[GURPS Magic] instantaneous Spells

[sir_pudding]

Originally Posted by Bruno

Ward can interrupt any spell, subject to the usual rules for counterspell. Blocking spells are defensive in nature, however - so except for Ward they're no good for interrupting anyways.

Any spell can be cast as a Blocking spell when combined with Reflex.

[transmetahuman]

Originally Posted by Bruno

Ward can interrupt any spell, subject to the usual rules for counterspell. Blocking spells are defensive in nature, however - so except for Ward they're no good for interrupting anyways.

However, you can cast a Fireball spell, and hold the conjured fireball with a Wait action. "When I see him casting a spell, I hit him with the fireball!" is valid - it's an Attack.

EDIT: I forgot Fumble, which can explicitly be used to interrupt as well.

Ward doesn't interrupt a spell, it resists it - the spell is still technically cast (important for Area spells and FP loss to the caster, among other things). And the wording in Fumble might only refer to spells with a longer than 1 second casting time; there's nothing to suggest that it bypasses any normal rules.

You're certainly right about missile spells, though.

[transmetahuman]

Originally Posted by sir_pudding

Any spell can be cast as a Blocking spell when combined with Reflex.

Yeah, but Blocking spells (from my reading - I just got Magic 4e last week, so I'm still familiarizing myself) can only be used instantly as a type of active defense, right? P.12: "A Blocking spell is cast instantly as a defense against either a physical attack or a spell" (bolding mine).

It seems like you can only use a Reflexed Spasm (for example) between your turns in response to an attack - otherwise, why the bit in the Reflex description about it taking one turn to cast as a regular action?

So, I guess you could use a Reflexed Spasm to interrupt a 1-second spell if it's being cast at you, but not if it's being cast at someone/something/somewhere else?

[Kromm]

Originally Posted by malloyd

Given most spells take 1 second to cast, most spells are now interruptable only if your opponent declared a wait maneuver on his last turn, and your active defenses aren't going to be limited by the risk of losing concentration on one.

A bit like shooting a gun with an Attack maneuver, or turning on a force-field belt with a Ready maneuver: if you aren't waiting, you can't interrupt these things, either. If they affect you, well, you get to resist, dodge, dive for cover, etc. -- exactly as you do against a spell. We felt that was more balanced. It was very hard to justify saddling wizards with this strange class of actions that were neither instantaneous nor completed in one turn. They were (1 + ε)-turn actions, in effect, and hinky next to all other maneuvers (completed in a second) and free actions (completed instantly).

I realize that there's a long tradition of "Hit the mage! Interrupt his spell!", but we decided that this should be a gambit for the interruptor (i.e., he must either Wait or gamble that his wizardly foe is casting a spell that takes 2+ seconds), not an automatic penalty levied on the interruptee in a system where all other maneuvers resolve completely in the course of the taker's turn. And we felt that the modest gain in wizardly effectiveness this gave was more than offset by forbidding spells as de facto free actions, which was without a question the leading cause of "GURPS magic is soooo unfair!" complaints.

[robertsconley]

While on the topic of blocking spells. Are Iron Arm, Deflect Engery, and Blink effected by feints and deceptive attacks.

My current call is no. Blocks that SUBSTITUTE for a defense are not effected by feints and deceptive attacks. Because points put into spells are for the purpose of casting the spell not to perform an action. For example a missile spell require another skill to hit the target with the created missile. Block adds a defense bonus to an existing defense. Blocking spells that substitute for defense just succeed if successfully cast. The downside is you are burning fatigue on a per round basis in exchange for a nearly sure defense.

Blinks makes this doubly confusing with the statement "A blink is a dodge that automatically succeeds with the spell skill row is made." Doesn't sound like feints would effect a Blink.
yet Iron Arm and Deflect Energy simply state they are considered parries. Which could be interpreted as feints do enter into the equation.

So.. what is the designers intent on this?

Thanks
Rob Conley

[lachimba]

Originally Posted by robertsconley

While on the topic of blocking spells. Are Iron Arm, Deflect Engery, and Blink effected by feints and deceptive attacks.

My current call is no. Blocks that SUBSTITUTE for a defense are not effected by feints and deceptive attacks. Because points put into spells are for the purpose of casting the spell not to perform an action. For example a missile spell require another skill to hit the target with the created missile. Block adds a defense bonus to an existing defense. Blocking spells that substitute for defense just succeed if successfully cast. The downside is you are burning fatigue on a per round basis in exchange for a nearly sure defense.

Blinks makes this doubly confusing with the statement "A blink is a dodge that automatically succeeds with the spell skill row is made." Doesn't sound like feints would effect a Blink.
yet Iron Arm and Deflect Energy simply state they are considered parries. Which could be interpreted as feints do enter into the equation.

So.. what is the designers intent on this?

Thanks
Rob Conley

Was this ever answered?