Focused Practitioner + Refinement

[JStreet]

I had a player come to me and say it does not  make sense that a focused practitioner can only take Refinement once.  I totally agree.  You focus all your time on ONE type of magic.  But at the same time, you can only take it once cause it works like skills for stacking.  Has Anyone Come up with a house rule or solution to this?  Was this done just so someone cant dump all there refresh in to refinement + Channeling?

Thanks in advance
JStreet

[Haru]

As far as I know, you can take it as often as you like, but you can not chose the "specialization" option. Though 1 point of refresh spent would get you full evocation, which grants you a whole lot more than channeling + refinement.

[Sanctaphrax]

I'm pretty sure that Focused Practitioners can take as much Refinement as they want.

So I don't understand your question.

[Tedronai]

Sorcerers can only take refinement once per spell-ability (evo and thaum), though I interpret that as for the purposes of specialization and/or additional elements, and not restricting additional item slots.

[JStreet]

YS182 Refinement Example states:

For Example, You can't have a +2 bonus for water evocation till you have taken +1 in something else, either control bonus for water or control/power in something else.  Likewise you can not have a +3 till you have a +2 and +1.  If you have 2 bonus' at +2, you must have 2 more at +1, etc

To me, that reads that its like the skill blocks.
+3 something
+2 something
+1 something

that would work.
+3
+1
Would not.
So that being said, a Focused Practitioner could only have a max of +1 control/power and then +2 in which ever the +1 is not in.  Assuming they took Only ritual or only evocation....

[Sanctaphrax]

That applies only to specializations, which a FP cannot have anyway.

[JStreet]

besides flavor, is there any benefit to being a Focused Practitioner then?

[Sanctaphrax]

It is slightly cheaper.

But if you intend to get much Refinement, you should upgrade to Evocation.

This has been discussed before. If you want links, I can probably find some.

[The Mighty Buzzard]

besides flavor, is there any benefit to being a Focused Practitioner then?

More spare refresh.  FP isn't meant to be able to say "I am uber-godlike with all things fire!".  By design, they're supposed to be a hair above one-trick-ponies and weaker than Sorcerers, magic-wise.  If you want more, you should start shifting yourself up to a higher-powered template.

That's my take on it anyway.  Some folks like more munchkin in their game than I do.

[polkaneverdies]

Yet again buzzard speaks the truth.

[sinker]

Am I the only one who remembers the cannon talking about how focused practitioners are actually not capable of being wizards? How they aren't just not as learned, but actually lacking the strength to be able to do more? Thematically they aren't super awesome with the one thing they choose to work with, but actually barely capable of doing the one thing that they have the affinity for.

Or am I just crazy?

[The Mighty Buzzard]

Am I the only one who remembers the cannon talking about how focused practitioners are actually not capable of being wizards? How they aren't just not as learned, but actually lacking the strength to be able to do more? Thematically they aren't super awesome with the one thing they choose to work with, but actually barely capable of doing the one thing that they have the affinity for.

Or am I just crazy?

I expect there's that and there's people who just don't know and haven't had a chance to live up to their potential.  You could play it either way and have fun.

[Revlid]

Am I the only one who remembers the cannon talking about how focused practitioners are actually not capable of being wizards? How they aren't just not as learned, but actually lacking the strength to be able to do more? Thematically they aren't super awesome with the one thing they choose to work with, but actually barely capable of doing the one thing that they have the affinity for.

Or am I just crazy?

Some Focused Practitioners lack significant magical oomph to pull off much. Others have the potential for more but simply haven't grown into it. Still others are Wizard-level within their specific niche, but don't have any talent at all outside of that niche (as in, even less than Harry's talent for veils, in everything). Mortimer, for example, is hinted by Leanansidhe to have the magical "batteries" to pull off some major stuff, but he lacks the right talents to even become a sorcerer. That's part of he was targeted in Ghost Story.

[Richard_Chilton]

Am I the only one who remembers the cannon talking about how focused practitioners are actually not capable of being wizards? How they aren't just not as learned, but actually lacking the strength to be able to do more? Thematically they aren't super awesome with the one thing they choose to work with, but actually barely capable of doing the one thing that they have the affinity for.

Or am I just crazy?

Dead Beat - a bunch of old men, kind of okay at what they do, but they lack the talent to ever get on the council.
That's a life time of learning and they still haven't made the cut while others make it when they are teenagers.  To me that speaks of inborn talents and limitations.

Richard

[devonapple]

Am I the only one who remembers the cannon talking about how focused practitioners are actually not capable of being wizards? How they aren't just not as learned, but actually lacking the strength to be able to do more? Thematically they aren't super awesome with the one thing they choose to work with, but actually barely capable of doing the one thing that they have the affinity for.

Or am I just crazy?

It depends. Dresden is always going on about how Mort can do things with Ectomancy that Dresden could never accomplish without serious work. At the same time, there is an elitism factor with Wizards, and some question as to why someone who COULD be a Wizard would opt to be anything less. And there are textual mentions of people whose conflicts revolve around not being good enough for the White Council.

I'm playing my Tenebromancer as someone with Wizard-level potential who had been raised in a Cult and trained in a narrow focus growing up, but is now coming into his own, eventually to achieve Wizard-level capability.