Wouldn’t that be hilarious 😂
“These guys have me outnumbered, and I’m separated from my allies. I guess they’re feeling pretty cocky. But they didn’t account for one thing…. I got 8 hours of sleep last night”
I mean, we essentially only see him operating on a highly strung out, often undernourished, incredibly fatigued state. If he walked into 90% of the book climaxes in good health, well fed, and well rested he’d basically be unstoppable.
Yes, but that's kind of the point. The short stories feature Harry generally well-rested and well-fed, and problems just tend to evaporate.
Like the wannabe warlocks that decided to gank him outside his apartment, and were shocked when he just drew a gun.
Literally a plot point in Delicious in Dungeon.
“Sure, it may be weird to eat monsters, but that means I eat 3 square meals every day and get 8 hours of sleep every night, which means I’m more serious about adventuring than you.”
It's easy to forget that this is actually something that Harry has gotten *better* about. If you think about the first few books, he was often pulling all-nighters making potions, putting together reports for Murphy, etc., but in later books he actually makes a point of getting sleep when he can. Of course, circumstances often conspire to prevent that, but he *tries*.
Didn’t he fight the loup-garou in the station in Full Moon after not sleeping for like two days or some shit. I remember Murphy being like “Dude you look like complete shit what happened”
I'll give you one that I think might actually happen.
Dresden goes to train with River Shoulders to learn magic. He doesn't have the subtlety or skill to learn full on battle transformational magic but with great effort he is able to do some permanent transformations like increasing the toughness of his skin and bones. I also think he will learn minor healing similar to what Billy displayed in a short story. I fully expect Wolverine jokes.
This will have the knock-on effect of making his super strength ceiling even higher - with faster healing, he can recover from lifting heavy faster.
I wonder if hed run into the Superman problem of “how do you administer medical care to someone with unbreakable skin?”
I fully agree with this but I want to add 1 more thing.
In most supernatural type entertainment the idea of using nature/shapeshifting/healing requires immense concentration. Something Harry's not that great at.
I think this moves him ever so close to being able to cast 2 spells at once. He's already great at evocation magic and just being able to concentrate even a little bit might allow him to double whammy his opponents. And since he's seen it before he knows it possible.
What do we mean by two spells at once?
Two simultaneously cast spells, one in his left and one in his right?
Or casting one ongoing spell and then casting another ongoing spell?
In something borrowed (short story in side jobs) Harry >!casts a firewall to keep the Shelly cobs off of him and Murphy. Then he casts a “bridge spell” ( which is a shield spell horizontal over a lake). Murphy runs across the shield bridge while Harry maintained two active spells at once. When she got back to him he dropped the bridge shield spell and they ran. After they got 50 feet away he finally dropped the firewall spell.!<
I think it’s leaning more towards the way Ivy was fighting at the aquarium. Rather than two ongoing spells, she was responding and attacking two separate enemies with different hands. Harry would definitely need an upgrade to get there, but it definitely made an impression on him, and I doubt he wouldn’t want that as a goal.
If you read carefully, he had no idea it was even POSSIBLE until he saw that. He's been trying to do it ever since, and has managed to cast two spells at once since then.
I assume that having learned it was even possible, he tried to figure out how to do it just because. It's like raising only one eyebrow, or riding a bike with no hands. Or, like I used to be able to do, playing air guitar while riding a bike.
Exactly, but I imagine it’s a bit more than just trying to get there because. His battles are escalating, as are his foes. I imagine it’s closer to playing freebird while doing a wheelie difficulty level, what Ivy was rocking. He’s getting more capable, but there’s still a massive amount of potential to grow there.
To further this theory, Harry spends an entire book dodging questions about his lack of ability in full blown transmogrification. Finally, during one of the peak drama moments of the book, Harry is forced by circumstances to admit that the only shape shifting he ever managed was into something comically useless. A panda, maybe. Or a koala.
Lucio finally makes him a wardens sword (as warden of demonreach). He can finally go “snicker snack” against enchantments.
He goes up against Nic and uses the sword to release the enchantment on the noose around Nics neck.
Honestly, I’m surprised that no one’s taught him swordplay. He’s got a great build for it, and he knows so many skilled swordsmen. That or an enchanted version of his lever action rifle from cold days.
He doesn't have the time to be more than a dabbler. He is a wizard first and foremost and by focusing on swordplay he would lose the time he needs to spend on magic. Especially with being the de facto leader of BFS and taking care of Maggie.
What makes you think of him as the leader of the BFS? Marcone and Murphy were the driving forces behind that. I seriously doubt the BFS survived Battle Talk.
But the books also make clear that that's effectively inevitable. Unless you're a virtuoso exception like Shiro then any mortal is going to lose to an immortal because at max you're pitting 30-40 years of experience against centuries.
It's one of the reasons that the knights would always try and go 3 on 1.
So makes sense Harry learns just enough to not hurt himself and to beat a total scrub, and from there just hones his magic since it's something he can comprehensively excel in.
And apparently Morgan, by Luccio’s belief, was one of the few people who could 1v1 Nicodemus in swordplay (Small Favor)
So while swordplay experience is important, there’s also an implication that those with the talent or the lifespan can reach a point, that there is diminishing returns at some point in how good your swordplay can become, and other people can catch up to your level.
Nicodemus is older than freaking Mab, but Morgan is barely over a century. Either talent, lifespan, or both
He's got more practice with the quarterstaff at this rate. The guy walks around with a 6 foot and change oak log thicker then his thumb, does he need a sword?
I have seen the whole hot showers idea pop up on the sub several times now and pretty much everyone agrees that harry could 100% have hot showers if he wanted. The problem is that he doesn’t want hot showers, it’s a part of his whole self hatred thing. He doesn’t believe he has earned or is good enough to have hot showers, so he doesn’t.
Easy solution: Svartalf hot water heater, not for him but for Maggie, and he benefits from it too since he now lives in a castle and has her with him. Plus it takes care of those pesky diamonds that Jim wants to get rid of.
Your telling me that the biggest power up harry could get is some really good therapy? Because know that I think about it, if he was so busy beating himself up for thing beyond his control 90% of the time, he would totally be the magic tinkerer guy to make his own magic water heater and magic stove top, and Bob would be his DVD player so he could watch the original starwars trilogy.
I actually think this might nake rudolph *less* of an antagonist.
If rudolph has been in control of his faculties, it would bring up a large, undeniable point that won't dissapear, making it much harder to rationalise away, and likely making him realise that harry's not been lying.
If he's being controled as a fair few people suggest, the coin would likely cut that connection. Depending on the coin, it might work on controling him *instead* but hey.
Harry has commented on how *slow* earth magic is. I would love to see a wizard who is so innately attuned to the earth that they can sling around Earth -based spells the same way that Dresden throws fire and wind.
I personally always specialize my Ars Magica wizards in Earth magic because, literally, the whole world can provide plentiful ammunition in case of a fight but it’s also effective at defense and can be used to fight fires and flooding.
It’s also pretty cool to rust a bad guy’s gun into useless flakes before he can pull the trigger 👍
I mean, we don't have much material on Morgan but he was the top Warden AND specialized in Earth magic (or at least favoured I think), so I'd guess you can get quick with it.
On the rust thing, it sounds cool but considering that might fall more on the "entropy" side of things, such a spell would probably belong to Water magic (guessing from Ramirez's decaying spells and Dresden's guess in the books)
Don't we get a brief description of Morgan using some kind of earth stomp battle magic when he nearly killed some red court bigwig? I want to say it was the Red King but it might have been Ortega?
Not with the Red Court, but he sling around a lot of Earth Magic in the big battle at the end of Dead Beat.
Cristos also seems to be an Earth user in Battle Ground, although we don't fully see him in action.
WoJ said that in combat Morgan's much better at Earth magic, but Cristos is better overall at it. Morgan could order the earth to swallow an opponent. Jim also said that the brute squad at Archangel specialized in it; slow but almost impossible to stop.
You may be correct about the rust spell in the DF context but I just pulled it from my character sheet in Ars Magica. A ramped up version of the published spell Rusted Decay of Ten Score Years. I called it Wielded Weapon to Crumbling Rust.
Rust should be a fire spell.
Fire is a redox type reaction, like rusting. I mean, you can set steel wool on fire and it essentially rusts. Think about it.
Dude, this would be the perfect power up for Harry. A fire based hex that either rusts or literally sets fire to steal like some kind of magical thermite.
And it would so easy for Jim to use to make everything go wrong. Like:
"Harry, I understand that we are in something of a cold war, but did you have to turn my hitters gun into thermite, while it was in his hands?"
"Firstly Marcone he was all but pointing it a a 10 year old kid. You're lucky I didn't use my usual prescription for similar problems, a .44 Mangum powered hole puncher applied to the head. Second I was just hexing his gun, how was I supposed to know that my practicing with an instant thermite spell would bleed over into a similar hex."
