Spellcasting and Components

[spac3_pop3]

I was chatting with one of my players today, and he asked me a question about spellcasting that actually piqued my interest.  After a recent tussle in the middle of a apartment complex, he decided that he wanted to make a rote to either silence his gun specifically or silence the area their fight breaks out in.  His question was involving the act of spellcasting and whether or not silencing a zone would negate the ability to cast spells entirely.  I didn't quite know how to answer, as Dresden has mentioned several times throughout the books that the verbal component is near vital (as is the requirement of using a different language during the casting) in order to erect the mental barrier that keeps the magic's energies from short circuiting the casters brain.

If a caster has no ability to speak (because of his silenced zone), should they be able to cast?  I was going to allow them to do so, as all but one of my players are running as a spellcaster in one form or another, but with a -1 to their Discipline while standing inside the border of his spell.

Thoughts/Comments/Ideas?

[UmbraLux]

Speaking isn't a requirement, see YS249 "Wizardly purists may hold that the true evocator needs only his will..."  So it's not necessary.  It does go on to say that actual practitioners (as opposed to purists) prefer to err on the side of saving their skin.    On a similar vein, YS248 states "Most spellcasters have some sort of spoken component..." Again, it's preferred but not necessary.

To model that in play, I recommend Declarations in a combination of compels and invokes.  The victim of the spell might invoke "He Can't Hear His Spell" in defense to model a spell that worked...just not as well as normal.  For complex spells you might compel, either for side affects or outright failure. 

As with many FATE answers, you can end up with anything from failure to impaired to no effect.  It all depends on how much you want it to affect the narrative.

[Sanctaphrax]

The zone silencer sounds like a thaumaturgical block against spellcasting and social actions.

The gun silencer sounds like an evocation maneuver to create an aspect that can be tagged to boost an ambush attempt.

[sinker]

Kind of depends on how the spell works. If it simply prevents sound from carrying then there is no reason why it would interfere with spellcasting. They're still saying the words even if other people can't hear them. If it somehow prevents people from speaking then I suppose it could influence spellcasting.

[ARedthorn]

The books outright state that casting in your native tongue is dangerous, and with pure thought risks frying your brain... specifically that speaking (and better, speaking in faux-language-of-choice or even gibberish) provides your brain a sort of insulation.

My solution, on the fly, would be to increase the mental stress costs of spells to represent that... or perhaps, more simply, increase the difficulty so that the risk of backlash is greater.

You could think of the Silence spell as putting up an aspect that's compelled against all casters for as long as the spell lasts... either they pay a FP to cast, or take a -2 penalty to the casting roll...
But it might be more appropriate to build it as a block against speaking/spellcasting.

[devonapple]

You could think of the Silence spell as putting up an aspect that's compelled against all casters for as long as the spell lasts... either they pay a FP to cast, or take a -2 penalty to the casting roll...
But it might be more appropriate to build it as a block against speaking/spellcasting.

I like both of these options.

[zenten]

Kind of depends on how the spell works. If it simply prevents sound from carrying then there is no reason why it would interfere with spellcasting. They're still saying the words even if other people can't hear them. If it somehow prevents people from speaking then I suppose it could influence spellcasting.

Exactly.  The point is to speak, not to be heard.

[crusher_bob]

My impression of a lot of the 'tools' in spellcasting are there for safety, not true necessity.  For example, how much of Harry's will does his fire lighting spell take? not much.  Do you think he gathers that much of his will when, say, someone cuts him off in traffic? 

IMHO, The spoken words and different language are there to keep you from accidentally doing something when you are irritated or surprised.  Even Harry, who is a full white council wizard, sometimes has trouble with his gathered magic.  Take a look as some of the early scenes with Molly, where Harry dissipates her gathered power before something accidental and unfortunate can happen.