The second day of the Tribunal Tournament dawns bright and clear, with the promise of victory, praise, and glory for one, and soul-crushing defeat for everyone else. For this is the day of the Dimicatio.
The heralds and judges gather at their stand before announcing that there are eighteen magi seeking to prove their skill before their peers. The four youngest magi will compete in preliminary matches. The two survivors will join the remaining fourteen in a single-elimination format. In the interest of "fairness," the matches will be drawn at random – no one will know who they face until their match is about to begin.
The referee and the heralds are seated in a box at the front of the grandstands - the referee so he can cast his spells to determine the winner (and any fouls that may have been committed), the heralds so they don't have to walk so far to cry the next bout.
Filtiarn and Marcus: please make a Choose Your Opponent roll (stress die), an Initiative roll (Quickness – Encumbrance + Stress Die) and a Fast Casting roll ( Quickness + Finesse + Stress Die). Once you know who your opponent is, then you can choose the spell that you're going to cast against them.
Finally, a fast cast[1], if necessary
Finesse+Quickness+Die roll of 1, exploder of 8=3+4+16=23
Awareness roll to come up with a fast cast defense: Aware 3 + spec 1 + Per 3 + die roll of 7=14, meaning Marcus can determine any magnitude spell coming at him, if no words and gestures were used to cast it.
Spell, and casting roll to be determined based on results of determining incoming spell, with the -10 casting total added to it..
Magic Addiction roll: Int (3) + Concentration (8) + Die roll of 8=19. (That's not going to happen when the BoAF comes out.)
Marcus gives a small shudder as the rush of casting a spell fails to take hold of him.
[1] Fast cast is a response to an action. Marcus acts at initiative point 12. If he goes first, PoF goes off first, and the defender has to respond with a fast cast spell. To successfully fast cast, Marcus opponent has to meet an East Factor equal to Marcus initiative. In this case, Marcus could respond to an action taken at initiative point 23. Does that make sense?
(Assuming that it's probably starting in the morning, -1 to all of Fieltarn's rolls...)
Spells cast in advance on himself :
Wizard's Sidestep ReIm
Trackless Step ReTe
=> Competitor selection of 10.
=> Initiative : 0 Quickness -1 nocturnal + roll of 7 = 6
=> Fast-Cast roll : 0 Qck -1noctural + 1Finesse (+1 casting speed spec.) +roll of 9 = 10
Edit : while the spell the Fieltarn's will cast is still to be determined, since I've got some ideas, I should mention that Fieltarn enters the arena with his long knife unsheathed, stifling a yawn with his other hand. He doesn't seem comfortable, nor happy, to be there "that early". As soon as the referee gives the signal, he walks straight to his opponent...
Marcus has drawn Aivas of Tytalus, a resident of Florum. He strides to his mark carrying an ornately-painted wooden staff, which causes some murmurs amongst the spectators.
His Initiative is Qui 3 + Fast Caster 3 + die roll of 6 = 12. uff. A tie. So, I guess the spells go off at the same time, unless we want to reroll.
When the judge rings the bell, Aivas will cast Piercing Shaft of Wood (MuHe), which he successfully casts, which causes his staff to transform into a nasty-looking harpoon and fly toward Marcus.
I'm assuming that Marcus is using normal Words and Gestures, since you didn't say otherwise, so Aivas can determine the Form automatically (p. 83, last paragraph, middle column).
He is going to try to Fast-Cast a Muto Ignem (Herbam) defence to turn the pilum of fire into a lance of flower petals. Mu 15 + Ig 16/He 20 + Sta 2 + die roll of 8 – Fast Cast Penalty 10 = 31, halved for being Spontaneious Spell = 16. Enough to protect Aivas, but not be totally awesome-looking.
Tie is fine. Normally, I'd suggest a reroll, but this just makes it interesting.
Marcus did use his normal gestures, although, Marcus has it mastered for obfuscated casting: "Magi cannot automatically identify the Form of the spell as the magus casts it. This makes it difficult for them to use fast-cast spells as a defense. They must always roll to determine the Form of the spell (see ArM5, page 83) and must add the caster’s Mastery score to the Ease Factor. (HoH:S)" I should've disclosed all the bonuses Marcus has in this format.
