On Tuesday, January 20, 2004 3:53 PM, Rob wrote:
>
> Could you have a common magic talent called 'Beffudle opponent' and if
> so - how would it operate in a contest?
Sounds okay to me. If you haven't concentrated your Common Magic, it would only
act as an augment. Otherwise, you'd use it in a contest just like any other
ability.
- Simple Contests
- Decide what your goal is in befuddling your opponent - this might be
distracting the shopkeeper so you can sneak into his storeroom, making the army
captain drop his guard and tell you the secret passwords, confusing your best
friend into not realising that you're all plotting a secret birthday party for
him, etc.
- Roll the "Befuddle Opponent" against whatever the opponent is using to defend
- these could be appropriate abilities like Insightful, Clear-Headed, See
Through Trickery, or magic like Humakt or Lhankor Mhy's Truth affinities.
- Decide how well it works, based on the level of defeat or victory.
- Extended Contests
Well, a lengthier version of the above, really. What it really comes down to
with GM'ing player actions in Extended Contests is understanding two things:
- What they're trying to achieve with the action. This will tell you which
abilities it would be appropriate for them to use, and what sort of abilities
the opponent would be able to
- How "big" or "risky" the action is (see the guidelines on HQ p). This tells
you how big the AP bid should be.
What happens depends on the flow of AP. If the actor wins, then clearly the
"befuddle" magic has had some effect. It won't be decisive, unless some level
of victory has been achieved, but the victim might be confused, pausing, etc.
If the opponents wins the exchange, then maybe the effort and concentration put
into the befuddle attempt has let him get closer to his own goals, whether this
be bashing someone's head in, seeing through an attempt at deception or making
the alehouse turn a profit this evening...
> Likewise could you have a common magic talent 'Heal the
> dying/injured/hurt patient' so that would return them to full health.
It's worth taking a look at the rules for healing on HQ p81. The way it works
is:
- You can use Common Magic as "minor magical healing" if you can use it as a
standalone ability. If you can only augment with it, then the ability which is
being augmented determines whether the healing attempt is magical or not, which
affects the Resistance. Regardless, this sort of healing only heals one level
of injury (Dying to Injured, Injured to Impaired, etc.) unless you get a
Complete Victory on the contest, in which case all injuries are completely
healed.
- The only healing abilities that can automatically restore anyone to full
health on *any* victory is "major magical healing". HQ p81 specifically points
out that this is usually the preserve of powerful magic, such as cult secrets.
Even Chalana Arroy healers don't have a "Heal Patient Completely" magical feat
any more, so given this I wouldn't allow such a Common Magic ability, but I
would allow one called "Heal Patient".
Regards,
Bruce