[4e] Mage and (non-lethal) figting.

[Jose]

Originally Posted by Otaku

As one of the main complaints I've heard about the standard Magic system for 4e is that most of it was lifted from 3e with little alteration, I'm going to mention how it worked back in 3e: worst case scenario it is a bit of a wasted post, only useful for showing it it used to work.

1) Cure Disease works on microorganisms in third edition, so unless something like that is causing the narcolepsy it won't help.

2) Restoration and Regeneration (if the eye is totally missing, the latter is needed) have some key drawbacks that might prevent someone casually using them. First is the Energy cost: 15 and 20, respectively. Next is the time; while casting time is only one minute, the actual healing process takes an entire month, during which time you cannot make use whatever is being healed. Lastly is they are one try spells.

I don't remember if it is "per caster" or simply "one try period", but combined with the other two, I'd only chance casting the spell when I was quite competent I'd make the roll and have time to properly heal up. It might not work for this character, but it is a decent excuse for a caster that already knows the spell but isn't comfortable trying it out before at least the current adventure plays out.

Now, if the GM doesn't want to hear it, the GM doesn't want to hear it. Like many things there is the issue of GM/player trust (or past experience), though I'm not sure how abusive it actually would be for someone to basically take a "point load" by taking some curable Disadvantages that are otherwise okay for the campaign. If they survive long enough to pay them off, they have the spell cast and if it works, they're golden. I suppose I just would rule that if they don't have the points, such attempts autofail instead of allowing them to go into point debt.

Well, so far Im thinking of one of the following:

1: Cure it. Straight up no problems.

2: Cure it. And talk to the GM about replacing the points. Im thinking Cannot harm innocents and some small disad at 5 pts. Im already playing that she wont just kill innocent people so its basically free points.

[Nereidalbel]

Originally Posted by Otaku

1) Cure Disease works on microorganisms in third edition, so unless something like that is causing the narcolepsy it won't help.

4e Cure Disease makes no mention of being microorganisms only. However, it's at -5 without a proper diagnosis, and 1-shot per mage. Unless you're sitting on a very high skill, you wouldn't really want to waste your one try at this.

[Otaku]

Originally Posted by Nereidalbel

4e Cure Disease makes no mention of being microorganisms only. However, it's at -5 without a proper diagnosis, and 1-shot per mage. Unless you're sitting on a very high skill, you wouldn't really want to waste your one try at this.

Thanks for the heads up; I realize now I probably should have worded it to again emphasize "If it remained the same...". I hope I wasn't misleading. >.>

The "One try per mage" restriction... is it that way for Restoration and Regeneration in 4e, or are they "One try (ever!) or something different? I just want to make sure we give Jose sound advice; it would stink for him to try and get this done quick only to not wait until it was almost a sure thing and then someone rolls a failure or critical failure on the spell. ^^'

[Nereidalbel]

Originally Posted by Otaku

Thanks for the heads up; I realize now I probably should have worded it to again emphasize "If it remained the same...". I hope I wasn't misleading. >.>

The "One try per mage" restriction... is it that way for Restoration and Regeneration in 4e, or are they "One try (ever!) or something different? I just want to make sure we give Jose sound advice; it would stink for him to try and get this done quick only to not wait until it was almost a sure thing and then someone rolls a failure or critical failure on the spell. ^^'

One try ever is a very rare thing in 4e. One try per mage, and you better believe payment is expected before casting, not after.

[Jose]

Originally Posted by Otaku

Thanks for the heads up; I realize now I probably should have worded it to again emphasize "If it remained the same...". I hope I wasn't misleading. >.>

The "One try per mage" restriction... is it that way for Restoration and Regeneration in 4e, or are they "One try (ever!) or something different? I just want to make sure we give Jose sound advice; it would stink for him to try and get this done quick only to not wait until it was almost a sure thing and then someone rolls a failure or critical failure on the spell. ^^'

Originally Posted by Nereidalbel

One try ever is a very rare thing in 4e. One try per mage, and you better believe payment is expected before casting, not after.

It is one try per mage, it says so in the magic book on page 10. The caster and assistants may not try again, however other mages may.

[Nereidalbel]

Originally Posted by Jose

It is one try per mage, it says so in the magic book on page 10. The caster and assistants may not try again, however other mages may.

If your GM asks why you haven't cast these on yourself already, simply say you're waiting until you can have an effective skill of 16. No taking any chances with 1-shot spells, after all!

[Jose]

Originally Posted by Nereidalbel

If your GM asks why you haven't cast these on yourself already, simply say you're waiting until you can have an effective skill of 16. No taking any chances with 1-shot spells, after all!

Yeah. She'll learn it soon enough though the other party members will get truly disappointed when regeneration takes a month.

We had one who was stupid and charged a fully armed and armored dwarf, with a knife.
She lost her leg... Nadya couldnt do anything so it was kinda well...

Now, they are going to expect Nadya to be doing their instant regeneration if it goes awry in the future. Though they havent seen the spell energy costs.

Also enchanting in GURPS its entirely useless unless you have several grand mages available and even then its going to take years to make even the simples ring and the crossbow method is very, very risky.
So is enchantment just something you dont do? I could see the fun in making an hawk eye amulet for the ranged character in the group but the energy and risk seems prohibitive. Any other clever way to do it?

[Nereidalbel]

Some GMs house-rule that you can invest energy equal to your Magery per day instead of just 1. However, it's something to be done between adventures, instead of on the go.

Standard Magic really is just a royal pain sometimes, and such is why so many other magic systems exist. If your GM really wants you to be able to blast things when needed, try to get yourself on some sort of quest to uncover knowledge for either Sorcery or Ritual Path Magic. Both are more than capable of blasting things, as well as non-lethal means of subdual.