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Messages - nadia.skylark

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421
DF Spoilers / Re: Any news on Peace Talks
« on: April 17, 2019, 07:11:38 PM »
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<heh>
But nah.

Bob's not a perv.  HARRY's Bob is a perv.

Evil Bob?  Not a perv.  Scary as fuck, but not a perv.

Butters' Bob?  Ummm.  I don't think we know enough to be sure... but I don't think we see any signs of perviness... which just is NOT pervy Bob, especially with Andi around!

When Harry broke into Butters' place and Andi attacked him, Bob was too busy staring at naked Andi (after she un-wolfed) to respond to anything Harry or Andi said until Harry blocked his line of sight.

422
DFRPG / Re: Hellfire as two powers
« on: April 17, 2019, 07:07:44 PM »
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How /else/ would one gain a Denarian Shadow?
They are inextricably linked to the coins.

What I mean is, when Harry touched Lasciel's coin, he got her shadow in his head. But then he buried the coin rather than picking it up, and Lasciel's shadow kept trying to talk him into picking up the coin.

But for a wizard, the two greatest advantages that being a Denarian offers is knowledge and hellfire, both of which you get with just the shadow--so what would the shadow use to tempt you to pick up the coin (aside from nebulous and unexplained "power")? My proposal was that the coin proper could offer another form of hellfire that combines with the one we've seen, or alternately some way of casting magic without stress.

423
DFRPG / Re: Hellfire as two powers
« on: April 16, 2019, 09:13:10 PM »
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The Denarians have an agenda in the world, and it's NOT collecting the souls of their bearers.  I believe they preferentially target those who already have an urge to power, toward being effectual actors in the world, because they can leverage that to their own ends.

That said, they have no difficulty in playing a "long game" for years or decades (or centuries!), or going with shallow vessels who have trivial wants and needs, and no "leverage" in the world:  the demonic equivalent of a short "hookup" with no relationship!

True. But I'm pretty sure they get annoyed if they don't manage to collect their bearers' souls.

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Maybe I don't understood.  I thought your suggestion was that they somehow had the goodies a Denarian could offer, so why pick up a coin?

AFAIK:  if they never took up the coin, the Denarian within it cannot tempt them (nor empower them).

I think those powers are a big part of the temptation to take up the coins (which make it seem like other channels to gain hellfire are likely to be harder to find, harder to learn, etc).

Sorry for being unclear. I was talking about having a Denarian shadow vs picking up the coin.

Incidentally, what does AFAIK stand for?

424
DF Spoilers / Re: Any news on Peace Talks
« on: April 16, 2019, 09:09:04 PM »
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If we see a fourteen page explanation of how magic works in the nevernever, we'll know for sure...

That would be so awesome to read! Seriously, the one thing that could possibly make these books better would be more magic explanations.

425
DF Spoilers / Re: Malcolm's murder
« on: April 14, 2019, 06:17:05 PM »
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That's true, and if correct it means that Lord Raith (or if someone else murdered Maggie) is responsible for Malcolm's death.

Not necessarily. Other people can use entropy curses.

My personal theory is that it was Nicodemus. He knew Margaret, and knew about both her children, so he might have had reason to arrange something (especially if he had plans for a starborn--he almost certainly finds it easier to manipulate people into working for him if they didn't have happy and loving childhoods).

426
DFRPG / Re: Hellfire as two powers
« on: April 14, 2019, 03:02:48 AM »
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I think it's worth noting that the characters are actually not wargame pieces; that means they have wants and needs, temptations and weaknesses, that won't translate well to players saying "I can see taking that deal!"

Offer an addict a hit -- at the peak of their withdrawal misery -- and they'll sell their soul for it, no lasting benefit nor sensible cost/benefit analysis will be considered!

True, but the Fallen seem to tailor their temptations to the individual person that they're tempting. Lasciel's shadow, for example, offered Harry knowledge, magical power, and help in protecting innocents. She did not offer him a way to become as beautiful/handsome as Thomas and unlimited wealth, because that wouldn't have been particularly tempting for Harry.

