Spellcasting tactics

[Kloster]

Originally Posted by Rurik

That was considered pretty standard operating procedure for both PC's and NPC's in most RQ games I've played in. Knock that spellcaster off his spell only makes sense.

A favorite tactic of mine is to buff up with defensive magic and then stand there pretending to cast spells just to draw missle fire away from the guys doing the real work.

Fun idea. Nobody ever tried that here.

Runequestement votre,

Kloster

[Kloster]

Originally Posted by Enpeze

Thats the reason why I dont like the magic system of RQ anymore. It feels too technical and thus can be easily exploited by rule mongers. Nowadays I prefer much more the magic systems of SB1 or SB5.

I don't think it is rulemongering, not too technical. If it is coherent with the background to have characters proficient with magic (and in Glorantha, they are supposed to be), I find logical to use it everytime it is convenient.


Runequestement votre,

Kloster

[Kloster]

Originally Posted by Atgxtg

Well, SB5 has essentially the same stuff as battle magic. As long as countermagic exists it can be used offensively.

Personally, I liked the ability to use spells tactically, and creatively. I don't have a problem with sniping the mage while he is casting too.

To quote a favorite Shadowrun quote: "Geek the mage".
And I agree with the comments. I think every tactical opportunity is a benediction because it furthers the removal of the basic attack/parry/attack/parry routine and adds flavor to the game.

Runequestement votre,

Kloster

[Kloster]

Originally Posted by RMS

I'm in the middle here. I don't mind tactical options at all, so long as they're tactical options that make sense in the world for the characters to be aware of and take advantage of. For example, the idea of getting off a quick Disrupt to mess up someone else's magic makes perfect sense to me. That's a valid tactical choice: toss at the spell caster who is most likely to resist it and ignore it completely, with a payoff of fouling his spell; or, toss at the big baddie charging you who is more likely not to resist it and is quickly closing to melee range. I probably would have issues with a Storm Bull using a sacred spell, like Fanaticism/Beserk, on a chaos creature. At the very least, that decision would lead to some interesting religious consequences for the character, including some sort of heavy duty penance.
...

I completely agree here (on both points).

Runequestement votre,

Kloster

[Kloster]

Originally Posted by Atgxtg

One nasty tactic liked to use was having one of the supporting characters sit back with a bow and purposely go for foes who are trying to cast. Since the first shot goes off a DEX SR it would beast just about any spell, and certainly anything with any real POW in it.

Yes, true. This is a nice and viable tactic, if the attack is able to distract (=does damage).

Runequestement votre,

Kloster

[Nightshade]

Originally Posted by Kloster

Even a single melee attack is sufficient to disrupt the spell, and the result is that you're not healed. I'm not saying that it should not be tempted, nor that it never works. I'm just saying that it is easy (very easy in fact) to disrupt and that you can't count on being healed.

But almost no melee attack will get off before a small healing spell does in many cases. You have to prep the spell, of course, but its easy to do that at the end of the round after you've taken damage but before your opponent can start his next hit (because of the rules limiting attacks). At that point, a healing 2 (usually enough to get something working again unless you took a fairly massive hit past armor) takes Dex SR +1 to get off; given the melee attack will be Dex SR + SIZ SR + Weapon SR, almost no melee attack will land before its done.

[Nightshade]

Originally Posted by Atgxtg

One nasty tactic liked to use was having one of the supporting characters sit back with a bow and purposely go for foes who are trying to cast. Since the first shot goes off a DEX SR it would beast just about any spell, and certainly anything with any real POW in it.

Sure, that works, but it has two problems:

1. If the target is in melee with one of your own side, which is often the case with the healing spell, you either have a relatively low chance to hit, fire late, or have a good chance of hitting the wrong person;

2. It requires you to either outnumber the opponents or have good control of the battlefield, since archers are, themselves, good targets because they don't have a shield prepped and don't even really have a decent parrying weapon. They can still dodge, but RQ3 Dodge tended to be a specialists art because of how quickly any encumberance at all chewed it up.

So, yes, it did happen, but not enough to really impact the field utility of things like Heal 2.

[Nightshade]

Originally Posted by Atgxtg

That's one of the unspoken perks of Disurpt, too. You can usually get one off faster than someone can cast a powerful spell, and make them wast MP's too. Some of my RQers could really screw up GMs in d20 games with RQ tactics. I shut down the big bad NPC wizard, with a 2nd level elf wizard armed with bow and magic missile (the ultimate disrupt). It isn't what magic you know, but what magic you can manage to cast under combat conditions!

Sure. Its actually more workable than the archery method since it doesn't necessarily require someone to be out of melee, either. But the question was, was spending an action and a magic point, on an effect that _might_ work, worth it just to do two damage points and _possibly_ stop someone casting a Heal 2? With bigger spells it could be more attractive, since someone casting a long time was bound to be doing something you didn't want, but then, those people were more likely to have a high Power, Countermagic, or both, too.

[Kloster]

Originally Posted by Nightshade

But almost no melee attack will get off before a small healing spell does in many cases. You have to prep the spell, of course, but its easy to do that at the end of the round after you've taken damage but before your opponent can start his next hit (because of the rules limiting attacks). At that point, a healing 2 (usually enough to get something working again unless you took a fairly massive hit past armor) takes Dex SR +1 to get off; given the melee attack will be Dex SR + SIZ SR + Weapon SR, almost no melee attack will land before its done.

Easy to do (or not too difficult with a higher DEX), quite impossible in the other case.

Runequestement votre,

Kloster

[Kloster]

Originally Posted by Nightshade

Sure, that works, but it has two problems:

1. If the target is in melee with one of your own side, which is often the case with the healing spell, you either have a relatively low chance to hit, fire late, or have a good chance of hitting the wrong person;

2. It requires you to either outnumber the opponents or have good control of the battlefield, since archers are, themselves, good targets because they don't have a shield prepped and don't even really have a decent parrying weapon. They can still dodge, but RQ3 Dodge tended to be a specialists art because of how quickly any encumberance at all chewed it up.

So, yes, it did happen, but not enough to really impact the field utility of things like Heal 2.

On this one, I side with you.

Runequestement votre,

Kloster