Deflect Energy spell and question about Command

[foxanik]

Hello!

Lately small problem came up in my game.

Wizard has Deflect Energy spell (M73) and also perk Sacrificial Blocking Spell.

Fristly - doesn't Deflect Energy has some kind of built-in Sacrificial use? I conclude that with this line: "(...)If the caster is not the subject, apply distance modifiers as for a Regular spell.".

Another problem - what does "Deflected attacks may still hit a target beyond the subject.". My player (playing wizard) assumes that it only deflects energy to the FRONT. How to do it? I decided to use 1d to decide where deflected energy goes (1 being front, 2 being right side of front, etc.). But of course I hear a lot of moaning and "it's illogical", like magic could be logical in any way...

His tactic, I guess, is to stand behind some ally, and cast Sacrificial Deflect Energy at guy in front of him so he defends his ally and himself with only one Blocking spell.

Also - Command - wizard casts it on SM+1 archer who stands 20 yd away.
1. Does he get -1/yd penalty, meaning that he casts Command spell (with command "Drop it!") at -20?
2. Does it cost him twice the usual cost (subject is SM+1 which means that cost is doubled)?

[mlangsdorf]

Deflect Energy is like Missile Protection: it causes an energy attack to miss one target but otherwise continue on its way. So if he stands behind someone and casts Deflect Energy on that person, any energy attack targeted at that person will continue on to the next person in its normal line of travel and hit that person (the spellcaster) on a 9 or less. So this is a risky way to defend two people with one spell.


Command is a Blocking spell, not a Regular spell. It does not look like it takes a penalty for distance or target SM, but it's a common and reasonable house rule to apply both.

[Not another shrubbery]

Originally Posted by foxanik

Also - Command - wizard casts it on SM+1 archer who stands 20 yd away.
1. Does he get -1/yd penalty, meaning that he casts Command spell (with command "Drop it!") at -20?
2. Does it cost him twice the usual cost (subject is SM+1 which means that cost is doubled)?

If you use Command as a Regular spell, it should take the same modifiers as other such spells. So, yeah, it should cost double and be at -20. Note that it also should take a normal 1 second casting time when used that way.