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Old 01-16-2014, 09:19 AM   #1
Mateus
 
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Default [MAGIC] How exactly Command (M 136) works?

I am having a bit of dificulty in trying to nail the Command spell. It is a blocking spell, so it have casting time 0, if I am not mistaken, and is intended to be used in combat as your defense roll.

But if the player wants to use it out of combat? OR in the combat but as an action by itself, how it work? Can he make a guard open the gate for him (even if the guard will be aware of it the second before!)? Can he make someone strike an ally?
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Old 01-16-2014, 10:57 AM   #2
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Default Re: [MAGIC] How exactly Command (M 136) works?

Simplest thing would be to treat it as a Regular spell if it's not being used as a defense.
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Old 01-16-2014, 11:50 AM   #3
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Default Re: [MAGIC] How exactly Command (M 136) works?

Quote:
Originally Posted by cbower View Post
Simplest thing would be to treat it as a Regular spell if it's not being used as a defense.
The magic book explains the rules for casting blocking spells. They are instant spells, and are also not subject to energy reduction and can only be cast once per turn. They also interrupt any other concentration you were doing before.

So you can cast a command spell without it being a response to a block, but it follows the rules above.
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Old 01-16-2014, 11:58 AM   #4
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Default Re: [MAGIC] How exactly Command (M 136) works?

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Originally Posted by GodBeastX View Post
The magic book explains the rules for casting blocking spells. They are instant spells, and are also not subject to energy reduction and can only be cast once per turn. They also interrupt any other concentration you were doing before.

So you can cast a command spell without it being a response to a block, but it follows the rules above.
So, with a cast time zero a char could, in his turn, cast Command to order an enemy to drop his weapon and then attack the same enemy (or another)? The only draw back is that he will not be able to cast another blocking spell in the turn? He would be able to defende with a staff or shield?
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Old 01-16-2014, 02:21 PM   #5
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Default Re: [MAGIC] How exactly Command (M 136) works?

Remember it's a one or two word command, like: Flee, Fall or Freeze.
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Old 01-16-2014, 03:09 PM   #6
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Default Re: [MAGIC] How exactly Command (M 136) works?

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Originally Posted by GodBeastX View Post
The magic book explains the rules for casting blocking spells. They are instant spells, and are also not subject to energy reduction and can only be cast once per turn. They also interrupt any other concentration you were doing before.

So you can cast a command spell without it being a response to a block, but it follows the rules above.
Yeah, but they're also used as a defense specifically "and count as a block, parry, or dodge." I'm just saying that when you cast it on your own turn I'd prefer to treat it as a Regular spell. If I remember right it was listed as both Regular and Blocking in the Grimoire back in 3rd Edition.
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Old 01-16-2014, 04:10 PM   #7
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Default Re: [MAGIC] How exactly Command (M 136) works?

It would be most balanced if the non-Blocking application worked identically to a Regular spell, with the usual one-second minimum casting time. If you need a game-world justification, state that "conscious defense against a real threat" serves as a kind of psychic spell component that can be consciously duplicated only by a second of ritual meditation to achieve the appropriate mindset, so that a wizard casts near-instantly when charged with adrenaline while saving her skin but slowly (not that a second is slow) when she has to think about it. If you want a more meta-game justification, note that this spell can be an attack or a defense, that attacks and defenses are both actions that take nonzero time in reality, but that it's a quirk of the GURPS rules that attacks call for a time-consuming maneuver while defenses do not. Compare a Karate punch to an Aggressive Parry.
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Old 01-16-2014, 04:39 PM   #8
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Default Re: [MAGIC] How exactly Command (M 136) works?

Thank you for the clarifications!
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