A shiny new haste topic

[Barcode]

I am sure that this has been asked and answered before but:

Where is everyone getting the interpretation that Haste grants an extra partial action the round that it is cast?

I mean, if a caster moves, then casts Haste, hasn't he used up all of his actions in the round? The six seconds is up. Moving extra speedily at that point won't give him more time, therefore no extra action.

I have chosen to interpret the spell such that it still takes only a standard action to cast, and takes effect immediately. However, in order to get your extra partial action, all previous actions in the round had to have been hasted. i.e. no extra partial action in the first round. They still get the dodge bonus right away.

I also added a 100gp dram of quicksilver as a material component, which in my game world is sufficiently rare that I can regulate its supply. (Where does medieval mercury come from, anyway?)

Since Haste is no longer a "free" spell, meaning you could cast it and still do whatever you would have normally done first round, I have found that the party members who were able to cast it actually think (gasp!) about the necessity for the spell before casting it. If the combat is likely to be trivial, they don't want to waste the money. If the combat is going to be hairy, but they didn't have any advance warning, they have to consider whether the party is better served by them taking out a threat with their first round action rather than investing in the remainder of the combat. I mean, what if while were setting up to cast two spells the next round, the bad guys they could have taken out with the fireball killed a party member?

So why isn't this the most common interpretation? Would some of the furor over Haste disappear if this were official?

 

[Zhure]

Spells take effect immediately unless otherwise stipulated.

By changing Haste in this manner it makes it a great ambush tactic, which really tends to hurt the heroes.

Greg

 

[dcollins]

I believe the Main FAQ includes a note confirming that haste casters get the extra partial action immediately, even in the round of casting.

 

[THEBIGLOU]

While I agree that you get the partial action this round under the rules, we changed to give you the dodge bonus and extra partial next round.

If you do give the extra partial in the same round, haste always become the correct choice. It doesn't cost time to cast, just a spell slot. The one action to cast is given back at the end of the round. The gp value in my opinion is your choice.....Making haste not take effect until next round does it in our campaign.

Anyways....this will all be moot in July!

THEBIGLOU

 

[Samhain California]

Quicksilver (or mercury to most people) was derived in the middle ages from a reddish rock called Cinnabar it is a reddish crystal

for some good info on it

http://mineral.galleries.com/minerals/sulfides/cinnabar/cinnabar.htm

it was used for many many things but most notable quicksilver was used in the reschearch to discover the "philosophers egg" by alchemists during the middle ages. The philosophers egg was the material that would transmute base metals (such as lead) to exotic materials such as silver and gold. AND by lord orcus the philsophers stone was not just a sucky tome of magic
(2e) item

--josh
(does that qualify as too much information?)

 

[Piratecat]

*waves* Hi, Barcode!

What they said. In Sagiro's game, we use your method - and that works as well. I think it's a decent compromise, even if it isn't supported by the rules.