1221.t The Dimicatio

(fwiw, unless I'm missing something, your Casting Score should be 18, not 17: Cr/Re 12 for the requisite + Au 5 + Sta 1...doesn't really matter here, but it might make a difference down the road).

After a moment or two, the referee says something to the herald who cries "Victory to Autolycus ex Tytalus, representing the Covenant Fudarus." There is a disappointed grumbling from the stands.

Autolycus approaches Korvin. "Nice try. Never would have occurred to me to use Circling Winds of Protection to counter Lift the Dangling Puppet," he says with a smirk. "Perhaps you'll do better in your other events." He then turns and leaves the arena.

I thought I would be fine until I remembered that Mercurian Magic thingy which makes me next to useless in this event. I volunteered just so we would have come representative in this event.

Marcus rolls for next round of the Dimicatio...

Competitor:5
Initiative: 9 (die) +3 (fast caster) +4 (qik) +2 (from mastery) for PoF=18
Attack success roll: 5. with a forceless casting of Pilum of Fire
Fast cast response: 0 (die, but no botch),+4 (qik) +3 (fin) +more depending on circumstances, but at least 7.
Awareness check, if necessary 6 (die) +3 (aware) +1 (spec) +3 (per)=13, sufficient for 10th level and higher.
Magic Addiction check: 1, another 1, which means it is 4x2=8 [8+8 (Conc) +1 (spec) +3 (Int)=20] at a minimum, so I'm not going to roll again.

I'm sure all the Redcaps loved your valiant effort...

Mercurian Magic isn't a hindrance if you know spells that can effectively counter the opponent's spells. Granted, that would still leave you open a good part of the time. But, just looking at your character, you have:

  • Charge of the Angry Winds
  • Circling Winds of Protection
  • Crest of the Earth Wave
  • Jupiter's Resounding Blow
  • Pilum of Fire
  • Seven League Stride

Granted, most of those are only effective in limited situations, but the last one probably would have been my choice...pretty hard for him to hit you if you're suddenly behind him. And, holy cow, I just had a vision of a combat magus fast-casting Seven League Stride (or, looking at the ReCo guidelines, anything from Five Pace Stride, which is apparently a Level 10, on up) and just going Nightcrawler all over somebody.

And, they need to be mastered for fast casting. Can't use formulaics as a response unless they've been mastered for fast casting. In Korvin's case, he has to use spontaneous spells, which means 15 minutes per magnitude to respond. Not exactly fast. I hadn't put everything together in my head until just this moment... Yeah, Korvin was a poor choice for this event.

Wizard's Leap is even easier. Alexei used it in his fight against Mufarrj. It's detailed in his prelude. A simple teleport spell that moves you within sight, so low level and easy to master for Fast Casting.

Marcus's opponent in the semi-final match is Vesuvia ex Flambeau, a maga representing the covenant Cunfin.

Her Initiative is Qui 3 + Fast Caster 3 + Mastery 2 + die roll of 6 = 14.
Her roll to determine the incoming Form is Per 3 + Awareness 4 + die roll of 5 = 12 vs. 15 โ€“ Magnitude 4 + Mastery 5 = 16.

She is a Flambeau, however, with Puissant Ignem, so her kneejerk reaction is going to be "Oh, crap, fire!" (especially since she's casting an Ignem herself), so she's going to go with Conjuration of the Indubitable Cold (PeIg 25), which is handy for putting out fires that you started with your BoAF.

Her Fast Casting Speed is Qui 3 + Finesse 4 + die roll of 6 = 13, vs. Marcus's Initiative of 18...not good enough.

Marcus's Pilum of Fire splats squarely against her chest, and Marcus advances to the Finals.

Since the range of Dancing puppet is touch I thought we started at touch distance. And the only thing I have at fast cast is Jupiter's Blow. i will correct that when i have time.

And for the finals... the rolls.

