Spirits intercepting attacks Options

[tisoz]

For whatever reason, it seems spirits are able to be ordered to intercept incoming ranged attacks. Maybe it was because I personally said it shouldn't be possible. Maybe it was because they were special spirits. Maybe it is just the way it is.

Either the spirit has time to position itself between the attacker and the target, or the spirit can simply destroy the attacker before he gets the opportunity to attack. Evidently the spirit automatically intercepts the ranged attack and survives intercepting the ranged attack.

I'm wondering what the minimum force of the spirit is needed to accomplish these feats? Also, has anyone allowed PCs to use this fantastic tactic? Or has no PC ever had the terrific idea?

[hahnsoo]

We've been using Elementals for cover against ranged weapon fire for sometime. Earth elementals make great mobile walls.

[Sandoval Smith]

If it's a ranged attack that actually has a speed per round, then there really isn't a problem with a spirit being able to intercept it, if has the speed and positioning to do so. And if it's tough enough to eat the damage, then it does so. Bullets are a little harder, but a manifested spirit, especially with immunity to normal weapons, can make decent cover.

[Endgame50]

*groan* Not this again

[Sharaloth]

I wouldn't allow a spirit to intercept bullets, but a missile, sure, depending on a few other factors. Anything with a per turn speed should be interceptable, especially if, like missiles, it arrives and detonates on phase 0 no matter when it was fired in the turn. And spirits do make great cover, don't they? Especially the high-force ones that can bounce assault cannon rounds off them. Never had a PC try this, but I'm sure it'll come up at some point.

[Crimson Jack]

[BitBasher]

[GrinderTheTroll]

So is all magic rated > 2, illegal or just spells and foci?

If so, then keeping around legal elementals would be far less effective than the Force 5+ ones that actually cause the big guns to bounce.

Any ideas on this?

[Fortune]

AFAIK, all magic (Sorcery, Conjuring, and Enchanting) over Force 2 requires permits to be considered legal.

[Sharaloth]

I wonder how they measure that.... I keep having this vision of a couple donut-eating Star cops:

Cop1: "It was totally a force six, Jerry had way more willpower than Mark or Dick, and he got off fine, but Jess is just less than Jerry, and her head blew up just like the others."

Cop2: "Nah, You're overestimating Jess. I admit Jerry's hardcore, but that couldn't have been more than force four."

Cop1: "No, man, you gotta look at the curve of it, Jess was juggling three kids, a husband and twenty hours of overtime a week without bitching about it, Mark had problems putting his foot down to walk. Jerry's an unstoppable freak, but Jess had to be at least near him to pull off what she did. Force six"

Cop2: "And I still say you can't equate happy-go-lucky and good time management skills with force of will. Jerry's been known to cut his own limbs off to catch the crooks, I don't think Jess had half the will necessary to do that. Force four."

Cop3: "It was force five, dammit. Enough to take out Mark, Dick and Jess, but not enough to get through Jerry's scowl. That good enough for ya? Now, what I wanna know is the force of that spirit that ate Jerry!"

The very thought makes me laugh.

[Prospero]

In my games, I do use the rating scale as an in-game thing. Mages have this whole arcane system as to how much astral energy gets changed by various spirits and rates them on a scale accordingly. I call it the "... Scale" and usually make up a different important-sounding name each time. Shamans just generally know that some are harder to summon and counter than others, but some might well know the hermetic scale (I mean, it public knowledge and everything).

Anyway, enough thread hijacking.

[BitBasher]

There was actually an ingame reference I believe in a novel for a scale for these things. It was named after a person if I recall. Then again, I may not recall. I could be CraZy. ;)

[Sandoval Smith]

I thought it was mentioned in the fluff text in one of the sourcebooks (somewhere in 2nd edition, IIRC). Whatever it was called, there is a magical scale upon which spells, spirits, and what not are rated, so the (Astral) cops can pull you over and say, "Son, is that a force five magic fingers, or are you just happy to see me?"