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Message no. 1
From: "J. Keith Henry" <Ereskanti@***.COM>
Subject: Deep Etheric Secrets (Finally)
Date: Thu, 9 Oct 1997 23:00:58 -0400
In a message dated 97-10-09 02:40:19 EDT, landsquid@*******.COM (Sebastion
Wires) writes:

This is from the thread titled...
Re: Evil Security Measures aka Grimtooth's 2058

> Such a thing is ALREADY possible- its called splitting a spell and is
> described in the BBB section on spellcasting. Opticallyoverlapping the
> images, as opposed tolooking at people stnadingside byside, or more than
> one screen, would probably only be confusing, resulting ina visibility
> penalty. Anno, you couldn't try to hit the targets without spliting the
> spell, except maybe with an area effect spell, which would fizzlebecause
> the spellis designed totarget only one contigous area, a sort of built
> in limited target.
>
Well, it's about time I tried an idea out on ya'll. Yes, I know right up
front that it's Powergamerish/Munchkinish. Using the above idea ...
extrapolate a bit, and combine with the Metaplanes....

Magician is trying to heal everyone within a given building (say an ENORMOUS
FIRE), but simply can't reach everyone at once. He decides to implore the
assistance of the Hearth Powers directly. Treating it as a Quest o f Power
(say of force equal to the force of his/her heal spell or the hardest target
number of ANY target within the potential building), the magician performs a
"Quest of Power."

Two sets of drain, one drain pool of course. Can it be done? How about
going further on the idea?
-Keith
Message no. 2
From: Frank Pelletier <jeanpell@****.IVIC.QC.CA>
Subject: Re: Deep Etheric Secrets (Finally)
Date: Thu, 9 Oct 1997 23:50:54 +0000
J. Keith Henry <Ereskanti@***.COM> once wrote,

(snipped)

> Well, it's about time I tried an idea out on ya'll. Yes, I know right up
> front that it's Powergamerish/Munchkinish. Using the above idea ...
> extrapolate a bit, and combine with the Metaplanes....
>
> Magician is trying to heal everyone within a given building (say an ENORMOUS
> FIRE), but simply can't reach everyone at once. He decides to implore the
> assistance of the Hearth Powers directly. Treating it as a Quest o f Power
> (say of force equal to the force of his/her heal spell or the hardest target
> number of ANY target within the potential building), the magician performs a
> "Quest of Power."
>
> Two sets of drain, one drain pool of course. Can it be done? How about
> going further on the idea?
> -Keith

Hmm... tough one... Not exactly the Great Ghost Dance, of course.
But not a piece of cake either. At first glance, making it some sort
of metaplanar Quest to Hearth directly would be appropriate.
But I do have some questions (I don't have my Grimmy handy)

1. What would be the drain on this? Too much for a single magician
to bear alone? Take into account that some Aztlan Blood rituals have
smaller effects than the one proposed, yet high priests sacrifice
acolytes after acolytes to soak up the drain...

2. How long does it take to make such a Quest? Short enough to save
those unfortunate people? Or a little longer (Like, past crispy)?
That would give us a good idea on how these things might work.

3. I guess the help of spirits would be involved (in this case, of
course, Hearth spirits). Maybe Great forms... so... Maybe some kind
of system to "one-shot summons"..one service only, with reduced drain
and karma expenditure, of course...

4. My most important question.... Is the mana spike high enough?
Has mana invaved our world to a level acceptable to create such
phenomenons? The way you describe the spell, Mr. Henry, it looks to
me like the equivalent of Circle 8-10 Earthdawn spells. Is the SR
world up to that level? If it is so...

5. What about the contrary? Summon up some Great Form Fire
elementals to toast a building... Can you see the escalation? From a
purely esthetic point-of-view, I guess this could work (except my
restrictions above). But from a game balance POV, this would be
insane... SR is not ready now, I guess, and I hope never...

Hmm... it does give me "Evil GM" ideas... ;)

Trinity
"Life is a blur"
Message no. 3
From: "J. Keith Henry" <Ereskanti@***.COM>
Subject: Re: Deep Etheric Secrets (Finally)
Date: Fri, 10 Oct 1997 00:29:38 -0400
In a message dated 97-10-10 00:02:33 EDT, jeanpell@****.IVIC.QC.CA writes:

> Hmm... tough one... Not exactly the Great Ghost Dance, of course.
> But not a piece of cake either. At first glance, making it some sort
> of metaplanar Quest to Hearth directly would be appropriate.
> But I do have some questions (I don't have my Grimmy handy)

Oh no, the GGD is something beyond even what I'm proposing. You should only
begin to see what I have for the "Karma Furnace". All within the game rules,
but most definitely off the scale.

