Polaris Posted August 23, 2003 Report Share Posted August 23, 2003 Greetings all, One of the neat things about playing Star Hero is the wide variety of worlds that can be explored. In our game, some of the players are playing heads of their own governments (like Starfire). One of the empires is more of a fantasy flare (one of the worlds in that empire is Fearun). The player who plays the empire filled with mostly magic was going to send a probing task force into Thorgan space (why pick on a small empire when you can provoke one of the biggest bullies on the block). She contends that the Thorgans would not likely have much resistance to the magic weapons of her warships. Any thoughts?? I don't know if this would be overly unbalancing if it was the case, since as soon as the magic ships got into a fight against a Thorgon War cruiser, the magic ships (all of which are not super strong) would likely not withstand many salvos from the Thorgon laser systems. If anyone can shed any light, I would appreciate it. Would a starship need to specify that it has defense against Magic, similar to it specifying resistance to energy? Thanks! Polaris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Liaden Posted August 23, 2003 Report Share Posted August 23, 2003 My personal take would fall into two categories: (1) From a game mechanic perspective, "magic" is just the SFX for various Powers that otherwise function normally, so "magic energy" would work against normal Energy Defense unless the specific defense was Limited to not do so; (2) As always, logic is king. If a starship has Defense defined as an armored hull, it probably wouldn't make much difference what the SFX of the attack was, but if it had exotic defenses like Force Field designed to repel equally exotic high-tech weaponry, they probably would not be as effective against magic. Hope that helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Obvious Posted August 25, 2003 Report Share Posted August 25, 2003 Keep in mind that if you give either technology or magic an edge over the other, your players will want to change over, and instead of a game with a lot of variety, you'll get various shades of one thing...which I assume is not what you're after if you're running a game with magic and technology intermixed to start with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talon Posted August 25, 2003 Report Share Posted August 25, 2003 Depends on campaign ground rules and background. As mentioned, if Science Reigns Supreme, then magic stuff may be stopped by existing defenses -- or engineers may just have to "adjust wave frequency" or something to produce a defense. OTOH, if Magic Is Different, then existing tech will be useless. The question then becomes: how common is magic in the universe? If it's at all common, most races would have encountered it and have some sort of defense. You (or the GM, if that's not you) need to decide which of the above is true. Personally, I'd go for Magic Is Different (I always hate technology trumping everything) and have it be uncommon enough that the Thorgons have no defense -- at least, not right away. Once word gets out that some minor empire has unstoppable weapons, all sorts of interesting things should happen. Lastly, some "magic" special effects may really just be energy or physical attacks. If the ship summons magical fire and sends it in a bolt, standard ED should apply IMO. Of course, clever mages will do stuff like teleport bombs and/or troops onboard the enemy ship instead... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Polaris Posted August 25, 2003 Author Report Share Posted August 25, 2003 Thanks everyone! If the magic were "different" enough to avoid normal defenses, should it have to be purchased as an NND attack? If so, what kind of defenses do you think would be appropriate defenses. I was thinking "resistance to magic", but am unsure of any other ideas. Thanks again for your help! Polaris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RadeFox Posted August 26, 2003 Report Share Posted August 26, 2003 Force Fields should be universally effective. A field of interposing energy is sound in both magical and scientific models. So it would be a decently common defense for any NND's or other stuff you choose to use. It would allow for the same kind of stuff as star trek, the sheilds go down, and the then your teleports and transports start up, or other magical effects could be used. Your biggest challenge will likely be making the magical weaponry at all effective. After all, a science based vehicle is going to be well armored vs vacuum and pressure and impacts. Be totally insulated vs electricity and hard raditation, and intense heat/fire and Ice/cold. Doesnt leave much for the standard arsenal of magic attacks to cling too to effect the Thorgan ships. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talon Posted August 26, 2003 Report Share Posted August 26, 2003 Originally posted by Polaris Thanks everyone! If the magic were "different" enough to avoid normal defenses, should it have to be purchased as an NND attack? If so, what kind of defenses do you think would be appropriate defenses. I was thinking "resistance to magic", but am unsure of any other ideas. Thanks again for your help! Polaris Definitely. If it's bought as an attack vs. PD or ED, standard starship defenses will apply. I would suggest Power Defense with a magic SFX (i.e., standard military EMP hardening doesn't work) as the defense. Perhaps make it AVLD Does BODY instead of NND. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Polaris Posted August 26, 2003 Author Report Share Posted August 26, 2003 Geoff, So, to make sure I understand... I would buy it as something like "Magic Blast; AVLD, Does Body, defenses: Magic resistance and Power Defense against Magic attacks". Did I understand that right?? Polaris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talon Posted August 26, 2003 Report Share Posted August 26, 2003 Looks right to me, except I have one question. By "magic resistance", do you mean the Damage Reduction power bought to affect magic, or do you mean something else? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Polaris Posted August 26, 2003 Author Report Share Posted August 26, 2003 I am unsure of what power to call it. Damage Reduction vs. Magic sounds right. Perhaps a Force Field VS Magic. Some defense that is specified against magic I guess is what I mostly mean. Polaris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RadeFox Posted August 26, 2003 Report Share Posted August 26, 2003 What are the SFX Polaris?? Like I stated above, it is important. If your magic eb/rka is lightening, fire, ice ray, or any of the 'common' magic damage spells, even with it being magically sourced its not likely to do more then mar the paint of a typical spacegoing vessel. For any players of scientific mind, or who are at least interested in space travel in your group, your going to need a new or odd attack form, thats at least plausibly able to bypass standard defenses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Polaris Posted August 27, 2003 Author Report Share Posted August 27, 2003 Radefox, I am sorry, I did not explain the SFX as clear as I had intended. The SFX of the attack would be Eldritch (which is defined as an adjective descriptive "eldritch adj : suggesting the operation of supernatural influences"--from Dictionary.com). It is magical, or eldritch, sfx. Polaris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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