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The Dresden Files => DFRPG => Topic started by: Wanderer on May 17, 2017, 02:29:21 AM
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I might be interested in playing a character that is just as bad with technology as Harry, or even worse, in order to emphasize their focus on magic, supernatural powers, and non-tech skills. I assume I'm going to follow PP's advice to make the wizards' trouble with tech an individually variable thing rather than a function of the wizard's age. So I suppose giving a 'Technology Jinx' Aspect to such a character might be appropriate. How is like to live with that kind of curse? I have not read the books, so I don't know how Harry deals with it.
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I might be interested in playing a character that is just as bad with technology as Harry, or even worse, in order to emphasize their focus on magic, supernatural powers, and non-tech skills. I assume I'm going to follow PP's advice to make the wizards' trouble with tech an individually variable thing rather than a function of the wizard's age. So I suppose giving a 'Technology Jinx' Aspect to such a character might be appropriate. How is like to live with that kind of curse? I have not read the books, so I don't know how Harry deals with it.
Harry doesn't have a hot water heater, so his showers are always cold. For heat and light, he relies on a fireplace and candles in his basement apartment. He's got an old Mickey Mouse alarm clock that seems to work well enough. He has no television, nor any other handy electronics. He's got an old house phone that's mostly reliable, although it sometimes suffers from inconvenient static. He's got an ice box for his cold storage, although I can't recall if it's a plug-in or if it's a literal ice box which he has to refill regularly; I think the latter, actually. He drives an old Volkswagon Beetle that breaks down a lot, which he bought specifically because his mechanic said it's easy to fix and find parts for.
As for his interaction with electronics in public, the impact on technology is often increased depending on his nerves. He was on a television set once, and the lights and electronics shorted when he got nervous. He'd attempted casting a containment spell to try and hold back the Murphyonic Field, but it wasn't very good, and only made things worse when it eventually failed. Other people's cell phones can have trouble if he's near them. He's got a policy with two friends to give them warning before entering their offices/rooms, to give them time to power off their electronics to try and avoid breakdowns. When he hasn't, computers have started smoking.
If he rides in other peoples' modern cars, the more advanced tech like navigation systems tend to fail first, followed by the rest. He used to avoid elevators, but hasn't seemed to bother with that since the early days. He uses a boat on occasion, but it's an older one that someone else maintains. He avoids planes, and if long distance travel is required, it's via car or train, if not via travel through the Never-never on foot.
At least one practitioner has shown a curiosity in how technology works because of the Murphyonic field, but there's been no sign that a mortal has been able to overcome the issue. At least one practitioner has more modern items in their home, but those may have been warded and shielded by supernatural creatures known for their magical craftsmanship. Such workings are extremely expensive, and the practitioner in question came about theirs by fortunate circumstances that mitigated the costs.
As for practitioners compensating for technology, there's not much. Rather than using computers to store information, they tend to write things down in grimoires. Those that have access to Spirits of Intellect, supernatural beings that have incredibly good memories and are loyal to whoever possesses them, will use those as lab assistants. In one of the later books, a magical item was introduced that allowed practitioners to not only speak with each other remotely, but it allowed them to hold an audio/video conference call in their heads. It's unknown just how commonplace that magical item is, but it doesn't seem to be available to the masses yet. There have been scenes in other locations where practitioners seem to be using a magically crafted lighting system that illuminates large areas without the benefit of electricity.
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Harry doesn't have a hot water heater, so his showers are always cold. For heat and light, he relies on a fireplace and candles in his basement apartment. He's got an old Mickey Mouse alarm clock that seems to work well enough. He has no television, nor any other handy electronics. He's got an old house phone that's mostly reliable, although it sometimes suffers from inconvenient static. He's got an ice box for his cold storage, although I can't recall if it's a plug-in or if it's a literal ice box which he has to refill regularly; I think the latter, actually. He drives an old Volkswagon Beetle that breaks down a lot, which he bought specifically because his mechanic said it's easy to fix and find parts for.
As for his interaction with electronics in public, the impact on technology is often increased depending on his nerves. He was on a television set once, and the lights and electronics shorted when he got nervous. He'd attempted casting a containment spell to try and hold back the Murphyonic Field, but it wasn't very good, and only made things worse when it eventually failed. Other people's cell phones can have trouble if he's near them. He's got a policy with two friends to give them warning before entering their offices/rooms, to give them time to power off their electronics to try and avoid breakdowns. When he hasn't, computers have started smoking.