To be able to respond to an incoming spell, the opposing magus has to be able to meet an ease factor of getting the spell off in time, not just being able to cast the spell. The roll is Quickness+Finess+stress die. The ease factor determining success is the opponent's initiative total + modifiers. In this case, Marcus' initiative is 12, but he has PoF mastered for Quick casting x2, so adds 2 to the ease factor, meaning that Aivas has to roll a 14 on Quickness + Finesse + stress die to get his Muto Ignem effect off in time.
In response to the Piercing Shaft of Wood Marcus conjures a Wall of Living Wood, level 25, which he has mastered for fast casting to appear in front of him to intercept the spear.
CS of 28-10=18 for fast casting. First die roll is a 1, exploded die is 7, 14+CS(18)=32
The roll for getting the fast cast defense off in time is above:
With the footnote:
Magic addiction roll for Marcus: first die is 1, second die is 5, so 10 + 3 +8=21. (Definitely not going to see that for the BoAF when it comes out, because I've done it twice when not necessary. It is entirely possible that Marcus may not have had to cast the Wall of Living Wood, if his PoF was not intercepted because Aivas couldn't get his counter spell off in time.
Fieltarn has the misfortune of drawing Magmas ex Flambeau, from the Iberia Tribunal – one of the Dimicatio semi-finalists from the previous Tribunal Tournament.
As the contestants approach their marks, the referee leans over and murmurs to his herald. "Contestants, pray approach the bench," the herald cries.
As Fieltarn and Magmas reach the referee's box, the referee fixes what he believes to be Fieltarn with a stern expression.
"Magus Fieltarn...I understand that you are newly come to Normandy, and may be unfamiliar with the rules of Dimicatio. Each magus is to cast a spell that targets their opponent, and the opponent is to attempt to block said spell before it reaches their Parma. Dispel your magic so that we may continue with the bout, please."
(ooc, if I'm reading the description for Unraveling the Fabric of (Imaginem) (p. 161) correctly, all it would take to dispel Wizard's Sidestep would be basically not to botch a spontaneous PeVi spell, since Wizard's Sidestep is only a level 10 spell).
Great...Thinks Fieltarn as he hears the name (and rank) of his oponent. I've a feeling that I won't score that many points for my team.
"Err... My apologies, to you and to my opponent." Fieltarn politely bows his head to Magmas too, "I had heard otherwise(*), about the possibility of preparing... but anyway, you're right, this is indeed the first time I participate in such event, here or otherwise."
=> 3 Perdo + 4 Vim + die roll of 6 : 14/2 = 7 (+10, the spell is indeed dispersed.
=> second spell...second roll (of 7) ; dispersed too.
No botch, but Fieltarn has already lost two fatigue levels, hence another -1 to his upcoming rolls. "Really... I'm gone "shine" here." he thinks, bemused but the weariness that comes upon him.
Actually, it also looks like you have Quick Casting (2x), which adds 2 to your Initiative when casting Pilum of Fire...so your Initiative is 14 and not 12, so Marcus goes first.
Hunh. I thought I had rolled that. Whoops. Okay...Qui 3 + Finesse 3 + die roll of 7 = 13. Does Fast Caster factor into this or no (it's not technically "Initiative," so I'm thinking no, but I'm not 100% sure. If it does, than Aivas gets his spell off in time...if not, he doesn't, and the bout ends.
No, I wouldn't treat fast casting as adding anything to this. However, in the future, quick casting does factor into the die roll for meeting the ease factor. Say Marcus is dealing with an Aquam specialist and fast casts a PoF to disperse his opponents incoming spell, His fast cast success is determined by +2 (quick casting) +Finesse +Quickness + Die roll vs opponents initiative. Does that make sense?
When I said that, I wasn't thinking of something like Wizard's Sidestep, more like Sight of the Active Magics, along with Maintain the Demanding Spell to maintain it for the duration. I should've been more clear. I'm letting Peregrine run it. Given the change in who is running it, since this was before I brought Marcus, I'd suggest allowing the fatigue to be recovered before continuing...
I was going by the description of Dimicatio in Sociatates and The Lion and the Lily, which says you cast spells at your opponent...and imo Wizard's Sidestep defeats the purpose.
Oh, and the only spell you needed to dispel was Wizard's Sidestep...Trackless Step is fine, since it doesn't interfere with targeting.