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Similarly:  just because there is Hellfire in the rulebook (soul-fueled or Hell-fueled), it doesn't mean that, in-character, there is any way to get it other than picking up one of the blackened denarii.  AFAIK that's the only mechanism shown in Jim Butcher's fiction, and... I don't recall anything else in the DFRPG (and haven't got DFA), but the table consensus and/or GM plans can always create other means.

True. But 1) there might be other ways that Harry doesn't know about--it's not like he's done much research on the subject; and 2) I'm talking about a character being tempted by a blackened denarius, so I'm not sure how this is relevant.

427
DFRPG / Re: Easy evocations cost?
« on: April 13, 2019, 04:43:39 AM »
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2 Refresh, maybe?

Thanks!

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The only real differences between using easy evocations and using Fists are range and that you get to use one of your best skills plus your power bonuses.

Is is power bonuses? I've never been sure if it was that or if it was control bonuses.

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I don't think so. The ceiling on spellcaster power is already very high, and the risk of running out of juice is part of what gives evocation its personality.

Good point. The only character that I can think of in the books that would have this power would be the Archive, so it should probably just be treated as a plot device thing.

What do you think about importing the combat wizard stunt from Dresden Files Accelerated, which gives you two extra stress boxes for the purposes of spellcasting?

428
DF Spoilers / Re: Theorycrafting - Mab is infected and the eventual death of Mab
« on: April 12, 2019, 07:12:41 PM »
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In my opinion, Nemfection of Mab would not be lazy, it would be overdone. We've had two whole books driven by Fae Nemfection; one with Harry being clueless (Summer Knight), and one with him knowing (Cold Days). In addition, at least two other books (Proven Guilty and Small Favor) touched on said storyline without being dominated by it.

If Mab goes off the rails through Nemfection, Harry understands and is prepared. That's not the Harry we know, so it won't happen - in my opinion.

I agree. If we find out that Mab is nemfected, I believe that it will only be because Mab suicides to prevent it taking over, so that we can see the fallout from that. Whether she just kills herself and Winter has to reorganize around a new queen (probably at an extremely inconvenient time) or whether Mab suicides by attacking another powerful being (Titania? Ferrovax?) and everyone has to cope with the consequences, seeing that would be a lot more interesting than seeing yet another Faerie queen fall to nemfection.

429
DF Spoilers / Re: Likely Bomb Drops
« on: April 12, 2019, 07:07:31 PM »
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I agree, Leanansidhe is going to go bye-bye in Peace Talks.

She can't. We have a WoJ that we're going to find out what Margaret's deal with Lea was when Jim wants Lea and Harry to duke it out, and that it's going to happen in one of the later books (post-Peace Talks).

430
DFRPG / Easy evocations cost?
« on: April 12, 2019, 05:49:39 PM »
How much refresh do people think it should cost to buy a power that allows you to use the Nevernever's "easy evocations" ability on Earth? Should there be an upgrade available to let you use normal-strength spellcasting without stress as well (this should probably be limited to evocations that are weaker than your conviction+refinement)? If so, how much should that cost? Should it be split into two upgrades, one for evocations weaker than just your conviction, and one for evocations at your conviction+refinement?

431
DFRPG / Re: Hellfire as two powers
« on: April 11, 2019, 11:37:04 PM »
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I don't think they're actually separate in the original lore, so how they differ is really up too you.

Yes, but I'm having trouble thinking of things that would work here, so I'm looking for ideas. That's why I posted this. If I just wanted to come up with something on my own, I wouldn't have bothered.

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In general, buying two Sponsored Magics is not very efficient Refresh-wise.

Yeah, that's why I want the two powers to work together. If they have a multiplicative effect, it should be more efficient.

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It's true that the full Denarian package isn't either, but you've got to keep in mind that Refresh doesn't exist in-setting. People can't just decide to buy more Refinements because they want them. You've got to take the Powers you can get.

Refresh may not exist in-universe, but free will does. I have no trouble imagining that a wizard is going to have an easier time saying "I'm not going to endanger my free will to gain the ability to turn into a demon-bear! That wouldn't even be all that helpful," than saying "I'm not going to endanger my free will to gain awesome magical abilities which will help me protect myself and those I care about, defeat my enemies, and generally be extremely useful."

