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The Dresden Files => DFRPG => Topic started by: crusher_bob on June 20, 2012, 08:05:38 AM
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First, the Angel Summoner & BMX Bandit clip (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFuMpYTyRjw), if you don;t know the reference already.
This thread is about what people might feel are 'game breaking' applications of thaumaturgy. That is, those effects that make the other PCs sorta worthless, make thaumatrugy the solution to every problem, or whatever.
So, the idea is that you present some 'difficult' situation, then describe a possible thaumaturgy based solution that makes the the situation trivial. Ideally, also describe the thaumaturgy complexity that you feel is needed to use the ritual, and also the difficulties to a more mundane solution.
So, for example, the classic: the villain gets away.
You've fought the bad guy for a bit, but you haven't managed to beat him. Now you must track him back to his lair and defeat him once and for all before he enacts the last stages of his master plan.
PC, well I hit him with my sword, so there should be his blood on it. I'll go back to my house and use the blood as a ritual link to make his head explode.
Complexity ~30. Possible complications: target is human, so would require lawbreaking, target is behind moderate or greater wards, meaning a much higher complexity to remote kill him, final stages of targets master plan can be completed faster than the ritual can be completed.
Mundane complications:
Where is the villains hideout? What guards and defenses does he have there? How do we prevent him from fleeing again? How do we get it all dome before his master plan is complete? How do be bring all of our best stuff along to stomp the bad guy with, and/or ensure we have a free hand to use all of the best (i.e. most explosive) stuff?
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Problem: You are in prison.
Solution: Open a gate to the Nevernever.
Complexity: ~5
Complications: The Nevernever on the other side of the prison is probably worse than the prison. And a manhunt will certainly ensue when the guards notice you are missing. Also, other inmates might interrupt your ritual or demand you take them along. And once you escape, getting back to Earth might be hard. Finally, some guard might put a stop to what you're doing.
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Finally, some guard might put a stop to what you're doing.
They might put a stop to it the first time you try, but then you file a complaint with your local equivalent of a human rights commission claiming that this ritual is a religious ceremony, poses no danger to any individuals, yourself or others (because the human rights commission, of course, doesn't acknowledge the existence of magic, and thus can't consider the true risks associated with opening a gate to the Nevernever), violates no laws in and of itself, etc, etc.
Just remember to soak any disrupted shifts from that first attempt as backlash (worst case scenario you should be looking at a headache for a little while). Because if you release fallout you you might weaken that 'no risk' claim, above.
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Sounds like a fun story to me.
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They might put a stop to it the first time you try, but then you file a complaint with your local equivalent of a human rights commission claiming that this ritual is a religious ceremony, poses no danger to any individuals, yourself or others (because the human rights commission, of course, doesn't acknowledge the existence of magic, and thus can't consider the true risks associated with opening a gate to the Nevernever), violates no laws in and of itself, etc, etc.
Just remember to soak any disrupted shifts from that first attempt as backlash (worst case scenario you should be looking at a headache for a little while). Because if you release fallout you you might weaken that 'no risk' claim, above.
All of that takes time, though, and a lot of it. Appeals and complaints can take months or years to play out. If you're willing to try a spell to get out of prison, it's probably because you want to get out of there quickly.
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...If you're willing to try a spell to get out of prison, it's probably because you want to get out of there quickly.
Emphasis mine.
Actually, the only reason that I would try to use a spell to get out of prison (and in this case I would 100% try it) is if I were in prison at all for any length of time ever.
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Emphasis mine.
Actually, the only reason that I would try to use a spell to get out of prison (and in this case I would 100% try it) is if I were in prison at all for any length of time ever.
I was speaking in the context of a game--I was presuming that a PC would want to get out of prison not just to not be in prison, but because there's some time-constrained reason they need to be out of prison, and pointing out that the official stuff Tedronai was referring to is time consuming, i.e., that it's still a risk to the spell and the process.
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I don't know about you, but I'd call living my life to be time-constrained. There's only so much of it to be had, after all, and prison would really put a damper on living it the way I would like.
