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The Dresden Files => DFRPG => Topic started by: Emburii on February 02, 2011, 07:36:04 PM

Title: What Can My Character Trade To the Winter Crone For An Unmaking?
Post by: Emburii on February 02, 2011, 07:36:04 PM
My wizard character has taken responsibility for a loup-garou,  either containing it or (hopefully) finding a way to remove the curse.  Our GM has broken with canon and one of the characters in the party is the current Winter Knight, who has manuevered my character into going to see the the Winter Crone and hopefully making a bargain (the loup-garou had previously been in the 'care' of the Winter Court).

Right now she's looking at trading her power for am Unmaking, but I'm open to other suggestions.  Children are not an option, nor is anything else that would impede another's free will.  But if anyone can figure something out, it's going to be this board.  Thanks!
Title: Re: What Can My Character Trade To the Winter Crone For An Unmaking?
Post by: bitterpill on February 02, 2011, 07:43:28 PM
I recon he might be able to trade an unmaking for a 'very big favour' which you could count as a lot of sponsor debt or a quest, though the quest would definatly be near impossible and would probably lead to a hijacking of your plot and/or PC death.
Title: Re: What Can My Character Trade To the Winter Crone For An Unmaking?
Post by: My Dark Sunshine on February 02, 2011, 07:44:35 PM
A Wizard ally could be far more useful with his powers, then simply stripping a Wizard of them. Perhaps servitude? (Would impede her/his free-will, not another's). Bare in mind the Fae as a whole are a rather manipulative group, they'd likely want something that would further their own goals.

Saying that, I could see why being indebted to the Fae-court might be something you'd wish to avoid as a player. But then so is loosing your power. If one player is already a Winter Knight, it would hardly be the end of the world if you were forced to be on their side, instead of just choosing to do so.

Perhaps the classic, 'a favour' case scenario. Plenty of opportunity for the Faery to send you on a seemingly innocent quest, which ends up leading your character through a metaphorical tunnel of darkness and bad choices, with very little way out without doing something immoral; potentially tainting your soul (lawbreaking). Although, there usually is a way out of said situations, its just finding them.

The situation you're in sounds really cool though, so many possibilities, kudos to your GM & Group.

Title: Re: What Can My Character Trade To the Winter Crone For An Unmaking?
Post by: wyvern on February 02, 2011, 07:52:07 PM
A wizard's power is not inconsiderable - but there's a stronger power involved in this setup: the loup-garou itself.  I could see a deal where you traded off that power for the ability to remove it from its current subject.  ...Of course, then the winter court would have their own pet indestructible killing machine, and might well decide to do something horribly evil with it (like dump its power on the winter knight.  Or you.  Hm.  Maybe this isn't such a great plan after all.)

Other obvious options include lifespan; perhaps you get to keep your power, but trade away Wizard's Constitution.  In game terms, that's not a big deal - but in RP / character / personal terms, losing hundreds of years of potential life is huge.  This could manifest in at least two different ways - the character aging at a normal rate from here on, or the character keeping Wizard's Constitution but moving directly to a state of old age.

I'd also point out that - from an impeding free will perspective only - what's off the table is a child to be raised by the winter court; I could see them finding some advantage in the mere existence of a wizard-blooded changeling, even if they didn't get any direct influence in his/her upbringing.  (That's not to say that this couldn't / shouldn't be off the table anyway just because of what you'd be comfortable RPing, or for any other reason, of course.)
Title: Re: What Can My Character Trade To the Winter Crone For An Unmaking?
Post by: Drachasor on February 02, 2011, 07:59:45 PM
I'd go with Harry's method.  You owe her a favor, but if you don't like the one she proposes you can refuse it and she'll have to find something else.
Title: Re: What Can My Character Trade To the Winter Crone For An Unmaking?
Post by: Emburii on February 02, 2011, 08:45:07 PM
The problem with a favor is the way my GM envisions the Winter Crone; she is passive inevitability, not a power that is but a player that was.  She has little need for favors, to his mind, though he did just note that favors are interesting and he might be changing his mind on that.

Wyvern, I like the idea of just losing Wizard's Constitution and then going with a smaller favor, especially since that would still be very personally affecting (the character considers herself a warrior to the end, and the very real possibility of old age, of failing eyesight and creaking joints and general decrepitude and death in a cold bed instead of on the battlefield, would be just as terrible as loss of magical power.)  The old age idea is even more interesting... 