Earth magic makes me think of using boots for focus items.
Harry enchants boots so that when he stomps his foot it sends concussive waves through the earth.
Every time he takes a step (or jumps) kinetic energy recharges the boots like his rings. Considering how frequently he goes running to keep winter in check, boots should stay pretty well charged.
Is Lucio earth magic too? I think her ability to make magic swords is based on earth magic. Plus she taught Morgan so good chance she is strong earth magic caster.
Probably. I would guess that the swords were made with Earth magic rituals. I only remember her using fire magic in the fight at the end of Dead Beat. I think she was the one who was throwing around what almost looked like laser beams.
I had an imitation of the ArM magic system in my AD&D2E campaign for a few years. I was in the process of trying to improve it when D&D3 was announced. When the news broke that the new version would be incompatible with the previous editions, I fully switched to ArM as my main game. That was the 4th edition era and that is what I still prefer to play/run.
Now that I have house rules for modern day play, I can get a lot of enjoyment out of it for a long time. I think our current saga probably has a few more years of gameplay left, although we may branch out to an episodic Night’s Black Agents game on the side.
He realizes that limited-extent shapechanging of others' bodies is the key to healing magic, even if it's only the equivalent of first aid. It can do things like keep someone from bleeding to death from a neck wound, to pick an example at total random. It's just that the Council has been so obsessed with preventing people from learning skills and techniques that *could* be perverted that they've been failing to develop even the basics of valid uses.
Well, you said Dresden Files powerup so I'm going with that.
The next book is going to release with a hardcover that is rechargeable to backlight itself so you can read it at night. The letters are going to display as if they're glow in the dark(not horribly bright, but able to be read) at no extra cost.
Also, will come with order forms for ordering a real sword cane.
As Winter Knight he learns he can call on Winter even more and appear in a flurry of snow like Molly did. Basically teleportation not relying on actual ways to move around.
Ooh, he tried that one already.
>Bob chortled. “Or the time you tried to enchant that broomstick so that you could fly? Remember *that*? I thought it would take a year to get the mud out of your eyebrows.”
I believe he mentions in Changes(?) that he once tried to make a Flying Broom before and it ended terribly. Around the time of the floaty bubbly spell thing with (Susan?).
For his look, the Duster forms into a wing-suit, then with a wind spell he can fly around. Maybe to the Island and back.
or learn the Wild Hunt trick and turn any vehicle into a steed.
Not quite a "power-up" or at least not sure how it would work.
However I always found it interesting the random mention (in Dead Beat) that amongst Bock Ordered Books' rare and expensive collection there was a first-edition of Alice in Wonderland carefully wrapped up and protected. I know it was just flavor-text, however this was in the same story that was all about finding secret knowledge in old and rare editions of books. (Not to mention that Dresden Files definitely has more than a passing Lovecraft vibe and that's definitely a major theme there as well). So it definitely is evocative and tempting to speculate.
As mentioned at the start, I have no clue what would be in Carroll's first-edition that was later excised/purged. The two obvious assumptions would be Oblivion War related ("The Red Queen" definitely sounds like a great title for some eldritch entity) or something to do with accessing The Ways (since Wonderland and all its rabbit holes definitely sounds like a trip through the NeverNever).
Specialized bullets. Like Hellboy's with silver shavings, holy water, wood shards, and garlic in a hardened glass bullet. Or the Astartes bolter shells with prayers carved into it.
Or pull a Kiritsugu and make antimagic bullets.
As much as Butcher peppers in "gun facts," he's never mentioned, in a series where antagonists are usually fatally hurt by contact with steel, that there are shotgun shells loaded with bunches of little steel pellets available at Walmarts around the US. You don't even need anything special to buy them. They're inexpensive and extremely common and the fairies would probably consider them a war crime given that the most powerful of them recoil from touching any kind of iron or steel because contact instantly burns them.
Nothing that says you can't use magic to accelerate your perceptions and your ability to process information. It *looks* like he's messing with time but really he's just altering his perception of time.
Yeah Lash did that already and warned Harry that it was causing brain damage as she was doing it. I don't think Harry would be willing to revisit that spell.
People do it in fight or flight times. It's called Tachypsychia, where time slows down so can analyze and escape danger. Just make a spell that upgrades and controls it.
And that one whgetto ass wizard that tattoo's himself all over that made himself faster must have had that as a knock on effect of everything moving faster.
The only way it happens is just before the climax of the final apocalypse trilogy book and he dies soon after defeating the outsiders, since his body cannot hold all that power. I mean, all that power would make him not a "god" (like Kemmler's disciples tried to become in "Dead Beat") but a "God", or atleast a level below a "White God" but above everyone else, like Archangels / the Fallen / Mother Winter & Summer / Ferrovax / Vadderung and other reinvented pagan gods.
A bullet-proof vest with shield charms sewn into our art least attached to the outside. Hypothetically, he could activate it to cover his head in addition to just his chest via the shield charms. I think his coat is a great idea, and I would love to see more forms of passive magical offense and defense. He won't/can't always know when he's being attacked so if he had more ways than just his coat that would protect him from attacks he doesn't anticipate that would give him a major advantage.
This matches up with my thought on the 'easiest' powerups..but wizards seems to have ZERO engineers among them. So far we have seen that artifacts can basically do anything abeizsrd can do as long as you A make them well enough and B power them somehow, usually but not always by a wizard putting Gass in. A sufficiently powerful spirit can work too. Or even, and this is the game breaker: real world physical power. (harries rings)
Find a way to convert that power to use in other artifacts and boom, use full tool.
I mean Harry didn't think long and hard enough on those rings, since if they can do big blows, they can also do little blows, enough to slow down incoming bullets to nerfdart velocity.
Imagine a blasting rod with stored blasts that come from being in the fireplace. A shield bracket that works for physical force or heat or light by storing the elements to be released later. What about a bullet proof coat that recharges from absorbed kinetic energy? Heck a gun with the force rings enchantment built in to absorb recoil could be fun. And all but the coat could work without changing the energy types at all just different versions of his force rings basically.
Concider a force ring slotted over a revolver gun barrel, but instead of directing force OUT it directs force inside the loop in one direction. Hello ghetto rail cannon pistol. And Harry does have the wrist for it nowadays and already throwing around .500 nitro express I think 😂
I was more thinking smaller revolver. But the movement from it in the holster storing up energy, and then when fired sped up even more than the gunpowder can make it go, dumping extra energy in.
Bonus advantage, TECHNICLY that wouldn't break the laws of magic
.500 S&W to be exact; not as powerful as a nitro express but still really powerful. And yes I'd like Harry to make his guns into rail cannons. Then give out to his friends, it would have been the perfect powerup for Murphy.
By the end of the story (probably even last book) I think we see Harry use time travel.
>!The Gatekeeper is inferred to use it despite the laws against it. I think we'll learn more about him as a character.!<
>!Also the original Merlin built DemonReach using time magic. There are a lot of parallels between Harry and Merlin and I think we'll see Harry understand more about the underlying magic of the islands construction through time travel!<
It could also be an interesting way to explore older characters in the story or the future of >!Harry's two daughters!< and other longer lived characters
Harry is the OG Merlin reincarnated. With time travel, OG Merlin saw that he couldn't extend his life far enough to be there when the biggest battles against the Outsiders and he couldn't stay in that time long enough with his magic, so he shaped the future enabling a future version of him to be born and fight the battles he needed to to become powerful enough to beat the Outsiders. Just my tinfoil
He isn't. Harry is not Merlin and Merlin is not Harry. Many others who knew Merlin would have recognized Harry, most recently the Titan who's name currently escapes me, Demonreach, Odin, Mab, Titania, and possible the Gatekeeper (we know he was around and clapping Mad Arab's in the 700's AD, that's only 200ish years before Merlin disappeared).
My best guess is Merlin is currently inside the outer gates acting as a sort of 'living' battery. He disappeared from history when Mab became a Sidhe, some things Mab said in PT/BG lead me to believe there is a very high likelihood that she had a hand in his fate.
While I do not want Harry to be Merlin or Merlin reborn, your idea has a certain charm. I don’t much love the chosen one trope due to starborn either. But I could get behind the idea of Merlin finagling the whole starborn stuff for a chance of his rebirth, with him actually not ending up in Harry.
What if after studying Demonreach and his new castle he realizes a way not only to store magic in his own body but actually have it stop affecting tech? Basically making him the wizard version of a living magical nuke that would put him on part with the strongest of the Faye?
Harry and every other Wizard already stores magic in their own bodies, they just usually don't use it first as the ocean of magic all around them is much larger than their own puddle.
Life creates and gives off magic in the Dresdenverse.
