He has Bob.  Bob is unrivalled.   When asked the right question Bob has the answer

You’re forgetting that he has Bob – a source of near infinite knowledge.

This is untrue, and in fact specifically contradicted in "Our World" -

As an informational entity, it
is similar to the Archive, but much less powerful.
(Its direct knowledge of Faerie is mostly focused
on the Winter Court side of the equation. Also,
its understanding of the power of faith—and for
that matter, technology—is limited.)
Bob's knowledge is immense compared to most other individuals, but it's a result of - effectively - being a lab assistant for a few centuries and knowing lots of people to ask for the right answers.  The same applies to people like the Merlin - older and powerful wizards.  He's specifically listed as having a truly impressive - but limited - set of knowledge, with a couple of glaring holes.

His creativity is why he lives when he fights out of his weight class.  He routinely survives things that he label’s heavy weights – which is equal to two members of the Senior Council working together.

And he routinely defeats or escapes them through a combination of (granted) creativity, dumb luck, sheer raw power, and immensely powerful friends.  The vast majority of his major encounters (as chronicled in the books) would have killed him without the intervention of sometimes almost-god-level powers on his behalf.

Harry not being able to do something is not the be-all and end-all of magic.  After several more centuries of study, his not being able to do something will still not be the be-all and end-all of magic.  The theme of personal belief limiting ability is touched upon repeatedly in the novels.  He's unusually good at tracking spells, but he comments repeatedly about other people being better at other things than him - like Veils.  Hell, even look at the sidebar under Thaumaturgy about thematic vs. functional specializations.

I guess my biggest fear about Cassandra's Tears as a GM hook is that it could be abused way too easily.  I once played in a D&D campaign that became known as "The Green Arrow Inn Detective Agency Campaign", because every time we finished an adventure or story arc the GM used his favorite bartender to introduce the new one.  I wouldn't want - as a player or as a GM - the campaign to end up being "Mrs. Cassandra and her Detective Agency", y'know?

It's a wonderful tool, and something with a lot of potential.  I guess I just worry about the ease of mis-using it.

I'd tend more towards using it for less...  Earth-shattering things.  That, or just more vague things.

Or, you could leave them with some nasty, longer-term ones.  A prediction is an aspect on the world - it doesn't have to be an aspect resolved immediately. 
I would try to get into the habit of having "tiers" of predictions.  One or two big, scary, multi-plot-arc ominous predictions that hang over their heads like the sword of Damocles ("New York will burn because of you."); these also have the advantage of being potential major RP points for the character...  Since, by definition, people have trouble believing those with the gift.  Maybe 3-4 mid-tier predictions, relative to the plot arc; these may be minor, or they may give a key clue or motivation.  And lastly, depending on how long you guys play and as long as you're careful not to make the entire campaign about this, however many minor predictions you're comfortable with; I may even say one per scene, if it works for you guys.

I mean, you can't be giving out fate points like candy, but for a relatively minor thing your players may agree that it's not relevant - after all, the system is pretty specific that things which aren't significant should be assumed and moved past.  And the fate points should be going both ways, anyway - the player should be compelling it (or attempting to) as well as you.

And on top of it, never forget the confusing nature of prophecy.  The prophecy "New York will burn because of your actions" sounds incredibly ominous, but has miles and miles of leeway.  I'd almost dance with glee to dump this aspect onto a story I was running.  Does it refer to the state or the city?  Is it literal or figurative?  Could it refer to a model of the city, in the way Harry had a model of Chicago?  Could it refer to the government - the political power structure?  Could it refer to the players igniting a feud between supernatural factions, starting what amounts to a turf war?  How about the players getting into a fight in a warehouse and starting a major fire on the docks?  Could the city itself suffer a major catastrophe, enough to change the world, that the players are directly involved in?  It sounds bad, but what if fulfilling this prophecy is the result of avoiding something worse?  Don't belittle the prediction, but it never has to be obvious.

An illusion is a smoke and mirror (ok, magic light) show that creates an EXTERNAL effect, and is detected by a sensory organ (eyes, ears, ect), which is then translated into thought internally.  Thus, it remains physical, and is defeated (most likely) by a high physical roll (alertness, modified by lore, perhaps).