As for the situation overall, it is pretty interesting.  My only annoyance with it, even if she does give up her magic, is that I feel pressured into giving up her power for party cohesion because my GM is allowing and even indirectly encouraging someone to break the Laws of Magic...after they made my character a Warden in play.  Giving up her magic does obviate the need to either try to kill the guy or find excuses why she's never in scenes with him, but I do feel a touch bit miffed at having to make that choice even if it's a viable option for her in personality terms.
Title: Re: What Can My Character Trade To the Winter Crone For An Unmaking?
Post by: Drachasor on February 02, 2011, 08:49:33 PM
Then just work on developing a massive, magical counterspell ritual.  Undo the Loup Garou by yourself, keep it contained until then.  Removing a curse is not the same as altering someone directly...it's a gray area at worst.
Title: Re: What Can My Character Trade To the Winter Crone For An Unmaking?
Post by: bibliophile20 on February 02, 2011, 08:51:48 PM
Just be prepared for the possibility that entity that laid down the curse in the first place might show up--you're undoing some of its best work, and some take exception to that. 
Title: Re: What Can My Character Trade To the Winter Crone For An Unmaking?
Post by: bitterpill on February 02, 2011, 08:53:05 PM
I suppose if the winter crone is about passive inevitablity then the only thing she might want is Memories or years, taking away wizards constitution does take away years, but I think wizards contitution is an effect of being surrounded by magic so taking it away might not work unless you take away the casting ability because it would be taking away an effect not a cause.
Title: Re: What Can My Character Trade To the Winter Crone For An Unmaking?
Post by: wyvern on February 02, 2011, 08:55:11 PM
Huh.  Personally, I'd expect someone who was dedicated enough to the Council and the Laws of Magic to become a Warden would be unlikely to give up on that sense of responsibility just because she lost her magic...

That really sounds like something that should be discussed out of game rather than trying to "fix" it by trading away your powers.
Maybe see if the GM is willing to arrange for the Lawbreaker to sign on with some other Power?  So he could end up as, for an example, a warlock in service to Winter where you may hate it, but you can't directly act against him due to the Accords.
Or, heck, find some way to work "Can't arrest and execute this guy" into what the Winter Crone demands of you - maybe his state is important in some future event that maintains the stability of the seasons?

There are a fair number of options for resolving this without having to kill anyone, but you really need to discuss it with the group and see what will work; it's possible that the GM hasn't even realized that they're setting things up for inter-PC conflict.  (Edit: or that someone else involved thinks that such conflict would be interesting plot or otherwise entertaining; can't discount different playstyles, after all.)
Title: Re: What Can My Character Trade To the Winter Crone For An Unmaking?
Post by: bitterpill on February 02, 2011, 09:09:18 PM
If you really want to go evil there is another option with dealing with Loup Garrou give him to the White Court Vampires or one of the Fae Courts. With incite emotion they probably could train him to be an effective pet who would only go on ocassional directed killing sprees rather than mass slaughter, they probably would even pay you quite well for such a useful tool. So Everyone would be a winner other than the poor dehumanised Loup Garrou and the best bit is you don't have to lose any power. 
Title: Re: What Can My Character Trade To the Winter Crone For An Unmaking?
Post by: Emburii on February 02, 2011, 10:00:40 PM
Huh.  Personally, I'd expect someone who was dedicated enough to the Council and the Laws of Magic to become a Warden would be unlikely to give up on that sense of responsibility just because she lost her magic...

She 'became' a Warden about the same way Dresden did; 'we're short on people, you're a warrior-type (even better, one who hasn't even come close to breaking any Laws), put on this cloak'.  So, being big on personal responsibility, she's tried to do her best with it.  At least giving up her power means she has (and I can claim) some sort of excuse that lets me pay attention to other three problems I've put on the character's plate. 
And I'm pretty sure both the GM and the other player are aware of the conflict, they like adversarial situations.  I don't, but I'm in the minority so I can't really force the issue.

I'm all right with the possibility of her giving up her power, it fits the character and can lead to some very interesting roleplay.  I'm not even really mad at why I have to make this sort of decision, I just wish I were a little more free to consider other options.

So, to sum up the suggestions so far that don't require huge morality shifts, favors or specifically Wizard's Constitution instead of the whole wizard package?  Anything else?
Title: Re: What Can My Character Trade To the Winter Crone For An Unmaking?
Post by: Drachasor on February 02, 2011, 10:18:08 PM
Like I said, don't do the trade.  Making a Loup Garou is something like a 32 or shifts at least...quite possibly more, but probably not more than 50 shifts.  You could theoretically counter it with a ritual.  This would require a lot of work, a lot of power, etc, etc.  You could flavor the dispel as causing the curse to decay and fade away, making it even quite appropriate for Winter for what it is worth.  In any case, there's no need to go ask Mother Winter for help; you DO have other options.  If you have the Loup Garou contained, then there's no reason why you can't take time to research how to undo it.
Title: Re: What Can My Character Trade To the Winter Crone For An Unmaking?
Post by: wyvern on February 02, 2011, 11:53:55 PM
And I'm pretty sure both the GM and the other player are aware of the conflict, they like adversarial situations.  I don't, but I'm in the minority so I can't really force the issue.

I'd still strongly suggest talking to them; explain that this adversarial situation isn't something you want to have to deal with in-game, and put out some suggestions for making it go away.  If they do like adversarial situations, it's entirely plausible that they don't realize you don't - I've certainly been in games where different people had different comfort levels for some things, and some of those have gone very badly indeed and would have benefited from more OOC discussion.  (Personal anecdote to be taken, of course, with the requisite grain of salt; I don't know the whole situation of your game and my advice, while well intentioned, may not always be entirely appropriate.)

