PDF vs. book regarding Crafting

[The Mighty Buzzard]

Eh. The rules already make FPs inferior. The best way to be a high-powered pyromancer is to take Evocation with the following elements:

Red fire
White fire
Yellow fire.

I think any player trying that at my table would get pelted by various snack foods from several directions.

[Sanctaphrax]

Would you rather they take fire, spirit and water?

What's wrong with weakening your own character for flavour reasons?

[The Mighty Buzzard]

Nothing in particular really.  There are probably arguments to be made for both sides and neither of them could ever really be right since it's all subjective.  We'd just assume whoever it was was being a wiseass.  And knowing our group, we'd probably be right.

[Sanctaphrax]

It is a bit smartass-ish.

Maybe heat, smoke, and flame would be better elements. Smoke could do veils and some air stuff, while heat could do electricity and lasers and flame could do normal fire stuff.

[DFJunkie]

Maybe heat, smoke, and flame would be better elements. Smoke could do veils and some air stuff, while heat could do electricity and lasers and flame could do normal fire stuff.

This is a pretty cool idea, and something I may shamelessly rip off in my game.

[computerking]

This is a pretty cool idea, and something I may shamelessly rip off in my game.

Somewhere around here is a thread or two about alternate Element structures (Including a pretty good physics-based one).  You might want to check them out, too.

[DFJunkie]

Now that it's been mentioned I feel like I should have thought of it already.  The entire point of the column system is to discourage obsessive specialization, not restrict concept.  It's a very Fate way of creating specialists who can hang with Wizard level talents.

[MegaPuff75]

I just re-read the section on focus items in YS and the exact text for Thaumaturgy Focus Items is

For thaumaturgy focuses, this bonus may be applied to the wizard’s upper bound on “no-prep” complexity (Lore) for thaumaturgy or to the wizard’s control (Discipline) rolls for casting. The type of bonus must be determined and locked down at the time the item is created.

so taking that at what is explicitly allowed crafting foci are against RAW because Crafting doesn't use complexity or control to cast and those are what's allowed to be boosted.

[ways and means]

And yet there are also example of them within your story (the cuppa elf who had a potion focus).

[Sanctaphrax]

That's not quite correct. It's true that thematic foci don't help you craft within their theme, but it is explicitly possible to create frequency and strength foci that help you craft. It says so in Your Story, page 280.

I kinda feel like making a set of Evocation-based focused practitioners now, but that's going to have to wait a while.

[MegaPuff75]

Okay I see the part about crafting specializations, and I totally understand how those work, but that isn't the same as being able to have a focus item that grants you those bonuses. Focus items don't grant specializations they grant bonuses to either power or control (for evocation) or complexity or control (for thaumaturgy). Since crafting does gain bonuses to complexity or control the RAW would suggest that you can't make crafting foci.

[Vairelome]

No, reread what Sanctaphrax and ways and means said just above.  Crafting Focus Items are supported in the RAW.

[UmbraLux]

Okay I see the part about crafting specializations, and I totally understand how those work, but that isn't the same as being able to have a focus item that grants you those bonuses.

I believe they're referring to the top of YS280, right column.  It states, "You can create focus items which are used to provide frequency and strength bonuses for crafting..."