If he rides in other peoples' modern cars, the more advanced tech like navigation systems tend to fail first, followed by the rest. He used to avoid elevators, but hasn't seemed to bother with that since the early days. He uses a boat on occasion, but it's an older one that someone else maintains. He avoids planes, and if long distance travel is required, it's via car or train, if not via travel through the Never-never on foot.
At least one practitioner has shown a curiosity in how technology works because of the Murphyonic field, but there's been no sign that a mortal has been able to overcome the issue. At least one practitioner has more modern items in their home, but those may have been warded and shielded by supernatural creatures known for their magical craftsmanship. Such workings are extremely expensive, and the practitioner in question came about theirs by fortunate circumstances that mitigated the costs.
As for practitioners compensating for technology, there's not much. Rather than using computers to store information, they tend to write things down in grimoires. Those that have access to Spirits of Intellect, supernatural beings that have incredibly good memories and are loyal to whoever possesses them, will use those as lab assistants. In one of the later books, a magical item was introduced that allowed practitioners to not only speak with each other remotely, but it allowed them to hold an audio/video conference call in their heads. It's unknown just how commonplace that magical item is, but it doesn't seem to be available to the masses yet. There have been scenes in other locations where practitioners seem to be using a magically crafted lighting system that illuminates large areas without the benefit of electricity.
Most of this seems reasonable and a model I may adopt for my own games, with a few exceptions such as cold showers (the horror!). Hot water heating is fairly old and simple technology and does not really need any electronics or modern tech if you give up such frilly fancies as timers and stuff. It's just a burner heating water and a system of pipes to transport hot water. If you have running water and cooking gas, you can have hot water as well. It should be relatively simple to set up a retrotech version. Moreover, in many cases central heating systems working for an entire building do exist for apartments (I lived in such a place just a few years ago) where only the hot-water pipes would be within reach of the disruption field, not the heater. Since they use no moving parts nor electricity and they just transport water, I assume the pipes should be fairly resistant to heightened entropy. If everything else fails, using magic to heat water should be relatively simple to set up, more or less the same as magical illumination. Central heating remedy, of course, works just as effectively for heating needs, for the same reasons.
By the same reasoning, it should be theoretically feasible to set up and use a gaslight illumination system (it's Victorian tech), but I guess in such a case it would probably be simpler to use either magic or a fireplace and candles for illumination. I assume Harry does suffer somewhat more lifestyle penalties than many other mages because being perpetually broke is a curse-like part of his concept (and a noir detective cliché), same as his horrible luck with women (however from what I know a big part of the latter problem comes from his self-defeating attitude to dating and romance), so a few potential magical or retrotech remedies are outside his financial reach. Why he doesn't just go living in a rented apartment with central heating, however, is beyond me; from my own experience, they are not any especially expensive, although in recent times they do seem to be going out of fashion. Being in perpetual poverty is a feature I do not usually find appealing to RP, so at the moment I do not plan to apply it to any of my characters. Unless perhaps it is a side effect of picking a nomad lifestyle, which I rather fancy to play, but then a rather different set of circumstances apply to this issue that may be highly variable depending on travel methods.
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Most of this seems reasonable and a model I may adopt for my own games, with a few exceptions such as cold showers (the horror!). Hot water heating is fairly old and simple technology and does not really need any electronics or modern tech if you give up such frilly fancies as timers and stuff. It's just a burner heating water and a system of pipes to transport hot water. If you have running water and cooking gas, you can have hot water as well. It should be relatively simple to set up a retrotech version. Moreover, in many cases central heating systems working for an entire building do exist for apartments (I lived in such a place just a few years ago) where only the hot-water pipes would be within reach of the disruption field, not the heater. Since they use no moving parts nor electricity and they just transport water, I assume the pipes should be fairly resistant to heightened entropy. If everything else fails, using magic to heat water should be relatively simple to set up, more or less the same as magical illumination. Central heating remedy, of course, works just as effectively for heating needs, for the same reasons.
