I swear I didn't know about Megumin

[hcobb]

... when writing up Molly. Short weak smart girl who carries a big staff and then faints after casting one spell? Sure, but Megumin actually succeeds in casting her spell every time.

Megumin, teenage human Arch Wizard of the Crimson Demon Clan
ST 6 DX 10 IQ 16 MA 10 Mana: none
Staff of Power(1d-1/1d), Punch(1d-4)
Human tongue(native), Literacy(mundane), Missile Weapons x3 (6)
Explosion, Staff I-IV

IQ 16 spell: Explosion(M) The target takes 3d of magical explosion damage (armor protects normally, shields don't). Everything else around them suffers the same effect as if a grenade went off in the target's hex. Costs six fatigue to cast. While maximum full damage range is the calculated 120 hexes, it can be fired up to 1200 hexes away to harass castles and such. Divide the actual range by 120 then round up to the nearest integer and divide all damage by this amount. So at 603 hexes it would do one sixth the damage rolled, rounded down. (The 3d save to remain standing is then an automatic half-die saving throw, but it would still wake you up.)

As for Molly expect her first boss battle to be released this weekend.

[FireHorse]

Only 3d of damage? Megumin's Explosions seem more powerful than that, almost like tactical nukes…

[hcobb]

Originally Posted by FireHorse

Only 3d of damage? Megumin's Explosions seem more powerful than that, almost like tactical nukes…

She used one on her own party member (ST 14, fine plate, toughness II) without lethal effect.

Note her former classmate is far more effective using ordinary lightning.

Multi-hex figures take explosion damage on a per hex basis. So a three hex giant toad would take a 3d attack on one hex and a 2d attack on each of the other two hexes.

[thrash]

Originally Posted by hcobb

IQ 16 spell: Explosion(M) The target takes 3d of magical explosion damage (armor protects normally, shields don't). ... Costs six fatigue to cast.

I suggest one die of damage per 2 points of fatigue invested. This is (as you say) less effective than Lightning against a single-hex target, but the area effect balances out.

Canonically, Megumin is committed to raising her ST to achieve better results, and can also do so after being buffed. It is just a personal quirk (amounting to a vow) that she expends all her available ST in one go.

[hcobb]

IQ 16 Variable Explosion(M) Any amount of fatigue greater than one can be put into the variable explosion spell. Twenty times the fatigue expended is the maximum damage range. Each increment of the maximum damage range reduces the fatigue pool by one. For example a ten point explosion spell has full effect out to 200 hexes, a nine point effect out to 400 hexes, and so on to a one point effect out to 2000 hexes. This is the effect on the target stuck. The spell does half that effect to everything else in the target hex and reduce the effective strength by one for every hex out from the target hex. Once the effective strength is determined then halve that amount is the explosion damage done to the figure. (Armor protects, shields don't). If this inflicts six or more hits before armor then roll to resist falling down as per Magic Fist.

Example: 10 point explosion at 250 hexes has 9 point effective strength so does 4 dice to the target. Everything else in that hex (9/2 = 4.5 /2 =2) and the adjacent hex (8/2 = 4 / 2 = 2) take two dice damage. Everything two to four hexes away (((9 -1 -4)/2)/2 = 1) takes one die damage.

There is a +4 to hit the hex instead, negating reverse missiles, but this halves the impact on your real target. The combat effect is a fiery magical explosion that tends to knock over and set things on fire.

[FireHorse]

Just for visual reference, here's Megumin casting Explosion on a castle, at extreme range…

[hcobb]

No apparent damage and it's not even clear if her spell reached the castle.

[FireHorse]

Did you watch the whole video? She casts it repeatedly, not just once — and by the end, the castle is visibly ruined.

[hcobb]

Another revision.

IQ 16 Explosion(M) For every two ST put into this spell it takes one additional turn to cast, does one die of damage, and has a maximum range (at half damage) of forty hexes. It does full damage to anything in the impact hex and less damage out to three hexes per die of damage. Subtract cover DX adjustments from the damage and one point of damage per hex away from the impact hex. Subtract one turn from the casting time for each level of Missile Weapons talent. On a roll of 16 or higher this spell fizzles as usual, otherwise if the spell misses and scatters one hex per point the DX roll was failed by.

Example: Megumin (ST 6 DX 10 IQ 16) with Missile Weapons III puts six ST into an Explosion spell at her maximum full damage range of 60 hexes, and rolls 14. Her base DX is 10, plus 3 for Missile Weapons III and minus 5 for 60 hexes (as per ITL 125) is adjDX 8 so this is a miss by six points so the spell scatters by 6 hexes. Her intended target is vertically half-hidden with respect to the impact point and so takes 3d damage -6 for distance and -2 for cover. If she only had Missile Weapons II it would have taken her two turns to cast the spell, or four turns if she didn't have the talent at all. Roll for damage to every figure (or hex of building) out to nine hexes from the point of impact.

A wall of emplaced stones has 60 hitpoints per hex and four points of armor. Solid rock is 90 hitpoints, four points of armor per hex.

[FireHorse]

Originally Posted by hcobb

Another revision. …

That's a very good spell by TFT standards, and I'd certainly want to learn that Explosion if I wanted a good combat spell.

It's not quite an accurate representation of the particular Explosion that Megumin casts, though — IF that's what you were aiming for — because that castle is much farther than 240 feet away. It seems her range is basically her entire line of sight. Plus, they've never shown anything to suggest that her damage decreases with distance.

I'm pretty sure Megumin is a Naughty Wizardess, who isn't playing by TFT rules at all. :)