Steve Jackson Games - Site Navigation
Home General Info Follow Us Search Illuminator Store Forums What's New Other Games Ogre GURPS Munchkin Our Games: Home

Go Back   Steve Jackson Games Forums > Roleplaying > GURPS

 
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Prev Previous Post   Next Post Next
Old 08-29-2020, 03:18 PM   #1
Plane
 
Join Date: Aug 2018
Default Counterspell / Suspend spell vs 0-cost spells

M121 makes the cost to cast either of these a fraction of the cost of the spell it's targeting (round up 1/10 in case of suspend, no mention of rounding for counter)

Some ongoing spells do not cost ANY energy to cast though:

M150 Steal Energy is described like something ongoing in the fluff:
The spell stops when the caster’s FP is fully restored, when the caster decides to stop, or when the subject’s FP reaches 0 and the subject falls unconscious.
Same with M150 Steal Vitality:
The spell stops when the caster’s HP is fully restored, when the caster decides to stop, or when the subject’s HP reaches -1 (which automatically kills the subject).
Normally "the caster decides to stop" premature ending involves spending 1 FP to end a spell, but it sounds like this 1 FP fee is avoided for these two...

The crunch is a different matter though since it's described as "permanent" rather than "ongoing". I think that might be intended to mean "HP loss is permanent, HP recovery is permanent" but that author might've intended some kind of "ongoing effect of HP loss" happening from it.

We're not actually given a "time it takes for 1 HP to transfer from target to caster" but rather a CASTING TIME which I think might've sort of been meant to represent that in some way.

"1 minute for every .. drained" is a variable casting time ...

since "the spell stops" you don't actually know up front how much HP you will drain unless you actually know how much HP your target has...

meaning that perhaps these two are some weird situation that gives partial effects AS the spell is cast, rather than waiting until the end? That's pretty much how Missile Spells like Fireball work since the 'Enlarge' periods have been considered part of 'casting time' in the spell lists.

Fireballs also work differently if concentration is interrupted, since it results in dropping whatever you're holding rather than the entire thing fizzling out.
With Steal Energy/Vitality I expect any damage you inflicted (and HP you recovered) from previous successful minutes stays, you just fizzle whatever theft you were currently working on?

M180 Conduct/Steal/Draw Power

The latter three DO have maintenance costs, so I'm wondering if maybe those ought to be used rather than taking a "free to counter/suspend" approach to them?
Plane is offline   Reply With Quote
 

Tags
counterspell, draw power, steal energy, steal vitality, suspend spell

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Fnords are Off
[IMG] code is Off
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 06:45 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.9
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.