By the same reasoning, it should be theoretically feasible to set up and use a gaslight illumination system (it's Victorian tech), but I guess in such a case it would probably be simpler to use either magic or a fireplace and candles for illumination. I assume Harry does suffer somewhat more lifestyle penalties than many other mages because being perpetually broke is a curse-like part of his concept (and a noir detective cliché), same as his horrible luck with women (however from what I know a big part of the latter problem comes from his self-defeating attitude to dating and romance), so a few potential magical or retrotech remedies are outside his financial reach. Why he doesn't just go living in a rented apartment with central heating, however, is beyond me; from my own experience, they are not any especially expensive, although in recent times they do seem to be going out of fashion. Being in perpetual poverty is a feature I do not usually find appealing to RP, so at the moment I do not plan to apply it to any of my characters. Unless perhaps it is a side effect of picking a nomad lifestyle, which I rather fancy to play, but then a rather different set of circumstances apply to this issue that may be highly variable depending on travel methods.
The only issue I see is that it's not just an electronics issue. The Murphyonic effect can impair any mechanical system. Harry uses revolvers because there are less things that can break or go wrong. Modem weapons jamming and having mechanical failure due to wizard proximity isn't unheard of. It's not as big of an issue as electronics, nor is it as frequent. But if there's a significant chance that a gas hot water heater breaks down, then he could end up with a bad situation.
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The only issue I see is that it's not just an electronics issue. The Murphyonic effect can impair any mechanical system. Harry uses revolvers because there are less things that can break or go wrong. Modem weapons jamming and having mechanical failure due to wizard proximity isn't unheard of. It's not as big of an issue as electronics, nor is it as frequent. But if there's a significant chance that a gas hot water heater breaks down, then he could end up with a bad situation.
Sure, no doubt delicate or complex mechanical systems with moving parts may be almost as vulnerable to Murphyonic effect as electronics, if not exactly so. And a malfunctioning gas burner may become rather dangerous. It is a reason why I'm not enthused of mages using gaslight for illumination, and they should probably be cautious with using cooking gas in all but limited amounts, or be paranoid about gas leakages. Prepackaged or uncooked food, firelight cooking, or at least small, portable camping burners are probably the safest options for them. This is why I advocate them using central heating systems for heating and hot-water needs. Go live in a building with such a system if they have an apartment, have a technician replicate it on a smaller scale by placing the heater outside lived-in areas (e.g. the attic, basement, or garden) if you live in a house or mansion. Or pick the nomad lifestyle and make an habit of showering in cheap hotels. From what I understand the range of the Murphyonic effect never exceeds a room or three, so it is feasible. This way, water pipes are simply not as vulnerable to heightened entropy as electronics or complex mechanics, and if/when they do break down, the very worst you'd suffer is the occasional leakage, same as for running water.
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Perhaps you do not know about thresholds, let me explain why living in an apartment or hotels would be a bad idea, basicly if you live in a place and not a Home you have no threshold which means no wards and are an easy target for home invasion from supernatural entitys.
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Perhaps you do not know about thresholds, let me explain why living in an apartment or hotels would be a bad idea, basicly if you live in a place and not a Home you have no threshold which means no wards and are an easy target for home invasion from supernatural entitys.
I don't know about all that. Harry rented, remember. His wards were artificial. Yes, they had weaknesses that a normal family threshold wouldn't have, but he could probably make better wards.
I could see where a wizard living a nomadic lifestyle might get really good at setting up wards in a short time. It wouldn't be equivalent to a threshold, but it'd suffice.
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A threshold(lower-case 't') is any entrance/exit or intersecting corridor. So without a Threshold (capital 'T') you can still ward the doors, windows, hallways etc...
From what I remember, Harry's apartment had a very weak Threshold which allowed him to place Wards and protect the apartment as a whole. Even a Threshold of 0 is still a Threshold.
But, even if you are staying in a hotel, which presumably has no Threshold, you could set up a ward on the door to your room, or put up a ward flame on the intersection down the hallway, keyed to ignore regular humans.
I could see where a wizard living a nomadic lifestyle might get really good at setting up wards in a short time. It wouldn't be equivalent to a threshold, but it'd suffice.
On a side note, wards are good up to -4 shifts. So, even a ward at 0 strength can be set up with a ward flame or landmine.
A wizard with 4 or 5 Lore could set up a 0 shift Ward with a Wardflame, keyed to themselves or to another person. This could be done in a few minutes. If they have an hour, they could do something with a bit more teeth. And a wizard specialized in Wards could probably even set up something significant in the span of a few minutes to an hour.
