Author Topic: Question about Thaumaturgy.  (Read 2138 times)

Offline Archmage_Cowl

  • Conversationalist
  • **
  • Posts: 521
    • View Profile
Question about Thaumaturgy.
« on: March 19, 2010, 03:53:39 AM »
okay so i have been reading up quite significantly on pretty much everything to do with this game lately that i can find. I'm pretty sure i have the basic idea of evocation down. The lore, conviction, and discipline aspects of it, how you get to pick 3 elements when you take it and you can specialize in one and such, but i'm not really understanding alot on how thamaturgy is supposed to work. From looking at dresden's character sheet it would appear that you can specialize in a type of power too. But divination is what he is specialized in so my thoughts that thamaturgy would run on the same elements as evocation are totally shot.

So my question is, basically, can someone explain the basic idea of how thamaturgy works(like in game, i pretty much get it in the novels) like how discipline, lore and conviction work into it(assuming they are even part of it)
And maybe a rough power level because i assume its far stronger than evocation potentially(or whats the point lol)

Oh and if this is like a no-no or something, like i'm asking too much, or something spoilerish, you have my deepest apology's. i just suffer from extreme curiosty lol  ;D. So any answer or anything really that can help would be very much appriciated.
« Last Edit: March 19, 2010, 04:07:24 AM by Archmage_Cowl »
"I who stand in the full light of the heavens, command thee, who opens the gates to hell. Come forth Divine Lightning! This ends now! Indignation!" Jade Curtis Tales of the abyss

Offline iago

  • The Merlin
  • Posty McPostington
  • *******
  • Posts: 3071
  • I'm the site administrator.
    • View Profile
    • Deadly Fredly
Re: Question about Thaumaturgy.
« Reply #1 on: March 19, 2010, 04:35:42 AM »
I'll sketch this VERY lightly.

The idea is that thaumaturgy breaks down into preparation, and into powering.

If you're casting a small enough spell, you can skip the prep phase: it's assumed you're able to put that all together real fast. (Harry's done this with quick-whip-'em-together tracking spells before, among other examples.) I think I recall that Lore helps determine what your "no prep threshold" is, in that regard.  If your spell's complexity is over that threshold, you have to spend some time (possibly a lot of time if you're doing something gigantic) essentially telling the story of the spell, as you gather together the parts you need or wait until the Stars Are Right or whatever. 

Once you've completed preparation, your spell is "constructed", but unpowered, like a toaster that isn't plugged in yet.  So you get to work powering up the spell.  Powering up the spell works like Evocation -- almost exactly, with a couple small but important differences that are best left for the book to cover -- but you're able to "chain" the evocations together, done back to back, as you funnel power into the spell (either slowly or quickly depending on how much power you can grab onto and control from round to round).  Eventually, you fill the spell all the way up, and it's cast, unless something goes really badly during your efforts.  (If you're not under any threat of violence or other time pressure while casting, powering up can all be skipped; you built it, so you can cast it at a nice leisurely pace, no point in rolling.)

That's about the size of it.  Lore is super important for spell preparation, as you might expect. It's an interesting skill, with a number of small but potent utility functions that are spread all throughout the spellcasting system.
Fred Hicks
I own the board. If I start talking in my moderator voice, expect the Fist of God to be close on my heels. Red is my Fist of God voice.
www.evilhat.com * www.dresdenfilesrpg.com
Support this site: http://www.jim-butcher.com/store/

Offline Archmage_Cowl

  • Conversationalist
  • **
  • Posts: 521
    • View Profile
Re: Question about Thaumaturgy.
« Reply #2 on: March 19, 2010, 04:42:01 AM »
Thanks for the awsomely helpful reply :)
I think the whole story telling thing sounds really interesting. I cant wait to get my hands on a book to learn more about that. Now i cant wait to rant to my friends about why they should buy this lol  ;D also i have a feeling that after i get this game im going to have a totally odd time going to the store and realizing that the diffrence between getting barbaque chips or sour cream and onion could be the diffrence between life and death lol.
« Last Edit: March 19, 2010, 04:52:18 AM by Archmage_Cowl »
"I who stand in the full light of the heavens, command thee, who opens the gates to hell. Come forth Divine Lightning! This ends now! Indignation!" Jade Curtis Tales of the abyss