Can Warding be abused this way?

[David Scott]

On 20/10/2017 at 3:45 PM, Pentallion said:

That infers Warding is a Stasis spell, dependent somewhat on the Stasis rune, but we'll cross that bridge when RQG comes out.

I left out the rune associated with Warding as it's the Magic rune, which denotes it's a common rune spell:

Quote

Common Rune spells (indicated by the R Rune) can be used with any cult Rune affinity.

Casting rune magic is easy:

Quote

The adventurer must roll D100 equal to or less than a Rune affinity the adventurer shares with the spell.

So you just pick your best affinity associated with your cult. You can of course augment with another rune.

[Pentallion]

Funny that the Cradle keeps coming up, these were the same guys who took a thick pole, attached chains to it and then tied the chains to the different stone objects found on the cradle and enchanted the pole with a sylph, which, as the lunars boarded the Cradle, they commanded to rise up the pole and spin it swiftly.  They called this their Whirlwind of Death, I believe.

You can probably find one on aisle two at Geo's, right next to the Easy Snap  Adapters, that allow you to snap on your Warding sticks to any throwable object.  Being chased by a werewolf?  Use your Easy Snap Adapter to quickly change a tree branch into a deadly Stick of Doom.

 

These guys are creative.  One might say they think outside the warding box.

Edited October 21, 2017 by Pentallion

[Pentallion]

Now the idea has evolved into putting the stakes into a net and using a net attack.  They get hit with warding in the attack and again when they break free.

The Doom Guardians, aka the Knowledge Assassins, are on DefCon 3.

Edited October 21, 2017 by Pentallion

[Richard S.]

Warding is secretly the nuke of Glorantha: just get a bunch of high-level priests to pump it full of magic points for huge size and power, the fly it over a city.

Edited October 21, 2017 by Richard S.
Godsdamnit autocorrect

[D]

27 minutes ago, Pentallion said:

Now the idea has evolved into putting the stakes into a net and using a net attack.  They get hit with warding in the attack and again when they break free.

The Doom Guardians, aka the Knowledge Assassins, are on DefCon 3.

Surely the stakes have to be fixed in relation to each other? But maybe you could fire 4 arrows/wards in to the ground around your enemies and pen them in.

[SDLeary]

7 hours ago, D said:

Surely the stakes have to be fixed in relation to each other? But maybe you could fire 4 arrows/wards in to the ground around your enemies and pen them in.

"I'm sorry citizen, but you have revealed one of our great Mostali defensive weapons. When did you see the ballista. Oh well, back in the clay pot with you!"

SDLeary

[soltakss]

What I do is to take an example and then run with it.

Gondo Holst has a Warding built into a cart. I could make a cart with a Warding. Then, I remove the sides and leave the wards, so the warding still holds. I then remove the floor, around the wards, so the Warding still holds. I remove everything except the framework where the wards are and the warding still holds. I pick the framework up and the warding still holds.

So, a hula hoop of warding is completely possible.

[Zit]

That's it, and I don't see any breaking of the game balance here. The next difficulty resides in finding a way to project it. You cannot use a sylph because it will trigger the Warding. You can use a teleportation spell with POW backing to pass through the warding's countermagic, or a couple a Great Trolls to throw it. Or a huge catapult which no adventurer can carry with him, not speaking about the frame itself.

And since the protection is actually effective on a 3m high parallelepiped, you may even turn the frame upside down and use it underground, for instance as protection against earth elementals or to attack the floor behind you. Or hold the frame vertically and push it against a wall or a door to attack defenders, in combination with a battling ram, or even in front of a charge. But here again, you have to build the frame, and I am not sure it would be easy to carry: these ideas are more appropriate for war than for adventuring.

I would anyway always reward imaginative players.

[D]

How about making a 15*15*15cm cube with the wards built in to it and then surrounding it with the gloranthan equivalent of a football and kicking it in to the enemies ranks.

[Yelm's Light]

Logistical issues aside, if you don't see how a 12-point, mobile area-effect Disruption is game-breaking, you must have a really high-powered game.

[soltakss]

42 minutes ago, Yelm's Light said:

Logistical issues aside, if you don't see how a 12-point, mobile area-effect Disruption is game-breaking, you must have a really high-powered game.

Warding 4 does 4d3 damage, average of 8, it would take a limb down but probably not take it out, maybe an arm might go. It only affects one person, unless you toss the hula hoop over someone and watch as it affects all hit locations in turn, but that would be a good roll. An RQ2 Bastard Sword with a 1d6 damage bonus does 1d10+1+1d6, with an average of 10, so roughly equivalent with leather amrour, throw in a Bladesharp 4 and the sword is better than the hula hoop. 

Onse the opponents see what is happening, they just chop up the hula hoop and kick the wards away, thus breaking the effect. Or, even better, they gang up on the cleverclogs with the hula hoop and inflict a world of pain. A good Dispel Magic can take down a Warding 4, leaving the PC with a hoop and an embarrassed grin.

[Joerg]

54 minutes ago, D said:

How about making a 15*15*15cm cube with the wards built in to it and then surrounding it with the gloranthan equivalent of a football and kicking it in to the enemies ranks.

