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So if I have this right, when one of my characters is using a thaumaturgical ritual, lets say creating wards, then the ward strength and length are determined by how many shifts of power, in total, the character can summon. These shifts get split between desired effect strength and how long the effect will last, right?

Also can the player spend multiple turns, gathering a small amount of power and controlling it every turn, to get a whopping number? For instance, Dan gathers 3 power per turn for 10 turns. He now has a total of 30 power? That seems outrageous to me. He invoked no aspects, just spent time on gathering and controlling.

Questions:

  1. Thaumaturgical rituals are split between strength and duration like evocations, right or wrong?

  2. Can a character use multiple turns to gather energy for thaumaturgy?

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Q: Thaumaturgical rituals are split between strength and duration like evocations, right or wrong?

Right. Spell effect = complexity of spell in shifts, for thaumaturgy. And complexity partially created from strength and duration.

Q: Can a character use multiple turns to gather energy for thaumaturgy?

Yes. [YS p.262]

Choose an amount of power to funnel into the spell and roll Discipline to control that energy, with any uncon trolled shifts potentially becoming backlash or fallout. Unlike evocation, so long as you continue to make your Discipline rolls, you can continue to funnel power into the spell in successive rounds of casting. When the power in the spell equals the complexity, you’ve successfully cast it.

But there is one big whooping No. Channeling energy does not mean meeting spell complexity requirement. You must lower complexity before you can even start to channeling energy for spell. If complexity is higher than your Lore you just can not make this happen.

You must make up the deficit between your Lore and the total complexity of the spell. There are multiple techniques for doing this at the table.

  • Invoke aspects
  • Make declarations
  • Accept or inflict consequences
  • Skip a scene
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    \$\begingroup\$ FYI, bringing down the complexity to be equal or less than Lore, using declarations, aspects, consequences, etc., thematically means going around and doing things to raise your understanding and connection to the ritual. It's mechanically lowering complexity, but fictionally it's more like increasing your lore-understanding and your access to objects of sympathy or power. \$\endgroup\$
    – SevenSidedDie
    Commented Nov 22, 2012 at 16:29

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