Arch0n

Thank you very much for your responses, Jason. We are allowing Sorcerer's Armor to be invested in items, yes. We are using generic (whole body) armor protection with random armor (similar to Elric!). It sounds like to date I've been playing it correctly, as I've treated Sorcerer's Armor as a sort of "force field" that applies to the character, regardless of the source, and that doesn't stack higher than rank 4.

Thanks for the responses!

Hey folks, Two rules questions. 1) How do you handle attacks that "ignore armor" when applied against characters protected by Sorcerer's Armor and similar spells? Do you ignore all the spell protections as well, or do you ignore only the mundane? What if it was a fire attack against a character wearing plate mail with sorcerer's armor 4? What about an attack that bypasses armor (a headshot on a character with an unarmored head), but protected by a crown with sorcerer's armor 4 on it? 2) How do you handle stacking of spells? For instance, I have Sorcerer's Armor 4 on my longjohns, and then cast it again on my outer robes. Do I have 8 points of protection, or 4? If 4, why? Do the longjohns know that the robes have armor, and resent it? Do you allow spells and items to stack in general? If there's an official rule on these, I'd love to know it, or if there's good house rules handed down by the Old Masters of Runequest/Elric!, that'd be great too...

Harshax, the difference between "damage" and, say, "cow transmogrification" is that damage stacks linearly, while cow transmogrification is binary on/off. For instance, let's take a powerful monster with 50 hit points and POW 30. 6 wizards are gathered to oppose the monster, each with POW 20 and a magic missile doing 1D10 damage and cow trans. With "cow trans", each wizard could theoretically end the fight in one blow, but none of them is likely to do so, because of the 20:30 POW resistance roll. But six magic missiles are virtually certain to kill the monster in a round or two, even though each individual magic missile could do less than 10% of its hit points in damage. Likewise, a wizard firing magic missiles stacks with the efforts of an archer, fighter, etc., while a wizard doing cow transmogrification doesn't. When one type of effect stacks and another doesn't stack, the type that stacks needs to be kept more limited in power, especially since RPGs are mostly played in groups.

This is really top-notch.

This is an area of great confusion to me, as well. I've never been quite able to understand if the default in BRP is one attack, or ROF...

Thanks for the feedback!

Here's how we handle that issue... Recognizing Spells: A sorcerer automatically recognizes any spell cast that he has in his grimoire. If seeking to recognize a spell he does not know, the sorcerer must roll against his Language and Higher Mysteries skill. If he succeeds in one roll but not the other, he learns only the type and magnitude of the spell. If the spell is cast in a language he is unfamiliar with, the sorcerer can only learn approximately the type and magnitude of the spell, and must roll a critical on Higher Mysteries to do so. (Higher Mysteries is our version of "Knowledge: Occult". Magic is spoken in one of four 'languages of power').

Well, no feedback. I'm ditching the rules as written and substituting the following instead. Casting Sorcery Spells A sorcery spell is cast during your DEX rank in the combat round. Each sorcery spell takes one full combat round of concentration to cast. Successfully casting a spell requires an Easy Luck roll. To avoid the risk of a fumble, the caster may simply take a standard result without rolling if desired. A sorcery spell may be cast more quickly, if desired. This is known as fast-casting. A fast-cast spell takes a number of DEX ranks equal to its magnitude of concentration to cast. Successfully fast-casting a spell requires a Luck roll. A sorcery spell may also be cast as a reaction to another spell. This is known as counter-casting. Successfully counter-casting a sorcery spell requires a Difficult Luck roll. A counter-cast is as distracting as a parry or dodge, and prior parry, dodge, or counter-casts during the turn will reduce the chances by a cumulative 30% each, and a character may only make one reaction action in any given DEX rank. That puts Undo Sorcery and Refutation into play nicely and parallels the combat system.

After six sessions, we're having some entanglements with sorcery. Specifically, with Undo Sorcery and Refutation. How does the timing of those spells work? For instance: 1. With INT 18, on Turn 1, I cast Flames of the Sun. It takes effect at Powers Phase INT rank 18, on Turn 2. 2. My opponent, with INT 17, starts casting Undo Sorcery on my Flames of the Sun. So when do I cast Refutation? How long does it take to cast? a) Do I cast it immediately? If so, can I do anything else that turn? What if I've already started a spell? Do I cast it at INT 18 on Turn 3? If so, is it instant, or would it then refute in Turn 4? Can one "hold" sorcery? Delay from INT into DEX? Any advice on how best to blend INT, DEX, power, combat together?

Well, we're playing using ELRIC! rules (for the most part). In ELRIC! an attack that exceeds a weapon's hit points breaks a weapon, but not a shield, and critical attacks that are parried damage a weapon, but not a shield. An average sword has about 19HP. An average character in my game does 1D8+1D4+5 in an attack (DB plus magic bonus). Parrying a critical hit would cause the weapon to take (2D8+1D4+5). It's well within a standard deviation that this would shatter the parrying weapon. Against a strong opponent with an enhanced two-handed sword (2D8+1D6+4), even a normal hit could break your weapon, and a critical hit (4D8+1D6+4) will almost certainly shatter it. The result is that two-weapon fighters do well when up against lots of foes, or against fast, light enemies, but if you're up against someone who hits hard, you need a shield or a high dodge. We also play that heavy armor reduces your dodge score by as much as 20%, which further emphasizes the need for a parry if you're going to "tank".

We treat ability to use the shield as inherent in purchase of a one-handed weapon skill. It's assumed that you pick up training in the one with the other. A one-liner in the ELRIC! rules on training made me think of this, but it works really well.

Ah, makes sense. I once wrote a tabletop miniature wargame (Modern Spearhead - Official Website) and it was 2 years of work that definitely wasn't worth it from a financial point of view!

Out of curiosity, where is the information on how one submits a monograph and what rights the author retains, royalties, etc.?

Al, I love your rules mods.