| From: | Chris Maxfield cmaxfiel@****.org.au |
|---|---|
| Subject: | SR3... SpellCasting (and Game Balance) |
| Date: | Sat, 06 Mar 1999 01:14:25 +1100 |
> If you'll re-read my post I agree with you about the Magic Attribute
>being more important in -other- areas, just not in spellcasting. Your
OK. I felt that your comment was wider in intent than that but I see what you
mean.
>Magic Attribute has even less to do with Spellcasting than it did before.
>It all comes down to your Sorcery Skill and nothing more -at least in
>regards to resisted spells. Unresisted spells are an exception because of
>the Force-related limits on successes.
Yes, in that Sorcery is more important at the expense of spell-force mechanics
domination.
> Take for example, your typical starting Sorcery Aspected Magician, who
>has four points of cyberware (maybe Wired Reflexes-2, a Smartlink,
>cybereyes with the works, and some miscellaneous other junk - more if he
>Alpha-Grades some of the cyber), and who has a Sorcery Skill, Intelligence,
>and Willpower of 6 (not exactly typical, but we're min/maxing here
>remember?).
Sure.
> Because of his Magic Attribute of 2, his Spell Pool would be 4
>(6+6+2=>14/3 =~ 4), while his Magic Pool (under SR2 at least) would be 6.
> If this character was to hurl a Force 1 Manabolt (with a (M)oderate
>staging using SR3 or the imposed (S)erious staging using SR2) at your
I don't know what you mean here. Are you talking about drain? If so, then
choose the SR3 Manabolt to do S damage, same as SR2, so they both impose S
drain.
>average person, he'd be rolling a maximum of 10 dice offensively under SR3
>or a maximum of 3 dice offensively under SR2 (Force of 1 plus maximum of 2
>Magic Pool because of Magic Attribute limit). Both tests would have the
>same Target Number - Willpower (3 in this case) plus modifiers.
> Assuming no modifiers apply (yeah, sure) the SR3 magician will roll
>around 6 - 7 successes while the SR2 magician will roll around 1-2
>successes. The target, rolling his Willpower of 3 against the spell's
>Force of 1 will usually get 3 successes. End result: SR3 magician either
>severely wounds or outright kills his target while the SR2 magician is
>lucky to even effect him.
This is being discussed in the other thread. As some have stated, and I agree,
this is as it should be. Skill should be a powerful factor, not just the power
of the weapon. The cyber-mage has trouble channeling his magic, sure, but with
a skill of 6 in Sorcery, he's a master. He should be taking down an average
Willpower target without raising a sweat! This is a fix not a fault.
> It gets worse, neither magician really runs any risk of taking Drain.
>Using 6 dice for Willpower against the Drain Target of 2 will get the SR3
>magician more than the four successes he needs to walk away without damage,
>and the SR2 magician with his leftover Magic Pool can easily get another
>two or so successes on top of his Willpower ones.
Sure.
> Suggested patch for this problem: Re-introduce the Magic Attribute limit
>for spellcasting. No character may add more than his Magic Attribute in
>Spell Pool dice to his Sorcery test when Spellcasting.
>
I don't see that the problem for this solution really exists. To me, the
limitation that Magic imposes on spell pool size is more significant than the
SR2 limitation on magic pool added to a spell test. With less total spell pool,
there's less to go round for spelling, drain and spell defense. This hurts, and
doubly so with the spell pool not refreshing until the next turn - your
cyber-mage above has only 4 dice for all this. Magic is just as important as
ever. It's just applied differently.
Chris Maxfield We are restless because of incessant
<cmaxfiel@****.org.au> change, but we would be frightened if
Canberra, Australia change were stopped.