The Denarians clearly offer some kind of magic-boosting effect beyond the hellfire one gets from the shadow, because Lasciel's shadow offers it to Harry as a reason to take up the coin to help deal with potential problems with Little Chicago in Proven Guilty.

(As an alternative to a different form of hellfire, I've considered having the Fallen offer some kind of physical immunity to backlash/spell stress, but this doesn't strike me as particularly balanced. Besides which, I'm interested in different types of sponsored magic and like discussing them.)

432
DFRPG / Re: Hellfire as two powers
« on: April 11, 2019, 02:28:57 PM »
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I don't think there's any need for a custom Power to get faith powers working with Soulfire. Guide My Hand and Righteousness already work well together with Soulfire, and Bless This House doesn't work well with anything. I guess Holy Touch + Soulfire is a bit of a nonbo, but you can just not take holy touch.

Yeah, I only really suggested another sponsored magic equivalent for Heaven as a balance thing--if Hell has two, then Heaven should as well.

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Both forms of Hellfire could probably use the canon mechanics. Changing the associated Aspect can do a lot of work.

But how are they different? That's what I'm trying to work out: how soul-powered hellfire is different from place of power-like hellfire, and how the two work together if you have both.

(Part of this is also me trying to figure out why, if a wizard has a Denarian shadow, they would also pick up the coin. I mean, they already have access to hellfire and all the Denarian's knowledge--what do they get out of picking up the coin? Shapeshifting powers may be cool, but I'd think a wizard would rather spend their refresh on spellcasting powers. If, on the other hand, the shadow only gives them place of power-like hellfire, and soul-powered hellfire can only be gotten by picking up the coin, and the two powers amplify each other, then it makes a lot more sense to me. But I'm not sure how to design two sponsored magics in such a way that they have this effect.)

433
DF Spoilers / Re: Could Justin have been betrayed?
« on: April 11, 2019, 05:07:37 AM »
I'm posting this because it's just occurred to me that I've been arguing against someone helping Harry to defeat Justin without actually stating my reason for holding that position.

My reasoning is this: I believe that certain things about that confrontation have to be true in order to support the narrative structure that has been built around them (that is, Harry's character development and the ethical questions that relate to the confrontation).

These are:
1) That Harry's mentor turned bad, was always bad, or at the least was doing something extremely bad.
2) That Harry realized this and fought him.
3) That Harry claimed victory in this fight.
4) That Harry's victory came at the cost of doing something unequivocally bad himself, namely that he broke the First Law.

I feel that if any of these points are demonstrated not to be true, then it will almost certainly come across as bad writing, and since Jim is a very good writer, he will not try to falsify any of these points.

Thus, the reason I object to someone helping Harry defeat Justin is because it would invalidate point 3--if someone helped him in the way that the poster(s) here have been implying, I feel that it would not be Harry's victory. It's not a problem that HWWB was manipulating him into being more willing to kill, or that Lea helped Harry, because in the end it was still Harry's victory. Likewise, I proposed the idea that (if Kemmler had taken over Justin, which I don't believe) original!Justin may have interfered with Kemmler!Justin, because Harry is still essential to that victory--original!Justin might be able to slow Kemmler!Justin down and make him hesitate, but he cannot stop him. I do object to theories that claim that Justin set the whole thing up and let him win, because it clearly subverts point 3, and may subvert points 1, 2, and 4, depending on what variation is proposed.

434
DF Spoilers / Re: Another Cowl Theory
« on: April 11, 2019, 01:43:01 AM »
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Kinda yes and no. I mean Cowl has to be a Warden to SC level wizard with at least 100 years under his belt. Someone with a European background. Someone who has either or been mentioned a few times in their non-Cowl identity. Someone who is familiar about Harry but not strongly connected to Harry at present. There is probably other criteria as well. Eliminate those that don't fit the character profile than focus on those that do.

I think the most memorable of the background Wardens was Warden Thorsen, whose name Harry couldn't remember.

It could also be Chandler--he's not old enough, but we have a WoJ that his specialty is time magic, so...

435
DF Spoilers / Re: Another Cowl Theory
« on: April 11, 2019, 12:47:08 AM »
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Are there any Warden-level wizards that have made appearances and are not firmly in the "good guy" category?

You mean aside from all the Wardens we see but who Harry doesn't interact with much?

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