Diego was trying to go as fast as possible, but I am not sure when he comes in. I assumed he arrived too late to act in the same round where the fast-casting was going no.
If so, then he's going to take a shot at a multi-cast Pilum of Flame (mastery 3), otherwise he's doing that next round at the enemy magus.
I need to reread and think and sort this out. Timing is all sketchy and tht is partly my fault. Diego might fry him before his wounding spell goes off. Or Roberto might. He might try to counter it with Thwarting the Thaumaturical Threat. Maybe. I need to think and choose wisely.
As for Fortune, it does not give any character an advantage. It gives players the advantage. You cm spemd Fortune on ny character you are playing, or on another character. Or an NPC you control. The Fortune belongs to Trogdor, not Lucas.
Lancea Magica is mainly a Flambeau thing. Or Quasitor Hoplites. Or scoundrals. Most magi are not trained to go up against other magi in combat, nor do most ever intend to. It is a simple by-the-book spell. Yet in all these years and all these PbP games on Atlas, I have only ever seen it used twice. Both times just now.
There is another variant out there. A Mentem spell that simply forces a magus to drop Parma. No secondary roll, no sliding scale. One simple level that is equally effective against all Parma levels if it Penetrates. ReMe25, somewhere is Magi of Hermes I think.
So it is a specific style and taste. Roberto has it because A) I (Markoko) invented it many years ago, and B) Roberto is a hard core combat magus and seeks to become the Batman of the Order of Hermes. On a side note, Fixer an I long ago determined that Wirth is totally Batman and Roberto is more like the Green Arrow. But Roberto looks up to Wirth and wants to be as cool as he is. So there is a lot of in-game reasoning behind Roberto's style and tactical strategy. It isn't munchkinism. Indeed, he is counter optimized. He is a master of Ignem but hs not specialized in it. He is specialized for spell casting. That was by design. But the vast diversity of low level spells (15 or less) goes back to that Batman philosophy. Victory is in the preparation.
But he always seems to be a step behind. In his free time, the brand new spells he invents from scratch are usually things he wished he had on his previous adventure. He learns from mistakes.
Diego is flying high above Paris right now with Alonzo. He can act on the same round that all this fast casting is happening.
He's just barely within voice range. But if he casts Pilum of Fire, it will be Very. Very. Visible. Even though he's invisible. there will be bolts of fire appearing in the sky. It will be like a beacon drawing the attention of everyone in the area to where the fight is going on. I'm not saying that he can't cast. I just want you to know the consequences if he does.
I think I figured it out. The order is Number versus Reaction. Sort of. Allow me to explain carefully and spot where I make any error.
The Bad Guy had whatever action in mind, which may or may not still have relevance. That was set to go off at 7. Roberto popped in at 10.
Roberto reacts to squeeze off LM before the BG takes his Normal Action (be it he was preparing another leap, scratch his ass, or whatever he was about to do.
The Ease Factor was 7 (BG's Init), and Roberto totaled 7. So success.
The BG reacts to Roberto's sudden arrival at 10. But Roberto is already there, so he cannot beat that and still target him. I hear Mister Link laughing :mrgreen:
So I guess he is reacting to Roberto's spell. FCS is not an Initiative Total, but makes a good benchmark. So the EF is 7, and he totaled 18, so success.
Those FC totals do not change the pecking order. They only mean that Roberto cast LM before BG could finish whatever he was about to do. But the BG was quick on the draw and cast LM first.
So both Parma's went down, as we determined.
But now the BG still has his standard action at 7. Roberto still wants to interrupt that, so another FC is forthcoming. BG sees that and reacts with his multicast bonebreaker. Good use of a good spell. Roberto will copy that if he survives.
Roberto's next speed total is 1d10=6
with Quik +1, Finesse 3 (speed), Penalty -6, and two points of Confidence
Total =11
I needed to spend at least one. I upped it to two knowing I would retroactively do so anyway.