So, to sum up the suggestions so far that don't require huge morality shifts, favors or specifically Wizard's Constitution instead of the whole wizard package?  Anything else?

There's actually one more thing I can think of here.  The Mothers work fairly closely together, right?  So, to get an Unmaking sufficient to take apart a loup garou curse, you might have to agree to balance that with a Making - some mighty feat of magic to bring about something new in the world.  What?  Well, that's up to you - but it needs to be on par with what you're asking them to destroy.  (Ok, so really this is just a special sub-case of favor / quest, but I still think it's a neat idea.)

Oh, and just as a side-note, I'd be interested in hearing how this actually goes in-game once you do get things worked out.
Title: Re: What Can My Character Trade To the Winter Crone For An Unmaking?
Post by: jybil178 on February 03, 2011, 01:08:37 AM
Like I said, don't do the trade.  Making a Loup Garou is something like a 32 or shifts at least...quite possibly more, but probably not more than 50 shifts.  You could theoretically counter it with a ritual.  This would require a lot of work, a lot of power, etc, etc.  You could flavor the dispel as causing the curse to decay and fade away, making it even quite appropriate for Winter for what it is worth.  In any case, there's no need to go ask Mother Winter for help; you DO have other options.  If you have the Loup Garou contained, then there's no reason why you can't take time to research how to undo it.

Well... While it COULD be possible, the idea of it being done fairly easy would take away a lot of emphasis to the setting...  It would almost be equivalent to ((between book 4 and 5))
(click to show/hide)
.  And then the same man, goes on in a few books later, ((book 7, Dead Beat))
(click to show/hide)
  Admittedly it was a few books later, but I think the point is still fairly valid..

The reason that Harry needed the original Unweaving, ((book 4, Summer Knight))
(click to show/hide)
.

In order to remove a Loup-garou curse, would take a similar level of fine magic... I think your ball park figure of 50 shifts Might be in the area of breaking the curse, but it would practically be a raw attack on the curse itself, which would most likely Kill the man underneath..  You'd also be in danger of altering his self on some level, at the very least, easily breaking ground into law territory and black magic.
Title: Re: What Can My Character Trade To the Winter Crone For An Unmaking?
Post by: Drachasor on February 03, 2011, 04:13:07 AM
In order to remove a Loup-garou curse, would take a similar level of fine magic... I think your ball park figure of 50 shifts Might be in the area of breaking the curse, but it would practically be a raw attack on the curse itself, which would most likely Kill the man underneath..  You'd also be in danger of altering his self on some level, at the very least, easily breaking ground into law territory and black magic.

All that really depends on the GM.  Certainly the Loup Garou curse is quite different from Vampirism (no demon tagging along, just you), and getting turned into something that can't live.  There's no particular reason to think it would be as hard as either one of those to handle.  I think undoing such a curse is AT WORST in a gray area of the rules.  You are counterspelling a transformation, not doing a transformation yourself.  The counterspelling might be a bit delicate to do, but that doesn't make it a violation.  Certainly judging by intent you are perfectly fine.  The intent is to undo a violation, giving someone back their freedom, not to bend a person or their body to your will.

And yeah, a ton of shifts like that won't be easy, but it is a hard, achievable goal that the OP can go after instead of trying to negotiate with an unfathomably powerful and likely fickle entity.
Title: Re: What Can My Character Trade To the Winter Crone For An Unmaking?
Post by: JustinS on February 03, 2011, 04:35:39 AM

Right now she's looking at trading her power for am Unmaking, but I'm open to other suggestions.  Children are not an option, nor is anything else that would impede another's free will.  But if anyone can figure something out, it's going to be this board.  Thanks!

Well, if it is a matter of free-will and children being raised by fae, there is offering up your firstborn, such that the next child you would otherwise be the parent of is simply never born...
Title: Re: What Can My Character Trade To the Winter Crone For An Unmaking?
Post by: bitterpill on February 03, 2011, 04:46:38 AM
To undo the Loup Garou your going against the will of a very powerful entity im not sure if this canon but the very first Loup Garou was cursed by Luna (the moon goddess), at the very least your dealing with a curse put down by a god-like power on par with one of the Queens or a member of the High Sidhe to rouse the ire of godlike power the family of the cursed must of done something quite severe so given the nature of those sort of powers I bet that if you tried to counter-spell it you would find all sorts of fatal traps weeved into the binding like the landmines in wards. Even if you managed to counter-spell the curse then you will gained the ire of a god-like power or at the least a Powerful member of the high Sidhe who will  if your lucky send her minions to punish you for you presumption and if your not come herself.   
Title: Re: What Can My Character Trade To the Winter Crone For An Unmaking?
Post by: Tbora on February 03, 2011, 04:59:32 AM
To undo the Loup Garou your going against the will of a very powerful entity im not sure if this canon but the very first Loup Garou was cursed by Luna (the moon goddess), at the very least your dealing with a curse put down by a god-like power on par with one of the Queens or a member of the High Sidhe to rouse the ire of godlike power the family of the cursed must of done something quite severe so given the nature of those sort of powers I bet that if you tried to counter-spell it you would find all sorts of fatal traps weeved into the binding like the landmines in wards. Even if you managed to counter-spell the curse then you will gained the ire of a god-like power or at the least a Powerful member of the high Sidhe who will  if your lucky send her minions to punish you for you presumption and if your not come herself.   

