Standard Warden Equipment?

[dspringer1]

The wardens are an organization who can draw upon the resources of the entire White Council.  Why do they not have magical equipment issued to them?   Yes I know they received the swords up until the events in Dead Beat, but why not other items?   I get it - magic is personal.   But problems are consistent.

First the obvious.  Every warden needs personal protection from bullets, swords, claws and clubs.  Why not issue every mage something roughly comparable to Harry's duster?   You can make the argument that protection vs ghosts or fire is an uncommon need, but bullets and claws is pretty common problem. 

The sword filled another need -- disrupting magical constructs like ghosts, demons, magical defenses, or wards.  Very common need when your primary focus is targeting warlocks.   Plus a sword is always useful.   

Third would be the need to communicate.  I guess you can argue that wizards can use phones like anybody else, but phones do not work in the never-never and are not easily carried in the field.   I am less concerned about this one as it is clear that this magic requires concentration, there is magic to "listen in" on this type of communication and other magic that can "jam" it, so communication crystals might just be too hard to use and too unreliable to be routinely issued in the field.

Anybody have any thoughts as to why this is not happening.  Or maybe it is happening, but Harry is just too good to benefit from the standard equipment.   Other obvious equipment help (or other help) that wardens should logically be getting that Harry has not mentioned? 

[Griffyn612]

In one of my fan fics, I had wizards use black communication stones like the one Harry and Eb used in Changes.  It took place during Turn Coat, and the stones were common use for the wardens, but not common for regular members.  That way it could be somewhat excusable for Harry to not have one, being the outcast that he was.

I like the idea of there being a wizard that specializes in networking BCS's for wizards.  The stones would be used to both communicate with and locate each other.  They'd have to be crafted to the individual, so the network couldn't be hacked if one fell into enemy hands.

Less relevant to your post, I also had them use crystal skulls as ward lamps to create barriers against the Undead (with the idea that they were hot commodities back during WW2 thanks to Kemmler's nonsense) but they weren't standard issue.

As for armor, unless it's made from metal, it's probably hard to make a standard issue item that folks could universally refresh on their own.  Even though Harry is probably the Warden that visits Edinburgh the least, the others probably don't go as often as necessary to have someone do the refresh for them.

I'd say their best bet would be to have senior wardens teach new wardens (like Harry did for some of them in the RPG stuff) the basics, and let them craft things themselves that work perfectly with their own magic. 

[Snark Knight]

As for armor, unless it's made from metal, it's probably hard to make a standard issue item that folks could universally refresh on their own.  Even though Harry is probably the Warden that visits Edinburgh the least, the others probably don't go as often as necessary to have someone do the refresh for them.

Well, better & more expensive materials can bring the required maintenance rate down considerably. The Council might not issue much gear directly, but it would be kinda stupid of them to tell their fighting force that resources to increase survivability are their own problem to fund out of their not exactly lavish paychecks.

[jamescagney22]

I think after the war with the Red Court and the Fomor Conflict will result the Council at least the Wardens being more modern with weaponry. Almost all of them are of the younger generation now, so I wouldn't be surprised to see magically enhanced handguns as the new swords at least until Luccio gets her enchanting skills back.

[Rasins]

When you consider that the "basic" equipment given to a police officer in the mundane world includes a Uniform (the Warden's cloak), a Gun (Warden's sword), and their "shield" (a Grey Cloak) it's not really surprising that the Wouncil wouldn't provide much more.

Yes, today, Body armor (Kevlar vest) are routinely worn, but you have to remember that the Wouncil is a bit backward when it comes to modern Methods and the like.

That being said, I'd be surprised if they didn't teach new Wardens different wards and such. Not equipment, but tools none the less.

[wyltok]

The fact that Luccio is the only person in the Council making warden swords suggests an explanation for why there's no standard equipment: there just aren't enough enchanters out there to make the stuff.

That said, apparently wardens do get discretionary funding as part of their stipends meant to help them acquire good materials for enchanting their equipment themselves... Harry spent all of his on Little Chicago.

[Quantus]

I dont think it's a matter of resources so much as Consensus.  Aside from the (thus far) unique anti-magic benefit of the Warden Swords, I doubt there would be any given task where you could get a bunch of different wizards with fundamentally different mindsets to agree on what was the /best/ method of implementing magic Armor or Shields or whatnot.  The argument could be made, for example, that Harry's "Obdurate Bastion" style defenses are not the best, they are terribly inefficient and can be overcome with enough brute force opposition.

The fact that Luccio is the only person in the Council making warden swords suggests an explanation for why there's no standard equipment: there just aren't enough enchanters out there to make the stuff.

That said, apparently wardens do get discretionary funding as part of their stipends meant to help them acquire good materials for enchanting their equipment themselves... Harry spent all of his on Little Chicago.

Said funds also were minuscule, prior to TC they hadnt been updated for Cost of Living in decades.   

