Ghost, Mermaid, and Campaign Recommendations

[Razgrizi]

If you want to have trouble gathering ingredients for your potions, you should take a related Aspect that can be Compelled. Because by default, all that stuff is abstracted away.

Neither will make you a wizard, you need a whole bunch of other powers for that. But anyone who can make their own potions is a spellcaster.

As Haru said, Thaumaturgy does everything Ritual does and more.

So, if I wanted to focus on Thaumaturgy, I would need to be a wizard and, in a nutshell, take things a wizard would? If I didnt go the wizard route (if thats possible) how limited would I be in Thaumaturgy?

[Taran]

So, if I wanted to focus on Thaumaturgy, I would need to be a wizard and, in a nutshell, take things a wizard would? If I didnt go the wizard route (if thats possible) how limited would I be in Thaumaturgy?

you can take Thaumaturgy without being a wizard.  You just neeed a background reason why you'd have thaumaturgy.  Maybe you were learning magic from someone who wasn't sanctioned by the White Council and a Transformation Ritual went horribly wrong and that's how you got cursed as a mermaid.  Your teacher/partner got turned into a fish and died. (or whatever)...maybe he's a fomor and was tricking you the whole time.

So, you can't do evocation, but you can do thaumaturgy.  You have all the abilities that that power provides, including doing rituals, taking refinements, creating potions/enchanted items etc...

You'd want Lore to be one of your highest skills to get full use of thaumaturgy, though.


And to clarify what Sanctaphrax said:  Thaumaturgy makes you a SPELLCASTER.  It Does NOT make you a WIZARD.

[Razgrizi]

you can take Thaumaturgy without being a wizard.  You just neeed a background reason why you'd have thaumaturgy.  Maybe you were learning magic from someone who wasn't sanctioned by the White Council and a Transformation Ritual went horribly wrong and that's how you got cursed as a mermaid.  Your teacher/partner got turned into a fish and died. (or whatever)...maybe he's a fomor and was tricking you the whole time.

So, you can't do evocation, but you can do thaumaturgy.  You have all the abilities that that power provides, including doing rituals, taking refinements, creating potions/enchanted items etc...

You'd want Lore to be one of your highest skills to get full use of thaumaturgy, though.


And to clarify what Sanctaphrax said:  Thaumaturgy makes you a SPELLCASTER.  It Does NOT make you a WIZARD.

Interesting! Now, if Thaumaturgy was my option, what would be the the for sure stuff I would need to take? I think the group is starting at Feet in the Water so we can build up characters, so I only have 3 refresh to work with.

[Haru]

Well, Thaumaturgy gives you 2 focus item slots which translate to 4 enchanted item and thus potion slots. That's 4 potions per session, as it were, at a strength of your lore skill. If you put your free specialization, which comes with thaumaturgy, on potions, you get potions at a strength of Lore+1.

You can buy refinement, which will give you 4 potion slots for 1 refresh. You can spend a potion slot on a new potion or to get 2 additional uses on an existing one. I've explained this in more detail in the kitchen witch thread I linked to earlier.

[Razgrizi]

Well, Thaumaturgy gives you 2 focus item slots which translate to 4 enchanted item and thus potion slots. That's 4 potions per session, as it were, at a strength of your lore skill. If you put your free specialization, which comes with thaumaturgy, on potions, you get potions at a strength of Lore+1.

You can buy refinement, which will give you 4 potion slots for 1 refresh. You can spend a potion slot on a new potion or to get 2 additional uses on an existing one. I've explained this in more detail in the kitchen witch thread I linked to earlier.

For that, could you elaborate a bit then mechanics wise whats the difference between a spellcaster and a wizard then? At least how I read it, it seems like one is a focused practitioner while the other is a full blown wizard. If one is a spellcaster, are they bound to the mandatory powers that magic users have to take, like the Third Eye?

[Haru]

Well, a wizard is a spellcaster, but a spellcaster is not necessarily a wizard, if that makes sense.

