first go at making a magic-using character

[Richard_Chilton]

This is an NPC, right? A support NPC?

Then refresh doesn't matter.  If you keep him more or less balanced with the group then he doesn't make a believable regional commander.  Also you might want to group the skills by rank rather than alphabetically - it makes it easier to find what he's good at.

So how do we fix it?

First suggestion - a twist to the back story.  Say that he was an average warden, one of several that oversaw Canada, then the Red Court War started and through attrition he became senior Warden and the only one they can spare to handle the large but sparsely populated county.  Others might pass through, but he's more or less it as the hastily promoted field agent that's now in charge.

Canada might never have been the centre of the White Council's universe, but hundreds of Wardens died in that war.  They had to come from somewhere and having a few more in Canada (say having bases in Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver) makes sense.

(Note: in Our World's intro story there's a Canadian who's a baby Warden - one of two who show Dresden that they could think their way through a problem).

Second, given him a couple more refresh and put them into refinements.  He's an NPC so he doesn't have to be completely balanced and senior Wardens are supposed to be scary type people.  Maybe sink them into power.  Say three, giving him +2 Earth and +1 Air so his rotes have some real power behind them.

Third, work out the items and spells fully.  Saying something is a discipline item is one thing, but breaking it out as:
Trevelyne's Rod (Earth, Control +1, Offensive)
makes it easier to read.

As for the rotes, are they designed to be cast with his focus items? They would be easier to read if they were broken down.  Something like:
Igneaum-Sturm
Type: Earth Evocation, Attack
Power: 2
Targeted with: 5 (Discipline 4 + 1 for focus)
              Picks up or rips up, loose dirt, stones, pebbles, bits of masonry, etc, forms them into a sort of earthen "grape shot" and propels them at high velocity.


Speaking of items, he has four default item slots.  Two focus items for Evocation and 2 for Thaumaturgy.  If you decide that he should have enchanted items then each focus item can be traded for two enchanted items.

I usually breakdown which items are used for which, so in this case:
Items
Invocation:
Trevelyne's Rod (Earth, Control +1, Offensive)
A 26" rod of Iron-shod Maple. Don't sell it short, in public it will pass for a walking stick or cane everyday on the street, or a fancy dress baton at a formal engagement. It's also a lot more maneuverable in close quarters and easier to conceal under a long jacket or cloak than a full staff and the top conceals an insulated vial of whiskey!

Enchanted item:
Warden's Sword
(empty slot - maybe kept free for potions?)

Thaumaturgy:
(no focus items?)
Enchanted item:
Warden Cloak:
(Not sure the best way of making it enchanted against the elements - at least not at Conviction 2.  Maybe have it occupied a couple of slots with the extra power going to duration of a maneuver that tags him with a sticky aspect "Protected from the elements".  But that shouldn't take up all four slots of enchanted items.)


Speaking of Canada - whereabouts are you from? There's a couple of us here from New Brunswick.

Richard

[sinker]

Warden Cloak:
(Not sure the best way of making it enchanted against the elements - at least not at Conviction 2.  Maybe have it occupied a couple of slots with the extra power going to duration of a maneuver that tags him with a sticky aspect "Protected from the elements".  But that shouldn't take up all four slots of enchanted items.)

This kind of thing really doesn't seem necessary to me. Most of the time something like this is just fluff. Most people reach for a coat when it's chilly, he's got an enchanted cloak. Most of the time it won't have any narrative significance. When it has a little significance it could fall under mundane effects of magic (YS259) and when it has a lot of significance then he can invoke his high concept for effect.

[Richard_Chilton]

It depends on where he plans to wear it - mostly because of winter weather.  If he wants something that he can wear in Vancouver in the morning and Yellowknife at night, then magic would have to be involved.

Going from a mild Vancouver winter day (where there might or might not be snow on the ground - remember green grass when they hosted the olympics) to a bitterly cold night in the NWT, no mundane jacket would handle that temperature shift.  For that matter if he wants to wear it in the summer and the winter then magic would have to be involved.

When it comes to protection from the elements, you sometimes need real protection in Canada.

Richard

[sinker]

I'm not saying that there shouldn't be magic involved, I'm just saying that how cold or warm it is is unlikely to be important to the story, as most people have all of the things to deal with the climate that they live in and will adjust their clothing to be warm or cold as the situation warrants. How often is the GM going to tell the party that the climate makes whatever task they are attempting completely impossible unless they have very specialized gear that would be difficult to obtain (I.E. more than the gear you would likely have if you lived in that climate)? If that happens once or twice in the whole campaign (as I would expect) then having an enchanted item that counters that situation just isn't practical, and the solution I laid out above makes much more sense. If it's something that happens constantly then I could understand using a item slot to figure that out.

[beachhead1973]

As for what Trevelyne is, that's complicated. embarassment-time; last year we had a good-sized gaming group, me, my best friend,, one or two roommates, my best friend's girl and another friend of mine, also a girl. I mention that because; hey gamer-girls! win! but now it;s just me and my best friend and not very frequently either. as to why? life has seriously gotten in the way, but we still want to game. I don;t have time to go out to the local clubs or associations, I have school full-time and I work weekends as an army reservist, also I am away all summer (with weekend leave!) with the army. I know we have at least two groups here in London, Ontario, but I don;t have the time to get out to them and meet them. Did I also mention I am the GM when we game? yeah...

So there is my buddy's character, and then there is my own, who exists to mitigate the trouble my buddy gets into with his find-them, kill-them approach to problem solving (and in a completely in experienced sorcerer too!), so I have a PC I play, as the GM, like an NPC. we want Trevelyne to be playable for new people we lure into the group, another friend of ours who we'd like to lure back into our lives, or my buddy's girlfriend when she comes over. I added Trevelyne to the campaign as an attempt to add flavour to what was at that point another rendition of the Two Guys in a Basement Show. So, is he an NPC? I don't know. If I make him an NPC, can I make him back into a PC later if we get another player, through progression?

as for the Back Story; here is how I see Canada in the Dresdenverse, or rather, how I see the council seeing it; The metaphor here is the fire-proof house located far away from flamable materials. it is seen as a supernatural backwater, compared to the rest of the world, a farm leauge for magical talent. Our "hoser" friend from the introduction story? sure, he got picked up in manitoba, but he is going to work somewhere else, somewhere higher priority. I see that as more or less the norm. I don't see anything wrong with what we use for a back story now, which is to say, it's mainly a mystery. both the other PCs share the aspect "ignorance is not bliss", it's a theme i'm working with for the campaign.

[beachhead1973]

as for adding more refresh, do I just AsSIGN that? or do I have to make up milestones? i thought that was how progression worked in this game?

The Magic element-resistant Warden Cloak, yeah, Canadian weather, it's not unreasonable. Just think if you're tracking a wendigo and you pick up the trail out behind some rural bar and the trail yeads into the woods and it's late fall or mid-spring anywhere in canada well-removed from lake-effect...well is it better to go back to your hotel room and change clothes, or just grab your cloak from out of your duffel bag or whatever and go?

[Richard_Chilton]

If it is an NPC you can set it at whatever reset level you wish.

Richard