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Also to be considered is the knowledge that once you were discovered to have broken out of jail by some unknown means, the authorities might well try to put you back in, possibly with a measure of extreme prejudice. So if you were in jail for a short time, it might be worth the wait to avoid a more significant risk.
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Also to be considered is the knowledge that once you were discovered to have broken out of jail by some unknown means, the authorities might well try to put you back in, possibly with a measure of extreme prejudice. So if you were in jail for a short time, it might be worth the wait to avoid a more significant risk.
Judge: So do have anything to say for yourself?
PC: I didn't escape, they said I could go.
Police: No.
PC: Umm... yes you did, just check any tape ever.
Police: Yeah, see your teleporting out a magic portal right here.
PC: ... You faked a video tape. ... You guys are morons.
Judge: Okay, PC you're free to go. Police I'm going to have to send you guys to prison.
In summary, sending people with supernatural powers to prison ends really poorly. The police can't exactly say the guy teleported out, or hexed all their stuff.
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Bureaucracy answers all. If the character had been released, there would have been paperwork, signatures, security film of the character being walked out the doors, etc. Without such evidence, the assumption would be that the character escaped, though by means not necessarily known. If a camera image of some form of portal survived hexing, then it would be considered doctored or faulty, but the fact would remain that the character had gotten a 5 year sentence with no possibility of parole yesterday, and was walking free today, with no intervening parole process.
So they'd be grilling the character as to how exactly he did escape, and the character's answer of 'magic' would likely not cut it. And that's assuming that the character -- likely considered a dangerous fugitive by the police -- survived being re-arrested (not an absolute guarantee).
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I was speaking in the context of a game--I was presuming that a PC would want to get out of prison not just to not be in prison, but because there's some time-constrained reason they need to be out of prison, and pointing out that the official stuff Tedronai was referring to is time consuming, i.e., that it's still a risk to the spell and the process.
PCs generally act like real people. The Compel system makes it mechanically optimal for them to do so, and even without Compels most people try to make their characters into believable people.
Most real people would rather not be in prison, regardless of what they have to do outside.
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Sorry, for wandering off, was suddenly distracted by Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality (http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5782108/1/Harry_Potter_and_the_Methods_of_Rationality).
The thing I was trying to get people to consider is what 'types of story or situation' that big thaumaturgy can totally sidestep in a story. For example, in Shadowrun, there's a spell called mind probe that lets you retrieve answers directly from a targets mind, that are as true as the target knows and understands.
This means that, say, capturing a mid-level guy in a conspiracy and mind probing him for what he knows is just something that PCs can do, or at least, get their contacts to do. It's also something that can happen to PCs. Which means that a properly simulated shadowrun world has to take this into account.
So, to rephrase the question, what uses or types of thaumaturgy (or any other Dresden files power, for that matter) seem to require changing how the DF world works (as compared to the real one) so that our expectations of actions need to change? and what are some ways the GM can anticipate and deal with them? It also helps if everyone knows about them before hand, so none are stumbled over accidentally.
So, notice in the prison break example, being able to get out of prison by opening a way into the never-never brings along it's own potential complications, already alluded to in the book.
Taking the mind probe example above, I 'ruined' an early shadowrun adventure I was in by simply kidnapping and mind probing our party up the consipracy chain of knowledge, becuase the GM hadn't thought about the requirements to compartmentalize information in the face of a mind probe. Of course, I could have rubber hosed through the conspiracy the same way, but people tend to be more squeamish about that, and it's at least believable that people could be naturally resistant to rubber hose application, while the rules provided no real ability to resist mind probes.
The GM gets points for not just banning mind probe outright, which would have also been perfectly reasonable, but it took a while of playing to work out all the ways that the world would change in response to the ability to mind probe people.
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Well, barring those in the Dresdenverse tending to be squeamish about so blatantly violating the laws of magic (well, some of those in the Dresdenverse, anyway), that mind probing thing is entirely possible to accomplish. Of course, even then, it's not necessarily substantially easier than just obtaining the information mundanely.