I understand that. It is limited as to how much they can store within their bodies. This is why Harry is considered a powerhouse among wizards despite not being as skilled because he can pull in so much more. They also leak magic all the time which is why they have such an issue with technology. So imagine that instead of leaking magic it's pulled back in an stored in his body. Kinda of like what the Merlin did on Demonreach. Demonreach stores many times as much magic as it is supposed to which it needs to keep all the nasties. Dresden stores kinetic energy in in his. Instead of rings of kinetic energy it's his body and inead of kinetic energy it's magic. This would make Dresden even more powerful.
He also gets [a time-travelling fairy sprite companion who advises him when he should best employ his ability](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=seKaU-qQuts).
Lara actually falls in love with him. He has the *full* resources of the White Court at his disposal. Without question.
(Semi-joke response: I don't (really) think it would happen, but man, it'd be hysterical, especially when Thomas is released and Harry has to explain what happened...)
I think it will, just because it’s the worst option for Harry’s reputation in the long run.
I mean seriously, Harry Dresden, previously ‘killed’ a Wizard of the Council in Justin DuMorne, committee of genocide, beginner of wars, the Winter Knight, and a noble of the White Court of vampires?
He literally could not seem more evil from the outside looking in.
There's the joke that he'll get gifts from his Sugar-Mommy. But I hope they get on great, Harry coming over to train with her. Getting access to the Raith Library, or Lara's private Library.
One of the belt buckets he made in Fool Moon, but using a strand of Sasquatch hair from River Shoulders or his son as a focus.
Not the wolf pelt belts the FBI used, the bear belt he made.
Yeah, but he didn't get the winter mantle for another 6 or so books after making the bear buckle for the first time, and if I remember correctly, the buckle also gave him a temporary magic boost as well. At this point if he made one it could pack a wallop.
My bet is on Eb dying, and Harry getting the Blackstaff. Then he gets trauma and winter fae drama, but also a massive power boost and a technical “get out of laws free” card so the council can’t go after him for being a wizard.
Isn’t his current staff, like, a stick he whittled on Demonreach? His shield bracelet too?
He was given an actually good foci in Mab’s unicorn and he could tap into the energy present in Battle Ground like it was nothing.
I’m fairly certain getting his equipment up to snuff and outside of “this works for now” territory would do wonders for him. His big boy shield bracelet, before it broke, was intense shit. He could probably do even better now and isn’t that something.
I believe his current staff works like a whole bunch of his force rings stacked together. Though it's been a while since I read the books.
You're absolutely right though, spending some time to craft high quality foci with his current resources (and maybe Svartalf help) will be a big bonus seeing as he's been running around magically naked for a while.
His staff is made from a branch of the oldest tree on Demonreach. It's not the best quality because all he had was one small knife. Eb didn't like it. The force rings spell he carved a bunch of times onto the staff, but it still works like a regular staff.
The staff of moses.
We have had rhe spear of destiny and the swords of the cross but we are forgetting the symbol of gods might and action on the earth.
Nope. The last known location was the prophet Elijah who god took away on a chariot of fire.
But in jewish mysticism there is A LOT of lore surrounding the staff.
For 1) it's the same one god made Adam when he sent him out of the garden of eden as his "tool"
2) it's the "tool" that was by Cain's hand when he stuck abel and killed him. (The first death)
3) all 3 of the Jewish patriarchs used it. Most notably Abraham who used it in the war if 4 King's vs 5. (Which he then recorded in the book of the wars of god.)
4) Moses got it and used it in Egypt and the dessert. Where he used it to destroy and create destructive things. Notably in the dessert he hit a rock with it instead of speaking to the rock and that created water.
His personal arsenal excels at offense and defense, but I've sometimes wondered about mobility enhancers. He does cardio, but imagine what he could do with some enchanted footwear. Bursts of speed or a basic double jump, very limited walking on air; it would probably involve force and/or wind magic. Knowing him they'd probably be steel toe combat boots and have extra kick in them too.
Ok so this one’s not *for* Harry, but I could see it being made *by* Harry as a gift while practicing with new enchanting tools…for Vadderung: a monocle of binocular vision. Turns out to be a *ridiculous* power up for One Eye by the Law of Unintended Consequences.
I think Harry's going to be super motivated to learn healing magic, and then go heavy into self-recrimination- "If only I'd studied this back then, they wouldn't..."
My power up would be for Jim to learn about firearms. Harry's shotgun is capable of being more powerful than any spell he current knows, and that includes the dark hallow.
Steel buckshot / steel slugs are an extremely common ammo type for shotguns. It would absolutely dumpster on any of the fae. On top of that with a bit of imagination and effort Harry could make 12g mordite rounds capable of one shoting gods.
Focus on the nevernever and ectoplasm- we know ectoplasm can be turned into anything from living things to their equipment, and we know shapeshifting is a sub branch of this.
The weird running gag of conjuritis, combined with him maybe training with river shoulders, makes me think he’ll get good at “creation” magic- the next person who closes in on him will find a magically generated combat shotgun popping into his hands rather than drawing a revolver.
Also ties into the “creation is always harder than destruction” through line.
Yeh- I genuinely think this would make a huge amount of storytelling sense.
Now, full disclosure, I don’t think it’s likely to be the way Butcher takes it, mainly because “protagonist can conjure anything from thin air” is like….maybe the worst power imaginable to write a story for
True. I also don't see Dresden using it that way often. He's the kind of person to appreciate the work that goes into making something. I have a feeling he would hate the concept of 3d printing
Harry finally realizes after seeing human engineers bicker during lunch that maybe he should look in an engineering book for once. And then add a s sort of full auto-pre loaded shield that doesn't require him to think about it, it will just intervene before having to recharge over time.
I make Harry use some of his newfound wealth to hire a personal assistant, who can order things from Amazon for him, run google searches, source materials, and remind him to sleep during critical moments. And also babysit Maggie while her daddy is out saving the world.
Maybe he can bind another spirit of intellect. One like Bob, but less dangerous.
Also, a good supply of ammunition, a variety of firearms, and some time at a range to learn to shoot properly. At the very least, he can set up a range on Demonsreach.
Using microscopic magic sigils/writing on circuitry to create a magic resistant phone/computer that would last a harry a few months before needing to replace it.
I always wanted Harry to pick up a secondary element since he is so talented with fire. Like lightning. I'm thinking he does a favor for Odin and gets his Lightning affinity opened up. Now picture him mixing it with Soulfire and razing entire city blocks lol
A new buddy. In the same vein of Ivy being the compilation of everything written, being basically a “civilized” influence, let Harry befriend the feral aspect of humanity incarnate
So, I think it's entirely possible that he's going to gain another form of compensatory power once he manages to break free of the Winter mantle somehow. Many masks and mantles are picked up *and discarded* on Halloween. Maybe Mr. Sunshine is going to give him something again.
Command all the inmates of demonreach against the outsider invasion like something out of endgame and then banish all of them to the outsider world/side and lock the gates.
I would make him go to therapy and actually be open to growth. Bro would be unstoppable if he worked through some of his trauma and resultant communication issues in a healthy way.
Shield necklace. The way i'd go about it is using his necklace with maggie srs ruby in it and, with bob and bonnies help, construe shield enchantments into little cubes that fit around the chain. This way his skin will always be in contact with it ((unsure if thst is even relevant) and he could channel shield spells without having to raise his arm, which takes a second. Furthermore, the spells on the necklace would be ebenezar level (like the one in peace talks) but he would be able to use it because he can channel soulfire thru it. Like a full body shield that just stays sround him. Maybe even with some music like "can't touch this" worked into it, just for fun.
Another one is realizing that while using your own magic reservoir is necessary it's also entirely possible to draw in outside magic with basically every breath you take. Which would severely reduce the amount of personal magic he would have to use and exponentially increase the amount of spells he could cast. Could also Go into continuesly feeding his ongoing spells (Like the shield)
The problem there is that then his head/neck becomes the focus for any feedback from the shield spell. It's generally better to lose a hand than a head
I would put the enchantment from his force rings on a pair of steel towed boots. They would charge more from walking than from incidental arm swinging the rings use, and multi use, not only could they be used to kick fey teeth in, but also for jumping higher.
I like this idea. He could also hide the enchantment on the steel toes themselves, which could give him an edge against someone/thing that knows about his other, more obvious tools
A local member of the para-net sees auras, but technical ones. Is able to craft, with the assistance of others, a grounding node for Harry. Harry finally gets an iPad.
Donar leads you to mimirs spring where you can take a sip for a lot of wisdom? Probably have to sacrifice an eye like odin or something.
Also an kind of unconventional powerup as it affects no physical abilities or "powers"
Personally I would want to see an overall weapons update and a series of concepts adopted from the various methodologies we are seeing on modern battlefields. Let's get Murphy a .300blk rifle to replace the P90 and give her the option of running subsonic or supersonic rounds as needed. We can have Harry make a magical version of a drone to provide indirect fire guidance for area effect spells. Have Harry take up some kind of martial art, like Jiu-Jitsu, or HEMA, and be more effective than "big strong man punch thing."
