From:	Mongoose m0ng005e@*********.com
Subject:	Spellcasting...so how do I do this?
Date:	Sat, 13 Mar 1999 15:14:16 -0600

:> Not "official", but that is seems correct. I asked Robert Boyle
:> yesterday if that is indeed how SR3 sorcery now works, and he said
yes.
:> Astral combat, dispelling, spellcasting, and spell defense all use up
:> sorcery dice, but you can use all of your sorcery dice each full
action
:> you have.
:> This differs from dice pools- because sorcery is not a dice pool.
:> Instead, the dice are provided by the various uses of the sorcery
skill.
:> Spell Pool dice (which can augment some sorcery rolls, or be used
for
:> drain) refresh with other pools, when intitative is rolled at the
start of
:> a turn.

:In essence, in SR3, Sorcery as a skill now works like Pistol or Rifle
skill,
:the SPELL is the WEAPON.
:
:You roll your Sorcery Skill Dice, to measure how accurate you are in
casting
:the spell. The spell's force becomes the Power Level of the attack, and
the
:damage level selected by the Mage is appended, ofc.
:
:Ergo, a Force 9 Powerbolt, cast at M damage level, is _precisely_ as
effective
:against unarmored targets as a Heavy Pistol would be: it has a 9M damage
code.
:The spell needs Sorcery Skill, the gun needs Pistols skill, but there are
few
:other mechanical differences. :-)

In that case, for a single shot, and when the mage chooses to use as
many sorcery dice as the shooters skill, yes.

But that is a rather limited parallel- spellcasting requires a very
different procedure in the rules than ranged combat does. I don't think
its a matter of a few mechanical difference. Its a different system- even
the Sr3 introduction acknowledges that they are "specialized rules". Its
just not AS different as magic was from other skills in SR2.

The differences reflect that sorcery (the manipulation of mana) is
somewhat more difficult than just busting off caps in the right direction.
This is not only reflected in the fact that spellcasting is a complex
action, but also reflected in the fact that, after any use (IE, rolling of
dice), you can't use sorcery skill dice again, for any purpose, until your
next action.

Sorcery is a very versatile power (more so in Sr3 than sr2, even)-
instead of "Mana Manipulation" being divided into many smaller skills (as
combat is), the DICE the skill provides are divided among uses.

This becomes VERY clear when you compare the autofire rules to the
casting of multiple spells as one action: Using autofire, your TN is
likely to go up if you shoot at 3 different targets, but you roll you're
entire skill each time. In casting stacked spells, you must allocate
sorcery dice to each spell- meaning you do NOT get to use your full skill.

What was (apparently) not made to clear in Sr3 is that different uses
(like rolling spell defense, or astral combat using sorcery) taken before
your next action also use up sorcery dice, and make them unavailable for
other use. Just as you cant use sorcery dice more than once between
actions for the same purpose (like when stacking spells or rolling spell
defense), they also can't be used for different purposes.



Mongoose

P.S. The Sorcery mechanics I'm going into above should seem rather
familiar to those who have used the storyteller system, where all action
dice are taken from a "pool" that is simply a number of skill dice that
can be used in one action. In fact, FASA (I've heard) helped White Wolf
develop that system. Its still a distinct and unique mechanic, but the
reason for the use of the mechanic is similar in both cases- it reflects
the difficulty of performing multiple tasks quite well, and is quite
flexible.