Sorry to take so long getting responding to this.
Been a busy week, and I got sick. Anyway...
---
gmartinez@medioambiente.gov.ar wrote:
> Hi Steven:
>
> Even with Spell you have the Low chances problems.
>
> For example Spell of Molecular Rearrangement (S-5)
> S. of M. vas a base
> chance of 1%. Suppose the magic user has a MA of 15
> plus purification and
> without cold iron metals, it give you 18% to cast
> the Spell. Very difficult
> and much probable to gain the hate of the party than
> the rank in the spell.
I don't personally regard that as a "problem". Yes,
with spells like Molecular Rearrangement, you have an
absolutely abyssmal chance of casting it if you have
very little Rank in it. But, that's the way it should
be. Spells that have very low base chances are always
extremely powerful spells. You should have to work on
them a lot to be able to cast them reliably.
This leads to the point I was trying to make with my
previous post. Only with further reflection do I see
the point I was previously dancing around. I believe
in using the rule that you must have attempted a spell
during a previous adventure because I believe you must
have risked -backfiring- the spell to have -earned-
the right to Rank it. This is my personal philosophy
on the matter.
That having been said, let me retract or clarify
statements I made in my previous post. If a spell
primarily has use as a -combat- spell, I feel it would
not be appropriate to allow someone to Rank it if they
had only ever attempted it using a Ritual Preparation.
Ritual Preparation is, by nature, a calm and
controlled situation, and does not accurately reflect
the chaos of combat. I would not view that as having
"practiced" the spell adequately. I'm ambivalent
about what ruling I'd make as a GM if they used 1
minute of preperation to "practice" a combat spell,
but I'd consider that pretty inadequate too. Any
attempt of the spell outside of combat is unlikely to
be an adequate practice -for- combat.
Hmmm... a thought occured to me. I would allow
Ranking if the Adept practiced his combat spell
between campaigns by engaging in some sort of
"wizard's duel" competitions. Depending on your
campaign, I could see that kind of thing being
supervised at an Adventurer's Guild. Of course, such
a combat should be role-played, and fatalities could
happen, even to the player... :)
Conversely, I would say it was just fine for a
character to cast a spell that does not usually have
combat use with either 1 minute of prep or using a
Ritual Preparation and consider that a valid "attempt"
for Ranking, either during or between campaigns. For
example, a character of mine used to cast Protection
from Magical Fire by sitting in a bonfire and doing
Ritual Prep and anything else he could think of to
boost its cast chance. He always did this -before-
leaving on a campaign. However, in any situation, the
character must be risking backfire (and no matter how
high you boost the cast chance, a 00 is always a
backfire). He must roll for it and deal with the
consequences, whether this is during a campaign or
between campaigns.
The preceeding comments applied to spells. Rituals
and talents are a bit different. Talents never
backfire, and rituals don't have backfires unless they
specifically state they do. If a talent or ritual has
no backfire, I guess it wouldn't matter under what
circumstances it was attempted. There's never any
risk, so it can be practiced at leisure. On the other
hand, if a ritual does have a backfire (or has costly
material components), that should be dealt with. No
pain (in backfires), no gain (in Ranks).
And yes, even if that backfire ends up pissing off
your Adept's colleagues, that's just too bad. Either
that Adept needs to convince his colleagues the
potential pain his practice brings them (and more
often him) will be worth the pay-off, or they need to
convince him to find other, safer spells to cast.
This is the essence of party personality dynamics to
me.
Now, a couple of points about the specific examples
we've used. How do you "practice" the Ritual of
Becoming Undead? Well, this is a ritual does have a
listed backfire result: the wight or wraith the victim
became immediately attacks the Adept. So, as long as
that was played out, I would consider each such
unsuccessful attempt of the Ritual good enough for
Ranking. Note that to practice such a ritual involves
becoming, in effect, a serial killer. The Adept's
player should also be prepared to deal with the
consequences of his depraved activities. I mean not
just the possible attention of legal authorities but
also the terrible taint of dark magic upon his soul.
Your other example of the Spell of Molecular
Rearrangment, upon re-reading, seems to be the
exception to my philosophy that tests it. I have to
admit that as written, it could conceivably have both
combat and non-combat uses. Since it is effectively
an instant-kill spell when used in combat, I would err
on the side of caution and say that to Rank it
requires a trial-in-combat. Of course, that doesn't
prevent it from being -used- at low Rank with
appropriate preparations to boost it to castable
levels.
Well, after all that, I also want to add the
following: circumstances vary. If a player was
willing to cast a combat spells (say Dragon Flames) at
trees in the forest 10 or so times with only 1 Pulse
preparation, taking any backfires that might result,
I'd probably accept that as enough practice. Good
luck, little Fire Mage...
> At the end of the game, you go to that House and pay
> an amount of money, and
> the services of a healer Rk. 8 (just in case you
> need extra assistance),
> depending the spell and the effects. It is a place
> who give you +15 to your
> chances (consecrate ground) and you prepare with
> ritual spell preparation.
> After all the pluses, you cast the spell, and you
> accomplished with the
> rule.
Having some sort of magic-enhancing "spell rooms"
rented out to Adepts is an interesting idea. It would
have to be outside of an populated area (which are
always low-mana areas), but I could see such a market
developing. I could even see making some rules for
Adepts who assist each other in a ritual. Add that to
Bruce's (?) idea about Namers adding True Name bonuses
to things like Remove Curse, and I think you can cast
just about anything if you have enough time and money
to prepare thoroughly. Note, my previous ramblings
still apply. :)
I'm a little confused by your use of the term
"consecrated ground", though. In the books, that
refers to a place consecrated to the Powers of Light,
and such places -interfere- with casting magic. I
assume you meant these are special places
"consecrated" to magic, like the "Places of Power" in
Earth Magics.
Mort
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