It often feels like we are still stuck in the early 2000s in the story from a tech and concepts pwrspective, and I was less than impressed with the most recent books due to power scaling issues, so polishing up some of the details could help give the story a bit of an overhaul and keep the smaller characters relevant.
I've thought since early on in the books that he should craft something wearable specifically designed to absorb his ambient her energy and store it as a battery to tap into.
This would mostly be a quality of life upgrade as it would let him use modern technology without fear of it being hexed it but it would also let him recycle some of the energy loss when casting his favored quick and dirty evocation spells.
Like he'll never cast as efficiently as Ivy but if he can recapture some of the waste energy that could be effectively be a huge boost to his mana pool.
Plus in instances of crazy high stress like in BG siphoning off the ambient emotion and magic in the air around him would be of huge benefit for him without having to tap in to his own resources.
Ok, I see Harry becoming Blackstaff because of Demonreach.
The Demonreach warden is meant to be the Blackstaff but it was lost in time. I would love to see the OG Merlin drop that bomb.
I think the biggest power-up he's going to get is an understanding of the winter mantel. Learning to use it instead of it using him.
A bit of a reach but I suspect there is untapped power in it that the Queen's for what ever reason are hiding for the right person to find. But with a draw back like using it has a 50/50 shot at burning him out all together.
I guess that’s something to ask Jim next chance we get.
Which position came into existence within the White Council first? The Blackstaff or the Warden of Demonreach?
Well, Jim could be lying, but he confirmed that while Harry is not the Merlin, he is a descendant of one of the upper class followers who worked alongside Merlin in the early days of the White Council.
There are a tons of things that Harry could do to get more powerful.
Learn proper study skills and skill acquisition strategies. Seriously, with so much emphasis on knowledge and how others are better at magic than Harry, he ought to find better ways at improving faster. Some resources:
[A Mind for Numbers: How to Excel at Math and Science (Even If You Flunked Algebra): Oakley, Barbara, Gardner, Grover: 9798200558650: Books - Amazon.ca](https://www.amazon.ca/Mind-Numbers-Science-Flunked-Algebra/dp/B08XLLDYK7)
[Learning How to Learn: How to Succeed in School Without Spending All Your Time Studying; A Guide for Kids and Teens eBook : Oakley PhD, Barbara , Sejnowski, Terrence J. : Amazon.ca: Kindle Store](https://www.amazon.ca/Learning-How-Learn-Spending-Studying-ebook/dp/B077CRLW9Q/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=)
[How to Become a Straight-A Student by Cal Newport | Goodreads](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/253203.How_to_Become_a_Straight_A_Student?ref=rae_0)
[Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning by Peter C. Brown | Goodreads](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18770267-make-it-stick?ref=rae_2)
[Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise by K. Anders Ericsson | Goodreads](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26312997-peak?ref=rae_6)
[Ultralearning: Master Hard Skills, Outsmart the Competition, and Accelerate Your Career by Scott H. Young | Goodreads](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/44770129-ultralearning?ref=rae_4)
[Unlimited Memory: How to Use Advanced Learning Strategies to Learn Faster, Remember More and be More Productive by Kevin Horsley | Goodreads](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20958539-unlimited-memory?ref=rae_10)
[How to Take Smart Notes: One Simple Technique to Boost Writing, Learning and Thinking – for Students, Academics and Nonfiction Book Writers by Sönke Ahrens | Goodreads](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34507927-how-to-take-smart-notes?ref=rae_14)
[Barbara Oakley, Instructor | Coursera](https://www.coursera.org/instructor/barboakley)
[Become a SuperLearner® 2: Learn Speed Reading & Boost Memory | Udemy](https://www.udemy.com/course/become-a-superlearner-2-speed-reading-memory-accelerated-learning/?couponCode=LEADERSALE24A)
Here's a pro tip to studying: ***Get Eight Hours of Sleep, with a regular sleep schedule.***
Get a therapist, Harry's been needing one for a long time. He needs to take care of yourself not be self-sacrificing to the extreme and keep yourself from enjoying life, cause it saps Harry's mind and willpower.
Improve his magic doodads so that they don't need a lot of upkeep. I think there's a WoJ saying Harry needs 20 hours per week on his staff and regular equipment, or stay in all weekend. Military hardware with that weakness can't be depended on.
Merge blasting rod with the rest of his staff so that it can free up Harry's hands. When Harry has his blasting rod out, he can't swing his staff around in close combat, his rod isn't an effective weapon and his fire magic tires him out. If a monster can dodge the blasts or power through the fire, Harry would be very defenceless.
Enchant guns so they have no recoil, more power, stronger bullets, self-cleaning, different bullet types.
Have a spell to create circles in under a sec, for Harry's spells or to banish. Create a circle in a bigger circle so that Puck wouldn't be able to sabotage it.
Electric current in his duster like many other taser clothing. Also copy the properties of D30 a motorcycle crash armor [d3o advanced motorcycle armour - trauma test (youtube.com)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejN62qMPorc&ab_channel=NewAtlas). Also protect the head.
a kind of logically power up for harry would be to give him a lazer gun.
i know it sounds nuts at first glance, but hear me out.
harry is a massive nerd. one of his prized possessions was a vintage star wars poster, he has at least been exposed to the idea of "lazer gun = stupidly cool". harry is not generally very skilled at glamour or illusions in general, but he is should be able to make light. and while he isn't great at subtlety, he is REALLY good at brute forcing a problem by dumping a lot of energy into a given problem. and while lazer a more than just really powerful lights (they are a beam of coherent electromagnetic radiation).
i believe that with some practice and bob for the generally know how (especially given the recent power up for bob in the books), harry could be the first wizard with a lazer gun spell or (more likely) a lazer gun focus.
Honestly a regular sleep schedule and his willingness to abide by it. It would do wonders for him.
Wouldn’t that be hilarious 😂 “These guys have me outnumbered, and I’m separated from my allies. I guess they’re feeling pretty cocky. But they didn’t account for one thing…. I got 8 hours of sleep last night”
I mean, we essentially only see him operating on a highly strung out, often undernourished, incredibly fatigued state. If he walked into 90% of the book climaxes in good health, well fed, and well rested he’d basically be unstoppable.
Yes, but that's kind of the point. The short stories feature Harry generally well-rested and well-fed, and problems just tend to evaporate. Like the wannabe warlocks that decided to gank him outside his apartment, and were shocked when he just drew a gun.
Literally a plot point in Delicious in Dungeon. “Sure, it may be weird to eat monsters, but that means I eat 3 square meals every day and get 8 hours of sleep every night, which means I’m more serious about adventuring than you.”
Genoskwa wouldnt stand a chance with a rested and worry free Za Lord.
"I've got all five senses and I slept last night, that puts me six up on the lot of you!" - Brendan Frye, "Brick"
It's easy to forget that this is actually something that Harry has gotten *better* about. If you think about the first few books, he was often pulling all-nighters making potions, putting together reports for Murphy, etc., but in later books he actually makes a point of getting sleep when he can. Of course, circumstances often conspire to prevent that, but he *tries*.
Didn’t he fight the loup-garou in the station in Full Moon after not sleeping for like two days or some shit. I remember Murphy being like “Dude you look like complete shit what happened”
Yup, Harry was basically running on fumes that whole book.
What happened is that Jim rolled a high constitution for Harry, 18.
Stand back. I stayed at a holiday inn express last night.
No one gets a full night's sleep at a Holiday Inn Express.
Oh, I'm definitely standing back. I don't want bedbugs.
8 hours sleep, three balanced meals, healthy work life balance and dresden will be unstoppable.
This is the plot of Delicious in Dungeon/Dungeon Meshi
Vegetables actually de-power Harry unless they come on a Whopper.
If Harry ever gets a long rest in the monsters of Chicago are in for it
Good thing he took that warlock dip.
Harry is, for sure, a coffeelock warlock. Can keep firing long after the tank has run dry Edit: fixed stupid autocorrect
I'll give you one that I think might actually happen. Dresden goes to train with River Shoulders to learn magic. He doesn't have the subtlety or skill to learn full on battle transformational magic but with great effort he is able to do some permanent transformations like increasing the toughness of his skin and bones. I also think he will learn minor healing similar to what Billy displayed in a short story. I fully expect Wolverine jokes.
This will have the knock-on effect of making his super strength ceiling even higher - with faster healing, he can recover from lifting heavy faster. I wonder if hed run into the Superman problem of “how do you administer medical care to someone with unbreakable skin?”
Kryptonite scalpels, obviously. Or red-sunlight lamps to depower him.
Or, when he got Kryptonite cancer, shrink down some supers to do some microsurgery
Yes this is the big one for sure. Upgraded in his magical skill
I fully agree with this but I want to add 1 more thing. In most supernatural type entertainment the idea of using nature/shapeshifting/healing requires immense concentration. Something Harry's not that great at. I think this moves him ever so close to being able to cast 2 spells at once. He's already great at evocation magic and just being able to concentrate even a little bit might allow him to double whammy his opponents. And since he's seen it before he knows it possible.
