Automatic Hexing

[FishStampede]

I've read through the rules, and I'm having trouble telling how badly a spellcaster would hex technology. Seems like a pretty basic thing, but the rules are either very vague or my reading comprehension is failing. There seem to be vague guidelines that a character with more magic will foul up technology worse, but how badly? Where's the cutoff between "just a bit old fashioned" and "lives like the unabomber"?

[amberpup]

Just a quick cut and paste from my notes, which I know isn't what you exactly asked for but at least we got the page numbers out there.


Hexing - page 228, 249, and 258.  Accidental is a 'compel', while a purposeful is on page 258 with a chart.

[FishStampede]

Thanks. Actually, could you PM me all of your quick notes like that? Though it's not exactly what I was looking for, it looks like something I would be happy to have handy.

The reason I need this is I have an NPC who is in a somewhat public position and is likely expected to deal with technology, and I'm wondering how much he can actually get away with.

[Becq]

The rules are vague, yes.  But basically, accidental hexing is just a special case of compel specific to spellcasters (it's a compel against the character's spellcasting high concept), and in general you should treat it the same way you treat other compels.  That is, if there is a situation in which you think a compel against an aspect is appropriate, adds something to the story, and causes the character some meaningful difficulty, then offer the compel -- then the player can either accept or buy it off.

So I don't think any of the above is actually what you are asking for, but I think it applies, and I'll tie it in as follows.  Imagine you had a character with the aspect Two left feet (because he's clumsy and trips a lot), but he likes to run marathons.  Next, add that he's the mayor of the town, so he's on the local media's radar.  How often would you offer compels?  You're not going to start off every game session by telling him he tripped last weekend and his nose is still sore and toss him a Fate point.  That would get boring.  But if there's a big important marathon where he's raising awareness for breast cancer research and it's really important and the cameras are on him...

Same thing for your wizard.  If he's a wizard, technology hates him.  If he's a minor practitioner, it's probably not so bad.  But either way, the character shouldn't be hammered constantly, because that would get boring quickly.  One thing you could do in the situation (since the character is high profile) is to think about the problem more in terms of reputation.  Stuff is failing around him continuously, so folk are going to start calling him "Murphy" (as in Murphy's Laws, not as in the Harry's friend).  The news crews are going to be making jokes about what's going to blow up next.  He's going to have lawsuits pending.  Etc.

Bottom line: I'm not sure what you mean by "is likely expected to deal with technology", but you might want to rethink mixing a wizard with anything technological.  If Steve Jobs had been a wizard, nobody would have ever even heard of Apple.

[FishStampede]

I gotta be kinda subtle about things since I know my players read the forums, so I'll spoiler this.

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He's a college professor. As such he is expected to deal with computer databases, student records, etc. Granted, he can get TA's to do that, and things like refusing to use a word processor and instead using a typewriter can just be written off as eccentricity, but he'll still occasionally be expected to handle computers or--god forbid--cell phones without causing explosions.

In power, he straddles the line between a focused practitioner and a full-on wizard. He's got the Sight, constitution, excellent thaumaturgy and several refresh worth of refinements on it, but he has no evocation or channeling. When it comes to "fast" magic, he just can't do it. This fact is what's kept him out of White Council membership (and he has applied), while his magical activities have caused him difficulty in his professional life beyond simply causing computers to blow up (long story worthy of another thread).

[GryMor]

Based on the description I'd recommend the following:

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He doesn't have Evocation/channeling so you probably shouldn't compel his hexing based purely on emotional states the way Harry often has happen. Occasionally compel him with the destruction of personal gadgets that are still on his person when he is actively casting a spell (ones not on his person should mostly be safe, assuming they are outside the physical circle). Occasionally compel him with the disruption of computer equipment while he has active spells on his person. Without Evocation/Channeling you can't intentionally Hex.

[Becq]

I'll spoiler this too, then:

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Basically, I think the way I would do it is play the character off as being a bit technophobic (I hope he's a historian, rather than a nuclear physicist!).  As you suggested, he could have a TA do all of the data-entry stuff.  He doesn't like cell phones, and uses only land-lines.  If asked about his eccentricities, his response could vary from semi-truthful ("Oh, I always have bad luck with those gadgets; they always break on me") to conspiracy-theory ("You know that with those smartphones, They can track you down wherever you are, and insert aps that allow them turn on your mic remotely and listen in to what you're saying, right?")

Since he's not a full wizard (and especially since he doesn't do evocation), he can probably get away with some exposure to technology.  But to throw out numbers, he probably shouldn't be using any devices designed in the last 5-10 years.  Maybe he could keep an older model cell phone working, maybe -- but smartphones should be a nonstarter.  Casual computer use might be doable, but consider that even non-wizards get blue screens from time to time, and the resulting frustration would likely result in fried circuitry.

At least, that's the way I'd look at it, YMMV.

[UmbraLux]

Unless something is extremely sensitive we tend to let things slide until the wizard is drawing power or has active magic on or near. 

[Sanctaphrax]

There are no rules for this, and the narrative is very vague.

We only ever really see hexing from Harry's perspective, and he's supposed to be unusually hex-prone. Plus he usually avoids the issue by not even trying to use tech.

So if you want him to use a computer, nobody can with authority tell you that he should be unable to.

[Rougarou]

Sanctaphrax makes some good points. For all we know, Carlos Ramirez has a cell phone and plays World of Warcraft when he's not out being a Warden.

That being said, when the complications of having a computer fail on him would be significant enough to be worth a fate point, feel free to use that compel.

There may be cases in which the accidental hex might cause complications for everybody, including the opposition. A possible example would be the character might unintentionally hex the lights out inside a building, at night, in the middle of a fight. Assuming that the wizard in question, his allies, and the opposition all lack the means to see in the dark (i.e. no night vision goggles, no Supernatural Senses, no shapeshifting into an animal which sees in the dark or relies on smell and hearing enough to not need to see) it may not be worth giving the player a fate point since you haven't really inconvenienced him... the playing field is still level. In those cases you might want to try something besides a compel. If he fails a control roll on a spell and doesn't take all of the extra shifts as backlash, maybe the fallout hexes the lights. Or, in the absence of fallout, call for a roll on his Discipline. Determine a difficulty to not accidentally hex something and if he fails, it gets hexed. I don't recommend that you use the rolling Discipline method too much, simply because I really prefer to use it as a compel or as fallout... something about those methods is just really satisfying somehow.

Also:

Based on the description I'd recommend the following:

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He doesn't have Evocation/channeling so you probably shouldn't compel his hexing based purely on emotional states the way Harry often has happen. Occasionally compel him with the destruction of personal gadgets that are still on his person when he is actively casting a spell (ones not on his person should mostly be safe, assuming they are outside the physical circle). Occasionally compel him with the disruption of computer equipment while he has active spells on his person. Without Evocation/Channeling you can't intentionally Hex.

Probably not necessary, but spoiler tag incoming.

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Your Story page 258 explicitly states that Evocation is not needed to deliberately hex and that any spell caster can do it. I say, compel away.