R.e. Misinterpretation of water: the canon is told from Harry's point of view, and he even directly admits he doesn't understand the principles to water magic. The RPG stuff is written by Billy with advice from still-clueless Harry, and an addendum that Bob's tried to explain it to him/them unsuccessfully.

So it is a misunderstanding, but that's probably on Harry's own part, as intended by Butcher.

And we're free to figure it out ourselves XD. Great write-ups, by the way XD.

Hm.

But he's not using the knife for- hm. If he was working thaumaturgy, then the knife itself would serve as a focus item. But for evocation he'd be using the pain to drive himself.

It's a character concept I'm playing with more than something I need for a campaign. So there's stuff up in the air and things he doesn't tell me about and all. But I'm pretty sure it involved desperate circumstances, bad inflence and Lawbreaking unknowingly  (of the letter, anyway, you can't really kill someone in cold blood while being innocent of the idea that it's wrong).

So essentially I'll be writing it all up as a stunt that doesn't cost refresh. Thanks very much for your thoughts, guys.

So I'm fiddling with a wizardly character concept for kicks. At 3am in the morning.

So the character is a guilt-ridden guy who also doesn't want to carry around foci and enchanted items for his magical shenanigans, and I'm envisioning him carving symbols into the skin/flesh of his arms in order to use his own blood and pain to fuel his evocation. So I'm not even thinking of it as a once-off-ish thing like when a ritualist/thaumaturge can inflict consequences on themselves to make up requirements for their ritual, I'm thinking this guy basically has scars and new(er) wounds on him basically all the time, as he renews the cuts in a really masochistic version of maintaining/upgrading a focus item.

So how would folks suggest I model this?

So I was thinking a stunt to let me spend fate points to declare physical consequences (1 FP per consequence) in order to use the corresponding number of available focus item slots (as determined by my Evocation + Refinement) for evocation control and/or power bonuses determined on the spot and then locked in for the duration of however long the corresponding consequence takes to be removed as a result of recovery.

But I'm not sure if the cost/limitations are not enough, or overkill, or what, or if someone can suggest a more elegant solution, of if this is actually a pretty okay plan.

Quick question: If I have a wizard who's a better item-craftsman make an enchanted object for his apprentice's use, the item is -1 strength and uses the same number of slots as it would have for the maker, and that's all, right?

You could also just wing it as appropriate. Obviously random one-shot goons wouldn't get round to spending any, while you decide when a recurring antagonist might spend a fate point for that extra edge, to keep things challenging for players. The risk is overdoing it, naturally, while some form of fixed pool would prevent that eventually.

I suggest that you guys might be overthinking it slightly.

Characters with free will have a Refresh rate. The ones who don't, don't.

At the very least, it means that starting a game with a PC without free will, you start with 0 fate points. Whatever compel the GM first throws at you, you have to take it, because you lack the FP to buy out of it. You will probably also take the next couple compels, so you have them to spend in a big fight, or to buy out of a compel at a more crucial moment so you don't give in to your urge to eat your allies or whatever.

And now you're back to being starved of FP, so you have to take the compel eventually, or even start self-compelling. Rinse and repeat.

Observe how very, very entrapped by your lack of Refresh your character is.

There we go.


It now merely gets into which Aspects the GM will compel to make life difficult for you, and how. If it's agreed at your table to go easy on the Aspects which might encourage back-stabbing allies, then you can totally have a varied party (Blampire, pure mortal, true believer, etc.) working together, sure. Stranger things have happened in real life.

I've been reading my way up and down the spellcasting-relevant parts, and nowhere does it say you can take Refinement specialisations for Sponsored Magic. At best, I note that the text for Refinement says, under the options: "Or, gain two additional specialization bonuses for Evocation and/or Thaumaturgy."

Evocation and/or Thaumaturgy. Doesn't include Sponsored Magic.

I do recognise also that Channeling and Ritual specify that you can only take Refinement for extra item slots, while nowhere in Sponsored Magic does it say that.

What it does say is that you're effectively taking Channeling and Ritual with Sponsored Magic, hence the -4 refresh cost, with the sponsor's power as the single specialised focus that you specify for Channeling/Ritual.

So it seems to be implying that you can't use Refinement to get specialisation bonuses for Sponsored Magic.

Or maybe they just left it vague on purpose so we can decide on a table-by-table basis.

I'm not sure if I would allow it yet, because I'm still pretty new to things. But it seems Sponsored Magic gets kind of weaksauce if, in a campaign getting steadily high-powered, it's still the only spellcasting power your character has. Getting full Evocation and/or Thaumaturgy is going to require you save up over quite a few major milestones (unless you've been opting to stay with high refresh instead of getting powers/stunts/whatever), as they're rather costly, so you really may be facing that speed bump for a while, unless the GM decides to allow Refinement specialisations for it.

EDIT: Or maybe this is the mechanics expressing how your sponsor wants you to keep invoking for bonuses - and stacking up debt with him/her/it. Sponsors being largely not very nice, I don't think you would be allowed permanent effectively free upgrades to their power, which is what Refinement specialisations are. They get no benefit from that spent refresh, after all.