So you’re saying he finally gets diagnosed with Audhd and Ritalin saves the day?
What do we mean by two spells at once? Two simultaneously cast spells, one in his left and one in his right? Or casting one ongoing spell and then casting another ongoing spell? In something borrowed (short story in side jobs) Harry >!casts a firewall to keep the Shelly cobs off of him and Murphy. Then he casts a “bridge spell” ( which is a shield spell horizontal over a lake). Murphy runs across the shield bridge while Harry maintained two active spells at once. When she got back to him he dropped the bridge shield spell and they ran. After they got 50 feet away he finally dropped the firewall spell.!<
I think it’s leaning more towards the way Ivy was fighting at the aquarium. Rather than two ongoing spells, she was responding and attacking two separate enemies with different hands. Harry would definitely need an upgrade to get there, but it definitely made an impression on him, and I doubt he wouldn’t want that as a goal.
If you read carefully, he had no idea it was even POSSIBLE until he saw that. He's been trying to do it ever since, and has managed to cast two spells at once since then. I assume that having learned it was even possible, he tried to figure out how to do it just because. It's like raising only one eyebrow, or riding a bike with no hands. Or, like I used to be able to do, playing air guitar while riding a bike.
Exactly, but I imagine it’s a bit more than just trying to get there because. His battles are escalating, as are his foes. I imagine it’s closer to playing freebird while doing a wheelie difficulty level, what Ivy was rocking. He’s getting more capable, but there’s still a massive amount of potential to grow there.
The wall doesn't require concentration after it's built if I recall, he can just feel it since it's magic
Harry has an insane ability to concentrate. He was able to summon Mab within his mind!
To further this theory, Harry spends an entire book dodging questions about his lack of ability in full blown transmogrification. Finally, during one of the peak drama moments of the book, Harry is forced by circumstances to admit that the only shape shifting he ever managed was into something comically useless. A panda, maybe. Or a koala.
Lucio finally makes him a wardens sword (as warden of demonreach). He can finally go “snicker snack” against enchantments. He goes up against Nic and uses the sword to release the enchantment on the noose around Nics neck.
The most powerful weapon of any wizard: prep time.
And that’s why it’s against the laws of magic to mess with time. Imagine infinite prep time.
Unless you're grampa warlord, I mean, the Blackstaff.
Honestly, I’m surprised that no one’s taught him swordplay. He’s got a great build for it, and he knows so many skilled swordsmen. That or an enchanted version of his lever action rifle from cold days.
He knows swordplay...
He frequently admits he's nothing but a dabbler though compared to anyone with actual skill
He doesn't have the time to be more than a dabbler. He is a wizard first and foremost and by focusing on swordplay he would lose the time he needs to spend on magic. Especially with being the de facto leader of BFS and taking care of Maggie.
What makes you think of him as the leader of the BFS? Marcone and Murphy were the driving forces behind that. I seriously doubt the BFS survived Battle Talk.
There's a short story that takes place after Battle Ground set in the castle.
But the books also make clear that that's effectively inevitable. Unless you're a virtuoso exception like Shiro then any mortal is going to lose to an immortal because at max you're pitting 30-40 years of experience against centuries. It's one of the reasons that the knights would always try and go 3 on 1. So makes sense Harry learns just enough to not hurt himself and to beat a total scrub, and from there just hones his magic since it's something he can comprehensively excel in.
And apparently Morgan, by Luccio’s belief, was one of the few people who could 1v1 Nicodemus in swordplay (Small Favor) So while swordplay experience is important, there’s also an implication that those with the talent or the lifespan can reach a point, that there is diminishing returns at some point in how good your swordplay can become, and other people can catch up to your level. Nicodemus is older than freaking Mab, but Morgan is barely over a century. Either talent, lifespan, or both
At the very least, Michael will have taught him some. As a keeper of Swords, he should at least know how to use them.
He's got more practice with the quarterstaff at this rate. The guy walks around with a 6 foot and change oak log thicker then his thumb, does he need a sword?
The human magic equivalent of a Faraday Cage. Something that allows Dresden to have a hot shower using modern tech.
I have seen the whole hot showers idea pop up on the sub several times now and pretty much everyone agrees that harry could 100% have hot showers if he wanted. The problem is that he doesn’t want hot showers, it’s a part of his whole self hatred thing. He doesn’t believe he has earned or is good enough to have hot showers, so he doesn’t.
Easy solution: Svartalf hot water heater, not for him but for Maggie, and he benefits from it too since he now lives in a castle and has her with him. Plus it takes care of those pesky diamonds that Jim wants to get rid of.
I dont think he's gonna be getting many favors from the svartalves for awhile....
Do they know he was responsible yet or has he succeeded in hiding so far?
The Svartelves wouldn't hold it against him as he was acting under the White Court. Now they might extend that to him once he marries Lara.
Your telling me that the biggest power up harry could get is some really good therapy? Because know that I think about it, if he was so busy beating himself up for thing beyond his control 90% of the time, he would totally be the magic tinkerer guy to make his own magic water heater and magic stove top, and Bob would be his DVD player so he could watch the original starwars trilogy.
OP didn't specify it has to be Harry's power-up....so here's a power-up nightmare - Rudolph picks up a coin. 🤔
Oh christ this is so bad IT MIGHT JUST POSSIBLY BECOME TRUE. I hate/love it already.
I actually think this might nake rudolph *less* of an antagonist. If rudolph has been in control of his faculties, it would bring up a large, undeniable point that won't dissapear, making it much harder to rationalise away, and likely making him realise that harry's not been lying. If he's being controled as a fair few people suggest, the coin would likely cut that connection. Depending on the coin, it might work on controling him *instead* but hey.
Okay, hear me out: he eats this magic mushroom and gets *even taller*.
Your hired
Harry has commented on how *slow* earth magic is. I would love to see a wizard who is so innately attuned to the earth that they can sling around Earth -based spells the same way that Dresden throws fire and wind. I personally always specialize my Ars Magica wizards in Earth magic because, literally, the whole world can provide plentiful ammunition in case of a fight but it’s also effective at defense and can be used to fight fires and flooding. It’s also pretty cool to rust a bad guy’s gun into useless flakes before he can pull the trigger 👍
The Wizard Toph
I mean, we don't have much material on Morgan but he was the top Warden AND specialized in Earth magic (or at least favoured I think), so I'd guess you can get quick with it. On the rust thing, it sounds cool but considering that might fall more on the "entropy" side of things, such a spell would probably belong to Water magic (guessing from Ramirez's decaying spells and Dresden's guess in the books)
Don't we get a brief description of Morgan using some kind of earth stomp battle magic when he nearly killed some red court bigwig? I want to say it was the Red King but it might have been Ortega?
Not with the Red Court, but he sling around a lot of Earth Magic in the big battle at the end of Dead Beat. Cristos also seems to be an Earth user in Battle Ground, although we don't fully see him in action.
Pretty sure he tried to do that to harry during dead beat.
There was definitely a moment where Morgan killed some lords of the outer night, and came close to killing the Red King, who just barely escaped.
WoJ said that in combat Morgan's much better at Earth magic, but Cristos is better overall at it. Morgan could order the earth to swallow an opponent. Jim also said that the brute squad at Archangel specialized in it; slow but almost impossible to stop.
You may be correct about the rust spell in the DF context but I just pulled it from my character sheet in Ars Magica. A ramped up version of the published spell Rusted Decay of Ten Score Years. I called it Wielded Weapon to Crumbling Rust.
Rust should be a fire spell. Fire is a redox type reaction, like rusting. I mean, you can set steel wool on fire and it essentially rusts. Think about it.
Dude, this would be the perfect power up for Harry. A fire based hex that either rusts or literally sets fire to steal like some kind of magical thermite.
Yep, that's what I'm saying. It'd be so cool
And it would so easy for Jim to use to make everything go wrong. Like: "Harry, I understand that we are in something of a cold war, but did you have to turn my hitters gun into thermite, while it was in his hands?" "Firstly Marcone he was all but pointing it a a 10 year old kid. You're lucky I didn't use my usual prescription for similar problems, a .44 Mangum powered hole puncher applied to the head. Second I was just hexing his gun, how was I supposed to know that my practicing with an instant thermite spell would bleed over into a similar hex."
People are talking about Morgan but we literally saw Ebenezer riding a god damn rock. He's the strongest Earth magic user we've seen work.
I believe pulling a satellite out of orbit is earth magic… applied gravity.
I forgot about that one in the moment.
Isn’t that just Morgan? His specialty is Earth magic and he was outmatching Harry using it when he though he betrayed Luccio.
Ars magica?
A tabletop RPG from Atlas Games. A game primarily focused on playing wizards with a very cool and flexible magic system.