And that's, I think, where the difficulty in defining these 'problems' lies: the difficulties for these tasks are not spelled out in the rules.
As a result, there's some reasonable doubt as to whether the 'problem' is a product of the rules, or just a product of GM judgment calls gone awry.
My preferred method for determining the necessary complexity of unusual thaumaturgy, for instance, starts with simply asking how difficult the end goal would be to achieve mundanely. Then apply a modifier based on the difference in how much time you'll need to complete the task (some applications might even get a discount, here, if the end product ritual is particularly drawn-out in comparison to mundane methods), and other modifiers as demanded by the particulars of the situation (essentially the catch-all for GM fiat adjustments; use sparingly and with caution).
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Judge: So do have anything to say for yourself?
PC: I didn't escape, they said I could go.
Police: No.
PC: Umm... yes you did, just check any tape ever.
Police: Yeah, see your teleporting out a magic portal right here.
PC: ... You faked a video tape. ... You guys are morons.
Judge: Okay, PC you're free to go. Police I'm going to have to send you guys to prison.
In summary, sending people with supernatural powers to prison ends really poorly. The police can't exactly say the guy teleported out, or hexed all their stuff.
Or sooner or later a cop gets a clue and just puts a bullet in the PC's brain.
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PCs generally act like real people. The Compel system makes it mechanically optimal for them to do so, and even without Compels most people try to make their characters into believable people.
Most real people would rather not be in prison, regardless of what they have to do outside.
Most real people would rather not be in prison, yes. But that doesn't mean most real people are going to try and escape. Escaping gets you into more trouble, regardless of how it's done, because the bottom line is: By the legal system, you're supposed to be in jail. And you're not.
Ergo, most people would just serve the sentence (and try and get out sooner through legal means) unless either A. getting out that way was impossible, or B. they had some pressing reason to be out sooner than that would allow.
Judge: So do have anything to say for yourself?
PC: I didn't escape, they said I could go.
Police: No.
PC: Umm... yes you did, just check any tape ever.
Police: Yeah, see your teleporting out a magic portal right here.
PC: ... You faked a video tape. ... You guys are morons.
Judge: Okay, PC you're free to go. Police I'm going to have to send you guys to prison.
Yeah, Becq is 100% correct here, and that is an absurd misunderstanding of the legal system. When you're released from jail, there is paperwork. Lots, and lots, and lots of paperwork. That's what the judge is going to look at, not the prisoner saying, "They said I could go." That's just not how the legal system--any legal system--works.
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Most real people would rather not be in prison, yes. But that doesn't mean most real people are going to try and escape. Escaping gets you into more trouble, regardless of how it's done, because the bottom line is: By the legal system, you're supposed to be in jail. And you're not.
Ergo, most people would just serve the sentence (and try and get out sooner through legal means) unless either A. getting out that way was impossible, or B. they had some pressing reason to be out sooner than that would allow.
That's a call that every imprisoned person would have to make. The thing is, the average lacks the means to escape. Which is why it's call a prison - it imprisons people.
Would the average man escape from jail when he's being held 72 hours for questioning? Most wouldn't; three days isn't worth a lifetime on the run. There are exceptions - Harry dodges the cops in Changes because he could afford to waste a single hour in jail - but most people wouldn't break jail over a few days.
If you're facing life, or a sentence like 523 years, then what does a wizard have to lose? Sure, you have to go underground, give up your old life, never contact any of your friends again, and maybe change the way you look - but if you're facing life then you've already lost the chance to live a normal life. Faced with that, I can see virtually every wizard trying to escape. Especially if (as a wizard) you could serve a big chunk of 523 year sentence.
Between those extremes, it's a judgement call that each wizard would have to make.
And because a wizard has a choice, that could be a series of decisions. Personally, I don't think I could do years in prison if I knew I could leave at anytime. No, I can't imagine dealing the boredom, the violence, the gangs, and the rest and deciding every day that "No, I won[t magically escape today".
Sure wizards can take the long view (5 years is a smaller percentage of a wizard's life than a normal view), but could one take the boredom of serving hard time? I doubt it.