Competitor selector:6
Initiative: 3 (die) +3 (fast caster) +4 (qik) +2 (mastery) for BoAF=12
Attack success roll: 3, for forcelessly casting Ball of Abysmal Fire (Go big or go home)
Fast cast response: 5 (die) + 4 (qik) +3 (finesse) + more depending on circumstances=12+
Awareness check: 7 (die) +3 (aware) +1 (spec) +3 (per) =14, sufficienty for 1st magnitude (any?) and higher.
Magic Addiction check: 7 (die) +8 (conc) +1 (spec) +3 (int) =19 vs 18 difficulty.

Um...Lifting the Dangling Puppet is Voice range.

Marcus's finale opponent is Facula ex Flambeau, a maga of the Alpine Tribunal.

Initiative is Qui 3 + Fast Caster 3 + Mastery 2 + die roll of 5 = 13.

Spell-casting roll to see if she gets the spell off: die roll of 2

Okay, this is the part where I'd need to know what "more depending on circumstances" means, because obviously it's kind of important. Right now, her Initiative beats Marcus's (but not by much), and his Fast-cast Response is also just a shade lacking atm...so it looks like her slightly outsized BoAF (about chest-sized, which is the Individual size for Ignem) is going to get through.

Ok, I had expected this to come earlier actually.

I'm going to choose to expend two confidence points (only one may be necessary) on my initiative roll, and make her work for a fast cast defense, first.

Barring that, I'm going to attempt to deflect it with a spontaneous ReIg spell. Since this is an Ignem spell, and I have a specialty in Finesse(Ignem) , my fast cast is 13, equal to her initiative.

CS= 15 (Re) + 24 (Ig) +2 (Sta) + 5 (Aura) + Die roll of 0, but no botch on that roll or the additional botch dice=46. 46-10=36/2=18. 18 is sufficient to deflect the BoAF, I'll deflect it into the sky to avoid spectators. Finesse roll of 4 +Finesse 3 + spec 1 + Dex -3=5. If necessary, I'll spend a confidence point to avoid hitting spectators.

Magic Addiction check: a roll of 9 against a 9 (18/2) succeeds without additions for Int or Concentration.

Okay, you spend one Confidence Point on Marcus's Initiative, bumping it up from a 12 to a 15.

Her roll to determine Marcus's form is Per 3 + Awareness 4 + die roll of 0...with a botch check die roll of 0 again. Um...alrighty, then. Obviously, Marcus is going to go with something different, after throwing Ignem the first three rounds, and is going to mix things up. Yeah, he's totally going to throw a CrAq at her.

Fast-Casting speed is Qui 3 + Finesse 4 + die roll of 8 = 15, vs. Marcus's new Initiative of 15, which is a success. She's going to try to Spontaneously cast a ReAq spell to turn the "incoming torrent of water" into steam. Re 16 + Aq 12 + Sta 2 + Aura 3 + die roll of 9 โ€“ Fast Cast Penalty 10 = 32 รท 2 = 16, vs. a target level of 5. Would have worked, except for that whole it's not water thing.

So, looks like Marcus wins, and is the 1221 Normandy Dimicatio Champion, complete with loving cup and spinner belt.

Marcus bows to his competitor.

He realizes that he was extremely lucky to get through this far, despite his natural talents. Next Tribunal, he had better bring some different spells and talents to the competition, should he decide to compete. To himself he thinks, although, I have outdone the Flambeau at one of their favorite competitions. I should, perhaps, consider a different more worthy challenge.

Thanks to Peregrine for running this for me. I had designed Marcus to out Flambeau a Flambeau at one of their favorite competitions. As far as he is concerned, he's bested the Flambeau, and it is time to consider moving onto a different House.

For doing this I offer Peregrine a one time botch avoidance coupon. At any one point in the future, he may adjust any botch he rolls for any character to be a 6 on the roll. It doesn't matter if it was a single, triple or more botch. He can choose to take the botch for that character or change the result to what it would be if the die had been rolled a 6. He may also use confidence to increase the roll, as normal if it would turn a failure into a success.