The Black Staff (the Item not the Person)

[Belial666]

Or it wants you to use your considerable skills and the license you got to violate the Laws of Magic to further its own cause.  It's not every day that an Outsider (if you go that route) finds a senior-council-level wizard willing to tap into the power/knowledge from beyond the Gates that more or less has the backing of the White Council and is not going to be hunted down if he makes use of said power.

[tymire]

Well think you guys are forgetting the comments that Jim made about the staff.  Namely the fact that WC didn't create it and that who/what/where they got (or stole) it from REALLY wants it back.

Imo it should be something new and not considered something like sponsored magic.  Am also thinking it could be REALLY bad if it was overused and those black "veins" made it to the heart or brain.   Maybe treat it something like a hunger track where every law you break you have to make a check on not to be taken over or something.  That would put a time limit on it’s use and make where you wouldn’t want to use it all the time, well besides the fact it seems a bit on the evil side.  It’s completely unknown at this stage so it’s probably best just to make something up that sounds cool and works in your story.

(but by the same token I don't believe that sponsored magic lets you avoid law breaker as you are providing the will, if not the power)

[zcthu3]

Imo it should be something new and not considered something like sponsored magic.  Am also thinking it could be REALLY bad if it was overused and those black "veins" made it to the heart or brain.   Maybe treat it something like a hunger track where every law you break you have to make a check on not to be taken over or something.  That would put a time limit on it’s use and make where you wouldn’t want to use it all the time, well besides the fact it seems a bit on the evil side.  It’s completely unknown at this stage so it’s probably best just to make something up that sounds cool and works in your story.

That's cool... I like the idea of a hunger track for the Staff.

[Kommisar]

In my version, I never did say who made it or went into the history of it.   

My version also does not allow one to bypass Lawbreaker status through use of Sponsored Magic.  Instead, it consumes the part of your soul that is tainted by being a Lawbreaker.  Oh, it will consume more than that given the opportunity!  But, that is the mechanism by which the user can "cleanse" (I use that work loosely) of his Lawbreaker status.  Which, I might add, is something I made up, sounds cool and worked in my story. 

I considered using a hunger track; but IMHO, having it eat at your stresses after use and laying down compels just seemed more evil for me.

[tymire]

Now if just going on opinion, I think that it's actually a living piece of a old god if not an outsider.  Ofcourse if it was a god it would have had to bound up somewhere with a possiblity of escape just to make things interesting....  Actually now that I think of it, it could be one of those old "things" that the group that Thomas belongs to is trying to keep from ever returning.  

Hmm maybe a pinkie...  

And really it depends what the consequences of failure of the "hunger" track would be...  You could easily make it where no one in thier right mind would want to use it.  On the mild side it could be like what happened to the reptile from "Goblins" (goblinscomic.com) in last couple comics.

[InFerrumVeritas]

That's cool... I like the idea of a hunger track for the Staff.

Agreed.  I'll try statting it up that way too.

[InFerrumVeritas]

So, if we use the hunger track, what feeds it?  That is, what recovers the stress?  Breaking the Law?  That seems too easy.  Breaking the Law without it absorbing it?  Now that might work.  I sort of like the idea of a Blackstaff that is falling to the corruption of black magic while the high council gives him carte blanche.

In that case:

Blackstaff [-8]
Must: Have Blackstaff related aspect.
Item of Power Discount+2
Feeding Dependency (Lawbreaker)+1
Lawbreaker (all 7 Laws one time, treated individually for Feeding Dependency)-7
Refinement (Focus Items)-1
Eats Your Sins-3

Eats Your Sins: Black Magic is absorbed by the Blackstaff.  Thus, you start any scene as if you haven't broken a law of magic.  Once you do, you then have access to the applicable Lawbreaker stunt.  The bonus for these stunts is calculated by the number of times you've broken the Law per scene.  So if you've only broken the Law 1-3 times +1 bonus.  If you've broken 3 or more Laws+2 bonus.  If you've broken a Law 4+ times +2 bonus.  If you've broken a Law 4+ times and 3 or more Laws in a scene +3 bonus.  I think this justifies a -3 refresh cost.