Wanderer is talking 21 refresh with a Cap of Fantastic. +6 Lore with Ward specializations to push it close to +10 as a simple ritual. (or more, if you include foci)
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Perhaps you do not know about thresholds, let me explain why living in an apartment or hotels would be a bad idea, basicly if you live in a place and not a Home you have no threshold which means no wards and are an easy target for home invasion from supernatural entitys.
Understood. But I usually prefer to play characters that are not strongly bound to any given location nor have their power base tied down in physical trappings. I rather dislike playing characters that can be neutralized by stealing their gadgets or ritual tools. My preferred characters remain as effective as ever if thrown naked in an empty cell; they have to be kept unconscious, unable to think clearly, or at least bound and gagged to be powerless. So if they lose some warding capability to travel light on their feet with all their power safe inside their minds and bodies, it is a price I pay gladly. I suppose I would embrace the warding strategies Taran and Gryffyn612 mentioned.
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Understood. But I usually prefer to play characters that are not strongly bound to any given location nor have their power base tied down in physical trappings. I rather dislike playing characters that can be neutralized by stealing their gadgets or ritual tools. My preferred characters remain as effective as ever if thrown naked in an empty cell; they have to be kept unconscious, unable to think clearly, or at least bound and gagged to be powerless. So if they lose some warding capability to travel light on their feet with all their power safe inside their minds and bodies, it is a price I pay gladly. I suppose I would embrace the warding strategies Taran and Gryffyn612 mentioned.
I'm not an RPG'r, so I don't know the technical requirements for an all-natural caster that doesn't use any foci. But it seems like it'd be difficult to make a character that can do all that. Some sort of central foci (a charm bracelet comes to mind) can have multiple uses. Foci just help focus natural talent and castings, so it'd just make things easier.
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I'm not an RPG'r, so I don't know the technical requirements for an all-natural caster that doesn't use any foci.
It's dead easy to go without foci. Nothing makes you buy any of them.
Every Wizard gets four slots for free, though. Might as well spend them on something. For a character like the one described, potions seem most appropriate.
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It's dead easy to go without foci. Nothing makes you buy any of them.
Every Wizard gets four slots for free, though. Might as well spend them on something. For a character like the one described, potions seem most appropriate.
A potion for ward casting and technology compensation? That seems odd, from the perspective of the books. But like I said, I know nothing about the RPG, or RPGs in general. It's my big failing.
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You can put any thaumaturgical effect in a potion. A ward-potion would be of limited value, though; you'd almost certainly be better off casting your ward properly. You could use foci in said casting or you could not; it's up to you.
I suggested potions not because they're particularly good for warding or working with technology, but because they let you get some benefit from your focus slots without giving you any gear that you'd really regret losing.
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I'm not an RPG'r, so I don't know the technical requirements for an all-natural caster that doesn't use any foci. But it seems like it'd be difficult to make a character that can do all that. Some sort of central foci (a charm bracelet comes to mind) can have multiple uses. Foci just help focus natural talent and castings, so it'd just make things easier.
To clarify my stance on magical items, I'm not averse to their use in two cases, basically: when they act as an amplifier that boosts the character's raw power or control/finesse above and beyond their normal levels (and in such a case I prefer the boost to be spread horizontally among most or all magical elements or abilities), or when they provide some special trick or feat that go above and beyond the common uses of magic in fiction and legend (healing, shapeshifting, controlling weather, fireballs and lightning bolts, other elemental or combat magic, mind control and manipulation, telekinesis, cursing and blessing, luck manipulation, etc.). A material focus becomes a no-no to me when it becomes a necessary crutch to make such common uses of magic at all, or do them with any real effectiveness. The only exceptions I find acceptable for that are meditation, words, gestures, dancing, singing, and other easily-accessible, non-material, 'action' foci. It's the 'get a wand or bat guano to throw a fireball' stuff that earns my hate, but I'm OK with with One Ring, Horcrux, or Callandor stuff. Even so I prefer to make my characters not too reliant on easy-to-lose or burdensome stuff, and then to use stuff like tattoos, piercings, and other stuff that requires cutting to be lost. Or at the very least use stuff like rings, necklaces, and belts rather than wands, staffs, weapons, or anything that has to be carried by hand.
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There is a custom power called internal foci, I think.
