From: | Steve Kenson <TalonMail@***.COM> |
---|---|
Subject: | Magic Questions & Answers |
Date: | Wed, 5 Nov 1997 16:28:16 -0500 |
a ten-foot pole... <grin>
Secondly, everything presented here is entirely My Humble Opinion and does
not reflect on the opinions of FASA Corporation, blah, blah, blah. This IS
how I would like to see these things go in SR3, but that doesn't necessarily
make it so. Mike Mulvihill is the developer, his word goes.
That said, here are some thoughts on the various magical threads that have
come up lately, in no particular order:
CONTROLLING ELEMENTALS
The way I handle it is LOS must be maintained between the elemental and its
master. If the mage can see the spirit OR the elemental can see the mage, it
remains under control and continues doing whatever it was last ordered to do.
Blinking, turning around, having a bag thrown over your head, etc. does not
affect your control over the spirit, so long as it can still see you.
Dropping an opaque wall between a mage and an elemental WOULD cut off LOS.
The elemental vanishes back to the metaplanes on its next action: POOF!
SPELLS IN ASTRAL SPACE
This is a complex one. As it says "astral space precludes ranged combat."
That means there are no astral missile weapons or astral guns. You CAN still
cast spells astrally at astral things, but basically the spell charges over
to the target and attacks it in astral (melee) combat. So TECHNICALLY, it's
not a "ranged attack." Hopefully we can clarify this in SR3 and the Big Book
o' Magic.
If a spell wins an astral combat with an astral target, it has its normal
effect on the target. Physical spells affect the target's physical body
(wherever it might be). Physical spells simply cannot affect astral entities
with no physical body (like spirits that are not materialized). Tossing a
Transform spell (or Invisibility, for that matter) at a spirit is just a
waste of effort. Even a Mana Invisibility spell won't work on a spirit, since
the spell is designed to make a PHYSICAL object invisible.
CRITTER POWERS
Some critter powers work because of the unique astral/physical interaction
between the critter's astral form and its physical body. Others are purely
manipulations of astral energy. The physical powers (Flame Projection,
Engulf, etc.) cannot affect astral beings. The astral powers, like Influence,
can affect astral targets, IMHO, just like spells, provided the critter can
assense the target. If you want to fight the power's effects in astral
combat, treat it like a spell with a Force equal to the critter's Essence.
See all the stuff about spells below for more.
SPELL TARGETING
The way all spells and other sorcery effects are targeted is through what I
call a "magical link." This can take two forms: being able to sense the
target with a primary sense, or having some integral part of the target in
your possession.
In the first case, the sorcerer must be able to see, touch or assense the
target. Using your normal senses, you can use sorcery on anything physical
you can see or touch. Using astral perception, you can use sorcery on
anything (physical or astral) you can assense. Using astral projection, you
can use sorcery on anything astral you can assense.
Forget all of that stuff about "subliminal astral perception" and similar
drek. As far as I'm concerned it needlessly complicates matters. A physical
sorcerer using normal vision to target a spell is NOT astrally active in any
way. The visual image of the target alone provides the magical link. Sorcery
adepts do not have astral perception, nor do they need it to cast or target
spells.
The second case simply uses the rules for ritual links and ritual sorcery in
the SR rules. Note that you can also target ritual sorcery using the first
method of direct sensing if the ritual circle can see or touch the target
(i.e., they're right there in the circle) or if they have an "astral
spotter." In the later case, the whole circle is treated like a single
spellcaster in a state of astral perception (i.e., they can target anything,
physical or astral, that the spotter can assense).
SUSTAINING SPELLS
I'm not sure SR says one way or another, but LOS is NOT required to sustain a
spell, only to cast it. Once the spell is up and running, so long as the
caster concentrates (and takes the +2 TN modifier) the spell keeps going. If
the caster falls asleep, is knocked out, or dies, the spell ends. The caster
can also drop the spell at any time. Otherwise, the only theoretical range
limit on sustaining is that the target of the spell cannot leave the
atmosphere (which would end the spell). Otherwise, the caster can sustain the
spell from ANYWHERE. Take ritual sorcery spells as an example. You can use
ritual sorcery on someone half a world a way. If the spell is successful, you
can sustain it.
SPELL LOCKS
Spell locks are going to get a through once-over in SR3. Mike hates them and
they're just too damn complex for what they're meant to do. Two things I'd
like to do are: 1) eliminate the whole "mundanes can't see or interact with
spell locks" thing because it's caused way too much confusion; 2) make locks
more like they were in 1st edition SR (expendable) rather than the on/off
magic items they've become in SR2. I'd like to reserve the on/off option for
anchorings (which are also going to get reworked some to make them simpler).
I'd like anchorings to be more like SR2 spell locks are now, with the
additional option of adding links that turn the spell on or off.
As for masking spell locks, I'd say you have to mask against the lock's
rating (1) or the spell's Force, whichever is GREATER. So if you have a spell
of Force 2+ locked, you have to mask the entire Force of the spell to hide
it.
SPELL VS. SPELL
There has been some discussion of the apparent conflict between "spells can't
target other spells" and the effects of spells like Barrier and
Shattershield, which APPEAR to target or affect other spells. In truth, they
do not. No spell can target or affect another spell directly. It's a basic
limitation of Sorcery. That's why (for example) there's no "dispel magic"
spell in SR. To directly affect spells, you need to use metamagic.
