Steve Jackson Games Forums - View Single Post - Counterspell / Suspend spell vs 0-cost spells

Dinadon · 08-31-2020, 05:10 AM

If a caster hasn't finished casting the spell you don't need counterspell. Just incapacitate them first. Counerspell, Suspend spell, Ward, Suspend Magic, and Dispel Magic are all ways of dealing with magic after the casting. Suspend Mana, Suspend Magery, Drain Mana, and Drain Magery need to be used if you want to stop someone while they are casting.

The casting time for Steal Energy and Steal Vitality is based on how much HP/FP you want to steal. If the casting roll fails you get nothing, though you can always keep the target around until you succeed. Or until their rescuers arrive.

Similarly, missile spells aren't present until they are cast. Note that a wizard holding a missile spell has already cast the spell. Throwing the spell isn't part of the casting. This means you could counterspell a missile spell being held. This seems reasonable to me, though I'm not entirely certain. Melee spells are similar.

Steal Power uses casting time, so is covered by the above. This leaves Conduct/Draw Power. They're special spells, but do seem to fit under Counterspells restrictions. However, they very explictly move energy. So one casting could be moving 20 energy, and another could be moving 3 energy. Having Counterspell cost the same in both cases doesn't fit with how it works for other spells, so using the energy moved feels like a better baseline.

So just to reiterate, you seem to be confusing the casting time for a spell with it being ongoing. A spell can only be ongoing once it has been cast.

08-31-2020, 05:10 AM	#4
Dinadon Join Date: Aug 2007	Re: Counterspell / Suspend spell vs 0-cost spells If a caster hasn't finished casting the spell you don't need counterspell. Just incapacitate them first. Counerspell, Suspend spell, Ward, Suspend Magic, and Dispel Magic are all ways of dealing with magic after the casting. Suspend Mana, Suspend Magery, Drain Mana, and Drain Magery need to be used if you want to stop someone while they are casting. The casting time for Steal Energy and Steal Vitality is based on how much HP/FP you want to steal. If the casting roll fails you get nothing, though you can always keep the target around until you succeed. Or until their rescuers arrive. Similarly, missile spells aren't present until they are cast. Note that a wizard holding a missile spell has already cast the spell. Throwing the spell isn't part of the casting. This means you could counterspell a missile spell being held. This seems reasonable to me, though I'm not entirely certain. Melee spells are similar. Steal Power uses casting time, so is covered by the above. This leaves Conduct/Draw Power. They're special spells, but do seem to fit under Counterspells restrictions. However, they very explictly move energy. So one casting could be moving 20 energy, and another could be moving 3 energy. Having Counterspell cost the same in both cases doesn't fit with how it works for other spells, so using the energy moved feels like a better baseline. So just to reiterate, you seem to be confusing the casting time for a spell with it being ongoing. A spell can only be ongoing once it has been cast.