knightwriter Posted October 17, 2010 Report Share Posted October 17, 2010 I'm creating a wizard for a fantasy setting and have given him the power skill magic, 13-. I'm wondering when I should apply this skill? Everytime my wizard wants to use his magic? If that's so, would that mean he would have to make a magic skill roll, and then make an attack roll for a spell like fireball (blast)? Thanks for any help in clarifying this for me. Game on! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IndianaJoe3 Posted October 17, 2010 Report Share Posted October 17, 2010 Re: Not sure how to apply the Power skill I'm creating a wizard for a fantasy setting and have given him the power skill magic, 13-. I'm wondering when I should apply this skill? Everytime my wizard wants to use his magic? If that's so, would that mean he would have to make a magic skill roll, and then make an attack roll for a spell like fireball (blast) Spells built with Requires A Skill Roll would work that way. Your GM may let you perform minor spellcasting tricks or modifying a spell's effects with a successful roll. If none of those apply, it may not do anything (and you can get rid of it). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tasha Posted October 17, 2010 Report Share Posted October 17, 2010 Re: Not sure how to apply the Power skill Power skill magic 13- can be used for Requires a skill roll, it can also be used when you want to do something that your spell might not regularly be able to do. ie you are fighting an ice wizard and she is casting her frostbolt spell and you want to do the classic wizard trick of using your fire spell to block her spell. Normally you would block with something solid and it would only require a OCV vs OCV roll to succeed. Because you want to use a spell to do this your GM has you make a Power skill roll to see if you can adapt your spell to do this power feat. Most GM's that require "Requires a skill roll" on spells also want you to have the -1 per 10 active points version of it. So you would end up buying Magic up to a higher value so you can actually make the skill roll required to cast the spell Usually up to 16-, 17- or more depending on how powerful your spells are and if you want a 12, 13 or 14 or less chance of making said skill roll Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hugh Neilson Posted October 17, 2010 Report Share Posted October 17, 2010 Re: Not sure how to apply the Power skill I would discuss the use of the skill with your GM. If it's not going to be useful, there is no sense paying points for it. Many magic systems have spells that require a skill roll to cast successfully, making it essential, and that is the most common use I see. Other GM'ss will allow it to be used for other uses, either in addition to the skill roll, or as they don't use skill rolls in their magic system. I've had some GM's suggest using this skill for minor magical applications that have minimal game effects, almost a "cantrips" skill, for example. Tasha's "block the ice spell" example is a great one, and a flexible GM will make the skill worth its points. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrosshairCollie Posted October 17, 2010 Report Share Posted October 17, 2010 Re: Not sure how to apply the Power skill I often let people use their power skill to spend XP to buy new powers in mid-combat or mid-adventure when they need to on the spur of the moment. I apply a penalty to the roll equal to 1/10th of the cost of the power pre-framework. So, if a telekinetic character suddenly felt the urge to learn to make a Force Wall, he could try a Power check. If he was making a 60 AP power with -2 in limitations (which he can buy off later with XP, of course), he'd have a -2 to his power check. If he succeeds, he has a Force Wall. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Holck Posted October 17, 2010 Report Share Posted October 17, 2010 Re: Not sure how to apply the Power skill that could lead future powers development Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xavier Onassiss Posted October 17, 2010 Report Share Posted October 17, 2010 Re: Not sure how to apply the Power skill I often let people use their power skill to spend XP to buy new powers in mid-combat or mid-adventure when they need to on the spur of the moment. I apply a penalty to the roll equal to 1/10th of the cost of the power pre-framework. So, if a telekinetic character suddenly felt the urge to learn to make a Force Wall, he could try a Power check. If he was making a 60 AP power with -2 in limitations (which he can buy off later with XP, of course), he'd have a -2 to his power check. If he succeeds, he has a Force Wall. Awesome idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roy_The_Ruthles Posted October 18, 2010 Report Share Posted October 18, 2010 Re: Not sure how to apply the Power skill My group usually uses power skill to do any related *minor* effect (and if you keep using it, you should probably buy it as a power). This means if you want to melt a door with PS: Fire Magic, do that once, then buy tunneling (or an attack). Basically it's not as good as a VPP but used when you want to do a related effect you should be able to do, but didn't buy as a power because you weren't thinking about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prestidigitator Posted October 18, 2010 Report Share Posted October 18, 2010 Re: Not sure how to apply the Power skill I've made "Spellcraft" a Power Skill. Magic users use it to identify other spells, identify magical items, do magical research (sometimes combined with Inventor), and other useful things. It's definitely not just a Knowledge Skill, and I find it too broadly useful, too strong and too often immediately applicable to be a Science Skill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IndianaJoe3 Posted October 18, 2010 Report Share Posted October 18, 2010 Re: Not sure how to apply the Power skill I've made "Spellcraft" a Power Skill. Magic users use it to identify other spells' date=' identify magical items, do magical research (sometimes combined with Inventor), and other useful things. It's definitely not just a Knowledge Skill, and I find it too broadly useful, too strong and too often immediately applicable to be a Science Skill.[/quote'] I think Analyze might work better than Power for that. Fantasy Hero describes Analyze Magic as covering most of that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prestidigitator Posted October 19, 2010 Report Share Posted October 19, 2010 Re: Not sure how to apply the Power skill I think Analyze might work better than Power for that. Fantasy Hero describes Analyze Magic as covering most of that. Hmm. Good point. I guess I'm leaving a little open-ended the things I might allow characters to do with the skill, in case I come up with anything else interesting. I've currently got a Combat Memorization skill for switching the VPP in combat, but I may combine the two. If I do that, or find some other cool application for Spellcraft, I'd rather have it as a Power skill rather than an Analyze. Otherwise, I may go with Analyze as you say. I suppose the distinction is pretty academic anyway as the two types of skill have the same cost structure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmjalund Posted October 19, 2010 Report Share Posted October 19, 2010 Re: Not sure how to apply the Power skill use Analyse to attain info about others' spells, use Power skill to apply that information to your own spells Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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