| From: | Erik Jameson <erikj@****.COM> |
|---|---|
| Subject: | Re: Prometheus Unbound (long) |
| Date: | Wed, 20 May 1998 14:23:02 -0400 |
>Yeah, but you can't blow the top off the top of a mountain with a normal
>spell, but a ritual can handle it. You can't target someone on the other
side
>of the planet with a normal spell, but you can with a ritual spell. You
can't
>alter (or summon) an ally with a normal spell. You don't summon elementals
>with a normal spell. About the only thing that normal spells have on ritual
>spells is speed. You can whip one of those off, no problem. Rituals take
>more time.
All true, but I see most of those factors as being a product of multiple
spellcasters. In the end, I believe that magic is magic is magic,
regardless of how it's cast.
>Hey, something mostly unrelated, but interesting nonetheless... would Wired
>Reflexes increase your initiative for the purposes of casting spells? After
>all, you can't really channel the mana along the wires like you can along the
>neural pathways, so they wouldn't be sped up (the magic loss is taken care
of,
>but there is still the matter of speed). And what good is enhanced
>articulation when trying to cast a spell? It raises your initiative a bit
>(one point), but you can't pull the energy from astral space any faster.
This
>goes for a lot of things (encephalons, type O bioware, boosted reflexes,
etc.)
>Any thoughts?
I think I see where you are going with this thought. Wires speed up the
body, but not necessarily the mind, right? And magic is a mental thing.
Hmmmm...I think the answer is in how increased reaction and initiatives are
perceived, since to a great degree you are dead on right.
If wires and other enhancements only speed up the body, then you've got the
problem you posit. But if you step sideways and think that wires simply
allow more things to be done, you avoid the problem. I know, it looks like
semantics right now, but let me see if I can elaborate.
If the brain is up to the task, it is possibly able to do more actions than
the body is capable of. Wires simply improve that ratio, making the body
catch up to the mind.
Ack. I'm not sure I like this answer but it's the only thing I can think
of other than "That's just the way the game works, there is no real
answer." And I know how useful that sort of reply generally is.
Erik J.
"Oh my God, they killed Dunkelzahn! You bastards!!!"
