Question On Warding...

Malady wrote: How well covered is "the average home or public building"? ... The level of protection isn't zero, apparently? ... Some low-level protection for a home, by being a home, or having a loving family or something? ... Public buildings have their own wards as part of the building code??

You've been reading too much paranormal urban romance...

inherent protection of homes is an outshot of vampire lore and used as justification as to why vampires can't just kill anyone they want to by just going into their homes while they sleep. Jim Butcher added it to having an impact on wizards too. And a number of authors since have extended it to most magickal creatures... but that's contradictory to mythology and even fiction prior to the 1990's. Until recently, the only thing that required an 'invitation' was a vampire. Anything else, you had to take specific steps for... an iron horseshoe or nail for the Fae and demons, salt for the undead, and so on.

Homes are not any more or less protected than rental houses... or public buildings. Most places have some fundamental isolation as an extension of the Law of Intent. You build a home or a courthouse or a library for a specific reason... usually either to protect the people within it from the natural conditions outside, to provide privacy for the actions within, or to isolate and guard possessions of some sort from those who might take them.

Most public buildings are opened ceremonially. Often with prayer involved. People add locks and protective devices to increase the defended qualities of a place. Freemasons designed many of those public buildings with esoteric mathematics in mind... protecting them from the foundation up.

All of that has an impact. Of course, regular traffic through a place wears on the protections. Places like museums and libraries often feel very open and inviting during the daylight hours and being in them at night often feels wrong... there's a reason for that.

And, of course, in a world that acknowledges the presence of magick... most people will spend a few hundred dollars on basic defensive charms or a ward on their home. Some banks may even make it part of the sale/mortgage requirements to protect their investment. And of course, the modern corporate world has to protect from espionage at all levels... physical guards, cyber-tech, and also against Psi and Magick. There's big money in the WU security consulting business for defensive magick and warding.

The important thing to remember is that the baseline mage thing takes decades to get to the point where you have Essence to burn on something other than advancing your studies and control. The 'average' person will never have a lit Well or have the mental training/discipline to keep it lit once it is lit.

On the other hand, there are people roped in on things like the Witch Queen's pyramid scheme who are actually baseline mages (witches) using low Essence cost spells while mostly acting as part of the Witch Queen's own Essence generating structure. But even there, they only allow one coven in a given region. And the whole network would probably not have been established by a baseline Mage at the top because of the necessary initial Essence investment. Sure, the long term returns can be high... but generally only mutant mages have that sort of Essence on hand before they are nearing a century old.

And yes... the place where that sort of security is important is banks, Fortune 500 companies, military assets, government centers, intelligence offices. And like cybertech security, warding isn't a one time installation. Regular oversight and upgrades are necessary.


Warding isn't a 100 level class though, btw. Even the basics are not first year studies... for one thing, you need solid mental discipline to establish wards. And you also need available Essence and at least some skill in manipulating it in spellcraft. It's also wise to have some knowledge of the worlds outside the physical one because if you just ward the physical world, you leave lots of ways to slip by. More than likely its a 300 level class and is taught in alternating years, with most Magick and Psi Arts students taking it when it is offered either their Sophomore or Junior year.

As a formal specialized class? There aren't enough faculty to teach something that specialized every year Astro. Like everything else in every program, things rotate through. Some people will get lucky and get it their sophomore year because that is when it is taught, others will have to wait.

But in all seriousness, you're missing the point if you think most first years in the Magick Arts program have sufficient Essence available to them to be doing much more than their Intro to Magick or Basic Spellcrafting assignments. Most of which are tailored projects designed to develop their mental discipline and Essence investment systems... so they can actually study advanced magick in their second or third year.

It's not a question of how important it is... its a question of not being able to do it without it killing them because they are not capable of fueling that much magick yet.

No Master lets an Apprentice work inside a circle cast by that Apprentice until the Master is satisfied with the quality/safety of said circle. Yes, when the Apprentice is ready for doing something more risky than creating glowy balls of light; they will be taught to work in safety... but for most of their early program of study, that means working in one of the Magick Arts casting rooms. And no, that is generally NOT their first year as a student. Remember... most baseline mages don't even meet the mental discipline and skill requirements to earn a lit Well in their first year as an Apprentice.

And Astro... think about it for a second. No single year of students is a large enough class to have dedicated sessions on every topic every year. I didn't say it wouldn't happen until year 3. I said it won't probably be a course offered every other year. Which means some students will take it their sophomore year. Some their junior year.

And as to 'look at how magick is tossed around in canon' ... ok. I will. Oh look, these are Wiz 5, 6 ... and 7 mutants with ancient beings in their heads teaching them spellcraft that hasn't existed in the regular world for longer than recorded history. How likely do you think the school's program of study is designed around THOSE students? Please... you know better than that.

Indeed. Let's use college computer science program of study as an example.

You take Programming 101 your freshman year. It's probably Java or C++ ... and you cover compilers sufficiently to learn how to work with your IDE and get code compiled for projects.

But you don't take Compiler Design your freshman year. Nor, likely, is compiler design offered every year. The faculty member that teaches it also teaches language theory and the UNIX classes. So the class is offered in the Fall semester of years ending in an even digit. If you happen to start as a freshman in 2016, it means that class is being taught your first Fall... and the next time it is offered is the Fall of your junior year.

And the recommended prereqs for Compiler Design are Assembly Language and Programming Language Theory... the latter so you can understand how languages are built, parsed, etc. The former so you can program at the level needed to handle what the compiler does with your new language. Prior to taking these classes, you can probably understand concepts... but your ability to actually do the classwork just isn't there. So you aren't going to get to take it in the Fall of your freshman year... that means you wait until your Junior year.


Does this mean you can't learn anything about language design and compilers before you take the advanced course in Compiler Design?

No... don't be obtuse. But there is a WORLD of difference between drawing a circle with a 4 ft diameter and imbuing it with some Essence to create a defensive circle ... and creating a warded vault that will prevent access by world class mages. Or permanent casting chambers, etc.


As to Molly... the Summoning class would be another of the advanced topics classes that you wouldn't generally take as a Freshman. However, given that Molly has the ability innately, she would need the more advanced class details far sooner than the average mage. So she'd be taking Summoning with (mostly) Juniors and possibly even a few Seniors who didn't take it when they were Sophomores when it was last offered. This would be really challenging for Molly as a Wiz 2 if she weren't capable of opening gates without tapping her Essence. But even if they're taught how to make circles and check one to be sure its solid... Summoning will be taught in a classroom with a permanent circle, far more powerful than most of the students will put together prior to leaving Whateley.

But yes, basic circles... personal shields... plenty of things are taught in Intro/Principles. A lot of it from a purely orientation perspective... to reveal what is possible to mages, what to work towards, and why conservation of Essence is critical. After all, even at Wiz 2 or Wiz 3... mages won't be spending every day casting spells in class... they simply won't have the Essence for it. Mostly, they'll spend part of class moving Essence from their Well into a storage device or to power an investment system, as practice in manipulating Essence. This gives them practice in the same techniques for casting, but without burning Essence.

Most of the rest of the time will be spent on foundation knowledge. A good half a semester of Intro would be spent on the Laws alone, and working out applications of where the Laws can apply and be used to enhance the use of one's casting.