So 11 beats the EF of 6. The BG's EF, to get his spells off first, is now 11. And he only got to 10. That spell will still go off (if he lives), but he can cast no further spells this combat round (ArM5, p. 83), even for his normal action yet to come at the very end.
No, wait. Roberto used Life Boost in that last spell. So he is at Weary -1. So he succeeds at 10.
So yes, now I will spend Fortune to keep him 1 point ahead. We can get into a bidding war if you want. But do you want to spend your Fortune on an NPc bad guy?
Spell casting roll to follow soon. Hold this space...
Incantation of Paralyzation
1d10=7
+18 casting score, -10 Fast Cast, -3 Aura, -1 Weary, +10 Life Boost x2 (which will bring him down to Dazed after this), +2 W&G (there is a lot of shouting going on up here), +6 Confidence x2 (4 of 5 down)
Total = 22, minus level 20 equals 2
Plus (Penetration 2, x3 Blood) = 8
If successful, then his casting is at -17 (from Exaggerated Shouts to no words or gestures) and the trio of bonebreakers will not Penetrate Form.
If the guy's Corpus is 8 or higher, then I am screwed. I can spend more fortune, and will. But this is depleating me of resources quickly.
As to if the spell holds him in place and keeps him from teleporting is up to you. But Roberto is going to maintain concentration and let Diego take over from here. So if he does bamf, wherever he arrives he will still be motionless.
I had thought that the BG's target was still Roberto's Initiative of 9. There's nothing that says that you use the fast cast speed factor as a target. That having been said, if it is an EF 11, then the BG will spend 2 Conf instead of 1 to get up to 13 (he's Tytalus and has Self Confident too) to make sure he preserves his ability to cast a regular spell this round.
His Corpus is 10. While he's primarily a dispeller, his main combat Art is Corpus.
Being paralyzed would impose the standard -15 to CT for no incantations or gestures.
Diego will cast at the first opportunity, I'm posting from my phone so the formatting is rough.
With Mastery 3, listed as penetration, multicast, and fast - does Diego get 1x extra spell or 3x extra spells? I'll break the first spell out from the others in case.
Spell isn't aimed so it's a casting roll CT 26+, +shouting, -3 aura vs 20, then a +10 damage roll; for each. Diego is aiming to incap the bad magus.
Casting rolls:
Next 3 casting rolls are:
Casting : 1D10 = [4] = 4, 1D10 = [9] = 9, 1D10 = [8] = 8 , so all succeed, by 8, 13, 12, so pen 11, 16, 15,
and then damage rolls of:
1D10 = [5] = 5, 1D10 = [2] = 2, 1D10 = [9] = 9 , makes damage totals of 15, 12, and 19.
Let's hope his soak is reduced, and that he's no Ignem in there. Unfortunately Diego couldn't do much more than that, he's got no higher CrIg effect.
(Excellent point on gathering the attention of onlookers but the stakes are too high and the two men yelling during casting from the rooftop is already a spectacle. )
I also hope I got that right.
Which to use is up to your discretion I suppose. It is just a logic error and an old Jonathan Link debate that is throwing me off. He cannot logically target Roberto before he even arrives, so trying to beat his arrival Init makes no sense.
But this is not a rigid war game. Combat is an abstract. So use which ever path works best for your adjudication and resolution.
I should have spent Confidence to alter the opening Initiative. But I have confused matters enough already.
I was afraid of that. I vastly underestimated this guy.
Plus he looses the +2 he had for shouting and exaggerated gestures. For a net of -17 versus what the totals would have been if he could shout and give me the finger.
Roberto is dead in the water. My only hope is to pour Fortune down the drain to try and fusge these numbers in my favor. It is a per roll sorta thing. I think my current score is 6 with just over 21 points (figuring in points from the end of Wadanzee that I haven's added in yet). So I Markoko can spend 6 on a roll, then 5, then 4 if need be.
And I also petition my fellow players!
Lend me your Fortune! Help me out and the favor will be repaid in kind!