This sounds completely harmless - the football will prevent anyone from crossing into the Warding. On the other hand, putting a permeable warding on a Ball-and-Chain like contraption could be devastating if it doesn't break the four posts or the arrangement that keeps them in place in relation to one another.

[D]

16 hours ago, Joerg said:

This sounds completely harmless - the football will prevent anyone from crossing into the Warding. On the other hand, putting a permeable warding on a Ball-and-Chain like contraption could be devastating if it doesn't break the four posts or the arrangement that keeps them in place in relation to one another.

Only 2 of the sides will be 15cm the 3rd length can be up to 3 meters in length.

Edited October 23, 2017 by D
Misread the rules

[Pentallion]

1 hour ago, soltakss said:

Warding 4 does 4d3 damage, average of 8, it would take a limb down but probably not take it out, maybe an arm might go. It only affects one person, unless you toss the hula hoop over someone and watch as it affects all hit locations in turn, but that would be a good roll. An RQ2 Bastard Sword with a 1d6 damage bonus does 1d10+1+1d6, with an average of 10, so roughly equivalent with leather amrour, throw in a Bladesharp 4 and the sword is better than the hula hoop. 

Onse the opponents see what is happening, they just chop up the hula hoop and kick the wards away, thus breaking the effect. Or, even better, they gang up on the cleverclogs with the hula hoop and inflict a world of pain. A good Dispel Magic can take down a Warding 4, leaving the PC with a hoop and an embarrassed grin.

Why do you use a Warding 4 and not a Warding 10 for your example?

[jajagappa]

32 minutes ago, Pentallion said:

Why do you use a Warding 4 and not a Warding 10 for your example?

Probably due to RQ2:

WARDING 1 point
Range Special, Duration permanent, Stackable up to 4 points, Reusable

[soltakss]

On 10/22/2017 at 10:54 PM, jajagappa said:

Probably due to RQ2:

WARDING 1 point
Range Special, Duration permanent, Stackable up to 4 points, Reusable

Yes.

Also, very few people in RQ3 sacrificed for Warding 10, it is quite limited in nature, even as a hula hopp of death. Dispel Magic 10 takes it down and means the priest has to spend 10 days repraying before using it again.

[Runeblogger]

I'm loving this discussion. Keep it up!

[D]

55 minutes ago, soltakss said:

Yes.

Also, very few people in RQ3 sacrificed for Warding 10, it is quite limited in nature, even as a hula hopp of death. Dispel Magic 10 takes it down and means the priest has to spend 10 days repraying before using it again.

In RQ3 it's an enchantment and I don't think you can dispel those. Also isn't dispel magic spirit magic which means you need 2 points to dispel 1 point of divine?

[Zit]

1 hour ago, Runeblogger said:

I'm loving this discussion. Keep it up!

I just wanted to say it ! To be found only on this forum !

[jajagappa]

34 minutes ago, D said:

In RQ3 it's an enchantment and I don't think you can dispel those.

And is in RQG too.  You have to remove/break the props to break the Warding.

One way to negate the Hula Hoop of Death effect is that it is a defensive enchantment designed to protect those inside.  By tossing it on someone, you are effectively inviting them into the safety zone - i.e. saying they are a 'friend', not an 'enemy'.  

[SDLeary]

1 hour ago, jajagappa said:

And is in RQG too.  You have to remove/break the props to break the Warding.

One way to negate the Hula Hoop of Death effect is that it is a defensive enchantment designed to protect those inside.  By tossing it on someone, you are effectively inviting them into the safety zone - i.e. saying they are a 'friend', not an 'enemy'.  

Hmmm, it would be useful if once they are inside and want to come out and do harm ("as an enemy") that damage is tripped. Is there a similar spell to create such a portable stockade?

SDLeary

Edited October 24, 2017 by SDLeary

[jajagappa]

45 minutes ago, SDLeary said:

it would be useful if once they are inside and want to come out and do harm ("as an enemy") that damage is tripped. Is there a similar spell to create such a portable stockade?

I think with work through the various Enchantment effects, one could create such.  I'm sure sorcerers summoning demons and the like need something like this.

[Pentallion]

10 hours ago, jajagappa said:

And is in RQG too.  You have to remove/break the props to break the Warding.

One way to negate the Hula Hoop of Death effect is that it is a defensive enchantment designed to protect those inside.  By tossing it on someone, you are effectively inviting them into the safety zone - i.e. saying they are a 'friend', not an 'enemy'.  

Winner!  Winner!  Chicken Dinner!  THAT'S going to be my final ruling.  And I'm NOT going to tell them until they actually do it.  Serves the little, er, serves 'em right

[styopa]

19 hours ago, jajagappa said:

And is in RQG too.  You have to remove/break the props to break the Warding.

One way to negate the Hula Hoop of Death effect is that it is a defensive enchantment designed to protect those inside.  By tossing it on someone, you are effectively inviting them into the safety zone - i.e. saying they are a 'friend', not an 'enemy'.  

Phht.  Just a lack of imagination there.

aka the "German Wheel"

[Richard S.]

1 hour ago, styopa said:

Phht.  Just a lack of imagination there.

aka the "German Wheel"

Behold: the hamster wheel of doom.