RPM question

[Christopher R. Rice]

If you take Adept it changes from ritualistic to on the spot.

[KarlKost]

Originally Posted by Christopher R. Rice

If you take Adept it changes from ritualistic to on the spot.

Yes... But it's still not just a matter of screaming "Igneus!" while pointing a stick at an enemy to immediatly turn him into ashes. It's more like a few seconds of making funny noises and silly dances, enough time to turn you into target practice for bowmen

[Varyon]

Originally Posted by KarlKost

Yes... But it's still not just a matter of screaming "Igneus!" while pointing a stick at an enemy to immediatly turn him into ashes. It's more like a few seconds of making funny noises and silly dances, enough time to turn you into target practice for bowmen

What gathering energy looks like to characters in the setting is up the GM... and possibly the magic traditions of the caster. It could be making strange sounds and dancing... or it could be reciting a long incantation (like in Bleach), doing complex hand signs (like ninja in too much media to count), chanting quietly to oneself (like in most JRPG's when there's a delay between telling the character to cast a spell and them actually casting it), etc. And you could indeed have the casting part of it involve shouting something ("Indignation!" "That's impossiblaaaarrrgggghhhh!"), it's just that you need some time to build up energy first.

Of course, if you do want to be able to just point a stick at a character and make them catch flame, but don't have the ability to pull it off*, you could make that stick into a Charm (or even a Wand, using the rules from the previously-referenced Pyramid article) that does just that.

*Which is important to note, here. An RPM mage can absolutely do an on-the-spot casting that would let them just point at someone and have them catch flame... they just need enough reserves (internally or using an item of power) to power it, enough effective skill to gather the necessary energy instantly, enough levels of Compartmentalized Mind to compress multiple gathering attempts and the casting into a single second, and/or make enough use of Decanic/Traditional Trappings to reduce the cost to something they can manage.

[Christopher R. Rice]

Originally Posted by KarlKost

Yes... But it's still not just a matter of screaming "Igneus!" while pointing a stick at an enemy to immediatly turn him into ashes. It's more like a few seconds of making funny noises and silly dances, enough time to turn you into target practice for bowmen

It absolutely can be. You can take a -4 to gather rolls to roll once per second with Adept. If you want something faster than that you have to go to NERAW (not exactly rules as written) or use the rules for incantations from DF19 which do exactly what you're suggesting.

[KarlKost]

Originally Posted by Christopher R. Rice

It absolutely can be. You can take a -4 to gather rolls to roll once per second with Adept. If you want something faster than that you have to go to NERAW (not exactly rules as written) or use the rules for incantations from DF19 which do exactly what you're suggesting.

Yes, what I meant is that you would need a combination of high skill, reserves, whatever.

What I mean is that this wouldnt be an USUAL use of RPM. Sure, an archmage with every single skill related to it at 25+ and an abysmal amount of CPs in his sheet would do it without blinking an eye.

But I was saying that, for your "everyday mage", he would use a charm or conditional to deal with that.

[Christopher R. Rice]

Originally Posted by KarlKost

Yes, what I meant is that you would need a combination of high skill, reserves, whatever.

What I mean is that this wouldnt be an USUAL use of RPM. Sure, an archmage with every single skill related to it at 25+ and an abysmal amount of CPs in his sheet would do it without blinking an eye.

But I was saying that, for your "everyday mage", he would use a charm or conditional to deal with that.

Ahhh, I see. Then yes. Agreed.