[Mr. Death]

I dont think it's a matter of resources so much as Consensus.  Aside from the (thus far) unique anti-magic benefit of the Warden Swords, I doubt there would be any given task where you could get a bunch of different wizards with fundamentally different mindsets to agree on what was the /best/ method of implementing magic Armor or Shields or whatnot.  The argument could be made, for example, that Harry's "Obdurate Bastion" style defenses are not the best, they are terribly inefficient and can be overcome with enough brute force opposition.

Said funds also were minuscule, prior to TC they hadnt been updated for Cost of Living in decades.

Not minuscule -- when he unveils Little Chicago, Harry has a big monologue about how the Wardens are paid more than he'd been letting on.

They'd set the pay rate for Wardens in the fifties--but even the Council wasn't hidebound enough to ignore things like standard inflation, and the Warden's paychecks had kept pace through discretionary funding in--my God, I'm starting to sound like part of the establishment.
Long story short. The Wardens have sneaky ways of getting paid more, and the money I was getting from them, while not stellar, was nothing to sneeze at, either.

[Quantus]

Not minuscule -- when he unveils Little Chicago, Harry has a big monologue about how the Wardens are paid more than he'd been letting on.

A full-time Job that pays for a single Model Train-set, but requires he keep his day job?  Minuscule.  Not an actual  Pittance, but Minuscule. 

[Mr. Death]

A full-time Job that pays for a single Model Train-set, but requires he keep his day job?  Minuscule.  Not an actual  Pittance, but Minuscule.

A single model train-set? We're talking about Little Chicago. A huge thing built out of hundreds of custom-crafted metal and wood structures. He didn't just buy things off a rack. He had to have every single piece customized, and some of them are pretty hefty in themselves.

Custom metal work on that scale is going to cost a fair amount.

The skyline rose up more than a foot from the tabletop, models of each building made from cast pewter--also expensive, given I'd had to get each one made individually. Streets made of real asphalt ran between the buildings, lined with streetlights and mailboxes in exacting detail--and all in all, I had the city mapped out to almost two miles from Burnham Harbor in every direction.

[Quantus]

A single model train-set? We're talking about Little Chicago. A huge thing built out of hundreds of custom-crafted metal and wood structures. He didn't just buy things off a rack. He had to have every single piece customized, and some of them are pretty hefty in themselves.

Custom metal work on that scale is going to cost a fair amount.

Fair amount by hobby expenditure standards, absolutely.  Fair amount as in equivalent to the Salary of a Full-time Job (even setting aside Hazard Pay), I still think Not Even Close. 

[Mr. Death]

Fair amount by hobby expenditure standards, absolutely.  Fair amount as in equivalent to the Salary of a Full-time Job (even setting aside Hazard Pay), I still think Not Even Close.

Harry's not dumb. He knows the value of a dollar. He's the one saying that everything in it is expensive and he says the Warden's salary is "nothing to sneeze at."

I'd trust that he knows how much that means.

[jonas]

Same reason not everyone uses the same spells all the time. If it's standard you can come up with a standardized counter to it. Like Harry did with the old holding spell he learned under Dumorne.

[Quantus]

Same reason not everyone uses the same spells all the time. If it's standard you can come up with a standardized counter to it. Like Harry did with the old holding spell he learned under Dumorne.

Excellent point for a tactical standard of Non-standardization.  I like it. 

Standardization also implies that there would be certain practical spell that any warden can be expected to master, regardless of strength or individual skills.  There may not actually be any such common ground in the base skill-set.  WE know it varies greatly, but not how much reliable overlap there is.

[dspringer1]

Same reason not everyone uses the same spells all the time. If it's standard you can come up with a standardized counter to it. Like Harry did with the old holding spell he learned under Dumorne.

This is a valid point, but I think you take it too far.  After all, nobody says police should avoid wearing Kevlar simply because criminals would "expect it" and counter it.  It helps often enough that it is worthwhile making standard equipment for police operating in dangerous areas/missions.   

Nobody is saying that equipment makes the warden.  Each warden is primarily going to rely on their own personal (and individualistic) magic.   However, some needs are very standard.  Every warden will be attacked by physical weapons (bullets, blades, claws).  Issuing each warden a standard form of protection vs this very common risk makes sense.   It is certainly not going to be the only defense a warden has.  But it is something that every warden will find useful and it can easily save a lot of warden lives.   

For example -- harry has his shield bracelet and his duster.  The duster would be the equipment that sometimes saves his life, but the shield bracelet is his personal defense and the item that saves his life more often.  The duster would be the example of "issued equipment" as it is very general purpose and unintelligent.  It requires no interaction with the wizard.  We have seen other examples of such devices like in the duel with the White court vamps where one had a item to protect against magic. 

Other devices cannot be made by others.  For Harry, the bracelet is far more flexible, but has to be created by Harry as it is really just focusing his own personal magic. 

All I am arguing is that it makes sense for the White Council to issue "some" magical equipment to each warden.  We have not seen evidence of this (as of yet), but it makes sense.