Source material does not have to deal with game balance or mechanics issues either...
It is a very bad idea to change game rules for the worse in order to accommodate the source material. That sort of thinking is a major cause of the generally low quality of video game adaptations.
That being said, I think that there should be rules for "always-on" magic items that aren't full Items Of Power. Don't ask me what they should be, but there should be some.
1) We have never seen Harry's original coat (before it was upgraded) deflect more than a couple attacks per day.
2) Enchanted items can be fueled with more uses via mental stress. So even if the uses run out, Harry can still use his items if he needs to.
3) The basic Ward lasts until sunrise, like most thaumaturgies. By spending extra shifts of complexity you can increase duration. With enough shifts, you can make a ward last for several human lifetimes.
4) You can bypass your own wards, yes. You can also add passwords and keys, wardflames and alarms and so on. Read the rules for Wards again.
What I'm saying is it should have been designed that way in the first place. And I believe that it is possible to have created it to be more true to the source material and still be balanced.
That is not entirely correct. The Merlin and the Gatekeeper erected a ward in the Nevernever, in the middle of a battlefield, during combat, to stop an army of Red Court vampires and Outsiders. So it might be possible to erect wards without a base - but you'd need far beyond Harry's skill with Wards to do it.I don't recall the details of that scene, but didn't they draw a circle to anchor the ward? Circle = threshold. An office, however, is hard to draw a circle around.
That is not entirely correct. The Merlin and the Gatekeeper erected a ward in the Nevernever, in the middle of a battlefield, during combat, to stop an army of Red Court vampires and Outsiders. So it might be possible to erect wards without a base - but you'd need far beyond Harry's skill with Wards to do it.
2) Enchanted items can be fueled with more uses via mental stress. So even if the uses run out, Harry can still use his items if he needs to.
Where is this extra uses of the enchanted items via additional mental stress written? I would like to use it in my games. Thanks.Here you go:
If an enchanted item runs out
of uses in a session, if wielded by a practitioner,
he may make additional uses anyway by taking
one point of mental stress per use.
Shrug.
I didn't say it - some guy named Jim Butcher did. At http://www.jimbutcheronline.com/bb/index.php/topic,1858.msg34804.html#msg34804 (http://www.jimbutcheronline.com/bb/index.php/topic,1858.msg34804.html#msg34804). *Thanks, Serack for compiling the list of quotes*
The main reason I quoted it was to show that something other than a threshold can anchor a ward, it has to be more than "I want a ward there so I'm putting it there". You need something with a "similar energy structures" to a threshold.
He said that in 2007. Since then both a public rental luggage locker and a public storage facility have been warded. Any "rule" of magic should at most be only viewed as a guideline for how it works for most people, most of the time.I don't remember exactly about the locker, but I'm fairly certain the storage unit was described as having runes scrawled all over the inside, which would say to me that Harry was anchoring the ward on those runes instead of a threshold.
I don't remember exactly about the locker, but I'm fairly certain the storage unit was described as having runes scrawled all over the inside, which would say to me that Harry was anchoring the ward on those runes instead of a threshold.
He said that in 2007. Since then both a public rental luggage locker and a public storage facility have been warded. Any "rule" of magic should at most be only viewed as a guideline for how it works for most people, most of the time.
I don't see the runes as anything but a bit of color for the wards. That is they aren't something the wards are anchored to. They're just part of the ward. Regardless, there are exceptions to the must have a threshold or couple other rare things rule for wards. So, if you want an exception for your wards, you should feel free to make one.
No wards on the office. You need a threshold for anything but teensy defenses, and the office is a public place of business, not a home.
No wards on the office. To build a ward, you have to use a threshold of some kind. (Well, you can use other kinds of similar energy structures, like ley lines, ogham stones, etc, but you can't just slap them down anywhere.) No wards on Harry's office in the books for that reason.
The office doesn't have a whole hell of a lot of "home" energy around it. Virtually none. I mean, a hotel room would have more. Harry could probably sling up some kind of tripwire-rings-a-bell equivalent ward, if he wanted to, but even that would be tricky and he has better ways to spend his time and effort.