06-23-2019, 08:39 AM | #11 | |
Join Date: Nov 2018
Location: Florida Peninsula, Earth, Sol Sytem
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Re: Least Useful Spells
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The first rule of GMing "If you make it, players will break it" |
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06-23-2019, 10:30 AM | #12 | |
Join Date: Dec 2017
Location: London Uk, but originally from Scotland
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Re: Least Useful Spells
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I also allowed it to stun or temporarily blind an opponent to allow the Wizard to slip past or get away, so it was useful for more than just combat. |
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06-23-2019, 10:37 AM | #13 | |
Join Date: May 2015
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Re: Least Useful Spells
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Of course, if the GM has realized how easy the new RAW makes wish farming, he may have adjusted it to be more dangerous, in which case the guild might not permit hiring apprentices for that, or at least not without paying the super-dangerous-service rate. Yeah it's intended to make it possible, but the other changes make it possible to make wish farming rather safe & easy. i.e. In the original rules, it wasn't just an "attack" by a demon who the rules now don't make clear can't be kept away from the wizard asking for a wish by a pentagram. It was a battle of wills (3 dice vs IQ -20) where failure meant death (5 attributes lost even if you get Revived) or complete annihilation (no Revive) on a critical failure, with no pentagram protection allowed. (And yet still people talked about how to abuse it - but at least it required an extremely-high-IQ wizard and a Charm item.) |
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06-23-2019, 10:53 AM | #14 |
Join Date: Dec 2017
Location: London Uk, but originally from Scotland
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Re: Least Useful Spells
The problem of moulding your world too much around any set of rules is that you can end up with a world which is nothing like anything in your favourite fiction and may not actually be that much fun to play in.
If you design a world strictly around the rules of TFT, then for a start, all major travel will be by gate, there will be Wizards round every corner, everyone will be wish farming like crazy, etc. I don't want a world like that. To me, the purpose of a set of rules shouldn't be to restrict the GM or players in creating their own world, but just to give a basic mechanical structure to certain aspects of play. |
06-23-2019, 10:56 AM | #15 |
Join Date: May 2015
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Re: Least Useful Spells
Magic Fist can be absolutely brilliant if used cleverly. Can be used to knock people into pits, but mainly it's the missile-ranged ability to touch (or hit) things at a distance.
Avert is also great for evasion, if you've only got one person to get away from - Avert them and then run away. Various battlefield position can also offer amazing opportunities. Or other situations - just ask the guy who got Averted into the path of a speeding wagon... Dazzle can also be amazing in the right circumstances, especially because of how many people it affects. And because of the way the 3-die bell curve works, if your fighters have somewhat higher DX than your opponents, a Dazzle on everyone may likely mean your fighters can still possibly hit things, while theirs are now very unlikely to do so. Blanket DX penalties tend to favor the higher-DX side (or the side which has a reason to take actions that don't require DX rolls, and want to be able to survive attacks while they do that - e.g. the side that wants to run, close distance past missile fire, ready weapons, untie people, get a door open, climb, swim, mount horses, explain that the fight is all a mistake, gain time for reinforcements or the city guard to arrive, etc). When people think a spell is bad, often they're only thinking of one or two ways it could be used, and not thinking about details of situations. When someone finds other ways and situations where such spells shine, it can catch people by surprise and be very fun and interesting. Last edited by Skarg; 06-23-2019 at 10:59 AM. |
06-23-2019, 11:19 AM | #16 | |
Join Date: Jun 2018
Location: Durham, NC
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Re: Least Useful Spells
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Even against a 3 hex giant it seems to much to pay (6 initially, 3 per turn, thus 9 ST cost to get 2 hexes more distant for the first movement). Assuming you can spare the 9 ST, how long can you maintain this? Maybe against a high ST single hex sized foe this is a good spell. (Bear, Troll, etc). Lower ST foes are better dealt with Sleep, Freeze, Rope or even Trip. Trip for that matter can handle the high ST foes and has an immediate useful affect. |
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06-23-2019, 11:30 AM | #17 | |
Join Date: Dec 2017
Location: London Uk, but originally from Scotland
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Re: Least Useful Spells
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06-23-2019, 12:04 PM | #18 | |
Join Date: Jun 2018
Location: Durham, NC
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Re: Least Useful Spells
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06-23-2019, 12:17 PM | #19 |
Join Date: May 2019
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Re: Least Useful Spells
Anyone else think Staff to Snake is rubbish?
It seems to me so specific as to be pretty limited in application, not to mention you lose your staff, which may have things like powerstones embedded in it, and now you cannot even defend! And when its all over you have to spend a turn picking the thing up... Last edited by MikMod; 06-23-2019 at 12:33 PM. Reason: added bold so Axly can see it! ;) |
06-23-2019, 12:22 PM | #20 | |
Join Date: Jun 2018
Location: Durham, NC
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Re: Least Useful Spells
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I too prefer Melee & Wizard over ITL. Depending on your friends sometimes you have to play ITL. As a side topic: do you run Mage Sight at a continuation cost of 1ST/turn (Wizard) or 1ST/minute (ITL)? Does any one else have spells they find lacking? |
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