The old gods have gone dormant by and large, its unlikely they would come out of that because some poor punks family like they cursed way got cured imo.
Title: Re: What Can My Character Trade To the Winter Crone For An Unmaking?
Post by: Drachasor on February 03, 2011, 07:27:00 AM
To undo the Loup Garou your going against the will of a very powerful entity im not sure if this canon but the very first Loup Garou was cursed by Luna (the moon goddess), at the very least your dealing with a curse put down by a god-like power on par with one of the Queens or a member of the High Sidhe to rouse the ire of godlike power the family of the cursed must of done something quite severe so given the nature of those sort of powers I bet that if you tried to counter-spell it you would find all sorts of fatal traps weeved into the binding like the landmines in wards. Even if you managed to counter-spell the curse then you will gained the ire of a god-like power or at the least a Powerful member of the high Sidhe who will  if your lucky send her minions to punish you for you presumption and if your not come herself.   

There's a canonical Loup Garou that was made by someone that is dead (human).  So it isn't necessarily done by a god-like power.  Also, like Tbora said, old gods aren't so active anymore....and besides, I know I'd feel better fighting a jerk old god that did such a curse rather than signing away my capabilities to defend people or the like.
Title: Re: What Can My Character Trade To the Winter Crone For An Unmaking?
Post by: bitterpill on February 03, 2011, 07:46:19 AM
I personally think anyone capable of that level of spell would of put safeguards into the spell to stop it being dispelled like traps and landmines so though its doable in character to perhaps undo the spell it would be very dangerous and the sort of thing that should be done with more than one wizard and months of preperation. Does anyone know if there are any rules for leaving traps in your thamaturgy so they can't  be dispelled without significant risk to the dispeller, if you do manage to dispell the loup garou with a ritual I would be fascinated to know how hard your gm would make the ritual,its the sort of thing I probably would use an entire secession on and get the entire party involved getting ingredients, researching etc.  Quick estimate of the complexity of the loup Garou curse is at 149 complexity (20 for duration(to the n generation) +24(concequences + stress)  +105 (5x21 refresh) I am estimating it this high because i think a refresh worth of powers is at least worth 5 complexity you could probably argue it could even be as high as ten). This estimate is more thematic than anything else it's high but you could argue that it should be a lot higher considering I think the curse would have failsafes I would probably count the total spell complexity at 150-170.  I think that 30 complexity counter spell might be a little low for dis-spelling this curse.      
Title: Re: What Can My Character Trade To the Winter Crone For An Unmaking?
Post by: Drachasor on February 03, 2011, 07:56:12 AM
I personally think anyone capable of that level of spell would of put safeguards into the spell to stop it being dispelled like traps and landmines so though its doable in character to perhaps undo the spell it would be very dangerous and the sort of thing that should be done with more than one wizard and months of preperation. Does anyone know if there are any rules for leaving traps in your thamaturgy so they can't  be dispelled without significant risk to the dispeller, if you do manage to dispell the loup garou with a ritual I would be fascinated to know how hard your gm would make the ritual,its the sort of thing I probably would wuse an entire secession on and get the entire party involved getting ingredients, researching etc.   

Well, if they are part of the thaumaturgy, then I guess they might piggy-back on duration increases....not sure there (if they don't, there's little reason not to apply them separately).  It isn't like the Loup Garou thing is easy to dispel though.  We're talking about something that takes 30-odd shifts.  If your Lore is 5, that's still 14 or so aspects you have to use.  Of course, if the GM wanted to make it harder, they could add other spells to detect and counter or increase the number of shifts.  That said, a 30-shift ritual is a pretty big deal, generally.
Title: Re: What Can My Character Trade To the Winter Crone For An Unmaking?
Post by: Emburii on February 03, 2011, 01:17:30 PM
Oh, being being willing to fight whatever made the curse if that comes up is not going to be a problem.  The character is literally willing to give her own life in the service  of what is right, at one point the rest of the group had to knock her out to stop her from going after a murderous dragon they thought was unbeatable (the GM later revealed we might have been able to take it).  And the last time a foe had her grappled, she called down ten shifts on lightning on both of them at the same time.  And this willingness to take on anything will not change even if she does trade her powers.

I like the idea of a Making, as well, because that has some serious potential...I'll mention that to the GM.  There's also the idea of trading the LOup-Garou's power itself in exchange for something else.
Title: Re: What Can My Character Trade To the Winter Crone For An Unmaking?
Post by: tymire on February 03, 2011, 06:32:56 PM
Well it seems easiest way might to be to redirect the curse onto yourself.  Than somehow deal with it or not.  ;D  I mean who wouldn't mind being furry once a month? 