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Since we went on a tangent about magical items, I have a question: the pricing of Item of Power makes a distinction about the item being easy or hard to detect. What about items that are easy to detect, but hard to steal? E.g. a glove, ring, necklace, or belt that glows, hums, or otherwise attracts attention, but is still much harder to steal than a sword or staff. Does this kind of item still earn the higher discount?
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It's not really how easily it can be stolen that matters but on how often it's going to inconvenience your character.
A belt that literally hums with power might be looked at in the same light as a firearm, or a Magical sword. So, while it can't be stolen easily, you might not get access to certain places if you have it on your person and might, therefore, be required to leave it at home or at the door.
That said, a magical sword can be disarmed in combat and a belt cannot. So it might also depend on what kinds of powers are stored in the item. If the power of an item only comes into play when in combat and you can't lose it in that situation, then it isn't a hindrance. Once again, if its power is so obvious that you can't even bring it to combat, then it is a hindrance.
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Hmm, I'm not sure I may often find it that easy to define if a power would only be useful in combat or not, but I'm doubtful about the character being asked to 'check it out' an obvious wearable item as it were a firearm or melee weapon (and the character going along with the request). And as I said, I'm pretty much only going to use items that cannot be lost or stolen in combat (short of the character being made unconscious or powerless) because I loathe the alternative. So going by your guidelines I suppose any character of mine is only going to use the +1 version of Item of Power, if any.
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Yeah. If it won't inconvenience you much, then you only get 1 point of rebate
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Double post. If you want to be "game-y", you can do this: separate your powers between two item. One big obvious one with 1 refresh worth of powers: golden lasso that has incite effect: physical blocks.
Then Take bracers (which can be hidden under a jacket) and load them up with powers: Speed, toughness etc...
Since you only get the rebate once regardless of how many items you have, you get the +2 rebate for the lasso. If you lose the lasso, you only lose 1 refresh worth of powers.
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Double post. If you want to be "game-y", you can do this: separate your powers between two item. One big obvious one with 1 refresh worth of powers: golden lasso that has incite effect: physical blocks.
Then Take bracers (which can be hidden under a jacket) and load them up with powers: Speed, toughness etc...
Since you only get the rebate once regardless of how many items you have, you get the +2 rebate for the lasso. If you lose the lasso, you only lose 1 refresh worth of powers.
Someone seems to have their imagination affected by recent viewing of a certain movie ;)
Since I find character optimization an interesting and rewarding intellectual exercise, I do not mind reasonable amounts of gamey-ness in myself and other players. ;D Worthwhile trick in general, although not so useful for characters that are already built at maximum affordable refresh (you gain one refresh's worth of powers, but you have to raise the power level anyway). Lasso might be a bit too camp for any other character but a clone of WW, but I suppose it could be replaced by a chain whip or somesuch.
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Worthwhile trick in general, although not so useful for characters that are already built at maximum affordable refresh (you gain one refresh's worth of powers, but you have to raise the power level anyway).
Not really, as long as you stick a powers you already planned to buy (or bought) into the iop.
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Not really, as long as you stick a powers you already planned to buy (or bought) into the iop.
Speaking in general, of course you are quite right. As it concerns my current character, however, I'm not sure about a -1 Refresh power that I'd wish to give him, fits the concept, and makes sense to embue in a chain whip or the like. Possible options might be Claws or Wings. Alternatively, Incite Emotion, with Fear, Lust, or Despair.
About the latter option, however, if and when I buy this power for a character, in all likelihood it shall have a higher refresh cost, since I prefer it to have the Additional Emotion and Lasting Emotion upgrades. The more 'dark' emotions available (lust, fear, wrath, pain/despair) the better, for combat uses, mental manipulation options, and feeding flexibility if a WCV character. Someday after the changeling wizard concept is done to exhaustion perhaps I'd like trying my hand at the WCV sorcerer one, too.
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When I was talking about bracers and lassos, I wasn't specifically talking about your character concept, I was just making a generic example. But, let's take your character from the other thread
Evocation (-3)
Human Guise (+0)
Inhuman Recovery (-2)
Inhuman Toughness (-2)
The Catch (cold iron, trappings of Summer, and holy stuff) (+3)
Refinement (Evocation - element x2, Evocation – specialty x3) (-5)
Sponsored Magic (Hellfire) (-2)
Unseelie Magic (-2)
Thaumaturgy (-3)
The Sight (-1)
Item of Power (Pendant of Might) (+1), affecting the following:
Inhuman Speed (-2)
Inhuman Strength (-2)
I'm going to assume you have a good enough justification to shuffle your powers slightly. What I present here is just an example.