With a spell like Barrier or Mana Barrier, you have to make a distinction
between the SPELL and its EFFECT. For Barrier, the spell creates a magical
construct of energy (the barrier). Mana Barrier creates an energy field keyed
to astral forms, making the barrier solid against all living and magical
things. Physical Barrier creates a magical "force field" that stops all
physical things. The actual barrier is separate from the spell that creates
it, just like the actual fire created by a manipulation spell is separate
from the spell itself. The BARRIER can be targeted by other spells, such as
Shattershield, but the actual Barrier spell remains in astral space the whole
time and can't be hit with spells (spells don't affect other spells).
The spell vs. spell thing leads into...
GROUNDING
OK, I said it, I'll tell you what I think about it, and may the gods keep any
flame-wars to a minimum...
The key to figuring out grounding is the Spell Targeting stuff I mentioned
above: a spell requires a magical link to be cast. No link, no spell. A
physical sorcerer can affect anything physical he can sense. An astral
sorcerer can affect anything astral he can sense. A dual (astrally
perceiving) sorcerer can affect anything astral or physical he can sense.
Let's look at the specific cases of grounding:
Mundane: This is ANY mundane target, a person, a table, a gun, a plant,
whatever. They key is it is a physical object that is not astrally active. It
either has a passive astral form (for a living thing) or no astral form at
all (for unliving things). A mundane object can only be targeted by a
physical spellcaster, using normal or astral perception. No spellcasting at
mundane targets while astral projecting.
Dual Being: This is a physical being that is astrally active, like a mystic
using astral perception, a dual critter, or a spirit in material form. Dual
beings are the most vulnerable to spellcasting, because they can be targeted
from any side: physical or astral. A physical sorcerer can see and target the
being's physical body, while an astral sorcerer can assense and target the
being's astral form.
Focus: A focus is magical, a living object in a magical sense. An inactive
focus has a passive astral form and is the same as a mundane living object
(above). An active focus has an active astral form and is the same as a dual
being (above).
Spell: Spells cannot be targeted by other spells. Period. Objects and
materials created by spells may be targeted by other spells normally. This
means (IMHO) you CANNOT ground through sustained or quickened spells in any
way, nor can you ground through a character casting a spell, unless he
happens to be using astral perception at the time. You can ground through a
spell lock or a spell anchor because those are foci (see above).
Astral Construct: Purely astral constructs like wards or other astral
barriers exist only in astral space, so they can only be targeted by mana
spells, and only by sorcerers using astral perception or projection.
Spirit: Spirits in astral form are the same as other astral beings and
constructs (above): they can only be targeted by Mana spells and only by
sorcerers who are astrally active and able to assense the spirit. Spirits in
material form are dual beings (above).
Mixed Targets: So, what happens if you target an area spell on a spell lock
worn by someone in the middle of a group? Good question. In the case of area
spells, determine the caster's magical link to each potential target in the
area of effect to determine if they are a valid target for the spell. If
there's no magical link, then that target is not affected.
Example 1: a team of five runners is in a warehouse. Three are mundanes. One
is a shamanic adept using astral perception. One is a mage wearing an active
spell lock, with a water elemental in astral form awaiting her commands. An
astrally projecting security mage ghosts through the wall of the warehouse
from behind and spots the runners. They don't see him. He decides to target
the mage's spell lock with a Powerball and lets fly. All of the runners are
within the radius of the spell.
The spell strikes the focus and easily overcomes it in astral combat. The
powerball grounds through the spell lock and the gamemaster considers the
effect of the spell on each valid target in the spell's area:
* The spell lock's physical form (a gold ring) is instantly destroyed, it
turns to dust with a faint "POP!"
* The mage wearing the spell lock is not astrally active. Neither are the
three mundane runners. They are not valid targets. They are not affected. The
same is true for all of the mundane packing crates and other physical objects
nearby.
* The shamanic adept using astral perception IS astrally active. The spell
affects him normally, and the gamemaster calls for a Spell Resistance Test.
If the shaman had ducked behind a crate just as the security mage entered,
completely hiding him from sight, he would have been an invalid target and
would not have been affected by the spell, even if he was still within its
radius.
* The water elemental is astrally active, making it a valid target, but the
spirit has no physical form. Powerball is a Physical spell, so it cannot
affect the spirit. A tactically poor choice on the part of the security mage,
if he had cast Manaball, the spirit would have been affected as well.
Example 2: Same situation as Example 1, only this time the security mage is
using astral perception and is lying in wait behind a packing crate. He
springs up behind the runners and throws a powerball, centering it on the
spell lock:
* Everything the sec-mage can assense (physical and astral) within the radius
of the spell is a valid target. The water elemental has no physical form, so
it is not affected.
Example 3: Same situation as Example 2, only the sec mage is a little cocky
and he doesn't bother using astral perception to check out the situation.
Using only his physical sight, he pops up and tosses a powerball.
* All physical objects the sec-mage can see are valid targets. The astral
water elemental cannot be seen by the mage and is not a valid target (and
wouldn't be affected by a powerball, anyway).
Damaging Manipulations: What about grounding damaging manipulation spells?
The short answer is: you can't. Unlike combat spells, damaging manipulations
ground at the CASTER'S location, creating the elemental medium of the spell.
The caster then directs that matter or energy at the target of the spell. You
have to be in physical form to cast a damaging manipulation. Otherwise, it
follows all of the rules above. Since DMs are by definition physical spells,
they cannot affect purely astral beings. If the sec-mage in the above
examples tossed Flame Bomb instead of Powerball, he could have done so while
astrally perceiving or in physical form, but not while astrally projecting.
The spell would have affected all physical targets in the area of effect
without the need of a magical link (since the spell creates a real explosion
of fire, which works just like any mundane explosion), but the purely astral
water elemental would not have been affected, despite it's Vulnerability to
fire.
I hope this helps clarify some things, including my plans for SR3. Your
feedback is, of course, welcome.
Steve K.