[RPM] Misc Questions

[Angle]

How does one do Explosive missiles spells in RPM? It says that a misslie spell that's explosive has double the listed damage, but how do you determine the radius and the rate of decrease? Innate attacks use the explosive modifier, with one level having damage be divided by 3*dist, two levels dividing by 2*dist, and one level dividing by dist. Does explosive missile damage use one of these, or do you buy an area of effect under normal RPM rules and deal full damage to everything within it? Or should you just buy one of the explosive modifiers? It says not to get modifiers for area effect and such, but it doesn't mention explosion.

[Nereidalbel]

But it with the appropriate level of Explosive Effect.

[Angle]

Also, for missile spells, should one use Enhancements with range modifiers or the usual RPM range modifiers? The usual ones just seem a bit odd.

[Nereidalbel]

Enhancements. The only reason to buy Range the usual way is to form your missile spell in somebody else's hand.

[Angle]

Suppose you want to give a sword +1d burning damage on hit. Is it better to buy that as Innate Burning Attack (Follow-up, melee weapons) or as Bestows a bonus, using the partial dice equivalency to convert +x into yd? For example +4 bonus on melee damage would be 1.2d, rounding down to 1d.

[Christopher R. Rice]

Originally Posted by Angle

Suppose you want to give a sword +1d burning damage on hit. Is it better to buy that as Innate Burning Attack (Follow-up, melee weapons) or as Bestows a bonus, using the partial dice equivalency to convert +x into yd? For example +4 bonus on melee damage would be 1.2d, rounding down to 1d.

Since it's burning damage you'd had to give it a Innate Attack. Unless, of course, the sword has burning damage naturally.

[Kalzazz]

You can use RPM to grant an innate attack? How so?

Also, can you use RPM to modify weapons? For instance, you want to make the warriors sword more effective against ghosties and want to add 'Affects Insubstantial' to it (as well as say a Moderate Bestows a Bonus - Against Ghosties)

[Christopher R. Rice]

Originally Posted by Kalzazz

You can use RPM to grant an innate attack? How so?

By using Altered Traits. But I (as a GM and content creator) use it only when casting a damaging spell would be innapproate. For example, I would never allow a spell to granted Altered Traits, Burning Attack instead of casting "fireball." Some instances (and this is one of them) I ignore that. Burning weaponry is a classic sort of spell.

Originally Posted by Kalzazz

Also, can you use RPM to modify weapons?

Yes, but it really does call for GM judgement when this is or isn't appropriate.

Originally Posted by Kalzazz

For instance, you want to make the warriors sword more effective against ghosties and want to add 'Affects Insubstantial' to it (as well as say a Moderate Bestows a Bonus - Against Ghosties)

The way I've done it is to simply figure out the cost of the weapons damage. If it would cost 20 or less to cast as a spell using the Damage modifier then enhancements added to it cost +1 energy per +5%; if it's 21 or higher it adds the enhancements cost in energy. So if a spell costs 20 or less then Affects Insubstantial costs +4 energy - if it were to cost 30 energy then this would cost 6 energy. This is also one of the only times I would permit Duration on a spell that uses the Damage Modifier. It's not breaking anything because you're not adding damage - you're adding a modifier to the damage.

[Angle]

my main problem with buying it as a follow up innate attack is that that seems much too cheap. as a follow up, it costs 4 or 5 energy per die, depending on whether or not you have follow up be +0% or -20% for (Melee attack, reach C, 1). This means you can add +3d for a mere 12-15 energy plus duration, effects, and greater effects multiplier. This seems a little too powerful. But if you buy it as a bonus turning the numbers into dice, it seems to cost about what I feel it should.

[Kalzazz]

Doesn't seem particularly cheap when I ran it through (I have a character who may use it)

Coooooold Steel: This adds 3d burning (intense cold) damage to a steel weapon. It also causes spiffy vapor trails as the water in the air freezes in its wake.

This Casting: Greater Destroy Energy (5) + Lesser Control Magic (5) + Duration, 10 minutes (1) + Altered Trait, , 3d Burning followup (15). 78 energy (26×3).