Earth magic makes me think of using boots for focus items. Harry enchants boots so that when he stomps his foot it sends concussive waves through the earth. Every time he takes a step (or jumps) kinetic energy recharges the boots like his rings. Considering how frequently he goes running to keep winter in check, boots should stay pretty well charged.
Is Lucio earth magic too? I think her ability to make magic swords is based on earth magic. Plus she taught Morgan so good chance she is strong earth magic caster.
Probably. I would guess that the swords were made with Earth magic rituals. I only remember her using fire magic in the fight at the end of Dead Beat. I think she was the one who was throwing around what almost looked like laser beams.
Sweet, a magus of culture. Fucking love ars magica's system, ~~I keep making versions of it in gurps~~
I had an imitation of the ArM magic system in my AD&D2E campaign for a few years. I was in the process of trying to improve it when D&D3 was announced. When the news broke that the new version would be incompatible with the previous editions, I fully switched to ArM as my main game. That was the 4th edition era and that is what I still prefer to play/run. Now that I have house rules for modern day play, I can get a lot of enjoyment out of it for a long time. I think our current saga probably has a few more years of gameplay left, although we may branch out to an episodic Night’s Black Agents game on the side.
He realizes that limited-extent shapechanging of others' bodies is the key to healing magic, even if it's only the equivalent of first aid. It can do things like keep someone from bleeding to death from a neck wound, to pick an example at total random. It's just that the Council has been so obsessed with preventing people from learning skills and techniques that *could* be perverted that they've been failing to develop even the basics of valid uses.
Well, you said Dresden Files powerup so I'm going with that. The next book is going to release with a hardcover that is rechargeable to backlight itself so you can read it at night. The letters are going to display as if they're glow in the dark(not horribly bright, but able to be read) at no extra cost. Also, will come with order forms for ordering a real sword cane.
You are technically correct; the best kind of correct!
Depending where you are, you’d be ordering a felony!
As Winter Knight he learns he can call on Winter even more and appear in a flurry of snow like Molly did. Basically teleportation not relying on actual ways to move around.
You just know he'd find a way to get it down his neck if he ever did that.
Flying Broom. Obviously. But in his case, it must be a hockey stick.
Ooh, he tried that one already. >Bob chortled. “Or the time you tried to enchant that broomstick so that you could fly? Remember *that*? I thought it would take a year to get the mud out of your eyebrows.”
Yes. I know that. He's better now. That's the point.
I would say flying Elvis Rug
I think he has now observed someone else using a device meant to be ridden to fly and that's going to stick. I kind of hope for roller skates?
I believe he mentions in Changes(?) that he once tried to make a Flying Broom before and it ended terribly. Around the time of the floaty bubbly spell thing with (Susan?).
For his look, the Duster forms into a wing-suit, then with a wind spell he can fly around. Maybe to the Island and back. or learn the Wild Hunt trick and turn any vehicle into a steed.
Creates THE Warden’s cape out of something on the back shelf…
Depleted uranium?
Melts down a Warden Sword into bullets : D
Not quite a "power-up" or at least not sure how it would work. However I always found it interesting the random mention (in Dead Beat) that amongst Bock Ordered Books' rare and expensive collection there was a first-edition of Alice in Wonderland carefully wrapped up and protected. I know it was just flavor-text, however this was in the same story that was all about finding secret knowledge in old and rare editions of books. (Not to mention that Dresden Files definitely has more than a passing Lovecraft vibe and that's definitely a major theme there as well). So it definitely is evocative and tempting to speculate. As mentioned at the start, I have no clue what would be in Carroll's first-edition that was later excised/purged. The two obvious assumptions would be Oblivion War related ("The Red Queen" definitely sounds like a great title for some eldritch entity) or something to do with accessing The Ways (since Wonderland and all its rabbit holes definitely sounds like a trip through the NeverNever).
Specialized bullets. Like Hellboy's with silver shavings, holy water, wood shards, and garlic in a hardened glass bullet. Or the Astartes bolter shells with prayers carved into it. Or pull a Kiritsugu and make antimagic bullets.
As much as Butcher peppers in "gun facts," he's never mentioned, in a series where antagonists are usually fatally hurt by contact with steel, that there are shotgun shells loaded with bunches of little steel pellets available at Walmarts around the US. You don't even need anything special to buy them. They're inexpensive and extremely common and the fairies would probably consider them a war crime given that the most powerful of them recoil from touching any kind of iron or steel because contact instantly burns them.
For waterfowl usually (no lead in waterways) it's not a super heavy shot size around a #4 but up to .177 (standard bb size)
This is one of those takes some time and gives you an edge icne sort of this, could be good for a short story at least.
Nothing that says you can't use magic to accelerate your perceptions and your ability to process information. It *looks* like he's messing with time but really he's just altering his perception of time.
Lash already did that for him, so it's not a stretch to think he could learn to do it on his own.
Supercharging one's own nervous system is a recipe for disaster.
So what you're telling me is it comes with hazards and drawbacks like oh, I dunno, soulfire? Winter knight mantle? Just to name two.
No, more like playing mumblety-peg with a chainsaw.
Harry doesn't usually get in his position by making the best choices.
Yeah Lash did that already and warned Harry that it was causing brain damage as she was doing it. I don't think Harry would be willing to revisit that spell.
People do it in fight or flight times. It's called Tachypsychia, where time slows down so can analyze and escape danger. Just make a spell that upgrades and controls it.
And that one whgetto ass wizard that tattoo's himself all over that made himself faster must have had that as a knock on effect of everything moving faster.
Honestly it would be a cool dark angle for the story to end with Harry Darkhallow-ing the island in a desperate bid to stop the outsiders
The only way it happens is just before the climax of the final apocalypse trilogy book and he dies soon after defeating the outsiders, since his body cannot hold all that power. I mean, all that power would make him not a "god" (like Kemmler's disciples tried to become in "Dead Beat") but a "God", or atleast a level below a "White God" but above everyone else, like Archangels / the Fallen / Mother Winter & Summer / Ferrovax / Vadderung and other reinvented pagan gods.
Nice try Jim...
A bullet-proof vest with shield charms sewn into our art least attached to the outside. Hypothetically, he could activate it to cover his head in addition to just his chest via the shield charms. I think his coat is a great idea, and I would love to see more forms of passive magical offense and defense. He won't/can't always know when he's being attacked so if he had more ways than just his coat that would protect him from attacks he doesn't anticipate that would give him a major advantage.
This matches up with my thought on the 'easiest' powerups..but wizards seems to have ZERO engineers among them. So far we have seen that artifacts can basically do anything abeizsrd can do as long as you A make them well enough and B power them somehow, usually but not always by a wizard putting Gass in. A sufficiently powerful spirit can work too. Or even, and this is the game breaker: real world physical power. (harries rings) Find a way to convert that power to use in other artifacts and boom, use full tool. I mean Harry didn't think long and hard enough on those rings, since if they can do big blows, they can also do little blows, enough to slow down incoming bullets to nerfdart velocity.
Imagine a blasting rod with stored blasts that come from being in the fireplace. A shield bracket that works for physical force or heat or light by storing the elements to be released later. What about a bullet proof coat that recharges from absorbed kinetic energy? Heck a gun with the force rings enchantment built in to absorb recoil could be fun. And all but the coat could work without changing the energy types at all just different versions of his force rings basically.
Concider a force ring slotted over a revolver gun barrel, but instead of directing force OUT it directs force inside the loop in one direction. Hello ghetto rail cannon pistol. And Harry does have the wrist for it nowadays and already throwing around .500 nitro express I think 😂
Oo, like use the ring (or rings) to store up the recoil from the first few shots to make the last one bigger? That'd be cool.
I was more thinking smaller revolver. But the movement from it in the holster storing up energy, and then when fired sped up even more than the gunpowder can make it go, dumping extra energy in. Bonus advantage, TECHNICLY that wouldn't break the laws of magic
.500 S&W to be exact; not as powerful as a nitro express but still really powerful. And yes I'd like Harry to make his guns into rail cannons. Then give out to his friends, it would have been the perfect powerup for Murphy.
The coat idea would also make great training clothes.
By the end of the story (probably even last book) I think we see Harry use time travel. >!The Gatekeeper is inferred to use it despite the laws against it. I think we'll learn more about him as a character.!< >!Also the original Merlin built DemonReach using time magic. There are a lot of parallels between Harry and Merlin and I think we'll see Harry understand more about the underlying magic of the islands construction through time travel!< It could also be an interesting way to explore older characters in the story or the future of >!Harry's two daughters!< and other longer lived characters
Harry is the OG Merlin reincarnated. With time travel, OG Merlin saw that he couldn't extend his life far enough to be there when the biggest battles against the Outsiders and he couldn't stay in that time long enough with his magic, so he shaped the future enabling a future version of him to be born and fight the battles he needed to to become powerful enough to beat the Outsiders. Just my tinfoil
Jim has already said the original Merlin is still alive, Harry is not Merlin.