The mothers though are all about the balace, power wise remember they are above the Queens, they just never use it.  So trading power/life whatever probably wouldn't interest them in the slightest.  However, a favor like what what was done in the books to set things in thier proper places "might" interest them.  Ofcourse good luck finding them if they don't want to be found....
Title: Re: What Can My Character Trade To the Winter Crone For An Unmaking?
Post by: Richard_Chilton on February 03, 2011, 08:14:55 PM
There's a canonical Loup Garou that was made by someone that is dead (human).  So it isn't necessarily done by a god-like power.  Also, like Tbora said, old gods aren't so active anymore....and besides, I know I'd feel better fighting a jerk old god that did such a curse rather than signing away my capabilities to defend people or the like.

Are you sure?

I don't see St. Patrick as a wizard.  I see him as saying "God, send the serpents out of Ireland" and them going because god wills it.  And then saying "God, curse this man and his line until the End of Days" and it happening because god wills it.

If St. Patrick wasn't a wizard then the power of the spell had to come from somewhere.

Richard
Title: Re: What Can My Character Trade To the Winter Crone For An Unmaking?
Post by: Emburii on February 03, 2011, 09:47:32 PM
...power is not just a term applied to wizards.  Even normal humans can bring up a circle, though it's not very strong.  Then there's the idea of someone having power and just channeling it through their faith; that does not require God, just the human tendency to map agency and make up stories.  But at any rate, that is not what this thread was started to discuss.  Please keep 'goddidit' and discussions of religions and their validity out of this topic.
Title: Re: What Can My Character Trade To the Winter Crone For An Unmaking?
Post by: Drachasor on February 03, 2011, 09:56:32 PM
Are you sure?

I don't see St. Patrick as a wizard.  I see him as saying "God, send the serpents out of Ireland" and them going because god wills it.  And then saying "God, curse this man and his line until the End of Days" and it happening because god wills it.

If St. Patrick wasn't a wizard then the power of the spell had to come from somewhere.

Richard

A few points.

1.  Doesn't seem like the White God's MO when you look at the Knights of the Cross.

2.  If it was his direct doing, then he was being a jerk and yeah, opposing jerk behavior even from a guy who normally seems pretty ok is the right thing to do.  If he gets in a huff about it, then he's STILL being a major jerk regarding that issue.

3.  No reason to think St. Patrick couldn't have been a wizard and religious.  Heck, no reason to think he even had True Faith.  Saints aren't necessarily chosen for good reasons.  The most stringent selection system is used for Knights of the Cross.

In any case, the Loup Garou curse is a monstrous and evil thing to do.  It kills innocent people; doesn't matter how bad the person who gets the curse is, it KILLS INNOCENT PEOPLE.  It then causes innocent family members to get punished as well.  Again, it's monstrously evil.  Getting rid of it is a good thing.
Title: Re: What Can My Character Trade To the Winter Crone For An Unmaking?
Post by: Richard_Chilton on February 03, 2011, 10:52:45 PM
1.  Doesn't seem like the White God's MO when you look at the Knights of the Cross.

Generational curses are biblical.
As for the Knights, didn't Micheal at one point (Grave Peril) basically say: "if you made a deal with that thing of your own freewill I can't help you against it?". 


2.  If it was his direct doing, then he was being a jerk and yeah, opposing jerk behavior even from a guy who normally seems pretty ok is the right thing to do.  If he gets in a huff about it, then he's STILL being a major jerk regarding that issue.

Then again, it could be him trying to teach Patrick a lesson about hubris.

3.  No reason to think St. Patrick couldn't have been a wizard and religious.  Heck, no reason to think he even had True Faith.  Saints aren't necessarily chosen for good reasons.  The most stringent selection system is used for Knights of the Cross.

There's no evidence for him being a wizard - not in any legend.  Saints, at least those with power, are supposedly picked by god (as opposed to the archangels handing out the swords).

Saying "Well there's no evidence against it so it might be true" is an invalid as talking about all those mailmen that Billy killed.  No, there's nothing in the books about him assuming wolf form to chase and eat mailmen, but there's nothing that says he doesn't.

In any case, the Loup Garou curse is a monstrous and evil thing to do.  It kills innocent people; doesn't matter how bad the person who gets the curse is, it KILLS INNOCENT PEOPLE.  It then causes innocent family members to get punished as well.  Again, it's monstrously evil.  Getting rid of it is a good thing.

It serves as a warning - do blah and your line will be cursed to the end times.  And I'm not encouraging the creation of them - just pointing out that from my reading of that book it doesn't appear that mortals can either curse them or cure them.

The MacFinn line probably encountered countless wizards over the years and none of them could end the curse.  MacFinn himself had someone construct a three ringed magic circle to contain the beast.  Someone built "a cage for demonic demigods and archangels" but couldn't end the curse.  If someone could build a cage to keep Jake in (or out) but not in the curse, well, to me that says that only Great Powers could do it.

Richard
Title: Re: What Can My Character Trade To the Winter Crone For An Unmaking?
Post by: Drachasor on February 04, 2011, 12:49:21 AM
Generational curses are biblical.
As for the Knights, didn't Micheal at one point (Grave Peril) basically say: "if you made a deal with that thing of your own freewill I can't help you against it?". 

