Need help with some stuff with Ritual/Path magic.

[PK]

Originally Posted by ericthered

If I want an RPM mage throwing fireballs a lot, I generally go to magic as powers and have them buy their favorite attack as an innate attack. The original RPM character, the witch template in monster hunters, did a similar thing with TK.

Though it's definitely possible to create a "fireball-focused" RPM caster with a bit of specialization.

As an example, take the MH4 magician (a 200-point hero). Spend the 20 advantage points on Conduit 4. Take Path of Energy-18*, Path of Magic-17*, and the others at Path-11. Take Innate Attack (Projectile)-15*. Spend 4 quirk points for +1 to Path of Magic and another for Ritual Mastery (Fireball).

* Includes +4 from Conduit.

It's almost trivial to find a +1 Place of Power and to afford a single +4 grimoire. So you create your Fireball charms at home with a Path skill of 18 (base) + 2 (Ritual Mastery) + 1 (Place of Power) + 4 (grimoire) = 25. That's enough to comfortably pull off 115-energy missile spells with ease!

Accurate Fireball: Greater Create Energy (6) + Lesser Control Energy (5) + Damage, External, 12d burning with Guided and Increased 1/2D x10 (25). 108 energy (36x3).

Your Thaumatology skill is 14, but 18 for the purpose of Energy/Magic rituals only, so that gives you a total of 20 charm slots, 4 of which must be Energy and/or Magic rituals. That means you can easily use 10 of them on ready-to-toss Accurate Fireballs (that you throw with Innate Attack skill 15), leaving 10 free for whatever else you want to be able to cast. Admittedly, you aren't going to be amazing at anything that doesn't involve general magic or energy manipulation, but that still leaves a lot of tricks in your toolbox.