When I said I interpreted it to mean you couldn't apply more focus item bonus than your lore to any one spell, I was referring to your house rule.

Did you mean to say that you couldn't have more bonuses in focus items than you had lore, among all of your focci? Because that seems like it would seriously cut back on the ability to make characters with several types of powerful magic, whereas I thought your intent was to stop the +5 offensive control and +5 offensive power Wizard from blasting way too hard.

Limiting the amount of focus item bonus per spell solves that problem while still allowing a character to have Thaum control/complexity focci, or a shield bracelet and a blasting wand.

The way I have always played is that you know the base result of both rolls before you decide to spend any fate points or make any aspect invocations. Then you can invoke aspects, spend fate points and tell the story of the interaction. You may even get into fate point "bidding wars."

Under that interpretation there is no difference between spending fate points before or after you declare a Riposte (and we aren't going to punish people for doing things technically out of order). In fact, I would let the player use aspects like Cover to increase his defense (and wouldn't be useful on offense), and then also let him bring out aspects like "Pull No Punches" (which wouldn't be useful on offense) to increase the damage of the Riposte attack.

Basically he would describe the action as "I had taken cover behind the bookshelf. Then the Goon turned the corner and swung his sword at me, but he was surprised that I had stopped and hadn't kept running, so his attack was off balance (Invoking the Cover aspect to increase defense). I took advantage of his stumble to deliver a Riposte, and I really let him have it, I don't pull and punches (spending fate point to invoke his own aspect)." 

You might want to look at this.

I have seen that, and that would do exactly what my 2 refresh combo of Holy Touch + I Kill With My Heart does. I know it is probably not OP, but I am not sure if my GM will allow it, since it is clearly just better than the book version. I will talk to him.

If he says it is OK to take the improved Holy Touch I will need to come up with a different [-1] power to call I Kill With My Heart, which may or may not end up attached to his IoP (I want the character to have all three parts of that motto as powers).

Looks reasonable to me. Does he get the standard +1 Athletics to his sprint rolls?

Yes, I intended him to get the +1 to all Athletics rolls from the Athletic Ability trapping (which would apply to sprinting), and just give up the extra +1 to Sprinting and the Stealth bonus in exchange for the Quick Hands trapping (which is essentially a Guns stunt, similar to a Quick Draw custom stunt I saw floating around here actually).

I was most worried that I Shoot With My Mind could be a bit strong, since it gives two extra attack options and opens up the option of doing AoE (which is noticeably strong in this game). On the other hand, the Zone attack is basically exactly what Channeling would allow (without the benefit of getting to crazy weapon ratings and having focus items). And while the Spray attack aggregate bonus could be huge (+6 bonus in the case where he hits 6 targets), the Spray attack option is generally crappy, and getting the big bonus requires splitting your attacks so many ways that each individual one is fairly weak (though I can imagine the case where he shoots 3 Vampires at Great, Great and Good, each with Weapon 5 as being pretty good). I think [-2] is an appropriate costs for this sort of thing since it opens up whole extra avenues and comes close to playing with the action economy. Good to hear you think it is OK.

Ya I expected that Righteousness: Potent Prayer should stack with other bonuses in a nice way, but the rules are not clear on that.

Thanks for the feedback, it is very valuable as always.

Hi, here is my attempt at a vampire hunter crossed with a Gunslinger from Stephen King's Dark Tower Series. The back story and aspects are based on the character Eddie Dean, but the powers are a more generic representation of a Gunslinger form the series (re-flavored a little but to fit in with the Dresdenverse). There are likely some slight spoilers for the Dark Tower series in here.   

Eddie Dean
(loosely based off the character of the same name from Stephen King’s Dark Tower series)
High Concept: “Gunslinger of the Line of Arthur Eld”
Trouble: “Heroin Addict”
“I Stand for the White”
“From the ‘80s”
“Ka Guides Me”
“Silly Jokes”
“The Guns With the Sandalwood Grips”

Skills
(40/40: 2/2/3/4/5)
Superb (+5) Conviction, Alertness
Great (+4)    Guns, Athletics
Good (+3)    Endurance, Fists, Rapport
Fair (+2)    Discipline, Drive, Lore, Intimidate
Average (+1) Survival, Empathy, Craftsmanship, Stealth, Might

Stress
Physical
()()()()
Mental
()()()()
Social
()()()() [We eliminated Presence in our Games, we calculate the social stress track based on the higher of Rapport or Intimidate]
Consequences
Mild:
Mild Mental:
Moderate:
Severe:

Stunts & Powers      Refresh: 3 (13 - 10)

