Gestures & Incantations

[computerking]

There were a few mentions in the books regarding needing to speak clearly and make apropriate gestures in order to properly cast a magic spell. Despite this making an attack's source pretty obvious, I can see where certain "stealth players" would loathe to use those things when they're trying to have their character take out a barrier before sneaking into an installation or whatever.

My question is, how heavily do you GM's hand out those (+1/+2 to difficulty) modifiers to Magic users trying to cast without those obvious trappings?

PS: I know that an incantation need not be audible to the target, and gestures need not be obvious, but if every magic using player is sneak-casting all their magic, there's a subtle "Non-Dresden-y-ness" to the scenes.

PPS: Also, I'm not talking about using Enchanted Items, or about Mundane Effects, just to exclude 2 more points of contention.

[UmbraLux]

My question is, how heavily do you GM's hand out those (+1/+2 to difficulty) modifiers to Magic users trying to cast without those obvious trappings?

I only bother when I think it matters to the narrative (i.e. it avoids a significant complication) and usually implement as a defensive declaration rather than a straight modifier.  Not that there's much difference functionally.

[Haru]

I think gestures and incantations (along with how the spells actually manifest) are a big part of a wizards style and therefore extremely important. Imagine if Harry would just stand around and think attacks onto his opponents. That would be extremely boring. Imagine describing a combat between 2 wizards like that.

However, that does not mean that every wizard needs to be all about flinging around the damage. A more subtle wizard would have more subtle gestures and incantations. Maybe just moving his fingers a bit, drawing a small symbol into the air in front of him.

I guess it all boils down to "magic is what you believe it is". And for most wizards it's probably along the lines of more power = louder and bigger gestures.

But you don't really have to burst through barriers. If there are bars in front of a window, you could simply maneuver a "metal to rubber" spell on them and climb through the now deformable bars. That would certainly be in style with a more sneaky wizard, and it is a cool way to get around things. And that doesn't mean a wizard like that would have to be boring.

(click to show/hide)

Harry doing the summoning ritual entirely in his head. Along with Small Favor, it is great for comparing the difference between Harry's and Molly's styles of magic.

To get people to do things like that, I would use a good old compel. Is your wizard the flashy fiery smash first, ask later kind of guy? Compel him to behave that way. If he does not want to smash his way through, he can pay a fate point. And in that case, I would not add to the difficulty, he paid a fate point after all.

And the other way around, too. If your player makes a subtle wizard, remind him of that every once in a while, especially in combat situations. That does not mean he would not be able to fight, but it would mean, he would have to find a more subtle way to do so, closer to his style.

[Becq]

I would say that the need for a wizard to use incantations and gestures as a component to their spellcasting is wrapped up in their high concept (as are many of the weaknesses of other supernatural types, such as faeries and their allergies to iron and bargain-breaking).

So in those occasions where the use of incantations or gestures would be genuinely troublesome to the character, it counts as a compel.  And the flip side of this is that in such cases, the player can buy out of the compel (though the GM is allowed to escalate when appropriate).

[Sanctaphrax]

I would say that the need for a wizard to use incantations and gestures as a component to their spellcasting is wrapped up in their high concept (as are many of the weaknesses of other supernatural types, such as faeries and their allergies to iron and bargain-breaking).

So in those occasions where the use of incantations or gestures would be genuinely troublesome to the character, it counts as a compel.  And the flip side of this is that in such cases, the player can buy out of the compel (though the GM is allowed to escalate when appropriate).

+2 (It's like +1, but more so.)

On a related note, I have a custom power that might be appropriate here.

CHANTER [-1]
Description: Most spellcasters use incantations, but for you the effects of magic words are far more pronounced. This makes your spells stronger, but much slower to cast.
Musts: You need some form of spellcasting to take this power.
Skills Affected: Discipline
Effects:
Magical Chant. When you tag an incantation-based aspect to boost a spellcasting roll, add an additional two to your roll.
Incantation Dependency. Whenever you cast a spell without tagging or invoking an incantation-based aspect, subtract two from your spellcasting roll.