1. I'm not seeing how this drawback hits you even if you don't use the power. Unless you've conceded my point about compels not being cost-neutral?
The -2 penalty isn't part of the Compel, it's part of the Power. It shouldn't be counted as part of a Compel's troublesomeness.
Incidentally, I still don't get what you were talking about re: Compels. Since Compel troublesomeness is totally up to the GM, shouldn't you assume that the GM sets it to whichever amount makes for a balanced game?
2. Except, as I showed in my quotes, it's not just Kemmlerian Necromancy. It's also Hellfire and Place of Power. And since Seelie and Unseelie Magic essentially give +3 power to offensive evocations against the opposing court, they can be just as good in a game centered around the faerie courts.
My apologies, my eyes skipped right over most of your quote. I saw the necromancy bit and somehow managed to miss the rest.
I contend that +1 power +1 control to a specific field is worth 1 Refresh, because that exact effect costs 1 Refresh when you buy it with Refinement. Hellfire's bonus is similar since it applies to both Evocation and Thaumaturgy, though the thaumaturgy bonus is kind of lame.
And about the specializations thing - I don't think so. It gives a bonus to necromancy- just as Hellfire gives a bonus to spells that harm and the specific Place of Power gives the bonus to entropic effects. Whereas, with Refinement, you have to pick from earth, water, fire, air, or spirit.
Nope. Read the book again. Necromancy is a standard Thaumaturgy specialization, and Evocation bonuses are only "usually" elemental.
If you rule that these effects must be part of the pyramid, how on earth do you calculate them? What if you use these effect-based specializations as the base of your pyramid, with element-based specializations on top, and you cast a spell that doesn't have those effects?
The only effect-based specialization is Hellfire's. Which is a bit of an oddity, and which might actually deserve to ignore the pyramid since +1 complexity to hurtful rituals is a pretty uninspiring half-benefit. The others are standard field specializations.
Also, since I'm not seeing it, could you explain how being able to do thaumaturgy effects in combat is actually superior to not being able to?
First of all, you can make multiple Aspects easily with one spell.
Second, you get some weird tricks like being able to arm your friends or summon a monster during a fight. Those tricks can be pretty powerful if your GM is permissive, or pretty weak if they're not.
Third, you can unambiguously make mental attacks and hit skills other than Athletics with your attacks. Whether you can do this with just Evocation is unclear.
Fourth, you can replace skills in combat time. So if you need to outrun a monster or unlock a door while being shot at, you can use a spell to do it.
Fifth, you can increase the accuracy of your attacks by taking backlash. Usually won't be worth sacrificing your weapon rating, but options are good.
Sixth, you can do more and weirder stuff to your opponents. Evocation almost certainly can't turn enemies into slaves, evothaum can.
Seventh, you can cast rituals in quick succession while doing other stuff. If you can casually crank out 7 shifts of summoning evothaum, you can make four 7-shift creatures per scene of talking. Just take a minute or two for a "smoke break" and cast four spells.
Eighth, you can boost your complexity for a ward or whatever by taking stress. If you need to cast something a couple of points over your base complexity without too much fuss, this can be handy.
Ninth, you may have a better power for evothaum than you have complexity for rituals. Especially if your GM makes you use Evocation specializations with evothaum.
I could probably come up with more, but nine points seems like enough. Many of these are minor, but collectively they're definitely worth Refresh.
