Hello there!!
I was thinking about puting this into the "Diary of Erinn thread directly, but since it is a BIG issue I decided to open a new thread, so you can flame me better
Those are NOT rules used in my real world saga, but ideas I have had. As such they have not been playtested. I plan to use the Diary of Erinn project to test them. before that I would like the members to flame them and try to find holes in the design. I am perfectly aware that they must be here. After all I am only a mortal being (my elixir is not ready yet) and not all seeing (I have always despised intellego)
So, flame on! New Parma and MR rules and new penetration rules
PARMA MAGICA & MAGIC RESISTANCE
Para protects the magus against magic cast on him/her directly with any duration, and also against magical ENVIROMENTAL PHENOMENA that flood an area for a limited time (like being immersed in magical mud or having to cross a fire wall).
HOWEVER, Parma Magica does NOT protect against SUMMONED items (CrXx) or modified (MuXx) items that are used against the magus (or that the magus uses his body against himself, like falling over them).
So, Parma would protect you from:
- A Pilum of Fire
- Being immersed and drowning in magical water (and would break the rush of water around you, though you would become wet none the less)
- Crossing a fire wall
BUT the magus can be cut in half with a CrTe20 sword. There are personal wards to prevent the later effect occurring.
Falling on a magical bridge is a non issue anymore (you slam yourself vs the bridge, period, since the bridge fodoes not "flood" an area) and Parma does what it was intended to do: protect you against the paradigmatic PoF, but not a blade bouncing against the magus head like a force field (I find the later highly un-mythic).
What applies to Parma also applies to Might generated by any realm. A dragon is not immune to a summoned sword (well, unless you do not look into the soak 20 of the dragon, that is) but there is no need for errata saying that the natural attacks of a creature cannot be resisted.
In fact, parma grants the same level of protection that an equivalent level of Might would provide. No more, no less. Quite a broad level of coverage if you ask me!
PENETRATION
There is no Penetration Mastery.
That breaks a lot of the need for more powerful creatures and makes the smaller spells useful throughout a magus life, and not only “until I master BOAFâ€
Indirect spells tend to do less damage than an equivalent level of direct magic (that need to penetrate) spells, so that is not a big issue pro-indirect spells
I was thinking that maybe it could work if Parma would protecty you from any magic that had a duration of less than Diameter duration: it is a kind of filter that does not get "soaked" with magic until after 2 minutes of cosntant exposure. This has the problem that it still would prevent being affected by Sun duration CrTe swords (unless they do not count as magical anymore due to their long stay in ME) not vs falling to a Diameter bridge. It gives the magis protection from the short term use of "bury the magus in mud" effects, though. The magical bridge effect is more problematic than the sword
Any thoughts and criticisms?
Cheers,
Xavi