Stick The Sight into a pair of crazy, magical 'True Sight' goggles or a helm. Goggles might not work because you can take them off and stow them but a helmet might be harder to carry around. (+2 rebate)
You have 5 points of powers as IoP and a +2 rebate. If you don't have any more powers you'd like to buy, you now have an extra FP to throw around every time you refresh.
But the Sight sounds more like it fits your 'I'm a full Wizard' package. It might make more sense to put one of your sponsored magics into an obvious item. Like gauntlets of Winter. Winter gloves that have spikes in them. They give you sponsored magic and the GM might be nice and say they are weapon 1 using fists. Or Casting Winter attack spells in the same zone can be flavoured as punching the target with magically infused gauntlets instead of firing spells(which you could still do, of course). Ooooh, or freezing people with a touch (block against movement). Anyways, It's not like you can't cast spells if you don't have them.. You just lose some of the Winter flavour.
I'm not trying to convince you one way or another...just giving an example.
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Hmm, your idea is not without merit but over time I've grown so accustomed to the notion of my characters' powers being internalized or at least imbued in easy-to-carry, hard-to-lose items that to tie them to something as bulky as an helmet just feels awkward and innatural. However if gauntlets look appropriate for +2 Refresh, they might fall just within the bounds of what I deem acceptable. I suppose the character may carry them tucked in or tied to his belt, or in a backpack with the rest of his ritual tools, when he does not use them. Rather than the Sight or Sponsored Magic, such an item seems fitting to have Claws, Inhuman Speed, and Inhuman Strength enchanted in it. I suppose I might call it Gauntlet of Might.
I don't regard the character being deemed a full wizard that much important. It is only necessary he has Evocation, Thaumaturgy, Sponsored Magic, Toughness powers, enough Refinement to have all elements, and wizardly longevity (which he gets anyway with Inhuman Recovery). He certainly does not care about the White Council and their opinion of him. So being a changeling sorcerer does suffice, and indeed the lowest power-level builds give him that template. But with enough Refresh, having the Sight, some extra Refinement for more generalist bonuses to Evocation, and the above physical abilities sure feels nice to round up the character's power set and make him look and feel close to complete. In comparison, I would not give Soulgaze the time of day, even at free cost. At this point, only Wings, True Shapeshifting, and Swift Transition would remain on my to-buy list.
By the way, besides my own preferences, I realized having a serious problem with tech may encourage characters like mine with an hyperactive Murphyonic field to adopt a semi-nomadic lifestyle. They may draw only so much benefit from mundane equipment and wealth: almost all the items they may use w/o wrecking them by being close are freely available at Average expenses or lower. So unless they have a special interest in owning an especially fancy living space or high-quality library or laboratory facilities (my character doesn't), they may well embrace the rootless lifestyle. So I think Harry living in a rented apartment does make sense, although w/o his perpetual poverty problem, he could perhaps afford a better lifestyle.
As it concerns my character, he may rent apartments or a room in hotels or even live on the road, buy time or trade favors to train in dojos, and carry the vast majority of his ritual tools and personal stuff in a backpack or two. He probably got accustomed not to rely too much on having a library or sanctum. Much like martial-arts training, he likely trades favors with allies and contacts when he has need of such arcane resources (it seems it takes some serious wealth and effort anyway to build high-quality libraries and sanctum facilities), and otherwise he carries the vast majority of his occult lore memorized in his head, or perhaps he makes use of summoned and bound spirits of knowledge. I assume the vast majority of his expenses come from renting, traveling (assuming he does not use the Nevernever, which he probably does to some extent), training, occult research, and ritual materials. Being lecherous/hedonist, in all likelihood he also spends some significant time and money looking for casual sex and partying.
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I'm beginning to get a bit of a vibe here for something I haven't seen in this concept, so I offer the notion... How about making this guy a biker?
Specifically: he really likes vintage motorcycles. Restores them, tinkers, etc; especially the German bikes from the 1930's. The tech is old/simple/reliable enough to be rather Murphyonic-resistant, and adding a "Mechanic" skill lets him fix things (at least sometimes).
It gives him a freedom-of-the-road lifestyle that he isn't likely to get many other ways.
Motorcycle leathers -- gloves / etc -- would let him have "foci" that just seem like "normal attire" for the lifestyle.