White God and Old Testament God aren't necessarily the same guy.  Certainly by the time St. Patrick comes around, that sort of thing isn't going on.  And the free will thing is exactly my point, the curse robs someone of their free will a few nights a month and forces them to go around killing people nearby.  Further, it really goes against the whole redemption schtick the white god pushes.

Then again, it could be him trying to teach Patrick a lesson about hubris.

Which would make the white god a jerk since his lesson involved getting hundreds or even thousands of people killed over time.  Worst lesson ever!

There's no evidence for him being a wizard - not in any legend.  Saints, at least those with power, are supposedly picked by god (as opposed to the archangels handing out the swords).

The Catholic Church says they are picked by god, but it's political.  Further, when miracles are performed by people saying they are religious, then it is faith and god doing it.  When they are done by someone saying they aren't, then it is magic, wizardry, paganism, or whatever else is handy.  If Harry said he was doing the white god's work, and managed to cure some diseases and the like, he could probably pretty easily be made a saint by the Catholic Church.

Saying "Well there's no evidence against it so it might be true" is an invalid as talking about all those mailmen that Billy killed.  No, there's nothing in the books about him assuming wolf form to chase and eat mailmen, but there's nothing that says he doesn't.

Well, there's certainly evidence he could be a wizard.  He cursed that guy.  He did magic.  We're not talking about someone that didn't do anything.

It serves as a warning - do blah and your line will be cursed to the end times.  And I'm not encouraging the creation of them - just pointing out that from my reading of that book it doesn't appear that mortals can either curse them or cure them.

Yeah, because that's a great warning.  That's why Harry was so familiar with it.  Heck, they don't even know why the guy was cursed.  Horrible warning.  Further, it's EVIL.  A warning that results in a bunch of innocent people dying is evil.  Those innocents are dead because of the white god if he was powering that curse, that puts their blood on his hands and there are tons of other ways to handle it.

The MacFinn line probably encountered countless wizards over the years and none of them could end the curse.  MacFinn himself had someone construct a three ringed magic circle to contain the beast.  Someone built "a cage for demonic demigods and archangels" but couldn't end the curse.  If someone could build a cage to keep Jake in (or out) but not in the curse, well, to me that says that only Great Powers could do it.

It isn't easy getting all those shifts and other bits together to end such a curse.  Far easier to make those containment circles.  We only have evidence they ever encounter ONE real person of any talent (the one that originally made those circles) and we don't even know if they WERE a wizard.  Perhaps the containment was the limit of their capability.  It's always easier to contain than remove, even in the game.  A level 20 block would very easily contain him, whereas you are going to need more like twice those shifts to get rid of the curse (to say nothing of symbolic links).


Anyhow, fundamentally, and back to the original topic more or less, any being that did this curse did a great evil.  I don't care what their past accomplishments are or their recommendations.  The curse directly results in tons of innoncents dying and other innocents being punished.  It's an evil thing.  If there's a being that shows up after removing it and that being is upset, then they are defending evil.  A warden would have plenty of reason for removing such a curse AND opposing any entity that got upset by it.  This also provides plenty of reason to try to deal with it oneself.  A powerful being might just pickup the curse and toss it elsewhere if you let them interfere, or they have a price that requires you impede your ability to help others.  Contain the beast, spend time studying it and the curse, and figuring out a way to end it is slower and safer.
Title: Re: What Can My Character Trade To the Winter Crone For An Unmaking?
Post by: bitterpill on February 04, 2011, 01:30:37 AM
To undo the spell your going to need something akin to the power that created it is the theory the only way to get that much power is either through leveraging the lives of other (either through lust or human sacrafices), leveraging the power of a sponsor (the white god etc) or spending years on the enchantment. Im not going to argue about complexity cost beyond the fact that the only ritual bigger than it I could think of is a Dark Hallow which involved the sacrafising of hundreds of souls. Unless your willing to become the eternal pawn of a sponsor or break the laws of magic then I see no way for a single wizard to disenchant that level of spell in the timeframe of a normal game.  

I suppose you could take him with you to Edinburgh and beg a favour of the senior council with enough wizards the impossible becomes possible, but considering the council is at war they might not be willing to use so much effort or resources on such a small matter.
Title: Re: What Can My Character Trade To the Winter Crone For An Unmaking?
Post by: Drachasor on February 04, 2011, 01:42:52 AM
To undo the spell your going to need something akin to the power that created it is the theory the only way to get that much power is either through leveraging the lives of other (either through lust or human sacrafices), leveraging the power of a sponsor (the white god etc) or spending years on the enchantment. Im not going to argue about complexity cost beyond the fact that the only ritual bigger than it I could think of is a Dark Hallow which involved the sacrafising of hundreds of souls. Unless your willing to become the eternal pawn of a sponsor or break the laws of magic then I see no way for a single wizard to disenchant that level of spell in the timeframe of a normal game.  

