My understanding, and I may well be wrong...
Joerg Baumgartner <joe_at_...> wrote:
> Light Castle
>
>> That's an interesting way to put it. So in a way, given that you are
>> not just cut off, you are actively blocked, it is actually easier to
>> attune to a found Grimoire than to one from a school you were in and
>> then banned.
>
> Hmm. Using the computer access parallel a bit further: Is it just my
> old account on the Grimoire, materialized in my cookbook, that is
> banned, or
> do I draw vengeful essences whenever I try to contact the node via any
> copy of that node's grimoire?
As I understand it, you've been cut off from the grimoire *node*. Your "use
grimoire" skill is now useless, since all it's good for is using the
grimoire to hook up with the node. Even if you swiped someone else's
grimoire, it's still hooking up with the same node, and you can't use that
node.
> If I understand the rules correctly, spending an extra hero point on
> those spells you like best makes sense if you want to stay with the
> school, too, speeding up your advancement.
>
> In Otherworld terms, does this establish a direct link to the spell's
> source in the Otherworld, bypassing the grimoire node if need be?
As I understand it, there are two ways you could buy a wizardly spell from
your grimoire:
- You could spend a HP to improve the casting of *that specific spell from
the grimoire*. e.g. You have "use Grimoire of Cookery" at 5W, you paid HP to
get a +2 at the "make gravy" spell. If you cast "make gravy", you still are
using the grimoire, you still are connecting to the grimoire node, but your
skill is 7W instead of 5W. If you're kicked out of the school, you can't use
the spell, since you're still casting it through the grimoire. This is
analogous to a theistic devotee buying an affinity, and improving a feat
within the affinity--e.g. Joe Swordsman has the "Death" affinity at 16, and
paid HPs for a +2 bonus to his "bless corpse" feat in that affinity.
- Alternatively, you can learn any spell in the grimoire as a *seperate
skill*, instead of a bonus to the grimoire skill. In this case, you're
making a focus which connects to the *spell node* (instead of the grimoire
node). This is just like creating a focus for any random spell that isn't in
the grimoire, except that the grimoire tells you how to do it (e.g. the
grimoire tells you how to get to the spell node). Advantages: You only have
to cary the focus around to cast the spell, instead of the grimoire; and you
can keep the focus (and the spell) after you leave the school, since you're
not connecting to the grimoire node. Disadvantages: You have to get to the
spell node to create the focus, ovecoming all the resistance. And in
addition, this is a brand new skill. If you have "use Grimoire of Cookery"
at 5W and the "make gravy" spell at 16, you can either drag out the grimoire
and cast at 5W, or you can use the focus and cast at 16. (Though presumably,
you can use one skill to augment the other.)
> Or does the Ban increase the casting difficulty for all spells linked
> to that grimoire node?
I don't think it affects you if you're going to the spell node directly
(case #2).
People--am I anywhere near right on this? Sorcery isn't my strong point...