Anyone who is able to cast spells is by definition a spellcaster. That's simply a description. A wizard is a human spellcaster that is also powerful enough to be a member of the White Council. He doesn't need to be a member, but he needs to be powerful enough to count as one. Elaine, for example is powerful enough to count as a wizard, but she flunked her test, so she is not a white council member. Then again, the Queens of fairy are powerful enough, but they are not human, so they are powerful spellcasters, but not wizards.

Plus, "wizard" is also a mechanical term in the game, meaning "having the wizard template", which you also don't have to have, since there are other templates that allow for spellcasting abilities.

[Taran]

For that, could you elaborate a bit then mechanics wise whats the difference between a spellcaster and a wizard then? At least how I read it, it seems like one is a focused practitioner while the other is a full blown wizard. If one is a spellcaster, are they bound to the mandatory powers that magic users have to take, like the Third Eye?

No, you are not bound to anything.  Nothing is mandatory.  But, If you want to Play a White Council wizard, you  do have to take the mandatory powers.

Mechanics-wise, there's no difference between a non-wizard character who has thaumaturgy and a Wizard character (with thaumaturgy).

The power, Thaumaturgy, works the same for both.

A Wizard must have the Sight and Evocation as well as Thaumaturgy in order to be recognized by the White Council.  Anything less is a 'minor' talent with some magical ability.  Being a Wizard is mostly a story thing, but you must have the minimum required Powers to qualify as one.

A Focused Practitioner does not have Thaumaturgy because they are focused.  Therefore, the only take Ritual with a single type of Thaumaturgic category.

Your character is a 'minor talent' who knows how to do varied types of rituals.  So you are more flexible as a ritualist (since you're not limited to one specific type of Ritual) but you are not a full-blown Wizard because you don't have the Sight.  Or Evocation.

Also, keep in mind, when I say 'Minor Talent', I'm not talking about the Template from the book.  I'm just talking about someone with some minor magical ability.

[Razgrizi]

No, you are not bound to anything.  Nothing is mandatory.  But, If you want to Play a White Council wizard, you  do have to take the mandatory powers.

Mechanics-wise, there's no difference between a non-wizard character who has thaumaturgy and a Wizard character (with thaumaturgy).

The power, Thaumaturgy, works the same for both.

A Wizard must have the Sight and Evocation as well as Thaumaturgy in order to be recognized by the White Council.  Anything less is a 'minor' talent with some magical ability.  Being a Wizard is mostly a story thing, but you must have the minimum required Powers to qualify as one.

A Focused Practitioner does not have Thaumaturgy because they are focused.  Therefore, the only take Ritual with a single type of Thaumaturgic category.

Your character is a 'minor talent' who knows how to do varied types of rituals.  So you are more flexible as a ritualist (since you're not limited to one specific type of Ritual) but you are not a full-blown Wizard because you don't have the Sight.  Or Evocation.

Also, keep in mind, when I say 'Minor Talent', I'm not talking about the Template from the book.  I'm just talking about someone with some minor magical ability.

So, essentially, if I wanted to go that route, I would be bound, in game of course, by the Laws of Magic and other stuff, but I dont have to take necessary things like the Sight or Evocation?

[Ulfgeir]

So, essentially, if I wanted to go that route, I would be bound, in game of course, by the Laws of Magic and other stuff, but I dont have to take necessary things like the Sight or Evocation?

How bound you are is up to your gaming group. If your character is human, well you are most likely bound though.

/Ulfgeir

[Razgrizi]

How bound you are is up to your gaming group. If your character is human, well you are most likely bound though.

/Ulfgeir

Well, technically speaking, no matter the backstory Im giving them, they would be a mermaid. But, they do have a human form. So, technically speaking, if I casted as a mermaid, I could get away with it correct?

[Ulfgeir]

Well, technically speaking, no matter the backstory Im giving them, they would be a mermaid. But, they do have a human form. So, technically speaking, if I casted as a mermaid, I could get away with it correct?

