I do not think a wizard would do a death curse and and try return from the dead afterwards the way Kemmler did a few times and the Corpstaker tried to do. 

It's not actually clear if this would be possible or not. Let's see....

Bob seemed to indicate that one's "soul" or "spirit" is separate from their source of magic. It's what makes Harry's access to Soulfire so unique--he can access his spirit as a secondary source of energy. Perhaps when a wizard uses a Death Curse they tap into this "soul" energy, and this is what allows the wizard to perform an evothaum-style effect without prep. In which case, no shade left after death.

If that isn't the case, though, then the wizard's spirit/soul would be left untouched by the use of the Death Curse (besides potential additional 'stains' due to last-second Lawbreaking), and presumably would do whatever it would normally do. It might result in a ghost, it might not. Most of the time, there probably wouldn't be a ghost--I'd think a wizard who's last thoughts are aligned to cast one last "I'm about to die" spell wouldn't leave a shade. On the other hand, most of the time a wizard needs a Death Curse, they're going through something violent and dramatic...ripe for ghost-making. So it seems like a crapshoot.

I think Kemmer and Corpsetaker's whole life-after-death trick is accomplished through a combination of prep via necromancy/ectomancy principles, and pure insane/stubborn belief that one as powerful as they simply should not die.

You should stop narrating your take outs as death.  Full body paralysis, coma etc would prevent death curses wouldn't it?

Or does the wizard effectively have to commit suicide?  (Which would be an action, I guess)

I'm of the opinion a Death Curse should be a Concession. And as such, they're open to group debate as to how they go down--whatever happens, they should complicate one or more PC's lives, not just end them--that's boring.

There's the "DIE ALONE" and Daddy Raith examples we've seen, the long-term issues. I've had a PC lose an eye once, and another time one lost the use of arm.

Short term options might be that--instead of simply exploding and killing the PCs outright--the Death Curse leads to the building the PCs are in (or whatever) starts falling down around their ears. Or maybe the Death Curse opens a Way and alerts whatever Nasty Thing lives on the other side on the NeverNever--so much for the fight being over. Etc.

Bit of advice, telling people you don't know on the internet to stat things for you in ALL CAPS isn't a particularly polite way to ask for help.

Same with not giving a real answer to one of the people who's still willing to try and help.

Sancta, Niles is Frasier's loser brother who is also a psychologist.

"Niles, like Frasier, is fastidious, snobby and fussy, has gourmet tastes, and was described by a professional interviewer by the Seattle Post-Intelligencer as obsessive-compulsive.[15] He frequently wears double breasted suits and Trafalgar limited-edition suspenders. Although Frasier also plays the piano, when they make music together Niles plays while Frasier sings.[16] He is an admirer of the fine arts including opera, theatre, and classical music, drinks fine wine and enjoys French food which he himself cooks, and frequently obsesses about knowing the right people and climbing the social ladder. "

"Also like his brother, Niles is very intelligent. His IQ is 156, well over the Mensa threshold.[9] Unlike Frasier, however, Niles has a long list of phobias and medical conditions, many of which are clearly psychosomatic. Most prominently, he is quite mysophobic, given to wiping his hands after human contact and wiping down chairs in public places before sitting on them; it is revealed in one episode that the root of this is a babysitter (Ronee Lawrence) who told him scary stories about insects that would crawl in through his ears and eat his brains, and lay their eggs on furniture. (When he tells this and other contamination horror stories to a group of fourth-graders, they think he is wonderful for knowing such "cool" facts.[10]) His nose begins to bleed whenever he tells a lie or acts against his code of ethics, and he faints at the sight of his own blood. When extremely stressed, Niles is prone to panic attacks and fits of hyperventilation. On more than one occasion, he's fainted. In one episode, he discloses that stress makes him want to hide under a piano.[20] While divorcing his wife Maris Crane, he suffers from stress-induced narcolepsy.[21]"

