Steve Jackson Games Forums - View Single Post - Healing in active combat, how to heal allied PC

Mr_Sandman · 01-04-2016, 12:43 PM

As a GM, I wouldn't call for a roll to hit with a staff for a healing spell on an ally, unless there was some particular circumstance making it especially difficult to touch the ally.

That said, a legalistic reading of the rules may not actually require a touch with the staff to reduce the range penalty. The Basic Set says that for Regular spells "if you cannot touch the subject, apply a skill penalty equal to your distance in yards from the subject." You could argue that as long as the mage or the end of the mage's staff is in the same hex as the subject, the distance penalty for a Regular spell would be 0, and an actual touch isn't needed. Spells that require a to hit roll are Melee spells. I'm not sure this is the actual intention of the rules, but it is a defensible interpretation.

01-04-2016, 12:43 PM	#4
Mr_Sandman Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: L.I., NY	Re: Healing in active combat, how to heal allied PC As a GM, I wouldn't call for a roll to hit with a staff for a healing spell on an ally, unless there was some particular circumstance making it especially difficult to touch the ally. That said, a legalistic reading of the rules may not actually require a touch with the staff to reduce the range penalty. The Basic Set says that for Regular spells "if you cannot touch the subject, apply a skill penalty equal to your distance in yards from the subject." You could argue that as long as the mage or the end of the mage's staff is in the same hex as the subject, the distance penalty for a Regular spell would be 0, and an actual touch isn't needed. Spells that require a to hit roll are Melee spells. I'm not sure this is the actual intention of the rules, but it is a defensible interpretation.