True Sorcery questions

[beverson]

First, there was talk in another thread about modifying someone's Black Company spell calculator for use with True Sorcery - has anyone ever done that?

Second, there is some ambiguity in the Area of Effect and Target modifiers - it has a table entry listed as "line of effect per 10ft" which is +5 to the DC, but it really doesn't explain it. Since it's on the Area and Targets table and not the Range table, my group is assuming that it's intended for the width of the effect. Does anyone have any clarification on this?

 

[JohnSnow]

"Line" is an area of effect in D&D. It's 5-feet wide and X feet long.

The line area of effect per 10' is a line, like a lightning bolt, that goes out 10' per +5 to the spellcasting DC.

According to the guys at Green Ronin, you must pay for both Area of Effect AND Range. Obviously, range is much cheaper.

Hopefully that clears it up. But if it doesn't, I can give you an example. I got very familiar with the True Sorcery rules when I was helping Green Ronin check the first edition of the pdf for errors.

 

[beverson]

"Line" is an area of effect in D&D. It's 5-feet wide and X feet long.

The line area of effect per 10' is a line, like a lightning bolt, that goes out 10' per +5 to the spellcasting DC.

According to the guys at Green Ronin, you must pay for both Area of Effect AND Range. Obviously, range is much cheaper.

Hopefully that clears it up. But if it doesn't, I can give you an example. I got very familiar with the True Sorcery rules when I was helping Green Ronin check the first edition of the pdf for errors.

Wow, if anything that just muddied the waters even more for me...if you could give an example, that would be great. Maybe it's just too early in the morning still....

 

[beverson]

While I patiently await JohnSnow's response, does anyone else have any thoughts on this?

 

[Pbartender]

While I patiently await JohnSnow's response, does anyone else have any thoughts on this?

The thing to remember is that range is how far away from the caster the spell's point of origin is, and that the "area of effect per XX ft." is how big the area of effect is.

Also, some area of effects, most notably cones and lines, always orignate at the caster and therefore have no range.

Double check the area of effect rules in the SRD for further clarification.

 

[igavskoga]

As far as the spell calculator goes I have not heard anything about it being tweaked to fit True Sorcery - you may want to check on the Green Ronin general forums about it.

I don't have the book infront of me but I think I can explain it in more general terms. The Area and Target table is a tad confusing. From what I remember, JS is right in that you have to buy a range to go with your target. I think I prefer my old interpretation of it but that's just me. Regardless, as far as how it interacts with Line of Effect, here goes:

Line is, from my understanding, essentially the Lightning Bolt entry on the table. You buy a 10 foot Line one square across for every +5. So if you wanted to make a 60 foot Lightning Bolt you would buy 60 feet of Range as well as 60 feet of Line.

You buy the range, basically, and then fill it with the effect. Buying 60 feet of Line and 10 feet of Range just wastes 50 feet of Line. EDIT3: Similarly, buying 10 feet of Range and a 20' Radius Burst will only waste half the sphere if you cast the spell at the edge of the Range. At least that's my current understanding of their official interpretation. Like I said, its been a while - I could be misremembering.

Does that help at all?


EDIT: Actually, PB, I believe when JS was originally talking to the GRR guys about this question that proved not to be true (its the way I had been reading it also and frankly I think I like it better). I could be mis-remembering, but I am fairly sure that's what the official ruling was.

EDIT2: That's a great SRD link btw, though I still like my version of Emanation better.

 

[beverson]

Also, some area of effects, most notably cones and lines, always orignate at the caster and therefore have no range.

Now you've thoroughly lost me...every spell HAS to have a range, otherwise you could affect anyone, anywhere...lightning bolt is a line and has a range of 120 feet, cone of cold has a range of 60 feet.

 

[igavskoga]

Now you've thoroughly lost me...every spell HAS to have a range, otherwise you could affect anyone, anywhere...lightning bolt is a line and has a range of 120 feet, cone of cold has a range of 60 feet.

Essentially the way I was originally playing it, and the way PB reads it, is that the 60 foot "range" of the Cone of Cold is built into buying 60 Feet of Cone, and since it starts only from the caster it has a Range of 0 (note the little r range and the big R Range). Again, I'm almost posative that they contradicted that in their official answer to JS but hopefully he'll pop by soon and confirm or deny.

 

[beverson]

Ok, so let me see if I'm starting to get this...

Range would be how far away from the caster the spell effect can be, and Area (or Line) of Effect is how much space the spell effect takes up. And even though the book doesn't actually say it (that I can see), the Line of Effect is one square wide, and you buy it in 10 foot lengths for +5 DC each.

So if I wanted a "lightning bolt" to shoot out from the caster's fingertips for 60 feet, the Range would be zero and I would buy Line of Effect 6 times for a total of +30 to the DC?

 

[Pbartender]

Ok, so let me see if I'm starting to get this...

Range would be how far away from the caster the spell effect can be, and Area (or Line) of Effect is how much space the spell effect takes up. And even though the book doesn't actually say it (that I can see), the Line of Effect is one square wide, and you buy it in 10 foot lengths for +5 DC each.

So if I wanted a "lightning bolt" to shoot out from the caster's fingertips for 60 feet, the Range would be zero and I would buy Line of Effect 6 times for a total of +30 to the DC?

Exactly. It's the D&D terminology that's confusing, since they use "cone-shaped burst, 30 ft. range" for the size of a cone, when something like "cone-shaped burst, 30 ft. radius" or even "30 ft. cone-shaped burst" would probably make more sense.

The DCs for the Pattern spells in the book, for example are wrong. They should be:

The DC to cast color pattern should be 31 (15, +12 cone range, +4 rounds)
The DC to cast blinding pattern should be 51 (15, +12 cone range, +4 rounds, +20 blindness)
The DC to caost potent pattern should be 71 (15, +12 cone range, +4 round, +40 unconsciousness)

Look here for an official clarification by Robert J. Schwalb.