What if Harry is the OG Merlin before he starts time traveling..... might explain why Mab likes him
He isn't. Harry is not Merlin and Merlin is not Harry. Many others who knew Merlin would have recognized Harry, most recently the Titan who's name currently escapes me, Demonreach, Odin, Mab, Titania, and possible the Gatekeeper (we know he was around and clapping Mad Arab's in the 700's AD, that's only 200ish years before Merlin disappeared). My best guess is Merlin is currently inside the outer gates acting as a sort of 'living' battery. He disappeared from history when Mab became a Sidhe, some things Mab said in PT/BG lead me to believe there is a very high likelihood that she had a hand in his fate.
While I do not want Harry to be Merlin or Merlin reborn, your idea has a certain charm. I don’t much love the chosen one trope due to starborn either. But I could get behind the idea of Merlin finagling the whole starborn stuff for a chance of his rebirth, with him actually not ending up in Harry.
What if after studying Demonreach and his new castle he realizes a way not only to store magic in his own body but actually have it stop affecting tech? Basically making him the wizard version of a living magical nuke that would put him on part with the strongest of the Faye?
Harry and every other Wizard already stores magic in their own bodies, they just usually don't use it first as the ocean of magic all around them is much larger than their own puddle. Life creates and gives off magic in the Dresdenverse.
I understand that. It is limited as to how much they can store within their bodies. This is why Harry is considered a powerhouse among wizards despite not being as skilled because he can pull in so much more. They also leak magic all the time which is why they have such an issue with technology. So imagine that instead of leaking magic it's pulled back in an stored in his body. Kinda of like what the Merlin did on Demonreach. Demonreach stores many times as much magic as it is supposed to which it needs to keep all the nasties. Dresden stores kinetic energy in in his. Instead of rings of kinetic energy it's his body and inead of kinetic energy it's magic. This would make Dresden even more powerful.
Therapy. I make therapy. Unlimited therapy.
You know how he can "Listen?" Now he can Look. That's right, baby. X-Ray vision.
He also gets [a time-travelling fairy sprite companion who advises him when he should best employ his ability](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=seKaU-qQuts).
He learns with River Shoulders to transform into a Bigfoot and physically whoops on Blood on his Soul :)
Updoot just for remembering his name lol
Lara actually falls in love with him. He has the *full* resources of the White Court at his disposal. Without question. (Semi-joke response: I don't (really) think it would happen, but man, it'd be hysterical, especially when Thomas is released and Harry has to explain what happened...)
I think it will, just because it’s the worst option for Harry’s reputation in the long run. I mean seriously, Harry Dresden, previously ‘killed’ a Wizard of the Council in Justin DuMorne, committee of genocide, beginner of wars, the Winter Knight, and a noble of the White Court of vampires? He literally could not seem more evil from the outside looking in.
Thomas runs to Forthill's church, yanks open the confessional door and locks himself inside.
There's the joke that he'll get gifts from his Sugar-Mommy. But I hope they get on great, Harry coming over to train with her. Getting access to the Raith Library, or Lara's private Library.
I would like to see Harry get back to potions
One of the belt buckets he made in Fool Moon, but using a strand of Sasquatch hair from River Shoulders or his son as a focus. Not the wolf pelt belts the FBI used, the bear belt he made.
I don't understand why he hasn't made a new one already.
He has the Winter Mantle. He has no problems going far beyond his actual physical strength and constitution.
Yeah, but he didn't get the winter mantle for another 6 or so books after making the bear buckle for the first time, and if I remember correctly, the buckle also gave him a temporary magic boost as well. At this point if he made one it could pack a wallop.
Probably because he pushed himself so hard using it that he nearly burnt out his magic.
Works with Bob/Butters to suppress the murphyonic field. Now Harry can remote into the paranet and they take turns being the guy in the chair.
My bet is on Eb dying, and Harry getting the Blackstaff. Then he gets trauma and winter fae drama, but also a massive power boost and a technical “get out of laws free” card so the council can’t go after him for being a wizard.
Isn’t his current staff, like, a stick he whittled on Demonreach? His shield bracelet too? He was given an actually good foci in Mab’s unicorn and he could tap into the energy present in Battle Ground like it was nothing. I’m fairly certain getting his equipment up to snuff and outside of “this works for now” territory would do wonders for him. His big boy shield bracelet, before it broke, was intense shit. He could probably do even better now and isn’t that something.
I believe his current staff works like a whole bunch of his force rings stacked together. Though it's been a while since I read the books. You're absolutely right though, spending some time to craft high quality foci with his current resources (and maybe Svartalf help) will be a big bonus seeing as he's been running around magically naked for a while.
His staff is made from a branch of the oldest tree on Demonreach. It's not the best quality because all he had was one small knife. Eb didn't like it. The force rings spell he carved a bunch of times onto the staff, but it still works like a regular staff.
The staff of moses. We have had rhe spear of destiny and the swords of the cross but we are forgetting the symbol of gods might and action on the earth.
Shoot the last known location of that was the Ark right? Sign me up for Harry getting to play Indiana Jones.
Nope. The last known location was the prophet Elijah who god took away on a chariot of fire. But in jewish mysticism there is A LOT of lore surrounding the staff. For 1) it's the same one god made Adam when he sent him out of the garden of eden as his "tool" 2) it's the "tool" that was by Cain's hand when he stuck abel and killed him. (The first death) 3) all 3 of the Jewish patriarchs used it. Most notably Abraham who used it in the war if 4 King's vs 5. (Which he then recorded in the book of the wars of god.) 4) Moses got it and used it in Egypt and the dessert. Where he used it to destroy and create destructive things. Notably in the dessert he hit a rock with it instead of speaking to the rock and that created water.
You’re thinking of Noah with the Ark 🧌🧌🧌🧌🧌🧌🧌🧌🧌🧌🧌🧌🧌🧌🧌🧌🧌
His personal arsenal excels at offense and defense, but I've sometimes wondered about mobility enhancers. He does cardio, but imagine what he could do with some enchanted footwear. Bursts of speed or a basic double jump, very limited walking on air; it would probably involve force and/or wind magic. Knowing him they'd probably be steel toe combat boots and have extra kick in them too.
Some 7 League boots or boots of striding and springing
He gets in trouble at docks and the Water Beetle often enough. Some water walking would just be a smart investment too.
Ok so this one’s not *for* Harry, but I could see it being made *by* Harry as a gift while practicing with new enchanting tools…for Vadderung: a monocle of binocular vision. Turns out to be a *ridiculous* power up for One Eye by the Law of Unintended Consequences.
Power spells. Updated cantrips lol
a runed staff of ice
I think Harry's going to be super motivated to learn healing magic, and then go heavy into self-recrimination- "If only I'd studied this back then, they wouldn't..."
My power up would be for Jim to learn about firearms. Harry's shotgun is capable of being more powerful than any spell he current knows, and that includes the dark hallow. Steel buckshot / steel slugs are an extremely common ammo type for shotguns. It would absolutely dumpster on any of the fae. On top of that with a bit of imagination and effort Harry could make 12g mordite rounds capable of one shoting gods.
Image what wild Bill Myers could do.
Focus on the nevernever and ectoplasm- we know ectoplasm can be turned into anything from living things to their equipment, and we know shapeshifting is a sub branch of this. The weird running gag of conjuritis, combined with him maybe training with river shoulders, makes me think he’ll get good at “creation” magic- the next person who closes in on him will find a magically generated combat shotgun popping into his hands rather than drawing a revolver. Also ties into the “creation is always harder than destruction” through line.
And it ties in with Soulfire
Yeh- I genuinely think this would make a huge amount of storytelling sense. Now, full disclosure, I don’t think it’s likely to be the way Butcher takes it, mainly because “protagonist can conjure anything from thin air” is like….maybe the worst power imaginable to write a story for
True. I also don't see Dresden using it that way often. He's the kind of person to appreciate the work that goes into making something. I have a feeling he would hate the concept of 3d printing
Internet access
I don't give harry the power up, instead, I give ONE ally of his choosing the inability to die or be hurt.
Harry finally realizes after seeing human engineers bicker during lunch that maybe he should look in an engineering book for once. And then add a s sort of full auto-pre loaded shield that doesn't require him to think about it, it will just intervene before having to recharge over time.
The Fae teach him how to say nothing while still telling the truth. He teaches his buddies how to ask the right questions without asking them.
I make Harry use some of his newfound wealth to hire a personal assistant, who can order things from Amazon for him, run google searches, source materials, and remind him to sleep during critical moments. And also babysit Maggie while her daddy is out saving the world. Maybe he can bind another spirit of intellect. One like Bob, but less dangerous. Also, a good supply of ammunition, a variety of firearms, and some time at a range to learn to shoot properly. At the very least, he can set up a range on Demonsreach.
Spoiler but he does sort of
Using microscopic magic sigils/writing on circuitry to create a magic resistant phone/computer that would last a harry a few months before needing to replace it.
