Smart Spellcasting and Tags

[MWKilduff]

I wanted to throw out some ideas that would help anyone playing with the spells and their affects.

I designed a wizard that is going to be playing with enchanted items instead of focus items.  I am doing this so that it is more difficult to determine what my character would throw around as spells.  Versatility is key to keeping reoccurring bad guys from figuring out any weakness your character has and exploiting them.  A good example is the flame thrower that was used to damage Dresden's hand.  I do not want to mention any more so I do not spoil anything for others here.  So, here is the example.

Lightning Ring Weapon 4 (maxed due to my lore)
3X's/Session (2 Slots)

Ring of Watery Blast Weapon 4 (maxed due to my lore)
3X's/Session (2 Slots)

So, for all intents and purposes I figured with the 2 rings and a rote attack spell I have 3 easy to use attack options that will allow my character to bring forth the pain.  This will minimize the mental stress taken by my character, and allow me to have 3 diverse rote spells for blocks, maneuvers, and the like.

With these 2 items as my example I was thinking that I could use the Watery Blast Ring 1st and then Tag the drenched aspect of the character to increase the damage or make the hit easier of the Lightning Ring.  Opinions and suggestions, or your spell and magic item combos would be appreciated.  I look forward to seeing everyone's ideas.  I have been reading this forum for a while now and I have to say I am impressed with the level of knowledge and sneakiness, so have at it!

[Deadmanwalking]

With these 2 items as my example I was thinking that I could use the Watery Blast Ring 1st and then Tag the drenched aspect of the character to increase the damage or make the hit easier of the Lightning Ring.

Your average Weapon: 4 attack using water magic is likely raw entropy, since actual water isn't likel to make good direct attacks. Perhaps more importantly, you can't just add Aspects to someone with an attack unless you have some specific effect saying so.

[Ophidimancer]

If you're going to go with Enchanted Items, you should definitely take advantage of the fact that defensive items can activate on their own as a Free Action.

Also, something just occurred to me.  If you want versatility, what about an Enchanted Item that does nothing but hold extra energy for you?  Have one programmed to cast a spell that performs a navel gazing Maneuver to apply an Aspect like Flush With Power or Attuned To The Flow to yourself that you can tag for other spellcasting actions.

[Ophidimancer]

I just re-read part of the Evocation section and am wondering about something.

Using a focus item may give you a +1 bonus either to Conviction (making it safer to summon one more shift of power) or Discipline (making it easier to control the spell) for a specific application.

...

A highly personal focus item may also be one of your aspects and could provide additional bonuses via invocation.

That second part is from the same section.  Does that mean that I can Invoke Aspects to increase my effective Conviction and push the threshold of energy that I can summon?

[Deadmanwalking]

I just re-read part of the Evocation section and am wondering about something.

That second part is from the same section.  Does that mean that I can Invoke Aspects to increase my effective Conviction and push the threshold of energy that I can summon?

I don't think so, but you can Invoke them on the Control roll, increasing the amount of Power you can safely summon, which has the same effect for most purposes (since filling in the first and third Stress boxes is very similar indeed mechanically).

[Ophidimancer]

I don't think so, but you can Invoke them on the Control roll, increasing the amount of Power you can safely summon, which has the same effect for most purposes (since filling in the first and third Stress boxes is very similar indeed mechanically).

But the highlighted sentence is from the same section as the first and refers to all the Focus Item bonuses without making a distinction between a Conviction or Discipline.

[Deadmanwalking]

But the highlighted sentence is from the same section as the first and refers to all the Focus Item bonuses without making a distinction between a Conviction or Discipline.

Right, but it says 'additional bonuses', not 'an increased bonus' implying an entirely different sort of bonus, which is precisely what an Invoked Aspect does.

[Ophidimancer]

Using a focus item may give you a +1 bonus either to Conviction (making it safer to summon one more shift of power) or Discipline (making it easier to control the spell) for a specific application.

A single focus item slot, as granted by various Spellcraft powers (page 179), grants a +1 bonus. For evocation focuses, this bonus may be applied to either the wizard’s offensive power (Conviction) or offensive control (Discipline) or defensive power (Conviction) or defensive control (Discipline).

[Ophidimancer]

Right, but it says 'additional bonuses', not 'an increased bonus' implying an entirely different sort of bonus, which is precisely what an Invoked Aspect does.

Again, I don't see where it makes a distinction.  There's also a precedent in Thaumaturgy, in which you can invoke Aspects to increase your effective passive Lore rating.

[Deadmanwalking]

From p. 99, on Aspect uses:

Re-rolls are riskier than just taking the +2 bonus

So the normal Aspect usage for a +2 can also be referred to as a bonus. It's not some arcane game term, it just means something that can add to something else.

Again, I don't see where it makes a distinction.  There's also a precedent in Thaumaturgy, in which you can invoke Aspects to increase your effective passive Lore rating.

But that's explicit. Normally you can only use Aspect Invoke on a roll, and your base Conviction isn't a roll, so barring an explicit statement (which would be a lot more explicit than what you're referencing...the guys at Evil Hat are pretty clear on that stuff, and certainly not limited to only when you have an Aspect for a Focus Item) it doesn't work that way.

This isn't a balance thing, it's not unbalanced, but it's not the way the rules work.

[Myrddhin]

Also, something just occurred to me.  If you want versatility, what about an Enchanted Item that does nothing but hold extra energy for you?  Have one programmed to cast a spell that performs a navel gazing Maneuver to apply an Aspect like Flush With Power or Attuned To The Flow to yourself that you can tag for other spellcasting actions.

That would be supremely useful.

[Ophidimancer]

I think you can invoke an Aspect to increase your effective Conviction rating for the purposes of summoning energy, but only if that Aspect is a Focus Item.

[blues.soldier]

That would be supremely useful.

Actually, wouldn't a potion that does the same thing be a more economical choice?

[Ophidimancer]

Actually, wouldn't a potion that does the same thing be a more economical choice?

Why?  They use the same number of item slots.

[Myrddhin]

Actually, wouldn't a potion that does the same thing be a more economical choice?

If you were to optimize for potions, absolutely (in which case, pair that effect with the Stimulant potion for more fun). But for more of a generalist, two enchanted item slots seem to better spent on an item with 3 uses per session than on two potions. This conclusion assumes the following: character with Lore (+4); didn't take their Thaumaturgy specialty in Frequency (if they do it becomes a dead-tie); and that they're only willing to expend two enchanted item slots to achieve the effect.