Sponsored Magic benefits

[ReaderAt2046]

Just a quick question on something the rules aren't terribly clear on. If you have Sponsored Magic of some sort, do you get its secondary bonuses on all relevant spells, or only on those that you have incurred a point of debt to help with?

I.e. In TC (i.e., after getting Soulfire), Harry goes up against the Skinwalker and hurls a "Fuego!" at it. If he does not incur the debt to boost the spell, does he still degrade the Skinwalker's Toughness a notch?

[narphoenix]

Yes, he still degrades the Skinwalker's Toughness, even if he has not incurred sponsor debt from the spell. The spell has to be agenda compatible to get the benefit, though.

[ReaderAt2046]

Also, another related question. Do Toughness-degrading abilities drop Physical Immunity to Mythic Toughness?

[Locnil]

IIRC, the consensus was that Physical Immunity is a Toughness Power, so yes. It would fit with the setting, too.

[ReaderAt2046]

Also, what would you think of a houserule allowing a character to take what is regularly a Sponsored Magic as an "intrinsic" version (which can't be revoked, but you can't gain power boosts from a sponsor).

i.e. Changeling Robert Scar has Unseelie Magic, not because he was granted it by Mab, but because he inherited it from his Sidhe mother. Therefore, as an intrinisic part of him it can't be revoked, but he can't call on Mab for more juice. He still gets the rest of the effects, including the extra punch against Summer and the entropomantic evothaum.

[Tedronai]

What makes you think he'd have to call on Mab for more juice?  Why wouldn't he just call on Winter?

Or, in other words, I would absolutely allow, with sufficient justification, a character to purchase capability with Sponsored Magic without having an embodied, personified, or even known sponsor.
edit: for clarification, I would not place any mechanical restrictions on this power, but the Compels would likely be different from those against a character dealing directly with a known personified entity acting as a sponsor

[Sanctaphrax]

I dunno if I'd call that a houserule, given the existence of Kemmlerian Necromancy.

Anyway, you might want to check out Self-Sponsored Magic. It's on the Power list, and there are several examples of it on the Sponsored Magic list.

Also, another related question. Do Toughness-degrading abilities drop Physical Immunity to Mythic Toughness?

I don't think it's clear by the book, but I'd probably run it that way.

[Tedronai]

Toughness-degrading abilities should probably not always bump Immunity down to Mythic, but they might sometimes.  At least, that is my interpretation of the text in Soulfire regarding greater beings sitting up and taking notice even if they're not notably harmed.

[Locnil]

Toughness-degrading abilities should probably not always bump Immunity down to Mythic, but they might sometimes.  At least, that is my interpretation of the text in Soulfire regarding greater beings sitting up and taking notice even if they're not notably harmed.

I interpret it as the beings being too powerful to hurt, even if you have Soulfire (You still have to get through Mythic Toughness), but simply possessing the ability to potentially hurt them arouses their attention. The SotC simply allow you to bypass Toughness Powers, after all - it doesn't give you any actual ability to take something down, it just makes it possible. Yet for that alone the KotC are some of the most feared beings in the world (Though having God's blessing probably added to that).

I dunno if I'd call that a houserule, given the existence of Kemmlerian Necromancy.

Well, we don't really know for sure that KM doesn't have an external sponsor, do we? 
Seriously, though, Kemmler's been built up too much over the entire series to be just a red herring.

[Sanctaphrax]

I don't think Kemmler sponsors the magic that bears his name. I think he was just its most prominent user.

[Tedronai]

It is entirely possible that some as-yet-unknown entity quietly sponsors Kemmlerian Necromancy.  There does not, however, seem to be any reason to suspect that this entity interacts with practitioners of such magic beyond granting that power and then sitting back and watching it do what it does.

There was a reason I used words like "embodied, personified, or even known sponsor".