From: boris (mabeyke@batman.b11.ingr.com)
Date: Wed 09 Feb 1994 - 21:53:00 EET
While I agree that shamans are powerful, I will argue that they're not
*quite* as powerful as some might say. For instance, to respond to
Mr. Turney's points:
> a) attack while standing out of archery or runespell range by sending his
> spirits in;
Doing this takes them out of range of any control spells he has on them,
so they will perform *one* task each, then go away.
> b) either attack 4 targets with 4 spirits or one target with 4 spirits;
I'll concede this point.
> c) unlike the divine spellcaster, he can reuse his spirits at his command
> when they finish the first round of attacks;
Only if he has cast Command or Control spells on them. If Command spells,
then he too is using divine magic. If Control, then he must have had them
in a Spirit Trap (otherwise he would have had to reduce them to 0 MPs
before Controlling them, rendering them useless in spirit combat) which
will have cost POW to make. And either of which means he's in archery or
runespell range.
> d) gain power checks faster for being unusually magically active {relative
> to the sword of Humakht} thus making him go up faster as a specialist
> caster;
I'm not so sure that a magically active shaman would get POW checks faster
than a magically active Sword, or even a particularly devout Sword who
made a point to attend regular worship services. I'll only concede a half
point here.
> e) have access to a much wider variety of magic more easily than the divine
> or sorcery casting specialist;
He has access to a much wider variety of Spirit spells, true; that's what
a shaman does. Nearly any cultist will have access to many more divine
spells than a shaman can obtain through Spirit Cults, however, and can
regain them much more readily. Now shamans who are members of shamanic
cults, such as Waha or Kyger Litor, will have the best of both worlds, but
that seems to be the nature of such mixed types.
> f) has access to some abilities which have no simple counterparts in the
> other spellcasting specialist's magical arsenal {or are we about to see
> Seven Mothers Priestesses casting Mindblast using a +2 to offensive spells
> ability off a POW base of 20?};
However, since a shaman has two POW's that are raised from his activities,
and there's no indication that a fetch can act independently anymore (i.e.
cast spells, direct spirits, etc), he is in many ways more limited than
a Runelord with an allied spirit, which can act independently and raise
it's POW without needing the Runelord's help. Sure the Shaman might have
+2 to overcome with offensive spells; to get it he will have to have given
his Fetch *at least* 11 POW. That's if Magic Attack is taken as the
primary ability, otherwise the he has to give it 21 or 31 POW. And he will
have to have taken the Magic Defense ability if he want's a similar ability
to defend against magic. Given that in RQ3 a shaman with a fetch this
large is practically invulnerable to magic or spirits (fetch POW added to
his in defending against both) *and* the fetch could cast spells
independently with it's POW of 11 to 31, I really think these rules power
down shaman considerably, while at the same time making them more
interesting. Both of which I see as a good thing.
> g) Discorporate himself and attack in sprit combat himself;
Only if he's taken that discipline as well. And this is not something he
does in less than a full turn unless his fetch is at lest POW 31.
> h) Has ready access to specialist training in spirit combat, which his Seven
> Mothers Priestess or Yanafal Divine competitor does not.
Again, this is what a shaman does. The YD scimitar get's sword training.
> Advantage a) is a tactical killer, as he can strike at you from outside your
> range, unless you happen to be a sorceror with range and an attack spell at
> a very good percentage {for which you have paid at least one hard skills}.
> Given enough attacks while remaining invulnerable himself he will win.
But each spirit he does this with does *one* thing and goes away. So he's
throwing away a renusable resource for a one time benefit. Kind of like
Divine Intervention, which the shaman doesn't get.
> Advantage b) is also devasting, as it means anyone attempting to close the
> range faces the equivalent of massed archery by several archers while not
> wearing any armor. It thus interacts synergistically with advantage a). If
> this is for some reason not appropriate he can adopt the normal tactic of
> engaging several enemies at once.
This just means he's throwing away a lot of spirits that would be better
kept for close work. And it takes a combat action to command each one,
which allows a lot of time for attackers to move in close.
> Advantage c) Spirit reusability, means he never runs out of attacks, and the
> only way to defeat him is to beat his spirits in spirit combat. It should
> be noted that spirit combat differes dramatically from ordinary combat in
> that no one can protect your character's flanks, and force the other spirits
> to engage him.
Or dispel the Command or Control spell on them, after which they go away.
If they were not Commanded or Controlled, then they go away after
performing one task. And I, as a GM, certainly wouldn't allow such things
as "attack all those people sequencially in spirit combat" as a task;
attacking one person is one task.
Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that shamans aren't tough. But
keep in mind, a shaman that can do all the things said has a fetch that
has been given 21+ POW, plus several spirit traps taking one or more POW
each. So an equivalent Runelord is one with 26+ points of divine
magic. Spirit Block is still a common divine, two points of this gives
+20 POW for defense. That should certainly give the runelord time to get
within divine magic range. At which point he casts 2 or 3 Sever Spirits
(doing 1d6 even if he doesn't overcome) or a Thunderbolt or Sunspear or
two (which don't have to overcome), or whatever. I think it will be a
pretty even match.
-- Boris Mikey, aka |"Here the ways of men part: if you wish to Maurice Beyke | strive for peace of soul and pleasure, then mabeyke@batman.b11.ingr.com| believe; if you wish to be a devotee of Intergraph doesn't want | truth, then inquire." my opinions. Nietzsche 0,,
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