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Old 11-28-2015, 03:01 AM   #14
Kuroshima
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Join Date: Aug 2004
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Default Re: Running both Vanilla Magic and RPM?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Kalzazz View Post
I must disagree with Ghostdancer though, I personally find Magic Magic casters to be much more likely to be throwing around tons of buffs, and that RPM Mages are much more likely to be using charms to just out and out throw damage downrange.
I disagree with both you and Ghostdancer, though only in part (and that means that I also partially agree with both of you).

First, RPM casters can pack a might wallop, if they prepared for it. It's however not the most efficient use of their abilities. Unless the RPM user allocated some of their limited charm slots to the damage spell, they literally can't cast a decent damage spell when things get hairy.

On the other hand, GURPS Magic casters are more likely to resort to damage spells when they can't do anything else, because they usually know at least one, and even when caught by surprise, they can use it as effectively as usual.

As for buffs, both RPM casters and Magic casters are awesome buffers, but as detailed below, the nature of the buffs might be different.

Quote:
Absolute effects like Resist Fire and Missile Shield, and cheap low hanging spells like Haste make for great buffing, and Great Haste is a spell that RPM buffing has no answer for, yet slow to cast, expensive direct damage spells get forgotten easily by magic magic mages, while even a modestly powerful RPMist can have a charm ready to deliver a mighty External wallop, or a still fairly mighty save or eat damage malediction charm.
Some effects, like force dome/wall and and resist X are outside of the scope of RPM. Other cheap buffs are extremely hard to cast with RPM (Great Haste is perfectly doable in RPM, Greater Strengthen Body, plus 100 points worth of altered traits, making it a 300 and change energy spell). On the other hand, buffing by a Magic caster usually has lower duration (if maintenance is not free) or lower magnitude (if maintenance is free). Magic buffing also penalizes all other spellcasting (due to the spells on penalty). RPM buffing will usually go for bigger buffs (since you can't stack loads of small buffs effectively due to the stacking rules), and making buffs lasting is usually easy and cheap, plus it does not penalize anything.
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