Nah, it's just the declarations "Circle of Power", "Energy Source", "Fire to Magic" and "Unstable Power" giving a +8 to the spell complexity.

As for why the Wardens dislike it, it's because of munchkins. Technically, "Circle of Power", "Big Circle of Power", "Bigger Circle of Power", "Biggest Circle of Power" are all different aspects you can declare, and you could do similar repetition for the other three aspects of the circle... which leads to giant forest fire circles miles in diameter just to get that extra 'juice'.

Nah, the real difference is that Harry is not nearly as arrogant as Anakin was and that he has seen Star Wars so he expects the twists!

Anybody else see things differently?

1) Draw gold / precious stones out of the ground with geomancy.
2) Transmute coal into diamonds.
3) Affect horse/dog races with mind magic on the animals.
4) Affect sports events with good luck/bad luck spells.
5) Rob ATMs with invisibility and hexing.

Those are just the small stuff. Given a good ritual, a wizard could affect international companies or even countries. Most mass-produced goods should be thaumaturgically near-identical, company premises could be affected Little Chicago style, and businesses have no thresholds to protect them.

the problem is not that you can't use computers, they work fine, you just can't be next to them while you do it

Nope! The problem is that uncontrolled magic breaks the computer. So make sure there's none around. Like, make a circle around the computer, activate the circle, cast a light spell inside the circle until you use up the very limited amount of magic within, then turn on the computer.

@RonLugge:
The attacker can contest the concentration maneuvers with his own skills. Also, under a grapple a wizard takes penalties on both power and control equal to the grapple. Good luck firing a spell that hits.

@Mr. Death:
Supernatural speed means going first, boosts stealth, allows you to move and attack in the same round without penalties, and gives a +2 to all athletics, including potentially offensive maneuvers such as outflanking the enemy. Supernatural toughness gives you staying power so you can effectively attack more times in a fight; the best offense is a good defense.


BTW, physical attacks can also scale. Highest I ever saw was Weapon 16 without any stress cost, custom powers or invokes. Then again that was an undead giant wielding a mordite blade so it was kinda justified in a "splat, you're it" kinda way.

I'd see it as the opposite of the one-time discount for Items of Power. The weakness of Foci and enchanted items is that they can be removed/stolen/broken or you can just forget to have them with you. To eliminate that weakness I'd sugest something like this;

Innate Magic [-1 or -2]
Through long practice, talent, or rituals, your body conducts magic better than normal, working as a material anchor for complex effects.
Benefit: You may apply focus or enchanted item slots directly to your body rather than separate items. Such slots can't be reallocated except in Major Milestones. For -1 refresh you can do this for effects that would normally require small, easily hidden items such as rings, amulets and the like. For -2 refresh you can do this for larger items such as staves, or robes. You can't do it for any item that would be larger than your own body.

Except that basing things just on skill levels can often be misleading;

Toughness and Recovery powers give no bonus to attack or defense rolls and Strength only gives it occasionally. Does this mean that they don't affect the outcome? Magic can easily get legendary rolls. Does this mean that a mage rolling legendary for magic will be balanced against a monster rolling legendary without magic? Flight doesn't affect rolls at all. Yet a faerie with a +3 bow skill and wings will easily win against a PC with +5 weapons skill and a sword because there's nothing the PC can do to strike back.


A fight is balanced when it is balanced. Refresh level and skill ranks are an indicator, not the full basis for how a fight turns out. Only if you take into account how the powers/skills mesh and how each side can use them will you know how to balance the encounter - and every single encounter is unique in trying to balance it.

That would be an incredible dick move by the GM. The point of ending a conflict is to end the conflict, not start it up again immediately so the player gets cheated. This point goes against the rules and the spirit of the game, I feel.

1) Sure is. But bad guys are known for dick moves. Case in point, Corpsetaker. Harry survives their mental conflict and tries to run away. She immediately goes after him. Ditto for many other bad guys. If they got a goal and your character is still preventing them from finishing that goal after the conflict, they aren't going to leave you alone simply because you won a single battle.

2) Harry is also known for it. In many cases, he gets beaten in a fight but he keeps at it until his opponents eventually are defeated.

3) Dick move or no, it doesn't go against the rules. Technically, what the bad guy is doing is refusing the concession - because concessions can be refused. If the bad guy's goals include killing your character why would they let you live? Yes, the GM must warn that death is on the table. Yes, the GM must warn if the potential fight is one the PCs cannot win. But once those warnings are given and if the PCs enter that fight regardless of those warnings, they cannot bitch if their characters die. After all, they could have avoided starting a fight in the first place.