Ok, so I'm whipping up a neuromancer for my DF campaign and I'm trying to put together some of his rote spells. So far he's a focused practitioner with Discipline at +5 and Conviction at +3. Here's what I've got so far:

Brain Drain! (lesser version)
Complexity: 8
Effect: target gets temporary aspect "Drained Intellect"
Duration: a few hours

The idea here is that the neuromancer (who's a highschool student btw) will drag some poor freshman into the locker room in the morning, do a quick ritual, and then tag the aspect later on in the day to improve his abilities on a test or class discussion.  Since most of the victims will have Average skills at best he only needs about 5 shifts to get the aspect and he adds a few for more time before he invokes the aspect.

Brain Drain! (greater version)
Complexity: 14
Effect: target gets mild mental consequence "Brain Drain!"; caster gets sticky aspect "Stolen Intellect" which last for 2 invokes (tag once for free o'course) and more shifts grant more uses.

This would be the more lasting effect that the neuromancer is looking for, something that will really beef up his smarts at the expense of someone else.  This ritual takes longer to set-up but it provides a much more lasting effect.



So, does that look right? Is there a different way to do it? I thought about messing withs skill points but aspects seem to be easier and more in keeping with the system. Any thoughts?

So I've just had a small brainwave about the way the Laws of Magic, sponsored magic and the Accords interact with each other.  Consider that the Accords define specific 'groups' like the White Council, Summer and Winter, the Freeholding Lords, etc... and each of these groups then set their own policies for internal affairs while the Accords handle external relations.  The White Council is a group that strongly believes in the power of magic being shaped and guided by mortal will and thus set up the Laws of Magic to preserve that belief and to keep their own potential for destruction in check. These Laws have been around for so long and the White Council has been believing in them and in the effects of dark magic for so long that these beliefs have actually changed the way mortal practitioners interact with and use magic.  Its almost as if there are now two kinds of magic; mortal and non-mortal.  The White Council 'group' and mortal users are bound by the Laws because they believe that they are and they believe in the backlash black magic provokes and, for them, this belief is true. Other 'groups'; fae, dragons, vamps, whatever; do not suffer from Lawbreaker penalties because they don't really believe in the Laws and don't even consider the fallout from black magic. For them, the Laws just aren't real.  JB and Bob mention a number of times throughout the series that magic is a quirky thing that changes over time and I can readily imagine the focused belief of countless mortal practitioners changing things enough that, for them only, the negative effects of black magic (heck, even the concept of black magic) comes into being and they create the Laws to protect themselves.  Well, there you have it. Just my 2 copper.

Ya, good ol' Des Moines! Center of....Iowa. Blech.  Anyway, if there is anyone interested in Dresden Files RPG here in Des Moines let me know either on the forum here.  I've got a friend or two already up for a game and we'd probably be playing at Mayhem on 72nd and University although I'm not opposed to meeting at a house.  Lets get it going!