Fast Casting

[Urien]

You do not need to roll initiative to fast-cast a spell. You can fast-cast at any time, usually in response to something bad happening like getting attacked or having a spell cast at you. You can do this even at the start of battle before your first turn has come up yet. If you fast-cast, that's basically a free action and it does not stop you taking another action, even casting another spell, that combat round.

However, while you can attempt a fast-cast spell at any time, you aren't always fast enough to actually defend against the attack. That's what the fast-casting speed roll is for: to determine if you fast-cast the spell in time for it to do any good. As noted on p. 83, if you fail the speed roll, you can choose to abort the spell, which is probably a good idea because there is no point in risking fatigue loss or a botch if it's too late for your spell to protect you.

This all seems clear enough, but it says "

at any time

"
Does this mean that a Magus could:
Fast cast in response to a spell,
Cast a spell on his Inititive,
Then cast a spell in response to, say, a sword stroke?
If so, how would this work?

[Erik_Tyrrell]

Yes it does, if his fast cast rolls are good enough (which IIRC is fairly difficult).

I'm not going to chime in with an answer to "how would this work?" until I have a book in fromt of me.

[Urien]

Yeah, there is a -6 penalty per spell after the first...but what is really unclear is how do you divide the time AFTER your normal initiative...

ie I act on 7.
on 9, my opponent acts and I (after making the fast cast roll), cast a spell.
On 8, if I needed to, and I made the roll (somehow), I could fast cast again.. On 7 I cast a spell.
On 5 I get attacked by a third party...
Can I Fast cast again?

etc

[Agnar]

Maybe....roll a new "fast cast initiative" for each time you try to cast adding on the appropriate negatives regardless of if "your turn" has passed?

Another question to add on...if you fast cast a spell or 2 before "your turn" does the spell on yer initiative get negatives too, since essentially you didn't have the time to focus on casting it?

Yeah, there is a -6 penalty per spell after the first...

As i read this with no book availabe, why does -10 fer fast casting come to mind?

[Urien]

-10 to the casting SCORE.

Example:

Creo+Ignem+Stamina+Aura+etc-10/2 or 5

Yields Casting Total

If I understand the process correctly.

[Berengar]

@Urien

-10 to the casting SCORE.

Example:

Creo+Ignem+Stamina+Aura+etc-10/2 or 5

Yields Casting Total

To be precise, the Casting Total is

b[/b]/2

@Urien

I act on 7.
on 9, my opponent acts and I (after making the fast cast roll), cast a spell.
On 8, if I needed to, and I made the roll (somehow), I could fast cast again..
On 7 I cast a spell.
On 5 I get attacked by a third party...
Can I Fast cast again?

Yes - but only, if all your previous rolls for Fast Casting Speed in this round, with their cumulative modifiers, beat your opponents' Initiative Totals, which had no such modifiers, and if you beat the 3rd party's 5 with another Fast Casting Speed roll with a -12 modifier.

Kind regards,

Berengar