Guide My Hand [-1]
Ka leads all living creatures; it is the will of Gan, the spirit of the Dark Tower who spun the world and holds its layers together. Ka is neither good nor evil and has no definite morality; it signifies signifies life-force, consciousness, duty, destiny, but also leaves room for the free will of the individual. However, when Gan’s purposes are threatened Ka lends its aid to the servants of the White, who are sworn to defend the Tower against the Crimson King. Eddie Dean, as a Gunslinger and Servant of the White, has an acute sense for the pull of Ka and it guides his hands (and his feet) to take him where he is most needed.
Faith Manages: As the book
Spiritual Guidance: As the book (this trapping may be flavored as members of Eddie’s Ka-tet, or group, communicating potential danger and their position telepathically)

Righteousness [-2]
As a Gunslinger, Eddie is one of the most powerful and devoted servants of the White. He has sworn to protect the weak and defend the Tower against the minions of the Crimson King.
Potent Prayer: When pursuing his calling (upholding the Gunslinger’s Duty or defending the Tower) Eddie may ask Ka to guide his actions etc. As the book.
Desperate Hour: In times of most desperate need, Eddie may lash out with his mind, heart and will. As the book.
 
Holy Touch [-1]
When acting in service of Ka, Eddie’s touch is harmful to the minions of the Crimson King, and others who would seek to destroy the Tower or oppose the White.
If Eddie is acting in keeping with his calling as a Gunslinger, upholding his oaths and supporting the White against the forces of Chaos, his touch can be imbued with a holy power. As the book [See also I Kill with My Heart].

Inhuman Speed [-2] (Slightly Modified)
Eddie is not actually Inhumanly fast, however he has trained since the age of six in the arts of combat and tactical movement, giving him abilities similar to those possessed by the inhumanly fast.
Improved Initiative: Eddie’s Danger sense is finely tuned and his draw is lightning fast. His Alertness is at +4 when determining initiative.
Athletic Ability: Eddie’s danger sense, combined with his superior tactical positioning give him an edge when avoiding attacks, and his heritage and training grant him superior athletic ability. All of his Athletics checks are made at +1, including dodging. [Note: he does not gain the customary +2 bonus to sprinting]
Casual Movement: Eddie has mastered shooting on the run and re-positioning in combat. Whenever moving as part of another physical activity, he may move one zone without taking the -1 penalty for a supplemental action.
Quick Hands: Years of practice have lent Eddie’s hands a supernatural quickness when drawing and reloading guns. This allows him to draw or reload guns as a free action, and grants him a +2 bonus on any Guns roll to see who reloads first, or do anything else related to his speed working with guns or ability to reload. [Note: this replaces the stealth and sprinting bonuses]
     
The Blue Steel Guns with the Sandalwood Grips [-1]

• Description: These guns were made using the melted down blue-grey steel of the sword, Excalibur, and have the rose, the sign of the Eld and the Tower, engraved in the side. The sandalwood grips of these guns have never lost their fragrance and near the muzzle of each gun can be seen scroll work which translates to "White", which was Arthur Eld’s dinh mark. The guns are extraordinarily large by the standards of modern pistols. They have been called "comically large" by some. The guns shoot .45 caliber magnum bullets (AKA Long Colt .45's). They guns may have been forged to resemble the Colt Single Action Army, or Peacemaker (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colt_Single_Action_Army). Eddie has wielded these guns since the day he passed his test and became a Gunslinger; they have become an extension of his hand. (Largely borrowed from the darktower.wikia site)
• They’re Big Freakin Guns: The Guns with the Sandalwood Grips are huge, and they fire huge bullets that pack a huge punch. Treat them as Weapon:3 guns.
• Unbreakable: As items of power The Guns with the Sandalwood Grips cannot be broken, save through dedicated magical ritual predicated on perverting their purpose.
• Item of Power [+2]
  As huge guns, they are hard to conceal. The discount is already applied, if Eddie gains further Items of Power the discount will not apply. If the guns are the second or subsequent artifacts, the refresh cost is -3.
• “I Aim with My Eye” [-1] (Re-skinned True Aim)
  “You do not aim with your hand. He who aims with his hand has forgotten the face of his father. You aim with your eye.”  The guns fit perfectly in a Gunslinger’s hands, and he knows them well. He is truly able to aim with his eye alone, shooting from the hip as if he had spent minutes lining up the shot. When used in keeping with the Gunslinger’s code the Guns with the Sandalwood Grips grant a +1 to the wielder’s Guns skill.
• “I Shoot with My Mind” [-2]
  “You do not shoot with your hand. He who shoots with his hand has forgotten the face of his father. You shoot with your mind.”  The Gunslinger has mastered the art of fan firing using The Guns with the Sandalwood Grips and creating a hail of lead. He can visualize the shots and make them happen. This allows the Gunslinger to make a zone attack at the cost of 2 weapon rating (similar to a spell’s zone attack option). Alternately the Gunslinger may make a spray attack, gaining a +1 bonus to each targeting result (the Gunslinger may not split his spray attack among more targets than the initial value of the attack roll). For example, if the Gunslinger rolled a 6 Guns on an attack he could split it into two attacks at 4, up to 6 attacks at 2 etc.