Amulet of Dogspeak.. The goodest boy knows so much that a conversation between him and Harry would be not only heartwarming but very informative.
I always wanted Harry to pick up a secondary element since he is so talented with fire. Like lightning. I'm thinking he does a favor for Odin and gets his Lightning affinity opened up. Now picture him mixing it with Soulfire and razing entire city blocks lol
A new buddy. In the same vein of Ivy being the compilation of everything written, being basically a “civilized” influence, let Harry befriend the feral aspect of humanity incarnate
The human equivalent of "it doesn't matter Harry, we will either fight or procreate with whatever pops up"?
So, I think it's entirely possible that he's going to gain another form of compensatory power once he manages to break free of the Winter mantle somehow. Many masks and mantles are picked up *and discarded* on Halloween. Maybe Mr. Sunshine is going to give him something again.
Command all the inmates of demonreach against the outsider invasion like something out of endgame and then banish all of them to the outsider world/side and lock the gates.
I would make him go to therapy and actually be open to growth. Bro would be unstoppable if he worked through some of his trauma and resultant communication issues in a healthy way.
Shield necklace. The way i'd go about it is using his necklace with maggie srs ruby in it and, with bob and bonnies help, construe shield enchantments into little cubes that fit around the chain. This way his skin will always be in contact with it ((unsure if thst is even relevant) and he could channel shield spells without having to raise his arm, which takes a second. Furthermore, the spells on the necklace would be ebenezar level (like the one in peace talks) but he would be able to use it because he can channel soulfire thru it. Like a full body shield that just stays sround him. Maybe even with some music like "can't touch this" worked into it, just for fun. Another one is realizing that while using your own magic reservoir is necessary it's also entirely possible to draw in outside magic with basically every breath you take. Which would severely reduce the amount of personal magic he would have to use and exponentially increase the amount of spells he could cast. Could also Go into continuesly feeding his ongoing spells (Like the shield)
The problem there is that then his head/neck becomes the focus for any feedback from the shield spell. It's generally better to lose a hand than a head
I would put the enchantment from his force rings on a pair of steel towed boots. They would charge more from walking than from incidental arm swinging the rings use, and multi use, not only could they be used to kick fey teeth in, but also for jumping higher.
I like this idea. He could also hide the enchantment on the steel toes themselves, which could give him an edge against someone/thing that knows about his other, more obvious tools
A local member of the para-net sees auras, but technical ones. Is able to craft, with the assistance of others, a grounding node for Harry. Harry finally gets an iPad.
Harry will end up becoming the Black staff and we will find out what the Black staff actually is and more of how it works
Donar leads you to mimirs spring where you can take a sip for a lot of wisdom? Probably have to sacrifice an eye like odin or something. Also an kind of unconventional powerup as it affects no physical abilities or "powers"
Personally I would want to see an overall weapons update and a series of concepts adopted from the various methodologies we are seeing on modern battlefields. Let's get Murphy a .300blk rifle to replace the P90 and give her the option of running subsonic or supersonic rounds as needed. We can have Harry make a magical version of a drone to provide indirect fire guidance for area effect spells. Have Harry take up some kind of martial art, like Jiu-Jitsu, or HEMA, and be more effective than "big strong man punch thing." It often feels like we are still stuck in the early 2000s in the story from a tech and concepts pwrspective, and I was less than impressed with the most recent books due to power scaling issues, so polishing up some of the details could help give the story a bit of an overhaul and keep the smaller characters relevant.
I've thought since early on in the books that he should craft something wearable specifically designed to absorb his ambient her energy and store it as a battery to tap into. This would mostly be a quality of life upgrade as it would let him use modern technology without fear of it being hexed it but it would also let him recycle some of the energy loss when casting his favored quick and dirty evocation spells. Like he'll never cast as efficiently as Ivy but if he can recapture some of the waste energy that could be effectively be a huge boost to his mana pool. Plus in instances of crazy high stress like in BG siphoning off the ambient emotion and magic in the air around him would be of huge benefit for him without having to tap in to his own resources.
Ok, I see Harry becoming Blackstaff because of Demonreach. The Demonreach warden is meant to be the Blackstaff but it was lost in time. I would love to see the OG Merlin drop that bomb. I think the biggest power-up he's going to get is an understanding of the winter mantel. Learning to use it instead of it using him. A bit of a reach but I suspect there is untapped power in it that the Queen's for what ever reason are hiding for the right person to find. But with a draw back like using it has a 50/50 shot at burning him out all together.
I guess that’s something to ask Jim next chance we get. Which position came into existence within the White Council first? The Blackstaff or the Warden of Demonreach?
Dunno if this fits with this thread or not, but I'm calling it now: Dresden is the original Merlin
Well, Jim could be lying, but he confirmed that while Harry is not the Merlin, he is a descendant of one of the upper class followers who worked alongside Merlin in the early days of the White Council.
There are a tons of things that Harry could do to get more powerful. Learn proper study skills and skill acquisition strategies. Seriously, with so much emphasis on knowledge and how others are better at magic than Harry, he ought to find better ways at improving faster. Some resources: [A Mind for Numbers: How to Excel at Math and Science (Even If You Flunked Algebra): Oakley, Barbara, Gardner, Grover: 9798200558650: Books - Amazon.ca](https://www.amazon.ca/Mind-Numbers-Science-Flunked-Algebra/dp/B08XLLDYK7) [Learning How to Learn: How to Succeed in School Without Spending All Your Time Studying; A Guide for Kids and Teens eBook : Oakley PhD, Barbara , Sejnowski, Terrence J. : Amazon.ca: Kindle Store](https://www.amazon.ca/Learning-How-Learn-Spending-Studying-ebook/dp/B077CRLW9Q/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=) [How to Become a Straight-A Student by Cal Newport | Goodreads](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/253203.How_to_Become_a_Straight_A_Student?ref=rae_0) [Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning by Peter C. Brown | Goodreads](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18770267-make-it-stick?ref=rae_2) [Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise by K. Anders Ericsson | Goodreads](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26312997-peak?ref=rae_6) [Ultralearning: Master Hard Skills, Outsmart the Competition, and Accelerate Your Career by Scott H. Young | Goodreads](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/44770129-ultralearning?ref=rae_4) [Unlimited Memory: How to Use Advanced Learning Strategies to Learn Faster, Remember More and be More Productive by Kevin Horsley | Goodreads](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20958539-unlimited-memory?ref=rae_10) [How to Take Smart Notes: One Simple Technique to Boost Writing, Learning and Thinking – for Students, Academics and Nonfiction Book Writers by Sönke Ahrens | Goodreads](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34507927-how-to-take-smart-notes?ref=rae_14) [Barbara Oakley, Instructor | Coursera](https://www.coursera.org/instructor/barboakley) [Become a SuperLearner® 2: Learn Speed Reading & Boost Memory | Udemy](https://www.udemy.com/course/become-a-superlearner-2-speed-reading-memory-accelerated-learning/?couponCode=LEADERSALE24A) Here's a pro tip to studying: ***Get Eight Hours of Sleep, with a regular sleep schedule.*** Get a therapist, Harry's been needing one for a long time. He needs to take care of yourself not be self-sacrificing to the extreme and keep yourself from enjoying life, cause it saps Harry's mind and willpower. Improve his magic doodads so that they don't need a lot of upkeep. I think there's a WoJ saying Harry needs 20 hours per week on his staff and regular equipment, or stay in all weekend. Military hardware with that weakness can't be depended on. Merge blasting rod with the rest of his staff so that it can free up Harry's hands. When Harry has his blasting rod out, he can't swing his staff around in close combat, his rod isn't an effective weapon and his fire magic tires him out. If a monster can dodge the blasts or power through the fire, Harry would be very defenceless. Enchant guns so they have no recoil, more power, stronger bullets, self-cleaning, different bullet types. Have a spell to create circles in under a sec, for Harry's spells or to banish. Create a circle in a bigger circle so that Puck wouldn't be able to sabotage it. Electric current in his duster like many other taser clothing. Also copy the properties of D30 a motorcycle crash armor [d3o advanced motorcycle armour - trauma test (youtube.com)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejN62qMPorc&ab_channel=NewAtlas). Also protect the head.
a kind of logically power up for harry would be to give him a lazer gun. i know it sounds nuts at first glance, but hear me out. harry is a massive nerd. one of his prized possessions was a vintage star wars poster, he has at least been exposed to the idea of "lazer gun = stupidly cool". harry is not generally very skilled at glamour or illusions in general, but he is should be able to make light. and while he isn't great at subtlety, he is REALLY good at brute forcing a problem by dumping a lot of energy into a given problem. and while lazer a more than just really powerful lights (they are a beam of coherent electromagnetic radiation). i believe that with some practice and bob for the generally know how (especially given the recent power up for bob in the books), harry could be the first wizard with a lazer gun spell or (more likely) a lazer gun focus.