Optimization

[Ben_McFarland]

@wampa

I'm under the impression that multi-cast spells are supposed to be resolved 'in sequence' - especially important if you're going to be on the receiving end of say, multiple Pilums of fire, you want to get to soak each one rather than simply multiplying the damage by 3. Since I'm under the impression that spells do in fact resolve this way, I'd rule the Warping gain happens one at a time, just like the damage.

And I would believe that the spells all resolve simultaneously.

Speaking with a member of my troupe, he agreed that the effects would be simultaneous, but felt that the multicast version of Icy Grip would only give a single point of warping, because Platonically, it's all the initial spell, but split out into multiple "shadows" of the initial effect, like an object being lit from multiple sources, and I can see that, as well.

[Ovarwa]

Hi,

For me, whether simultaneous or not, I would consider a multi-cast to be a multi-event. Two events that occur at once are still two events.

Each casting roll is a casting roll, using all of the usual rolls and rules, subject to the modifiers specified for multi-casting.

But that's just me.

I'm not quite in a mood to think about whether these should be simultaneous or rapid-fire. Each has benefits and drawbacks for the caster.

Anyway,

Ken

[callen]

I think RAW say to roll everything for each spell separately, so I would think that would include rolling for Twilight. But I'm away from my books, so I can't double check the Mastery option.

[wampa]

@Ben McFarland

@wampa

I'm under the impression that multi-cast spells are supposed to be resolved 'in sequence' - especially important if you're going to be on the receiving end of say, multiple Pilums of fire, you want to get to soak each one rather than simply multiplying the damage by 3. Since I'm under the impression that spells do in fact resolve this way, I'd rule the Warping gain happens one at a time, just like the damage.

And I would believe that the spells all resolve simultaneously.

Speaking with a member of my troupe, he agreed that the effects would be simultaneous, but felt that the multicast version of Icy Grip would only give a single point of warping, because Platonically, it's all the initial spell, but split out into multiple "shadows" of the initial effect, like an object being lit from multiple sources, and I can see that, as well.

Part of what makes the joint resolution problematic in my mind is that it skews the game even further towards the one-size fits all nuke spells like Pilum of Fire, and weakens the already comparatively vulnerable high-end blasts like BoAF.

4 Pilums hitting a Size 0 person with 5 (relevant) soak, in sequence normally are going to effectively multiply that soak by 4. With an effective damage bonus of +10, they're probably not going to kill him - in fact the first one literally can't, but he's likely to be pretty brutally wounded by the end of it. (And if you rule that Wound penalties do apply against direct spell-related damage, since stress dice are involved here and there's no double dipping unlike with normal combat rules - many troupes also want to avoid the '50 medium wounds' problem - he's got a solid shot at going down to at least one of the later Pilums as the wound penalties stack).

If you now give him a Ward Against Heat and Flames, he's got quite a lot of soak, and can take at most 5 damage from those initial Pilums, meaning he's very unlikely to die to the fire! If only we had a BoAF now...

4 Pilums hitting a Size 0 person simultaneously is a 'simultaneous resolution' of +60 from 4 Pilums of Fire on the other hand, is almost certainly dead even if they're wearing full, superior quality chain mail with Hardness of Adamantine and a Ward Against Heat and Flames active. Oh, and these spells are much more likely to Penetrate magic resistance, for all those pesky foes who have that. Why did I bother learning BoAF? MORE PILUMS.