| From: | NeoJudas neojudas@******************.com |
|---|---|
| Subject: | Limited spells (was Re: Turn to goo spell effects) |
| Date: | Sun, 18 Jun 2000 05:39:18 -0500 |
Subject: Limited spells (was Re: Turn to goo spell effects)
> According to Sebastian Wiers, at 20:44 on 17 Jun 00, the word on the
> street was...
>
> > Good point. That, plus the "slaughter enemies" spell thread,
brings
an
> > idea to mind- how about instead of a spell with a "limited" target
> > modisifer, a spell with a "selective" target modifier?
>
> This would be a very useful thing to have, IMO. Woring out how it's
> supposed to work may not be that easy, though.
Nah, if you followed the basic premise for the usage of certain Detect Spell
modifiers, you would in fact probably come up with something quite similar
to what is needed in final structure.
> > For combat spells, this would be like having ALL the "slay
species"
> > spells on tap. For detection spells, you could cast it as "detect
(chosen)
> > object", or even sustain it and change the object in question as a
complex
> > action.
>
> IMHO, you'd have to recast it to change the subject of the spell, or at
> least resist Drain again when you do. If you allow it to be changed simply
> by spending an action, here's what'll happen: Players are searching bad
> guy's apartment. Mage casts Detect Guns. Mage spends Karma to get lots of
> successes (optional). Mage finds all guns in apartment. Mage changes spell
> to Detect Money. Mage finds all money. Mage changes spell to ...
>
> Too easy for them, if you ask me.
And outside the mechanics of the spell as far as I understand them. The
"Detect (Object)" spell for instance. You actually have to learn a "Detect
Firearm Type" "Detect Cyberdeck" "Detect Bug Scanner"
"Detect Special Ares
Prototype-A" etc... ad nauseum. Hence, you'd have to have something
similar. Besides, you also have to break past the mentality of "limiting
the target of the spell" vs. "selectively targetting the effect of the
spell".
Hmm ... I can see where the real problem would come in. The readers (GM or
Players) interpretation.
Selective Target spells would be the modifier applied to an area spell that
would otherwise cause or induce a state of change (damage, transformation,
etc...) to all targets within an area. Limited category spells are those
that are designed to target ONLY a specific, obvious, qualifying target.
For instance;
Mana Ball (Trolls) is a spell that targets a very obvious, "vanilla", target
description and does not select *which troll* would be targetted. Mana Ball
(Enemies) would be a spell that selects it's targets based upon a sense of
opposition to the caster of the spell, which would be determined at the time
of the spell's casting (or release, in the case of anchored spells).
And yes, in theory you could have a Mana Ball (Enemy Trolls), where it will
target only trolls that are the enemies of the caster/originator, but you'd
have both sets of spell modifiers involved as well.
> > The trick would be, instead of having LOWER drain, the spell would
have
> > HIGHER drain.
>
> Agreed. This is something that I feel would fall under the Bonus Game
> Effect modifier that used to exist in the Grimoire. (Why were these extra
> modifiers removed, anyway? They allowed all kinds of useful effects not
> covered by the main rules...)
The reason they were removed was simply because they were too transient. It
was left up to the GM what was what level of "Bonus Game Effect". That also
made it hard for a comparison of effects between FASA canon material and
what a GM might consider what level of effect.
> > How much higher would it have to be to make this balanced? I'm thinking
> > at least +1 TN and +1 level. Does that sound reasonable, or is this
> > just to powerful, since it (almost) makes a class of spells obsolete.
>
> Maybe there would have to be some broad groups (People/Animals, Plants,
> Electronics, Vehicles, etc.) from which you can select more specific
> targets. You'd learn a Detect (Plants) spell and then be able to cast it
> as Detect Oak Tree, Detect Rose Bush, or Detect Grass. This is much more
> useful than needing to have all those as separate spells, but not so
> powerful that you can detect anything by learning a single spell.
Not really sure I see the comparison using these words. Personally, I think
the idea of using the Detection Spell modifiers as far as determining
targets and such would come into play, and at least are written down in the
book now. In this case, I am referring to the usage of the Superficial Mind
Interaction (Detect Enemies), and similar instances.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
J. Keith Henry
Hoosier Hacker House (http://www.hoosierhackerhouse.com/)
Winstar Tech Support and Provisioning (www.winstar.com)