Not everyone agrees with you.    There's no reason why illusions cannot be a physical process, a mental process, or a combination of the two.  They have advantages and disadvantages.

Putting a thought into your enemy's head (making ONE person hear voices, perhaps, and doing so internally instead of just creating a whisper by their ear) is probably 3rd law? (never invade the mind of another), if not it's clearly 4th law (mentally tampering with them to change their behavior).

In my mind, that's a slippery slope argument.  It's trivial to argue that peoples' behavior will be changed by pain, bright light, annoying sounds, or any number of other things...  But it's a dangerous precedent to say that anything that changes their mind violates the 4th law unless you directly change it for them.  Is a stimulus that makes them reach the decision you want the same as making the decision for them?  Setting someone on fire isn't directly law-breaking - they're not dead (yet), transformed, mind-read, or mind-controlled; it has no relation to necromancy, no relation to time at all, and no relation to the Outsiders other than that they might be amused.  But where is the line between mentally tampering to change their behavior?  Saying that letting them reach the decision you want due to a stimulus is the same as making the decision for them and imposing it on their mind logically leads to the conclusion that setting someone on fire is a violation of the 4th law.

For that matter, rendering someone blind is physical (although still lawbreaking possibly, as it's transformation.  Shooting their eyes out with fire = fine; making a spell that just makes them blind might be lawbreaking) but making a spell that leaves their eyes intact but makes them not understand the data received is mental lawbreaking.

Again, I don't agree.  A spell that chooses their actions to be what you want based on visual input, mind-control and law-breaking; but there's a difference between not allowing them to receive the signals from their eyes (as long as it doesn't violate transformation) and changing how they act upon those signals.  If you disrupt the nerve signals from their eyes to their brain, is that lawbreaking?  If you cloak their eyes with darkness, is that lawbreaking?  If you cloak their entire head - or the entire room - in darkness, is that lawbreaking?

Creating a bubble of darkness around their head that moves with them is the safest bet, but if you then kill them, you just used magic to help you do so... lawbreaker!

...And yet again, I simply don't agree.  They're dead because you shot them; not because you put a bubble of darkness around their head to stop them from shooting you.  Very, very slippery-slope; following your logic, using magic to create an impenetrable cloak (so that shooting you doesn't kill you...) is a violation of the first law the if you shoot someone in self-defense because they shot you first.

A few random concepts.

1) A teenager who has run away from home from being ostracized, because she refused to give up her imaginary friends...  But the imaginary friends are actually ghosts, several of whom have been following her for years (Ghost Speaker, a really high Contacts)

2) An ex-merc...  From the revolutionary war.  A Hessian would work well for this.  He's immune to aging and regenerates, with fairly high martial skills.  Similar to the Scribe of Thoth in actual powers.

3) A wanderer or traveler.  Give him the...  What's the power, Worldwalker?  He became homeless at a relatively young age, and just started walking...  And it turns out, he's supernaturally good at travelling.  Make it more fun by not letting him *realize* he's been entering the Nevernever - just make him think he's been on Earth the entire time, and play it up as a weirdly questionable grasp on reality.

4) The Guardian of the Holy Grail.  An ancient night, bunch of Conviction powers, and one totally awesome Item of Power.  For bonus points, base him on the Indiana Jones mythology.

5) ...or, some random schlub who picked up the Holy Grail at a garage sale.  He now knows what he has, but is highly unconvinced of his own religious beliefs.  Hijinks ensue.

6) The Great And Powerful Turtle! ...Wait, you've never read Wild Cards?  Bah.  Well, he's the world's strongest telekinetic, but he has a mental block that only lets him use his powers when he's in a (self-made, with the help of a mechanic friend) shell he converted out of a car.  Super-hero type guy, but very naive.  Oh, and you would want to base his powers off Spellcasting for the effects.

7) Thor, with amnesia, and a day job at Home Depot (he works in the Tools department).

A were-Boa Constricter.

