In my current preparation for starting up the DFRPG I have looked a bit into a few aspects (!) of the game that I think that can be abused by the players. My recent finding is the enchanted items, when maximizing the rules. What about this one?

The player creates a Wizard, and sets Lore to +5 and chooses Crafting (Strength) as the specialization for Thaumaturgy (meaning that all items will have a default power level of 6, and that the maximum power level is 10 (or is it 12?)). He then chooses to have all four focus items to be replaced by eight enchanted item slots, and creates two items; one wand (offensive fire evocation, strength of 6) and one duster (defensive spirit block, strength of 6).

He then sacrifices two enchanted item slots to increase the strength of the wand to 8. Finally, he sacrificed the last four enchanted item slots to increase the strength of the duster to 10. Both items can only be used once (but he can take one mental stress to increase the number of uses by one for each point of stress).

This means that, for one point of mental stress, he can make an attack of strength 8 – without risking any backlash/fallout (if this were considered a Rote spell, just as a comparison, it would be equivalent of having an effective Conviction and Discipline of 8 ). In regards to the duster, he can for each attack choose to activate the defensive spells equal to a block of strength 10 – without risking any backlash/fallout (if this were considered a Rote spell, just as a comparison, it would be equivalent of having an effective Conviction and Discipline of 10!). A defensive block of 10 would avoid most attacks, and if they went through, he could use it as Armor 5 instead – for just 1 point of mental stress, without any roll!. In combat, why should he ever bother using “normal” magic?

Please let me know in case I have used the rules in an incorrect way, or if you don’t think this is overpowered.

In the rule book (YS253) there is an optional rule where, if the GM allows it, a practitioner can replace his regular Athletics roll to avoid being hit with a defensive block evocation (like raising a quick shield). I think this is an interesting rule and want to get some comments on my thoughts about it. The rules say that this replaces the PC’s standard Athletics roll, which raises some questions.

1) Would it be allowed to use this “reactive evocation block” in an exchange that you have already acted? (I would say no)

2) In case the block is overcome, the rules say that there is no other defense roll allowed (“no defense aside from that”). Would that mean that the difficulty to attack a target (whos block has been bypassed) will be Mediocre (+0)? (I would say yes)

3) Would it be possible to do a reactive evocation block by using an enchanted item (designed to create a defensive evocation block)? (I would say yes)

4) The same question as 1) above, but done by activating the enchanted item from 3) - Would activating the enchanted item reactively (once you are attacked) use up your action in the current exchange (i.e. you can't do this in case you have already acted this exchange)?

Note that the enchanted item in 3) and 4) is designed to do a block (not act as armor).

Now if you really want to burn your brain, try this one: You get a Fate point for every consequence taken in a conflict, right? Does this include the additional mild consequences from skills and powers? What about those consequences that are downgraded after the fight so that some of them disappear entirely. Do you cash out and get Fate points from consequences you've actually taken during the fight, or just the ones that actually remain after the fight?

Yes, you get Fate points for all the consequences you have taken in the fight, as I see it (according to YS206), even thought some of them might have been removed as a result of some Supernatural Powers. But remember that you can only "cash out" in case you have lost the fight (i.e. not if you win).

I have been using custom soundtracks for close to 20 years, including sound effects. It has come to the point were I can hardly think running a session without it. Every campaign gets its own "intro song" and "end song" (played at the beginning - and end of the session, respectively).

The tracks are taken from various films, edited for personal use only and looped so that they can be played for at least five minutes without audible gaps. The tracks are then named after the mood that I feel when listening to it (like "Breaking in", "Early morning" etc) which makes it easy to find a suitable track during play.

Finding the right music for the DFRPG is what I am working with right now (after 20+ years of running Call of Cthulhu).

Another way of limiting the extreme complexities possible through Thaumaturgy (without risking to fail if the Wizard have Discipline 5 or more) is by saying that every time you pour power into the spell, it takes one step on the “Time Increment” table (instead of one Exchange).

If you have Discipline 5, you can pour one shift of power into the ritual safely (without risk of failing). This means that one day is equivalent of 11 steps, which is the same as to say that a Wizard with Discipline 5, in case he wants to be 100% sure not to fail the ritual, it takes one day. Complexity 13 thus takes one week, and complexity 15 takes one month. Now were talking! If you want to add more than one shift of power every time, you can aim for higher complexities (or faster results), but you risk of failing the ritual.

If you have Discipline 6, you can pour two shifts of power into the ritual safely (without risk of failing), meaning that this Wizard can pour 22 shifts in to a Ritual in one day (i.e. 11 times, using the “Time Increment” table) without having to roll the dice. If he is aiming for a higher complexity or faster results, he will have to pour more than 2 shifts of power in to the ritual (and thus risk of failing the roll).

What do you think about that?

In the Template for the Changeling (YS74), the rules say:

"In play, this means that any time a changeling purchases new powers, it comes with a clear alteration of the changeling’s body, moving him towards a more fae appearance in line with that of his faerie parent (like suddenly growing horns or hooves and so on)."

Does this mean that most of the Powers taken by the Changeling affects the physical appearence of the character (when applicable, of course)?

I would assume that the character ought to choose "Glamours" as one of the abilities in case he or she would like to be able to move around among "normal people".

Just remember, the more shifts you have to control, the more dangerous it gets. one failed control check can kill you. Easily.  Picture this: you got a 50 shift spell, you've got 4 shifts left, and roll so poorly that you fail the control check.  Either way, your taking 46 shifts of damage, from fallout or backlash.   Say bye bye to your wizard.  That's the danger of bigger spells. So the pratical limit is the number of shifts of damage you can take.  Stress track + 20 (2 mild, 4 moderate, 6 serious, 8 extreme).

Note the actual casting of the ritual is not really a problem (once you reach +5 in Discipline, you can easily add one shift of power without risking failing the roll). Though if you had a risk of failing the ritual, I would not raise the complexity to 50 and risk a 50-shift fallout...

As suggested, Endurance could restrict Discilpline for very long rituals.