Use of Aspects in "powering" spells.
Having checked out the Spellcasting (Evocation) rules again, there is some room to interpret the role of Aspects when casting Evocations.
On YS page# 255
evocation is too quick and dirty to use other power sources the way a thaumaturgical spell can (page 267).
With a note from Harry in the sidebar stating
Stuff like Hellfire can be brought to bear pretty quickly for evocation.
On YS page #267 under power sources for thaumaturgy, it references YS page 248.
On YS page #248 is the following list of sources to power a wizard's spells.
- Himself
- Willing creatures
- Unwilling magical creatures
- Objects that store power
- The environment
- Outside reality
With that list in mind, that the Wizard is a source of power for his own spells, then it suggests that a wizard's aspects could be used to 'boost' the power of an evocation. For example, a background aspect of
Seventh Generation Member of the White Council could be used to temporarily increase the character's Conviction score by +2, thus increasing the amount of power they themselves can provide an evocation.
At the same time, on YS page #256 there is no limit applied to the amount of power a wizard can put into an evocation, apart from the wizard's own limited ability to handle a given amount of stress. For evocations up to the Conviction skill in power, a wizard only suffers 1 point of Mental stress. For every additional point of power beyond the Conviction skill a wizard pumps into an evocation, an additional point of Mental stress is suffered.
Now from a storytelling perspective, I can see times when it would be dramatically appropriate for a player or group to be able to tap normally unused reserves of power (via spending Fate points) to get that 'extra' oomph added onto a blast of fire/water/lightning/whatever. Or should aspects (and Fate points) only be allowed to Control an evocation, not power one?
Incidentally, I tend to agree with Harry's sidebar comment to the effect that Sponsored magic can potentially be used to increase the power of an evocation. One grey area here though involves Ley lines. In the section on Sponsored magic on page 292 of YS, Places of Power, Sponsored magic of this type can be used to augment the power available to a wizard from their Conviction. However, it would also seem sensible for some Places of Power to have aspects like Potent Ley Line, which could then be Tagged to increase the power of a spell as well. Particularly in situations where a caster is located at specific places but has not become attuned to them (taken Sponsored Magic: Places of Power for the particular location).
Hence my interest in the thoughts of others as to what/how this should be done?