Buffs for 1.5

I really don’t support #1 for spells with ‘new effects’ as the CTN goes up with adaptations. Spells are already limited by having higher CTN’s meaning a lower chance of success. Having arbitrary hard limits on what effects are possible just sets up for the arm’s race problems (must maximize my passive).

Now for spells like Inertial Shield, if you want to have a passive threshold to get higher Avoidance values, that I could see.

One thing though is we don’t do this for skills or combat. Is there a plan that only if you invest X Ranks in a Skill you can’t attempt TN’s above a certain level? Is there a plan that unless you invest X Ranks in a combat skill you can’t attempt certain maneuvers or tricks?

John

Well #3 is related to #1. Again for those spells that are intended to be cast out of combat (Personal Illusion, etc.) I still think arbitrarily assigning a minimum required ranks is going overboard.

John

What prevents us from using the “once / scene attempt” or Passive that we use for Binding? As far as I can tell there are no spells for which a higher CTN roll results in a ‘better’ buff. The resistances are always based on Passive Values. The adaptations let you do other effects.

If someone has an hour to prepare, I see no reason why they wouldn’t attempt to get the full benefits of the spell? This isn’t possible in combat or when a scene is about to start though.

John

So what is the intent behind the change?

1) Is it to make certain ‘effects’ only available to those who invest heavily into their casting attribute?
2) Is it to reduce the amount of dice rolling?
3) Is it to make non-binding buff spells unavailable outside of combat due to ‘rolling until you get a success’?These are my reasons behind waiting some spells to be passive only no rolling.)
1) Yes. Certain effects should not be accessible by rolling a die outside of combat an infinite number of times.

2) No. To reduce out of combat casting scene cheese. I would like to say this, and I think I am in a minority in this, I don’t care if players have buffs up 24/7. Let them. It is the nature of a player to want to buff. Most buff spells aren’t game changers and a lot of them don’t bother me at all. Some buffs are meant for outside of combat and there are ways to make having a ton of buffs up a problem for parties as well. Also some scenes start in ways where buffing before the action starts is impossible as well.

3) Buff spells and summon spells will still be available outside of combat. You just can’t roll for adaptations.

One thing though is we don’t do this for skills or combat.What do you mean?

Sorry I wasn’t more clear. I meant there’s no spell that I know of that makes it harder to dispel or see through or opposed rolls that get harder the higher CTN. The comment was made in response to Pedro’s example or casting over and over to get the maximum benefit from Personal Illusion.

For the scaling buffs, it makes sense to limit how high you can go based upon your training. However, not being able to attempt it at all is severely limiting. We don’t tell a caster with a few ranks in a combat skill that they can’t attempt to attack creatures with high Avoidance because they can’t hit with their passive. We don’t tell casters who out a few ranks in Persuasion they can’t attempt to influence an NPCs attitude because their passive isn’t high enough.

The game is about heroes going above and beyond. If you allow one roll or passive for spells outside of combat, it’s an easy fix without artificially capping things. You can still have a maximum cap based upon how high your skill is. As an example you can limit inertial Shield’s Avoidance defense bonus based on your passive or you get one roll (binding version or not) to cast it higher.

If a hard limit goes in for spells then I will champion for a hard limit on what people can do with skills and combat maneuvers based on their ranks. No reason someone with 2 Ranks in Persuasion should get a chance to roll high to persuade a merchant when my expert has 10 Ranks.

John