The Complexity cost is in the ballpark of 50 (for such a curse lasting for many generations).  It's quite doable with proper setup and time.  Given research time for this sort of thing is at best arbitrary, there's no way you can say someone can't do this in a normal game.  Even if a god-like entity did the curse, that doesn't mean they put tons of unnecessary power into it.
Title: Re: What Can My Character Trade To the Winter Crone For An Unmaking?
Post by: bitterpill on February 04, 2011, 01:54:23 AM
The curse would be at least with thamaturgy +20 complexity for the duration (to the nth generation) and +26 complex for defeating the persons concequences, then there are the powers which the spell give which include supernatural to mythic everything which is going to be at least another 40-50 complexity. So were dealing with about 100 complexity with thamaturgy as a bare minimum so to counter spell the ritual would they not have to match at least that amount of complexity. There is also the fact that the curse is probably not mortal magic and possibly behaving in ways not explained by normal spell behaviour which might make getting the proper research for the spell next to impossible or at least much more difficult.
Title: Re: What Can My Character Trade To the Winter Crone For An Unmaking?
Post by: Drachasor on February 04, 2011, 02:15:20 AM
The curse would be at least with thamaturgy +20 complexity for the duration (to the nth generation) and +26 complex for defeating the persons concequences, then there are the powers which the spell give which include supernatural to mythic everything which is going to be at least another 40-50 complexity. So were dealing with about 100 complexity with thamaturgy as a bare minimum so to counter spell the ritual would they not have to match at least that amount of complexity. There is also the fact that the curse is probably not mortal magic and possibly behaving in ways not explained by normal spell behaviour which might make getting the proper research for the spell next to impossible or at least much more difficult.

The rules don't indicate that you pay any particular complexity to create the various powers, and even if you paid 1 shift per refresh, that's not anywhere close to another 40-50 complexity.  The generation thing, assuming that's part of it, could be less than 20 easily, 13 shifts is already several mortal lifetimes, which is about a wizard's lifetime, give or take.  By the time you got to 15 already, we're talking about thousands of years.

In any case, even 200 complexity is not outside the bounds of mortal means though.  It is just going to take longer to put things together and come up with the necessarily links, aspects to tap, etc, etc.  It's still quite doable in principle, even if difficult.  In the end, the GM determines whether it can be done or not, and I am just recommending that path if it is an option.  Bargaining with Fae really shouldn't be on the top list of things to do.
Title: Re: What Can My Character Trade To the Winter Crone For An Unmaking?
Post by: bitterpill on February 04, 2011, 02:25:49 AM
At the very least any transformation spell includes the shifts for taking someone out and you would argue that either for 1 shift of power you can have one shift of refresh or that it costs no complexity, well with the no complexity theory that makes the loup garrou curse the same complexity as the dark hallow as you can have infinite refresh worth of powers and even with the 1 complexity idea this would mean that you could make a character pretty much undefeatable for thier life time for about 60 complexity, if a PC said he was going to pull this kind of ritual and another PC was ok with being changed would you allow it in your games.

The reason Im 'overpricing it' is because ritual like this have a horrific potential for PC to abuse, so the pricing stratergy for this ritual should  keeps PCs from getting that level of power without degrading themselves and breaking the laws of magic. Otherwise your find the PC have gone and turned themselves into gods and ruined your universe. 
Title: Re: What Can My Character Trade To the Winter Crone For An Unmaking?
Post by: Moriden on February 04, 2011, 02:30:29 AM
Quote
even with the 1 complexity idea this would mean that you could make a character pretty much undefeatable for thier life time for about 60 complexity, if a PC said he was going to pull this kind of ritual and another PC was ok with being changed would you allow it in your game

The ritual works, congratulations your at -35 refresh, please hand over your character sheet.
Title: Re: What Can My Character Trade To the Winter Crone For An Unmaking?
Post by: bitterpill on February 04, 2011, 02:36:16 AM
Oh yer I forgot about the whole refresh free will limit thing sorry.
Title: Re: What Can My Character Trade To the Winter Crone For An Unmaking?
Post by: Drachasor on February 04, 2011, 02:39:32 AM
At the very least any transformation spell includes the shifts for taking someone out and you would argue that either for 1 shift of power you can have one shift of refresh or that it costs no complexity, well with the no complexity theory that makes the loup garrou curse the same complexity as the dark hallow as you can have infinite refresh worth of powers and even with the 1 complexity idea this would mean that you could make a character pretty much undefeatable for thier life time for about 60 complexity, if a PC said he was going to pull this kind of ritual and another PC was ok with being changed would you allow it in your games.

The reason Im 'overpricing it' is because ritual like this have a horrific potential for PC to abuse, so the pricing stratergy for this ritual should  keeps PCs from getting that level of power without degrading themselves and breaking the laws of magic. Otherwise your find the PC have gone and turned themselves into gods and ruined your universe. 