Richard
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Personally, I don't think I could do years in prison if I knew I could leave at anytime. No, I can't imagine dealing the boredom, the violence, the gangs, and the rest and deciding every day that "No, I won[t magically escape today".
Yeah, it would take a very special wizard to voluntarily not escape prison.
PS: Wizards would have a pretty easy time evading the police. They already live partly outside of normal society, and they have access to out-of-context tools to boot. Plus, I expect the White Council would be happy to provide asylum for most wizard convicts. I doubt that they much like it when mortals try to boss around and imprison their own.
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I agree -- a wizard's best bet lies in avoiding arrest in the first place, and often has plenty of tools at his disposal for doing so. Once he's actually in jail, however, options diminish significantly. I'm not entirely convinced that a wizard acting alone could reasonably escape from most prisons, magic or no. At least not based on the novels (though the DFRPG leaves big holes in the guidelines as to what can be done).
* The most obvious out, teleportation, does not seem to exist, at least in the way we think of it.
* The next closest analogue -- "escaping" to the Nevernever -- should be nothing less than suicidal. There are plenty of creatures of the Nevernever that feed on human misery and other (primarily negative) emotions, which should make the portions of the Nevernever adjacent to prisons akin to a cafeteria.
* A wizard has quite a lot of evocation-based firepower available. But probably not enough to kill/disable every warden in the prison before collapsing (Lawbreaking issues aside).
* A wizard has quite a lot of thaumaturgy-based capabilities available -- assuming he has enough preparation time. However, this is reduced considerably without access to the many ritual items the wizard is accustomed to using to build his constructs. I would also assume that the authorities would look askance at elaborate ritual preparations being conducted in a cell.
I suppose that option most likely to produce results would be mind magic -- just convince the higher-ups to order your release (or convince the guards transferring you to prison to drop you off at home, instead), then to forget it happened. This, of course, is quite definitely Lawbreaking, as are the more violent options in the list above. Which means that you still have the problem of not having been legally released, meaning you are now an escaped convict on the run. And on top of that, there will almost certainly be some friendly White Council representatives who have heard of the incident and are eager to make your acquiantance. Briefly.
If you take away the "working alone" proviso, more options open up, but the most likely of them don't involve magic. For example, if the wizard was in good standing with the White Council, it's entirely possible that they could arrange for the right strings to be pulled to get him off scot-free. Variations of this might involve the local equivalent of Marcone buying off the D.A. or some such.
That's my impression based on the way magic is treated in the novels. The DFRPG, of course, leaves huge openings available for what some of us would consider "abuse", while others would consider creative yet entirely legitimate applications of the RAW.
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* The next closest analogue -- "escaping" to the Nevernever --
The closest analogue can actually be seen in Storm Front in Harry and Susan's escape from the demon. It would be quite sufficient to escape from most minimum security prisons and some few medium security prisons. It is likely insufficient to escape from the vast majority of maximum security prisons.
* A wizard has quite a lot of evocation-based firepower available. But probably not enough to kill/disable every warden in the prison before collapsing (Lawbreaking issues aside).
A wizard would be an imbecile to go hunting down every guard in the prison rather than just blasting the ones along the shortest path (as the crow flies) to the outside
('steel-reinforced concrete walls? what walls?')
* A wizard has quite a lot of thaumaturgy-based capabilities available -- assuming he has enough preparation time. However, this is reduced considerably without access to the many ritual items the wizard is accustomed to using to build his constructs. I would also assume that the authorities would look askance at elaborate ritual preparations being conducted in a cell.
Yes, the authorities are quite likely to 'look askance' at those elaborate and harmless religious ritual preparations that the prisoner is by all means permitted to perform under international law, and crowds of local and international NGOs will line up outside the prison to ensure that those authorities take not a single step past 'looking askance', once they get wind of it.
If you take away the "working alone" proviso, more options open up, but the most likely of them don't involve magic.
