On 24 May 2004 at 10:11, Roderick and Ellen Robertson wrote:
>
> > But look at those suggested Combat affinities: Armor of Woad, Enchant
> Silver,
> > Flickering Blade, Leaping Shield, Overbear Foe, Throw with wind, [Weapon]
> Help.
>
> Orlanth Adventurous (Destor) isn't the be-all, end-all of Orlanthi magic!
No, but since you mentioned him as an example, figured I'd use him.
> You think "Overbear foe" can't be cast directly at your enemy?
Possibly. But I would interpret more as "I overbear foe", so it is really about me, not my foe.
> "Flickering Blade"?
Of course Flickering Blade isn't cast at your enemy. It's cast on a blade. Either yours to make it flicker with lightining and be deadlier, or your enemy's to make it flicker in and out of reality so it is easier to pierce his guard (haven't decided which interpretation I like). Then you either use the blade or the opening to stab him in the head.
Or make your foe's shield leap out of the way?
Cast on the shield, not your foe.
It all
> depends on what is happening in the contest, but that's three counter
> examples from your example of "help you only" feats. David Dunham has
> mentioned use of Humakt's "Decapitate Foe" at range...
There's no Humakt feats in the main book, so I know nothing of it. But I'd have big problems with Decapitate Foe being something like "I do the feat and your head falls off". I'd probably interpret it as "I give myself the ability and keenness of edge to successfully cut off your head". So again, the magic is againt the transformation of you, you then use the feat to cut the head off your foe.
> There are plenty of "direct" magical abilities. Erassa's magic is full of
> it, for example.
Since there's no Erassa in the book, I'll take your word for it.
Look, rereading the magic section closely, it is obvious the rules are in fact written as you say. There is a fundamental split between "beings" and "non-beings". Beings get to resist with any mundane ability, non-beings don't. Now, I presume this difference is sentience, since the only distinction we see is tree vs any being. I'm not sure if this means rabbits and bison and gazzam resist with their ability or are considered passive parts of nature. If they are nature and then get passive resistance, it makes for weird moments where "overbear foe" is easier to use on a charging gazzam than a big strong guy.
This could be the case, it may just be the fact that the very nature of being sentient changes how magic interacts with you. Which is fine, and makes a certain amount of sense. Magic fundamentally acts different against sentient beings than it does "the world". People, descendents of Grandfather Mortal, (and dragonnewts just because) are NOT passive agents of the world, and therefore magic doesn't work the same way.
I can buy that as an explanation for the way the rules are constructed.
LC
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