I pretty much agree with all that hcobb wrote in that most recent post. (I can think of some fiddly edge cases about timing, but I don't want to get into that now.)
Quote:
Originally Posted by phiwum
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Here are the three possibilities for how Aid works when current ST is reduced for some reason.
(1) If a spell is cast, fatigue is taken off of the Aid reserve first.
(2) If fatigue arises for any other reason, it is taken off of the Aid reserve first.
(3) If wounds are taken for any reason, they are taken off the Aid reserve first.
Far as I know, everyone accepts (1). Skarg rejects (2), but I don't know about others. I'm the only one vocal about accepting (3) given (1) and (2).
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I would say:
(1) Yes. (The caster might choose to use their own ST, but almost never would.)
(2) This is actually ok with me. I think it's unclear RAW, but a simple and reasonable way to do it. EDIT: But I think it's perhaps more likely that the intention is that since the spell specifically/only says it can be used to cast spells, that it
doesn't let you use the spell's ST for other causes of fatigue.
(3) This is the one I really don't like. I don't think Aid ST gives you a damage sponge; I think it increases your ST for 2 turns. I think a wound is physical damage that an Aid spell can indirectly help you endure for 2 turns but has no power to make vanish.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Shostak
I'm not sure there is a way to reconcile them all satisfactorily. If one accepts that, by way of Aid, one can accrue an amount of fatigue greater than one's natural capacity without dying, then there is the sticky problem why wounds aren't treated the same way. And if one doesn't accept it, then there is the problem of how Aid is clearly meant to work with regards to spreading the cost of spells over more than one person.
A GM could just say that when aiding ST it also confers an equal amount of mana. That way, spells the subject casts use that, not fatigue, and mundane tallies against ST (fatigue and wounds) that exceed the subject's natural capacity will kill the Aided figure upon the spell's expiration. But that's definitely adding something that isn't specifically mentioned in the rules.
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It's not the Aid spell that's letting you use more ST than you have to kill yourself. That's just a possible effect of the very rare case of someone going berserk and ending up with ST 0 or 1 when berserk wears off, then losing 2 when berserk ends. And the question about how that combines with Aid is really about whether whether you can use Aid ST to recover berserk ST, and/or fatigue that was "really" caused before the Aid spell, and/or how you actually resolve the effect of coming out of berserk (i.e. a GM might allow you to count it against Aid ST if the berserk doesn't knock you unconscious or kill you first). But really, all that's about the edge case of berserk interacting with Aid, not really about Aid itself.
It also sounds to me like people are trying to think about Aid in a way that they think is simpler, but actually makes it more complicated.
I think about it like the spell says:
* Aid ST is a spell that for 2 turns, adds to your effective ST.
* You can use the spell's ST to cast spells until it wears off, after which any unused ST is lost.
So for the question about the more significant and common situation of normal damage, to me it seems clear that if you suffer a wound while you have an Aid ST spell going, your body takes the full damage, and the Aid ST spell just helps you survive it until the Aid spell wears off. The spell does not say it can be used to make damage to you apply to the spell and not to your body.
So if I have ST 10 and Aid ST +5, and I take 4 damage, I'd write:
ST 10, Aid ST +5, -4 stab
When the spell wears off, I erase the "Aid ST +5", leaving:
ST 10, -4 stab