Most likely yes, but I think though that if you were coming to the attention of any wardens, well they wouldn't exactly invite you over for tea. And if they think of you as a NON-human, well then they are not bound to avoid using magic in trying to kill you.

/Ulfgeir

[Haru]

Well, technically speaking, no matter the backstory Im giving them, they would be a mermaid. But, they do have a human form. So, technically speaking, if I casted as a mermaid, I could get away with it correct?

The wardens are usually quite trigger happy. If you do something against the laws or against a human being, they will probably not think too long. On the other hand, they'll need to find you first.

If you are part of a court, you'll have protection by that court, and the wardens will probably not just hunt you down. But they might ask your superiors to keep an eye on you, or your superiors might do so themselves, if you behave too out of line.

Though, maybe your superiors want you to behave exactly like that, and they put a lot of red tape between you and the wardens to let you keep doing what you're doing.

To that end, you could take sponsored magic instead, with the limitation that it only allows you thaumaturgy stuff. It would be pretty much like thaumaturgy regarding the rules for potions, but you'd have a sponsor added to that. A sponsor gives you an agenda, something the sponsor will push you to do, even if you might not want it or realize it. And it allows you to take sponsor debt in order to do something. For example, increasing the power of a potion on the fly.

[Razgrizi]

The wardens are usually quite trigger happy. If you do something against the laws or against a human being, they will probably not think too long. On the other hand, they'll need to find you first.

If you are part of a court, you'll have protection by that court, and the wardens will probably not just hunt you down. But they might ask your superiors to keep an eye on you, or your superiors might do so themselves, if you behave too out of line.

Though, maybe your superiors want you to behave exactly like that, and they put a lot of red tape between you and the wardens to let you keep doing what you're doing.

To that end, you could take sponsored magic instead, with the limitation that it only allows you thaumaturgy stuff. It would be pretty much like thaumaturgy regarding the rules for potions, but you'd have a sponsor added to that. A sponsor gives you an agenda, something the sponsor will push you to do, even if you might not want it or realize it. And it allows you to take sponsor debt in order to do something. For example, increasing the power of a potion on the fly.

Sponsored magic would be along the lines of a god or goddess correct? Or something like Nicodemus, being a Wizard apprentice, etc?

Story element wise, would it be a good drama to have both involved? Im still finalizing the backstory, with some recent recommendations Ive gotten, but if the mermaid was initially a human and now mermaid, would a drama element being the Wardens wanting to control that characters magic versus,say, the Court of Atlantis wanting to as well because of their recent transformation?

[Haru]

It can be virtually anything, as long as you can explain how that would be able to grant you power. In your case, wasn't there a Fae involved that cursed the mermaid somehow? She could easily be the sponsor in this case, either willing, to make you dependent on her, or unwilling, and you have access to her power through the curse. Both are great opportunities to get involved in the story. Or maybe the sponsor is simply her ancestry, the debt would be that she is forced to act within her nature, against her free will.

[Razgrizi]

It can be virtually anything, as long as you can explain how that would be able to grant you power. In your case, wasn't there a Fae involved that cursed the mermaid somehow? She could easily be the sponsor in this case, either willing, to make you dependent on her, or unwilling, and you have access to her power through the curse. Both are great opportunities to get involved in the story. Or maybe the sponsor is simply her ancestry, the debt would be that she is forced to act within her nature, against her free will.

Perfect. Thank you for helping btw! Im still learning the books myself so having someone guide and clarify a lot is really helpful. The character creation itself is pretty self explanatory, but the Aspect and Background, including balancing for refresh, is intriguing.

Another question for you. One player of mine wants to do a wizard but wants his power to come from drawing cards from a deck. He thought about things like Magic or Yugioh, where, say if he needed a creature, he would need to roll high enough plus possibly pay for it through a fate token. How would that work? Is that a summoning/evocation?