[MH] [RPM] Do Charms Have to Break?

[Christopher R. Rice]

Originally Posted by johndallman

I think charms don't have to be broken, but breakage is a commonly-used triggering condition. It is clear and easy to define, doesn't require skill, and makes it clear who has activated the charm. The section on "Ammunition Charms" on p. 27 of Thaumatology: Ritual Path Magic is significant in my reasoning, since that offers charms that don't have to be broken.

The triggering conditions for your examples are all complex enough that your GM could reasonably require that you include a Sense effect to ensure the trigger works. See "The Trigger" on pp. 25-6 of T:RPM.

John has the right of this. Anything more complex than a changed state (it's broken, it's wet, it's dry when it should be wet, etc.) requires a Sense effect to work properly.

[AlexanderHowl]

Originally Posted by Engurrand

That's what I thought too and I was very happy with it, but I was wrong. Another important advantage of charms is without them you can't have more than one of the same spell ready. Ref Thaumatology: Ritual Path Magic Page 27, Features of Charms, the first bullet point.
A caster cannot have multiple of the same spell hung as conditional rituals on their behaviors, because they are the subject of all the spells and you can't be the subject of two spells with the same effects. So while Black Kat would do very well to have her escape spell hung as a conditional ritual for the reasons you say, she could not hang any other greater create crossroads spells on her person. You can creatively engineer your spell list to avoid this problem, but if you're a blaster, you need your charms for all those missile spells.

Well, it becomes a matter of how flexible the character wants to be. If you want to be a blaster though, you can use Greater Path of Body to give yourself Innate Attack (though GMs might restrict them to 'natural' attacks). For example, a character could use Greater Transform Body to give themselves Toxic Attack 10d (Jet, +0%) or just enchant themselves with the effect.

[Apollonian]

Originally Posted by AlexanderHowl

Well, it becomes a matter of how flexible the character wants to be. If you want to be a blaster though, you can use Greater Path of Body to give yourself Innate Attack (though GMs might restrict them to 'natural' attacks). For example, a character could use Greater Transform Body to give themselves Toxic Attack 10d (Jet, +0%) or just enchant themselves with the effect.

Heh. For a post-modern blaster, how about a nerf gun?

[AlexanderHowl]

You could have a dozen nerf guns modified with a dozen different ongoing rituals if you wanted, they would only count against conditional ritual limits if they are waiting to be triggered. In that case, it would be a minimum of Greater Transform Matter, and the nerf gun would be the target of the spell.

[Engurrand]

Originally Posted by Christopher R. Rice

John has the right of this. Anything more complex than a changed state (it's broken, it's wet, it's dry when it should be wet, etc.) requires a Sense effect to work properly.

Thank you for that clarification, good sir. I appreciate it.