[Donny Brook]

Originally Posted by Plane

generally... so maybe B100's "cannot" softened?

GCA uses the RAW (generally correctly); it does not add or amend it.

If base cost multiplied by FOA or size happened to amount to 1 that prob shouldn't prevent using modifiers on the ally.

As I mentioned, modifiers can bring the cost of an Advantage to [1]. That doesn't make it into a Perk.

I don't think the points spent on learning a spell are necessarily points spent on achieving the outcome of a successfully cast spell, mostly because Zombie can create as many zombies as you need, so if a zombie ally actually had a net positive value then Ally Group value multipliers would eventually exceed the 1 point you might have spent on the spell.

How many apple pies can you make with a crate of oranges?

Having a million zombie servants, just like having 100 million dollars, even if it somehow works out to a net 0 point value (metatrait/feature) in either case for various reasons, could still be broken down into the respective benefit/drawback components.

No. Producing zombies with the zombie spell in play, or earning/stealing/finding $100M in play, do not have [0] point value. They have NO point value.

Allies cost more than CP though, gaining certain traits in play also requires a circumstance appropriate to allowing you to spend those points.

That's mistaken in two ways: (1) The GM can let you buy them without a circumstantial justification. (2) An in play justification is not a cost.

If it takes 800 hours of RP (in-game: 100 days) to get an ally to trust me before GM allows spending those bonus CP, then I might quantify that as sort of an "1 cp entry free" equivalent, since I might've otherwise spent those 800 hours getting +1 cp to some skill via On the Job Training.

You can't 'rulesify' the GM's conception of how her in game reality operates. The GM's choices about the time it takes for an NPC to trust you is not fungible with time spent on training (which I have never heard of anyone RPing btw).

I think the actual payment for the ally is the use of an ability

No. Ally is an Advantage and therefore always entails the application of some value of character points.