You will be given time to recover the fatigue you lost, which is only like two minutes.
So, on to the bout.
Magmas's Initiative is Qui 2 + Fast-Casting 3 + die roll of 8 = 13.
Magmas will cast his MuAn(Ig) spell that would turn your clothes to fire, which is a Level 25. He doesn't botch when he casts the spell (I'm not going to bother following up the 1, it doesn't matter).
Filtiarn's Fast Casting Speed roll doesn't beat Magmas's Initiative total, unfortunately (10 vs. 13), so he doesn't get his defence in time.
Marcus acknowledges Aivas as they depart the field. He's barely familiar with Avias, even though he is living as a cenobite near Ghent, but they've had very little interaction, unless they are part of a cabbal, and of course, members are disguised when at a meeting.
Marcus rolls for the next round of the Dimicatio invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3278559/
Competitor:3
Initiative: 2 (die) +3 (fast caster) +4 (qik) +2 (mastery) for BoAF=11...uh oh.
Attack/spell success roll: 1, exploder of whatever, it doesn't matter, because the spell gets cast. This was completely useless, grumble, for Ball of Abysmal Flame, obfuscated, quick casting x2
Fast Cast response check: 6 (die) + 4 (qik) + 3 (fin) +more depending on circumstances, but at least 13.
Awareness check, if needed:5 (die) +3 (aware) +1 spec+3 (per) =12, sufficient for determining spells of 15th level and up.
Magic Addiction check: 6 (die) +8 (Conc) +1 (spec) + 3 (Int)=18, sufficient to control the addiction for BoAF 35/2=18.
Marcus draws Perkons ex Flambeau, a visitor from the Novgorod Tribunal.
His Initiative is Quickness 3 + Mastery 2 (quick casting) + die roll of 4 = 9. Marcus's spell goes off first.
His attempt to get his fast-cast defence up in time: Quickness 3 + Finesse 6 + die roll of 1 followed by a die roll of 3 is 6 = 15, so he gets his defence up.
His roll to determine the Form: Per 3 + Awareness 5 + die roll of 0 (not a botch, though) = 8, vs. an Ease Factor of 15 – Magnitude 4 + Mastery 2 = 13. He has no clue as to what form to use. He doesn't know Marcus well enough to know what you're throwing at him, so he's going to try to throw up a fast-cast Circling Winds of Protection: Cr/Re 20 + Au 25 + Sta 2 + die roll of 9 – Fast Cast Penalty 10 = 46. So the spell goes off, but it's not very effective.
The Pilum of Fire gets through and dings Perkons's parma. Marcus wins.
(I know...a lot of wasted effort once I saw he didn't catch the Form, but I wanted to go through the motions to be sure I had a handle on it).
Luckily, Korvin draws the winner of one of the "preliminary" matches in his first match: Autolycus ex Tytalus. Luckily, Autolycus is newly-gauntleted (at least, since the last Tribunal). Not so luckily, he's from Fudarus.
He is going to try casting Lift the Dangling Puppet. He rolls a 3, so it goes off.
Your Fast Casting Speed beats his Initiative, and since he has no Mastery to prevent you from determining his Form, Korvin needs to Fast-Cast his defence spell to try to block the Corpus spell.
Well, he was far off, but for different reasons. I threw a Ball of Abysmal Flame, so it would be 15-7+5=13. Marcus has 5 levels of mastery, overall in PoF and BoAF.
Marcus will make every effort to minimize his interaction with Perkons, as he has several enemies, that he is not quite prepared to meet, yet. Those enemies are from the time he spent in the Novgorod Tribunal, after leaving the Levant. Of course, he just out did a Flambeau at fire, which will probably interest Perkons.
Korvin will go through the motions ( he really stinks at this event).
Circling Winds of protection casting total 17+ aura - 10 for fast cast 1d10+7=10 casting total 17 - 10 for fast cast
(He needs a casting total of 20 to cast the spell so it fails.)
This event is oriented towards combat magi, those specializing in magical attacks, unlike the Joust which is for magi specializing in mundane attacks, with spells that augment one's combat capabilities.
I had never designed a combat magus before, at least one that focused on spells as weapons. It'll be nice for Mons Electi to have some heavy weapons capability.
Well, 
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