Feeding Dependency: Black Magic.  If you fail your feeding failure roll and lose access to your powers, you may opt out of scenes (spent meditating away from the Blackstaff and recovering from the stress) at the rate of one point per scene.  You may regain all of your lost abilities by breaking one of the Laws of magic without the staff absorbing it (thus taking the Lawbreaker stunt and changing one of your aspects to reflect it).  If you do so, you are treated as beginning a scene having broken a Law (and thus start with a +1 bonus when wielding the staff which increases to +1 when you break the same Law, etc).

[Samael]

I'm going to be honest, I don't like your build of the black staff. It's far to expensive In my mind,and way your handling the corruption of the user just strikes me the wrong way, I mean the idea is that it protects the wielder from the corruption of the soul, at a cost of physical stress (the black ooze lines up the arm). The corruption happening /anyway/ to me defeats the purpose IMO.

[My Dark Sunshine]

I'd given some thought into The Blackstaff a while back, trying to work out a reasonably priced, but still balanced (at least, as much as possible) item of power. In all honesty, I didn't get very far. The sponsored magic idea is neat. It makes sense from hints throughout the RPG books about the item in question. However I'm of the opinion that using sponsored magic to kill, whilst not doing so in the service of your sponsor, still counts as lawbreaking. Although I can see how any lawbreaking could be considered 'in the service of the staff', if that is its nature/wish. Other variants of the item usually seem more expensive than I'd been looking for.

The closest and IMO fairest solution I came up with, is this:

The Blackstaff [-3]
Description: You own The Blackstaff; that dark length of gnarled, spellcrafted, wood that seems to prevent it’s user's soul from being tainted by violating the laws of magic.
Musts: You must have an aspect related to owning The Blackstaff.
Skills Affected: Discipline, others.
Effects:
Absorbs the 'Sins' of a Broken Law. Something about the Blackstaff allows it’s wielder to break the laws of magic without being tainted. At the cost of a fate point the user may, for the rest of the scene, violate the laws of magic without being required to take, or advance, the Lawbreaker powers. The user still retains the benefits of the power if they posses it, however The Blackstaff prevents the user from sliding further into darkness.
The Laws are Meant to be Broken. Not only does the Blackstaff allow users to break the laws of magic, it seems to revel in doing so. When utilising The Blackstaff, the wielder gains a +1 bonus to both power and control when casting a spell that violates one of the seven laws of magic.
It’s Own Agenda. The Blackstaff possesses at least semi-sentience – although rumours claim it is anything from a familiar, to a bound up outsider – and has it’s own agenda, and its own purposes. Whilst this effect is not a power, the GM should remember to compel the owner of the item accordingly - and to be inventive in what miseries they inflict.
It’s a Staff. The Blackstaff is exactly that, a dark length of gnarled, spellcrafted wood that is in the form of a staff.
Unbreakable. As an item of power it cannot be broken. If a way to do so does exist, it is unknown to anyone; and finding out could possibly be a violation of the seventh law.
Discount Already Applied. As an obvious item of power the staff already includes the one-time discount of +2. This means that if the character possesses more than one item of power, the one-time discount will not apply on that second item. If The Blackstaff is the second or subsequent artefact the character gains, the base refresh cost is -5.

Yes, the item is based heavily off the Swords of the Cross. However they're the closest thing, in my opinion, both within the rulebook and within the book series we have seen to The Blackstaff in terms of power. To a new PC Wizard the cost (-3) is still fairly heavy, (a lenient reading might suggest the item as -2, which would be lighter) however to a Wizard like its current owner? Probably not so much. The ability to ignore the Lawbreaker powers could at some tables be as useful as ignoring Toughness powers, depending on the groups 'feel' for Lawbreaking and its occurrence/consequences, hence basing the power off 'All Creatures are Equal Before God'. Fate point usage makes sense, as so far in the series (IRC) it has only been used in dire circumstances. The more you use it, the more fate points you hand over - the less able you are to resist it should be try and wield you.

Although, I'm not even sure on the semi-sentience possibility. I don't believe I got that from the books, but from external research and speculation on the subject. At my table I might feel inclined to remove such concepts from the staff, or keep them, depending on how I felt at the time. The cost would probably have to be adjusted slightly.

Just thought I'd add my own ideas to the mix, I really hope someone can come up with an awesome write-up of The Staff.

[InFerrumVeritas]

I'm going to be honest, I don't like your build of the black staff. It's far to expensive In my mind,and way your handling the corruption of the user just strikes me the wrong way, I mean the idea is that it protects the wielder from the corruption of the soul, at a cost of physical stress (the black ooze lines up the arm). The corruption happening /anyway/ to me defeats the purpose IMO.

