An excellent point. It seems to me that the real strength of magic is that it lets you do things that can't be done normally, not that it always does better than a mundane ability. You have to be a pretty awesome mundane jumper to jump over a tree -- say the tree has got a Tall 10W2, assuming you started your Jump at 12, to have an even chance you need to have put 38 HP into the ability. Meanwhile the person with Jump Tree as a feat has increased their Wilderness Acrobatic affinity to 10W (OK, for one extra HP) and has almost a mastery on the tree (as well as other dubiously useful powers like Dance on Elk and Venus in Firs). So the magician will be a) a way better tree leaper and b) possessing other interesting or useful magical powers). In a contest of pure jumping, however, the magician either can't use the magic or gets some sort of penalty (-10 if she cleverly arranged to put an acorn on the ground before the jumping) giving the Jumper 10W2 vs the magician's 20 -- she should lose.
>Vinga is on some quest that involves defeating a number of opponents
>in wrestling matches. At one point he comes across a row of trees
>blocking his path.
"he?"
>So now Vinga has a feat of Tree Leaping. it's useless against
>anything but trees because the secret magic is tree specific.
>Alternatively maybe it's squirrel magic, YGWV but whatever the myth
>it will tell you more about the whys and wherefores.
Now here's something good -- the lost subcult of Vinga Squirrelgirl!
Skills: Run, Climb, Survive in Forest, Beg Students for Food
Virtues: Easily Distracted, Panicy
Affinity: Squirrel (Jump Tree, Run on Branch, Store Food, Hide from
Predator, Not a Rat, Really)
Secret: Hey, Look, Nuts: The devotee can always find enough nuts for a meal
in a forest. Furthermore, they can thrive on bark, nuts, roots, and the
remains of student's sandwiches.
Peter Larsen
Engineering and Physical Sciences Librarian
University of Rhode Island Library
15 Lippitt Rd
Kingston, RI 02881-0803
phone: (401) 874-4637
fax: (401) 874-5403
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