Twisted Mana Qs: Ongoing Magic, Magical Items and Casting Into It?

[PseudoFenton]

Title is pretty self explanatory, I have a few questions as regarding the use of the twisted mana rules as found on Thaumatology pg 60.

Ongoing Magic? What effect does a twisted mana zone (generated or already present) have on magic that is already ongoing. So spells which are either within their original duration (long duration/persistent), or have been renewed, but that were cast before the twisted mana zone came into effect?

Magical Items? Does a twisted mana zone do anything to magical items? Both ones with passive abilities (always on effects) and activated ones (like wands of fireballs etc)? The latter seem to suggest that they are "cast" as they still have a caster skill and can fail in low mana, but I've no idea about the former (more so when they have their own power source to fuel the mana).

Casting Into It? Casting spells in a twisted mana zone is harder and can cause all manner of problems... but twisted mana zones are described as small and if you're a generator then it will certainly be small, so what happens to spells cast outside of the zone but have an affect within the zone itself? They're already successful (but without the -2), but do they still backfire a little etc?

Thanks for any answers, I know most of these come down to "the GM chooses", but getting a concusses of opinions helps make fairer ones.

[Jerander]

Originally Posted by PseudoFenton

Ongoing Magic? What effect does a twisted mana zone (generated or already present) have on magic that is already ongoing. So spells which are either within their original duration (long duration/persistent), or have been renewed, but that were cast before the twisted mana zone came into effect?

The simplest answer is to say no affect. The Twisted Mana Zone (TMZ) has to be "in effect" when the magic is cast to affect the casting.

The more interesting answer is to keep track of the margin of success. If it's only 1, then when the magical effect comes in range of the TMZ, then the casting backfires at that point. Whether the casting backfires or not, the casting becomes "twisted" in an uncomfortable way.

Originally Posted by PseudoFenton

Magical Items? Does a twisted mana zone do anything to magical items? Both ones with passive abilities (always on effects) and activated ones (like wands of fireballs etc)? The latter seem to suggest that they are "cast" as they still have a caster skill and can fail in low mana, but I've no idea about the former (more so when they have their own power source to fuel the mana).

Continuous items: Simple answer: No affect. Fun answer: Note item's power. If it falls below 15 due to the effect (affect?) of the TMZ, then it stops working and backfires. In all cases, use of the item becomes uncomfortable as described in the text.

Activated Items: I'd treat them as if casting without an item. But the twisting would mostly affect the item, not the caster. Mostly.

Originally Posted by PseudoFenton

Casting Into It? Casting spells in a twisted mana zone is harder and can cause all manner of problems... but twisted mana zones are described as small and if you're a generator then it will certainly be small, so what happens to spells cast outside of the zone but have an affect within the zone itself? They're already successful (but without the -2), but do they still backfire a little etc?

Just as someone cannot cast into a No Mana Zone, I'd rule that casting into a TMZ affects the casting. Same if the TMZ is only part of the area of an Area Spell.

[Not another shrubbery]

Originally Posted by PseudoFenton

Title is pretty self explanatory, I have a few questions as regarding the use of the twisted mana rules as found on Thaumatology pg 60.

Ongoing Magic? What effect does a twisted mana zone (generated or already present) have on magic that is already ongoing. So spells which are either within their original duration (long duration/persistent), or have been renewed, but that were cast before the twisted mana zone came into effect?

Magical Items? Does a twisted mana zone do anything to magical items? Both ones with passive abilities (always on effects) and activated ones (like wands of fireballs etc)? The latter seem to suggest that they are "cast" as they still have a caster skill and can fail in low mana, but I've no idea about the former (more so when they have their own power source to fuel the mana).

I'd go with Jerander's rulings for Activated Items and casting into a TMZ.

IMO, Ongoing Magic and Continuous Items should be treated as though they were spells that had been successfully cast inside the TMZ, i.e., their effects should be warped slightly to the owner's detriment. Especially powerful items might be treated as critical successes, which gets rid of any backlash, but they may still seem to function oddly.

[Jerander]

Here's an idea:

Lightly enchant an item using a easy enchantment at Power 15. Toss it into the TMZ where your non-mage enemies are hiding out. Watch the fireworks.

[Bruno]

Originally Posted by Jerander

Here's an idea:

Lightly enchant an item using a easy enchantment at Power 15. Toss it into the TMZ where your non-mage enemies are hiding out. Watch the fireworks.

I'm torn. I can't decide if I kinda hate this consequence or LOVE this consequence. In a Twisted area, magic is dangerous...

[PseudoFenton]

Originally Posted by Bruno

I'm torn. I can't decide if I kinda hate this consequence or LOVE this consequence. In a Twisted area, magic is dangerous...

Well you're either paying for it as a disadvantage, and thus cheap magical items should be dangerous and blow up if you use them (or when you walk past a cheap magic shop, which will cause some fun) - or you've paid for it to be an advantageous ability by being a generator, which is both a risky ability (someone might throw cheap items at you) but also should have boons (you get very cheap magical explosives!).

Either that or some chumps have thought its a good idea to hide out sitting smack bang on top of a small, rare and dangerous magical maelstrom! If they thought a wizard couldn't or wouldn't dare attack them there because of the potential for things to go wrong, then they need educating on what can go wrong, which may be a few minor trinkets in the wizards possession! I mean seriously, if you don't want a wizard attacking you then you sit in a NO-mana zone, not a twisted one!

So, yes, I think if it is a feature of the zone then its a logical and perfectly fair consequence of it.

[Jerander]

Originally Posted by Bruno

I'm torn. I can't decide if I kinda hate this consequence or LOVE this consequence. In a Twisted area, magic is dangerous...

Depends a little on the metaphysics you're working with.

Sounds like the *caster* is the one who suffers the nasty consequences for casting into a TMZ, so it might be a good place to hide from a mage. But, if the subject is going to suffer the nasty consequences, then it's a horrible place to hide.

[PseudoFenton]

Originally Posted by Jerander

Sounds like the *caster* is the one who suffers the nasty consequences for casting into a TMZ, so it might be a good place to hide from a mage. But, if the subject is going to suffer the nasty consequences, then it's a horrible place to hide.

If it were a magical item it would make sense that it was the item that suffered the backlash (potentially destroying it, and maybe having 'splash damage') in the case of a failure, and the user which suffered from any inconvenience in the case of a success.
It wouldn't make sense for a wizard who enchanted an item years ago so suddenly get a backlash/inconvenience from the spell just because the item has just found itself in a TMZ after all.

Attempting to enchant it in a TMZ however is another story all together, and may perhaps even maintain the twisted qualities (yey freely cursed items) even when bought out of the TMZ.

[Not another shrubbery]

Originally Posted by Bruno

I'm torn. I can't decide if I kinda hate this consequence or LOVE this consequence. In a Twisted area, magic is dangerous...

IMO, you should not be able to count on 'fireworks' by the simple act of tossing a magic item into a TMZ, unless your enemy picks it up and tries to use it. Even then, they are probably going to mostly gain from it, albeit with some sort of backlash. You'd probably be better off just throwing a rock at them :|

[Bruno]

On further contemplation I'd be more inclined to go with the "goes supercritical" route with the various mana-storage things - manastones, powerstones, power items, Raw Magic (thaumatology) and whatever.

Critical failures aren't really an explosion anyways. Undirected twisted mana venting seems more likely than usual to conjure a demon or other malevolent magical being, but expecting it to conveniently attack your enemies instead of running around out of control and making your life miserable seems like expecting too much out of the situation.

If anything, I'd note that any effect generated like this should come back to bite the person chucking "manabombs", which seems very much in the spirit of Twisted Mana.