The enterprising sorcerer will not turn down the assistance of his (likely clueless but nevertheless useful) cell mate, or other prison acquaintances should the opportunity arise, in powering a ritual to free him from those foul walls.
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There's an easier way out jail - veil. Do a good job and no one notices you as you follow a guard out of the prison and walk away from the parking lot.
If Dresden (in his "I can't really veil" phase) could get into the police lock up with one, then a wizard could walk out of prison without anyone noticing.
Richard
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I agree -- a wizard's best bet lies in avoiding arrest in the first place, and often has plenty of tools at his disposal for doing so. Once he's actually in jail, however, options diminish significantly. I'm not entirely convinced that a wizard acting alone could reasonably escape from most prisons, magic or no. At least not based on the novels (though the DFRPG leaves big holes in the guidelines as to what can be done).
* The most obvious out, teleportation, does not seem to exist, at least in the way we think of it.
* The next closest analogue -- "escaping" to the Nevernever -- should be nothing less than suicidal. There are plenty of creatures of the Nevernever that feed on human misery and other (primarily negative) emotions, which should make the portions of the Nevernever adjacent to prisons akin to a cafeteria.
* A wizard has quite a lot of evocation-based firepower available. But probably not enough to kill/disable every warden in the prison before collapsing (Lawbreaking issues aside).
* A wizard has quite a lot of thaumaturgy-based capabilities available -- assuming he has enough preparation time. However, this is reduced considerably without access to the many ritual items the wizard is accustomed to using to build his constructs. I would also assume that the authorities would look askance at elaborate ritual preparations being conducted in a cell.
I suppose that option most likely to produce results would be mind magic -- just convince the higher-ups to order your release (or convince the guards transferring you to prison to drop you off at home, instead), then to forget it happened. This, of course, is quite definitely Lawbreaking, as are the more violent options in the list above. Which means that you still have the problem of not having been legally released, meaning you are now an escaped convict on the run. And on top of that, there will almost certainly be some friendly White Council representatives who have heard of the incident and are eager to make your acquiantance. Briefly.
If you take away the "working alone" proviso, more options open up, but the most likely of them don't involve magic. For example, if the wizard was in good standing with the White Council, it's entirely possible that they could arrange for the right strings to be pulled to get him off scot-free. Variations of this might involve the local equivalent of Marcone buying off the D.A. or some such.
That's my impression based on the way magic is treated in the novels. The DFRPG, of course, leaves huge openings available for what some of us would consider "abuse", while others would consider creative yet entirely legitimate applications of the RAW.
Wizard puts up a veil and walks out.
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Harry got into it using a high-powered potion that he needed an immortal spirit of intellect, and several components that no doubt needed time and effort to acquire, to create.
All stuff he wouldn't have access to if he was locked up.
Wizard puts up a veil and walks out.
Who's opening all the doors for him? How long does the veil have to last? How much power can the wizard hold up? What happens if the route takes him by the running water of the showers?
For my money, evocation is the quickest, provided you've got a room bordering the exterior of the building. Blow out the wall and make a run for it.
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Harry got into it using a high-powered potion that he needed an immortal spirit of intellect, and several components that no doubt needed time and effort to acquire, to create.
A) Harry's potions are not particularly 'high-powered' if we are to put any faith in his OW writeup.
B) Harry made use of Bob's assistance because that's what Harry does. Other wizards have other sources of knowledge. Or just have a half-decent understanding of magical theory in their own right.
C) The materials necessary for an effective potion vary not only with the desired effects, but with the one creating it. A potion made by Eb will have different ingredients than one made by Harry, even if they both do the exact same thing.
D) For someone with full thaumaturgy (or any casting power other than ritual:crafting), potions are only a way to create portable versions of effects that you would be able to create yourself by other means. They do not provide access to effects that would otherwise be unavailable to you. If you're performing a ritual to immediately gain the effects shown in that potion, your methods (and required materials) will almost certainly be different.
For my money, evocation is the quickest, provided you've got a room bordering the exterior of the building. Blow out the wall and make a run for it.
Quickest? Probably.
