A short list of simple Thaumaturgy questions

[j1000]

These questions all came up while I was trying to put together a sample "protect the mayor from bullets all day" spell, but I figure they have broader applications:

1. Based on the dreamless sleep spell, it looks like a beneficial aspect applied to a willing target costs 1 + shifts to raise the duration from the default 15 minutes, right?

2. There's an example of a maneuver ritual being timed for a particular event (p. 265).  Does a spell like this have a programmed trigger ("when he walks onto stage", "whenever he pulls out a gun").  Or is it timed rather than triggered, so if you don't know when the target was scheduled to walk on stage you're out of luck?

4. Wards (of the awesome reflective variety) are only for enhancing existing thresholds, right?  You can't make a reflecting personal shield, only ordinary block/armor, if I understand correctly.

5. How should I figure out the default duration of a thaumaturgical block? Some types of blocks have a longer base durations (veils specifically mention a 1 day duration), but that seems too generous for, say, a lasting anti-bullet block.

[luminos]

1.  I suppose, but I really don't know the answer to this one.  Anyhow, a "protect someone from bullets" isn't really an aspect (its more of a block), so it would cost more anyways.

2.  I think you can program the spell to be either timed or triggered, your choice.  Just don't try to make the trigger something extraordinarily variable or hard to predict unless you increase the complexity of the spell to justify it.  For instance, a trigger of a specific person walking onto a specific stage would be a perfectly acceptable trigger, but having the spell triggered by the first person who pulls out a gun in the mayor's vicinity would require a large increase in the spells base complexity

3.  I don't know the answer to 3 

4.  I don't know if a threshold is required for a ward, but the ward does have to be on a fixed location.  Perhaps you could make a ward around the stage's podium that was modified to let the mayor into it without trouble.

5.  I'd make the base duration of the block one scene, or 15 minutes story time.  Remember that an evocation block will go away as soon as it is overcome, so assume the same for thaumaturgy.

[Knave]

Using the books as canon, Wards don't need to be tied to thresholds.

(click to show/hide)

Harry's bolt hole rented storage in Turn coat? doesn't have one for example.

[Rel Fexive]

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Neither did the wards the Merlin used to hold off a Red Court army.

[j1000]

Heh, #3 was going to be "What's up with the weapons-grade entropy curse?"

It seems like the aspect it places is definitely going to have the one shift it needs to be sticky.  If that's the case, and the first free tag compels a 26-strength attack, what happens when the sticky aspect is compelled using fate points?  Can you spam 26-point attacks on the target for the remainder of the scene, at the cost of one fate point per attack?  Seems broken.  Also, is surviving the curse as easy as having a fate point to buy off this compel?

The best answer I can think of is that the spell really just gets treated as an attack, just like Victor's Heart Exploding spell, and that describing it in terms of an aspect doesn't really mean it should be treated using the usual rules for aspects.

Here's #6:
What's up with stacking two maneuvers to get multiple tags, as described on p. 265?  Specifically, if I'm casting a 2x +3 maneuver spell on a target with good conviction, for a total of 6 complexity, does that target defend against a 6-point maneuver, or does he defend twice against the two separate 3-point maneuvers?  If it's the second (two defenses), why wouldn't I just cast the two 3-complexity spells separately? I'd spend a little more time casting (given the minimum ~1 minute per spell), but wouldn't need preparation.

As for #5:
So lets pretend Harry is bringing a nonmagical friend to a dangerous meeting, and wants to do a quick (no preparation) defensive ritual before heading out the door.  If we assume the base duration is 15 minutes, he could give the friend a minor edge (+1 block) for an hour, or a bigger edge (+2 block) for 30 minutes.  A serious thaumaturgist could do better (probably +5 lore +1 specialization +1 focus item), applying a +2 block to the friend for a full day, or +4 for a few hours.  If the duration is long enough, you've got time to repeat casts and get *all* your friends.
This doesn't seem radically broken, but I think it's pretty significant how bumping the base duration up or down a few steps makes this kind of spellcasting dramatically better.  It probably still doesn't compete with evocation for maximum shielding power, but depending on the base duration, you can come close without sacrificing actions and mental stress in combat.

And for #1:
There are a loooooot of applications for beneficial aspects, "good luck" being the most obvious.  Normally, beneficial maneuvers are done during combat, when it's clear who's contesting the maneuver--e.g. distracting someone who's trying to gain "Deep in concentration".  But thaumaturgy usually takes place long before it's clear who might oppose the beneficial aspect.

Example spell:
Burglar's Blessing
You apply the following aspects to yourself: "Steady Fingered" & "Nimble Climber".  Each has two free tags.  The effect lasts for an hour.
Complexity: 6? (2 aspects x 2 uses + 2 duration shifts)
or maybe 10? (8 total points of tagging boost + 2 duration shifts)

...but if it's 10, does that mean it's easier to curse someone with 1 or 0 conviction than it is to bless yourself?