The monster is coming. You hear it pounding on the door outside, and you have perhaps a moment before it breaks through, and you need to put it down hard and fast. Fortunately, you're a spellcaster. What is the maximum single target damage that can be done with magic in combat?
Constraints
- Time: The monster just broke down the door and is roaring and beating its chest. You have one round before it charges across the room to you. At which point if it's not dead, you probably are.
- Resources: you have no aspects other than you can make right now and what's already on your sheet. Taking moderate, severe, or extreme consequences is not allowed (already used up? Want to save them for later? something like that) but taking mild consequences and stress are both fine. You have whatever fate points you'd get as starting refresh.
- Build: You have a Submerged power level, with 10 refresh and 35 skill points and a Superb skill cap. You must be using some form of magic to do the damage. Evocation, Enchanted Items, Channeling, Unseelie, doesn't matter. Ritual is fair, but remember the time and resources constraints, so probably not useful. If using sponsored magic, you are limited to one point of debt.
- Dice: Assume you roll 0s whenever you roll.
Bonus points
- Flexibility: being able to do this with multiple elements for example.
- Repetition: being able to do this multiple times over a shorter timespan.
- Reliability: being able to do this even if the dice go against you.
- Simplicity: being able to do this with the simplest combination of powers and fewest rules.
What am I using this for?
- Every time I introduce Dresden to a new group someone wants to be a spellcaster that makes things go boom, and they ask me how to build that. I usually point them at the Wizard template and suggest refinements, but I'm not actually sure this is the best setup for doing this. In a D&D game I can give advice on making an effective fighter, wizard, or etc if a player needs suggestions.
- This would make a great villain. Concessions and consequences mean I can actually go pretty hardball on my players. I've found a single strong blast as an opener usually lends a certain excitement to the fray, or plants the villain firmly in their minds if they decide to bail for now and come back later. If the results from this are too deadly, I can scale back easier than I can build up.
What I know is possible- Using focus items, stunts, and specializations, an evocation user can get a Weapon:14 spell targeting a single foe. Using enchanted item slots for potions, a spellcaster can boost a combat skill by 19 shifts for one attack.
Please do not give "FATE is narrative so do not do this" type answers. This is a mechanical question, I understand FATE is typically predominantly narrative, I am generally proficient in both the underlying philosophy and with the mechanics, and I am looking for optimization advice. DFRPG gives rules for building custom spells, stunts, items, etc, which I would like to see. Sometimes the book says a thing is always fair (Like a stunt giving +1 to a trapping of a skill) sometimes they say it is sometimes fair (like a player getting Mythic Strength.) I am not looking for complete new homebrew, but I am happy with custom options built using the rules in Your Story.