First priority is to spoil the BG's fast cast speed by hiking the ease factor just out of range. Both to avoid the bone breaker and to keep him from escaping with his final action.
Second is to hike the Penetration on Paralyzation. It may not seem apparent, but I am trying to save this guy's life! If he is paralyzed, then Diego might deccide not to crispy fry the guy.
Just putting is out there. Roberto's fate is in your hands.
He gets 3x
Did you add in the -10 for Fast Cast? (I assume it was fast cast. Otherwise it'll all take place after the flurry of fast casting, and I'll need an initiative check to see whether Diego beats the BG's initiative.) Also, he'll need a fast cast speed roll to see if he beats the BG's initiative (7).
Here's also where my head continues to hurt. If Diego attacks with a fast cast as quickly as he can, he should get his spell off in the first 'round' of fast casting, i.e., when Roberto and the BG are still casting Lancea Magica and still have their Parma up, in which case the three spells bounce off the BG's Parma. (At least I think that's how the timing would go. Any thoughts from the peanut gallery on timing would be appreciated.) Diego would have no way of knowing that the BG's Parma was coming down or that he should delay a fraction of a second to cast. Multiple people fast casting at the same time is a mess for figuring out order of action.
Actually, I did a search on Fast Casting and found a great discussion on it on IBT's page. (https://ironboundtome.wordpress.com/2014/02/11/thoughts-on-the-nature-of-fast-cast-spells-in-ars-magica/) I'm going to take some inspiration from that re timing.
Now, if Diego casts a second set of pilums of fire in a second fast cast (and makes the roll), he'd hit the BG without Parma and things would be a lot different.
Here's how I see the timing of this round. I'll use fast cast speed (FCS) as a kind of initiative.
FC Round One
FCS 18: BG gets off Lancea Magica and drops Roberto's Parma
FCS 7: Roberto gets off Lancea Magica and drops BG's Parma
FCS ???: Diego fires off a trio of pilums of fire at BG (effect TBD)
FC Round Two
FCS 11: Roberto casts Incantation of Paralyzation on BG
FCS 10: BG casts the bonebreaker on Roberto
FCS ???: Diego casts another trio of pilums of fire?
So, as you can see, I'll need a FCS roll (or two) from Diego to see where he fits into all this. Then I can figure out the timing and the effects.
This guy is designed to be a challenge to Roberto. His power level is roughly comparable to Roberto.
silveroak has already said that he'll give you Fortune, and I'll do the same. (I'm not trying to take you out here, just trying to play the BG intelligently.) So I think we have you covered for however many Fortune points you need.
I'm not sure that's doable. The EF for his fast cast speed roll is your initiative (-6 for each subsequent attempt). I don't think your FCS roll enters into the equation.
Now that's easily doable.
All Roberto needs is 3 Fortune to bump his CT for the paralyzation spell up so that his Penetration is 11. We can take 2 from silveroak and 1 from me.
Now, all I need are some fast cast speed checks from IBT and we can figure out what happened in this split second.
In terms of rounds I thought it was different, this is just a suggestion.
R1 - Roberto and Diego teleport, casting normally. I intended Diego to not fast cast. BG can't react until he sees Roberto.
R2 - the fast-cast roll off between Roberto and BG happens first in the round, then Diego casts his fire spells normally (I wasn't fast casting a multi cast - costs far too much fatigue) which happens later in the round.
R3 - depends who is still alive.
Ah, now that makes more sense. Quick question. After fast casting, can you still cast a regular spell at your initiative roll? The rules aren't precisely clear about that. Because the BG (and I suppose Roberto) would probably want to cast something if they can.
Also, I think we're ready to resolve Roberto's last spell. He'll beat he BG's Corpus by spending Fortune. I'll do that as soon as I get back to my comp. (I'm on my phone now.)
I've always liked the idea that a magus can fast cast or normal cast in a round, not both, however that runs against the idea of using fast cast as an interrupt to another later action. I take that view mainly because a round to me is anywhere from 2-5 seconds, so by the time the magus starts their next action it's likely at the beginning of the new round. P 174 has some text which has been debated in the forums for a long while.