Most reliable and least likely to result in you getting shot by a high-powered rifle or a shotgun? Substantially less so.
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A) Harry's potions are not particularly 'high-powered' if we are to put any faith in his OW writeup.
Ah, but don't forget he can spend fate points to directly boost a potion's strength. I imagine that's what he did there.
B) Harry made use of Bob's assistance because that's what Harry does. Other wizards have other sources of knowledge. Or just have a half-decent understanding of magical theory in their own right.
C) The materials necessary for an effective potion vary not only with the desired effects, but with the one creating it. A potion made by Eb will have different ingredients than one made by Harry, even if they both do the exact same thing.
Yes, but they'd still be forced out of their regular working area, with no access to their usual materials that they would have expected to work with.
I consider myself a fairly good cook. If you plopped me down in my own kitchen, I could make a pretty tasty meal off the top of my head without consulting a cook book. But I couldn't do so after being plunked into an empty concrete cage and stripped of most everything I'd normally use to cook. At best, I'd be able to make something edible, but bland. At worst, hello salmonella!
If nothing else, I'd say being imprisoned properly would be grounds for severe compels, higher difficulties for attaining spell components, etc.
Quickest? Probably.
Most reliable and least likely to result in you getting shot by a high-powered rifle or a shotgun? Substantially less so.
Well, yeah. I never said it was a perfect plan.
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Who's opening all the doors for him? How long does the veil have to last? How much power can the wizard hold up? What happens if the route takes him by the running water of the showers?
Follow a guard as he makes his rounds - at least until you are out of the prisoner area. If the guard you are following heads to the showers, then follow a different employee out the front door.
How long? If you time it around shift change you're looking at maybe a couple of hours at most. As for how powerful a wizard he is, that depends on the wizard.
If you're lucky and time it around shift changes and headcounts, you could be out for hours before anyone knows you're gone. Which means you have a chance to get out of the area before the manhunt starts.
For my money, evocation is the quickest, provided you've got a room bordering the exterior of the building. Blow out the wall and make a run for it.
Guards tend to notice it when people blow up part of the prison - whether it's with explosives or magic. Any "busting out with force" attempt is very likely to share an end AC/DC's song "Jail Break"
Heartbeats / they were racin'
Freedom / he was chasin'
Spotlights, sirens, rifles firing
But he made it out
With a bullet in his back
Not to mention the roadblocks and manhunt as they lock down the area where the terrorist escaped from prison. And if the wizard wasn't seen as terrorist before - well he just blew a hole in a prison, which makes him a terrorist.
Of course this is all based on the prisoner being a Wizard with full thaum and evocation. If he only has rituals or channeling then it would be much harder for him to make it out. For example, I can't see Mort breaking out of jail with his magic.
Richard
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For your really swave sophisticated wizards you blow a whole in the wall and then veil, getting the best of both worlds or if you are really sneaky you veil, you sustain that veil, you blow a whole in the wall, you walk out whilst still veiled, leaving the prison authorities to wonder how they developed a sudden whole in their walls.
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I consider myself a fairly good cook. If you plopped me down in my own kitchen, I could make a pretty tasty meal off the top of my head without consulting a cook book. But I couldn't do so after being plunked into an empty concrete cage and stripped of most everything I'd normally use to cook. At best, I'd be able to make something edible, but bland. At worst, hello salmonella!
If nothing else, I'd say being imprisoned properly would be grounds for severe compels, higher difficulties for attaining spell components, etc.
Prison cells, even solitary confinement cells, are not empty concrete boxes, and it doesn't take much in the way of equipment or materials to be able to mark formulaic inscriptions on the walls and floor. It may take you longer than it would in your own fully stocked lab (hello compels and accompanying FP) but if all else fails, you're in prison: you have the perfect excuse to finally make use of that 'sit out a scene' option.
And if they muck up your inscriptions while you're working, file a formal complaint with the local human rights board / NGO that concerns themselves with the protection of freedom of religion, and start over. You've got nothing but time.
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You've got nothing but time.
Unless, as was suggested earlier, you have some pressing reason not to sit in prison for months or years while the bureaucracy sorts things out.
