Repeat Rituals

[Saedar]

Even if it is impossible for him to fail, you should at least take the time to have him explain how he is fulfilling all of his complexity.

Having said that, if you are cool with your players having super-easy access to magical bombs, then blast away. However, if you want him limited in some fashion: send in the Wardens, have some Power make contact with him that wants to use him, have someone get tired of his mystical IRA shenanigans and bust up his bomb party, etc.

[sandchigger]

Or, have a magical firebomb go off at a local sports team game killing dozens and injuring hundreds. Then have the Wardens show up and ask "who do we know who can make magical firebombs SUPER EASILY?"

Let him make 'em by the truckload then bury him with them.

[Chris_Fougere]

Or, have a magical firebomb go off at a local sports team game killing dozens and injuring hundreds. Then have the Wardens show up and ask "who do we know who can make magical firebombs SUPER EASILY?"

Let him make 'em by the truckload then bury him with them.

This would be my way of dealing with it:) 

Then again my players may try something like the super-bomb once, but then would be very, very afraid of what ramifications from on high it may have.  I tend to follow a "what's good for the PCs is good for the NPCs" philosophy (and vice versa, my NPCs don't do anything that a PC couldn't) which does wonders for keeping player excess in check:)

[sinker]

I don't think that's W&M's problem at all, otherwise he probably wouldn't be asking how to streamline the process.

Wow, I'm surprised I'm on the wrong (or more accurately, unpopular) side of this. Hasn't anyone else had the game slow to a crawl when someone wants to bust out a ritual to fix something? I'd say do whatever you can to pick up the pace so you can focus on the story. Like I said before if he can't fail (or won't fail as is the case) then there's no reason to go through all however many rolls. It's one of the basic tenants of gaming. If nothing will happen if someone fails (or there's no reason to expect them to fail) then there's no reason to roll. Just make sure you properly represent the time taken to make it in game and move on.

[Bubba Amon Hotep]

Hasn't anyone else had the game slow to a crawl when someone wants to bust out a ritual to fix something? I'd say do whatever you can to pick up the pace so you can focus on the story. Like I said before if he can't fail (or won't fail as is the case) then there's no reason to go through all however many rolls. It's one of the basic tenants of gaming. If nothing will happen if someone fails (or there's no reason to expect them to fail) then there's no reason to roll. Just make sure you properly represent the time taken to make it in game and move on.

Game Time/Advancing the Plot/Rolling Dice . . . it is all situational.  I ask myself some questions.
Q: What are the other players doing? Could any of it be distracting? 
A: Nothing/No (next question)  Arguing/Yes (Better roll you just got some negatives.  Nope not gonna tell you.  Okay you succeed, but it was close.  Compel a temper flare, wizards trying to work and all.)

Q: What could the other players accomplish while the Ritualist is making his mini-nuke?
A: Nothing (speed up the process - next scene)  Otherwise, let the wizard do his thing, players are doing their's.

My 2cents,
Bubba Amon Hotep

[ways and means]

Its a high powered 15 refresh evil game and believe it or not a 1 use mini-nukes are the least broken thing in the the entire campagin the physical tank has immunity to anything other than the swords of the cross, the necromancer in the party is getting to the mass grave re-animating level and thinking tentativly about ascension rituals and the outsider summoning wizard is providing the red court with a supply of tentacled abomanations.

[Sanctaphrax]

It seems to me that most of the opposition to the idea of skipping the preparation is based on the idea that players should not be allowed to pull off massive rituals willy-nilly. This idea stems from a reasonable concern about balance.

Clearly, balance is not very important in this game.

So I say go ahead, skip the ritual preparation. The normal limitations apparently don't apply here.

[ways and means]

Complexity isn't a big deal when the red court will supply you sacrafise victims at a reasonable rate, with thamaturgy if their is no limits on what you are willing to do then there are very few limits on what you can do.

[BumblingBear]

the physical tank has immunity to anything other than the swords of the cross,

As nasty as that sounds, being restrained and then put in a huge reinforced box and thrown into the ocean would probably still be a threat.

[crusher_bob]

Indeed.  Nobilis is the only game I know where a character may complacently describe such a fate as, "Tuesday."

[Belial666]

Lemme do a mechanics check for a moment;

[-3] Thaumaturgy - +1 worldwalker complexity, 4 enchanted item slots
[-2] Lawbreaker 1st
[-7] +2 transformation/disruption control, +3 item frequency, +4 item power, +5 transformation/disruption complexity
[-2] +4 transformation/disruption complexity focus

OK, assuming a Lore and/or Discipline of Fantastic (given the high refresh of the game) the above build gives you enchanted items with 10 power and 4 uses/day each, and an attack roll of Legendary with them if said enchanted items deal in lethal magic. It also gives a base complexity of 17 for lethal transformation/disruption and a control of Legendary+2 for lethal spells (or just 15 complexity and legendary control for everything else). So the character could pull 25-shift rituals by just using each of his superb or fantastic skills for a skill-based aspect without any consequences and finish the ritual in  10 exchanges with minimum power used. (4 for the aspects, 1 for spell costruct, 5 for casting). Doing a 30-shift ritual would only require a couple of consequences for him and could be completed in the same casting time. When he is not doing rituals, he can still pull off standard attacks in combat using his few enchanted items. And if he has a potion slot, he could make a potion with 4 charges that stores up to four fairly big blasts; his potion complexity is only 7 lower than his ritual complexity so if he can manage a 30-shift ritual, he could make a 23-shift potion with 4 charges.


So yeah, mini-nukes are not much of a stretch for practitioners of this level.