Absolutely Fabulous: Dexter Magic 1
“Because I am __ and want to use magic to __, I will need __. The caveat to my spell is __.”
The effect walks up the Ladder. The caveat walks down the Ladder. The trappings and your personal qualifications can go either way.
“Because I am A Bridge Between Life and Death and want to curse the mirrors of this forsaken town to be haunted with the vengeful ghost of a murdered child, I will need the necklace of the murdered girl. The caveat to my spell is that her vengeful spirit will remain restless until all those who wronged her have perished.”
In-game applied modifiers as follows: a gritty setting defaulting to Great (+4) difficulty rating; a relevant PC’s Aspect (-2 on the Ladder); a long-lasting effect (+4), an easily accessible but narratively interesting component (-1); and a caveat that could affect the PCs harshly (-4). The result became an Average (+1) Create an Advantage roll, resulting in the Aspect Curse of the Mirror-Traveling Ghost inflicted upon the town. The aftermath?
This solved the killer, but like a monkey’s paw wish unleashed unintended consequences on the town. Innocents were killed and even the players got caught in the crosshairs for causing the spirit unrest. It became a great story.
- Components: from +1 (unchallenging to procure) to +4 to [Skill] (a dangerous side-quest).
- Caveats: from +1 (1-2 Stress) to +4 to [Skill] (fallout might spur an entire storyline).
- Spell Effects & Trappings: +0/2/4/8 to Default Rating if altering an Exchange/a Scene/a Session or Episode/a whole Campaign.
As with most things FATE, you just have to make a judgement call based on the setting you want to portray. A gritty setting should default to great challenges, whereas a supers game should have normal ones. If you want to limit casting then make it cost Fate points to attempt. Mostly just do what works for the narrative.