Well, Magmas is cagey... And since he can't tell what was coming, he decides to use Wizard Leap to get away from his previous spot, at which point most of the crowd boos. However, when they don't see a "spell" coming from Roberto, the boos die down. ((The crowd wants a show, too.))
What about Magmas's spell?
Hold up. I think Magma fell far short of a fast cast speed roll. You said she rolled 2, plus Quick 2 and +3 for Fast Caster totals only 7. She will need a Finesse of 6 to successfully time a Fast Cast defense.
Hidden post above...
No, I didn't. Die +2, Quick +2, Finesse 6, confidence +3...
Hold up. I think Magma fell far short of a fast cast speed roll. You said she rolled 2, plus Quick 2 and +3 for Fast Caster totals only 7. She will need a Finesse of 6 to successfully time a Fast Cast defense.
Forum is officially fracked. That post didn't originally show up, I quoted it to make it show up and then my post didn't show up. Let's see if this one shows up... And it's a he.
And I'm not using Fast Caster Virtue in the determination of whether they can fast cast defend. Rereading the dimicatio, I didn't use it for Marcus...
Isen will cast Freeze the Flow of Life (ReAqCo 25), without words or gestures (he'll just use a shout or else to carry the spell into range, he just doesn't advertise his casting) succeeding (with a 1d10=7 + 44 +5 - 5 no gestures, -10 no words = 41 vs lvl 25).
Due to his opponent slow speed, Isen won't use his finesse to fast cast, so as to appear slower than he really is, in order to fool valerian and friends. Isen FC: 1d10=3 + Qik 2 = 05.
Per + Awareness: 1d10=6 + Per 1 + Aw(determining effect) 4 = 11. Not enough. So he'll just cast a random Unravelling lvl 10 spell, disregarding Animal and Imaginem: Pe 06 + Vi 04 + Sta 02 + Aura 5 + 1d10=1, 1d10=2 (again????) = 21/2 = 10, enough to dispell a lvl 20 spell.
And he casts a... 1d8=8 Vim unraveling, wrong form.
This is perfect for him, if he wins or is defeated, it is fine
Well, Isen successfully sandbags the event. 
Of course, this can be put to great use later, if there's ever an all out attack involving all the magi of Mons Electi, chances are they will focus on Marcus, first, letting Isen escape and fall under the radar. ((Note, this can dovetail nicely with the fact that Roberto has a higher Flambeau Acclaim/Reputation than Isen and Alexei do. It could serve to reinforce certain beliefs that are probably a huge mistake. Finally, it could be representative of Isen's issue with his pater...))
Still waiting for Roberto...
OOC post, spell mechanics discussion here. Not to be a wet blanket, but:
RAW says (ArM5, page 83, left column and sidebar) that a Range: Voice spell cast without words can only affect the caster. I'm not 100% sure what Roberto's Incantation of Paralyzation spell is, but I'm guessing it's Base 5, +1 Conc, +2 Voice to make it level 20. So I don't think that spell should have worked.
It's slightly more complicated about Isen's spell: he wanted to "cast without words" (taking the appropriate penalty) but still shout nonsense so that the Voice Range would be far enough to affect his target. To me this is less clear. But we should figure it out (remembering the Golden Rule of Gaming: what we do unto others can be done unto ourselves 
). Is this the way Hermetic magic works? One could argue that this being possible essentially makes Obfuscated Casting rubbish....
(And if it did work, would it require a Concentration roll to both mind-speak the spell and shout something else?)
A disembodied voice echoes...
Muhahahaha.
((I would be tempted to say that you would have to make a Concentration check against an Ease Factor at least as high as conversating, which is a 15.))
((And, as to the other, I'm thinking that if you're casting a spell but your voice is translocated, then you'd be casting with the No Voice penalties, with the corresponding Voice Range of Personal only.))
I have tried to post to this thread several times today. 404 errors were rampant this afternoon and I got frustrated. I even rolled dice twelve hours ago!
And yes, I totally screwed up on the Voice range. Slipped my mind. Total brain fart. Won't let it happen again.
Anyways, Roberto has no idea what sort of spell he is trying to counter, so I am gonna try Thwarting the Thaumaturgical Threat.
I rolled hoiurs ago and rolled really good. I was freaking ssiped that I couldn't post earlier.
Magma's Initiative was 11.
Roberto's Fast Cast speed is 12 ( die roll of 9, plus Quick +1 and Finesse 2)
So that succeeds.
For casting the spell, I succeed without even rolling a die (PeVi15; Sta +1, Pe 5, Vi 3, Aura 5, Mastery 2 (Fast Cast & Stalwart). So that's 16, minus 10 for Fast Casting equals 6, and with Stalwart he doesn't loose any fatigue from the low casting total.
And he can't botch.
So the next step is the countering strength, a SD + level + 10, which must double the level of the opposing spell.
And I had rolled a 20
1, then another 1, then a 5.
So that's 45, countering any spell if it is level 20 or lower.
((Alright, now that the Voice issue is settled, I'm not using it as has been used and we will Retcon any previous actions. I was thinking this was the noncontroversial plan of yours, Marko. So, I simply followed suit.))
To determine the spell level of Magmas spell, you need Perception +Awareness check vs a 10, to,determine the form of the effect. This spell is obfuscated, not cast silently or without gestures. Roberto can choose a different, more appropriate counter spell.
Magmas and Carmine are siblings...
Oh, and that's a big hint, that this spell coming at Roberto is more than 20th level...
He didn't want to do a strong impression anyway, hoping to use the event to give Valerian and co the impression that he was ineffectual. This comes a little sooner than expected, but it is fine for him anyway.
Curious, anyway, since this may prove useful later: since (If I understand correctly) Isen got the init, how did his opponent escape his spell? Did he guess what it was?
The Mute flaw says, IIRC, that, although you have to take the full penalty for no words, you can still make sounds, which allow you to use voice range. So, IMO, a magus can just shout "AH!" to carry his spells. I may be wrong, but, still IIRC, there is no mention of them having to make any kind of concentration check to make that sound while casting.
Obsfucated casting is still quite usefull, since it means the opponent you don't have to take the -10 penalty to casting silently, which severely impedes Penetration.
Was it settled? I think the shout option works fine, no need to retcon or anything. I think my post commenting on it got swallowed.
Very well, if you guys want that option, I'm fine with it, just means I can do it with NPC, too. I personally think you have to have some presence of mind, i.e. concentration, to be able to shout something after you've done the mental gymnastics necessary to launch a spell quietly, but I have no truck treating silent casting as a poor mans obfuscation.
Still waiting for Roberto's response to the spell coming at him in excess of 20th level...
I already responded [url]https://forum.atlas-games.com/t/1227-2t-the-dimicatio/7423/1].
If the spell is level 22.5 or lower, it is canceled. If higher, then I am screwed.
I was giving you the opportunity to decide to do something else, because the spell is 25th level.
Then I spend two points of Confidence on the countering roll. So 51 divided in half is 25.5 :mrgreen:
Very well. On to round two where the prize values escalate!
Roberto used Pilium of Fire, again without words or gestures.
Initiative roll is 1d10=7
plus Quick +1 and Quick Casting +2, for a total of 10
If the opponent scores IN that high, I will spend confidence.
Casting Total before rolling is 33, minus 15 equals 18, so I roll a die...
1d10=9
I have spent waaaay too much confidence on this contest...