How do I make a precision based spellcaster?

[EdgeOfDreams]

There is some, though. Say you've got Discipline at 5, a specialization in Control for Fire evocations, and three of your four focus item slots into a blasting rod, you're starting off rolling from 9. Even if your Conviction is only 3, you're just about guaranteed to hit whatever you're aiming at. Against a Good defense roll, you're doing 9 solid shifts of stress.

I guess I don't equate "likelyhood to hit" with precision.  A perfectly aimed laser beam might be just as hard to dodge as a huge fireball, just for different reasons. Or they might both be EASY to dodge. It depends on the circumstances, who is attack, who is defending, etc.

[wyvern]

I guess I don't equate "likelyhood to hit" with precision.  A perfectly aimed laser beam might be just as hard to dodge as a huge fireball, just for different reasons. Or they might both be EASY to dodge. It depends on the circumstances, who is attack, who is defending, etc.

Hm.  This is actually a pretty good argument in favor of just going with high conviction & discipline for such a character, and using an aspect for raw power vs. finesse.  Thanks.

[Mr. Death]

Another idea for it might be to have low Conviction, high Discipline, and high Lore--with a specialization in wards, and focus items tailored so that he can cast a solid 4-5 shift ward quickly, similar to how other dedicated Thaumaturgists (The Kemmlerites, for example) can throw out other thaumaturgical effects on the fly as if it was Evocation.

[InFerrumVeritas]

I say your best bet is to stay high discipline lower conviction (I wouldn't go too much lower).
Use your specializations for Control as much as possible (since specializations apply to both offensive and defensive).  Use your focus items for Defensive Power.

Enchanted Items make the most effective defense in a lot of cases, as they can be used reactively.  Use those as well.  You can always take a 1-stress hit to use them again after their uses per day dry up, which is often more effective for many low Conviction characters to do with that first and possibly second stress box.

[computerking]

Another idea for it might be to have low Conviction, high Discipline, and high Lore--with a specialization in wards, and focus items tailored so that he can cast a solid 4-5 shift ward quickly, similar to how other dedicated Thaumaturgists (The Kemmlerites, for example) can throw out other thaumaturgical effects on the fly as if it was Evocation.

Which brings to mind a couple of questions: How fast can a wizard cast a No-prep spell that is within their Discipline  Conviction to cast in one roll?
And..
Can a separator like a chalk Circle serve as a "threshold" to hang a Ward on?

[devonapple]

Which brings to mind a couple of questions: How fast can a wizard cast a No-prep spell that is within their Discipline  Conviction to cast in one roll?

Going by the single line in the book that provides this sort of guidance, it takes a minute at the very least. Depending on the situation, the narrative tension, and how important the spell is going to be, it could possibly be more like 5-15 minutes.

Can a separator like a chalk Circle serve as a "threshold" to hang a Ward on?

Not that easily, I feel. Harry has been able to ward locations lacking a natural threshold, but it was made clear that he did so by doing a lot of prep work to the site.

On the other hand, Council-level Wizards have reportedly thrown down Ward-level magic on the battlefield, so with enough power, possibly. But for those situations, the community has suggested that Merlin has something equivalent to Sponsored Magic allowing EvoThaum. It could also be that Merlin is actually throwing gigantic Block spells but the fiction is parsing them as Wards for strategic badass purposes.

[InFerrumVeritas]

Your average thaumaturgic ritual (with minimal prep) takes "a few minutes."  If you use the time chart, it is reasonable to add 3-4 to the complexity to make it possible in combat.

[ways and means]

Not that easily, I feel. Harry has been able to ward locations lacking a natural threshold, but it was made clear that he did so by doing a lot of prep work to the site.

You defiantly can ward a circle that how summoning works you create a ward to keep something in, seems perfectly feasible you could do the reverse, I always treat a circle as threshold 1 anyway.

[devonapple]

You defiantly can ward a circle that how summoning works you create a ward to keep something in, seems perfectly feasible you could do the reverse, I always treat a circle as threshold 1 anyway.

While the containment circle to contain an entity is *like* a ward per the RAW, you don't actually make a Ward (with landmines and warning links) when you do so: that kind of Ward is a special thing with its own rules, and breaks down slowly when attacks overcome its strength. A containment circle is like an Evocation Block in that it is destroyed if the contained entity breaks through it.