Spamalot

[Aversill]

Aside from charges, let me get that out of the way, how do you keep players from spamming non-combat powers.  First, I have this question generally.  Simply, what do you do in your games, aside from charges, to keep players from utilizing non-combat powers non-stop.

 

 Second, I use power pools to handle magic which makes my spam problem even worse.  Some powers, like healing, take care of themselves, but in order for my magic system to worse, I have to pretty much let things into power pools.  This isn't a problem in combat (all spells cost End to keep up and carry , but in non-combat, it's a bit more complicated.  One of my players cast a "Find the Path" spell with 45 active and...well...non-targeting, non-sense detect with 45 active points.  But Endurance costs and side effects really aren't going to stop that character from casting that spell all the time, and I don't want to do the whole 1x/day thing from D and D.

 

Any thoughts?

[Christougher]

Two sides to that issue.  First, why is them repeatedly using the spell a problem?  Second, what can be done about it?

 

You can enforce lower dice of effect or skill rolls, or disallow adders or advantages to rein in the power of the spell to make it a better fit - or disallow it entirely.  The results or effects of the spell can be adjudicated - perhaps the simplest path is also the most dangerous one, or smart enemies know how to counter or dispel it.

 

If the spell is okay in small doses, you already know the Charges limitation.  You could also consider Long Term Endurance costs and Side Effects.  I think I have somewhere an Ablative-style limitation with decreasing Activation rolls on successive castings, or an Extra Time-based cooldown limitation to prevent rapid casting.

 

Chris.

[Cancer]

Don't let effects of multiple castings of the same power stack on each other (if you haven't stomped on that already).

 

Encourage or require the Lockout limitation on spells, and require an extra action and/or skill roll to get out of an ongoing effect before its natural expiration, and let the PCs be surprised with e.g. their trail-sensing scrying on, locking out the more combat-appropriate effects?

 

Hostile creatures that smell magic working but not latent, not currently active magic ... and those critters come to feed on those magic-users ....

[Markdoc]

The way I did it was simply to require all spells to consume a resource that doesn’t renew as fast as END. You can call it power, or mana, or thingamabob and design it how you like. I used Long Term Endurance (LTE) which is how Hero system models fatigue. Basically, I just said “Spellcasting is very stressful: if you cast a lot of spells in a short time, you get exhausted”. The in-game mechanic was that spells used LTE instead of regular ol’ END (and all spells required at least END to cast). Since LTE recovers on a timeframe of hours, not seconds, casters need to conserve their resources, to some extent. They can nova and let loose with a ton of magic in one fight … but they risk then being “out of gas” for a day or more. In addition, if they run their END down to nothing, they may end up so exhausted that they cannot easily perform mundane actions like running or climbing.

 

cheers, Mark

[bubba smith]

spamming non-combat"?

[Aversill]

Yeah, spamming non-combat.  So, the characters recently faced a flock of stirges.  The wizard who has a power pool that is difficult to change figures out, rightfully, that it is only difficult to change when you're going phase-by-phase.  Making the 8 or less Power Roll to change a slot out of combat means that it really only takes 12 seconds to pull up a new power.  He creates an image of a giant bleeding dinosaur (smell and sight)...  Stirges taken care of.  It costs Endurance, so long term End is a problem, but I've read that thing (the section on LTE) a bunch and it doesn't make that much sense.  The power cost 4 End.  He has a 10 Recovery.  So, yeah, I think it takes up some LTE.  This isn't a huge problem in my game, generally, but it does come to the point where a power pool wizard has a pretty good skeleton key going that I'd like to apply restrictions to.

 

I've read some of the official FH stuff and I realize that this doesn't come up if you restrict spells in the way they suggest...but I'm not doing that.  So, the question I'm asking is probably kind of complicated.  Basically, the magic system in my game has power pools.  So, the question becomes, 'how do you keep a character with a power pool from doing whatever they want outside of combat?"  What systems do you put in place to restrict non-combat power usage since End really only restricts in combat usage and LTE isn't much of a restriction if a character's Recovery is high enough?

[Markdoc]

Note: the system I suggested doesn't just use the LTE rules  (which would take a long time to be noticeable, if ever). It uses LTE instead of END. So to cast a spell with 50 active points - which would normally cost 5 END - would cost 5 LTE. Since a character Recovers his REC in LTE for every full five hours of rest, it’s likely going to take him an hour or two to get all of his LTE back.

 

I give spells a -1/2 limitation to reflect this.

 

Cheers, Mark

[Aversill]

Mark,

 

Talked it over with my players and we decided that's the way I think we're going to go.  Thanks for the suggestion.  I'm fairly sure it's going to solve a significant problem I'm having in my game.

[Markdoc]

As a side note, I find it's easier to sell things to players if you have an in-game rationale as well as a solid mechanic. So I emphasise to the players the 'physical' aspect of spellcasting, for example the deep exhaustion that comes from casting, and the fact that a mage is actually fatigued after a good bout of spellery. In more than one instance I have had fleeing PCs having to run away carrying their mage because the mage was too exhausted to run

 

A couple of minor mechanical points.

1. I don't want to completely forbid spells with longer duration, so I allow reduced END on spells - even zero END. But all spells must have at least "costs END to cast - 1/4"

2. This rule applies to humans/humanoids, not to innately magical beings: a ghost does not pay LTE to be desolid, for example

 

Cheers, Mark