Both the answers depend, at least partially, on the GM and your gaming group.
Per the Rules As Written, you can only take Refinement once as a Focused Practitioner. On the other hand, some might rule that that only applies to starting refresh, and that after the game starts you might be able to continue to Refine your abilities.
Regarding the Laws, I'd rule that it's not the style of magic that matters, but the entity performing it. An inhuman being performing magic won't need to worry about Lawbreaking, just as it won't need to worry about hexing technology. As a human, however, you have a soul that can be corrupted by what you perform with the magic.
Or, to go at it from another direction, sponsored magic isn't a different kind of magic altogether. it's just a different power source that you then use to power your mortal magic.
Actually, per the section on Hexing on page 228, it's the type of person, not the type of magic, that indicates whether there's hexing going on..
Ok... so I've been educating myself about the system and I just picked up the first two books.
2. Only mortal magic is beholden to the laws of magic, right? So theoretically, an Emissary of Power could use magic gained from .... The Flying Spaghetti Monster to kill mortals and he/she would not be violating any supernatural laws, right?
That's totally possible, but didn'thex everything and it's grandmother everywhere it went? Granted, it showed a ton of control, but it certainly did it. That seems like an inconsistency between the series and the RPG.(click to show/hide)
I like the character concept, and I encourage you to go for it. A homebrew [-0] power that prevents you from hexing (intentionally or otherwise) would probably be reasonable. But you should bear in mind that a refined Evoker is always more powerful than a refined Channeler. Mechanically, there's no contest.
Ok so what about hexing?
In the books, not all magical practitioners fry electronics. Heck, not even all wizards do.
It also makes no sense that a revolver would be more reliable (or at least Harry believes it is) than a Glock when a Glock has less moving parts.
I'm playing around with the idea of building an x military turned magical character, but I doubt that my character would completely forsake technology or most of his training to go the supernatural route.
Ramirez and a lot of other Wardens carry Glocks. In fact, Jim seems to have toned down the hexing effect on guns a lot from Storm Front, where even the semiautomatics get shaky. I mean, in White NightI wouldn't rely on nightvision goggles or your fancy optics but guns seem to be pretty immune from the accidental hexing effect later on. Besides, the best thing to do if the GM compels your gun to jam is to pull out another gun, Il Duce style! :)(click to show/hide)
I'm thinking about asking the GM to give me some extra skill points in return for one less fate point or something.
It would make sense to me that people who have been trained in the military should receive a few bonus skill points in whatever it was they did.
For instance, an x special forces soldier would have a lot more skills in life than a person of similar age who works at Wal*Mart.
I think in the rpg that something like is dealt with mortal stunts. take one or two of those. They cost refresh and give your character bonuses to skills or allows you to use a skill in a way you normally couldn't.
I think in the rpg that something like is dealt with mortal stunts. take one or two of those. They cost refresh and give your character bonuses to skills or allows you to use a skill in a way you normally couldn't.
This is not a bad idea.
For instance, a mortal stunt under various skills that describe military training could be declared to give a bump to say... guns.
Exactly. They say in the book, IIRC, that a mortal stunt gives a +2 bonus per point of refresh, or allows a single sub skill normally not allowed in the base skill per refresh point. So under the guns base skill you could say you have military training to get +2 to when ever you shoot a gun.
1. I don't think that a stunt giving +2 whenever you shoot a gun is reasonable. A stunt letting you dodge bullets with Guns, however, probably is.
2. I think the correct way to model good training is by raising the power level. Military special forces might be Submerged, while Walmart greeters are likely below Feet In The Water.
3. If you're looking for inspiration, then you would do well to read some of the threads on the Resources board.
It really is a poor idea to start PCs at different power levels. You're going to have some people taking all of the screen time and others simply fading into the background. There are some ways to have differently powered characters in a game and I'll use the same example that you did: Harry and Butters.
Were the two of them PCs in the same game you would likely have harry, a wizard with all the powers that implies and a broad skill set able to do magic but also investigation, shooting, intimidation, etc (lots of powers, little refresh and a broad skill pyramid with the highest being great). Where as Butters would take a different appraoch, being very good in a few skills and having a few stunts but a lot of luck (a couple of stunts, A LOT of refresh and a very restricted skill tower with the highest few being superb). I'm sure this isn't necessarily how they are stated but it's how I would do it were two people trying to create these characters in a game.
I give it about 3 game sessions before the lower-refresh characters realize what they've allowed themselves to be talked into, and ask to be upgraded to the same power level as the highest-level character. Fudge dice can really let you down if you're running around with mostly Fair- or Good-rank skills. And if a player has volunteered to have fewer Fate points to even boost those skills... well...
Heck, Harry Dresden spent almost an entire book hanging out with Butters and he probably couldn't win a fist fight against a 10 year old.Err, the RPG uses refresh and how much each character has spent to reflect that, not differing power levels. In your example, Dresden has spent all but one refresh while Butters probably only has a couple Scholarship stunts and a bunch of unspent refresh. Choosing a power level for the group doesn't mean everyone has to spend all their refresh.
Err, the RPG uses refresh and how much each character has spent to reflect that, not differing power levels. In your example, Dresden has spent all but one refresh while Butters probably only has a couple Scholarship stunts and a bunch of unspent refresh. Choosing a power level for the group doesn't mean everyone has to spend all their refresh.
Plus combat skills does not dictate the power level of the character. just because dresden has more combat oriented character arrangements does no make him more powerful then butters. power is not rated in combat terms for me.
1. First, would it be possibly for a focused practitioner to be an evocator and just keep improving that one specialized evocation at each milestone? This idea appeals to me. The tradeoff for all the myriad other things wizards can do would be a /nasty/ evocation attack even without a foci.
But considering that almost all of Butters' experience and knowledge is cutting up dead bodies, his skills are not very useful except to make assessments about how damaged another person is.
For instance, a very experienced, "high level" daycare worker won't be much good in a campaign either unless he or she has a minor talent or a massive amount of research into the supernatural.
But considering that almost all of Butters' experience and knowledge is cutting up dead bodies, his skills are not very useful except to make assessments about how damaged another person is.
I would like to point out that butters is a doctor. I have a friend who is seven years in to becoming a doctor. To become a doctor one must learn ALL OF MEDICAL SCIENCE. I will bet you butters knows a lot of useful things.
By the character creation rules, yes, but the rules are really only guidelines. The first question is always if it makes sense narratively, and the second question is if it will make for a good game.
Why does the idea appeal to you?
My character will eventually pick up sponsored magic in the future (as I said before) but that will be used with an element of distaste....(click to show/hide)
Watch the spoilers.
Anything after Turn Coat is a spoiler in the RPG forum - which is why there is a sub forum for spoilers.
More information can be found in those sticky threads at the top of the forum. Then again, we seem to be mostly ignored. I've seen other threads moved from one forum to another because there was a spoiler in the thread.
Richard
Did soldier x serve in the 1st Earth Battalion under Lt. Colonel Jim Channon? He could have started his evoking career on goats.