From: Mark C Wallace (mcwalla@algol.cs.umbc.edu)
Date: Sun 16 Jun 1991 - 09:56:33 EEST
> From abf@cs.ucc.ie Tue Jun 16 09:56:33 1991
From: <tsl@mullauna.cs.mu.OZ.AU> Tim Leask
>
> I was also wondering how people using socery in their campaigns have
> managed to handle the problem of sorceror's running around with lots
> of long duration spells up all the time, and how you deal with the problem
> of dispelling magic across different spheres of magic.
The second question is easier to handle; each of the spells
(dispell/dismiss/Neutralize contain rules for handling cross
sphere magical disposal. It seems more difficult to dispell sorcery,
and conversly easier for a sorceror to dispose of anyone elses magic,
but the answer to that question runs into the answer to question 1. To
wit, how to handle sorcerors using long duration spells. In reality
this question is a rephrasing of what I ask myself at least once every
game session, "How to handle sorcerors!?!?!"
I'm not currently GMing, but the folling are the guidelines I've
worked up to handle sorcerors when I restart the campaign. First, INT
must be rolled honest. a sorceror should have an INT of 17 or higher
only 5% of the time; approximately 50% of sorcerors should have an INT
less than 13. In the past I've been nice and allowed people to do
strange things with dice to play high INT cahracters, but never again.
Second, strictly limit the sorcerors access to stored power. Never
allow a sorceror the "BindPower Spirit" spell (or even SUmmon/Dominate
same). That makes sorcerors too powerful. Third, limit sorcerors in
the spells they can acquire. 1 years income for a crafter seems a
reasonable price to pay for something as valuable as a spell. You can
mitigate teh effects of this by creating two and three point spells
which are undecomposable. For example, allow the aspirant mage to
purchase "Become Cat", a two point spell which is the combination of
reduce size and metamorphose to cat form. The effect is useful, but
cannot be decomposed into the two constituent spells. Fourth, worship
of the invisible god is a serious business; magi should be reluctant to
travel more than a weeks travel from a temple of the invisible god.
Those who ignore their religious duties should incur the enmity of their
fellows. Magi should be reluctant to take potential heretics as
students, since it reflects badly on their souls. Archmagi are more
likely to challenge/depose other Archmagi who are agnostic, because they
give magi a bad rep, and for other reasons. Fifth, limit the creation
of magic items. The following is a rules change my players and I use.
Each magical item, once created, has a personality or ego. Any further
attempt to enchant that object is treated as a spell cast at MP's equal
to the number of POW points expended in creating the item; failure means
the enchantment fails, and the enchanter looses some POW.
Apart from the above limits, I'd like to point out that View
Magic is active, and therefore cannot be held up while adventuring.
(that is from memory, so redirect flames to /dev/Eurmal). Second,
Divine spellcasters should have easy access to Dismiss magic 8 or more
(though three is all they need to dispell a palsy 6). Shamans
strength's lie elsewhere. If they can't get a spirit to cast dispell 8,
they should just possess the mage, and force him to do the Neutralize.
Shamans have enourmous power, but it is in quite a different sphere than
priests and Magi. Finally, a few Palsy 6 spells from any range
whatsoever, with any duration, should waste that mage.
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