incantation

[steph]

it happen in my last fantasy game......a mage protect himself under water again a fire demon.....all attacks spells of the mage is project from is staff ....the mage still under water and can see the demon on a bridge seeking for him....... he put is staff out of the water to flash the demon but he need incantation to cast and he is under water just want your opinion do you let the mage cast is spell me i don t and i make a friends angry:)

hope i am clear english not my first language

stef the french canadian

[MitchellS]

Re: incantation

 

No, if he has incantation then he can't be incanting under water. Your friend just needs to understand that this was one of those times when the limitation worked against him [which is what they are supposed to do]. You handled it correctly.

[Hugh Neilson]

Re: incantation

 

I'd say he should not be able to incant underwater (you can't speak underwater).

 

My answer would be different, however, if the character had used a spell to enable him to breathe underwater, and the special effects of that spell would also permit him to speak underwater.

 

Also, I would tell the player that his character KNOWS he can't speak underwater, and that he therefore can't cast a spell with incantations. Players shouldn't use knowledge their characters don't have, but they should also be reminded of knowledge their characters would have when the players forget.

[prestidigitator]

Re: incantation

 

If the magic system being employed uses RSR rolls, I might allow the mage to give it a try with a heavy penalty to the roll (like say -2 to -3). Otherwise, I might possibly allow a difficult Power roll to pull it off, but in general I would only allow it if the mage has some form of appropriate Life Support breathing, Environmental Movement, or Change Envrionment in effect.

[radioKAOS]

Re: incantation

 

Otherwise' date=' I might possibly allow a difficult Power roll to pull it off, but in general I would only allow it if the mage has some form of appropriate Life Support breathing, Environmental Movement, or Change Envrionment in effect.[/quote']

 

Agreed.

 

I've got a character in my new game that will be using incantations underwater. I will allow it because he has LS: Underwater Breathing and Environmental Movement: Underwater. When it comes to wanting to speak underwater, I think these two do the trick.

[Old Man]

Re: incantation

 

Just because you can breath water doesn't mean you can speak underwater.

 

It's all just SFX but I think you would have to define it as an air bubble around your body/head in order to speak. Water acts poorly as a medium for making speaking sounds with human vocal cords.

[prestidigitator]

Re: incantation

 

Just because you can breath water doesn't mean you can speak underwater.

 

It's all just SFX but I think you would have to define it as an air bubble around your body/head in order to speak. Water acts poorly as a medium for making speaking sounds with human vocal cords.

Oh, I don't know. I think the primary problem we have talking underwater is that our lungs are full of air. When you try to talk, you aren't really using the water as a direct vocal medium. You are blowing bubbles, and sound happens to transmit into and through the water as well. How much better could we speak underwater if we breated water into our lungs and past our vocal chords? We'll never really know, I think. That's what fiction is for.

[radioKAOS]

Re: incantation

 

Water acts poorly as a medium for making speaking sounds with human vocal cords.

 

Who said the character was Human?

[Mister E]

Re: incantation

 

Vocal chords can't be manipulated properly with water... period. Beyond that, LS: Underwater Breathing makes for a good SFX/"Rubber Science" solution.

 

Really, there should be some kind of direct way to modify the "Voice" Sense to allow communication in unusual mediums.

 

Or not.

 

~ Mister E

[ghost-angel]

Re: incantation

 

Vocal chords can't be manipulated properly with water... period. Beyond that, LS: Underwater Breathing makes for a good SFX/"Rubber Science" solution.

 

Really, there should be some kind of direct way to modify the "Voice" Sense to allow communication in unusual mediums.

 

Or not.

 

~ Mister E

If it comes up enough possibly a Talent along the lines of Environmental Movement ... Environmental Speech?

[LordGhee]

Re: incantation

 

I think your call was good.

 

I might have let the wizard incant once and then having expelled his air need to breath.

[prestidigitator]

Re: incantation

 

I think your call was good.

 

I might have let the wizard incant once and then having expelled his air need to breath.

Ooh! Nice solution! Rep.

 

Depending on the SFX of LS breathing you could even still say the character needs air ("Otherwise you'll start to take pressure damage." "You can't help but inhale water afterward, and that is damaging your lungs."). If the character actually, "breathes," water but doesn't fulfill the rest of the requirements you deem necessary (such as Environmental Movement) they simply may not have the air to make that one expoundation (like that word? I just made it up ).