PhilHibbs

I think it's normal for Eurmali to join multiple subcults. If Remove Hand is your only spell then the jokes will quickly become stale.

I didn't mean to say that nobody else can get it, just that the only two cults (yeah I was wrong) that are listed as getting it are spirit interaction cults.

...leaving the attacking spirit free to engage again right away. Or, I suspect, still engaged.

I think subcults have the same RP pool.

I think considering that the physical combat use would be much more common than the spirit combat use, then that would be mentioned first. And that only Daka Fal gets it...

That makes sense. I think the wording could be clearer, I saw this misunderstanding coming when I first read the spell.

...and I think they usually wait to put the books on sale in all markets simultaneously, so we might all have to wait.

Like I said, I have no problem with this being a thing, but I think it needs to be a specific spell. I wouldn't give general purpose illusions too much flexibility, it's good that they have fairly sensible constraints.

The matrix can have the RP, I think, but they need to be replenished afterwards with RP from the same cult.

I don't see why, a tweak like this addresses the problem without needing to rewrite existing stat blocks.

Does a Fire Elemental require some fire to manifest, or is that just for summoning it?

Ralzakarrrrrk

Of course SR isn't everything. Your superior skill means that, while he gets to roll first, he has damn all chance of actually making contact. That doesn't necessarily represent a literal swing-of-the-arm that you are aware of, your "dodge" or "parry" might simply represent the fact that he had no opportunity to land a blow on you. You then knock him on his arse, giving the impression that you are faster than him and should have a better SR because he had no chance to hit you before you hit him. He has a chance, but it seldom works out. That doesn't mean that there isn't a problem to solve, the appearance of a problem (that can be explained away) does not feel satisfying.

I think that's the intention. Great skill overcomes any deficiency in DEX or SIZ. I must admit, it always did seem odd to me that a an untrained kid with slightly higher stats would act before a master swordsman.

There are a few edge cases that you might need to hand-wave with a rule like this. Please don't think I'm having a go or being snide, any rule like this needs to go through the Baths of Nitpick. Best to get the potential problems known early. So you resolved my "5% attack" case, if there's a -20% penalty then you have to have at least 20% or 25% skill. Fine. Lets say I have 80% skill, and I declare an early attack, taking my chance down to 60%. My opponent declares a parry at 160%, which I didn't expect, so can I still make my early attack at 5% chance? And it doesn't have to be a 100%+ thing, it could be a circumstantial modifier such as someone casting Dullblade, Demoralize, or dispelling my Coordination or Sword Trance spell. This is probably the main reason why there isn't a mechanic for deliberately reducing your skill in return for some benefit. The skill might get reduced for some other reason, so by the time the attack happens, you can't take the reduction. But it's an unusual situation, you could probably play with this rule for years and never come across it.

It's an interesting idea but it would have the odd effect that anyone with a skill of 5% or lower can always attack on SR1 with no penalty.

Yes, when cast on a corporeal enemy during spirit combat, they are drawn away from their current target. It has no effect on physical combat, only spirit combat. Ah, good point. Thanks.

Distraction only affects spirit combat. Just been looking at the options for Waha spirit magic. Nothing offensive apart from Slow. Speedart is no use since High Llama tribe get no missile weapon skills. I told the player that, yes, he can have Befuddle or Demoralize, but going by the book he can't.

It needs a 4' tall one of these as well. Anyone have a big enough 3D printer? https://www.cgtrader.com/3d-models/plant/other/lectern--2

If he has an hour to prepare... and anyway, I don't think a discorporate person can initiate spirit combat with people in the middle world. He'd be in the spirit world. He could then cast Visibility, but he doesn't have that spell.

The player who took on this character was deeply disappointed that he has no viable options whatsoever in a fight. No ranged weapons, no offensive spells, no Protection, no armour so a single hit is likely to take him straight out of the fight. Sure, he's not a warrior, but sitting back and doing exactly nothing was frustrating. I told him he could rearrange his spells, I think he's going to give Cousin Monkey Protection 4, instead of Countermagic and Spirit Screen.

There's no reason to think that Berserk stacks with Countermagic. Probably not at all. That's always been a tricky one, I'm not sure. I would probably apply the two separately like you say - first the Warding, and if it gets through that, the Countermagic. The Countermagic does its job of integrating with the Shield spell. That behaviour isn't documented under Countermagic, but it is under Shield. If you take the rules as a whole, it's clear that the two are compatible without it having to be stated twice. Same as Warding, I'd say. That's clearly a mistake, I agree. You're hallucinating worms, Joerg, have you been at the mezcal again?

If it meant that, and you could not actually have Shield up at the same time as a separate Countermagic or Protection, then Warding should say the same. Also, the only mention of Protection in the Shield writeup is to say that it is cumulative with it. It describes the spell resistance as "points of Countermagic", but the damage resistance is described as "2 points of magical armor", so mentioning Protection as being cumulative would be redundant since Countermagic is not incompatible with "points of magical armor" in general, only with the Protection spell.

Because Shield is cumulative with Countermagic. It's a special case. If you want a way to imagine it, think of it this way. When you cast a Countermagic or Shield spell on someone, it forms a spell barrier around them. Spells going through the barrier have to overcome its strength level. If they have Countermagic or Shield on them already, then the spells are so similar that they mesh with each other, one layers on top of the other. There may be a common mythical origin to the two spells, one is just a more powerful version of the other, the big brother, particularly if they are learned from the same cult. Maybe Countermagic from one cult and Shield from another might not stack, Pamaltelan Countermagic and Genertelan Shield might be incompatible, because they have different mythical origins. That's a level of detail that the basic rules don't go into, and stacking them is so rare that it's not worth mentioning.

Yes. "Dispelled" with a capital D refers to Dispel Magic, and possibly other magic removal effects (Dismiss, Neutralize). It means that once both spells are up, the Countermagic will go down before the Shield does.