Hey! I'm new to the game and the magic system is giving me some issues. I get how attacks and blocks work, that's cool. You can model a lot of things as attacks and blocks, that isn't very hard. I even get placing Aspects on a scene like High Winds and Really Cold and On Fire. So, got that.

But how do you use the system to model utility spells that actually affect the physical environment, but aren't attacks or blocks? For example, I'm playing a Ferromancer and I want a spell like Dresden uses in White Knight to magnetokinetically move metal objects around. The best I came up with is a Maneuver Spell that applies its Power as ranks of Might you can use on metal objects in your line of sight, with extra finess requiring extra shifts of power.

So, maybe that works. My DM says it's fine for in-game testing at least. But what about simple stuff, like using ferromancy (or pyromancy) to weld together two sheets of metal, or seal shut metal doors so the monsters are slowed down? I also couldn't find rules for attacking inanimate objects to cover spells that could reduce metal items to rusty junk.

My friend playing a Dendromancer (tree mage) is having trouble figuring out how to represent spells that whip up poisons or cause acorns to grow into trees overnight. We're coming from White Wolf's d10 system, but I've also got experience with d20 and FATE is.. a bit looser when it comes to anything that isn't a straight up attack/defense situation.