Doesn't ruin the universe at all.  The PC would become an NPC if they did something like that.  Besides, I already said it is up to the GM to determine if it is allowable.  Personally, the rules for Thaumaturgy are a bit lacking in terms of research difficulty, but I don't think the shifts needed are the problem at all.  As for the 1 shift = 1 refresh, does it make any difference if it is 2 or 3 shifts?  10 shifts?  No, it doesn't, because shifts are EASY to get, pretty much.  Have the difficulty of doing the research determined by the GM and you can rough through this sort of thing since there aren't really any guidelines...increasing shifts required solves nothing.
Title: Re: What Can My Character Trade To the Winter Crone For An Unmaking?
Post by: bitterpill on February 04, 2011, 02:56:33 AM
Your probably right about the costs of thamaturgy the only downside  when you include the refresh limit is that the other PC will have to deal with athe potential for Supernatural Heavy Hitter to suddenly appear amongst there ranks but considering the large utlity value in the potential for amusement from this type of ritual and the fact that I could use it to create a pet super golum or supercharge one of my familiars so that it was a pet Behemoth out ways the potential balance issues.  ;D
Title: Re: What Can My Character Trade To the Winter Crone For An Unmaking?
Post by: tymire on February 04, 2011, 06:38:03 PM
Bah it would be great fun to have one of your parties characters be a Loup Garou.  No need to make them into a NPC.  I mean come on just think of all the challenges they (and the party) would have to overcome too keep it in control.  Moment the character loses it, it becomes a killing machine toward anything living around them.....  There is a reaon why they call it a curse you know.
Title: Re: What Can My Character Trade To the Winter Crone For An Unmaking?
Post by: Drachasor on February 04, 2011, 06:54:26 PM
Bah it would be great fun to have one of your parties characters be a Loup Garou.  No need to make them into a NPC.  I mean come on just think of all the challenges they (and the party) would have to overcome too keep it in control.  Moment the character loses it, it becomes a killing machine toward anything living around them.....  There is a reaon why they call it a curse you know.

Thankfully it only happens on nights with a full moon, not based on emotional stress or anything.  If it did, then having one in the party would be a TPK...have you checked out the stats on that thing?  PHYSICAL IMMUNITY to everything except inherited silver, and mythic stuff out the wazoo.  It would kill most parties superquick.
Title: Re: What Can My Character Trade To the Winter Crone For An Unmaking?
Post by: Emburii on February 06, 2011, 11:00:45 PM
UPDATE

I'd thought of trading the Loup-Garou's power itself in return for my character getting her wizard stuff back (she'd had it all ripped away in a recent conflict), but wasn't sure if it'd be legal.  Turns out it was and the GM was fine with it.  The scene didn't go quite as I expected, but the Loup-Garou is taken care.  She even got to meet Vadderung, which is pretty significant since the character's Norse-ish in religion and is wielding Gungnir.  It's not quite how I would have liked things to go, but it worked.

She's still part of the Council, though, which means she and the Lawbreaker are going to come into conflict.  The Lawbreaker's player knows the mechanics better than I do and doesn't mind the idea.  I hate it.  Haaaaate it.  I don't like fighting PCs, when I'm playing a game I'd rather solve some problems than get into lethal quarrels with the other people around me (please, no wrongfun chiding).  This is the one problem this outcome didn't fix, but it's a biggie.
Title: Re: What Can My Character Trade To the Winter Crone For An Unmaking?
Post by: Drachasor on February 06, 2011, 11:22:55 PM
She's still part of the Council, though, which means she and the Lawbreaker are going to come into conflict.  The Lawbreaker's player knows the mechanics better than I do and doesn't mind the idea.  I hate it.  Haaaaate it.  I don't like fighting PCs, when I'm playing a game I'd rather solve some problems than get into lethal quarrels with the other people around me (please, no wrongfun chiding).  This is the one problem this outcome didn't fix, but it's a biggie.

I know what you mean.  I'm that way in a group and even with what TV shows I like.

I am not sure what sort of options you have if the Lawbreaker isn't recalcitrant.  Not much to do other than kill him if they don't want to reform, roleplaying-wise.  If they haven't gone Lawbreaker yet, but seem interested, I'd put in a call to the White Council saying you are suspicious of this person and that if you disappear then there's a good chance they broke a Law and managed to kill you went you tried to confront them.  Beyond that start working on a plan to take them out if you have to, preferably you want to catch them completely by surprise and ideally without much access to magic (running water is great here, or getting them into a threshold uninvited).  Of course, what you can do is going to be limited by your Lore and their ability to detect you being deceitful.

It sucks, but I am not sure what else you can do if the GM and this player are into it.  Eh, maybe if this character gets killed he'll make one that isn't like that?  (It isn't like there is a gray area if he breaks a law...you pretty much have to kill him if he isn't totally recalcitrant...and even if he is sorry, you still have to fight for him in a trial and you both get the potential death sentence).
Title: Re: What Can My Character Trade To the Winter Crone For An Unmaking?
Post by: bitterpill on February 06, 2011, 11:32:57 PM
The best way to deal with a wizard is contacts with contact 5 and connections to the mobs you can arrange a sniper to take them down from afar even if it dosen't kill them and it shouldn't with all the concequences it makes them to weak to fight back, it does not even break the laws of magic. So if you want to win persuade the rest of the party they want to help you, persuade your backers or just get backup.