04-27-2018, 01:27 AM | #1 |
Join Date: Apr 2018
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TL 10+ Mage. Draw power + Maintain spell + Telecast
So, me and some buddies are going to be playing a space opera game where "ArcanaTech" is what enables FTL travel and stuff, it's mostly just fluff, other than making energy generators, starship engines, and Stardrives register as magic.
We're using various source materials, Namely Ultratech, Starships, Magic, Thaumaturgy: Magic traditions, and some stuff from Transhumanisim. I'm gonna be playing the role of ship's doctor and mage, using my high IQ to be good at magic as well as surgery and other doctoring skills. A spell combination I thought up that could potentially work wonders is Draw Power + maintain Spell. I wanted to know if I cast it on the ship's main reactor... A. How much juice can I draw from something that's (For all intents and purposes a TL 10 starship fusion reactor) B. If I were to cast maintain spell on Draw power, could I run around using the ship's power to cast my spells? C. would I have to stay close to the reactor for the duration to get the benefits, or could I run down to the planet and do whatever? D. If I have to stay close to the reactor, could I throw a second maintain spell on Telecast using power from the ship, and move it around? potentially having the away team take the little scrying orb with them when they head out and channel my spells through the orb? |
04-27-2018, 09:03 AM | #2 |
Join Date: Aug 2007
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Re: TL 10+ Mage. Draw power + Maintain spell + Telecast
A. You can draw as much power as s allowed by the spell description. You need to know your reactor's rating in MW. I know this is a problem if you're trying to use Spaceships .
B. No. Draw Power must be targeted to a specific spell. C+D. See B for a general answer but after you cast a spell you can move around and Maintain it (unless perhaps it's one of those that requires Concentration).
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Fred Brackin |
04-27-2018, 08:21 PM | #3 |
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Saskatoon, SK, Canada
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Re: TL 10+ Mage. Draw power + Maintain spell + Telecast
Fred's answers are all correct. Note, however, that you'll probably not want to tap the reactor directly, for safety reasons - any decent-sized spaceship at TL 10 will almost certainly have far more power than you can safely channel. The average mage who can cast Draw Power (HT 10, Magery 2) can draw 10 megawatts safely, but any spaceship of TL 9 or higher is probably producing 10 times that much, meaning trying to tap it straight is basically a quick trip to heart attack town.
Fortunately, you can cast Draw Power on other sources. While it can be argued whether or not you can cast it directly on a power cable, a power outlet is generally agreed, I think, to be a valid target. And an outlet can have a much smaller, and thus, more manageable fraction of the reactor's power available. In fact, in a setting like you're describing, where mages with Draw Power are a common thing, I'd expect special "mage outlets" to be wired into the ship, each conveniently set to conduct 10 MW by default, but capable of being upped to some larger number if a mage is capable of handling the higher amount, or just needs to risk it. 40 MW sounds about right for the maximum, the largest amount an HT 10, Magery 4 wizard can channel safely. |
04-27-2018, 09:36 PM | #4 | |
Join Date: Jun 2006
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Re: TL 10+ Mage. Draw power + Maintain spell + Telecast
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-- MA Lloyd |
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04-28-2018, 12:03 AM | #5 |
Computer Scientist
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Dallas, Texas
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Re: TL 10+ Mage. Draw power + Maintain spell + Telecast
I don't recall the maximum power available being a concern. The current spell description and FAQ don't mention a requirement to draw all available power, and the implicitly grandfathered 3rev FAQ leaves it up to the caster's choice.
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04-28-2018, 07:56 AM | #6 |
Join Date: Sep 2007
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Re: TL 10+ Mage. Draw power + Maintain spell + Telecast
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04-28-2018, 09:04 AM | #7 |
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Saskatoon, SK, Canada
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Re: TL 10+ Mage. Draw power + Maintain spell + Telecast
This is true (well, at least I assume it is - I lack any electrical engineering knowledge). Personally, I'd probably handwave this with some superscience or something, and assume that a TL 10 magi-tech culture can build somewhat more space efficient multi-megawatt cables.
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04-29-2018, 08:36 AM | #8 | |
Join Date: Jun 2006
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Re: TL 10+ Mage. Draw power + Maintain spell + Telecast
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The cables couldn't power the Technobabble Problem-solver because nobody could figure out how the reverse the polarity of the electrons.
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-- MA Lloyd |
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04-30-2018, 04:57 AM | #9 | |
Join Date: Feb 2014
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Re: TL 10+ Mage. Draw power + Maintain spell + Telecast
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Of course it’s based on magery squared, so if you don’t have a magery level cap and power is more important, boosting magery over IQ would be useful for Draw Power. A common TL10^ magery-12 doctor response about a dead crew: “well, take us to the antimatter reactor prototype on Fentox VI and I’ll have them all back to full health in ten minutes. Five if you need me to ignore the mandated coffee break.” Last edited by Culture20; 04-30-2018 at 05:14 AM. |
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04-30-2018, 05:48 AM | #10 | |
Join Date: Jun 2017
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Re: TL 10+ Mage. Draw power + Maintain spell + Telecast
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draw power, magic |
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