I do, however, think we need brief guidelines for Thaumaturgical shapeshifting. It's probably not gonna be available in the midst of combat without buying some other power, but it's clearly an available ability in the setting, and some basic guidelines on difficulty seem somewhat necessary.

I agree. The discussion is underway with the developers' list right now. We're looking at potentially writing a more expanded set of guidelines for posting here on the forums, but I'm also drafting up something that can fit in the available margin space on YS283, the page right after the transformation section, since it's the closest and biggest space available. This is my current draft which just barely fits:

HARRY: Billy, I’m thinking about the transforming stuff on the previous page. What does it take to transform yourself into a form with new powers? Or someone else for that matter?

BILLY: The simplest answer is that transforming a target is like killing a target, with the taken out result being that they come back in a new form with different powers (that they have to pay refresh points for). Transforming yourself is either about producing a temporary, short-term, specific spell-effect with an obvious shift cost, or it’s about acquiring new powers with spent refresh (or temporarily—see page 92).

EDIT: The simple fact of the matter is that for a regularly shapeshifting spellcaster , I'd *buy shapeshifting powers*. The rationale for why those powers are there is that they come from spellcraft, but the cost of being able to do that should be reflected in refresh spent, IMO. If you want to look at it from one perspective, it's like refinement points spent on shapeshifting.

Judgment calls for spellcasting that we would make at our table (and will try to squeeze into the text if we can find room):

Armor and protective blocks can be mobile if cast by evocation. Generally speaking -- though there are exceptions for specific protections against specific things -- armor and protective blocks established by thaumaturgy are rooted to a specific place, being immobile.  Therefore, armor and protective blocks when put into an enchanted item should be regarded as working under an evocation model in terms of what that implies for things like duration.

Spells which have a maneuver-like effect (placing a temporary aspect on a target) are governed by the ways maneuvers typically work. Extra shifts can be invested beyond the core effect to build a case that the temporary aspect is "sticky", but if you want to simply allow spell-maneuvers to produce sticky effects, we will not tell you that's wrong.

Holding someone in place can be done several ways. You should figure out if you want it to simply slow them down (a maneuver might do the trick then) or if you want to hold them in place (a block against movement is appropriate). If you're going the block direction, consider an examination of the grapple rules. If you're achieving this effect via an evocation, you'll need to think about adding shifts for duration at some point.

Veils produced by Evocation are an edge-case when it comes to the duration rules.  Since they aren't, strictly speaking, protection, it may be appropriate to allow them to run for longer than a single exchange without investing shifts in duration.  While you could concept them as a block, really, they're just a simulation of a REALLY GOOD Stealth roll, and each "exchange" of a veil's effect should last about as long as the GM would normally allow the results of a really good Stealth roll to stand before calling for another one.

No effect produced by evocation should last beyond a single scene unless there is a very very good reason to do so. (Your GM/table is the arbiter of what constitutes a good reason.)

Now, like I said up top, I'll try to get this into the text if I can, but space is at a premium right now and we can't afford to trigger a massive reflow of the chapter, so what gets squeezed in will be a few words here & there, maybe in the margins, if we can get it there at all. And since these are "judgment calls" that doesn't mean they have to be right for your game and how you run it.

Anyone planning on playing one?

I gotta say, the Pure Mortal stat blocks that made it into Baltimore and Our World -- mostly penned by Clark Valentine -- are among my favorite statblocks. I'm hoping folks are seeing the potential there, and enjoy the kind of detail you can give a "regular Joe" in an irregular world.

So what do you think?

... is likely to start early next week.

Keep an eye on the Evil Hat webstore: http://www.evilhat.com/store/

(I'm posting this on April 1st, yes, but this is not a joke.)

EDIT: More specifically, keep an eye here:

http://www.evilhat.com/store/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=65_72

The products are currently listed as "out of stock" until I activate them some time on Monday. Stay tuned!

http://www.dresdenfilesrpg.com/2010/02/26/pictures-and-product-pricing/

Rick Neal is one of our more prolific Alpha tester bloggers.  He's been doing a multi-part Q&A about the RPG, and is doing a really good job of it. You can get at all of his Dresden Files blog posts here.  I strongly suggest checking them out -- they're truly extensive:

http://www.rickneal.ca/?cat=3

Playtester Rick Neal spills the beans on what the contents of the two books looks like (currently):

http://www.rickneal.ca/?p=503