"Biker" gives a certain "bad-boy" cachet for some chicks -- playing into his "lechery" -- plus the "classic" element lets him play a bit upscale from "biker bitch," into the rarefied circles of antique-collectors (and their wives/sisters/daughters).
Aspect it ("The go-to guy for vintage bikes!") to get FP's flowing -- the GM can compel a "breakdown" where he wants you to have an encounter, you can spend a FP for a connection when you want to know someone in the biker- or collector-communities, etc.
Just a thought, fwiw...
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Your suggestion has merit. Speaking in general, the character concept and personality vibe well with being a biker. Pretty much all his magic items (gloves, rings, bracers, pendants, etc.) may fit within the biker aesthetic. Aspects are too much a limited resource to use one just to make a specific reference to the biker lifestyle, but I suppose I may squeeze in an oblique one ('I Know No Law But Friendship, Honor, And Freedom of the Road'). And he certainly fits being a 'bad boy'.
I'm just doubtful about making him a professional repairman. I admit it would give him some use for points put into Craftmanship, besides repairing his own stuff when wrecked by his Murphyonic field. But making it his job might be at odds with his 'Bane for Technology' Aspect. Moreover, due to the bloody pyramid system I doubt I can spare the skill points to make his Craftmanship any higher than Average, or Fair at the very most by making some tough choices. And I dunno if that would be enough to represent a professional artisan or dedicated hobbyst.
I'm getting more and more dissatisfied with the pyramid system, and seriously considering houseruling it away like I did with the Laws of Magic. I can certainly see the point of preventing excessive specialization in general, but the rule just seems dysfunctional and getting in the way of good concept ideas, especially at high skill-points-pool levels.
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I'm just doubtful about making him a professional repairman. I admit it would give him some use for points put into Craftmanship, besides repairing his own stuff when wrecked by his Murphyonic field. But making it his job might be at odds with his 'Bane for Technology' Aspect. Moreover, due to the bloody pyramid system I doubt I can spare the skill points to make his Craftmanship any higher than Average, or Fair at the very most by making some tough choices. And I dunno if that would be enough to represent a professional artisan or dedicated hobbyst.
I wasn't thinking he'd actually be a "professional" (in the sense of making much of his living from it)... just a skill, an Aspect to tap when he needs to, and the various links to disparate subcultures, for FP in both directions; but most of all, the flavor of it just seemed in-keeping with your description.
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It would make sense that he could tinker/fix his own bike rather than having to rely on finding a mechanic every time his bike breaks down. Having +1 or +2 in craftsmanship is the most you need for that kind of thing.
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I see and agree with the points both of you were making, now I fully understand your intent, and I totally agree about the flavor. I'm just skeptic I can spare such a scarce resource as an Aspect just to make a specific reference to the biker lifestyle, when I need them to cover so many other features of background and personality. I already made an oblique reference to it about 'freedom of the road' being one of the few things the character respects. I suppose I could compress another Aspect to 'Chivalrous Biker and libertine' but that's it. And on second thoughts I can adjust the High Concept to 'Half-Sidhe Sorcerer/Wizard and Martial Artist'.
I already picked Craftsmanship at +1 in the highest power-level builds to appease the pyramid, I happy this angle gives some concept justification to the purchase. I suppose I may anticipate its purchase in lower power-level builds by switching the skill with some other one of minor relevance to the character, such as Contacts or maybe less optimally Investigation or Scholarship (but I assume a character with very high Lore should have some minor proficiency in the latter two skills).
To raise its value to +2 without breaking the bloody pyramid seems rather more difficult. At first glance, I'd have to swap it with Weapons (but I'm uncertain which skill is more valuable and appropriate for a biker, martial artist, and wizard) or with Survival (which seems very fitting for the character's lifestyle). Or to break the symmetry between the Deceit/Empathy or Intimidation/Rapport couples, but I prefer such complementary social skills to have similar scores without a good concept reason to the contrary. Pyramid forced me to put points in skills, such as Burglary and Contacts, I have little use for. I'm getting more and more frustrated with it, and more and more tempted to houserule it away.
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On a side note, wards are good up to -4 shifts. So, even a ward at 0 strength can be set up with a ward flame or landmine.
Where is this referenced? Also does it apply to evocation?
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Your Story page 276.
Not sure what you mean about Evocation.
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Ah, I misunderstood