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Curmudgeon · 08-07-2015, 04:24 PM

Johndallman's answers address most of your questions very nicely. I think the only thing you're missing is what happens with Slow and Sure castings.

As mentioned earlier with Slow and Sure castings, if you cast Powerstone by that method and don't have assistants or a powerstone to help out, it will take 20 days for each casting (spending 1 [one] energy each day). In that case, using your 10 carat powerstone example, it will take 200 days (in other words, six months, two weeks and two or three days) to get your ST 10 powerstone using the Slow and Sure method, assuming you don't fail any castings. You can fail a Slow and Sure casting just as you can a Quick and Dirty, so failing your fourth and fifth castings would occur at the eightieth and hundredth days and you'd be 'stuck' with a ST 3 powerstone (which has had lots of time to gather the 3 mana it can hold and is fully charged at that point).

Whether you use Quick and Dirty or Slow and Sure enchantment, the stone now has two quirks. You know the enchantment failed to take, i.e. you know the spell failed when you cast it in either case, and since the powerstone didn't turn to dust, you know it wasn't a critical failure. Therefore you know that it has two quirks, but you don't know exactly what the quirks are. By Powerstone's description if you want to know what the quirk is you need to cast Analyse Magic on the powerstone. The rules don't say so, but I'd say each casting of Analyse Magic will only determine one quirk.

One other point is that you can fail an unlimited number of times as long as you don't critically fail and don't get two ordinary failures in a row. You could, for example, fail every other casting and by the Slow and Sure method you would have a ST 10 powerstone at the end of 400 days (a bit over a year and a month) that has 10 (ten) quirks!

Two other points about powerstones are contained in the paragraph on Wizardly Tools in general. Mages, and only mages, can use powerstones as a magic item and second, a powerstone is always on, so you'll want to read "Always On" Items [B153-B154]. The last four sentences of that section [B154] are particularly important.

08-07-2015, 04:24 PM	#9
Curmudgeon Join Date: Sep 2011	Re: [3rd edition] Power stones. Johndallman's answers address most of your questions very nicely. I think the only thing you're missing is what happens with Slow and Sure castings. As mentioned earlier with Slow and Sure castings, if you cast Powerstone by that method and don't have assistants or a powerstone to help out, it will take 20 days for each casting (spending 1 [one] energy each day). In that case, using your 10 carat powerstone example, it will take 200 days (in other words, six months, two weeks and two or three days) to get your ST 10 powerstone using the Slow and Sure method, assuming you don't fail any castings. You can fail a Slow and Sure casting just as you can a Quick and Dirty, so failing your fourth and fifth castings would occur at the eightieth and hundredth days and you'd be 'stuck' with a ST 3 powerstone (which has had lots of time to gather the 3 mana it can hold and is fully charged at that point). Whether you use Quick and Dirty or Slow and Sure enchantment, the stone now has two quirks. You know the enchantment failed to take, i.e. you know the spell failed when you cast it in either case, and since the powerstone didn't turn to dust, you know it wasn't a critical failure. Therefore you know that it has two quirks, but you don't know exactly what the quirks are. By Powerstone's description if you want to know what the quirk is you need to cast Analyse Magic on the powerstone. The rules don't say so, but I'd say each casting of Analyse Magic will only determine one quirk. One other point is that you can fail an unlimited number of times as long as you don't critically fail and don't get two ordinary failures in a row. You could, for example, fail every other casting and by the Slow and Sure method you would have a ST 10 powerstone at the end of 400 days (a bit over a year and a month) that has 10 (ten) quirks! Two other points about powerstones are contained in the paragraph on Wizardly Tools in general. Mages, and only mages, can use powerstones as a magic item and second, a powerstone is always on, so you'll want to read "Always On" Items [B153-B154]. The last four sentences of that section [B154] are particularly important. Last edited by Curmudgeon; 08-07-2015 at 05:36 PM.