Elements of Magic
A couple more. I'm currently toying with clerics a little, in that one of the conceits I have is that Virtues exist - basically replacing alignments, being good, evil, and free will. Gods, and their servants like demons, angels, undead, etc., all embody a Virtue in an unchanging, eternal way. Mortals - even really nasty ones - are all free-willed. They don't have an eternal Virtue.
Jay Spencer
Villager
For Counterspell I would as a GM like the option that You may have the spell automatically redirected at the caster instead of it being automatic, I can see situations where it would be beneficial to have the ability to just have the spell fizzle, for instance an AOE spell that will hit innocent bystanders regardless of the target. It would be nice if the counter also cost the caster MP when it is countered
Primitive Screwhead
First Post
Hello Jay, welcome to the forum!
I am not sure how much Morrus has worked on the concept since the post you replied to was dated back in 2014. The WOIN website portion on magic doesn't reference the additional magic skills of scry or counterspelling.
But to pick up the conversation from where it left off.. I think counterspelling is a cool option that can make games more entertaining... but getting the balance between frustrating players and not becoming overpowered.
I have yet to see an RPG system do counterspelling well. The closest I have seen is basically a mana-point bidding war between the original caster and the attempted counterspell.
In WOIN framework, perhaps a roll-off in which each mage gets 1 die per mana-point. the casting mage starts with the pool equal to the mana spent to cast the spell. The opposing mage builds a dice pool by burning mana.
Both sides add dice based on their counter-spelling skill and any implements that specifically assist that skill.
Each side rolls the dice-pool in secret and can burn mana to add more dice.
Once both sides stop adding dice, the mage with the highest total has control over the spells target.. or can fizzle it.
You have to know one of the secrets of the spell to be able to re-target the spell. If you don't know any of the secrets you can only fizzle the spell.
Countering a spell could be either a readied action {makes it less likely to be used but more of a tactical choice} or a reaction that burns your next normal action.
An alternate method within the EOM framework would be a reaction casting of an hex that increases the difficulty of casting the spell {malus to targeting roll or burn additional mana to cast normally?}
Anyway, enough of my ramblings. Morrus should be along soon to say whats what
I am not sure how much Morrus has worked on the concept since the post you replied to was dated back in 2014. The WOIN website portion on magic doesn't reference the additional magic skills of scry or counterspelling.
But to pick up the conversation from where it left off.. I think counterspelling is a cool option that can make games more entertaining... but getting the balance between frustrating players and not becoming overpowered.
I have yet to see an RPG system do counterspelling well. The closest I have seen is basically a mana-point bidding war between the original caster and the attempted counterspell.
In WOIN framework, perhaps a roll-off in which each mage gets 1 die per mana-point. the casting mage starts with the pool equal to the mana spent to cast the spell. The opposing mage builds a dice pool by burning mana.
Both sides add dice based on their counter-spelling skill and any implements that specifically assist that skill.
Each side rolls the dice-pool in secret and can burn mana to add more dice.
Once both sides stop adding dice, the mage with the highest total has control over the spells target.. or can fizzle it.
You have to know one of the secrets of the spell to be able to re-target the spell. If you don't know any of the secrets you can only fizzle the spell.
Countering a spell could be either a readied action {makes it less likely to be used but more of a tactical choice} or a reaction that burns your next normal action.
An alternate method within the EOM framework would be a reaction casting of an hex that increases the difficulty of casting the spell {malus to targeting roll or burn additional mana to cast normally?}
Anyway, enough of my ramblings. Morrus should be along soon to say whats what
Counterspelling is one of those abilities that are more unfun than they sound. They're essentially abilities devoted to making sure nothing happens - the antithesis of what the game is designed to do. They sound better than they play, and they're even worse when used against players.
That said, it's basically a MAG vs. MAG check, with the MP expenditure being matched, as a reaction exploit. It's in there (you'll see it in the Elements of Magic chapter) but it's not given a lot of attention because the concept doesn't playtest well. It's like parry and dodge actions in RPGs; traditionally those are fun-killers.
That said, it's basically a MAG vs. MAG check, with the MP expenditure being matched, as a reaction exploit. It's in there (you'll see it in the Elements of Magic chapter) but it's not given a lot of attention because the concept doesn't playtest well. It's like parry and dodge actions in RPGs; traditionally those are fun-killers.
