Cidri's Got Talent!

[TippetsTX]

Idea for a mage/witch hunter character...

IQ 12 - RESIST MAGIKS (3)
Thru special training and strength of will, thrown or any non-missle spells that target the character directly have a harder time taking effect. Wizards must roll 'to hit' on 4D instead of 3.

Some barbarian tribes believe it is their ritual tattoos that provide this protection (and will reject any claims to the contrary), but the true source is their own power.

[David Bofinger]

I like the idea of something like a Resist Magic talent.

In some sense it's like a weaker version of the Spell Shield spell, but always on.

[David Bofinger]

Idea:

Create a Resist Magic action, analogous to Defend or Dodge. It has the benefit of forcing wizards to roll 4/DX in some circumstances, along with other benefits like providing a free Disbelieve against any Illusion that inflicts damage on the resisting figure (if it succeeds no damage is taken) and taking a die off any saving roll against magic. (Like Disbelieve, it is actually a spell so simple that anyone can cast it, though in many cultures it is believed to be something else.)

The Resist Magic talent provides the same benefits as the Resist Magic action, and mostly stacks with it.

[Shostak]

The talent and action are both interesting! What do you think of the idea that the talent be tiered instead of all-or-nothing so that each level (max 3) imposes -1DX to spells cast on the subject? Another thought would be to make ST meaningful in this, by lowering the IQ prerequisite (possibly as far as 7) but making higher levels of ST necessary to get the successive levels of the talent—maybe 10, 12, and 14.

[TippetsTX]

Originally Posted by Shostak

The talent and action are both interesting! What do you think of the idea that the talent be tiered instead of all-or-nothing so that each level (max 3) imposes -1DX to spells cast on the subject? Another thought would be to make ST meaningful in this, by lowering the IQ prerequisite (possibly as far as 7) but making higher levels of ST necessary to get the successive levels of the talent—maybe 10, 12, and 14.

Heh, I'm always thinking about talents that can be 'tiered'. In my own game, this talent is intended to be available to Legendary-tier characters only, but I am considering a lesser version for Veterans.

As context, this ability was originally limited to demons (4d roll vs lesser demons and 5d for greater) and stronger dragons in my campaign. I want it to remain rare among PCs.

[hcobb]

IQ 8 - Pertinacious (2, Heroes only)
Heroes with this talent roll to resist control (or other magical control type effects such as the gaze of the Basilisk, or disbelieve illusions) against the higher of ST or IQ. They also gain a 4d6 roll (against the higher of ST or IQ) to resist mental magical effects that normally don't have a saving throw. (Such as the Sleep spell, but not the gas bomb.)

[Shostak]

Indomitable is in Hexagram 8 and does give some resistance to control magic.

edit: the post this was in reference to has been edited to change "Indomitable" to "Pertinacious"

[David Bofinger]

Originally Posted by Shostak

What do you think of the idea that the talent be tiered instead of all-or-nothing so that each level (max 3) imposes -1DX to spells cast on the subject?

It's possible to do this with lots of talents. RAW does it for Missile Weapons, it could in principle be done for Alertness, Horsemanship, Detect Traps, etc. I guess Dark Cities kind of does this to some extent. But it's a whole different subject from discussing the talents themselves. Offhand I can't see much benefit.