Quote:
Originally Posted by whswhs
That last definitely sounds overambitious. What I would expect from a combat, especially a combat with a major foe, is not doing away with it, or even incapacitating it, with one strike, but exchanging blows for several rounds.
A skill buff requires three successes for three levels and one for a scene duration—but you could go for a modest buff of one level and only need two total successes. So I'm calling that "overambitious" too.
|
Well, at that point, it seems like mundane methods would be more efficient than magic - if you don't go over a half-dozen successes. Especially if you waste one success just to target an enemy within line of sight, which means much of the time your 2-4 levels aren't even sufficient to get past the Soak of WoD's typical combat-oriented supernaturals.
Quote:
Originally Posted by whswhs
As for mind reading, deep reading someone's mind is specified in Mage 2/e as three successes. I would take it that reading surface thoughts is easier, maybe two successes. And deep reading someone's mind in a single action really seems like it's getting into "impressive feats for powerful mages." As for mind changing, I'm fine with that being hard to do; I've seen too often how easily cheap mind alteration can wreck a scenario.
|
Ah, but non-mook enemies can make a Willpower roll to resist, negating 1-10 successes depending on their roll.
Quote:
Originally Posted by whswhs
A newly Awakened mage, with maybe three arete max, will need to exercise ingenuity, to come up with ways to gain an edge rather than driving over the scenario in a steamroller or a main battle tank. And I think that's what the rules system is optimized for. Though presumably you can play a Deeply Scary Sorcerer if the Storyteller lets you have more freebie points or higher starting levels.
|
Oh, ingenuity is certainly required. Mages are very weak when confronting their foes face to face - assuming that 'enemies' covers most other supernaturals. Vampires and weres are quite tough, and even Technocracy HITMARKs aren't a laughing matter when faced. Thing is, for most expressions of Mage-style indirect approaches that capitalize on what makes Mages different from other supernaturals, 1-3 successes is very little.