is defined by the will of the wizard making it, So it does have an upper limit, and it's possible to make it more of a sphere, also offhand Woj about if a wizard were crazy enough they could ground out a circle using a shield as it's root, if you were crazy enough to believe that were possible(yes, this will absolutely come into play in the DF, even if we don't see it directly:) )
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Ima have to look for an old, old woj on this... Basically the diameter is defined by the will of the wizard making it, So it does have an upper limit, and it's possible to make it more of a sphere, also offhand Woj about if a wizard were crazy enough they could ground out a circle using a shield as it's root, if you were crazy enough to believe that were possible(yes, this will absolutely come into play in the DF, even if we don't see it directly:) )
Ground out a Circle? As it de-power it? How is that different than just breaking the circle?
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Ground out a Circle? As it de-power it? How is that different than just breaking the circle?
No, other way around, circles work because their grounded, stable, ect. You could theoretically ground it on a shield, but Jim point's out that's crazy, but not Impossible. You'd just have to actually believe the shield a stable base to ground it on.
Need to find this woj again, it's only a yr or 2 old... should be written somewhere. I know I read it not listened to it.
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No, other way around, circles work because their grounded, stable, ect. You could theoretically ground it on a shield, but Jim point's out that's crazy, but not Impossible. You'd just have to actually believe the shield a stable base to ground it on.
Need to find this woj again, it's only a yr or 2 old... should be written somewhere. I know I read it not listened to it.
You mean, for example, if Dresden were to conjure a shield that was circular, he could use the edge of that shield the same way he would use a drawn circle? Am I understanding correctly?
I could see how that would be useful in some situations.
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You mean, for example, if Dresden were to conjure a shield that was circular, he could use the edge of that shield the same way he would use a drawn circle? Am I understanding correctly?
I could see how that would be useful in some situations.
But why? I mean the ground is already really convenient.
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But why? I mean the ground is already really convenient.
Harry can bring up a shield almost instantly. He's also used his shield to project a kind of force field as a flat plane before; he could very quickly create a circle trap if he did it around a group of bad dudes from the Nevernever, for example.
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You mean, for example, if Dresden were to conjure a shield that was circular, he could use the edge of that shield the same way he would use a drawn circle? Am I understanding correctly?
I could see how that would be useful in some situations.
well I was referring to a solid carry on the arm kinda shield. No comment on if Harry's crazy enough to make a magic circle out of pure magic. :x
@raisins, cause then you could point it at your enemy and maneuver them in front of you while keeping them trapped?
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Harry can bring up a shield almost instantly. He's also used his shield to project a kind of force field as a flat plane before; he could very quickly create a circle trap if he did it around a group of bad dudes from the Nevernever, for example.
well I was referring to a solid carry on the arm kinda shield. No comment on if Harry's crazy enough to make a magic circle out of pure magic. :x
Since he can do magic in his mind already, he has no need to cast a shield circle, I'd think.