And while they may not be completely bare, there is a hard limit on what you're going to be able to bring in there, particularly the types of things.
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In the DV, if you are able to work then all you need is your Will.
Want to summon an Archangel to your prison cell to complain about the prison chaplain? Then imagine a circle of summoning, invest that mental image with your Will, and (if it fits in with his boss' Plan) the archangel will arrive.
No drawing a real circle.
No anything that is normally involved in casting magic.
Just your Will.
In game terms you take a lot of compels of "You're in prison" then spend those FATE chips. Or you scratch mystic symbols on your skin (giving you an Aspect to tap), write on the walls with your own blood and body secretions (giving you another Aspect to tap), navel gaze as you remember the Lore your master taught you (giving you another Aspect to tap) and so on until you've got the prep work for a major veil (one with a long duration). Then when they bring you your food (or come back for your tray) and see that you're not there they open the door your solitary confinement room and then you slowly make your way out of the prison. Call it a day's duration and it should work.
Richard
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Hmm best way out of a prison is to make sure that someone else gets you out, you could summon up a few critters from the Never-Never to work on your behalf to alter documents to arrange your release. There MUST be some kind of Fae or Fell creature that can handle red tape.
Bribery is good, use your magic to make money or something valuable and bribe a guard. Better yet use your magic to fake being dead, then escape from the morgue before the autopsy (very important that step :-) ).
If you have Earth magic, tunnel out, and repair/reseal the tunnel behind you, keeps the guard types looking inside the prison longer.
Have prison evacuated because of an infestation of SOMETHING (giant rats, cockroaches, snakes, poisonous spiders...), Hex the prison's entire electrical system and start fire, then walk out under a veil with the fire dept.
If you are not worried Lawbreaker, mind magic is the way to go.
Veils are nice but also have a simple construct to take your place for a few hours to give yourself a head start.
Also threats, blackmail, extortion are much more effective as a Wizard. When you can scry and know all about someone's kids/love one, know about the dirty secrets of Hank the Guard and what Warden does with his secretary etc.
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I'd assume that scrying requires a link, just like all other other thaumaturgy at a distance. Of course, you could veil yourself into the wardens office, take a piece of it away with you, and then scry on it... But, of course, the stuff you are probably interested in catching the warden doing will occur at 'random' times, and you are unlikely to be able to keep scrying going on him all the time...
So you are better off hiring hard to notice spies, The wee free folk appear to be both cheap and hard to notice, but then, they don't really seem to have the memory of social awareness to be really good at the job.
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Locations spells. Binder shaving his head in Turn Coat implies that the location spell effectively finds the hair rather than the person complete. Since Binder seems to think that this will prevent the hair based location spell from finding him.
Of course, having this sort of detail suddenly come up works fine in a book, but much less well in a game. Then it just soulds like the GM being a dick.
Have there been any general discussions of how thaumaturgy links work: how long they last, whether they can be deliberately broken, etc?
Questions to ask:
How 'macro' does the link need to be? For example, can I do the CSI trick of giving you a glass of water, and then pulling the discarded cells on the rim of the glass off? Are the shed cells any less viable that a bigger piece of you?
Do the ritual links link back to the whole 'metaphysical you', or only the part of you that is similar? (Turn Coat implies that it's only the part that is similar.) This would imply a world where (paranoid, i.e. long lived) wizards carefully removed all their hair, and, possibly, wore wigs. Which of course, they change out with great frequency, lest their wigs be made to explode...
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If you don't mind being a little brutal and losing your own identity, Biomancy would be a good way to get out. Wait until you know another inmate is up for release, get them alone and kill them, using their death to power a Biomantic ritual to swap your appearances, make the death resemble a suicide as hopefully the evidence would suggest that 'you' killed yourself (your prints will be the only ones on the murder weapon). Then serve the rest of your victim's sentence and walk out as a free man. At this point you could attempt to assume their identity completely (not without considerably risk), or drop off the grid, abandon their appearance and use another ritual to change it again.