Physical barrier spell, Fluff vs RAW Options Track this topic Email this topic Print this topic Download this topic Subscribe to this forum Display Modes Outline Switch to: Standard Switch to: Linear+

[Pendaric]

This has been touched on before but it is a rules oddity depending on what your stance you take on the description.

The crux of my point is this:
The physical barrier created by the spell is destroyed if penetrated.

The RAW of bullets hitting barriers for the sake of "breaking through" doubles the barrier rating.

The description for the above RAW is that bullets are good at making little holes and but not big holes. The attempt to "break through" assumes making a 1/2 m hole for someone to crawl through.

So does the bullet pass through the barrier ending it, without "breaking through" per RAW?
Or does the bullet bounce off the barrier if insufficent to "break through"?
Should the bullet ignore the doubling to the barrier rating for penetration due to making small holes?
Or finally does the bullet have to "break through" per RAW to end the spell?

Currently i am running in my game with the latter. If in doubt my first instinct is to stop my harsh GM gene tooling over my players by strict adherence to the rules. Also this means the barrier spells are worth while.
However I am open to revision, with convincing argument.

[cleggster]

This came up in a recent game I ran. Teams shaman used P Barrier a lot. She quickly found out that it was of limited use against heavy pistols. As we understood the rules, as soon as the power of the bullet exceeds the barrier rating, the barrier went down. You not trying to break though, your trying to shoot the person on the other side. So a force 6 P Barrier against a 9S heavy pistol will reduce the power of the shot to 3S and then fail. This makes the P Barrier not that effective in a serious fight. But if the force EQUALS the power, the caster can reform it at full strength as an action. Free one if I remember.

But to answer your question, the spell desciption seem to claim that the breaking through rules don't apply here. Once you exceed the force of the spell, the spell is over and the attack is reduced by the set amount. If it las less or equal, happy mage.