Dresden Files Play by Post -

I figured I'd go ahead and get this going for Peter so this will help our sessions go more quickly. It's nice to have a bag of tricks to draw from, and to have the how-to part already worked out. These are mostly examples from the book that I thought would work well for Peter. The last one is one I came up with for the game.

Nevernever Crossover Detection: Allows the caster to determine if anything has crossed the barrier from or into the Nevernever recently.
Type: Thaumaturgy, Divination
Complexity: 6
Effect: The place where the barrier has been broken appears in Peter’s crystal ball.
Preparation: Peter makes a circle in the ground with a rock and meditates inside it.

Tracking Spell: This spell reveals the as-the-crow-flies direction toward a particular person—and continues to do so as the caster travels toward the target. Scribe a circle, concentrate on a symbol, murmur some words of power—and bingo, you have a beacon leading you to your target. This is a very handy thing for a private investigator to be able to do.
Type: Thaumaturgy, Divination
Complexity: Varies according to difficulty to perform equivalent Investigation, usually somewhere from 2 to 8
Duration: About one scene
Effect: Caster is led toward target
Variations: Add a shift or two of power to increase the duration. The required power might be increased, possibly significantly, if the target has wards or some other antidivination block in place. On the other hand, particularly potent symbolic links can be invoked as aspects to grant the caster a bonus.
Notes: This spell requires a symbolic link to the target—a hair, a drop of blood, a signature, a True Name, a valued personal possession, etc. This is a pretty quick and basic spell for a skilled caster; for low power levels, don’t bother rolling—it just works.

Illuminus Magnus: This spell reveals residual magical energies left over from spellcasting and other supernatural activity.
Type: Thaumaturgy, divination Complexity: Varies; typically 3-8 (see Notes) Duration: One scene
Effect: This spell operates much like an assessment action (page 115), but instead of aspects it reveals bits of information about magical activity that’s happened recently in the immediate area. The GM sets the base complexity, usually equal to the original spell- caster’s Discipline score (of course, this spell’s caster won’t know what that score is). If this spell’s complexity matches or exceeds the base difficulty, the GM reveals some tidbit of useful information about the residual magic in the area. For every 2 that the complexity of this spell exceeds the base difficulty, the GM should reveal information.
Variations: The GM might decide that the original caster took steps to cover his tracks, applying an aspect like The Prints were Wiped at the cost of an extra shift or two of complexity. This aspect could be invoked to increase the base difficulty of the divination. For a completely different (and less complex) way of constructing a spell like this, you could treat it as a simple maneuver rather than an assessment; apply an aspect to the scene like Magical Energies Revealed that the caster can immediately tag to apply toward a Lore roll to learn something about the scene.
Notes: This is a pretty simple spell—all you really need is a ritual circle and some copper filings and you’re golden. If the original caster actually intends something to be found, any successful casting of a spell like this will reveal it immediately, regardless of complexity.

Extended Divination: Lots of spellcasters like to do this sort of thing. It helps to have a really strong focus item.
Type: Thaumaturgy, divination
Complexity: Varies; typically at least 8 or 9, sometimes up to 16 or more
Duration: Varies by spell complexity; default is one scene
Effect: The caster can not only observe the target, but monitor the target (audio and
visual) for an extended period of time.
Variations: Casters could up defenses against counterattacks, try to make their projections more difficult to detect, or use different focus items. All these things, of course, add complexity.
Notes: The spell’s base complexity needs to be the target’s Conviction+4, plus any thresholds, wards, or other defenses the target is behind. Duration beyond one scene requires one additional shift of complexity for each step up the time ladder, as discussed in “Duration and Enhanced Evocation” (page 265). A symbolic link to the target is necessary, and a powerful focus item (like Little Chicago) really helps. Unless the caster takes great pains to avoid it, a mostly-invisible, spectral projection of the caster appears in the location of the monitoring’s point of view—this can tip off an unaware but observant target, allowing him to take steps to stop it.

Peer into the past: Allows the caster to figure out a person’s aspects as long as they have a part of that person or their true name.
Type: Thaumaturgy, Divination
Complexity: 34 (4 for vague recent information + 13 to reach back a few years, then doubled for specific information).
Effect: Reveals aspects and information about the target’s background and life which the caster experiences in the form of a dream.
Preparation:
• Peter uses his Contacts tell him Rhiannon’s mortal identity (+2 shift, “I know your true name”).
• In and interview with her father he uses Empathy to find out what she was like (+2 shifts, “The kindest, gentlest person you ever met”).
• Resources to buy some magic crystals from a novelty shop (+2 shifts, “Rhiannon was a Changeling”).
• His Stealth and Burglary skills allow him snag some of Rhiannon’s personal items (+2 shifts, “Rhiannon’s diary”; +2 shifts “Rhiannon’s favorite teddy”).
• With Scholarship he researches how to capture the energy of a gunshot by fixing an antenna wrapped with gold to his crystal ball (+2 shifts, “Energy conductor”).
• He takes his crystal ball to the firing range and unleashes several rounds for the energy (+2 shifts, “Captured energy).
• Using Discipline he fasts for two days (+2 “Purified”)
• and also inflicts a Mild Physical Consequence (“Starving”, +2 Shifts)
• With Lore he can draw a circle with two interlocking opposing triangles inside, upward pointing for knowledge of others, and downward pointing for personal understanding (+2 shifts, “Circular foci”).
• He clears his mind through meditation with Conviction (+2 shifts, “Clear head”).
• With Athletics he does yoga to align his chakras (+2 shifts, “Mystic alignments”).
• Still needs 10 more shifts so Peter can starve himself more to take a moderate physical consequence instead of the mild one (“Malnourished”, +4 shifts), get a faerie to lend its power for the spell in exchange for a small favor in the form of a moderate social consequence (“Small Favor Owed”, +4 shifts), and hold in so much power for the spell that it gives him a splitting migraine as a moderate mental consequence (“Splitting Migrain”, +4 Shifts).
• Instead of these consequences he can also make up the deficit by getting help from Thomas who can create a painting of the target using Performance (+2, “Visual reference”),
• using Discipline to meditate on the target while painting (+2, “Focused thought”),
• he can also use Lore to add more geometric configurations to ritual area (+2, “Sacred configurations”),
• throwing in some of Rhiannon’s favorite imagery he discovered through his Investigation of her (+2, “Sympathetic imagery”)
• and using Conviction to bolster his own belief in what he is doing (+2, “Yes we can”).