"Physically weak and very uncoordinated, Niles is seemingly hopeless at sports and video games,[2] barely able to catch objects even after simple throws (unless Daphne, or occasionally Martin, is doing the throwing; then he is remarkably nimble). However, in some episodes he is shown to be fair at basketball. On one occasion, while attending a basketball game, he is invited onto the floor to attempt a shot from half-court; he makes the basket, astonishing himself, Frasier, and Martin, and earns the temporary nickname "Half-Court Crane." The brothers are often seen coming or going to squash matches, though Martin once commented in disbelief, "You have to wonder what goes on at that squash court!" [22] Accompanying Martin on the shooting range one day, Niles discovers that he is an excellent marksman. He is a fair fencer, and has had some lessons in kickboxing. On other occasions he has expressed interest in lifting weights and taking karate lessons, but these ventures are typically laughed at by his father and brother and often amount to nothing. He is also a master speller, having come close to winning the national spelling competition as a youth[23] and spell-checking the graffiti in a bathroom stall at a local coffee bar with a red marker."

A Block against a Block is legal per RAW, just uncommon. My best interpretation of the RAW, and what also happens to make the most sense to me, is you simply adjudicate the second Block roll like you would any other roll against a Block that properly covered the attempted action.

So in this case, the second roll--the bad guy--rolled and met the value of the Block against him. The player's Block breaks (ouch, always a bummer on those ties). The Crab-Man has the player in a grapple @ 5. Continue via initiative.

I see that but, if their athletics skill is 1, does the power still have to be 3?  And if so, when I do a weapons maneuver, do I need a minimum of 3 or can it be 2 and succeed?

Yes. No.

If it's the latter, than why does a spell need to be 3?  And, if it needs to be 3, maybe it NEEDS to be 5 if the person has an athletics of 5. 

 The 3 is referenced a few times in the Paranet Papers--essentially, it's a basic Threshold against power to effect change in the world because of the collective basic disbelief in it by most of humanity. They say if you're maneuvering on yourself in your sanctum (or presumably other isolated places full of belief in magic, like Edinburgh) then the base difficulty is Mediocre.

Why Maneuvers and not Attacks or Blocks? I dunno. It's all pretty arbitrary. I think the 3 minimum should be there for evocation in general if you're going to house rule anything. If you're going to bend the universe to your will, you better be Good at it.

I could also see the requirement for a Maneuver's power being at least equal to the opposing skill. But specifically saying Maneuver power has to equal the opposing skill value...well, I guess that would then necessitate comparing their opposition to your Discipline roll, since your Power doesn't get a "roll" possibility. Interesting. I guess I see where you got this interpretation. It might even be what Evil Hat intended.

I dunno how I feel about it...it's interesting. Though one of the things I like about Power for Maneuvers is it gives Power builds another thing to be good at. This way it's less important than Discipline again. I'm curious what you think of it after playing it this way for a while.

Ordinarily I might quibble a bit, but given the speed of skinwalkers in many stories that keep pace with automobiles until they reach the higher speeds, I'm willing to concede the point...and then brutally use it in my own game.

One difference being that Skinwalkers have Mythic Speed vs Supernatural.

That said, I'm not sure bonuses from stunts stack. You just take the highest bonus.  I know powers and stunts do stack.

They're not supposed to stack, but I've found as Power Levels get higher, it can help the non-spellcastery types to allow overlapping stunts to stack, or partly stack--I'd make +2 and +2 a +3 unless the overlapping circumstance was really narrow. As long as you're fairly tight with the specific circumstances/limitations, though, it works okay in my opinion.

- Fate is primarily about player/PC agency and collaborative storytelling.
- Prepared to be flexible, don't plan too much. That said, don't plan too little, especially by planning a Conflict to last an entire session--Conflicts often wind up being shorter than you expect.
- Understand when you saying "no" is a valid rules judgment and when it is a compel (that can potentially be paid off).
- Compel your players a lot--but not over trivial things; compel them over things that are cool, fun, and/or interesting.
- Reward good roleplaying.
- Make sure you understand the role Aspects play. They are the core, defining element to Fate.
- Play the game according to the rules before house-ruling it. Once you and your group have a valid feel for what does and doesn't flow or balance well, then take a whack at house-ruling.
- Remember that Thaumaturgy is very powerful, but faces limitations in a wizard's access to resources and availability of time. The crazier the spell, the harder it is to prepare.
- Talk to your players.