9) A Sphinx, cursed to be in human form.  (No, I have *no* idea what his powers would be like.  *none*.)

10) The Beast, from Beauty and the Beast (I'm partial to Villeneuve's version), if Belle never found him and instead he was the tragically cursed victim of a fairy who failed to seduce him and turned him into a monster when she couldn't.

11) A vampire hunter.  Give him a spiked chain whip, formed from one of the nails from Christ's cross and blessed by the church.  He could use Holy Water Grenades and a bladed throwing weapon shaped like a cross.   

Okay, I put together this character.  It's not *quite* complete - the "Guest Star" sections aren't included and the power level isn't decided, because I don't have all the details on the campaign he'll be in yet...  So I put out alternate sets of skills/powers/stunts depending on what the refresh base actually ends up being.  But the basic concept is all there, and the powers are pretty static anyway - it's mostly the stunts that expand.  I'm not sure "Emissary of Power" fits thematically, but it was the closest template to what I wanted in the base book, and it fits well enough.

Short version?  He's a tortured, haunted guy - but determined to move on with life and try to make sure what happened to him never happens to anyone else.  He's been touched by an Outsider, and though he survived the experience, he's never been the same.  Right now he's 23 - he was touched by the Old God when he was 17, and spent 5 years in the hands of the Wardens before going back out on his own.

Anyway - thoughts, opinions, questions, problems with the statting, anything you see; I'm curious what y'all think.

Character: Damian
Template: Emissary of Power
High Concept: Touched by a Dark God
    -As a teenager, Damian was almost sacrificed by a Warlock to open a window for one of the Old Gods.  He was rescued by the Wardens of the White Council before his body could be consumed by the summoning, but not before the Dark God's mind touched his - and he shared that twisted monster's views of the world.  His physical form survived, but it was years before anyone was certain his mind had.  While he was never accused of breaking the Laws of Magic (he was a victim, not a lawbreaker), that moment of insanity left him with a number of "gifts" that it took the White Council years to teach him to control.
Trouble: I've Seen the Other Side, and It's Too Late to Look Away
    -Whatever entity he touched sees the past, present and future, both the physical world and the underlying truth, as one view that no mortal was meant to see, let alone comprehend - and it left Damian unable to turn that perception off.  He lost his mind entirely when it happened, with both the sheer amount of information and the horrors it revealed to him shattering his mind.  Even now, years later when he's been pieced back together, the world around him is a far darker place.  Even worse, the dark shadow remains; those sensitive enough can sense the power that once touched him, which all too often awakens fear or desire.
Background: Ward of the White Council
    -When his mind shattered, a small group of Wardens decided they needed to save him instead of deserting or killing him.  They nursed him back to health with the help of others on the White Council, pieced his mind back together, restored his sanity, and in fact remain protective of him to some extent even now, several years later.  However, they also know exactly how far his powers go - and that he can see and comprehend things things most people will never understand...  And how useful that can be to them in their work.
Rising Conflict: Once You're In Their World, They'll Never Let You Leave
    -His plight is fairly well-known.  The monsters may not know him personally, but a surprising number are fimiliar with "the man who was touched by the Old One". 
The Story: It's Only Paranoia If They Aren't Out to Get You
    -He's entered the world of the monsters, and seen just how deep that rabbit hole goes.  He knows the depths of terror and depravity that the worst of them can reach, just by their very nature.  He puts nothing, no matter how horrible or unthinkable, past the Supernatural...  And knows just how much they touch the mortal world without mortals ever knowing it.  But when your mind works that way, you see the hand of the Supernatural everywhere - whether or not it's really there.  Damian knows this - and knows that the mortal world sees him as nothing more than one more insane doomsayer, most of the time - but he still forces himself to do what he can to save the unsuspecting.  This wa
Guest Star #1: TBD
    -TBD
Guest Star #2: TBD
    -TBD



Feet In The Water:
=================
Skills: (20 points, cap at Great)
------
Great: Discipline, Lore
Good: Conviction, Investigation
Fair: Empathy, Rapport
Average: Deceit, Intimidation

