For the Wizard Who Wants Everything.

[razorsmile]

There are plenty of ways to make piles of money with magic without so much as skirting the Laws. Tracking spells and/or ferromancy to find buried treasure/sunken ships/gold or diamond mines. Doing the same thing Harry does but for a more exclusive and better-paying clientele. Potions. Rare plants. Healing magic. Bodyguarding (as Gard demonstrates.) The list goes on.

Anyway! Let's assume our hypothetical wizard, desirous of Being Cool (to say nothing of all the modern conveniences), is less of a self-flagellating martyr than Harry Dresden. What measures does he/she take to ensure this? Big-screen TV not required, but doable.

Transport - Harry drives an ancient Beetle. A wealthier wizard could probably manage to drive a 1968 Chevy Impala (like a certain other supernatural troubleshooter) or a 1956 Chevy Corvette. If the pre-WWII thing is really that absolute (as opposed to a mere function of the technological complexity), then why not a WWII Jeep like on the TV show*?
Apartment - get a frickin' house. Or a bungalow. Or a cabin in the woods. Or a farm. That way, you're not endangering your neighbours and you can build a better threshold.
Modern conveniences: warding circles and lots of them. Better yet, get all your electronics close together and put them in one big warding circle. Since anything including wires crossing the circle will break its sanctity, hook them up with a bank of car batteries inside the circle. Bam. Problem solved. As a bonus, it even let the wizard use wifi. A voice interface takes care of the rest.
We know circles are normally powered by blood and will and, yes, having to cut yourself every time you want to watch TV would be inconvenient. Even Hand however provides a solution. That story had Gard using the "sorcerous equivalent of a nine-volt battery"** to power one for Marcone.

What else else could the wizard who wants everything do to ensure a life more comfortable than Dresden's?




*_{That was one of the few things the show did right IMO}.
**_{Yeah, so maybe it contains a Schrondinger Cat with its throat cut. Who knows how Gard does things?}

[The Mighty Buzzard]

How about a 32 Ford coupe?  Tricks out nicely to either the gangster or the oldschool hotrod look.

[Tedronai]

Since anything including wires crossing the circle will break its sanctity,

This is nonsense.  Tree roots don't break a circle drawn on the soil above them.  Wires running through the floors won't, either.

[mstorer3772]

We know circles are normally powered by blood and will and, yes, having to cut yourself every time you want to watch TV would be inconvenient. Even Hand however provides a solution. That story had Gard using the "sorcerous equivalent of a nine-volt battery"** to power one for Marcone.

Vanilla mortals normally need a drop of blood.  Wizards can empower a circle with a "whispered word and a brief effort of will" (while touching said circle).  I suspect an experienced wizard can empower a circle just as easily as you or I flip a light switch.

**_{Yeah, so maybe it contains a Schrondinger Cat with its throat cut. Who knows how Gard does things?}

I suspect the cat's throat would be both cut and uncut until you opened the box. 

And given that Gerd is all rune-happy, I suspect there's no cat involved.  Funny though.

[zenten]

Depends on how rich you are.  If you're able and willing to hire a few servants then you can live a rather nice life with pre-WWII tech, no circles needed.

[admiralducksauce]

Yeah, it's not that big a deal for a wizard to live nicely.  It's just that Harry has shit for Resources and he's got an Aspect for being perpetually broke.  He'd probably live in a hole even if he wasn't a wizard. 

[Sanctaphrax]

Aha!

A chance to link to one of my favourite threads!

http://www.jimbutcheronline.com/bb/index.php/topic,22177.0.html

[CaptFisher]

For the ridiculously rich wizard a 1932 Rolls Royce with a driver...your far from the engine and the aging tech should hold up pretty well, an older model house with gas lights instead of electricity...a large estate with a separate outbuilding for your magical research...the servants wing of your estate should have electricity for the fridge ect...but don't go to that wing.

I suggest earning your money the really old fashion way and inherit it.

[The Mighty Buzzard]

I suggest earning your money the really old fashion way and inherit it.

I thought the really old fashioned way was kill other people and take theirs.

[Masurao]

I thought old-fashioned was turning led into gold...

[InFerrumVeritas]

If I had an absurdly wealthy wizard, he'd drive a 1937 Phantom.

[The Mighty Buzzard]

I thought old-fashioned was turning led into gold...

No, the old-fashioned version of that would be verto plumbum aurum*.

* Disclaimer: my latin isn't much better than Harry's.

[razorsmile]

Oh, ha-ha. Here I am trying to have a serious discussion about fictional characters using their fictional superpowers to make fictional money so they can live like real people and here you guys are making jokes. Real classy, guys.





 

[CaptFisher]

Oh, ha-ha. Here I am trying to have a serious discussion about fictional characters using their fictional superpowers to make fictional money so they can live like real people and here you guys are making jokes. Real classy, guys.

 

They could take these jokes and sell them to some comedians 

[The Mighty Buzzard]

Oh, ha-ha. Here I am trying to have a serious discussion about fictional characters using their fictional superpowers to make fictional money so they can live like real people and here you guys are making jokes. Real classy, guys.

Two words: Fairy Pimp.