Blocking Spells

[Gurpser]

Here's some hypotheticals, what is the RAW ruling and what are your feelings on fairness? I loath to ask what is realistic since we are talking about magic here...

A
Wizard (speed 5) casts a 1 second spell.
Goblin (speed 4) shoots an arrow at the Wizard.
Can the Wizard cast a Blocking Spell to defend, or has he already cast a spell this turn?

B
Fighter (speed 7) attacks Orc
Orc (speed 6) attacks Fighter
Can the Wizard (speed 5) cast a Blocking Spell in the Fighter's defense?


Must a spellcaster take a Wait (cast Blocking Spell if party member fails Active Defense) to cast a Blocking Spell in someone else's defense?

[Fred Brackin]

Originally Posted by Gurpser

H
A
Wizard (speed 5) casts a 1 second spell.
Goblin (speed 4) shoots an arrow at the Wizard.
Can the Wizard cast a Blocking Spell to defend, or has he already cast a spell this turn?

B
Fighter (speed 7) attacks Orc
Orc (speed 6) attacks Fighter
Can the Wizard (speed 5) cast a Blocking Spell in the Fighter's defense?

A is yes. He can cast the Blocking spell. You don't cast Blocking spells on your Turn normally. You do it in place of a defense.

B is yes also but you need an "Other" version like Phase Other rather than just Phase.

[Captain-Captain]

Originally Posted by Fred Brackin

A is yes. He can cast the Blocking spell. You don't cast Blocking spells on your Turn normally. You do it in place of a defense.

B is yes also but you need an "Other" version like Phase Other rather than just Phase.

Specifically, a caster can cast a spell and a blocking spell in the same turn, in that order. If you must defend with a blocking spell before you cast that normal spell, you won't be able to cast the normal spell. It disrupts your concentration (M.13). If you've already cast the normal spell you can also cast one and one only blocking spell in the same turn.

The one and one only blocking spell holds true even when you haven't cast another spell.

[malloyd]

Originally Posted by Captain-Captain

Specifically, a caster can cast a spell and a blocking spell in the same turn, in that order. If you must defend with a blocking spell before you cast that normal spell, you won't be able to cast the normal spell. It disrupts your concentration (M.13). If you've already cast the normal spell you can also cast one and one only blocking spell in the same turn.

Though this might only apply to spells that take more than a turn to cast. For the most part this will almost never happen with shorter spells even if you interpret the rule as applying to them. It isn't *impossible*, somebody could use Wait to interrupt your turn before you start your spell and you could cast a blocking spell in response, but it's difficult. If you're worried about it make the first thing you do on your turn cast 1 turn spell that doesn't have a casting ritual, and hence has nothing for a Wait to trigger on.

[vitruvian]

Originally Posted by Captain-Captain

Specifically, a caster can cast a spell and a blocking spell in the same turn, in that order. If you must defend with a blocking spell before you cast that normal spell, you won't be able to cast the normal spell. It disrupts your concentration (M.13). If you've already cast the normal spell you can also cast one and one only blocking spell in the same turn.

The one and one only blocking spell holds true even when you haven't cast another spell.

Except you usually don't cast them on your turn, do you? It's usually on your attacker's turn, unless your turn is extended by a Wait. Therefore, the only time you need to worry about disrupting your concentration is if you cast one while you're in the middle of casting another spell that takes more than one turn.

[benz72]

My impression of TURN is that they overlap (my turn does not END before your turn BEGINS, my turn ENDS when my next turn BEGINS)

[Refplace]

Blocking spells are basically magic Active Defenses, much like a block, dodge or parry.

[vitruvian]

Originally Posted by benz72

My impression of TURN is that they overlap (my turn does not END before your turn BEGINS, my turn ENDS when my next turn BEGINS)

Sure, but since you use active defenses when others are attacking, which is going to be after you've performed your actions but before your next turn begins, the only way you run into a problem with doing your blocking spell before your regular spell on your same turn is if you had Wait and an attack came in, or if you are in the middle of a multi-turn casting time.

[Mcoorlim]

Can blocking spells be cast for the benefit of other characters?

[Not another shrubbery]

Originally Posted by Kurlumbenus

Can blocking spells be cast for the benefit of other characters?

If you mean 'Can they be cast on others', only the ones that specifically mention being able to target others besides the caster.