Duel Focus Items

[BumblingBear]

I was under the impression that a Lore of 4 would get you a total bonus of 4 in all foci.  That is, one +4 device, or two +2, or a combination of +3 and +1 for something else.  But not two (or six, or twelve) +4 foci.

Am I mistaken?

- Ed

That is incorrect.  The rules you are referring to are for each individual item.  Basically it states that one character cannot have one item that does it all.  They have to choose what specific things the focus item will do.  For example, one focus item cannot enhance both conviction and discipline for one element of evocation.  One focus item cannot affect both evocation and thaumaturgy etc. etc.

There is no limit to the number of items a character can have other than their focus item slots.  The limit to individual enchanted items' power is that they cannot exceed over twice the caster's lore.

[MyNinjaH8sU]

Using the fiction as a reference, I would not allow the use of two foci on the same spell. Harry uses the shield bracelet , or the rod, or the staff but never more than one at a time. It also seems like a balance thing.

The only problem I have there is that those are all listed as foci for different kinds of magic. The staff works with Air, the Rod with Fire, and the Bracelet with Spirit (and furthermore is keyed to only one spell for added effect, it would seem).

I don't think the book speaks about stacking foci at all, considering the rules.

[sjksprocket]

I don't see the problem in this.

In Changes

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Molly uses two wands for her one woman rave. This would support the fact that she was probably using one for control, the other for power.

You aren't stacking bonuses, your getting two different ones. I Don't see this as overpowering because you are limiting yourself. You get a large total on one type of magic, but your using up two slots for one thing. This limits versatility, which can be big. It's a lot easier to get around someone who is very one tracked. So to me it balances.

[LokiTM]

If this gets used in-game, please post on how it impacted play and balance.

[BumblingBear]

I don't see the problem in this.

In Changes

(click to show/hide)

Molly uses two wands for her one woman rave. This would support the fact that she was probably using one for control, the other for power.

You aren't stacking bonuses, your getting two different ones. I Don't see this as overpowering because you are limiting yourself. You get a large total on one type of magic, but your using up two slots for one thing. This limits versatility, which can be big. It's a lot easier to get around someone who is very one tracked. So to me it balances.

You said it better than I did.  Boo.

[sinker]

Ok, I'm going to go straight to the RAW for this. YS278

The one restriction on the bonuses provided
is that they may not total to a number greater
than your Lore. So if your Lore is Good (+3),
you can have an evocation focus item that
provides +3 to offensive control, offensive power,
defensive power, or defensive control, or a focus
item that provides +1 to three of those, or +2 to
one and +1 to another, but you can’t construct
one that provides bonuses totaling 4 or more.

So the lore limit applies to the total bonus that a single focus item can have. In addition you can have both control and power bonuses in a single item, however that lore limit still applies to the single item. So the advantage to using two items would be that you could have two higher bonuses (a +4 and a +4) in two different items rather than two lower bonuses (a +2 and a +2) in a single item. I can't find the specific rules that say that you can have both control and power in a single item, they're probably on that same page, however there is an example which demonstrates it.

So an item
that offered +1 offensive power and +1 offensive
control to fire and earth evocations would
take up 4 slots.

So I would assume that it's possible to have bonuses to power and control in one item.

[arete]

This thread has changed my opinion on multi-focus items.

The spoiler info above is a good fiction reference.  I also see that the raw supports multi-focus items as long as they provide different bonuses.

   

[BumblingBear]

This thread has changed my opinion on multi-focus items.

The spoiler info above is a good fiction reference.  I also see that the raw supports multi-focus items as long as they provide different bonuses.

   

Indeed.

There are several balancing factors.  One is that focus items can be lost, stolen, or broken.

Another is that lore is still the capping factor.

[arete]

My player party is lore heavy, but I do appreciate these threads.  My group universally thought using 2 focus items like listed here was wrong. 

I do think wizards can be crazy in damage department, but they are balanced out by being squishy.

[Captain Indigo]

I do think wizards can be crazy in damage department, but they are balanced out by being squishy.

And don't have much staying power. Wizards can drop crazy powerful spells/attacks, but can't keep it up for very long w/out getting into Consequences.

[BumblingBear]

And don't have much staying power. Wizards can drop crazy powerful spells/attacks, but can't keep it up for very long w/out getting into Consequences.

Yup.

And this is why I'm all for wizard damage, but I'm totally against any skills or abilities that increase mental toughness or add mental armor. That would be OP.

With one point of mental armor, a wizard could theoretically sling spells all day... and that is ridonkulous.

[devonapple]

With one point of mental armor, a wizard could theoretically sling spells all day... and that is ridonkulous.

I think mental armor could have a place in the game, but it would have to be built so that spellcasting would bypass it. Most of the builds people have put to the boards did just that, and the one time I recall someone trying to get around it, there was some feedback.

[sinker]

I would think that if anyone was inflicting stress on themselves for any reason regardless of whether it was physical or mental would be bypassing any armor that they had.

[arete]

In my game I said that 2 stunts exist for all the stress tracks.  1st on adds a minor consequence and the 2nd adds a stress box.  That is all I am allowing for mental expansion in my games, and so far none of my players have taken advantage of it.