Supplemental Magic Actions

[Haru]

When doing something, you can do a supplemental action, which increases the difficulty of the roll. Usually those are simple actions, like running to another zone or something like that.

But could you do a supplemental magic action?

Replacing a simple action with magic is mostly done by thaumaturgy, but sponsored magic allows you to do it at evocations speed, so it would probably work there, if not for evocation.

So how about spells that move you one zone (maybe the same way Harry's potion in SF does) as a supplemental action, instead of running the distance? A communication spell to shout a quiet warning to a friend while fighting off the horde of ghouls. There are a lot of simple things that probably won't require a full spell, because they just replace supplemental actions. Should they be able to be done as a supplemental magical action or should magic always be a full action by itself? Should they cost stress as any other spell does or would they just be a differently flavored supplemental action without additional cost?

Imagine someone exploding into thousands of tiny pieces that dart toward his target, set themselves together again in front of him and then lounge an attack. Would be quite a spectacle. Of course, you would also be able to go through a line of enemies that was supposed to cut you off, because you are not limited in the way you move as a cloud of dust. Maybe require stress taken only, if the supplemental magical action is more than adding flavor and actually creating an advantage.

[TheMouse]

Supplemental actions are typically worth 1 shift. It isn't in the rules, but I suppose I have no real problem with a supplemental action producing a 1 shift spell if the player was willing to take the Stress hit.

[EdgeOfDreams]

Remember that there is a rule which essentially states "If the magic only affects flavor, not mechanics, it costs no stress".

So, if you're talking about a supplemental action you could take anyway without magic (e.g. moving 1 zone) but you want to flavor it as "Jimmy the earth mage slides forward on a mound of dirt into the next zone", sure, great, go for it.

If, however, the action would NOT be possible without magic, then I would say you incur 1 mental stress.  This means it's possible to use magic for unusual supplemental actions, but the cost is high enough that it's not that big a deal for casters to have this as an additional option.

[Papa Gruff]

I'm torn between the two sides of this matter. On the one hand I can see that it isn't a huge deal how you describe movement, as long as movement rules don't get broken. On the other hand we still have a pretty firm canon that tells us that movement through magic is a very very tricky thing to pull of.

Would it be cool. No question! But would it be Dresden Filesy? Questionable. See: while movement as a supplemental action by the rules only requires one shift that doesn't necessarily mean it does only equirers one shift to do it with magic too. In the past I have been very hesitant to allow similar uses of magic just as flavor. Stuff like Flicum Bicus is ok an no biggi because it's not harmful and the wizard would probably ace it anyways. Movement just isn't the same.

In my opinion the magic has to come from somewhere and wizards are pretty cool already... I don't know. I probably would frown upon it in our game.

He ... not that torn after all.