| From: | Jeffrey Riordan <JRIORDAN@***.gov> |
|---|---|
| Subject: | Re: Spell loss -Reply -Reply |
| Date: | Tue, 21 May 1996 15:21:24 -0400 |
>>>
I've created mages with magic ratings of 1 before that
would be quite powerful, thank you. High force, low
drain spells work wonders. A force 7 mana missile is
still only 3M physical drain. Any mage woth the title
can resist that. Stunbolt does S damage and has a
drain of 2S at force 7. A force 13 mana dart is only 6L
drain. You have any idea how much damage a force
13 mana dart will do? It might cost you a light wound
(which can be healed easily by spell or time) but it'll
cost the other guy his life more often than not.
Admittedly, you can't have any of these at chargen,
but you could have a force 5 mana missile (2M drain)
or sleep (1S drain).
<<<<<<<<<<
I agree that those are devestating spells at those
levels but they eat Karma like crazy that you could
have used to bring up skills and stats. I also would
like to point out that since you only have a 1 magic
rating you can only add 1 die to your spell attacks. I
don't have the books with me but I believe the amount
of dice you can add to ANY magic spell is limited to
your current Magic rating. You'll also be operating
under 2 geas which means you can't be subtle or
quiet (IMHO one of Magic's best attributes).
That force 7 mana missle may have a low target
drain but you've only got 8 dice for possible success'
and if they are even average will power you may get
enough to stage it up to deadly assuming they don't
make any success. (Again I don't have the books here
but I assume the damage code is a M)
The same applies to other spells even the 13 Mana
dart, setting aside the Number of times you would
have to try and learn the spell. It's already been
pointed out that the TN is a 26 with a teacher. Even if
it was a force 10 with Disposable fetish and exclusive
thrown in it's still a 20 for the base.
Yes a force 13 dart is deadly just because it's force
13 and very hard to resist. Then again you are
throwing it at someone who's will power may be 5 or 6
(I assume the GM is making things somewhat
challenging). Gives you 14 dice to make success on
against 5 or 6. My statitstics are very bad but that
means you'll get on average 4-6 success against the
5 (probably lethal baring Trauma Dampner) but only
3-4 against the 6 which isn't lethal at all. (*Please
correct my numbers if I'm wrong I tried to give the
benefit to the Mages roll.)
One other concern I have is that most of the spells
you listed are single target spells. Sleep is the only
area effect spell you mentioned which I would point
out has a low target number to resist drain but you
still have to make 6 success to eliminate all damage
and you only get 5 from the spell. (No, I don't know if
the level 1 magic rating affects the number of dice you
can use to resist a drain). Also unless you don't have
the Karma for it the force 6 version is more effective
because they get TNs of 6 while you still only have to
resist a 2S (lowest possible TN allowed).
I also agree with everything you said about stealing
stuff off cyber characters (I've done it to both Cyber
guys and other Mages) but I think you'll agree that it's
easier to disarm the Mage wielding the Power Foci 4
than the Street sam who has hand razors. Just look at
the price for some of A mages stuff 2 spell locks are
worth 180K NY on the street. More than enough for
wired 2 I believe.
Anyway, I'm just saying that I see both sides as
very equally balanced. In fact even the only thing I
think is unbalanced about them is the number of
supplements that each has. SSC, Shadowtech, parts
of FOF, and Cybertechnology versus Grim II and
Awakenings. I would venture to say that even they are
balanced to becasuse SSC and Shadowtech have a lot
of empty space in them (ooo.... pretty pictures....)
while Grim II and Awakenings are double column and
crammed full of stuff. (spell listings don't take up
much room).
For others who are reading this post I am not
intending to start a Cyber vs Mage debate (again) so
don't jump all of TC or me about that. I think we both
have very valid viewpoints I have just never seen
characters like the ones TC has described and want to
know how he (assuming he's played the characters
himself) managed to deal with some of the possible
problems.