I doubt that is even close to RAW.
Things continue to move quickly. As the opposing magi's parma magica drops, Roberto immediately follows with a spell of paralyzation to hold the enemy magus in place. The magus is a slippery fellow, and strong in Corpus magic. It's a near run thing, but by putting his all into the casting, Roberto is just able to make the spell take hold. He looks in relief as the enemy magus freezes up, unable to move or even speak.
Then, against all odds, Roberto feels a set of harmful spells take hold of him, as wounds open up on his body. The magus can clearly cast Corpus spells deftly! Frozen though he is, the paralyzed magus can still cast his hateful magic at Roberto.
But all is not lost. From above, the voice of Diego can be heard shouting incantations. As he does, three bolts of fire come down from the sky and strike the enemy magus. One, two, three, they each hit. But this foe is made of stern stuff. By the time the smoke and flames clear, he has a slight burn on one arm, but no other sign of injury.
[hr][/hr]
Unfortunately for Roberto, the BG has Deft Corpus, and so suffers no penalty for lack of gestures and incantations. (He loses +2 for exaggerated gestures and loud voice, of course.) He was recruited in large part because his Gentle Gift and Deft Corpus allowed him to better function in the city. I had envisioned him being confronted on the street and inflicting wounds without a word or gesture so as not to draw attention to himself. Casting while paralyzed was definitely not the situation I expected him to be in.
His 7, 13, and 8 for his attack spells become 5, 11, and 6. He'll spend another Confidence to make the 5 into an 8, so that all shots will hit. He's got limited Confidence too. But he's worried about Roberto and wants to try and take him out. (That Reputation for House Flambeau acclaim comes into play.)
Then Diego's pilums of fire hit. All three connect; all three penetrate his Ignem defense.
Soak = 2 (Sta) + 3 (Tough) + 3 (DoIS) + 6 (Partial Chainmail) + 2 (Ig) = 16 Soak vs. Ignem attacks.
The first two pilums do no damage, and the third one does 3 points of damage, inflicting a Light Wound. The BG is -1 on all rolls.
FWIW, Diego has to shout so that his voice can carry far enough to hit the BG.
So Marko, do Roberto and the BG get to cast spells at their regular initiative, or do they have to wait for the next round?
I am not sure. The caos has me just as confused. But the rapid pace is exciting and worth the effort.
I suppose it is in my best interest to take the position that we each receive a "normal action" at the end of the round, and since neither of us failed a fast roll, that may yet still be a spell.
And Roberto gets to go first 
What to do? Hmmmmmm....
I will spend fortune to protect Roberto. Since spending 2 brought down my total I can only spend 7 fortune at this point. Of course if less than that is required, I can spend less.
I had thought the Fortune system wasn't working, and now it suddenly is working as intended. Paitience is a Virtue. The idea was to give players way to shape the story and to reward them in ways beyond (or including) their characters.
For outside observers: We use Fortune to substitute for Confidence awards. That way we do not have to track scores from story to story (so we can run multiple stories at once). Points are topped off at the start of each story. Fortune has less effect but can be used in many more ways.
Now as for what Roberto's next action will be, I am still debating. He is injured and exhausted. The smart thing to do would be to retreat. Or he can put the BG to sleep with a touch spell.
He does call in Cidito for help.
I think sleep is the best option. I will roll it up after work.
How injured is/was he? (BTW, my previous calculation was off, I can spend 8 fortune, down from 9). 6 reduces a heavy wound to medium, 3 reduces medium to light, 1 turns a light wound to winded fatigue. So if he is at Medium or lower he would be uninjured, if he is heavy I can bring him down to medium and down to uninjured of someone else wants to contribute more fortune...
He took three Medium wounds.
Yeah, it was straight up magical wounds, not damage inflicted. I am going to try the sleep spell. ReMe5. Can someone roll for me? I will use all the fortune I can to make that roll high enough to Penetrate.