Powers:
------
Ghost Speaker [-1] - Death is no boundary to some creatures, and the dead recognize Damian as one of their own.
Marked by Power [-1] - The shadow of a dark god lingers on Damian, and those In The Know recognize it even if they don't know his story.
Cassandra's Tears[0] - The old one he touched sees the past, present, and future as one - and Damian still sees them that way, at least some of the time.
Psychometry [-1] - The old one he touched sees the past, present, and future as one - and Damian still sees them that way, at least some of the time.
The Sight [-1] - The old one he touched saw the mortal world and the underlying truth to it without effort - and now, so does Damian.  The problem is turning it off.
    Soulgaze

Stunts:
------
I've Seen Worse (+2 to Discipline when used to defend against The Sight) [-1]

Base Refresh: +6
Adjusted Refresh: +1



Up To Your Waist:
================
Skills: (25 points, cap at Great)
------
Great: Discipline, Lore
Good: Conviction, Investigation
Fair: Empathy, Intimidation, Rapport
Average: Alertness, Contacts, Deceit

Powers:
------
Ghost Speaker [-1] - Death is no boundary to some creatures, and the dead recognize Damian as one of their own.
Marked by Power [-1] - The shadow of a dark god lingers on Damian, and those In The Know recognize it even if they don't know his story.
Cassandra's Tears[0] - The old one he touched sees the past, present, and future as one - and Damian still sees them that way, at least some of the time.
Psychometry [-1] - The old one he touched sees the past, present, and future as one - and Damian still sees them that way, at least some of the time.
The Sight [-1] - The old one he touched saw the mortal world and the underlying truth to it without effort - and now, so does Damian.  The problem is turning it off.
    Soulgaze

Stunts:
------
I've Seen Worse (+2 to Discipline when used to defend against The Sight) [-1]
This Wasn't Done by Mortal Hand (May use Lore instead of Investigation for Examination checks, but only when the clues or subjects are Supernatural in some way) [-1]

Base Refresh: +7
Adjusted Refresh: +1



Chest-Deep:
==========
Skills: (30 points, cap at Superb)
------
Superb: Discipline, Lore
Great: Conviction, Rapport
Good: Investigation, Intimidation
Fair: Alertness, Empathy
Average: Contacts, Deceit

Powers:
------
Ghost Speaker [-1] - Death is no boundary to some creatures, and the dead recognize Damian as one of their own.
Marked by Power [-1] - The shadow of a dark god lingers on Damian, and those In The Know recognize it even if they don't know his story.
Cassandra's Tears[0] - The old one he touched sees the past, present, and future as one - and Damian still sees them that way, at least some of the time.
Psychometry [-1] - The old one he touched sees the past, present, and future as one - and Damian still sees them that way, at least some of the time.
The Sight [-1] - The old one he touched saw the mortal world and the underlying truth to it without effort - and now, so does Damian.  The problem is turning it off.
    Soulgaze

Stunts:
------
I've Seen Worse (+2 to Discipline when used to defend against The Sight) [-1]
This Wasn't Done by Mortal Hand (May use Lore instead of Investigation for Examination checks, but only when the clues or subjects are Supernatural in some way) [-1]
Finely Tuned 3rd Eye (+2 to Lore when used as a replacement for Alertness to detect the Supernatural) [-1]

Base Refresh: +8
Adjusted Refresh: +1



Submerged:
=========
Skills: (35 points, cap at Superb)
------
Superb: Discipline, Lore
Great: Conviction, Rapport
Good: Investigation, Intimidation
Fair: Alertness, Contacts, Empathy
Average: Deceit, Endurance, Fists, Presence, Scholarship

Powers:
------
Ghost Speaker [-1] - Death is no boundary to some creatures, and the dead recognize Damian as one of their own.
Marked by Power [-1] - The shadow of a dark god lingers on Damian, and those In The Know recognize it even if they don't know his story.
Cassandra's Tears[0] - The old one he touched sees the past, present, and future as one - and Damian still sees them that way, at least some of the time.
Psychometry [-1] - The old one he touched sees the past, present, and future as one - and Damian still sees them that way, at least some of the time.
The Sight [-1] - The old one he touched saw the mortal world and the underlying truth to it without effort - and now, so does Damian.  The problem is turning it off.
    Soulgaze