A Note: Mike (airwisp) please don't talk about the KF, I'd appreciate it.

> 1. What would be the drain on this? Too much for a single magician
> to bear alone? Take into account that some Aztlan Blood rituals have
> smaller effects than the one proposed, yet high priests sacrifice
> acolytes after acolytes to soak up the drain...

Well, to be honest, I was looking directly at the "Quest for Great Form",
with a twist. Drain (or maybe damage) could be "D", instead of the
"S" for
Spirits (as the magic is a bit more raw and/or direct).

> 2. How long does it take to make such a Quest? Short enough to save
> those unfortunate people? Or a little longer (Like, past crispy)?
> That would give us a good idea on how these things might work.

Like a Quest of Great Form, it's "Instantaneous".

> 3. I guess the help of spirits would be involved (in this case, of
> course, Hearth spirits). Maybe Great forms... so... Maybe some kind
> of system to "one-shot summons"..one service only, with reduced drain
> and karma expenditure, of course...

See above, but perhaps a Spirit of the appropriate domain could lend a hand.
In much the same manner as a spirit can help in gathering materials, aiding
in knowledge tests, elementals in aid study, etcetera.

> 4. My most important question.... Is the mana spike high enough?
> Has mana invaved our world to a level acceptable to create such
> phenomenons? The way you describe the spell, Mr. Henry, it looks to
> me like the equivalent of Circle 8-10 Earthdawn spells. Is the SR
> world up to that level? If it is so...

This is where the comment I made on the "PGish/Munchish" level came from. I
admit that the game level of power is -MUCH- higher here than in most, hell,
maybe all, other SR games out there. But I was simply looking at the way to
extrapolate and/or make leaps in theoretical power/research. It actually
isn't that bad, but can be impressive to say the least. Besides, the fact
that the magic pool does NOT refresh (as the QoP is part of the spellcasting
action) does help in some regards.

> 5. What about the contrary? Summon up some Great Form Fire
> elementals to toast a building... Can you see the escalation? From a
> purely esthetic point-of-view, I guess this could work (except my
> restrictions above). But from a game balance POV, this would be
> insane... SR is not ready now, I guess, and I hope never...

I know of the biblical sense of "easier to destroy than to create". And yes,
I have seen, past tense here, the escalation. Aethetics/Enjoyment is what
I'm shooting for. Development is what I'm after.

And it's not insane, just new...and anything new....

> Hmm... it does give me "Evil GM" ideas... ;)

THAT is what I am after. I have earned my "karma" for the day. One more
person thinking a bit in a new/different direction.

> Trinity
> "Life is a blur"
"So move with it, so you can see those that move with you and all those that
are left standing are a blur in your passing."
-K (as in Keith)
Message no. 4
From: Mike Bobroff <AirWisp@***.COM>
Subject: Re: Deep Etheric Secrets (Finally)
Date: Fri, 10 Oct 1997 01:36:40 -0400
In a message dated 97-10-10 00:02:21 EDT, you write:

This is Airwisp, btw

> 1. What would be the drain on this? Too much for a single magician
> to bear alone?

There are two sets of drain for this, the regular drain for the spell, and
then the 'True Force' part, which is the same as summoning a Great-form
spirit.

> 2. How long does it take to make such a Quest?

Same as a quest of Great-form, instantaneous.

> 3. I guess the help of spirits would be involved

Spirit assistance is nice, as there can be greater control over the effects
on the domain in question, and the area of effect can also be enhanced.

> 4. My most important question.... Is the mana spike high enough?

Yes, it is, IMHO, since some of the power for the spell is now coming from
the metaplanes which have an nigh infinite amount of mana.

> 5. What about the contrary? Summon up some Great Form Fire
> elementals to toast a building... Can you see the escalation? From a
> purely esthetic point-of-view, I guess this could work (except my
> restrictions above). But from a game balance POV, this would be
> insane... SR is not ready now, I guess, and I hope never...

You are right the thought is scary, Domainal magics are something not to be
trifled with lightly.

> Hmm... it does give me "Evil GM" ideas... ;)

You are right it does and it has.

Further Reading

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