06-08-2012, 06:19 AM | #41 | |
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Land of the Britons
|
Re: [Magic] Great Balls of Fire (that can't hit anything)
Quote:
As Thaumatology points out, if magic requires precise gestures and perfect timing, then it could reasonably be DX-based - clearly missile spells are just much more DX based than IQ based for the 'doing' part, according to default Magery at any rate.
__________________
...like a monkey with a wrench. |
|
06-08-2012, 06:21 AM | #42 | |
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Denmark
|
Re: [Magic] Great Balls of Fire (that can't hit anything)
Quote:
Since it's explosive you can target the ground under the target instead of the direct target (+4 to hit) and still do normal damage. And if you hit the target can't use a normal dodge, but was to use a Dodge and Drop, leaving him vulnerable to others and waste time getting back up. in addition, even if you miss, the attack might still deal partial damage as it scatters. And the extra energy used on it will always be worth it as the more energy, the more damage, even on a miss. And then comes the fact that you can hit MORE enemies! Sure it cost more FP, but this way it wont' be wasted by a miss or a dodge. Just remember to put resist Fire on your companions if they are going into melee with the target ;) |
|
06-08-2012, 06:34 AM | #43 | |
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: New Hampshire
|
Re: [Magic] Great Balls of Fire (that can't hit anything)
Quote:
Of course, since he isn't really combat oriented, he might just swoop in and swat at the baddies with his staff as he goes by at 80mph.. that would be equally fun until the staff splinters. You see, it isn't that I don't have other options, or that I'm incapable of doing anything but clicking the "Fireball Icon". It's that I think there should be some way to allow a mage to be effective with his offensive spells (all of them), without dumping loads of points into various physical skills (Innate Attack x 4, Brawling, etc). If all I wanted was to be a blaster Mage, then I'd have bought IQ 13, One College Magery (Fire) 4, and gone to town. My current plan is to buy the Psychic Guidance Perk (maybe for a couple spells) at the first opportunity, and then increase my IA skill as points and needs allow. Eventually the PG Perk will become obsolete, but in the meantime, I can still be useful to the party in a fight, instead of as a healer after the fight. Of course that's relative. We have to survive the fight first. |
|
06-08-2012, 06:39 AM | #44 |
Join Date: Dec 2005
|
Re: [Magic] Great Balls of Fire (that can't hit anything)
The things I see as making this discussion rather moot are Explosive Fireball and the spell that boosts Dexterity. Was it called "Dexterity"? I forget. Sure it's a little harder to get than Fireball but buffing your Dex before combat seems reasonable. Another way to go is a wand with an accuracy enchantment. Sure, it's a bit of work and you need some more prerequisites but you can always go and buy one for cash from your local Spell Mart.
__________________
http://www.neutralgroundgames.com |
06-08-2012, 06:40 AM | #45 |
Join Date: Aug 2009
|
Re: [Magic] Great Balls of Fire (that can't hit anything)
In my experience Explosive Fireball is almost completely pointless. Damage divides by 3 for every hex distance so pretty much any amount of armour will tend to negate the splash damage. If you aim it at the hex your target will tend to dodge out of that hex and get the divide by three, and if you aim at the body you might as well be casting a regular Fireball at half the energy cost.
I can see a niche for the mage with Explosive Fireball-20 who can use it for no energy cost to encourage select enemies to lie down on the ground, and it might be fine against weak unarmoured enemies at a distance. Overall however I wouldn't want to specialize on this spell at all. |
06-08-2012, 06:48 AM | #46 | |
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: New Hampshire
|
Re: [Magic] Great Balls of Fire (that can't hit anything)
Quote:
|
|
06-08-2012, 06:51 AM | #47 | |
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Denmark
|
Re: [Magic] Great Balls of Fire (that can't hit anything)
Quote:
I would rather suggest a new Spell Slinger talent that cost 5 pts per level and includes all the Innate attack variants and possible also gives it's level in bonus to thee Will-check to avoid dropping a missile spell if injured... but this isn't in any book. |
|
06-08-2012, 06:53 AM | #48 |
Join Date: Jul 2006
|
Re: [Magic] Great Balls of Fire (that can't hit anything)
Dex won't be a dump stat for wizards in the new version of That Other Game, either. Not only will it be important for having a high armor class, but it will govern hitting with wizardy/rogue-type weapons (staves, daggers, short swords, missile weapons).
|
06-08-2012, 06:54 AM | #49 | |
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: New Hampshire
|
Re: [Magic] Great Balls of Fire (that can't hit anything)
Quote:
I would probably allow it in a game I was running, though. And I say "semi-taboo" because IIRC, Pickaxe Penchant adds to Axe/Mace |
|
06-08-2012, 06:58 AM | #50 | ||||
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: U.K.
|
Re: [Magic] Great Balls of Fire (that can't hit anything)
Quote:
The snag there, depending on your GM, is that GURPS doesn't really work that way. I mean, you're entitled to assume that a GURPS game uses the most central core rules in the Basic Set unless the GM specifies otherwise, but anything beyond that - including large chunks of the Basic Set - is ultimately optional. (Anything marked as cinematic, high-detail stuff like hit locations, the Magic and Psionics systems...) Stuff in supplements, such as the Psychic Guidance perk, is certainly optional. GMs are fully entitled to ban them as not suiting the flavour of the game. Honestly, they're pretty similar to house rules like "Magery adds to Innate Attack skill for spellcasters" which don't happen to have seen print anywhere - no better, no worse, except that Sean Punch has passed the printed stuff as not too glaringly silly. And I'm happy to say that GURPS Thaumatology makes the borderline between house rules and "official" rules hopelessly fuzzy. No campaign can use everything in there; which bits a GM happens to borrow is a house ruling. If your GM says that anything in print is allowed, then cool, show him Psychic Guidance and go have fun with it. I'd be fascinated to know how he handles the mass of Thaumatology, though. Cruel though the term "meat shield" may be, it's fairly difficult to play any sort of traditional wizard type in many games without asking the guys with more hit points and better armour to get between you and the big ugly from time to time. Don't think of it as sacrificing your comrades; think of it as asking your comrades not to sacrifice a slightly fragile but utterly invaluable ally. Quote:
Quote:
Quote:
Or one of the opposition interpolates a weapon in his path. Relative velocity works both ways...
__________________
-- Phil Masters My Home Page. My Self-Publications: On Warehouse 23 and On DriveThruRPG. |
||||
Tags |
dungeon fantasy, fantasy, innate attack, magery, magic, talent |
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|