Elemental Manipulation, Spells that go boom... Options

[weblife]

Its written in MiTS, that an elemental secondary effect does not take effect if the spell is Light in damage level.

This confuses me somewhat. And I hope you are ready with answers. :)

1. If I cast Flamethrower at Deadly, but its staged down to Light by the opponent, what kind of secondary effects are there? - Those for Deadly, or those for Light?

2. If I cast Flamethrower at Light, but succeed in staging it up to Deadly, then what happens? Deadly or Ligth secondary effects?

3. If I cast Fireball into a room at Light, and stage successes up to Deadly, how much damage do I deal to the computers, papers etc. in range of the spell?

I hope you'll take a few minutes to write your opinion. :D

[Aku]

i was always under the impression that it was the level at which the spell was cast that determinted of secondary effects could occur... i could be wrong though.

[nezumi]

I'm with Aku. A spell can be staged down to nothing and still have secondary effects (since, unlike manabolt and the like, the spell is cast even if the target completely resists.) After all, if a flamethrower (the weapon) is dodged or staged down, it still burns stuff.

[Mortax]

I would concure as well.

[ShadowGhost]

Base damage the spell is cast at, regardless of successes.

Otherwise it gets really cheesey for secondary effects:

"I cast a 1 Light Fireball"

Rolls dice
"9 successes! - Stage it..... Whee! The whole building explodes, obliterating itself in a glorious fireball of doom!"

And this way, when a mage damn near kills himself with drain casting it at an armored Troll, at 5D (Drain is 7D)... even if the Troll stages damage down to nothing.... his gear and clothing are likely still on fire, along with his surroundings (depending on the 2D6 you roll for secondary effects). Otherwise, if the Troll stages down to nothing, then there'd be no secondary effects.

[weblife]

However, the immediate effect of a F6, Light Fireball, staged up to F7 Deadly with successes, would also deal considerable damage to anything in the blast, living or otherwise.

Touching off ammo is described as a secondary effect, but what is the Barrier Rating of a grenade or a piece of ammo? - The immediate blast might be able to do the same. Yes?

How about the room the Fireball goes off in, surely it would be set on fire as every single item in the room is hit by F7 Deadly in an instant.

Narrating GM: "The lethal, yet not deadly Fireball kills everyone in the room, yet no colatteral damage occurs, as there are no secondary effects for the spell."

PC: "Uh, what?"

[ShadowGhost]

And what happens when you have two different characters, a Troll with a body of OMG, and puny elf with a body of one.

The Troll stages down to nothing, while the puny elf takes a Deadly.

What are the secondary effects? Does nothing happen on the Troll's side of the fireball while everything goes up in flames on the Elf's side?

From SR3:

[Kagetenshi]

[fistandantilus4....]

I e-mailed ShadowFAQ on this , it is the base damage level that determines the secondary effect.

[RedmondLarry]

I find this rule fascinating, because all the papers and computers in the room will be undamaged by Secondary Effects if the spell kills everyone.

[ShadowGhost]

[mfb]

er, ourteam, re-read. "if, after applying the primary damage of the spell..."

the computers, papers, etcetera are all subject to that primary damage.

[weblife]

After re-reading the secondary effects, I can see that they have a much wider scope than just damage. Knockdown and visibility etc.

I guess the initial damage can be described as a "flash" effect, doing immediate damage to everything, according to its staged damage level.

The secondary effects are akin to something that "simmers" awhile, lingering the whole round and doing more damage.

[Kagetenshi]

Not a bad way of thinking about it, though knockdown tends to be pretty immediate and can be recovered from in one action.

~J

[RedmondLarry]

[Mortax]

Personally, if one of my players lets off a fire spell in the vicinity of something flammible, (like gas), its prolly gonna go.

Though, gasoline will actually put out a match if immersed. Gasoline VAPOR on the other hand......BOOM! :-)