Quote:
Originally Posted by Atgxtg
It wasn't a tactical problem, just a bookkeeping one. It worked like this. Let's say the PCs were setting up to attack a foe. The foe has guards, but isn't aware of the PCs.
-First the PCs maneuver/sneak in close enough so that their spells won't wear off before they reach the foe.
-Then they spend 2 or 3 rounds getting their magic up. GM has to note exactly which spells are cast on which round/SR to know when stuff is going to wear off.
-Now a minute or so gets used up as PCs try to coordinate for a simultaneous attack.
-The fighting breaks out. The PCs usually cut through the guard pretty quick. About 2/3rd go down in one round, with a couple of guys holding on for a round or two due to failed rolls, bad luck, etc.
-The the real fight breaks out. The rest of the NPCs are usually alerted by the fighting and stat doing their spells and other preparations ad hoc. More bookkeeping. People start popping in at odd turns and SR, and there is some maneuvering for position, delays and such.
-All this requires keeping track of spell durations, and MP expenditures. Since virtually everyone had some battle magic in RQ, it usually meant more bookkeeping than ticking off fatigue points.
-Toss in allied spirits, POW crystals and Divine Magic spells and Fatiue points were usually the last thing I was worried about. I was more cornered about when the Bladesharp, Countermagic, and Protection spells were due to wear off.
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Wow! I've never bothered with tracking everything like that. PCs track their own MP. NPCs have whatever MP they need to power whatever they should logical have. Magic wears off when it makes sense to wear off. I'm certianly not clicking off melee rounds to 5/10/15 minute points. For one thing, it's magic, so I assume that it's not mechanistic at all. That 5 minutes is an approximation IMO, so magic goes down whenever it seems reasonable that it's gone down.
Now, that doesn't mean that my players haven't used the short duration of magic in RQ tactically. Over the years, different groups at various times have suckered their foes into throwing up magic, only to run away or stay at missile range until the foe's magic has gone down. Then the PC's turn, power up and fight. Orlanthi equipped with Mobility can really be nasty with this type of tactic.