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Message no. 1
From: Justin Pinnow <jpinnow@***.IM.MED.UMICH.EDU>
Subject: Re: Moving with a barrier
Date: Fri, 27 Oct 1995 07:57:30 -0400
Sebastian wrote:

>As far as I can see, the personal barrier is still an area-effect spell.
>The drain only goes down one level (I think) and that is because of the
>personal part, which makes it work only for yourself, i.e. You r buddies
>don't get any protection, nor are they hindered by it, unless they're
>attacking you.

I believe a personal barrier spell only "covers" the caster. It does not form a
wall or a dome that covers a large space. It forms around your body or aura.
Basically, I view it as a very small dome covering only the caster. It would
make no sense (IMO) to say that it still creates this big wall, but the barrier
somehow knows to attempt to defeat ONLY the stuff that is directed at the
caster. Soemthing that only affects the caster is not considered area effect
(detection spells may be an exception).

Just my $0.02.


Justin :)
Message no. 2
From: Mark Steedman <RSMS@******.EEE.RGU.AC.UK>
Subject: Re: Moving with a barrier
Date: Fri, 27 Oct 1995 13:25:37 GMT
Justin Pinnow writes
>
> I believe a personal barrier spell only "covers" the caster. It does not
form a
> wall or a dome that covers a large space. It forms around your body or aura.

Thats how i'd looked at it. basically a 'sheet' just outside you plus
cloathes and 'worn' equipment. (ie worn armour is considered inside,
avoids the barrier 6, + jacket = hardened 11 trick, sorry its hard
6, soft(total) 11 armour)

However you still have a 'hard' skin about you, you can i assume
still pick things up but swallowing may be tricky, and tactile
perception could be a little low.

Mark
Message no. 3
From: Marc A Renouf <jormung@*****.UMICH.EDU>
Subject: Re: Moving with a barrier
Date: Fri, 27 Oct 1995 15:29:27 -0400
On Fri, 27 Oct 1995, Justin Pinnow wrote:

> I believe a personal barrier spell only "covers" the caster. It does
> not form a wall or a dome that covers a large space. It forms around
> your body or aura. Basically, I view it as a very small dome covering
> only the caster. It would make no sense (IMO) to say that it still
> creates this big wall, but the barrier somehow knows to attempt to
> defeat ONLY the stuff that is directed at the caster. Soemthing that
> only affects the caster is not considered area effect (detection spells
> may be an exception).

Okay, we've had this discussion before, so I'll go back to what
my answer was all those months ago.
Personal Physical Barrier can be a dome just like a normal
Physical Barrier. The only difference between the two spells is that the
Personal option can *only* be cast upon the caster, which is to say, it
can only be *centered* on the caster. This means that Personal Physical
Barrier is limited to the form of a dome centered on the caster. Thus
the "wall of force" option is right out.
As far as mechanics go, the spell is run in exactly the same way
as the non-personal spell. The radius of the dome is the same, the way
the actual strength of the barrier is calculated is the same, etc. Most
importantly, the barrier can protect people other than the caster if they
are inside its effective radius. The only way the spell will protect
*just* the caster is if the caster withholds dice to reduce the radius to
zero, in which case the spell would roughly conform to the shape of the
caster's aura (about a foot out from the physical body).
In short, there is *no difference* between a mage who casts
Physical Barrier as a dome centered on himself and a mage who casts
Personal Physical Barrier other than the drain code.
The reason for the reduced drain code is that the speel has much
more limited capabilities, not in who it can protect or whatever, but in
how it can be cast.

Marc
Message no. 4
From: Sebastian Vilstrup <vilstrup@*****.ihi.ku.dk>
Subject: Re: Moving with a barrier
Date: Mon, 30 Oct 1995 16:25:27 +0100 (MET)
>Justin Pinnow And Mark Steedman writes
>>
>> I believe a personal barrier spell only "covers" the caster. It does
not
>form a
>> wall or a dome that covers a large space. It forms around your body or
>aura.
>
>Thats how i'd looked at it. basically a 'sheet' just outside you plus
>cloathes and 'worn' equipment. (ie worn armour is considered inside,
>avoids the barrier 6, + jacket = hardened 11 trick, sorry its hard
>6, soft(total) 11 armour)

If this is the case, (The close fitting Personal Barrier, I mean) than
the drain code should be one level lower, for ditching the area-effect, neh?

----------------------------------------------------------
Raving lunatics howl at the moon. I just howl - The Madman
Email me at your leisure - Vilstrup@*****.ihi.ku.dk
----------------------------------------------------------
Message no. 5
From: Sebastian Vilstrup <vilstrup@*****.ihi.ku.dk>
Subject: Re: Moving with a barrier
Date: Mon, 30 Oct 1995 16:30:28 +0100 (MET)
> The way it is played in our game is that the spell must be cast on
>something in order to move it. If it is just cast on air then it can't be
>moved.
>
>
>dustin

That makes sense to me, I think I'll go with that.

And thank Thanks to Marc A Renouf (sp?) for clearing up the
Personal/Normal Barrier prob.

----------------------------------------------------------
Raving lunatics howl at the moon. I just howl - The Madman
Email me at your leisure - Vilstrup@*****.ihi.ku.dk
----------------------------------------------------------
Message no. 6
From: "Mark Steedman" <RSMS@******.eee.rgu.ac.uk>
Subject: Re: Moving with a barrier
Date: Mon, 30 Oct 1995 16:14:20 GMT
Sebastian Vilstrup writes
>
> If this is the case, (The close fitting Personal Barrier, I mean) than
> the drain code should be one level lower, for ditching the area-effect, neh?
>
Well that comes down two four types of barrier spell

Standard, dome or wall, cast anywhere, and it only moves if cast on
something sounds reasonable, also stops the Barrier spell snowplough,
well most of the time :) [just thought of that one]

version 2.
The 'caster only' (could be called personal) area spell, this is
actually a lot lower drain, as 'self' is something like -3 drain
levels.

version 3
The 'personal' arround target only spell, -1 drain level for not area
affect.

version 4
The personal, caster only, non area affect.

Exactly which of 3 or 4 i think the 'personnal' ones in the book are
i would rather check again. I would also suspect with how it all
turns out (barriers not being offensive) that nos 2 and 3 have the
same drain code. Again presented here for comment, must check rules
for arguements.

---
final note, please copy replies to myself direct as well if you want
me to get them, due to technical reasons i will not be on the list
for about 40 - 48 hrs from now.

Mark

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