I like my other build better.  I think it should be pricey if it grants access to the Lawbreaker powers, If not, then it's less of an issue. 

[Samael]

I think your looking at it wrong, the blackstaff is not just something *any* joeshmoe can take, there is only one of them and it belongs to the council. So unless your character has a dang good reason to justify why he possesses you reallly don't have to worry about it. Cost should not be used to prohibit PCs from using IoPs and if that is what your aiming for you may as well call it a plot device and leave it at that.

[SunlessNick]

So, if we use the hunger track, what feeds it?  That is, what recovers the stress?  Breaking the Law?  That seems too easy.  -  InFerrumVeritas

Making someone else do it?  That puts McCoy in a dangerous position as a mentor (and elevates him some, seeing as he seems to have been a good one).  Or maybe it's more like a spiritual stress track and needs cleansing rather than sating.

Namely the fact that WC didn't create it and that who/what/where they got (or stole) it from REALLY wants it back.  -  tymire

Ooh, that's interesting.  Does that mean it's not specifically about magic in how it works?  Would that imply that it could protect against crossing other spiritual lines (could a White Court Virgin or Red court Infected make a first kill without turning - could a changeling "choose without choosing" so long as they carry it)?


'K my take:  The Blackstaff is a fragment of power from a greater entity, the one that the sineaters of folklore drew upon (which might make it an aspect of God or "God") - as might be expected, when attuned to a user, it eats the sins of their Lawbreaking magic - it's not a dark power, rather it's a light one that's perhaps used too lightly (in a different connotation of the word).  "Attunement" however requires that carrying the Blackstaff become part of the identity of its wielder - so they have to replace or rewrite an Aspect to include it.  Once they do, it protects from three Lawbreaks per scene - the good as well as the bad, you're unaffected or you're not - more Lawbreaks in a scene than that can take hold, although if they don't add up into an Aspect change, they can be recovered from as mild consequences.

Item of Power.  Discount +2, it's a staff and can be used as such (including as a focus item, and slots can be applied to it to protect against additional Lawbreaks as the wizard becomes more familiar with it), it's unbreakable.  For the sineating, I coppied InFerrumVeritas, and made it -3; I also added a -1 Refinement cost (part of the attunement and rewriting of an Aspect involves changing a wizard's habitual and trained way of working).  Final cost -2.

If the wrong wizard tries to attune to it and pushes their Refresh below zero, they get drunk on the new freedom and start using black magic willy-nilly - they might not corrupted in the usual sense, but they go off reservation just as hard.  Those who tend to run close to their refresh limits - mention no one who might happen to share his initials with Hugh Dillings the accountant - should take care.


Incidentally, how does Rashid the gatekeeper get around breaking the sixth and seventh laws?  I mean I know he has permission, but what about the metaphysical consequences?

[admiralducksauce]

Incidentally, how does Rashid the gatekeeper get around breaking the sixth and seventh laws?  I mean I know he has permission, but what about the metaphysical consequences?

I'd say he DOESN'T get around the metaphysical consequences.  Rashid's the Gatekeeper.  He's a slave to that nature, isn't he?  Tasked (or doomed?) to safeguard the Outer Gates and time itself.  I daresay he's got a lot of Lawbreakers for those.

[Sanctaphrax]

Wait, when does Rashid break the Laws?

[Belial666]

He knows quite a lot abot the Outer Gates and outsiders, even specific spells to use against them and what wards to check in order to get warning of their arrival. Since even knowledge of the Outer Gates and outsiders is against the Law, that's 7th law violations right there.

In addition, Rashid can tell the future. Not only does he get premonitions about it but he has shown the ability to predict the whole mess during Proven Guilty down to the totally unexpected arrival of several Senior Council members and Michael with enough precision to withold his vote and control the trial's outcome through said future information. He has also shown the ability to see the future of a person with precision enough to know whether Dresden could succeed or not during the whole Turn Coat debacle, including calculating the outcome of changing circumstances after warning Dresden of his impeding failure. That's both outright knowledge of the future and using knowledge of the future. 6th law violation right there.



So, Lawbreakers 6th and 7th. This does not mean the guy is a slave to his nature or totally twisted by the magic he uses; he might be tempted but just like any other wizard with positive refresh, he has free will. Just like Dresden, despite being a pretty serious 1st Lawbreaker.