Stunts:
------
I've Seen Worse (+2 to Discipline when used to defend against The Sight) [-1]
This Wasn't Done by Mortal Hand (May use Lore instead of Investigation for Examination checks, but only when the clues or subjects are Supernatural in some way) [-1]
Finely Tuned 3rd Eye (+2 to Lore when used as a replacement for Alertness to detect the Supernatural) [-1]
Monsters are All the Same (+1 to Lore and arrive at findings 1 step faster when using Lore to replace Examination; same as "Scene of the Crime" from Investigation) [-1]

Base Refresh: +10
Adjusted Refresh: +2

All right.  Conspiracy time.  Mr. X (the eeeeevil bad guy) is a warlock, necromancer, something along those lines.  He also happens to be the United States' ambassador to Country Y (something touchy and big - Russia?  China?).  He has a plot to blow something up using a magical bomb or a magical ritual.  He's performing said ritual inside the American Embassy in Country Y.  He's being helped by Mr. Q, Mr. R, and Mrs. S, who are - respectively - official representatives of the US, Country Y and Country W (some classic US Ally - the UK?).  The players get involved somehow (assignment, goody-two-shoes-itis, whatever) and the story arc climaxes when they interrupt the ritual and attempt to stop Mr. X.  Whatever happens, WHATEVER HAPPENS, the blast has to go off - whether it be on its appropriate target, or in the embassy, or whatever...  And get some of the assistants killed off.  Then, just spin the absolute worst way possible.

Case 1) The blast goes off as planned.  Authorities, investigating, find the assistant from the US and/or UK, dead - and involved in the blast.  Russia and/or China declare it a major diplomatic incident that descends into war.

Case 2) The blast goes off in the embassy.  US authorities investigate - and find the Russian/Chinese agent involved.  Major diplomatic incident.

Then just let it spiral out of control.  "You $%&(@ performed a terrorist attack on our embassy!" "You're crazy, you were trying to bomb the Kremlin!" etcetera...

Well seeing as we are able to see things because of the light bouncing off of the object and into our eyes I'd say that anysort of glamour  emits it's own light rather than reflecting the suns light off of it so yes I thing a glamour torch would give off light

This is really the crux of it.  There are two ways a person can perceive a glamour - using their eyes (in which case, it's a physical property of the glamour) or because it's an illusion imposed on their mind.  In the former case, IMHO, a glamour of a torch should be assumed to generate light; in the latter, it doesn't create light, but that brings up the other possibility that was tossed out there - if you can get the information some other way, a glamour can be used *instead* of sight.

Actually not quite, she didn't cast anything.  Lash has perfect memory and could overwrite Harry's senses.

Well, I put it in spoiler tags to avoid using her name or specify what she did, as this is officially a spoiler-free board.  But never mind that.  :-P

I'm willing to accept that what she did was directly affect his mind instead of using an illusion...  I read it most recently a couple months ago.  But that brings us back to what I just said above; someone's perceiving the glamour either physically (with their eyes) or mentally.  In the former, it *is* generating light; otherwise, the glamoured torch would not appear to glow.  In the latter, it opens up a different can of worms.  Unless you can think of a third way that glamour might work.

In Shadowrun terms, it's physical vs. mana spells.  There were two types of illusion spells; physical and mental.  The former tended to be higher drain, had physical components (you could touch them), and affected cameras.  The latter were purely mental - you weren't imposing an illusion on the physical world, you were imposing an illusion on the minds of the people seeing it.

That makes sense, but do you think that when wizards are travelling between areas through the nevernever that they are always in Fae lands or do they cross into other places as well?

The Fae lands are described as the sections of the Nevernever closest to the real world; so as a rule, if the wizards are specifically using the Nevernever for transport, they will strongly tend to remain in Faerie.  Leaving Faerie would necessitate going deeper into the Nevernever and moving away from their destination.