     
“I Kill with My Heart” [-1]
“You do not kill with your gun. He who kills with his gun has forgotten the face of his father. You kill with your heart.”   A true Gunslinger imbues every shot and strike with the full power of his conviction. His cause is righteous and his blows strike true. This allows the Gunslinger to gain the benefit of Holy Touch on every attack he makes. Further, each attack against a creature offensive to the White deals an additional 1 stress (for a total of 2 stress, or an extra Weapon:2).

See Through People [-1]
Eddie’s senses are finely honed. He rarely misses any detail in his environment and his bright blue eyes seems to pierce through those his gaze falls upon. He is especially adept at picking up on body language or facial micro expressions. This allows him to use his Alertness instead of Empathy to catch someone in a lie.

Vampirologist [-1]
Vampires are among the most dangerous servants of Chaos and the Crimson King. Eddie has spent much of his life hunting and killing Vampires, especially those of the Red Court. He gains a +1 bonus to Lore rolls related to Vampires, and a +2 bonus to Lore rolls related to the Red Court. 

I would especially like some feedback on the Item of Power and the "I Kill With my Heart" power. I think they are probably OK, but I am probably biased. I may update this with description for his aspects later. Also it should be noted that the True faith powers are intended to be identical to those in the book for all practical purposes, just re-flavored a bit. Gunslingers in the books are the foremost servants of the White, standing in opposition to those who would destroy the Dark Tower and plunge the worlds into Chaos (in Dresden terms, this probably means servants of the White God opposed to primarily Outsiders, but also Demons or Vampire's looking to interfere with mortals). Further, they are sworn to a code that requires them to help any innocents that ask for their help. Finally, the main adversary in the series is known as The Crimson King, and some of his most dangerous servants are Vampires (though he has all sorts of nasty monsters at his command), so the concept fits fairly well into a hunter of the Red Court and other supernatural nasties.

Also, how do you guys think the the complement from Potent Prayer works with other bonuses? Do you think his Guns or Athletics are effectively 6 with True Aim/Athletic Ability and Potent Prayer, or do you think the bonus applies first and then the complement doesn't apply? My GM did say when we get to 41 skill points we can go up to Fantastic, and at that point I will just boost Conviction, and then there will be no doubt.                       

I had a similar item in a game I played. I had 5 lore and made an enchanted item allowing me to do a 5 shift perception replacement roll flavoring it as looking through the eyes of my bird familiar. I used it for investigation replacement (when following people or looking for something) for alertness (getting a second pair of eyes on something really helps if you miss a detail in a quick look) and for Burglary (casing the bad guy's hideout by flying around it looking from all angles). It was quite useful.

We generally assumed that I did not have control over the bird, but could communicate simple desires (like scout this place, or follow that guy) and the bird, being my familiar, was willing to do pretty much whatever I wanted. I don't think this causes any problems with the laws.

Note that declarations are generally free, and if I was GMing and tried to paint an enemy into a weak defense (or a player tried this to me) I would absolutely allow a declaration on the spot to justify a different defense, unless the power in the book explicitly says otherwise.

I would generally not allow anything other than discipline to defend against incite emotion at range (in mele any type of defense against mele attacks would be fine), because the power explicitly says that the target defends with discipline. On the other hand if there is a particularly good reason for some other skill (maybe conviction) to come into play that may be acceptable. However, evocation does not specify any defense. The spells in the book say what they are targeting, but I tend to think of that as a rough guideline for a "brute force" defense, a clever player or GM will get around this.

I think 3 rounds to take out mooks is absolutely fine, maybe underpowered. In my Up to your Waist game most of the combat focused characters 1 shot mooks with their normal fists/weapons attacks (at least the type of mook where you have 7 per fight and they take no consequences). This seems like an option the character would only want to use on a tougher bad guy (with inhuman strength she probably already one shots the normal mooks).

I like making staying in the air a supplemental, for the reasons you stated. Also, I agree that it may be better to model the falling as an attack, but I am not sure how I would do it. If they are falling any significant distance the attack certainly shouldn't miss.

So once a character has placed aspects on things, via any method (in this case likely assessment or declaration), they get to tag them for free. So if someone was to declare that the Wright Brother's Plane "Changed the World" then they could tag it for a +2 bonus on a roll where it makes sense. This is almost equivalent to a fate point.

I would use serious caution about distributing actual fate points (especially in large quantities) to players, but if you want to or think it is necessary there should not be too much of a problem with allowing several declarations at a time on a serious relic (thus netting a large bonus on your spell). Just remember that every aspect you let them place at once is another +2 bonus.

I don't think there is any reason to use a power for this.