Author Topic: Soulfire Spell Effects?  (Read 5036 times)

Offline Becq

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Re: Soulfire Spell Effects?
« Reply #15 on: November 17, 2010, 08:11:20 PM »
I think that basing your concept of Soulfire purely on what you saw Dresden do is a mistake.  I believe that in most cases, Harry specifically describes using soulfire to strengthen a spell cast using a different element.  In the case of the giant fist, I think it was Spirit (force), for example.

The book is (as always) pretty vague on what can be done with Soulfire, but it seems reasonable to start with that: Soulfire is in many ways like standard Fire, at least in terms of evocation.  So that gives you a wide variety of evocations based on fire, though of course your fire will (a) count as Fire for purposes of Catches, (b) count as Holy for purposes of Catches, and (c) partially satisfy any other Toughness Catches (reducing Toughness by one level).  Pretty potent.  If the character also has a normal evocation/channeling power, then these benefits transfer to spells cast in the other element.  Also very potent.

In addition, Soulfire as "the rebar of creation" seems to have a strengthening aspect to it.  I'd consider allowing spells that make people or things stronger.  This might include raw strength, resistance to damage, defenses against attacks, healing/curative magics, etc.

In terms of limitations, I'd say that the GM should make good use of debt compels (or even compels against related aspects) to ensure that Soulfire is not being used in ways it wasn't intended to be used.  Attempts to use Soulfire to satisfy greed or other 'sinful' motivations should either fail outright or come back to haunt the caster in some way.  Attempts to use Soulfire against good people should probably result in the magic simply not working, or working in a reduced capacity.  Maybe the cleanest way to do this would be to charge debt for any use of Soulfire when not used for sufficiently Righteous causes, and in some cases to use that debt to prevent certain uses of the magic.

Note that much of the above is speculative.

On a side note, I don't think that "Living Dead" works well in the context of a celestial servant.  The Living Dead power represents a total unnatural, abherational return to "life".  People see you and reject your place in the natural order.  Your body does not function normally any more.  None of this seems compatible with someone brought back to life by the Creator or his servants.  Instead, I'd rely on an Aspect to bring your return to life into focus in the game, and possibly take a Recovery power to speed healing (instead of letting the pieces just fall off).  Note that Inhuman Recovery would also let you get full benefit from your Catch, too.  As to your question about its value, by the way, I would say that the proper value is +2 for "unholy stuff" (which would include unholy relics and attacks by unholy beings).  Possibly even +3, as players will often find "unholy stuff" to be in greater supply than "holy stuff".  That said, your Catch is always reduced to one point less than the value of the powers it modifies, assuming it would otherwise be greater.

Offline AcornArmy

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Re: Soulfire Spell Effects?
« Reply #16 on: November 17, 2010, 11:36:46 PM »
I think that basing your concept of Soulfire purely on what you saw Dresden do is a mistake.  I believe that in most cases, Harry specifically describes using soulfire to strengthen a spell cast using a different element.  In the case of the giant fist, I think it was Spirit (force), for example.
...
In terms of limitations, I'd say that the GM should make good use of debt compels (or even compels against related aspects) to ensure that Soulfire is not being used in ways it wasn't intended to be used.  Attempts to use Soulfire to satisfy greed or other 'sinful' motivations should either fail outright or come back to haunt the caster in some way.  Attempts to use Soulfire against good people should probably result in the magic simply not working, or working in a reduced capacity.  Maybe the cleanest way to do this would be to charge debt for any use of Soulfire when not used for sufficiently Righteous causes, and in some cases to use that debt to prevent certain uses of the magic.

I suppose this works well enough in game terms. It just the drawback of moving away from what we've actually seen in the books, so there may come a point further down the line where we get a clearer picture of what soulfire is, and parts of your campaign stop making sense. This is likely to happen to some degree regardless of how much we examine the soulfire in the novels, but actively choosing not to analyze what we've already seen means that the impact is more likely to become a problem.
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Offline Becq

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Re: Soulfire Spell Effects?
« Reply #17 on: November 18, 2010, 12:43:23 AM »
Agreed.  But then again, if you allow Soulfire to do everything that you see Harry do, then what you are really getting is a character with Evocation AND Soulfire for the price of Soulfire only.

Offline sinker

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Re: Soulfire Spell Effects?
« Reply #18 on: November 18, 2010, 01:13:34 AM »
Except the person with soulfire alone is much more reliant on it and has many more strings attached. If the person with evocation wants to burn orphans alive (it was the only thing I could think of) he can do it (though with some other consequences), the soulfire caster however is limited.

Offline mostlyawake

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Re: Soulfire Spell Effects?
« Reply #19 on: November 18, 2010, 01:23:11 AM »
The reason is that a catch must be one less than the total of the powers affected by it.  The solution is usually to have either the catch re-written so that it fits for a -1 catch, or to buy supernatural toughness OR inhuman toughness/inhuman recovery, thus spending more refresh.

Offline ralexs1991

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Re: Soulfire Spell Effects?
« Reply #20 on: November 18, 2010, 03:15:50 PM »
The character in question from my original post is a dead man animated by celestial forces to fight the enemies of heaven on earth.

His abilities are something like:

Soulfire [-5]
Living Dead [-1]
Guide My Hand [-1]
Marked By Power [-1]
Inhuman Toughness [-2]
The Catch is Unholy Power [+2]

He will probably have a little more, as we are playing at Submerged, but he hasn't decided yet.

The setting, for those interested, is 1850, during the California Gold Rush. I would love to go into more detail, but still doing a little research, and I'll probably make a separate post.

The way he has talked about his character is one of not knowing why he has been brought back, but being given power, and being shown a place to use it. He was never a good man in life, and may see this as a path to redemption.

I agree with several other people who have expressed opinions that this may not be the best way to represent Soulfire as mentioned in the books, but I think we are going to play it as Sponsored Magic, because it is an easy mechanic to use as a group.

That said, does anyone have any ideas for good Debt Compels?

sweet idea that deffinitly has the potential for major fun
Oh, hi, Mr. Warden!  How are you this fine day?  My, what a shiny sword you have there...