Character Help

[Buscadera]

For as much as I love writing up characters in DFRPG, I tend to shy away from spellcasters because I'm not too sure if I have the magic system down yet. Here's a wizard character I wrote up, complete with rotes, focus items and enchanted items. Can some of the rules gurus on the forum give him the once-over and tell me if I've put him together properly?

Thanks in advance.

Terrance Rhodes (Wizard) – Submerged
High Aspect: Blue-Blooded Wizard of the White Council
Trouble: Old Money, New Problems
Other Aspects: More Degrees Than a Thermometer; Master Artificer-in-Training; Every Problem Has a Solution; Golden Boy of the White Council

Stress:
Physical: OOO
Social: OOO
Mental: OOOO

Skills:
• Superb (+5): Lore, Resources
• Great (+4): Conviction, Discipline
• Good (+3): Craftsmanship, Scholarship
• Fair (+2): Contacts, Rapport, Presence
• Average (+1): Alertness, Athletics, Endurance, Investigation, Weapons

Supernatural Powers:
   • Evocation [-3] (Specializations: Earth, Fire, Spirit; Power: Earth +1; Spirit +1)
   • Thaumaturgy [-3] (Frequency: Crafting +1; Complexity: Crafting +1)
   • The Sight/Soulgaze [-1]
   • Wizard’s Constitution [-0]
   • Refinement [-1]
      Focus Items:
         • Iron Ring: Control: +1 Earth
         • Copper Wand: Frequency: +1 Crafting
      Enchanted Items:
         • Ram’s Head Ring: Spirit Weapon: 3 Attack; 3/uses per session
         • Onyx Stud: Spirit Block: 3 vs. Perception, Duration 3 rounds; 1/use per session
         • Ruby Ring: Fire Weapon: 4 Attack; 2/uses per session
         • Cobalt Ring: Spirit Block: 4 or Armor: 2; 2/uses per session
      Rotes:
         • Thunderbolt: Earth; Weapon: 4 Attack
         • Earthquake: Earth; Weapon: 3 Attack vs. Zone (requires Ring)
         • Force Bubble: Spirit; Block: 4 or Armor 2, Duration 2 rounds
         • Electrified: Earth; Applies Shocked Aspect to an opponent for 3 rounds (requires Ring)
         • Rain of Fire: Fire; Weapon: 2 Attack vs. Zone

Mortal Stunts:
   • Lush Lifestyle (Resources):

Adjusted Refresh: 1

[sinker]

One thing I know is that rotes have to be the exact same thing every time. YS257

A rote spell is defined as one specific application
of evocation in a single element, such as a
fire attack, a particular air maneuver, or a spirit
block. It always manifests in exactly the same
way each time, has the same power level, places
the exact same aspect, etc. Any change in the
parameters of the spell disqualifies it from being
a rote.

So pick armor or block on your shield.

I did ask this question earlier but I don't think anyone answered. Are enchanted items like rotes? Can you have an enchanted item that can switch between block and armor?

[Tsunami]

Generally the Character looks fine, only the enchanted items are a bit off.

With a Lore of +5
and a the specializations: (Frequency: Crafting +1; Complexity: Crafting +1)
plus the Focus Item: Copper Wand: Frequency: +1 Crafting

Your Items come out at power6/3 Uses at minimum. Basically all your items are weaker then they should be.

      Enchanted Items:
         • Ram’s Head Ring: Spirit Weapon: 3 Attack; 3/uses per session

This one would be Weapon:6 / 3 uses.
Or if you really want a weapon:3 Attack, then it would be Weapon:3/6 Uses (having traded in 3 shifts of power for 3 uses)

         • Onyx Stud: Spirit Block: 3 vs. Perception, Duration 3 rounds; 1/use per session

When using a Block strength of 3, and putting 3 shifts into duration, it would come out at Block 3, duration 4; 3 uses per session

         • Ruby Ring: Fire Weapon: 4 Attack; 2/uses per session

This one comes out at Weapon 6; 3 uses per session (of course power could be traded for uses here as well, bringing it to Weapon:4; 5 uses)

         • Cobalt Ring: Spirit Block: 4 or Armor: 2; 2/uses per session

As a Block:4/Armor:2, this one would have 5 uses.

[Belial666]

Mechanically, I see only two problems; your items should be at base power 6  (5 lore +1 specialization), and at base frequency of 3 (1 base +1 specialization +1 focus). So far, all your enchanted items are at about half the strength they should have. The correct writeup would be;

• Ram’s Head Ring: Spirit Weapon: 6 Attack; 3/uses per session
• Onyx Stud: Spirit Block: 3 vs. Perception, Duration 3 rounds; 3/uses per session
• Ruby Ring: Fire Weapon: 6 Attack; 3/uses per session
• Cobalt Ring: Spirit Block: 6 or Armor: 3; 3/uses per session

The second problem is that foci for evocation have to be either offense or defense. So that focus for +1 Earth control either costs 2 slots (to give both offensive and defensive control) or only gives one type of bonus; offensive or defensive.




Build-wise, you currently have a +1 power for Spirit without the corresponding control. Not only you are going to miss more often and thus your Spirit spells will be less effective than your Earth spells but you won't be able to actually use the extra power without taking physical stress. I suggest you eschew a spirit power bonus. Put it into control bonus instead OR put it into boosting your Earth control to +2 OR put it into getting 2 potion slots. What artificer has no potion slots?

In addition, you could put most of your focus bonuses into specialization; you could have Power +1 Earth, +1 Spirit, Control +1 Earth (fixing the focus problem) and Crafting Complexity +1, Frequency +2 (shifting your other focus to a specialization so it cannot be taken away)



Suggestion:

Potions have the drawback that cannot be recharged - they have to be brewed again. However, they do benefit from tagging/invoking aspects and declarations. With your resources, you could "buy an obscure recipe", "buy quality ingredients" and "buy quality alchemy instruments" for your potions (in effect, applying aspects via the resources skill), ensuring that your potions will be at the maximum strength of 10 for your Lore.
And remember, your potions still have 3 uses / session, even if you cannot recharge them AND they can contain almost any evocation or thaumaturgy effect. So get at leadt 2 potion slots.

[Buscadera]

Wow, thanks for all the responses. Quite a pleasant surprise that I've actually underpowered my character rather than overestimating. I was afraid that he was too strong.

[Belial666]

Naah. He's actually quite tame. It is possible, though not very flavor-dependent and rarely GM-allowed, to have a full wizard with 8 enchanted items, all with Power 10 and 6 uses/session. A sorceror could do the same with 12 items instead.


But as I said, not kosher.