[Sorcery] Those Other Spells...

[Rindis]

Originally Posted by zoncxs

Area of effect of 1 yard is worth +25%, you can find info on that in another old thread.

Rapid fire and Limited use, When used together you get "shots" equal to your RoF. So with Rapid Fire 2 (giving RoF 2) and Limited use 1, you can use the attack 2 times in 24hrs. The higher the RoF the more shots. That is the best way I can think of.

Yeah, I'm trying to avoid actual RoF greater than 1, as I said, and Sorcery spells basically grant one attack per cast (or... per FP), which means Limited Use isn't really usable for that. Though... basically using ROF to create the surcharge for a multiple use attack... ah! Okay, that's worth chewing over.

AoE 1-yard being 25% makes sense; I'm surprised it doesn't seem to have appeared in print.

[Infornific]

Feel like I'm missing something really obvious -

The description of the modified Sorcery advantage includes Fickle (-5%) for the book dependency and Fatigue from Encumbrance (-10%) .

Shouldn't those also apply to every spell?

[Rindis]

They apply to the base advantage, and everything you do using that advantage has those limitations. The spells themselves do not get the disadvantages. Technically, these spells can be used outside Sorcery (just like the normal Sorcery spells can be), or with a different build on the Empowerment.

[Infornific]

Originally Posted by Rindis

They apply to the base advantage, and everything you do using that advantage has those limitations. The spells themselves do not get the disadvantages. Technically, these spells can be used outside Sorcery (just like the normal Sorcery spells can be), or with a different build on the Empowerment.

OK, but the basic Sorcery advantage has the Magic (-10%) limitation and so do the standard Sorcery spells (as part of the Sorcery limitation.) So it would make sense spells should include those limitations.

[Rindis]

Not so much. Sorcerous Empowerment doesn't work when you're in a No Mana area, or otherwise blocked (-10 Magic), i.e., no new effects can be generated. Spells have a modifier because their ongoing effects can be dispelled (or just evaporate if moved into a No Mana area).

But if you cast, say, Charm Person (which can last for days), and then put heavy armor and don't study your spellbooks, the charm isn't affected by the increased fatigue nor the fickle. Those are only judged at the time of casting.

Admittedly, under that logic, the gestures and incantation should be part of the Empowerment package, but I wanted the AD&D logic of a few spells don't need them, so they're on the spell side as it's technically something you do to get the spell to work instead of the Empowerment. A more coherent method might be to move the gestures and words to the Empowerment, and then give a +10% enhancement for 'no words required' or 'no gestures required', but I'm not sure I like where that goes pricing-wise.

The real principle here is 'no double-dipping'. Only the magic modifier appears on both sides of the ledger, and that's because the entire power structure, and its ongoing effects can be shut down separately.

[Rindis]

I've been in an RPG-mood lately, and have been going back to various projects and reactivating them, at least temporarily despite having a project to take up my spare time already. I've just re-worked a write-up of the spell Rope Trick for comment:

Rope Trick (C)
Alteration, Somatic, Verbal
155 points
Casting Time: 2 seconds
Casting Roll: None
Range: Touch
Duration: 30 minutes

After casting this spell, a rope appears above the caster and uncoils, so that one end is right in front of the caster, and the other hangs suspended in midair about 15’ off the ground (even if this should pass through a solid object, the rope is still there, and can be seen going 15’ up, despite all obstacles; note that if it passes through an obstacle, the rope does not exist for anyone above it). While the rope could be cut, nothing will unmoor the rope from its anchor.
When someone climbs up to the top of the rope, they will emerge into a featureless small white room (perhaps four yards in diameter). This is actually a small inter-dimensional space, and anyone who enters it will be safe from all external threats, scrying, and other interference, free to rest, heal, eat, repair, and the like for the next half hour. Once that time has passed, everything still there will be ejected back to the space at the top of the rope (and then forced down into the nearest clear space, if the rope passed through an obstacle).
Gaining entry requires grasping the rope, even if the character can fly up to the entry. Without flight, characters, friendly or not, must climb up the rope (see B349). In combat, or other hurried situations, a person can climb one foot/second, and will expend 1 FP to do so. Hurried or relaxed, this will require a skill roll against Climbing (or DX-5).
There is no contact between the regular world and the space of the rope trick other than through contact with the rope, so if someone hauls the rope up into the room, nothing else can follow, nor perceive that there is any place to follow to.

Jumper (Pocket Dimension; Access Regulation, +25%; Based on DX/Climbing, +20%; Extra Carrying Capacity, Heavy, +30%; Limited Access, –60%; Magic, –10%; Maximum Duration, 30 minutes, –25%; Nuisance Effect: Access can be “cut”, –10%; Reliable, +3, +15%; Requires Gestures, –⁠10%; Requires Magic Words, –10%; Special Movement, –10%; Tunnel, +100%) [1.55x100] Note: Normally the DX roll would be needed for the caster to connect to his space at all… and then everyone could follow (w/Tunnel). The (hopefully fair) substitution here is everyone separately rolls, or gets active assistance. Cast time + reliable (which also moves auto-fail to the normal 17+) + DX default is the normal 10 second use and penalties.

[Rindis]

After three years, this is back:
Dungeons & Sorcery Spells 12

In addition to the normal 10 Sorcery-style spells, I have a section on how a magic-user who loses all his spellbooks can recreate them from first principles. The most famous spell is Fireball (and its very straightforward), but Rope Trick (see above) is a fun writeup, and Lesser and Greater Signs of Sealing are complicated writeups.