[Magic] Skill Penalties To Speed Casting

[scc]

OK, one rule that applies to other skills is that you can take a penalty to your roll to reduce the time it takes to complete the task. This normally doesn't apply to spells because they don't normally take very long, spell casting already has a built in time reduction for high skill, and the penalty needed to get them down to a second, which is normally the only one worth it, is a -10, so it's not worth it.

However there are a few spells that take longer to cast, much longer, so can this rule be used with them?

[Maz]

Doesn't the normal magic rules already have this covered? Except you have to have an effective skill to get the bonus instead of rolling at a penalty ?
So skill:20 halves cast time? I cant remember the details.

[Refplace]

You can use the alternative rituals rules from Thaumatology, might be in the current version of Magic as well.

[OldSam]

That is covered in the Thaumatology book, there is a section called "Trading Energy for Speed and Skill"... The book is a great addon with many variants and extra details for magic, definitely a recommendation! :)

[scc]

Originally Posted by Maz

Doesn't the normal magic rules already have this covered? Except you have to have an effective skill to get the bonus instead of rolling at a penalty ?
So skill:20 halves cast time? I cant remember the details.

Skill 15 halves times and every further 5 levels in the skill halves it again

Originally Posted by Refplace

You can use the alternative rituals rules from Thaumatology, might be in the current version of Magic as well.

Originally Posted by OldSam

That is covered in the Thaumatology book, there is a section called "Trading Energy for Speed and Skill"... The book is a great addon with many variants and extra details for magic, definitely a recommendation! :)

Almost pointless, those rules are good for a single second decrease at the cost of 4 energy, but as most spells don't take more then a few of seconds to cast it has very limited uses, and I want to use it for the spells that take several minutes to cast, like Drain Magery.

[corwyn]

Originally Posted by scc

Skill 15 halves times and every further 5 levels in the skill halves it again

Nope, it starts at 20.

Almost pointless, those rules are good for a single second decrease at the cost of 4 energy, but as most spells don't take more then a few of seconds to cast it has very limited uses, and I want to use it for the spells that take several minutes to cast, like Drain Magery.

You could try the 3e skill tradeoffs found in Magic.

-3 to cut time in half
-3 to reduce cost by 1
+1 for x2 cost

[Gnome]

The best way within the RAW to cast a spell with a long casting time quickly is to prepare using Delay, Link, Hang Spell, etc.

For example, if you want to cast Drain Magery on someone, you prepare a Hang Spell (Drain Magery), and when you encounter the Evil Wizard, you simply will it into activation as a free action. Of course, you have to maintain Hang Spell while you wait for EW to arrive...

[Anaraxes]

Originally Posted by Gnome

Delay, Link, Hang Spell, etc.... you simply will it into activation as a free action.

"A hung spell takes a Concentrate action to activate." (M128) Hanging a 1-second combat spell won't save you any casting time, but it does give you a chance to recover the energy before combat starts.

Delay and Link have their own rules, but also take time to activate.

It's also a -5 penalty to cast if you don't have the subject present when you cast, plus range penalties to the subject (M11). That's _at the time of casting_, which is to say before the spell is set up, not when it's activated. Not so bad for the Deathtouch Doorknob, since it operates at range 0 with a fixed target location ("next person to touch me"), but can be much more problematic for a named subject ("Evil Wizard George, who I know is around here somewhere").

Of course, you have to maintain Hang Spell while you wait

Each hung spell also counts as a "spell 'on'", so gives a -1 penalty to all other casting while it's hanging. In our games, the spell-on penalty is in practice one of the main limiters to party-wide buffs or massive pre-prep.

Also keep in mind that resistance rolls are based on effective skill, so a -5 penalty for not being present, -5 for being 15 yards away from the Evil Wizard as you're prepping just outside his ritual chamber, and -5 for the five other spells you have prepped means that your spell is at -15. It's not quite as easy as just smirking and saying "I prepared Explosive Fireball this morning".

[David Johnston2]

Originally Posted by scc

OK, one rule that applies to other skills is that you can take a penalty to your roll to reduce the time it takes to complete the task. This normally doesn't apply to spells because they don't normally take very long, spell casting already has a built in time reduction for high skill, and the penalty needed to get them down to a second, which is normally the only one worth it, is a -10, so it's not worth it.

However there are a few spells that take longer to cast, much longer, so can this rule be used with them?

No. Not unless you remove the automatic reduction of time and movement/speaking requirements for high skill and replace them with TDMs. It would be double dipping. Mind you, going the TDM route isn't a bad idea.