So all one of the Sidhe needs to do in order to toast a mortal is to lob said mortal something valuable first, then incinerate them while they're still wondering what the hell is happening?  Nice.

For extra fun, use a fire-proof trinket, that way it's reusable.

See, I think that a vampire, a creature that is part spirit and part material, could cross or at least disrupt a magic circle.  The Loup-Garou required three circles to contain, one for spiritual entities, one for physical entities, and a third for beings that are both simultaneously.  Vampires are humans whose souls have been inhabited by a demon.  If anything, they would fall into the "physical" category.  Also, in TC Harry informs Murph that Binder's grey men cannot break his circle because they lack a will of their own.  Whether or not a vamp's demon has a will (rather than just a nature) the human host of the demon does, and could therefore break the circle.

As to why Harry didn't just circle up when the Shadowman was looking to make his heart 'asplode in SF, I'd assume that Harry wanted to stop the warlock once and for all rather than simply defend against this attack.  After all, there would be another storm eventually, and at least in the case of Stormfront's climax the Shadowman could have relocated once he realized that Harry was onto his location.


I like the concept of treating a magical circle as an instant threshold with a massive value that can be undone easily.

 

Personally I'm in Camp B, but only insofar as the winner cannot over state the terms of their victory.  If the winner decides that the loser does not die, the loser is alive, full stop.  If you, as the GM, want some control over the way your NPCs shuffle out of the scene (or off the mortal coil) you need to offer concessions, otherwise the outcome is up to the PC to dictate.  I realize that it's odd to think of death as a concession rather than a result of taken out, but that's really how the system works. 

I'm personally tempted to bring in more powerful shapeshifters ala WoD, just so the werewolves can exist in the same weight class as wizards.

Also, given that the Nevernever is infinite, it isn't like it's hard to bring anything you want into the setting.  As the GM my bigger problem is keeping the supernatural elements in their proper place.  One of the things I love about the Dresdenverse is that, at least in the mortal world, humans are the dominant species, not background noise like in the WoD games. 

When, on YS185 the rules state

Catches cannot reduce the cost of your Toughness powers below -1.

does that mean that the total cost of your Toughness powers must be at least -1, or that each individual power must cost at least -1?  The reason I'm asking is that I have a -3 catch (Fire, uncommon knowledge) and don't really think my high concept justifies Supernatural Toughness/Recovery.  Since the total cost of my Toughness powers will still be -1 that seems to fly, but I can't help thinking that it doesn't, since it would mean that the cost of one of the powers was -0, and the other is -1.  Help?

I'd say that Saloon Brawler should provide a +1 to Weapons skill when using improvised weapons, with damage appropriate to the weapon in question.  A +1 to an attack skill is huge, roughly equivalent to a +2 to damage, and IMO shouldn't be combined with setting a damage floor, or a damage cap when it comes to it (some improvised weapons should probably do Weapon:2, but they'd be rather few and far between).

Oh, and once the weapon stops being improvised the player stops getting the bonus.  It's one thing when Charles McGee picks up a miner's pick axe and uses it in a fight, there's an element of surprise.  This element is lost when opponents are fighting Pickaxe McGee.

Yeah.  Nelson wasn't so much "clued in" but he did hang out with people who thought they were practicing magic (see Molly's discussion with Harry towards the end of PG), if she'd told him what she was doing, he'd probably have believed.