Makers of Award-winning Role Playing Games › Forums › Arcanis: The Shattered Empires › Arcanis: Rules & Rulings › Buckler and Spellcasting
- This topic has 70 replies, 15 voices, and was last updated 12 years, 6 months ago by Anonymous.
- AuthorPosts
- March 10, 2014 at 11:26 pm #150842AnonymousInactive
Can you cast spells with a buckler? If so, is there any change to CTN or other aspects?
If you can’t, is there a Talent to allow this?
If not, how do people with weapons and shields cast spells that aren’t Psionic?
John
March 10, 2014 at 11:30 pm #258279AnonymousInactiveNo (all shields are held items; no free hand in this ruleset).
No talent to bypass (no “still spell” equivelent, yet).
They either don’t carry a shield, or they don’t carry a weapon.
March 10, 2014 at 11:43 pm #258280AnonymousInactiveThis seems like a fairly major problem. I know of several ‘sword and board’ templar type characters that have some limited spell casting ability. To categorically say that you are unable to cast any spells when you have a sword and shield in hand seems very limiting. Doesn’t affect me personally, but I’m sure there are a number of characters out there in this situation.
There is currently a talent which allows you to cast with a 2H weapon equipped, perhaps a similar talent is needed for sword and shield types?
March 10, 2014 at 11:50 pm #258281AnonymousInactiveI’m pretty sure I’ve seen weapon/shield users cast spells in combat, particularly healing and other spells. Perhaps they are inherently putting weapons away and redrawing them, I’m not sure. I just figured a buckler might be small enough since it’s only usable against 1 target.
John
March 11, 2014 at 12:07 am #258283AnonymousInactiveIt’s pretty clear in the rules, IIRC, as I carry a sword and shield with my character, but only have one in hand in combat, usually the broadsword, being Hurrian’s favored weapon. Anyone casting with both in hands is doing it wrong, saved psionic casters…
March 11, 2014 at 1:36 am #258289AnonymousInactiveOkay cool.
March 11, 2014 at 6:07 am #258314PCI_AdminKeymasterHmm.
Could be a problem here.
Not with this clarification, but with that locally I see a lot of very similar circumstances involving two-handed weapons and the hand-free rule just being ….ignored for being too big a micro-management pain to bother with. It’s not helped that a couple of deities have two-handed favored weapons: off the top of my head I recall Neroth, Belisarda, The Fire Dragon, Nier, and Yarris. Kind of awkward for those warrior-priests who like to do right by emulating their patrons.
Is there a rune or a quality that can allow a weapon or shield to double as a basic holy icon?March 11, 2014 at 7:02 am #258316frootsnaxParticipantEisener is Sword and Board HC of Nier … uses a bastard sword. I spend a 2 tick action to dump his shield if I have to cast in combat.
March 11, 2014 at 10:42 am #258319AnonymousInactiveI was looking for new ways to boost Kelb’s Avoidance
He’s a caster so has to keep one hand free.March 11, 2014 at 3:19 pm #258349AnonymousInactiveEisener is Sword and Board HC of Nier … uses a bastard sword. I spend a 2 tick action to dump his shield if I have to cast in combat.
So it’s a minimum of 3 ticks to stow the shield and 2 ticks to ready it again? With tier 2 QuickDraw it would be +1 tick to stow, cast and +1 tick to ready again? Not too bad.
John
March 11, 2014 at 3:43 pm #258364AnonymousInactiveEisener is Sword and Board HC of Nier … uses a bastard sword. I spend a 2 tick action to dump his shield if I have to cast in combat.2 ticks? Stowing a shield is weapon speed. Dropping it on the ground is speed 0.
How are you doing this at speed 2?
March 11, 2014 at 3:43 pm #258365AnonymousInactiveEisener is Sword and Board HC of Nier … uses a bastard sword. I spend a 2 tick action to dump his shield if I have to cast in combat.
So it’s a minimum of 3 ticks to stow the shield and 2 ticks to ready it again? With tier 2 QuickDraw it would be +1 tick to stow, cast and +1 tick to ready again? Not too bad.
John
A talent which may raise the CTN when casting a spell with a shield is not a bad idea…
:::thinks it over::::
March 11, 2014 at 3:44 pm #258367AnonymousInactiveA talent which may raise the CTN when casting a spell with a shield is not a bad idea…
:::thinks it over::::And dual wielders please!
March 11, 2014 at 3:59 pm #258380AnonymousInactiveA talent which may raise the CTN when casting a spell with a shield is not a bad idea…
:::thinks it over::::
I hope the potential CTN increase is pretty significant.
It would be a major advantage to have a combat effective defense/weapons in-hand and still have full casting.
Personally, I think an increase in Speed to the casting and next weapon swing feels more appropriate. Shield wielders should lose their shield bonuses until their next action.
If the ‘cost/increase’ is not pretty stiff, there is (again) even less reason to use anything but two weapons or a weapon/shield combo.
March 11, 2014 at 4:10 pm #258385AnonymousInactiveDelbert casts very rarely in combat, but he usually does it before drawing his sword or by taking a big hit on speed for loosing a shield and readying it back up
- AuthorPosts
- The forum ‘Arcanis: Rules & Rulings’ is closed to new topics and replies.